Inweekly June 3 2021 Issue

Independent News | June 3, 2021 | Volume 22 | Number 22 | Tarriona "Tank" Ball | Photo by Taja Janel

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winners & losers

outtakes

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news

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We have so much to us, so much richness in all of our histories.

feature story

buzz 9

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contact us info@inweekly.net

publisher Rick Outzen

graphic designer Tim Bednarczyk

editor & creative director Joani Delezen

contributing writers Gina Castro, Savannah Evanoff, Jennifer Leigh, Jeremy Morrison, Sydney Robinson, C.S. Satterwhite

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Independent News is published by Inweekly Media, Inc., P.O. Box 12082, Pensacola, FL 32591. (850)438-8115. All materials published in Independent News are copyrighted. © 2018 Inweekly Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

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inweekly.net

June 3, 2021

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winners & losers

Amy Miller / Photo Courtesy of City of Pensacola

The Pensacola Bay Bridge is open and the Winners & Losers division of the Inweekly media empire disappeared, leaving this list of all winners for this issue that was scribbled on the back of a SaBai on Jefferson takeout menu.

AMY MILLER Mayor Grover Robinson

has selected Miller as the new deputy city administrator, responsible for overseeing the City's enterprise divisions including Pensacola International Airport, Port of Pensacola, Sanitation Services, Pensacola Energy and Parking Management. Miller is currently the director of the Port of Pensacola, where she has served since becoming Pensacola's first woman Port director in 2013. Her first day in the new role will be Monday, June 14, and Deputy Port Director Clark Merritt will become interim port director. Miller will replace Dick Barker, who is retiring.

TOM DANNHEISSER The Fairest of Them All Equal Justice Awards named Judge Dannheisser the "Fairest of Them All" in Circuit 1. The awards provide a scientific basis to objectively evaluate felony court judges in Florida's 20 judicial circuits with respect to impartiality and overall fairness in criminal sentencing. Five years of fiscal sentencing data from the Florida Department of Corrections was selected from July 1, 2016-June 30, 2020, and statistically analyzed to determine the top three fairest judges in each respective judicial circuit.

COLLIER MERRILL Florida Attorney

General Ashley Moody has appointed Merrill to replace Dr. Pam Dana on the Triumph Gulf Coast board of directors. Merrill will assume the post on July 1. Dana rolls off due to statutory limits.

GROVER ROBINSON & KEITH WILKINS The Florida League of Cities, the united voice for Florida's municipal governments, recently recognized Mayor Grover C. Robinson IV and City Administrator Keith Wilkins with 2021 Home Rule Hero Awards for their hard work and advocacy efforts during the 2021 Legislative Session. Mayor Robinson and Administrator Wilkins worked tirelessly throughout the session to promote local voices making local choices, protect the Home Rule powers of Florida's municipalities and advance the League's legislative agenda. Home Rule Hero 44

Award recipients are local government officials, both elected and nonelected, who consistently responded to the League's request to reach out to members of the legislature and help give a local perspective on an issue.

WSRE Two WSRE productions, "Hank Locklin:

Country Music's Timeless Tenor" and "Beyond the Menu," garnered four 2021 Telly Awards for excellence in video and television production.

The station was awarded its first Gold Telly in the Television in Documentary category for the feature on the music career of country artist Hank Locklin, which was directed by James Roy and produced by Mary Riker.

"Beyond the Menu" won a Bronze Telly Award in the Television: Food & Beverage category. Its first episode, hosted by Sherri Hemminghaus Weeks, featured The District, McGuire's Irish Pub, Pot Roast & Pinot and Scenic 90 Café.

The show was produced by Jennifer Hill and directed and edited by James Roy.

CITY OF GULF BREEZE FEMA has approved $1,373,999 to reimburse the City of Gulf Breeze for debris removal activities after Hurricane Sally in 2020. Between Sept. 14-28, workers removed 82,414 cubic yards of debris from public rights of way. Disaster-generated debris posed a threat to public health, safety, natural resources and tourism. FEMA's Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

PENSACOLA STATE COLLEGE PSC announced it will launch a charter school to provide educational opportunities for students who come from military families.

Two years ago, the NAS Pensacola commander pointed out that military families were reluctant to transfer to the Pensacola area because of the low-performing public schools under Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. PSC hopes to remedy the crisis with its new school that will include a state-ofthe-art technology innovation center. The project is funded by a $100,000 leadership gift from the Gulf Power Foundation. inweekly.net

outtakes

By Rick Outzen

RIGHTING A WRONG Samantha Guerrier, a straight-A student at Tate High School, will walk with her classmates at graduation on Monday, June 7. The daughter of a Navy chief petty officer, and a first-generation Haitian American, will be the first in her family to attend college when she enrolls in the University of Florida this fall—another great story about public education.

However, it almost didn't happen. Samantha is also the yearbook editor and was given a five-day suspension and her senior privileges taken away because the school's mascot had been placed over a photo of a classmate, Emily Grover, who was expelled for allegedly rigging a school election.

Grover and her mother, Bellview Elementary Assistant Principal Laura Carroll, are scheduled to stand trial for unauthorized access into hundreds of student accounts to cast votes for Grover so she would be crowned homecoming queen. Their arrests made national news and put the high school in a bad light, which is why Tate High Principal Rick Shackle ordered the yearbook advisor, Gail Atkins, to have Samantha and her staff of students remove or block out all pictures of Grover.

When the yearbook was handed out, some parents objected to the mascot covering Grover's face in a group photo because they felt the rear-end of the bucking horse was placed over the girl's face to embarrass the girl further.

One parent wrote to NorthEscambia. com, which covers the news in the north end of Escambia County, "They covered her face with a horse's rear. That's just too much and should have never happened."

Escambia County School District Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith appeared to side with the upset parents and said the yearbooks would be recalled. He added, "Somebody went in and made an edit that shouldn't have happened."

Leaders are taught to take responsibility for what happens on their watch. The yearbook advisor and principal did not, even though Samantha and her staff did what they were instructed to do. Atkins and

Shackle had the responsibility of proofing the final draft of the yearbook before the books were printed. No one expected the students to be unsupervised.

Instead of admitting his role in the snafu, Shackle chose to punish Samantha, holding her responsible for the photo because she was the editor. I know I'm not the only one who sees the irony in Shackle holding a child accountable but not the advisor or himself, the two adults.

Samantha was barred from attending the senior breakfast, awards ceremony and parade on campus. Before she was told that the punishment might extend to graduation, she went to pick up her cap and gown at the school. Shackle had an Escambia County deputy escort her off campus and threaten her with arrest.

Escambia County doesn't tolerate injustice involving children.

Classmates, parents and the public called the school and the district on Samantha's behalf. The media reported the story, and social media amplified the need for Shackle to reverse his decision.

Over 8,600 signed an online petition, "Let Samantha graduate," for Superintendent Smith to correct the situation, and the principal finally relented late last week.

Throughout the ordeal, Samantha kept her head up and never lost her faith in God. She took to social media to express her gratitude.

"I would like to thank my parents and family for being relentless and doing everything in their power to bring awareness to my story," Samantha wrote. "They worked around the clock, morning and night, doing everything they could to right this wrong.

I would also like to thank all of those who signed, supported, shared and advocated on my behalf. I could not be more grateful for all of the unconditional support that my community has shown for me."

Meanwhile, the school district needs to review its disciplinary system, focusing on the power it gives principals in situations such as this. The celebration of Samantha's milestone might have been lost without those willing to fight for her. {in} rick@inweekly.net

I know I'm not the only one who sees the irony in Shackle holding a child accountable but not the advisor or himself, the two adults.

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WEDGEWOOD WOES: PART 1

LOW RATES, HIGH RISK

Photo by Gina Castro

By Gina Castro The most common characteristics home buyers, especially families, look for in neighborhoods are walkability, slow street traffic and close proximity to work, school and play.

Typically, living near a waste management facility tends to be at the bottom of the list. The smell and frequent trucks aren't the only deterrents. Landfills can decrease property value, too. In fact, the Urban Planning department at Cleveland State University found that living within two miles of a landfill can decrease property value as much as 15%.

Wedgewood residents who have struggled with health issues as a result of the area's waste facilities have also experienced financial struggles as a result, too.

In 2002, Tamika Wallace was house hunting. She was in search of a home near friends that offered peace and quiet. Wedgewood checked all of her boxes. A friend of Wallace showed her a home on Kyle Drive.

"I knew lots of people who lived in the area. Franscine's mom, Cora, lived around the corner. Some of the people I had gone to school with lived in the area, too," Wallace said. "So I knew people established in that neighborhood already."

Wallace tended a garden in her backyard.

She and her family ate the melons and other produce they grew. However, it was during Wallace's three years in this home that she began to feel sick. Her intense stomach pain caused her to miss work frequently.

"I didn't know what it was at the time. I just was always sick. I wasn't diagnosed at that time," Wallace said. "I just spent a lot of time off work not feeling well."

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While Wallace struggled with her unknown illness, she—as well as many other Wedgewood residents—were completely unaware of the health risk festering just over a mile from her backyard.

Battling her illness created a financial burden that became too great for Wallace. In 2005, her home on Kyle Drive fell into foreclosure and she moved in with her mother. That same year, the responsibility of governing landfills and borrow pits fell under county ordinances—requiring the county to ensure owners restored the land and maintained permits. Inweekly reported in 2014 that only one of the 100 borrow pits in Escambia County had a permit.

In 2006, one year after Wallace moved from Wedgewood, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) notified the owners of Rolling Hills C&D landfill that a site assessment and corrective actions needed to be initiated due to DEP's detections of elevated constituents in onsite monitoring wells.

More than a decade later, Wallace was diagnosed with Stage 2 Colon Cancer.

"I have had symptoms for years—for years. I just never thought it could be colon cancer," Wallace continued. "I thought, you know, maybe it was an ulcer or something like that because I had a high-stress job."

Although Wallace's doctor wasn't able to give her a specific date as to when the cancer began developing in her colon, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute's research on colon cancer estimates that the noncancerous cells in the colon, called adenomatous polyps, can slowly become cancerous over a span of 10-15 years.

Similar to Wallace, Lafanette Soles Woods began experiencing the symptoms of her later-diagnosed breast cancer and other illnesses in the early 2000s. Woods' family has owned acres of land in the Olive Heights area since 1952. Her father bought 20 acres of land while he served in the military so that his father, Woods' grandfather, and other relatives could live on the land for generations.

Today, the land isn't of interest to Woods, her sister, cousins or the general buying market.

"Everything out here is contaminated.

A lot of people would probably like to do more farming in this area, but you really can't get your crops to grow very well out here anymore," Woods said.

After Woods' father passed, her mother became the property owner. Woods' mother has been trying to sell the land since 2016 to no avail. Woods currently lives on a piece of her family's land. She said if given the opportunity to sell, she would.

"I have a lot of memories from when I was a baby all the way until now. But yeah, I would let it go," Woods said.

"Because the landfills and the rock-crushing places are right next to the schools. This place has so much contamination in this area that it will affect your children." Lafanette Soles Woods Woods mentioned that one of the reasons her mother could be having trouble selling the land is that they are honest about

the area's history of environmental hazards.

She doesn't believe it's not fair to hide that information from potential buyers.

"I think the new people coming into our area, they need to know," Woods said. "Because the landfills and the rock-crushing places are right next to the schools. This place has so much contamination in this area that it will affect your children. It really does affect our health. And people need to know that."

Ryan Nelson has been renting a threebedroom house in Wedgewood since August of last year. His landlord never once mentioned the area's history of hydrogen sulfide leaks, the borrow pits, landfills or the concrete-crushing sites less than a mile away from the area's schools.

"I haven't actually noticed them. You were the first person to really say anything.

I noticed them when we were driving, but I never really thought about it," Nelson continued. "Honestly, if there was a current spillage or leakage, I would wish to be notified. I know that the property manager wants to make the property look as beautiful as possible, so that way, they can sell it as quickly as possible, you know, but a notice would have been nice."

The reason Nelson said he moved to Wedgewood was that the rent is within his price range. His monthly rent started out at $995 and recently increased to $1,015.

Nelson has lived in several states, including Colorado and Kentucky. He's lived near coal plants and decommissioned nuclear plants, so living near other environmental hazards isn't a major concern for him.

"Honestly, I used to live next to a coal plant next to a decommissioned nuclear facility. So the fact that I have about three landfills near me is kind of a step up from where I was," Nelson said.

Studies have found that environmental hazards are frequently placed in lowerincome, non-white areas. Researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Montana analyzed 30 years' worth of demographic data of the placement of U.S. hazardous waste facilities. Their study, published in 2016 in the Environmental Research Letters journal found that there are racial and socioeconomic disparities in the placement of hazardous waste facilities in the U.S. The study's conclusion explained that minority and low-income communities are easier areas to place waste facilities because they often don't have the resources and political connections to oppose the placement of the facilities. {in} This is part one of a multi-part series that Gina Castro is on working for Inweekly about Wedgewood. You can also read her initial reporting on the topic— "Never Free," which was published in our April 22, 2021, issue—at inweekly.net/never-free. inweekly.net

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June 3, 2021

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PUTTING UWF ON THE MAP

Dr. Martha Saunders / Photo Courtesy of UWF

By Rick Outzen When Inweekly asked Dr. Martha Saunders, University of West Florida's president, how she would summarize the school's past year during the pandemic, she did it in four words.

"We made it through," said Dr. Saunders with a smile.

"We lived to see the other side of the global pandemic," she explained, praising her staff, faculty and students. "We took some pretty conservative approaches to campus safety, and everybody pitched in.

Our job is to provide high-quality undergraduate and graduate education. And the challenge was, how are we going to do that in the middle of a pandemic?"

Saunders added, "And so we figured it out. Enrollment was up every semester, and it's looking really strong for fall, so I think it will be up again."

UWF also had a record year for alumni support. On its third annual Day of Giving, the university raised more than $125,000 from 1,170 donors during the 24-hour fundraising event. Saunders said, "I think it's just been a good time for people to say this university has value to me personally, or to the community, and we're going to pitch in and do what we can."

Awards accumulated. The University of West Florida was named a 2020 "Great College to Work For," marking the institu88

tion's eighth appearance on the list. U.S. News & World Report ranked UWF among the top 15 public institutions in the region in its 2021 Best Colleges rankings. The university received its fifth Higher Education Excellence in Diversity, or HEED, Award from INSIGHT and the gold-level of distinction for being military-friendly for service members and their families.

The 2020-21 school year did have its share of controversy. Last summer, historian Tom Garner reviewed the papers of T.T. Wentworth, the namesake for the downtown history museum owned by UWF. He uncovered Pensacola's "Mister History" was the Exalted Cyclops, Escambia Klan number 57, Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (Inweekly, "Who Gets to Tell the Story," 7/23/20).

The UWF Historic Trust board moved quickly to condemn racism and hate and announced it would research the process to rename the T.T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum. In February 2021, the Florida Historical Commission approved changing the museum's name to the Pensacola Museum of History at the University of West Florida, which the UWF Board of Trustees confirmed the following month.

According to Saunders, the third and final approval from the state's Internal Improvement Trust Fund has been received, so signage changes are in the works.

Dr. Jamin Wells, an assistant professor and director of the Public History Master's Program,

and his graduate students have been put in charge of reviewing Wentworth's papers.

"I have been told his final report will be ready in about a month," Saunders shared. "We've been getting updates on what they've discovered, but that's a lot of pieces of paper to look at and document and file in the right places. So I think it's going to be very interesting to get his final report."

The Argos football team will defend their 2019 national title this fall. She said, "We're the reigning champions—still champions."

The NCAA's decision not to let the teams play last year was "very disappointing," but the president has faith in her coaches.

"They understand setbacks and disappointments, and so they spent the time making the team stronger, developing new plays," Saunders said, "They practiced, worked together like they always did. They just didn't play games. So I think we're going to see a pretty fierce bunch of competitors coming out in the fall."

Because of a scheduling conflict at Blue Wahoos Stadium, the university will hold its first on-campus home game on Saturday, Sept. 11.

Saunders said, "We thought about it and said, 'Look, we have a gorgeous competition field. We can rent bleachers and bring them in for that one time. And we can make it a whole campus sort of an open house.

We love to bring people to campus.'"

She continued, "It's going to be a great party. We already have a task force that can tell how we're going to handle the traffic and the crowds, but it's a mighty big campus. So I think it's going to be lots of fun."

For years, UWF has looked to expand its presence in downtown Pensacola, adding to its Center for Cybersecurity, Florida Small Business Development Center and the historic district.

"We know that this vision for a cyber coast is doable, and it's just a matter of getting the right people at the right table." Dr. Martha Saunders "We're going to see more; it's just a matter of when and where," she said. "We know that this vision for a cyber coast is doable, and it's just a matter of getting the right people at the right table. The university and Pensacola State College are always going to be there; we can provide the workforce. It's just getting the right connections, and if that happens, of course, then you'll see more UWF flags."

Saunders said the state's universities did better during the 2021 Legislative Session "than the headlines predicted."

"Going into the session, we were in the middle of COVID, and the budget looked awful," she shared. "And then the budget got better, and some of the things that we were braced for didn't happen. I think that the best news is we weren't hit hard. I don't think anybody got rich this year, but the fact that the state came to the other side of a lot of uncertainty, it was a pretty good year."

What are the plans for the upcoming academic year?

"As luck would have it, the university's master plan, strategic plan, enrollment plan and diversity plan are all coming due in June of '22," Saunders said. "This gives us a wonderful opportunity to stop and say, okay, this is the university we were before the pandemic. We've learned a lot. How do we plan to be the university of the next big thing?"

Lessons were learning due to the pandemic. She said, "Certainly, we've learned a lot about remote learning, what works, what doesn't, what we like, what we don't.

And then facilities' needs have changed dramatically."

She expects to leverage the university's 1,600-acre campus. She said, "I think there are some real opportunities, or I hope there are, for bringing partnerships with businesses. We already have some. Northrop Grumman has some space in our engineering building, but we can do some partnerships that would be very helpful and, again, leverage these assets. So I want to explore that as well."

She shared a conversation she had recently about Pensacola's history and three events that have "changed everything."

"Luna suddenly setting his ships there, the Navy putting their air training base there, and I would argue, the University of West Florida," she said. "I think 25, 50 years from now, we will have made that kind of difference. So I want to have put us on the map by doing what we can do and leveraging these regional assets."

She looked at the contributions of each university president since Dr. Harold Crosby served as the first.

"President Robinson put academic teeth in our program. President Marx opened the doors to the rest of the world and took us from being this little provincial place to a player on the international stage," Saunders said. "President Cavanaugh dragged us into the 21st century with technology, and then President Bense had a real commitment to the more traditional look and feel, that we're not just a commuter campus."

She added, "And so standing on those shoulders, I think I want to put us on the map, and I think we're doing that in a lot of ways." {in} inweekly.net

ing how the city intended to fund these WAHOO LEASE RENEWAL The city is upgrades but also stressed that Pensacola close to finalizing a deal with the Blue Wahoos for the team's lease at Maritime Park's was fortunate to be able to be securing the minor league Wahoos with the changes stadium. Mayor Grover Robinson said the that have taken place as MLB has taken lease would remain unchanged, except for over the minors. specifying improvements to the park that the city will be making.

GILLEY SOAP OPERA County Adminis"Our intent is to keep them here for an trator Janice Gilley's tenure with Escambia additional 10 years and get them to reCounty may be on its last legs, thanks to exercise the option," the mayor said. "I think her latest snafu in which she has disputed that's where we're going. If that's the case, the legal advice of County Attorney Alison all the improvements are going to be on us, Rogers. The details are convoluted and have the city. We have a plan to finance that, and no real substance, though Gilley has tried to Amy's putting that together." convince the media she is in the right.

Improvements to be made at the park are The first key fact is Florida's public being mandated by Major League Baseball and records law says people can't be required to the Wahoo's MLB affiliate, the Miami Marlins. give their name or their reasons when makThe upgrades, expected to run around $2 miling a request. Gilley has interpreted that to lion, include installing artificial turf, changing mean the county must protect the identity out the lighting and relocating the bullpens. of every entity that makes a request if they Robinson said he'd be putting someLB0245 MchUltraOrgSeltzer INW Final 041521.pdf 2 4/7/21 8:48 AM ask for it. However, there is no law protectthing before the city council in July detail-

A S RE AL A S IT TA S TE S June 3, 2021

ing anonymity. If an email has an IP address in the metadata or an envelope has a return mailing address, the county isn't required to hide information. In fact, the county would be breaking the law if it did so.

An anonymous record request was made by email. Another person made a verbal request of County Attorney Rogers—also anonymous— for the IP address of the initial request. The county's IT director refused to comply, even though he knew the IP address had been encrypted and wouldn't identify the sender. In other words, the sender likely knew his/her IP address would be disclosed and used tools to hide his identity.

County Attorney Rogers went to the Florida Attorney General and asked if the IP address is a public record and was told it was. Instead of listening to the county attorney, Gilley made her own request of Attorney General Ashley Moody, who said the administrator needed board approval to get a written opinion. She has allowed Assistant Administrator Debbie Bowers to ask the board to vote on the request at the next commission meeting.

Meanwhile, a small group of department heads has held secret meetings offsite to reprioritize the Local Option Sales Tax projects without any input from the board. The clown show has run into a dumpster fire.

Will someone please end the circus sideshow and get a professional to run county operations?

SUNDAY'S CHILD FINALISTS Sunday's Child, a Pensacola-area nonprofit that promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality, announced the 2021 finalists vying for more than $100,000 in grant awards. Four grants of $27,000 will be awarded at the annual Sunday's Child membership meeting on June 27.

The eight finalists competing for the grants are Bright Bridge Ministries, United for a Good Cause, University of West

Florida Historic Trust, Gulf Coast Kid's House, CIL of Northwest Florida, A HOPE, Children's Home Society and Village Hands.

For 2021, the organization raised $108,000 among 165 members, which will be awarded to Pensacola Bay Area nonprofit organizations that place value on diversity, inclusion and equality.

Launched in 2014, Sunday's Child uses a fundraising model similar to Impact 100.

Individual members or member ensembles donate $1,000 annually, with 100% of funds going toward grant awards to local organizations. Grant applications are vetted by Sunday's Child members, and the winners of each year's grants are determined by the votes of members at the annual meeting.

Over the past seven years, Sunday's Child has raised over $644,000 for local organizations. To learn more, visit sundayschild.org.

HOMELESS WORKSHOP During a Pensacola City Council workshop on Monday, May 24, a plan to curb homelessness was laid out that includes both service and housing elements, and a new task force was formally unveiled.

Connie Bookman of Pathways for Charge is leading the task force effort and said it was nice to see the local governments and the collective of service providers in the area begin to coordinate on solutions.

"It's just been a patchwork of services for too many years and this model of collective impact shares a common agenda, so it's bringing everyone together that has the same attitude of—it's actually servant leadership, of how can we understand who we're serving," Bookman said.

A cornerstone component of the plans being presented—put together thus far by Bookman, John Johnson of Opening Doors of Northwest Florida and, primarily, Dr. Robert Marbut, a consultant during the Hayward administration—includes the development of a center in which area service providers can centralize their efforts, as well as a nearby kitchen.

"You want to start to move toward a

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transformational experience, where you have more providers at the same location and really aggressively working, with the goal of getting out of homelessness, not sort of servicing, not just giving you things, but how do you get out of homelessness and really address that," Dr. Marbut said.

Also in the plan were suggested changes to the database used to provide homeless people with services, as well as directives to both the city and county to secure recurring funding sources in the annual budgets to be used to address homelessness.

In the past, critics of Marbut—and there many—seized upon his past work, in which he has championed punitive ordinances aimed at activities associated with homelessness, such as sleeping in a public park. In his new report, the use of such ordinances is actually discouraged due to unsettled litigation on the topic.

Mike Kimberl, a longtime homeless advocate who now runs the Alfred Washburn Center, which services that community, spoke during the workshop, meshing a backhanded compliment with a plain ol' backhand.

"I'm not 100% against the man," Kimberl said. "I do think he's a waste of money, and y'all blew some of our tax dollars."

Then Kimberl went down Marbut's list of recommendations, offering his take on each.

Usefully, on Marbut's first recommendation to move from a culture of enablement to a one of engagement, Kimberl said, "We have people on the street begging for help and now we're going to tell our citizenry not to help them. I have a massive problem with that."

"When we talk about enablement vs. engagement, I have a hard time with that one, because I enable people all the time to get themselves out of homelessness," he said.

"We remove the barriers that keep people in homelessness and they get themselves out of homelessness. That is enabling; I'm an enabler. I understand where he's going with that, but when I talk to people on the street, they do not want to be homeless."

010 1

While Kimberl expressed concerns about centralizing services, he was excited about the work the new task force will be doing, believing it should most focus on the development of low-cost housing.

"That's the answer here. Honestly, if government wants to throw money down, throw money down on affordable housing," Kimberl told council members, adding that the housing needs to be affordable to individuals subsisting on very little money. "We need housing that a single person can afford to live in on a social security income."

From here, the Homeless Reduction Task Force of Northwest Florida will create subcommittees to focus on housing, health care, employment, workforce development and legal issues, with the goal of concluding its work by June 30. After that, local elected officials must decide how to fund any efforts on this front going forward.

LEAVING SINKING SHIP Cassie

Boatwright, Escambia County's director of facilities management, has announced that she is leaving the Gilley administration.

Boatwright was hired in January 2020. She came under fire when the Pensacola Bay Center went before the Board of County Commissioners for more money.

The board eventually voted to allocate an additional $250,000 of bed tax collections to help ASM Global operate the facility. Still, the commissioners wanted to know why the company hadn't asked for CARES funds like its Osceola County venue had done. Bay Center General Manager Cyndee Pennington told them that Boatwright instructed her not to request any CARES funds from the county because all the funds had been allocated. All the funds hadn't been allocated.

County Administrator Janice Gilley didn't come to Boatwright's defense or try to explain why her facilities management director would tell Pennington there weren't any funds available.

Danica Phillips, who was only hired by Escambia County in January, also notified her bosses that she, too, is leaving her job. She is a media and public information manager under Laura Cole.

Phillips was a mass communication specialist aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and earned a Navy-wide award for Best Infographic of the Year in 2015. Before joining the county, she worked for Five Star Properties as a digital marketing strategist. Phillips was hired to replace Hana Frenette, who resigned in December after three years with the county.

ELECTRIC CITY Mayor Grover Robinson has implemented the Mayoral Policy 2101, Electric Vehicle Ready Pensacola, to help the City of Pensacola be a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The policy, which took effect Feb. 1, will help the city provide electric vehicle charging stations to the community effectively and equitably on city-owned properties.

"We want the City of Pensacola to be a leader and set the example of how beneficial green initiatives can be for our city and our citizens," Mayor Grover Robinson said.

"I'm excited to implement this policy to help us dramatically reduce costs and minimize resource waste while continuing to build a more sustainable Pensacola."

During renovation of existing city parking facilities or the installation of a new city parking facilities, electric charging stations will be included in the project, and 3% of parking spaces should have electric vehicle charging capabilities.

YMCA OFFERS SHOTS Community

Health Northwest Florida and the downtown YMCA have partnered to offer COVID-19 vaccinations at the YMCA from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8. Participants can receive their first or second dose of the Moderna shot or choose the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot. Members and the public are welcome without an appoint-

ment. There is no charge for the vaccine.

Anyone who gets the vaccine at the Y on June 8 can join without a Joiner's Fee or dues through July.

COMMUNITY RALLIES Because of the

overwhelming support from the community, Pensacola Habitat for Humanity can replace the tools and equipment that were stolen last week and make an even greater impact than before.

Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, a local nonprofit organization providing affordable homeownership options to families and individuals in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, requested help from the community last week after thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment were stolen from their property.

Their fence had been cut, and several work trucks were burglarized.

After reaching out to the public for help recovering their tools and equipment, the nonprofit has been inundated with encouragement and support from the community.

They are thrilled to report that they have received enough funding from the community to completely replace the stolen tools and equipment. Sandy Blanton, of Team Sandy Blanton Realty, donated $3,000 after learning of the heist. Chris and Sally Pate, who were moved by the story, also gave a gift of $3,000.

Additionally, Shawn Dominguez, president of Dominguez Design-Build Inc., has offered to completely replace every tool that was taken.

"This experience and seeing firsthand the love and support shown to Pensacola Habitat has absolutely blown us away." said Crystal Scott, director of Resource Development at Pensacola Habitat for Humanity. "Thank you to every person who's reached out with encouragement, as well as those who have given monetarily. With the contributions we have received, not only have we replaced the stolen tools but we are well on our way to stocking a third construction truck that, once fully stocked, will allow us to serve even more in our community."

inweekly.net

The theft could've delayed the homebuilding process and impacted the families they serve in a significant way. But because of the community's support, not only monetarily but by sharing the story with others, Pensacola Habitat can continue its mission of building homes, communities and hope without interruption. The outpouring from the community has been greater than they could ever have imagined.

The person responsible for stealing the items has not yet been identified. If you have any information regarding the theft, please contact the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.

ANALYTICS WEBINAR Interested in

online sales? Join the UWF Small Business Development Center 9-10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 8, for "Make Better Business Decisions with Analytics." Learn best practices and analyze trends about how customers engage with your business online, and then turn these insights into well-informed, actionable decisions. The webinar will cover an introduction to Google Analytics, creating and understanding reports, making goals and using Analytics along with other Google tools. No fee. To register, visit sbdc.uwf.edu under "Training & Events." A link for joining this no-cost webinar will be sent to those who register.

NEW PARK SUPERINTENDENT

National Park Service (NPS) South Atlantic-Gulf Regional Director Stan Austin announced Darrell Echols as the new superintendent of Gulf Islands National Seashore, effective July 18.

"Darrell is a dynamic leader with Gulf Coast roots and essential experience protecting some of the country's most beloved coastal areas," said Austin. "He's led high-performing teams, overseen regional climate change adaptation strategies, guided parks through hurricane preparedness and recovery, and exceled at integrating natural and cultural heritage preservation and tourism. This selection marks a collective win for the park, its stakeholders and visitors."

Gulf Islands National Seashore is the nation's largest seashore. Created in 1971, the national park protects 160 miles from Cat Island, Mississippi, to the Okaloosa Area east of Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

"I've had the honor of serving as acting superintendent of Gulf Islands National Seashore for the last three months," said Echols. "I've taken every opportunity to help build trust with park staff, partners and the community and to be the kind of advocate this park deserves. I look forward to building on the great foundation set long ago and advancing a shared new vision for the future of this park and its treasured resources."

Echols began his federal career in June 3, 2021

1989 working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Corpus Christi, Texas studying seagrasses. In 1990, he transferred to the NPS where he spent 18 years working for the resource management division at Padre Island National Seashore. While there, Echols managed multifaceted projects involving shorebirds, marine mammals, sea turtles, marine debris, wetlands, wildland fire, and oil and gas development.

In 2008, Echols became deputy superintendent of the Outer Banks Group in North Carolina, consisting of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

There, he led park operations, issues management, partnership development and resources management. Since 2014, Echols has served as regional chief of science and natural resources management for the NPS South-Atlantic Gulf region, based in Atlanta. In this role, he and his team have provided scientific expertise, technical assistance, and policy guidance to 74 parks in a footprint spanning nine states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

During his tenure with the regional office, Echols has also served as an acting deputy regional director, acting superintendent of Virgin Islands National Park, and as program manager for the region's COVID-19 pandemic response.

Echols is married to his best friend and wife of 23 years, Nancy. They have a daughter studying biology at the University of North Georgia and a son entering Georgia's Kennesaw State University as an engineering major. Echols and his wife enjoy fishing, surfing, gardening, and traveling.

ROUND 3 COMING The verdicts for the

trials against 3M for its earplugs now stand 1-1 after a federal jury ruled in the corporation's favor last Friday. The Pensacola trial was the second to address allegations of design defects in the earplugs that were used by the military between 2007 and 2013.

On Friday, April 30, a different jury handed down a verdict against 3M. The three Army veterans who suffered noise-induced hearing injuries after using 3M's Combat Arms Version 2 earplug were awarded a combined verdict of nearly $7 million.

Bryan Aylstock, of the Pensacola firm Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLLC, is the lead counsel for the plaintiffs. His firm represents over 40,000 active and retired military service members of the nearly 250,000 total cases in the multidistrict litigation in federal court in Pensacola.

The two decisions are in bellwether cases, meaning they are chosen among the quarter of million similar cases to ferret out the strength and weaknesses of the claims and possibly lead a settlement. The next trial begins on Monday, June 7. {in} 11

Tarriona "Tank" Ball Photo by Taja Janel

Tarriona "Tank" Ball Gets "Vulnerable AF"

By Jennifer Leigh Before she was performing on the NPR Tiny Desk, before she was a Grammynominated recording artist, Tarriona "Tank" Ball was a young slam poet with a big voice just waiting for an audience to match.

Ball is returning to her poetry roots with her debut book "Vulnerable AF," a book of verse and prose about infatuation and love and all the good and bad that comes with it.

The poems have been finished for "a long time," said Ball. They all center around one person whom she fell hard for.

"I was very nervous and shy for a long time," Ball said. "I'd never felt so strongly for someone before."

For any fans of the New Orleans-based band Tank and the Bangas, it might be hard to envision someone so charismatic as its frontwoman Ball losing sight of themselves while pining away for a crush. But no one is immune from falling too hard.

Part of Ball's intentions with the book are not only to share her poetry, but to create a "survival guide," she said, for others who might find the words all too relatable.

"Be patient with yourself; allow yourself to go through all the different phases—embrace them and love them," she said. "Accept the will of your heart and your mind. It's OK if you were tripping over somebody as long as you don't stay tripping for long."

Another piece of advice? "Document where you are."

Ball starting writing poetry at the age of 12. She was inspired by the work of her sister, La Shonda Ann Ball.

"I'd read her poems without permission," Ball said. "It changed my world. She doesn't write anymore … she doesn't know that she inspired me, but she planted the seed that keeps growing. I should maybe tell her that."

One of Ball's first spoken word performances was reciting the poem "A Great 212 1

Somebody" by Adrienne Sealy Hardesty. She messed it up, she said.

"I kept looking down at my paper."

The last few lines of that poem read like a foreshadowing of Ball's future.

"I am the greatest somebody there is.

Start leading me now, teacher.

Start guiding me now, teacher.

Start praising me now, teacher.

And you will see me rise to the highest heights."

Despite any fumbles with that reading, Ball's grandmother saw the spark and had Ball recite the poem at local churches. As she became more comfortable speaking at churches, Ball said that confidence carried her through school.

"I could get in front of classrooms, all the children, and just be like, 'I'm about to teach you something,'" she said.

At home, she continued writing her poems. It was almost like a double life, she said.

By high school, she was regularly performing and writing slam poetry. After graduation, she started the group Slam New Orleans (SNO), which won the National Poetry Slam in 2012.

"It felt really cool to feel like you have a secret inside of you," she said.

The same can be said of "Vulnerable AF." As Ball became a known musician playing shows and touring, these poems weren't shared with the masses. And even though Ball shares so much of herself in her music and lyrics, the book is just as the title suggests.

"In a way, I'm showing a different side," said Ball. "A very specific, vulnerable side."

Most of the early online reviews of "Vulnerable AF" confirm that it's relatable AF for many readers. Those who love it resonated with the deep feelings and Ball's prose when writing about them.

"Tarriona Ball took me on such an emotional trip," wrote one reviewer on Goodreads.

"A beautifully honest and raw collection

of emotion and stream of consciousness," wrote another.

In between poems, Ball shares short essays—otherwise known as "Tank's Storytime."

As for the guy at the center of Ball's writing? Yes, he knows about the poems and the book. When she told him about the book, his one request was "be sensitive about it."

"I don't hate him," she said. "I still love him. But this is one-sided. It's my perspective. The only thing I have to go by is what I experienced."

Just like her music, Ball will be taking her book on tour in July with special guest Sha'Condria "iCon" Sibley—one of the cofounders of Team SNO. "It's full circle; it's crazy," said Ball, referring back to her early slam poetry days. "And we both have books out at the same time."

She'll be performing her prose alongside a multi-instrumentalist to "add texture underneath" the words. The book tour has stops in Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York, to name a few. Ball also said a few virtual events are also in the works.

Like so many other musicians, Ball said she has missed performing and looks forward to the book tour, even though it's a different experience from performing with her band.

She's spent quarantine working on projects.

She recorded a video for NPR's Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series at the height of the pandemic, blaring music from her iPad and tapping on a roller suitcase singing, "Don't go out to the cookout; get your hair down right at home; get your nails done in the living room … whatever you do, bitch stay home."

So it should be no surprise that Ball has a whole new album up her sleeve, which she says the band will be recording in New Orleans and Los Angeles. Earlier this year, the band released the single "Self Care." Whether poems or lyrics, there's no difference in the writing process for Ball. The two seem to mesh in her mind.

"A lot of my poems have turned into songs; sometimes I'll just start singing the poem," she said.

But when it comes to picking favorites, it's no question, said Ball.

"Poetry—that's where I started out," she said. "Poetry loved me first and always appreciated me. She's my home."

"Vulnerable AF" will be released Tuesday, June 8. You can order a copy on andrewsmcmeel.com or from any other major book retailer. For book and music updates, follow Ball at instagram.com/ thinktank20 or visit tankandthebangas.com. For details on the "Vulnerable AF" on book tour, go to readpoetry.com/tarriona-ball. inweekly.net

Summer Stacks 'Tis the season for beach reads and celebrity memoirs, and, as always, we are 100% here for it.

To get you started, here are some of the season's hottest recent and upcoming releases to add to your summer reading lists. And just in case you like your poolside books a little heavier, we also included some historical reads, a true-crime mystery and multiple essay collections.

and it definitely has a "Get Out" meets "The Devil Wears Prada" vibe. An added reason to check it out—It's already been picked up for a TV adaptation.

YEARBOOK

By Iván Monalisa Ojeda (Out Now) Ojeda, a Chilean transgender performer and author, delivers a collection of raw and raunchy stories centered around a community of trans and queer Latinx trying to make it in New York City. It was translated from Spanish by Hannah Kauders and includes an introduction by Pedro Almodóvar.

By Seth Rogen (Out Now) Unlike a lot of us, Rogen was annoyingly productive in 2020. He kept producing film and TV projects, launched an insanely popular cannabis company, made like 1,000 vases and really pissed off Ted Cruz on Twitter. He also wrote a book, and it's different from most celebrity tell-alls that don't actually tell much. Rogen really overshares in "Yearbook," and it's definitely worth a read if you like him, even just a little bit.

SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER: A MEMOIR

By Ashley C. Ford (Out Now) Glennon Doyle has already declared that "Somebody's Daughter" will be a book of the year, and we couldn't agree more. In it, Ford tells the story of her childhood in Indiana and how it was defined by the absence of her incarcerated father.

HOW THE WORD IS PASSED: A RECKONING WITH THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY ACROSS AMERICA

By Clint Smith (Out Now) Smith is an award-winning poet and staff writer at The Atlantic. His latest book is an incredibly well-researched contemporary portrait on slavery and how it built and continues to shape America.

THE OTHER BLACK GIRL

By Zakiya Dalila Harris (Out Now) This social thriller is about a Black employee at a New York-based publishing house

GRAPHIC NOVELS

KIDS BOOKS

LAS BIUTY QUEENS

MALIBU RISING

By Taylor Jenkins Reid (Out Now) Set in Malibu in 1983, this novel tells the story of four famous siblings and an endof-summer party that changes everything.

Reid is the bestselling author behind "Daisy Jones & The Six," which was on just about every Best Books of 2020 list published.

THE HOUSEWIVES: THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE REAL HOUSEWIVES

By Brian Moylan (Out Now) If you're a fan of the "Housewives" franchise, you're going to love this behind-thescenes view from Moylan, who writes the "Housewives" recaps for vulture.com.

IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

By Kathy Wang (Out Now) If a woman-dominated corporate espionage story sounds like something you'd be into, "Impostor Syndrome" should be the next novel you crack open. It's all about big tech and foreign surveillance and features two strong female characters.

DEAR SENTHURAN

By Akwaeke Emezi (June 8) This is the first memoir from Emezi, whose 2020 novel "The Death of Vivek Oji" established them as an important literary voice. "Dear Senthuran" is set up like letters to friends and family, and each one is a must-read.

ANIMAL

By Lisa Taddeo (June 8) You probably remember Taddeo from her best-selling nonfiction book "Three Women." This is her fiction debut, and even though she digs into many of the same themes, mainly female desire and rage, "Animal" is a totally different kind of read.

IN THE HEIGHTS: FINDING HOME

By Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes and Jeremy McCarter (June 15) If you loved "Hamilton" enough to buy the book, you'll probably want to do the same with "In the Heights: Finding A Home."

"In the Heights" is Miranda's 2008 Broadway debut about the largely Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City. The highly anticipated and COVID-delayed film adaptation is finally coming out June 10. The book goes be-

hind the scenes of the script and tells untold stories. It also includes the lyrics to Miranda's songs.

HELL OF A BOOK

By Jason Mott (June 29) This work of fiction is about an author on a book tour who encounters a possibly imaginary child. While that might sound like a super unrealistic plot, Mott actually uses the fictional characters and setups to explore very real topics like racism and police violence.

CARRY ON: REFLECTIONS FOR A NEW GENERATION

By John Lewis, foreword by Andrew Young (July 13) In his last months, while battling cancer, the late Congressman and Civil Rights icon dedicated time to share his memories, stories and advice for future generations.

GOLDEN BOY: A MURDER AMONG THE MANHATTAN ELITE

By John Glatt (July 20) For all you true crime junkies out there, this one is for you. It explores the story of Thomas Gilbert Jr.—a New York socialite accused of murdering his millionaire father.

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13

The Stories We Tell Ourselves with John Paul Brammer

By Sydney Robinson

John Paul Brammer / Photo by Zack Knoll

Writer and artist John Paul Brammer's debut book "¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons" is an advice column come to life.

Brammer, who writes a popular advice column also titled "¡Hola Papi," stretches and molds the essay format to fit his carefully crafted tales about identity and the stories we tell ourselves.

"For this book, I'm not writing as 'Papi,' I'm writing as John Paul. I saw this book as my letter," Brammer said.

Throughout the essays, Brammer shares his struggles to define his identity as a gay man, as a Mexican American and as a human being. Brammer learns from and with the people he dates and interacts with, building a mosaic from pieces found along the way.

"The book begins and ends with an existential crisis—What gives me the authority to help this person? I don't have a license or certification to be in the world I'm in right now as an advice columnist. Do all of these [stories] cohere into anything, into a diploma to be a wise figure?"

Each essay, titled as a "How To," provides Brammer with an opportunity to define an aspect of himself, from exploring what it means to be a man ("That's what being a 414 1

boy was about—dominance."); to be in love ("Love is nothing without fiction. It's a story, and like any story, it can be told well or told poorly."); to "looking" gay ("In the way I was dressing … I wasn't speaking my mind. I was apologizing."); to being a non-white person in America ("I felt no right to stand in it, but at the same time, I felt an obligation.").

Each aspect of the book was carefully curated—from the selection of stories to the colors and symbols on the cover art.

"I designed this book to be very accessible, a bit more commercial, an introduction for me to a lot of people who haven't read me before. I wanted it to reach as many people as possible. I'm very into visual vocabulary, and I wanted to sort of meld the important chapters into symbols. I want people to notice this book and bring it home," Brammer said.

This degree of intentional curation is something Brammer is familiar with, and he says the voice belonging to "Papi" is just one side of his multifaceted creative energy.

"With most artists, we have a bunch of different brains and personalities. I really do know the 'Papi' voice like the back of my hand. It comes from a genuine place. It just has this shininess, this gloss to it. That's very intentional," he said.

Part of Brammer's goal in writing "¡Hola Papi" is to instill in every reader a sense that they have something to share.

"These aren't even necessarily the most important, the worst, the best [stories] that have happened to me. What's more interesting is what we glean from our life experiences. We have so much to us, so much richness in all of our histories."

When Brammer isn't penning memoirs or doling out advice for his column, which he selfpublishes regularly on Substack, he is exploring his newfound creative outlet—visual art.

"I pursued writing because I thought it was more practical in the grand scheme," said Brammer. "I remember for a long time having this crisis that I felt like I had things to make but I couldn't make them, and I was really tortured about that. I would look at art in museums, get so inspired and feel so helpless because I didn't know how to start because I had sort of divested from art."

Without other distractions, Brammer used the quiet moments of 2020 to explore this lesser-developed aspect of his creativity.

"It was during isolation that I started taking [visual art] seriously and learning things and making art in earnest. Nowadays, I can create the things that come up in my brain," Brammer said.

"I was living half a life before I was doing this. I see [making art] as language. Say what you feel, communicate."

In his book, Brammer talks about claiming his identity as a Mexican American, seeking external sources of validation—both negative and positive—as well as using that identity in sometimes exploitative ways during the early days of his writing career.

"It's something that I struggle with quite a bit. On the one hand, I would like to distance myself from the industry appetite, this idea of wanting certain voices at certain times for certain things, calling it progressive or inclusive."

Brammer says that marginalized groups sometimes feel they are called upon only to speak about their minority identity, a selective inclusivity that is imperfect at best.

"On its face, it could look pretty inclusive that you've got a certain number of non-white or LGBTQ authors with pieces equal in number to other people's pieces— but what they are about matters. In my history, I have quite often felt guided to certain points of view. They have already presupposed how you feel about something."

Brammer notes that his ability to reflect on the early days of his career and be selective about how he uses his identity today is a position of privilege.

"Back then, I just needed to make rent," Brammer said.

That tendency to reduce a person to just one aspect of their identity has cropped up in the early reception of his book, with

some reviewers indicating that "¡Hola Papi" is meant for LGBTQ+ or gay male audiences despite the universality of his experiences.

"I talk about falling in love with my best friend from high school. Yes, that is two men; yes, I describe the hurdles in place to describe my feelings, but at the end of the day, I'm writing about desire, passion, unrequited love, pain—something anyone could relate to."

Ultimately, Brammer urges his reader to examine their own version of truth and history, to see their view of themselves not as a cemented certainty, but something far more negotiable.

"We don't have CCTV footage in our heads; we just have our understanding.

This is me acknowledging that these are just stories I've told myself. Can I find agency in that? Empowerment in myself?"

Brammer reflects on the first story in his memoir, a memory of brutal bullying, and how when he returned to the seat of that trauma, the memory was so much more daunting than the reality of the school building and grounds. Rather than being embarrassed of imperfect human memories, Brammer encourages readers to use that fallibility to create space for growth and forgiveness.

"We understand our lives through narrative. We are storytellers, but that doesn't make us liars; it makes us authors. That gives us agency," Brammer said. {in}

"¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons" will be released Tuesday, June 8. You can order a copy on simonandschuster.com or from any other major book retailer. You can also keep up with Brammer on Twitter and Instagram @jpbrammer and sign up for his newsletter at holapapi.substack.com. inweekly.net

WEEK OF JUNE 3-9

Arts & Encouragement hope, help and other signs of humanity at a time when we really need it...

Double Feature

By Savannah Evanoff

"They're very tactile," Croghan said. "You want to touch almost everything; we really can't, unfortunately. But that's really where I've fallen in love with a lot of the works that are on display, as just being mesmerized by the technical proficiency and artistic imagination. Having that come together into these pieces that just have this—whether it's ultimately a mysterious piece or a comical piece or just a 'How do they do that?'—that's one of the things that always gives me joy when I go see an exhibition."

Croghan likes how the contemporary exhibition upstairs is juxtaposed with a more traditional show downstairs—"End of Century."

END OF CENTURY "Stone Fruit" by Jesse Ring / Photo Courtesy of Pensacola Museum of Art

If you're a local art fan who's been missing regular museum programming, get ready for that to change. The Pensacola Museum of Art (PMA) has two truly unique and different exhibitions on view this summer.

A DEAD RECKONING

PMA Director Nicholas Croghan has been working with Adam Shiverdecker on curating "A Dead Reckoning: Contemporary Ceramics," featuring current artists who are "doing really amazing work," he said.

The idea was birthed when former PMA Director Amy Bowman invited Shiverdecker to do a national survey exhibition of contemporary ceramics. At that time, Croghan, then assistant director, helped plan what that might look like.

Then the pandemic hit.

"We had to reinvent the exhibition as we originally saw it," Croghan said. "Part of the reason was that some of the artists we wanted to exhibit could no longer participate, or they couldn't get access to their studios, or enough time went on after the fact that the work was longer available."

In addition, they wanted to address the social issues that had arisen, too, such as the protests following the murder of George Floyd.

"We expanded the scope of the artists we're exhibiting to include works by artists who were specifically engaging in social practices or other types of community engagement," Croghan said.

The show itself went through many permutations, Croghan said—they even changed its title. Shiverdecker recognized the history of the city as a military town.

June 3, 2021

"We ended up changing the title to 'A Dead Reckoning' to not only reference this term as a navigational military term, which basically refers back to trying to determine your current position," Croghan said. "And considering that things in the art world were so in flux—we still are—we thought this is a great way to kind of tie in the idea of trying to figure out where we are socially and artistically as we're kind of navigating this new normal."

The show features traditional forms of ceramics, such as throwing, solids forming and coil building, Croghan said. But they were also interested in exhibiting how contemporary ceramicists are changing the field, he said.

"We have artists that are working in mixed media fashion, in terms of using plastic extrusions and other really unique methods and materials," Croghan said. "Some of them are almost going so far as to call them 'ceramic chemists' in a way. It's something you see a lot in the art world right now is how artists are incorporating these new technologies—whether it's 3D printing or using CNC machines or virtual reality and digital technologies."

Croghan is particularly excited about an interactive component featured in artist Jesse Ring's installation "Stone Fruit," which encompasses the entire small gallery upstairs.

"By using a piece of the provided raw clay, museum visitors are invited to leave behind a material trace as an addition to the installation," Croghan said. "Contributions can represent a memory, hope and declaration of love or a memorial to someone passed. These additions will travel with the work to future venues."

As a fellow artist, Croghan loves seeing the craft that went into the works.

The works by Chéret and ToulouseLautrec are great examples of the rise of poster art, Wall said. Artists were able to use color lithography, a relatively new printmaking process, to print work more inexpensively and efficiently than ever, she said. And the French government created new policies to protect them from vandalism.

"There was a huge move by businesses and artists alike to start creating these printed poster advertisements," Wall said.

Colorful posters in Paris advertised cafes, cabarets, products and department stores.

Chéret became famous for his advertisements featuring women called Chérettes, who were depicted in bright colors with swirling garments, Wall said. Toulouse-Lautrec also did commissions for cabarets and entertainers but in a different style.

"His work really depicted the more realistic underbelly of Paris as opposed to Chéret's idealistic, exuberant women in his advertisements," Wall said.

The show also features decorative art objects and glassware. The museum has a collection of 19th-century glassware that was donated in 1985, featuring favrile glass by Tiffany Studios in New York and cameo glass from French houses, such as Emile Gallé," Wall said.

"Those artists really drew on nature for their inspiration and started using these new technological advancements to create these works of art that are really beautiful," Wall said.

Bringing those together in the gallery was Wall's favorite part. It was the first time artists were interested in making utilitarian objects beautiful, she said.

"There was this idea that everything in the home should have beauty and have artistic value," Wall said. "So everyday objects like vases, bowls, decorative objects around the home started taking on this prominence, and decorative arts became really popular. And the field as we know it kind of came to life during this period." {in}

Anna Wall, the chief curator, said the "End of Century" exhibition explores the period of artistic experimentation and innovation at the end of the 19th century. It centers on activity in France, specifically Paris, even though there were a number of movements that sprung up at that time across Europe and America that are grouped under the name Art Nouveau, she said.

The show highlights the strength of the museum's permanent collection, as it was drawn mainly from that and the collection of Patrick M. Rowe, Wall said.

"It's also a really exciting time in art history and I think has lots of connection points with our current society," Wall said. "It was a time when there was a lot of anxiety about technology and the Industrial Revolution. Artists at that time were both embracing new technologies to create really innovative ways of making art and also reacting against technology and the idea of mass-produced goods."

The exhibition features a poster by French artist Jules Chéret, several works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Japanese prints from an earlier period, Wall said. When Japan opened its doors to trade in the 1850s, after 200 years of isolation, one of the most popular art forms was woodblock prints.

"They were really easily traded, portable and accessible to artists working in Europe at the time," Wall said. "It became incredibly popular to explore Japanese art and culture."

WHEN: On view now-Sept. 12 One of the pieces in the show has another version hanging in Claude Monet's house in Giverny, WHEN: On view now-Oct. 10 France. Vincent van Gogh also colWHERE: Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. lected Japanese woodblock prints Jefferson St. and sold them out of a gallery in DETAILS: pensacolamuseum.org Paris, she said.

A DEAD RECKONING: CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS IN THE U.S. END OF CENTURY

15

a&e happenings LITTER-ALLY OBSESSED WITH GELATO: PENSACOLA HUMANE ADOPTION EVENT Dolce & Gelato, located at

2050 N. 12th Ave., is partnering with the Pensacola Humane Society to encourage shelter adoptions. Stop by Saturday, June 5, from 5-8 p.m. and help an animal find their forever home. Visit facebook.com/dolcegelatopensacola for more information.

BOW WOW ADOPTION LUAU The

Joy Committee will be hosting an adoption event at Gary's Brewery & Biergarten, located at 208 Newman Ave., from 3-8 p.m.

Saturday, June 12. For more information, visit facebook.com/garysbrew.

"FRIEND OF FOO" APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN The Foo Foo Festival Com-

WAYS TO GET TO PENSACOLA BEACH

The Pensacola Bay Bridge is now open, which is perfect timing for beach season.

Escambia County reminds eager beachgoers of the various ways to get to the beach.

Live Pensacola Beach traffic video and beach conditions are available at myescambia.com.

ECAT BUS Escambia County Area Transit discontinued service for the Route 61 detour across the Garcon Point Bridge with the Pensacola Bay Bridge opening. Normal schedules for Route 61 and Route 64 Beach Jumper will restart.

Note the following schedules: REGULAR SERVICE: •Routes: 1, 2, 32, 44, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 55, 57, 58, 59X, 60, 61 and 64 Beach Jumper MODIFIED ROUTES: •Route 31, 43, and 63: Runs Monday-Saturday, every two hours (Saturday Schedule) •Route 45: Runs Monday-Saturday, only every hour, 6 a.m.-5 p.m.

•UWF Trolley: (Summer Schedule) UWF Express Service runs Monday–Saturday Schedules are located on goecat.com and the ECAT Ride guide.

FREE TROLLEY SERVICE The Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA) will have free open-air trolley service along Pensacola Beach. The service runs Monday-Sunday, 4 p.m.-midnight, through Labor Day weekend.

FERRY Pensacola Bay Cruises Ferry Service restarted Wednesday, May 19, with daily service, seven days a week, between Downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach. Ferry trips last approximately 50 minutes, and all-day free parking is available at each of the departure sites.

DRIVE, BIKE OR WALK OVER THE BOB SIKES BRIDGE When you drive over

the Bob Sikes Bridge to Pensacola Beach, there is an electronic toll in place. Cash and coins are no longer collected in person.

The county encourages motorists to plan 616 1

ahead and use electronic toll collection devices (i.e. SunPass, E-Pass, Annual Pass, NC Quick Pass, Peach Pass, E-ZPass), tolling apps (i.e. PayTollo) or TOLL-BY-PLATE from SunPass.

PENSACOLA BEACH TRAFFIC HOTLINE Residents and visitors can report beach traffic issues via the Pensacola Beach Traffic Hotline at (850) 595-0862 or by emailing traffic@myescambia.com, offered by the Escambia County Transportation and Traffic Operations Division.

GRADUATIONS

ESCAMBIA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATIONS The Escambia County

High School graduations will take place June 4 and 7 at the Pensacola Bay Center, 201 W. Gregory St. For more information, visit pensacolabaycenter.com.

Dates and times as follows: FRIDAY, JUNE 4 •9 a.m. – Booker T. Washington •12:30 p.m. – Pensacola •4 p.m. – Escambia MONDAY, JUNE 7 •9 a.m. – Tate •12:30 p.m. – Northview •3:30 p.m. – West Florida •7 p.m. – Pine Forest

SANTA ROSA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION The Santa Rosa

County High School graduations will be Saturday, June 5, at the Pensacola Bay Center, 201 W. Gregory St. For more information, visit pensacolabaycenter.com.

•11 a.m. – Gulf Breeze •2:30 p.m. – Pace •6 p.m. – Navarre

NONPROFITS + FUNDRAISERS SEA TURTLE BABY SHOWER Support

the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center during the Sea Turtle Baby Shower with games, art vendors, music, giveaways and more. There is no entry fee, but donations are accepted. The Sea Turtle Baby Shower is Saturday, June 5, from 10 a.m.-noon at the Gulfside Pavilion at Casino Beach.

mittee is now accepting applications from nonprofit and for-profit entities who are interested in playing a part in this year's events as a "Friend of Foo." Nonprofits in the Pensacola area who recently applied and did not receive a grant for this year's festival but would still like to participate, or local for-profit businesses such as hoteliers, restaurants and bars who are interested in participating and benefitting, are encouraged to apply. To review the application process, visit foofoofest.com.

"Friend of Foo'' participants will receive local, regional and national visibility during the 12-day event via the festival's regional marketing campaign. When applying, entrants should be prepared to provide the name and title of their prospective event; the date, time and location for the event; its respective category; and details and imagery to support the concept. The deadline to submit to be a "Friend of Foo" is Friday, Oct. 1, by noon.

The Pensacola Foo Foo Festival will take place Nov. 4-15, 2021.

ARTS & CULTURE

PENSACON ANNOUNCES 2022 DATES Pensacon will return to its normal

February time period in 2022, following a pandemic safety-inspired 2021 move to May. Pensacon 2022 will take place Feb. 18-20 in downtown Pensacola. A slate of nine initial guests were announced during a press conference at the Bay Center. Some names include Donnie Dunagan and Peter Behn, voices of Bambi and Thumper from Disney's "Bambi," comic art legend Simon Bisley, and actor Dennis Christopher of "Chariots of Fire," "Breaking Away" and the 1990 miniseries "It." Tickets will go on sale soon. Keep an eye on pensacon.com or follow Pensacon on Facebook and Instagram for the latest details.

GRAND FIESTA PARADE Catch beads

and enjoy watching floats parade through downtown beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, June 4. Bring the entire family to one of Pensacola's favorite Fiesta events. In addition to the dozens of local krewes parading, special appearances will be made by a masked DeLuna LXXI, his queen and their court.

FIESTA BOAT PARADE The Fiesta Boat Parade with DeLuna's court, crew and parade of vessels set sail Saturday, June 5 at 4 p.m.

Visit fiestapensacola.org for more information.

HAND TO GOD PLT's latest show is the

raunchy and irreverent "Hand to God." Show dates are 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 4, and Saturday, June 5; and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 3, at Pensacola Little Theatre, located at 400 S. Jefferson. Tickets are $14-$20. For more information, visit pensacolalittletheatre.com.

DRAG SHOWS AT DOLCE AND GELATO Head to Dolce and Gelato, located at 2050 N. 12th Ave., for regular drag shows. For more information, visit facebook.com/dolcegelatopensacola

SCRIPTEASERS WITH PENSACOLA LITTLE THEATRE Scripteasers, Studio

400's and Pensacola Little Theatre's Script Reading Club, invites you to monthly script readings at PLT, 400 S. Jefferson St. Want to bring your scripts for the group to read and discuss? Contact Pensacola Little Theatre to get in queue. The group reads prospective scripts for future seasons as well as new scripts that need a table read before the next edit.

Not a playwright but love to read out loud? This is your easy, fun theatre night.

Fascinated by the play selection process?

Sit in for a listen and usually a lot of laughs.

Visit facebook.com/pensacolalittletheatre for more information and the latest dates.

MAYOKI BALL The Mayoki Ball wel-

comes the 2020/2021 Hornet Court 7-11 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at Sanders BeachCorinne Jones Resource Center at 913 S. I St. Must be 21 to attend. Dress is Florida casual. Tickets are $50-$65 and can be purchased at the door or by mailing checks to P.O. Box 167, Pensacola, FL 32591. Call (850) 712-1991 for more information.

THE CHORAL SOCIETY OF PENSACOLA'S WOMEN'S ENSEMBLE IN CONCERT The Choral Society of Pen-

sacola's Women's Ensemble, under the direction of Isabelle Peterson, will perform a free program of secular and sacred music at 4:40 pm on Sunday, June 6, at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, located at 9945 Hillview Drive. The pianist will be Meredith Stemen. For more information, visit choralsocietyofpensacola.org.

FIVE FLAGS DANCE ACADEMY RECITAL The Five Flags Dance Academy

Recital is 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at the Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox. Tickets are $27-$30. For more information, visit pensacolasaenger.com.

COMING SOON TO PENSACOLA CINEMA ART The Oscar-nominated film "Mi-

nari" will come to PCA Friday and Saturday, June 11 and 12, at 1 p.m. All tickets are $8.

Reserve your seats by emailing jpncinema@ inweekly.net

a&e happenings gmail.com or texting (863) 446-7300. PCA is located at 220 W. Garden St. For more information, visit pensacolacinemaart.com.

ONCE UPON A DREAM La Belle

Performing Arts presents "Once Upon a Dream" 10 a.m. Saturday, June 12, at the Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox. Tickets are $30-$33. For more information, visit pensacolasaenger.com.

Stamping Out a Month of Pride

By Jennifer Leigh

of Directors voted Wednesday to resume the Visit Pensacola event grant program for events taking place in fiscal year 2022. The grant program was paused in FY 2021 due to budget restraints and uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the resurgence of the program, new guidelines are in place. Major changes include one call for applications per fiscal year, grant workshops are mandatory, grant amounts will not exceed $25,000, the Visit Pensacola grant amount cannot exceed 50% of the applicant's overall event expense budget and 75% of the Visit Pensacola grant funding is to be used on marketing while 25% may be used on operations.

Visit Pensacola is now accepting grant applications for events occurring Oct. 1, 2021–Sept. 30, 2022. The grant deadline is June 8 at noon. All grant applicants are required to attend one of the workshops, which run through May 25.

The Visit Pensacola Grant Committee will meet to review and score applications June 15-16 at 2:30 p.m. at the UWF Historic Trust Bowden Building, First Floor. Applicants are encouraged to attend to present to the committee. Following, the Visit Pensacola Board of Directors will vote to approve grants on June 23 at the monthly board meeting. For more information on grant guidelines, scoring and the application process, please contact Nicole Stacey at nstacey@visitpensacola.com.

Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St.

JUNE 19: PRIDE AUTHORS BOOK READING AND SIGNING

Julie Still-Rolin, author of "Coming out in the South," will be signing books at noon, followed by Drag Queen Storytime from 2-4 p.m. at Bodacious Bookstore and Café, 110 E. Intendencia St.

SLEEPING BEAUTY Le Belle Performing Arts presents their version of "Sleeping Beauty" at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 12, at the Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox. Tickets are $30-$33. For more information, visit pensacolasaenger.com.

VISIT PENSACOLA EVENT GRANT PROGRAM TO RESUME WITH NEW GUIDELINES The Visit Pensacola Board

JUNE 17: PAINTING WITH PRIDE

JUNE 19: PRIDE SINGER/SONGWRITERS A celebration of local LGBT

talent at Kingfisher, 1500 Barrancas Ave. Show is from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

After missing in-person events in 2020, Stamped—Pensacola's LGBTQ film festival—is celebrating Pride Month with a full calendar of events.

From drag shows to book signings, there is literally an event for everyone to show their pride or support their LGBTQ family and friends. Stamped is hosting some of the events themselves and just helping to get the word out about others.

C. David Newton, president of the Stamped board, says the events wouldn't be possible without the love and support of local businesses and organizations.

"People were so willing to help us create spaces and places," he said. "So many of our allies have stepped up to say, 'What can we do?'"

With a year of canceled events and fundraisers, the nonprofit has missed out on outreach, Newton said. These events help educate, but they're also a way to promote the work of the film festival—which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall.

"I never would've imagined coming back to Pensacola as an adult and having this festival," said Newton. "And we're all working together to create something even grander next year."

Part of their outreach is finding more volunteers to serve on various committees to make sure the festival continues to be an inclusive, welcoming and entertaining event. You can help select the movies that are shown each year or assist

the marketing or finance team. Any talent you have can be put to good use. Newton is also proud of the fact that the board strives for diversity and inclusion.

"We try to honor our mission that we set for the films," he said.

Ariel Jean is one of the new volunteers for Stamped; although it's only been a month, she said she's looking forward to bringing some "real-world insight" to the festival.

"The trans community often gets overlooked in the local LGBT events," said Jean, who is a trans woman. "We need more trans voices out there."

Like the Stamped weekend itself, Newton said he hopes all of the collaborative Pride events will help create a more accepting community.

"There will be a learning component, but we always encourage a good time," he said.

"We want to impact the lives of outsiders as well as those in the LGBT community."

PRIDE EVENTS

JUNE 6: SHOW US YOUR PRIDE AMATEUR DRAG FINALE Cabaret, 101 S. Jefferson St.

JUNE 13: STAMPED MINI PRIDE FILM FESTIVAL A collection of LGBT

films showing at Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. Starts at 2 p.m.

JUNE 14: KARAOKE

Cabaret, 101 S. Jefferson St. Starts at 9 p.m.

JUNE 24: SINGING WITH PRIDE

Pensacola Opera hosts an evening of songs, arias and show tunes by LGBTQ+ composers with performers Sheila Dunn, Corey McKern and Cody Martin. Show starts at 7 p.m. at the Pensacola Opera Center, 75 S. Tarragona St. Goodwill offering benefits Stamped Film Festival.

JUNE 25: PRIDE HOLLYWOODSTYLE DRAG SHOW A family-friendly drag show at Dolce and Gelato, 2050 N. 12th Ave.

JUNE 26: PENSAPRIDE This event is

being hosted by Strive and Pensacola Arts Market (PAM). From 10-11 a.m., there will be a car caravan from Open Books to the regular PAM location, 2725 W. Cervantes St. The PensaPride event will feature visual and performing artists from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, visit facebook. com/socialisttransinitiative.

JUNE 26: PRIDE RIDE SOCIETY

Ride Society is having a big day of Pride rides on June 26. For more information and to book a bike, visit ridesociety.com.

Learn more about Stamped and ways to support the festival by visiting stampedfilmfest.com. You can also find updates and details on these events and more at facebook.com/stampedfilmfestival.

CALLING ALL CREATIVES Inweekly is accepting submissions for our second annual “By You” issue.

Short stories, essays, poems, op-eds, interviews with your favorite uncle—whatever you’ve got, we want to read it. (Maximum word count—1,000 words) We are also accepting photography submissions. For consideration, those images need to be high resolution. (At least 250 dpi) The deadline for submissions is Friday, June 25. All pieces must be in electronic format and emailed to joani@inweekly.net.

All submissions will be reviewed by Inweekly staff, and our favorites will make it to print. (Some additional pieces may be published online only depending on length and space.) Chosen submissions will be published in one of our July issues..

June 3, 2021

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a&e happenings GALLERY NIGHT EVENTS TO RETURN IN JULY The Gallery Night Pensac-

ola Board of Directors has announced the return of its monthly Gallery Night events in Downtown Pensacola beginning July 16.

Gallery Night will once again host its monthly art-centric event on the third Friday of the month from 5-10 p.m. The July event will coincide with the city's upcoming bicentennial celebration.

Based on the most recent CDC reports and vaccine numbers, the board has decided that this outdoor event can once again take place at 100% capacity.

While CDC guidelines do not require a mask for any outdoor events for those that are fully vaccinated, the Pensacola Gallery Night Board does encourage mask usage for those who are not vaccinated or are at high health risk.

For more information, visit gallerynightpensacola.org.

PENSACOLA CHILDREN'S CHORUS AUDITIONS Pensacola Children's Chorus

auditions will be held Saturday, Aug. 7, and are open to students entering grades one-12.

PCC's season runs September-May with the aim of producing three fully staged, costumed and choreographed mainstage concerts—"Christmas on the Coast," "One World Many Voices" and "Showtime." However, these larger-than-life performances reinforce more than vocal ability. Throughout the season, students are immersed in personal and social growth designed to equip singers with the tools to succeed beyond the rehearsal hall and stage.

Interested families need to register for an audition time by visiting pensacolasings. org. Middle and high school singers should be prepared to learn a brief choreographed section to assess movement and learning style. All ability levels welcome. No prior experience or training is required. PCC is located in the Margaret Moore Nickelsen Center, 46 E. Chase St., on the campus of First Presbyterian Church in beautiful downtown Pensacola.

For more information about the Pensacola Children's Chorus, please call (850) 434-7760 or visit pensacolachildrenschorus.com.

URBAN REMIX OPENING RECEPTION AT FIRST CITY ART CENTER "Urban

Remix" is on view at Gallery 1060 through June 26. The exhibit includes street art design with iconic Pensacola points of interest. Guest artist is Jay Collins. The gallery is located at 1060 N. Guillemard St. For more information, visit firstcityart.org.

"A DEAD RECKONING: NAVIGATING CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS" EXHIBIT AT PENSACOLA MUSEUM OF ART "A Dead Reckoning: Navigating

engagement with Claudia Rankine's "Citizen." The exhibit is on display through July 3 at Pensacola Museum of Art. For more information, visit pensacolamuseum.org.

STAND-UP COMEDY AT THE REX THEATRE Visit The REX Theatre every

Friday at 8 p.m. for national stand up acts.

Tickets are $26-$35 at the door. For more information, visit rexpensacola.com.

COMEDY MAGIC SHOW AT THE REX THEATRE Comedy magician Tom Coverly,

Contemporary Ceramics" is now on view at Pensacola Museum of Art, which asks viewers, "Where is the field of American ceramic art going?" For more information, visit pensacolamuseum.org.

known as "The Illusionist," performs Saturday nights at The Rex Theatre, located at 18 N. Palafox. Shows start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10-$35. For more information, visit rexpensacola.com.

"END OF CENTURY" EXHIBIT AT PENSACOLA MUSEUM OF ART End

OPEN MIC COMEDY AT BIG TOP BREWERY Try out some new jokes or

of Century, an art exhibit featuring Art Nouveau glassware and works on paper, is a new exhibit at the Pensacola Museum of Art. This special exhibit includes items from the museum collection as well as the collection of local art supporter and educator Dr. Patrick M. Rowe.

Dr. Rowe received his Ph.D. in Art History at Florida State University in 1989 and taught art history at the University of West Florida and Pensacola State College until his retirement in 2010. He has served on the Pensacola Museum of Art Board and on the PMA Collections Committee and has acted as a dedicated supporter and resource for museum staff throughout the years. In 1988, Rowe began taking an interest in 18th and early 20th century printmaking, which led to his impressive collection of works from the time period, many of which are showcased in End of Century.

End of Century will be on view at the Pensacola Museum of Art until Oct. 10.

Visitors can learn more about the exhibition, sign up for additional programming opportunities and purchase tickets through pensacolamuseum.org.

CITIZENS SPEAK AT PENSACOLA MUSEUM OF ART The "Citizens Speak"

exhibition represents a collection of student work across disciplines based on their

enjoy some homegrown talent every Monday at 7 p.m. for Open Mic Comedy at Big Top Brewery, located at 21 W. Romano St. Everyone gets five minutes depending the number of sign-ups. Registration begins at 6:30 p.m.

NEW CLASSES AT MIXON MAGIC PERFORMING ARTS Mixon Magic Per-

forming Arts (MMPA), a boutique performing arts studio located at 1010 N. 12th Ave., Ste. 238, will be offering a limited class schedule this fall. MMPA offers professional dance, fitness and "Mommy and Me" instruction for all ages and skill levels with weekly classes including, but not limited to, Creative Movement, Ballet/Jazz Combo, Broadway, Tap, Showstoppers, Acting and Voice. Classes will be provided for children as young as 2 years old (with a parent or guardian) through adult.

MMPA is dedicated to the safety and well-being of all students and families and has implemented protocols based on guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Masks are required for entry into the building and studio. More information about Mixon Magic Performing Arts can be found at mixonmagic.com, by contacting hello@mixonmagic.com or emily@ mixonmagic.com or by calling (850) 221-7438.

QUEERING SPACES: CELEBRATING PENSACOLA'S LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Queering Spaces is a new exhibit exploring the history of the Pensacola Queer Community, going beyond Memorial Day Weekend and Pride to uncover the longlasting impacts of Pensacola's vibrant past.

The exhibit is on view at T.T. Wentworth Jr. Museum, located at 330 S. Jefferson St.

BLACK CITIZENSHIP IN THE AGE OF JIM CROW On view at Voices of Pen-

sacola is "Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow," a traveling exhibition from the New York Historical Society Museum & Library with additions from the African American Heritage Society of Pensacola. To learn more about it, visit africanamericanheritagesociety.org. Voices of Pensacola is located at 117 E. Government St. and open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

CRAFT CLASSES AT STUDIO SOUTH ON NINE MILE Learn a new craft or meet

up with other makers at Studio South.

Tuesday is Knit Night 4-7 p.m., and Sit & Stitch is Saturdays 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Both classes are free. For a full calendar of events, visit studiosouthon9mileroad.com. Studio South is located at 955 E. Nine Mile Road.

CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS AT FIRST CITY ART First City Art Center offers a wide

range of classes and workshops for artists of all levels. Classes include glass blowing, ceramics, painting and drawing, kiln-forming, stained glass and more. For a complete list of classes and times, visit firstcityart.org.

LIVE MUSIC

BANDS ON THE BEACH Bands on the Beach is back. The free concert series features shows each Tuesday night, from 7-9 p.m., from April to October at the Gulfside Pavilion at Casino Beach.

UPCOMING DATES: •June 8: Modern Eldorados •June 15: Elvis Remembered BANDS ON THE BLACKWATER Following the cancellation of the complete 2020 schedule due to COVID-19, the City of Milton is bringing back the popular concert

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a&e happenings series starting Friday, April 2. All concerts will be held from 7-9 p.m. at Jernigan's Landing, 5158 S. Willing St. UPCOMING DATES: •June 4: Joey Collins •June 11: Christina Christian

JAY MOODY LIVE Musician Jay Moody

TUNES BY THE DUNES SUMMER CONCERT SERIES Tunes by the Dunes

Pat Meusel will be performing at Dolce & Gelato, located at 2050 N. 12th Ave., from 4-7 p.m. Friday, June 11. Visit facebook.com/ dolcegelatopensacola for more information.

is a free summer concert series held every Thursday evening from 7-9 p.m. in the summer months on Navarre Beach at 8649 Gulf Blvd. For more information, visit navarrechamber.com/tunes-by-the-dunes.

•June 10: Bay Bridge Band •June 17: Platinum Premier Band •June 24: Jay Williams Band

SONGWRITERS LISTENING ROOM AT JUANA'S PAGODAS Songwriters Bernie

Nelson and Andy Velo will entertain with their songs and the stories behind them at Juana's Pagodas, 1451 Navarre Beach Causeway, from 7-9:30 p.m. on Friday, June 4. Seating is limited and food and beverages will be available from the Juana Bites Pizza Kitchen. For more information and ticket prices, visit juanaspagodas.com.

JOHN FOWLER LIVE Head to Gary's

Brewery & Biergarten, located at 208 Newman Ave., for live music from John Fowler 6-9 p.m. Friday, June 4. Visit facebook. com/garysbrew.

will be playing at Gary's Brewey & Biergarten, located at 208 Newman Ave., from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, June 5. Visit facebook.com/ garysbrew.

PAT MEUSEL AT DOLCE & GELATO

NICK ANDREWS LIVE Nick Andrews will be playing at Gary's Brewey & Biergarten, located at 208 Newman Ave., from 6-9 p.m.

Friday, June 11. Visit facebook.com/garysbrew.

TOWN AND COUNTRY BEN BELL Mr.

Town and Country himself will be playing at Dolce & Gelato, located at 2050 N. 12th Ave., from 5-7 p.m. Saturday, June 12. Visit facebook.com/dolcegelatopensacola for more information.

LIVE MUSIC AT RED FISH BLUE FISH PENSACOLA BEACH Head to Red Fish

Blue Fish for live performances from local bands Fridays and Saturdays all day. For musician lineups, visit facebook.com/redfishbluefishpensacolabeach.

CURT BOL JAZZ QUARTET Visit Five Sisters Blues Café, located at 421 W. Belmont St., Sundays from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

and listen to Curt Bol Jazz Quartet. Visit curtbolband.com for more information.

Show starts at 6:30 p.m. Visit sevillequarter.com for more information.

OPEN JAM AT ARTEL GALLERY Artel

FITNESS + RECREATION

Gallery is open from 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays for open jam with Pensacola Folk Music Society. Feel free to visit and listen to music. Artel Gallery is located at 223 S. Palafox.

KARAOKE AT MUGS AND JUGS Sing your heart out Sundays at Mugs & Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway, or just enjoy drinks friends with $4 Smirnoff and $6.50 domestic pitcher drink deals from 7 p.m.-3 a.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/mugsjugs.

LIVE MUSIC AT HUB STACEY'S Sit back

with good food and live music at Hub Stacey's, located at 312 E. Government St. For a full calendar of bands, check hubstaceys.com.

MONDAY NIGHT BLUES AT SEVILLE QUARTER Seville Quarter and the Blues

Society of Northwest Florida bring the "Blues" back to the Seville Quarter Entertainment District, located at 130 E. Government St. every Monday night in End O' the Alley starting at 7 p.m. For more information, visit sevillequarter.com.

TUESDAY NIGHT JAZZ AT SEVILLE QUARTER Enjoy smooth jazz with Me-

lodious Allen and The Funk Heads every Tuesday night at Lili Marlene's in Seville Quarter, located at 130 E. Government St.

PENSACOLA FERRY SERVICE RETURNS The Pensacola Bay Cruises Ferry

Service is now re-open with daily service, seven days a week, between Downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach. Ferry trips last approximately 50 minutes, and all-day free parking is available at each of the departure sites.

Tickets are $26 roundtrip for adults; $20 roundtrip for military, disabled persons and students; and $15 roundtrip for children 3-15. Children 2 and under ride for free. A locals card may be purchased for additional discounts. The ferry service operation schedule is available on pensacolabaycruise.com.

PENSACOLA PARKRUN RETURNS

The Pensacola Rec Plex North parkrun will return 7:30 a.m. Saturday, June 5. The weekly timed 5K run or walk takes place at the University of West Florida and is open to everyone, regardless of fitness level. For more information, visit facebook. com/rpnparkrun or email recplexnorth@ parkrun.com.

for more listings visit inweekly.net

It only takes one person to slash the statistics.

Did you know that 1 in 10 children Escambia County are victims of child abuse? It’s time to change that number. Visit KnowChildAbuse.org to learn to recognize, report and reduce child abuse.

June 3, 2021

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Pensacola Metro Dashboard The dashboard measures health, education and economic success and can be used to identify what is going well, what needs to be improved and where we can focus our efforts to create the most positive change. The Studer Community Institute has been providing the dashboard since 2014.

Recently, there was a report comparing 2019 to 2020. We heard feedback that a comparison from 2014 to 2020 would be helpful.

Some metrics are improving, but still have a way to go. Some areas show a lack of progress that, ultimately, could hold our community back. All the measures reflect the most recently available data, with a lag time for some based on how the data is collected and reported.

Kindergarten Readiness 2014: 66.2% 2020: 48%

Escambia County

2014: 80.9% 2020: 78%

Santa Rosa County

Down 18.2% Down 2.9%

Children who are not ready for kindergarten may struggle to catch up.

After 2014, the state paused readiness testing, chose a new readiness test and issued new rates beginning in 2017. Source: Florida Department of Education.

CRA’s Urban Core tax base has increased by over 80% from $663,058,724 in 2012 to $1,014,258,099 in 2018.

2010.............................................. $674,859,510 2011 .............................................. $664,449,542 Stadium 2012.............................................. $663,058,724 2013.............................................. $716,623,880 2014.............................................. $669,127,240 2015.............................................. $797,693,428 2016.............................................. $849,285,988 2017.............................................. $917,937,273 2018........................................... $1,014,258,099 CRA Urban Core Amounts by year from 2010 – 2018. This money is available for new development and rehab of existing developments.

The Pensacola Community Redevelopment Agency utilizes a multi-layered approach to programming and investment within each of its three redevelopment districts.

Although varying somewhat by district, annual programming generally includes affordable housing redevelopment, complete streets initiatives, parks and public spaces, crime reduction and community policing, commercial property improvements, residential property improvements and downtown improvements.

SOURCE: City of Pensacola Community Redevelopment Agency Annual Report • FISCAL YEAR 2018

VPK Participation

Crime Rate

Escambia County

2014: 63.8% 2020: 36.1%

Down 27.7%

Escambia County

Santa Rosa County

2014: 63.4% 2020: 46.3%

Down 17.1%

Santa Rosa County

Research suggests that children who complete VPK are more ready for kindergarten than those who don’t. Source: Voluntary Prekindergarten Estimating Conference

Santa Rosa County

2014: 13.1% of births 2019: 14.6% of births

2014: 11.7% of births 2019: 13.4% of births

2015: 36% 2019: 28.3%

Santa Rosa County

Up 1.7%

Santa Rosa County

2014: 50.3% 2019: 40.3%

2014: 45.5% 2019: 44.7%

Down 10% Down .8%

The rule of thumb for affordability is that housing should cost no more than 30% of your monthly income. This point tracks the percentage of people who spend more than that on rent. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Overweight and obesity rate Down 2%

Escambia County

Down 7.7%

Santa Rosa County

This tracks average child care costs (for one infant and one preschooler) as a percentage of median income for single-parent families. The expense of childcare impacts other financial choices a family is able to make.

Source: US Census Bureau / American Community Survey

of Law Enforcement

Escambia County

Cost of Child Care Escambia County

Down 18.8%

This measures the number of crimes reported per 100,000 citizens, including both violent crimes and property crimes.Source: Florida Department

Up 1.5%

Escambia County has struggled in this area for years, ranking near the bottom in preterm birth rate among 17 counties of similar population.

2015: 49% 2019: 47%

2014: 1,296.7 2019: 1,052.8

Down 28.1%

Rent-Burdened Households

Preterm Births Escambia County

2014: 4,760.7 2019: 3,418.8

2013: 59.8% 2019: 63.2%

2013: 60.9% 2019: 63.2%

Up 3.4% Up 2.3%

Two out of three people in the Pensacola metro area are either overweight or obese, meaning they have a body mass index of 25 or higher.

Obesity-related health problems diminish worker productivity and add cost to the health care system. Source: Florida Department of Health

Studeri.org/dashboard The Studer Community Institute is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

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2014 to 2020 Comparison Single-Parent Households Escambia County Santa Rosa County

2014: 39.5% 2019: 43.8%

2014: 26.3% 2019: 20.3%

Middle class households Up 4.3%

Escambia County

Down 6%

Santa Rosa County

Children living in single-parent families face more economic and social hurdles than their peers from two-parent families. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Santa Rosa County

2014: 66.1% 2020: 75.5%

2014: 45.3% 2020: 33.2%

Up 9.4%

Escambia County

Down 12.1%

Santa Rosa County

Santa Rosa County

2014: 60.7% 2019: 59.1%

Santa Rosa County

2014: 27.2% 2019: 28%

Escambia County

Down 1.6%

Santa Rosa County

Santa Rosa County

2014: 82.8% 2020: 90.3%

2015: 306,327 2019: 318,316

2015: 161,021 2019: 184,313

Up 11,989 Up 23,292

After stagnating though the 2000s, the region’s population grew steadily, though Santa Rosa’s growth still outpaces Escambia’s. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Up 2.1%

Escambia County

Up .8%

Santa Rosa County

High School Graduation rate Escambia County

Up $17,651

Voter turnout

Communities with higher percentages of college-educated residents have higher wages overall. Pew Research Center study shows people with a college degree earned about $17,500 more a year than those with just a high school diploma.

2014: 66.1% 2020: 86.5%

2014: $60,317 2019: $77,968

Up $9,111

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Down 1.1%

College Graduates 2014: 24.9% 2019: 27%

2014: $46,655 2019: $55,766

Population

Labor force participation shows how many people who are eligible to work are doing so. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Escambia County

Up 3.1%

Median income is the very middle of the income scale — half of earners make more than that, half make less than that. It is one measure of the average person’s purchasing power and economic well-being.

Labor Force Participation 2014: 61.9% 2019: 60.8%

2015: 67.4% 2019: 70.5%

Median income

This helps measure poverty in a community. Children living in households at or below 185% of the poverty level are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals at their schools. Source: Florida Department of Education

Escambia County

Up 5.3%

“Middle class households” add to the economic activity, stability and vibrancy of a community — but there is a wide gap between the bottom of that range and the top of it. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Free & Reduced-Price Lunch Escambia County

2015: 64.5% 2019: 69.8%

2016: 73% 2020: 73.9%

2016: 68% 2020: 73.7%

Up .9% Up 5.7%

How healthy is democracy in your community? Voter turnout is one way to measure that. Source: Florida Department of State Division of Elections

Median workforce age Up 20.4%

Escambia County

Up 7.5%

Santa Rosa County

This tracks the percentage of students who finished high school in four years. Source: Florida Department of Education

2014: 37.2 2019: 37.3

2014: 39 2019: 40.6

Up .1 Up .4%

A younger workforce can be an indicator that young professionals are staying in their community — or being drawn to it from elsewhere — seeking a good quality of life. Source: American Community Survey

Studeri.org/dashboard The Studer Community Institute is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

June 3, 2021

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free will astrology WEEK OF JUNE 3

By Rob Brezsny

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): "It's

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): "There

is ecstasy in paying attention," writes Aries author Anne Lamott. That's always true for everyone, but it's extra true for you Aries people. And it will be extra ultra especially true for you during the next 20 days. I hope you will dedicate yourself to celebrating and upgrading your perceptual abilities. I hope you will resolve to see and register everything just as it is in the present moment, fresh and unprecedented, not as it was in the past or will be in the future. For best results, banish all preconceptions that might interfere with your ability to notice what's raw and real. If you practice these high arts with exhilarating diligence, you will be rewarded with influxes of ecstasy.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Your guiding wisdom comes from Taurus author Annie Dillard. She writes, "I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you." I suspect that Dillard's approach will enable you to maintain a righteous rhythm and make all the right moves during the coming weeks. If you agree with me, your crucial first step will be to identify the nature of your "one necessity." Not two necessities. Just the single most important.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): "All I want

to be is normally insane," said actor Marlon Brando. Yikes! I have a different perspective. I would never want to be normally insane because that state often tends to be sullen and desperate and miserable. My preferred goal is to be quite abnormally insane: exuberantly, robustly, creatively free of the toxic adjustments that our society tells us are necessary. I want to be cheerfully insane in the sense of not being tyrannized by conventional wisdom. I want to be proactively insane in the sense of obeying my souls' impulses rather than conforming to people's expectations. I bring this to your attention, Gemini, because I believe the coming weeks will be a fruitful time for you to be my kind of insane.

one thing to make a mistake, it's another to become wedded to it," advised author Irena Karafilly. Let's make that one of your key truths in the coming weeks. Now is a good time to offer yourself forgiveness and to move on from any wrong turns you've made. Here's a second key truth, courtesy of composer Igor Stravinsky—"I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge." Third key truth, from Sufi teacher Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan—"Don't be concerned about being disloyal to your pain by being joyous."

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): According to my

analysis of the astrological omens, the number of perfect moments you will experience during the next two weeks could break all your previous records. And what do I mean by "perfect moments"? 1. Times when life brings you interesting events or feelings or thoughts that are novel and unique. 2. Pivotal points when you sense yourself undergoing a fundamental shift in attitude or a new way of understanding the world. 3. Leaping out of your own mind and into the mind of an animal or other person so as to have a pure vision of what their experience is like. 4. An absolute appreciation for yourself just the way you are right now.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): "There is strong shadow where there is much light," wrote Virgo author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832). That's a good metaphor for you these days. Since I suspect you are currently shining as brightly as you possibly can, I will urge you to become acutely aware of the shadows you cast. In other words, try to catch glimpses of the unripe and unformed parts of your nature, which may be more easily seen than usual. Now, while you're relatively strong and vibrant, investigate what aspects of your inner world might need improvement, care and healing.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): According to

physicists, it's impossible for a human being to suck water up through a straw that's more than 34 feet long. So please don't even try to

do that, either now or ever. If, however, you have a good reason to attempt to suck water up a 33-foot straw, now would be an excellent time to do so. Your physical strength should be at a peak, as is your capacity for succeeding at amazing, herculean tasks. How else might you direct your splendid abilities? What other ambitious feats could you pull off?

probably even harder than usual to get work done, simply because life keeps bringing you interesting surprises that require your ingenuity and resourcefulness. The good news is that these surges of ingenuity and resourcefulness will serve you very well when the hubbub settles down a bit and you get back to doing more work.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Scorpio poet Ezra Pound had character flaws that bother me. But he also had a quality I admire: generosity in helping his friends and colleagues. Among the writers whose work he championed and promoted with gusto were 20th-century literary icons James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Hilda Doolittle, William Butler Yeats, Ernest Hemingway, William Carlos Williams and Robert Frost. Pound edited their work, arranged to get them published in periodicals and anthologies, connected them with patrons and editors, and even gave them money and clothes. In accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to be like Ezra Pound in the coming weeks. Make an extra effort to support and boost your allies.

Assist them in doing what they do well. To do so will be in your own best interest!

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): Aquar-

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Poet Tess Gallagher praises those times "when desire has strengthened our bodies." I want you to have an abundance of those moments during the coming weeks. And I expect that cultivating them will be an excellent healing strategy. So here's my advice: Do whatever's necessary to summon and celebrate the strong longings that will strengthen your body. Tease them into bountiful presence.

Treasure them and pay reverence to them and wield them with gleeful passion.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): "To

live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else," observed poet Emil Dickinson.

That's the truth! Given how demanding it is to adjust to the nonstop challenges, distractions and opportunities of the daily rhythm, I'm impressed that any of us ever get any work done. According to my astrological analysis, you Capricorns are now experiencing a big outbreak of this phenomenon. It's

ius-born August Strindberg (1849–1912) was a masterful and influential playwright. He also liked to dabble in painting and photography. His approach in those two fields was different from the polish he cultivated in his writing. "I am an amateur and I intend to stay that way," he testified about his approach in the visual arts. "I reject all forms of professional cleverness or virtuosity." Just for now, Aquarius, I recommend you experiment with the latter attitude in your own field. Your skill and earnestness will benefit from doses of playful innocence, even calculated naiveté.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Which of the astrological signs feels the deepest feelings? I say it's you Pisceans. You're connoisseurs of deep feelings, as well as specialists in mysterious, multi-splendored, brusheswith-infinity feelings. And right now, you're in the Deepest Feelings Phase of your personal cycle. I won't be surprised if you feel a bit overwhelmed with the richness of it all. But that's mostly a good thing that you should be grateful for—a privilege and a superpower!

Now here's advice from deep-feeling author Pearl Buck—"You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings."

THIS WEEK'S HOMEWORK: Testify about how you redeemed the dark side. Newsletter@ freewillastrology.com

freewillastrology.com

freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com Rob Brezsny © Copyright 2021

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news of the weird WAIT, WHAT? The Tail Company, based in the United Kingdom, is starting production of its newest offering, miTail—a Bluetoothenabled animatronic tail that wearers can control with a phone app, Nerdist reported on May 13. For example, a wearer might want to express emotions such as "frustrated and tense" or "calm and relaxed." Other moves include the Short Wag, the Happy Wag and the Erect Tremble. The company plans to start delivering the Kickstarter-supported products in August.

OH, CANADA Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan, had a mystery on their hands on May 7 when someone reported a load of fenceposts missing, RCMP reported on its website. Officers opened an investigation, but the "bucktooth bandits" were quickly identified: "The stolen goods were located in a beaver dam," said Constable Conrad Rickards. "A beaver—or beavers—helped themselves to the stash of posts and used them to help build a dam.

I tried locating said beavers but they were GOA (gone on arrival)."

DON'T GO THERE A papier-mache statue of a stegosaurus, placed outside the Cubic Building in a suburb of Barcelona, Spain, had an odorous secret, The Washington Post reported. On May 22, a father and son who were admiring the statue noticed a foul stench coming from it and peered into a crack in the dinosaur's leg. There they saw the body of a man. The 39-year-old was reported missing just hours before he was discovered; the local police said they don't suspect foul play. Instead, they believe the man dropped his phone in the statue's leg and tried to retrieve it, becoming stuck headfirst. He may have been in the statue for a couple of days, authorities said.

•Staff at the El Paso Zoo in Texas are preparing to press charges against a woman who jumped into a spider monkey exhibit on May 22 and fed Flamin' Hot Cheetos to the animals, the El Paso Times reported. Zookeepers found out about the stunt through Instagram, where someone posted video of the woman underneath a waterfall, with the monkeys just feet away. "This young lady decided to hop a fence, climb through some bushes, drop down into a 4-feet-deep moat, walk across the moat and then try to feed the spider monkeys," zoo director Joe Montisano said. "It was stupid. She's very fortunate that it didn't have a worse outcome for her or the animals." While the woman hasn't been named, her employer, Lovett Law Firm, recognized her and she was fired from her job there.

POLICE REPORT Two teenagers on their way home from a graduation party in the early hours of May 23 made the night even

By the Editors at Andrews McMeel

more memorable when their car crashed into the roof of a home in Eureka, Missouri, outside St. Louis. Authorities told KSDKTV that the driver lost control, rolled down an embankment, flipped over a fence and crashed front-end first into the master bathroom of the home. Startlingly, there were no injuries from the crash; the two teens escaped through the master bedroom, and two occupants of the home, who were sleeping at the time, were unharmed.

BRIGHT IDEAS On May 25, New York City councilwoman Helen Rosenthal virtually attended a finance committee meeting, commenting on school classroom sizes and education funding, as she shifted her focus back and forth between the camera and ... the road. She was driving her car during the meeting, the New York Post reported. During her time as a council member, she has advocated for improving bike lanes and expanding speed camera use, but since 2013, the license plate registered to her car has received 62 traffic violations, including three tickets for speeding in a school zone, all in 2020.

•Adele Belizaire, 54, was held in the Pinellas County (Florida) jail after a stunt she pulled to "blow off steam" on May 11, The Smoking Gun reported. Belizaire, frustrated with her loss of nearly $400 playing slot machines at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa, called the casino on her cellphone that evening from her hotel in Clearwater Beach and said, "I left a bomb in your casino."

What she failed to remember was that as a member of the casino's Player's Club, her phone number was on file. In her confession, she admitted that she has "anger issues."

COMPELLING EXPLANATION When Lee Bowman's neighbors in Sioux City, Iowa, failed to mow his lawn by the afternoon of May 23, after he had asked them to, he visited their home to complain, then tried to peel a registration sticker off one of their vehicle license plates. Some time later, however, police and firefighters were called to the neighbors' home, which was on fire. Investigators found a pile of sticks and plywood piled against the side of the house and evidence that gas had been used to start the fire. Bowman, 53, told police that he had seen the fire burning but didn't call 911 because it wasn't any of his business. But the Sioux City Journal reported that the kindling came from Bowman's home.

The fire caused an estimated $3,000 damage to the home, and the family requested a no-contact order from the court. Meanwhile, Bowman was held at the Woodbury County Jail on suspicion of arson. {in}

From Andrews McMeel Syndication News Of The Weird © 2021 Andrews McMeel

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com June 3, 2021

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Independent News | June 3, 2021 | inweekly.net