Cooking Across America

Send your future chef on a trip across America at Bodacious!

Each day of camp will explore the unique flavors of a different region in the United States. From coast to coast, your young chef will master the art of preparing popular regional meals that have become timeless favorites.

During the five-day camp, our instructors will empower campers with essential skills to foster their success, safety, and creativity in the kitchen. From mastering basic prep techniques to honing knife skills (when applicable), our campers will develop the fundamental tools of a confident chef.

AGES 6-9

June 5 – 9 & July 10 – 14

AGES 10-12

June 19 – 23 & July 24 – 28

SCHEDULE

Monday – Friday 9AM – 1PM

Drop-off at 8:45 AM daily

Graduation ceremony at 12:15 PM on Friday

Every camper gets a chef apron!

Baker Act Solution

Baptist Health Care and Lakeview Center are creating a Central Receiving System for Baker Act patients. Baptist will handle children up to 18 years old, and Lakeview will deal with adults.

"Other communities across the state of Florida have moved toward a more comprehensive model through a Baker Act receiving facility that's a central receiving facility," said Jennifer Grove, the vice president of external relations at Baptist Health Care, at the Mental Health Task Force meeting May 18. "We have learned in working together as partners from healthcare throughout the community, that for our community what really would work best is to have a central receiving system."

Last summer, Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were blindsided when HCA Florida West Hospital announced it would no longer take Baker Act patients. HCA later extended its deadline by 90 days and eventually postponed any action to give Baptist time to work out a solution.

Grove explained, "At Baptist, because we operate the only licensed inpatient child and adolescent beds, we don't want kids to have to move if they're already in such crisis. It doesn't mean that everybody who comes through as a child needs inpatient care, but those who do won't have to be moved again. Lakeview would operate the adult side of the central receiving facility."

Lakeview, part of the LifeView Group, is developing its adult facility from scratch and needs time to equip and staff it, said Allison Hill, the LifeView Group CEO.

"We have been planning for months at Lakeview, because this is a new service in the system," Hill said. "That's something that I don't know if everybody in the room really appreciates; this is something we haven't done before. And so we are starting from scratch, which means you need a facility plan and more bodies than we have today. And so we have been working on the plan to get those things in motion."

In the meantime, Lakeview is sending its mobile crisis unit to Emergency Rooms. HCA Florida West continues to take adult Baker Act patients.

The money for the programs is in the budget, and Baptist and Lakeview hope it escapes Gov. Ron DeSantis' line-item veto. While he wasn't given credit, State Rep. Alex Andrade handled the Baptist Hospital side of the budget request. Last year's budget only had $19.8 million for central receiving facilities statewide. Andrade and Sen. Doug Broxson beefed up that item to $51 million to be split between 10 specific judicial circuits to ensure Baptist got the amount it needed and should be veto-proof.

According to the budget, Lakeview is set to receive $2.15 million for a short-term residential treatment expansion. The item lists SF 3096, which Sen. Broxson submitted.

NEXT STEP Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves is ready to launch the city's next economic development phase. Coming off his success in get- ting grants for $12.4 million from Triumph Gulf Coast and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to relocate American Magic's headquarters to the Port of Pensacola, the mayor wants to shape how the city attracts businesses and talent to Pensacola.

"Now is getting our feet under us and really deciding what that unique profile of economic development is in the city," Reeves said.

He added that cybersecurity "would seem to be something that we could play a stronger part in than the city has in previous years, thinking that those businesses or those employees are going to want to live in the city."

On Tuesday, May 23, the City published a progress report on how well it has implemented the Mayor's Transition Team recommendations since November of 2022, when Mayor D.C. Reeves took office. The Mayoral Transition Committee Report was created to help develop a deliberate strategic plan for the City of Pensacola.

At his Tuesday presser, Reeves said, "There were 91 recommendations, and we consider 80 of those as actionable … We have eight completed, and we've got 38 in progress."

The nine completed recommendations included creating an Economic Development Department, hiring a grant writer and adding that professional to the "staffing matrix"—all key factors in the Triumph and DEO grants.

The other completed items were:

•Conduct a thorough, citywide review of all policies and procedures.

•Keep the weekly Mayoral Press Conference.

•Partner with the Escambia County Housing Finance Authority.

•Provide professional training on effective communication for all employees.

•Review City Hall's organizational structure.

•Create a concise, measurable performance dashboard.

The progress report can be found at cityofpensacola.com under the Performance Pensacola link.

DRAG SHOWS LEGAL State Rep. Alex Andrade says that drag shows are not illegal in Florida unless the show simulates sex acts or exposes genitalia and children are in the audience. This may come as a surprise to those who think when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1438, he outlawed all drag shows and performances.

Earlier this year, Perfect Plain Brewing Co. canceled a drag show after they received calls that they would have their business license pulled for hosting a drag show. People complained Gallery Night had an LGBTQ+ theme May 19.

Rep. Andrade said that drag performances are protected under the First Amendment.

"The best example I always give is if you want to put on a historically accurate Shakespeare play, you're going to have a lot of dudes dressed up as women," Andrade said. "And there's no question that is protected First Amendment speech, the same way the vast majority of these performances are protected."

When asked about Perfect Plain's incident, the state lawmaker said, "I don't think there's anything wrong with what Perfect Plain was trying to put on. I don't think it was marketed as family-friendly, but at the same time, I don't think that it was intended to simulate sex or expose genitalia to kids."

He added, "And I want to reiterate that again. I mean, no one is trying to make putting on clothes illegal, and there was no bill this year in the Florida legislature that attempted to make putting on clothes illegal."

EMS WEEK Few Escambia County departments have seen as big of a turnaround as Emergency Medical Services. At the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners meeting May 18, the board adopted a proclamation to declare May 2127, 2023, as Emergency Medical Services Week.

Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore has seen the culture of the department change over the past two years. When he took over, EMS had 21 paramedics and 18 EMT openings, and today all the positions are filled.

"The men and women of EMS have absolutely got behind the culture that we wanted to create and the benchmarks we wanted to set," Gilmore said. "We have fantastic men and women out there servicing the citizens every day. It has been a huge turnaround in that department and how we do business."

County Administrator Wes Moreno agreed and hopes to expand the program. He said, "We think we have a business model in place that would allow us to bring in 18 more paramedics and EMTs. And I'm excited about that, because that's more crews, more ambulances on the road where we need to be, and they're getting better and better every week. They've been highly successful. "

For the period of Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2022, the men and women of Escambia County EMS responded to 74,060 calls.

TEAM APPROACH The Mental Health Task's strategic report calls for establishing mental health treatment courts, but someone didn't tell Ernst & Young, who put together the plan, that Escambia County has had one since 2017.

Started by Judge Darlene Dickey, the Escambia County TEAM (Teaching, Education, Accountability and Motivation) Court Program is designed to provide targeted treatment for a criminal defendant diagnosed with a mental illness and whose condition contributed to the commission of the qualifying charge.

When Dickey served as general counsel for the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff David Morgan tried to get a mental health court established using an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Local Solicitation Grant. But he met resistance from County Commissioner Marie Young, who chaired the Public Safety Coordinating Council.

Judge Jennifer Frydrychowicz currently oversees the TEAM court, which is funded by the county and run by volunteers from state attorney, public defender and probation offices.

"They do this above and beyond their responsibilities," Frydrychowicz said. "We're all there because we see the need, and we want to be a part of the solution."

She hopes the Mental Health Task Force will advocate for expanding the program. The judge said, "I am proud that the court, since 2020, for those who have successfully completed the program, we are at a 0% recidivism rate."

LIFEGUARDS COMING Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh wants lifeguard stands on Perdido Key and is willing to put funds forth to make it happen.

"I'm going to put something on the agenda to purchase lifeguard stands from my discretionary funds. They're about $70,000 each, and we're going to do that," Bergosh said on WCOA last week.

"And then I'm going ask staff to come up with a plan to add a cadre of lifeguards to Access Points 2 and 3, because they are within that 64-parcel area where we've got the easements."

The tragic drowning of a teenager and a string of rescues from the gulf on Perdido Key in early April prompted county leaders to make changes to safety protocols. Bergosh wants lifeguards stationed on the public beaches.

"As you know, we've had drownings out there, and I'm trying to improve safety out there along with better access for the public," he said. "I think it's a win."

MIRAFLORES PARK

The City of Pensacola has been selected to receive a $22,160 grant from the National Park Service to fund a ground penetrating radar survey at Miraflores Park as part of the Miraflores Burial Ground Study.

"Thank you to the National Park Service for recognizing the importance of this data collection and research to help us better understand the history of Miraflores Park," said Mayor D.C. Reeves. "I look forward to working with the Miraflores Burial Ground Study Community Advisory Group and the entire community to continue learning more about our past so we can plan for the future of Miraflores Park."

This grant award is part of the $21 million awarded by the National Park Service to 37 projects in 16 states through the Historic Preservation Fund's African American Civil Rights grant program, which funds preservation projects and efforts of sites tied to the struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights.

"The National Park Service is proud to award this grant funding to our state and local government, and nonprofit partners to help them recognize places and stories related to the African American experience," said NPS Director Chuck Sams in a news release. "Since 2016, the African American Civil Rights program has provided more than $100 million to document, protect and celebrate the places, people and stories of one of the greatest struggles in American history."

The City of Pensacola and Pensacola Energy conducted preliminary ground penetrating radar data collection at Miraflores Park on Monday, May 22, but the grant funding will be instrumental in the city's ability to conduct a more thorough, controlled GPR survey.

NOT OUR CORNER Last month, the board of Keep Pensacola Beautiful voted to change its name from Our Corner back to Keep Pensacola Beautiful.

KPB CEO Charles Bare said, "We are grateful for all the time and effort the idgroup and partners such as yourself put into our new brand, but ultimately, we felt Keep Pensacola Beautiful better reflected the mission and goals of our organization."

The organization began in 1979 as an effort to combat roadside litter. Bare said, "The efforts of countless volunteers, staff, community leaders and citizens have led to the organization we have inherited. We remain committed to our core mission to work strategically with community partners to educate and advocate, implementing programs that advance our community's environmental quality and beauty, today and for future generations."

Our Corner was developed out of idgroup's Brand on Us campaign, an annual initiative to help local nonprofits improve their marketing and public awareness. Past winners of the Brand on Us process include The Center (Pensacola Cultural Center), Know Child Abuse (Gulf Coast Kid's House), Pensacola Sports and Autism Pensacola.

"In 2012, we affiliated with Keep America Beautiful, and that's why we changed the name to Keep Pensacola Beautiful," Bare said. "There are 48 affiliates of Keep America Beautiful in Florida, and we were the only one not a 'Keep Something Beautiful.' People were scratching their heads across the state; why did we do this?"

He added, "It just felt like the right thing to do, to go back before we got too far into the Our Corner brand."

MINI-GRANTS United Way of West Florida will offer mini-grants for nonprofit organizations in Santa Rosa County and Escambia County this fall. This initiative will provide funding of up to $5,000 to agencies seeking to develop their organizational structure, pursue short-term organization development goals or execute a one-time project.

"We are particularly interested in supporting grassroots agencies making a positive impact on marginalized communities residing in hard-toreach areas with limited resources," said Laura Gilliam, the United Way of West Florida CEO.

To be eligible for consideration, agencies must be registered 501(c)3 organizations focusing on education, health and financial stability services. They must demonstrate financial trustworthiness, maintain an active Board of Directors and operate with an organizational revenue of less than $250,000. The application period for mini-grants opens in July.

"We at United Way and our community investment committee felt it was really important that we designed an opportunity to help support those grassroots agencies in the community doing amazing work in the areas that are hard to reach and have limited resources," said Mary Zaledonis, the United Way's director of community impact. "So this opportunity allows those smaller agencies the ability to request up to $5,000 that would impact their organization in ways that make a difference in what they're doing."

For further information, please get in touch with Mary Zaledonis at mary.zaledonis@uwwf.org.

SALES TAX HOLIDAY Escambia County encourages residents to participate in Florida's 14day Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday on May 27-June 9. The Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday was created to incentivize preparedness before hurricane and tropical storm season.

"This is a reminder that hurricane season is upon us, and we all have the opportunity to take advantage of this program to better prepare us for this upcoming season," said Travis Tompkins, the emergency manager.

Floridians can expect to be able to purchase the following items without paying sales tax:

• Pet leashes, collars and muzzles ($20 or less)

• Paper towels, toilet paper and soap ($30 or less)

• Candles, flashlights, lanterns and pet beds ($40 or less)

• Batteries, excluding automobile and boat batteries ($50 or less)

• Radios powered by battery, solar or hand-crank ($50 or less)

• Coolers ($60 or less)

• Smoke detectors ($70 or less)

• Tarps ($100 or less)

• Portable generators ($3000 or less)

For more information, visit floridarevenue. com/disasterprep. {in}