Sept 5issue by Inweekly

“We would do it probably for nothing just because it’s that great of an event.”

“It is a fundamental mystery as to why the universe is structured like this.”

“Worry not—there will be some songs that feature three guitars screaming at once.”

Independent News | September 5, 2013 | Volume 14 | Number 37 | inweekly.net

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winners & losers

winners WEST FLORIDA PUBLIC LIBRARY

In partnership with the Jazz Society of Pensacola and the Friends of the West Florida Public Library, the downtown Pensacola branch will open this month its Jazz Room, which will house the entirety of the Main Library’s collection of approximately 800 books, CDs, and movies covering the history, performance, and culture of jazz in its many forms. Other special features of the room include a listening station where patrons can sample a variety of jazz styles before deciding which albums to check out and jazz-related artwork donated by loyal library users.

BECCA BOLES The interim publisher for the

daily newspaper is a Pensacola native and wife of Escambia County Circuit Judge Joel Boles. As a marketing director for the newspaper and general manager of Bella Magazine, Boles has been a standout performer for Gannett, who owns the News Journal. She has been awarded several president’s rings, the top award within the Gannett’s community newspapers division. The Independent News wishes her well. It’s good to have a local running the daily.

RACHEL ZARIS This summer intern for

United Way's marketing department has been named that organization’s volunteer of the month for August. Zaris dedicated 142.75 hours of service and helped the marketing team design materials and launch new social media platforms. A recent UWF grad, she plans to pursue a career in public relations and marketing.

September 5, 2013

losers BONFIRE JAM Promoter Joe Lewis an-

nounced on Friday, Aug. 29 that this year’s event has been canceled as it became evident that the investment is no longer financially viable. Since 2010, Bonfire Jam has brought every December well-known country music talent to north Santa Rosa County.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY FLORIDA ANIMAL SHELTER On Aug. 29, a three-

year-old Labrador retriever mix named Cowgirl was mistakenly euthanized by the shelter just hours before her owners were to bring her home. The dog's intake card did not have an "arrow" drawn on the top right hand corner with the one word "over," indicating the dog was claimed and going home, according to the Facebook group, Lost and Found Pets of Pensacola and Surrounding Areas.

MILEY CYRUS It seems like everyone has a complaint with the troubled former Disney sitcom star for her tongue wagging, foam finger performance at the VMA awards show. Cyrus is following in the footsteps of other Disney alumni, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Well, at least, we still have Kurt Russell. JEREMY HUTCHINSON The Republican

state senator from Arkansas who is leading a legislative committee on the subject of giving guns to school teachers accidentally shot a teacher during an "active shooter" drill earlier this year. Fortunately, he was using only a rubber bullet-loaded pistol.

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The problem is the work release facility is under the care of Escambia County, not Sheriff David Morgan, and is in the county’s Community Corrections Department that is run by Gordon Pike, who will be running the jail in less than 30 days. Interim County Administrator George Touart, who refused to talk to our reporter Jesse Farthing for this week’s feature story, doesn’t want anything to rock the jail transition or upset the Department of Justice that is negotiating how the county will correct its findings regarding the jail. In 2007, the county commissioners hired Justice Concepts Incorporated (JCI) to make recommendations to improve our criminal justice system, reduce the overcrowding at the jail and look into the possibility of moving the jail away from the sheriff’s office to the county. The consultants’ final report never got released and their last invoice wasn’t paid. The final report didn’t recommend moving the jail out of Sheriff David Morgan’s control. However, JCI had several issues with Pike’s Pre-Trial Services and the Work Release Facility. JCI cited the judge’s concerns over the lack of supervision at the facility. The county staff refused to listen and disputed the recommendations. Now a man is dead. Hopefully someone will pay attention this time. {in} rick@inweekly.net

Why are county officials and the county commission being so quiet about this murder?

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An unarmed man is shot in his driveway after rummaging through his mother’s car for some smokes. Two dogs are shot, one of them later euthanized due to its wounds, after deputies enter a house without warrants. A man is killed and his alleged murderer is in the Escambia County Work Release Program, which is under the supervision of the same people that will assume control of the county jail on Oct. 1. Which one is not being investigated by the state or county? Which one barely got mentioned or made the mainstream media? Which one hasn’t been discussed in front of the television cameras by Escambia County Commission Chairman Gene Valentino? The murder of Adnan Glelati, the owner of 7 Stars Auto, and the subsequent arrest of Justin Princes Taylor, Jr., who had signed out that day from the Escambia County Work Release Facility to supposedly work for a nearby auto detailing shop. Amazingly 10 days before the murder, Taylor had been arrested for burglary and grand theft after he allegedly entered an unoccupied, unlocked residence and stole a Nintendo Wii. That day he also signed out from the county work release facility. So why are county officials and the county commission being so quiet about this murder? Surely a man’s life is more important than dogs and a man’s injured leg.

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Dr. Judy Bense / photo by Samantha Crooke

UWF IN THE HOOD The University of

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all the political news and gossip fit to print “It’s high time we were here,” said Bense. “Our enrollment is 30 percent minority, which is close to what we should be—a reflection of the community, only a better reflection.” She said, “We’re no longer the University for White Folks.” As of August 2013, the enrollment at the university is 12,699, of which 10,383 are undergraduates and 2,316 graduate students. Her goal is to increase the enrollment to 14,000 by 2015. Dr. Kevin Bailey, vice president for Student Aff airs, explained that the school’s diversity initiative is based on awareness, acceptance and respect. UWF recently hired Dr. Kim LeDuff as its first chief diversity officer, who was in attendance even though she doesn’t officially start work until this month. Last year, UWF was rocked when a series of nooses were found on the campus. Dr. Bense pledged to local ministers that she would meet the issues of diversity, racism and respect head on. The Aug. 29 breakfast was another step in that direction. “The university will be a leader in diversity,” said Dr. Bense. “UWF is about bringing people together from their relatively segregated lives and teaching understanding of and respect for our differences.”

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NEW DISTRICT 2 RESIDENT Voters elected this summer insurance agent Mike Hill to fill the term of the late state Rep. Clay Ford. His district includes Perdido Key, Pensacola Beach, the city of Gulf Breeze and all of Pensacola’s city limits. There was one catch—Hill lived at Marcus Point, which is outside of District 2. Our sources tell us that Hill has fi xed that problem by leasing a unit at Portofino Island Resort, which does not connect him with most of his constituents but definitely gets him closer to his campaign contributors. Even with 2010 redistricting, the city of Pensacola is left without a state representative or state senator that lives inside its city limits.

Committee on Veterans Affairs. “They’ve gotten everything they’ve asked for in the last 12 years in order to do their job, and yet the backlog of claims has grown.” Miller also talked about the epidemic of soldiers returning from the Middle East with post-traumatic stress disorder and how the VA needs to respond more quickly to mental health claims and implement suicide-prevention programs. “We’re not going to save everyone,” he said, “but the ones we can save, shame on us for not doing everything we can.” {in}

MILLER SPEAKS OUT IN LUBBOCK

Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Chumuckla) traveled to Lubbock, Texas to campaign for fellow GOP Rep. Randy Neugebauer. According news reports, Miller and Neugebauer told a breakfast crowd at a Lubbock VFW post that the Department of Veterans Affairs needs reform. “I truly believe until they change the culture in the VA, they’re not going to change the problems, including the backlog,” said Miller, who chairs the House

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September 5, 2013

CITY VOTERS LOSING CONFIDENCE to have worked. While voters are less confi dent about the direction of the city, they aren’t ready to blame their mayor for it. More rated his performance “excellent” in the IN poll than they did in June, 22—15 percent. However, more voters were unsure about Mayor Hayward, which brought his overall positive rating down seven percentage points, 57—64 percent.

WHAT INFERIORITY COMPLEX?

Pensacola City Hall / photo by Samantha Crooke

But They Still Love Their Mayor by Rick Outzen Pensacola voters’ confi dence in the direction of their city government has slipped further since the Pensacola Young Professionals conducted their Quality of Life Survey, according to a survey completed by St. Pete Polls for the Independent News. However the same poll showed that voters aren’t ready to blame Mayor Ashton Hayward for the loss of confi dence, though they may not vote for his re-election. Since PYP polled Pensacola voters for its Quality of Life report in June, the city of Pensacola has been rocked with the firing of City Administrator Bill Reynolds and a state attorney’s report that charged Reynolds and former Mayor Press Secretary Derek Cosson for violating the state’s public records law. The state attorney also questioned how the mayor’s administration handled public record requests, which prompted Mayor Hayward to hold, at taxpayers’ expense, a full day of training for his employees at the Saenger Theatre. The Independent News hired StPetePolls.org to see what the impact of those events was on Pensacola voters’ perception of Mayor Ashton Hayward and his administration. StPetePolls.org conducts General St. Petersburg polls regularly, about once every 45 days, to track the trending of opinion on several topics. The organization accurately predicted Mike Hill’s victory in the GOP 66

primary for House District 2, and even identifi ed the point when Hill moved ahead of the early favorite, Ed Gray III.

LOSS OF CONFIDENCE

The PYP survey showed that before the fi ring of Reynolds and the state attorney report, 71 percent of the city’s voters believed the city of Pensacola was headed in the right direction. Though that is a drop of 18 percentage points from the 2012 survey, the number refl ected a “relative degree of hope that things will continue to improve,” according to PYP. Since then, that “degree of hope” has fallen 28 points. By August 19, only 44 percent of Pensacola voters believed that their city was moving in the right direction. The percentage of unsure respondents jumped from 5.6 percent to 25.1 percent. Since he fi red his city administrator, Mayor Hayward has been nearly invisible. He hired an interim administrator, Colleen Castille, and stepped up the training day. He did hold in early August his fi rst Common Sense Pensacola class to teach people how to better handle their money, which got him some press, and launched his “Upwords” newsletter. However, for the fi rst time in his tenure, Hayward did not give a “State of the City” address when he delivered the budget to the city council. The political strategy of dodging diffi cult public conversations on city issues appears

When PYP announced on Aug. 7 the results of the Quality of Life Survey at the Greater Pensacola Chamber’s Gopher Club breakfast, Mayor Hayward and other community leaders were present to hear the good news. When the daily newspaper asked him about the results, Hayward said, “People believe we can be a real city and we don't have to have an inferiority complex." Few mayors would say that their citizens have an inferiority complex, but Hayward may not be far off in his assessment. The Independent News asked Pensacola voters whether they believe the city has an inferiority complex. One of five voters strongly agreed with the mayor. Another 28 percent somewhat agreed. A little over a third of Pensacola voters disagreed, and 15 percent were unsure. However, the recent events at city hall haven’t shaken the voters’ confi dence in the new city charter that created the strongmayor form of government. Hayward is the fi rst mayor elected under the charter and is the chief executive offi cer of the city and in charge of its operations. Prior to 2010, Pensacola was run by a city manager and the mayor’s role was more ceremonial. The IN poll found that 61 percent believe the city is run better under Mayor Hayward than the city-manager form of government. Only nine percent strongly disagree.

“People believe we can be a real city and we don't have to have an inferiority complex.” Mayor Ashton Hayward

RE-ELECTION CHALLENGE

Despite the majority of Pensacola voters having a positive rating of his job performance, they aren’t so sure about re-electing him. When asked if they would vote for Ashton Hayward for mayor if the election was held today, only 47 percent answered “yes.” One of four replied “no” and 27 percent weren’t sure.

In head-to-head battles with two candidates that have pre-filed, Donna Clark and former City Councilwoman Maren DeWeese, Hayward got over half of the votes. The challengers each failed to receive more than 15 percent of the votes. Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino, who lives inside the city limits at Port Royal Condominiums, has frequently been mentioned as a possible candidate for mayor. His second term ends next year. Valentino shouldn’t make the jump to city office, according to the IN poll. He got the fewest number votes of any challenger, 9. 4 percent. However, two other county officials did much better against Hayward, though the mayor still received over 40 percent of the votes. Supervisor of Elections David Stafford got 21 percent to Hayward’s 44 percent. Stafford won re-election last year to his third term. Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson did the best of any of the challengers, garnering 24 percent to Hayward’s 43 percent with a third of the voters unsure. Neither Stafford nor Robinson have said that they would run for Pensacola mayor in 2014, but they appear to have the name recognition and reputations to challenge Hayward.

GAMBLING ON 2014

When the Independent News published its mid-term of his administration (Independent News, “Being First Isn’t Easy,” Jan. 10), the paper questioned the wisdom of investing so much time in economic development while letting dayto-day operations slip. The worry was Hayward would try to coast to the 2014 election believing that his accomplishments in his first two years would sustain him. Hayward is coasting and the strategy may work. Teaching people how to balance their checkbooks isn’t as exciting as building community centers or trying to rein in the city pensions, but the voters don’t seem to mind. However, the public is losing confidence in the direction of the city, and the fall is steep. The percentage of Pensacola voters who believe Pensacola is headed in the right direction, according to the PYP survey, dropped 18 points from June 2012 to June 2013. That percentage fell another 28 points in just two months. Hayward’s popularity has also suffered, but not as much. In the summer of 2012, 76 percent gave him a positive job rating. That dropped to 64 percent in June 2012 and to 57 percent last month. Hayward’s popularity can’t handle too many more hits, which may leave him vulnerable in the 2014 mayoral primary. {in} inweekly.net

STPETEPOLLS.ORG SURVEY RESULTS The scientific results shown in the summary below have a sample size of 491 respondents and a margin of error of 4.4% at a 95% confidence level. The Independent News survey was done August 19. The PYP Quality of Life Survey was done June 17-20. Of the 800 people surveyed for PYP, 143 were city residents, and the margin for error was 8%.

Summary of Scientific Results:

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If the Pensacola election for Mayor was held today, would you vote for Ashton Hayward?

Is the City of Pensacola on the right or wrong track? IN Survey

PYP

Right track:

43.6%

71.3%

Wrong track:

31.2%

23.1%

Don't know:

25.1%

5.6%

How would you rate Mayor Ashton Hayward's job performance? IN Survey

PYP

Excellent:

21.9%

15.4%

Good:

34.6%

48.3%

Fair:

25.8%

28.0%

Poor:

9.4%

3.5%

Unsure:

8.4%

2.8%

Do you agree with this statement: The City of Pensacola has an inferiority complex.

Yes:

47.4%

No:

25.3%

Unsure:

27.3%

If the candidates for Mayor were Ashton Hayward and Donna Clark, who would you vote for? Hayward:

50.8%

Clark:

14.2%

Undecided:

14.2%

If the candidates for Mayor were Ashton Hayward and Maren DeWeese, who would you vote for? Hayward:

51.5%

DeWeese:

12.2%

Undecided:

36.4%

If the candidates for Mayor were Ashton Hayward and Gene Valentino, who would you vote for? Hayward:

60.4%

Strongly agree:

20.4%

Valentino:

9.4%

Somewhat agree:

28.2%

Undecided:

30.2%

Somewhat disagree:

27.6%

Strongly disagree:

9.2%

Unsure:

14.7%

Do you agree with this statement: The city is run better under Mayor Ashton Hayward than the city-manager form of government.

If the candidates for Mayor were Ashton Hayward and David Stafford, who would you vote for? Hayward:

44.1%

Stafford:

20.6%

Undecided:

35.3%

If the candidates for Mayor were Ashton Hayward and Grover Robinson, who would you vote for?

Strongly agree:

34.1%

Somewhat agree:

26.7%

Somewhat disagree:

14.9%

Hayward:

42.9%

Strongly disagree:

8.7%

Robinson:

23.9%

Unsure:

15.6%

Undecided:

33.2%

PENSACOLA

DESTIN

SANTA ROSA BEACH

TALLAHASSEE

Full polling report is available on RicksBlog.biz on “Polls” page. September 5, 2013

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ONE LAST BATTLE

Navid Garshasb during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm / courtesy photo

Dying Veteran Seeks Insurance Reinstatement by Jesse Farthing Navid Garshasb is dying. The 49-year-old decorated Air Force veteran sits in a hospice bed, looking frail, unable to speak and subsisting on a diet given through a tube. Doctors have given him only weeks to live. However, Garshasb is no stranger to difficult challenges. He has been fending off death since 2003 when he was diagnosed with brain cancer and given three months to live. Garshasb emigrated from Iran with his mother, brother and sister in 1976 to Syracuse, N.Y. where he attended high school and college and met his wife, Joani, before enlisting in the Air Force in 1986. He served for 19 1/2 years before being medically retired in 2006—six months shy of the 20 years required to draw pension. In his time with the Air Force, Garshasb was deployed to multiple locations in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm, where he provided infrastructure support like driving water trucks before transitioning to the intelligence field 88

so that he could make use of his fluency in five different languages to further his career and support the military. Garshasb was first assigned to Navarre as an airman basic in 1987, just after he and Joani married. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Garshasb was sworn in as a citizen of Pensacola before being shipped off. The Garshasbs moved around many times over the years before again landing at Hurlburt Field in 1999, where Garshasb served as an airborne linguist with the 25th Intelligence Squadron. “We didn’t realize it was going to be our last assignment,” Joani said, with a crack of sadness in her voice. “But, it is a joy to come back to the beach and have our kids grow up and graduate high school here.”

HISTORIC HELICOPTER CRASH

Garshasb was deployed to Afghanistan one month after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. At the beginning of November 2001, Garshasb was involved in the first helicopter crash of the war. Chronicled in two separate books—“None Braver: US Air Force Pararescuemen in the War on Terrorism” and “On a Steel Horse I Ride: A History of the MH-33 Pave Low Helicopters in War and Peace”—Garshasb was part of a medical evacuation mission in the mountains of Afghanistan when the high altitude caused a loss of pressure, forcing the helicopter down in enemy territory. The crash fractured two vertebrae and

a rib, damaged a rotator cuff and caused the onset of hypothermia. Things went from bad to worse when the crashed helicopter drew the attention of several natives in the area that began to descend on the site. Without knowing for certain whether the oncoming group was friend or enemy, Garshasb put down his weapon and approached them in an attempt to defuse a potentially volatile situation. He managed to utilize his language skills to encourage the men to turn back, preventing possible catastrophe, while ignoring his injuries. For these actions Garshasb was awarded a Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and also became the first non-rescue aviator to be awarded the William H. Pitsenbarger Award for Heroism. Garshasb went through several surgeries to get him back into shape after all of his injuries, but nothing slowed him down for long. “I remember this one time, he was pulling a Jet Ski out of the water after his surgeries and he dislocated one of his shoulders,” Garshasb’s son, Shahine said. “We asked him if he was alright, or if he needed any help, and he just pushed it right back in. He used to wake up, run 10 miles, do push-ups and then run back. He was strong.”

needed surgery immediately, but doctors didn’t know how successful a surgery would be. “When they did the surgery, they said, ‘Please get your affairs in order. We don’t expect him to live more than three months,’” Joani said. “And that was April 23rd of 2003.” He made it through with aggressive chemotherapy—the maximum allowable radiation for the brain and spinal area—and managed to walk with a cane. Though he had to medically retire from the Air Force in 2006, Garshasb seemed to be doing well. “He was good again,” Shahine said. He wasn’t good for long, though. Exactly 10 years after the helicopter

“I may not be able to save my husband, but I really want to save my family.” Joani Garshasb crash, in November 2011, Garshasb had a stroke. While undergoing treatment for the stroke, the family also learned of a blood disorder he had contracted as a direct result of the chemotherapy, which would require a bone marrow transplant to treat. He bounced back quickly after that, went through rehabilitation and physical therapy and made every effort to live a normal life. He would regularly attend events hosted by his old squadron, volunteered for his church in Navarre and by all accounts seemed to be doing well. Then a second stroke attacked him,

BRAIN TUMOR

Garshasb was deployed back to Iraq after his recovery, but it wasn’t long before his next trial began. It was in Iraq when an alert flight surgeon noticed his gait was off, sent him out for a brain scan and discovered a mass in his head. He was medically evacuated in April 2003 to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. for further tests. Garshasb had a gradefour brain tumor. He

Garshasb with his wife Joani / courtesy photo inweekly.net

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LIFE INSURANCE CANCELED

While in Sacred Heart Hospital for the stroke, Garshasb missed a payment on his Veteran’s Group Life Insurance. Joani didn’t know that he had been writing a check every month for the last seven years and assumed it was being automatically withdrawn from his VA benefits. Garshasb missed the December payment and the policy was canceled January 1, 2012, but Joani never received the letter telling them so. After the second stroke Garshasb had to go into a facility for rehabilitation where he contracted a stomach bug that hospitalized him again and left him on life support. He was not expected to survive being taken off life support, but he managed to sustain himself despite the grim prognosis. It was at this point that Joani was told that they had exhausted Medicare benefits for life. With nowhere to turn, Covenant Hospice stepped in and offered a bed for Navid at the end of July 2013, whether Medicare would cover it or not, and even allowed the family to bring in their dog for comfort. Since then, with Garshasb only expected to live a few more weeks, Joani has been looking into death benefits and what would be available to her family. She said she hoped that paying back all missed payments on the VGLI, through Prudential, would allow it to be reinstated. “I may not be able to save my husband,

Visit us online to learn more. but I really want to save my family,” Joani said. “It’s the only benefit that we have. I have a mortgage, I have two kids in college and we have given our lives to the military.” Friends of the family have set up a website to collect donations to help the family through their financial burden that has raised over $20,000 so far. “We may have had a lot of things happen to us but we have been very lucky with friends and community support,” Joani said. “Truly, people have reached out and made us feel covered in prayer and blessed with friendship.” Good news seemed to arrive on Thursday, when Daniel Fish, Military / VA Liaison for congressman Jeff Miller, called Joani to tell her that Prudential will provide benefits for up to one year beyond the lapse in payment if the premiums are back paid. Fish thought that the policy had been canceled in 2013, which would have allowed coverage up to January 2014, giving Joani and her family hope that they would be covered if Navid were to die before then. “If he lives past January 1, 2014, we will celebrate and forget the life insurance,” Joani wrote in an email. Unfortunately, it later turned out that even if the premiums were brought up to date, Garshasb’s coverage would only have extended to January 2013, meaning that the deadline had already come and gone. Prudential has now told Joani, again, that they will have to reapply for benefits— a process that has already taken several weeks and still requires a medical questionnaire and reinstatement application. These are things that will take time. Time that Navid Garshasb does not have. {in}

eB A P T I S T H E A L T H C A R E . O R G

“If he lives past January 1, 2014, we will celebrate and forget the life insurance.” Joani Garshasb

September 5, 2013

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The murder of Adnan Glelati, the owner of 7 Stars Auto, Inc., on Aug. 14, raises many questions about the supervisory practices of inmates in the Escambia County work release program, the Florida Department of Corrections and the way the two cooperate with one another.

According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report, Glelati’s friend Abdul Abumohaimed stated that he was at the car lot, which is located on North W Street one block north of Beverly Parkway in Pensacola, at 9 a.m. on the morning of the murder to have coffee with Glelati.

While there, Justin Princes Taylor Jr. arrived and inquired about purchasing a vehicle for $500. Abumohaimed told investigators that he had a “funny feeling” about Taylor, in part because Taylor had purchased a vehicle from Abumohaimed in the past that was subsequently repossessed.

He said that Taylor had made death threats toward him after the repossession. Taylor once worked at 7 Stars Auto and Glelati had also repossessed a car sold to him. Abumohaimed asked Glelati if he should hang around, but left the lot at 9:25 a.m. after being told he didn’t need to stay.

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Taylor was arrested and charged with homicide, robbery with a firearm and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon on Aug. 15.

CRIMINAL LIFE UNHAMPERED

Justin Princes Taylor Jr. / mugshot photo

Taylor has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2005 that includes burglary, grand theft, fraud and grand theft auto. Taylor had been placed in the work release program through a drug court case because, according to the Florida State Department of Correction’s Public Information Officer Jo Ellyn Rackleff, the court “decided he needed more supervision” after violating his probation by testing positive for marijuana. According to Escambia County spokesman Bill Pearson, Taylor entered the work release facility on July 25. Escambia County Judge Scott Duncan placed him in the program, via Drug Court. Judge Duncan refused to discuss his decision because of the active cases against Taylor. According to the statement by Larry Quales, who sold Taylor the revolver, Taylor’s commitment to work release was about the same time he bought the handgun. It’s illegal for a convicted felon to own a gun. However, being in the county’s work release program didn’t stop Taylor from allegedly committing other crimes. On Aug. 5, 10 days before he was arrested for the murder of Glelati, Taylor was charged with burglary and grand theft after he allegedly entered an unoccupied, unlocked residence and stole a Nintendo Wii that he subsequently sold for $17 to Trade N Save Video Games. Taylor provided his Florida ID card and right thumbprint for the transaction, which led to his arrest. The arrest apparently did not disqualify him from remaining in the work release program and going out into the community six days of the week. According to the DOC website, an inmate is ineligible for community release programs if he has a current or prior sex offense conviction, an escape attempt, a prior termination from a release program, a guilty verdict on any disciplinary report in the 60 days leading up to placement, refuses to complete a substance abuse program, has a felony or misdemeanor (other than child support) warrant, or if the inmate has been incarcerated four or more times in a state or federal corrections facility.

Justin Princes Taylor, Jr. was arrested for burglary, grand theft and murder all while checking in and out of the Escambia County Work Release Facility Glelati was found dead in the office at 9:50 a.m. when an employee came in for work. Taylor was located by deputies later that afternoon and brought in for questioning, where he made statements outlining what he was doing on the day of the murder. The 24-year-old had checked out of the Escambia County Work Release facility at 7 a.m., where his girlfriend picked him up and took him to her house. At 8 a.m. he said he dropped his girlfriend off at school and went to Wal-Mart to purchase a prepaid cell phone before going to work at Willie G’s Detailing Shop at 9 a.m., where he said that he stayed until 11:30 a.m. At 11:30, Taylor told investigators that he picked up his girlfriend from school and went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that lasted until 1 p.m., then went shopping at a Grocery Outlet, picked up some Taco Bell and went back to the girlfriend’s home until 7:30 p.m. The investigators did check with Willie Gaines, owner of Willie G’s Detailing Shop at 760 Van Pelt, less than five minutes from 7 Stars Auto, on Taylor’s alibi. Gaines said that he had shown up at 9 a.m., but he had no work for Taylor. The following day, a .38 revolver was located wrapped in a Grocery Outlet bag not far from Taylor’s girlfriend’s address. The gun was traced to a man in Cantonment, who gave a sworn statement saying that he had sold the gun to Taylor about three weeks before the date of the murder. September 5, 2013

Other factors that the state DOC reviews before determining eligibility include arrest history, with particular attention to violent offenses, pending charges and substance abuse history. Escambia County’s work release facility is not a state-run facility and does not necessarily have the same standards as a state program. Who was responsible for that supervision? The county said that their only responsibility through the work release facility was to make sure Taylor stayed in overnight and checked in and out on time, but otherwise Taylor was under the supervision of his probation officers through the DOC.

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WEAK SUPERVISION

According to county officials, Taylor was checking out of the work release program Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to go to work. On Sundays he was to remain in the facility. While out, he was supposed to be attending his drug treatment program at Lakeview, which he attended four nights per week, or going to work. Taylor failed to report back to the facility on the day of the murder. Taylor was allegedly employed at Willie G’s Detailing Shop, a small office with a single-car garage shop at the end of a row of mostly-empty warehouses owned and operated by William Gaines, where he worked as an auto detailer. Taylor’s employment at Willie G’s was “verified” by his probation officer on July 29 through a phone call. However, when the Independent News visited the shop, Gaines stated that Taylor hadn’t worked for him in four to five months and then he had really only worked for a period of two weeks. According to Gaines, he had actually been working at 7 Stars Auto. Employees of 7 Stars Auto declined to comment. Neither the Escambia County Work Release Facility nor DOC had any record of Taylor working at 7 Stars Auto while he was in their program. Further digging revealed a signed document from Gaines to the DOC confirming that Taylor was employed full-time, Monday-Saturday, as of July 26, 2013—the day after Taylor was ordered to the work release program. Gaines confirmed over the phone that he sent the letter, but added that he told the probation officer that Taylor would only actually be working “when he was needed,” which Gaines said was never necessary during the work release period. The Independent News asked where Taylor was spending his time out on work release if not at the job where he said he was employed and why weren’t his whereabouts more closely supervised. Rackleff said, “I know it seems lax, but we can only do what the court tells us,” and added that they don’t just follow offenders around. The judge usually orders the offender to see his or her probation officer once a week and that’s the only ongoing supervision, according to the DOC.

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“I know it seems lax, but we can only do what the court tells us.” Jo Ellyn Rackleff

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“They’re moving throughout the community during the day,” Rackleff said. “They’re supposed to go to their job. They can get lunch and move around a little bit.” Most state DOC-run work release centers are prison programs that work as transitional programs for inmates to reintegrate into society as their sentences near an end, but Escambia County’s work release center is not a prison program—it’s a probation program where probation violators can be housed under stricter supervision. Taylor, who was ordered into “closer supervision” by the court system due to his inability to stick to the terms of his probation, was ultimately not being supervised at all and allowed what seems to be complete freedom—freedom that allegedly led to the murder of Adnan Glelati.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COUNTY WORK RELEASE

In January, the State Auditor General released its operational audit of DOC’s oversight of security operations, which recommended that all work release centers have an annual security audit. However, Escambia County’s center is not under DOC supervision and is not subject to the DOC standards. Escambia’s program is a private entity with its own internal policies, with no relationship with the DOC. The Escambia County Work Release Program was established in 1984 and was initially run under the supervision of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Inmates

at the time were housed at the Jail Annex and it only had the capacity for up to 30 offenders. The location was moved several times, each time doubling its capacity. Escambia County Board of Commissioners took control of the work release program from the ECSO in 2002. The current facility, built in 2005, has the capacity to house 300 inmates in sex separate dormitories. Inmates are assigned a bunk and given access to television, pay phones and a washer and dryer. They are charged $20 per day, to offset food costs, according to a 2011 PowerPoint presentation made to the commissioners. The facility is secured with 10 corrections officers who have the authority to conduct random strip searches of inmates to prevent any contraband from making it inside. Random locker and bunk searches are also regularly conducted. While inside the facility, inmates are tracked and recorded by a series of video cameras. According to the presentation, inmates are released to verified employers during work hours and are supposed to return to the facility after their shifts are over. There is no mention of supervision outside the walls of the facility. In many state-run work release centers, some inmates are required to wear ankle

bracelets and are required to return to the center right after their job, where they remain locked up until their next job shift. They can get permission to do things like go to the dentist or get a haircut, but generally only get out for work. Escambia’s clearly works differently.

ARE THERE BIGGER PROBLEMS?

A state-contracted Work Release Center in Largo, Fla. run by Goodwill Industries, came under heavy investigation after one of the inmates housed there escaped and murdered two men and another raped a foreign exchange student on her way to school. On Sept. 30, 2012, Michael Scott Norris checked out of the facility several hours before he was due at work. He then broke into a motel where his ex-girlfriend was staying and stole a semi-automatic handgun before driving to the home of 51-year-old Bruce Johnson, where he shot and killed Johnson and 36-year-old Arthur Regula, set the house on fire and escaped in Regula’s truck. He then turned himself in to authorities. On Dec. 18, 2012, Dustin Kennedy left the center at 6:03 a.m., an hour before the business he was supposed to report to for work would open. He encountered a 17-yearold girl who was walking to a bus stop. Ken-

“You’re Independent News, right? I’m not talking to you.” Gordon Pike

nedy grabbed her from behind, choked her and dragged her into a ditch where she lost consciousness as she was raped, according to a sheriff’s report. DNA evidence led to Kennedy and he admitted to the crime. The Tampa Bay Times conducted an investigation into the Goodwill center and discovered a mess of corruption and mismanagement. Inmates regularly signed out to go to work, but never showed up. There were reports of sexual activity between inmates—sometimes involving work release staff. Largo residents complained for years about inmates jumping fences and roaming the neighborhoods unsupervised. Then, of course, came the murders and rape. Florida passed laws to limit work release populations to 200 and requiring electronic monitoring of all inmates in an attempt to clean up the Largo facility, but shut it down in June after an undercover sheriff’s operation witnessed many of the same violations that the Tampa Bay Times had already reported. Pinellas County Sheriffs reported blatant misbehavior, including inmates not going to their jobs when checking out and stashing contraband outside the facility before checking in. One inmate even got a head start on his escape when Goodwill failed to report him as missing right away. Goodwill records showed the inmate present for bed check at 2 a.m., but missing at 4 a.m. Surveillance video showed him escaping over a fence at 12:40 a.m., according to the Tampa Bay Times.

E r i c D. Ste v e n s on Personal Injur y | Criminal Justice 919 N. 12th Avenue Pensacola, Florida 32501

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STONEWALLING

Escambia County senior leadership has been reluctant to talk with the Independent News about the arrest of one of its work release inmates for murder and other possible security risks at its facility. The county work release program is run by Gordon Pike, who will also be running the jail when the transfer is finalized on Oct. 1. When Pike was approached with questions about the work release program, his only response was “You’re Independent News, right? I’m not talking to you.” After putting in a call to Interim County Commissioner George Touart’s office to ask if the murder and apparent lack of supervision would affect his decision to place Pike as the head of the jail, Bill Pearson, Escambia County’s Public Information Officer, responded by saying that as far as he knew, Touart’s decision was unaffected. Pike has had a troubled past in corrections. While working as a tracking coordinator, he was fired in 1983 for sexual misconduct while counseling two patients of the Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities at Lakeview Center Drug Program. An appeal to the Civil Service Board got him his job back with only a 30-day suspension. In 1997, a grand jury recommended that Pike, then a criminal justice director, and his boss, Herman Welch, be removed from office after finding misuse of funds and financial records in disarray, with thousands of dollars owed to the county stuffed in probation officers' desk drawers. It also found Welch and Pike spent their workdays socializing outside the office and golfing. The grand jury reported Welch and Pike tried to obstruct an audit of financial records and threatened employees, who cooperated with the investigation. Pike appealed to the Civil Service Board, which overturned his punishment and let him keep his county job. Pearson tried to put the blame on DOC, not Pike and his department, for Taylor’s nearly unfettered freedom to commit possibly burglary and murder while in the program on DOC. He said that Taylor was under the supervision of three state probation officers, not county supervision even though he was staying nightly in a county facility. When asked for more details on how the work release program was run and who is in charge of inmate supervision, the county provided little clarity and only stated the same few facts repeatedly: Escambia’s Corrections department runs the work release program, Taylor was under the custody of the state DOC and the county work release program served only as a place for Taylor to report to after work and drug treatment. Attempts to obtain interviews and a tour of the work release facility seemed like it would not be a problem at first, but no phone calls were returned after the center

initially agreed to set up a time. Calling the center back the following day, the person who answered the phone said, “We do not give tours. Have a nice day, sir,” and quickly hung up the phone.

SCAMMING THE SYSTEM

The Independent News did get an interview with another inmate who is in good standing with the county work release program. The man pointed out the inconsistencies in how the program is being run by Pike and his staff. In stark contrast to Taylor’s seemingly unlimited freedom while in work release, the inmate, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed frustrations at not being able to pick up extra shifts at his own job when the manager would call in to ask for him. He also was not allowed to accept a second job that would have given him more time outside the facility. Some people in the program have lost their jobs because they weren’t let out to pick up shifts, according to the inmate. “They give you an hour to get to work and an hour to get back,” the inmate said. “Really not a lot of freedom. You have to really beg for a lot of freedom.” According to the inmate, the work release center lets the inmates out based on what their work schedule says. He said he was checked on a couple of times during the first week of work release to make sure he was at work, but never beyond that. When Justice Concepts Incorporated issued its final report on Escambia County’s criminal justice system, the consultants reported on “rumors and speculation about lax supervision and contraband at the Work Release Center.” To which county officials replied, “Propagating rumors and speculation without substantiating the officials inappropriate in any report…” The county refused to pay the consultants’ final invoice for their work. The inmate said that there are “a lot of guys” who scam the system and don’t really go to work for the hours they are scheduled outside of the facility, instead spending their time outside the facility roaming the community. “They don’t really supervise you,” the inmate said. “There have been a lot of people going to jail for doing other things and not going to work.” Some guards search the inmates when they return from work for contraband, but some guards don’t, according to the inmate, who said that cigarettes and other things make it past the guards regularly. The inmate said one person even smuggled in pills recently. “You can just about get anything in there you wanted to,” the inmate said. Maybe it’s time for Escambia County to take a closer look at their work release program, especially with them taking over the jail in less than 30 days. {in} Rick Outzen contributed to this article.

“They don’t really supervise you. There have been a lot of people going to jail for doing other things and not going to work.” Work Release Facility inmate

September 5, 2013

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WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 5-12

Arts & Entertainment art , f ilm, music, stage, books and other signs of civilization...

Raise a (Tasting) Glass by Jessica Forbes

Seville],” Mitchell said. “It’s a very, very impressive sight to see the street full and every single room inside Seville full.” For Seville Quarter, the festival involves a six-month planning process, including Responsible Ven“Right now, we have 25 fi ve-gallon dor training for all servers. kegs of beer, cider, and wine to serve,” “We mandate that all the Martin stated of what EBH prepares for their beer servers take our course, booth, where the club serves brews that just like our normal staff members have made and donated. EBH is, at would take. We try to make present, one of 65 booths registered for the sure everybody has a great festival. “Some are serving cider, most are time, but a safe time,” said serving beer,” Martin said, adding that both Mitchell. “It is a lot of beer.” bottled and keg beers are permitted. Mitchell reports that In addition to brewers, food vendors, everyone in the Seville famincluding the Happy Pig, will also be on ily works the festival, from premises along with live entertainment. For security to servers. “It is 100 those who are either designated drivers or percent all hands on deck,” not beer fans, non-taster wristbands are said Mitchell. “When you’re available for $10. dealing with that many people, “It’s not a huge money-maker for Seville everybody is here.” per se. It does do a lot of good for the chariOn the Thursday before ties that we raise the money for,” said Mitchthe tasting, Seville also hosts ell. “And we would do it probably for nothing a Beer Pairing Dinner, which is just because it’s that great of an event.” limited to 90 seats and typiProceeds from the tasting support Big cally sells out early. “We’ve Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida had a waiting list for the past two weeks,” said and the Seville Rotary Club, groups that the Mitchell. “It’s a very coveted ticket.” EBH support and partner with throughout The annual dinner features a representathe year. tive from a brewery of Seville’s choice—this Mitchell points out that several of the year’s being Lagunitas Brewing Company in festival beers are available year-round at SePetaluma, Calif.—and Seville’s Executive Chef ville, but adds a possible perk for the venue, Brandon Melton puts a menu together based also a hope of every beer fan in attendance. on the brewery’s offerings. “We might find some new stuff,” Mitchell Planning an event of this size takes time stated, enthusiastically. “We might luck up and a lot of connections. EBH begins their on a new beer.” {in} efforts in June. “There’s about six or seven of us involved from the beginning and as we get things together we bring more and more in,” said Martin. June is also typically the time EBH atWHEN: 6 – 8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6 tends the WYES Beer Festival in New WHERE: Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. Orleans, the only other beer fest in COST: 21+ event. Beer Tasting $25 in adwhich the club participates, and where vance, $30 day of, and $55 for Advance VIP they often make connections with DETAILS: emeraldcoastbeerfest.com new Emerald Coast Beer Festival vendors.

“It’s a very, very impressive sight to see the street full and every single room inside Seville full.”

Buck Mitchell

2012 Emerald Coast Beer Festival / courtesy photo Beer lovers, rejoice. It’s that magical time of year again: Pensacola’s Emerald Coast Beer Festival is upon us. For one evening, the area in and around Seville Quarter will become a smorgasbord of brews from across the region and country, including those from multiple home- and micro-brew operations. This year will be the 13th annual festival, a joint production of the Escambia Bay Homebrewers (EBH) and Seville Quarter. Jim Martin has been with EBH for over 22 years and has seen the festival grow to include over 60 breweries, brewpubs, vineyards, and homebrew clubs participating either independently or through their respective distributors. “We pick up more homebrew clubs every year,” Martin said of the festival’s growth and one of its more unique aspects. “We’re one of the few beer festivals that have homebrew.” September 5, 2013

The small brew clubs are the heart of the festival, which originally began a reunion of sorts for microbrewers. Martin says Steve Fried, the first brewmaster at McGuire’s, began the original gathering that became EBH’s festival. “He started it with Chan’s so that local brewers from mostly Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida could get together after the summer season and have a party, and it’s evolved from that,” remembered Martin. Buck Mitchell oversees Special Events and Marketing for Seville Quarter where the festival has been held each of its 13 years. Mitchell identifies Seville’s role as more operational. “We’re an integral part of the logistics,” he said. Between VIP and regular admission attendees, Seville hosts approximately 2,700 guests in less than four hours during the festival. “People wise, at one time, before 10 o’clock, it is the biggest single day [for

EMERALD COAST BEER FESTIVAL

art

by Hana Frenette

The Science of Art “Science is a methodology for describing cause and effect in nature. If it is done with the correct intention, it is a creative vocation just like visual art or music.” Doug Craft

Tactical Air Command, Digital Collage (Square Root of 5 Rectangle - 1: 2.236...) ©2013 Doug Craft The life of an artist and that of a chemist might not seem like an easily unified thing, but Doug Craft is joining the two seamlessly. Craft recently returned to Pensacola after a 34-year career as an environmental chemist in Colorado. “I worked in an analytical testing lab for the Bureau of Reclamation, a federal department of the Interior Agency, and did research on trace metal chemistry and water quality in lakes and reservoirs,” Craft said.

Craft continued to make art while in Colorado as he did in the early ‘70s when he attended UWF. One thing inspired the next and aspects from each sect of his life were interchanged and used alongside the other. “Science is a methodology for describing cause and effect in nature,” Craft said. “If it is done with the correct intention, it is a creative vocation just like visual art or music.” Scientific methods or mathematical variations can be used as an aid in formulating a picture or representing something the same way a photograph or a painting sometimes can.

Several of Craft’s ideas on aesthetics have been published in academic books, and will be elaborated on for his lecture series, “The Golden Ratio and the Aesthetics Based on the Structure of Nature.” “I will discuss fractals, and how I define beauty in art as an emulation of the forms found in nature,” he said. “It is a fundamental mystery as to why the universe is structured like this, but it is there for anyone who will take the time to look.” Craft has been making collages and shooting photography, using computer programs to infuse and manipulate the two, and sometimes incorporating figurative backgrounds and foregrounds while maintaining the idea of using the Golden Ratio. Craft’s current exhibit, “N Golden Rectangle Collages,” will be on display at Open Books until the end of October, which focuses on using abstract natural images and a combination of micro, macro, landscape, and planetary images to emulate the universal structure of nature. Art imitates life, and life is just science. Which is made into art. And so the circle continues. {in}

Craft often uses what is called “Divine Geometry,” or the “Golden Ratio,” in his art, and will be giving several lectures on the technical and scientific aspects of each and the way they are brought about in his work. “The Golden Ratio is an irrational number, an infinite non-repeating decimal, equal to 0.61803,” Craft said. “It appears throughout nature at many different scales and is one of the fundamental proportionality constants of physical matter and living things.” The Golden Ratio can be found in the bones in your fingers and the sizes of the planets. It’s something occurring naturally in just about every aspect of nature. “Sacred Geometry is a complex subject that includes mysticism associated with numbers, like the Pythagoreans, but also the design of sacred places, for example, the temples and the pyramids that embody the Golden Ratio,” Craft said. Apparently, there is a science to beauty. Study the WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10 formulas just right WHERE: Artel Gallery, 223 Palafox Pl. and you can create, COST: free imitate, and repliDETAILS: artelgallery.org cate nature to the point of perfection.

ART EXPLORATIONS AT ARTEL LECTURE SERIES: ‘THE GOLDEN RATIO AND AESTHETICS BASED ON THE STRUCTURE OF NATURE’

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happenings

Ears & Fingers by Jason Leger

Franz Ferdinand –

‘RIGHT THOUGHTS, RIGHT WORDS, RIGHT ACTION’

Back in 2004, the world felt new and full of possibility for myself and for a young dance rock band from the UK named Franz Ferdinand. We had youth on our side and a sunny disposition to greet the world with, and for the most part, the world responded in kind. That was nearly 10 years ago and much akin to most everyone else in the world I have changed considerably. I have grown and been stretched by encounters and experiences, both good and bad. Franz Ferdinand on the other hand, seem to be frozen in time, stuck in a specific place trying to relive a specific point, but never quite getting it right in the same way. With the release of their fourth full length, “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action,” the band seems to have put out the same album for the fourth time in a row. I applaud them for the effort, and with their urgency and energy, they are definitely trying—it just isn’t going anywhere. “Right Thoughts” is full of the dance hooks,

THURSDAY 9.5 HAPPENINGS

RUNNING: SIX AT SIX 6 a.m. Running Wild, 3012 E Cervantes St. 435-9222 or werunwild.com. VIVA FLORIDA 500 ‘ARTIFACTS’ 9 a.m. The exhibition celebrates 500 years of Florida’s history – its people, places and cultural achievements. Exhibit on display through Sept. 28. First City Art Center Studios and Gallery, 1060 N. Guillemard St. 429-1222 or FirstCityArt.org MESS HALL 10 a.m. The Pensacola MESS Hall (Math, Engineering, Science & Stuff) offers weekly themes, special activities and workshops that captivate curious minds of all ages and inspire a lifetime of discovery. 116 N. Tarragona St. 877-937-6377 or PensacolaMESShall.org. QUAYSIDE ART GALLERY 10 a.m. “Interpretations: Florida's Forgotten Coast” exhibit features artists Connie Boussom, Lynn Parker and Nikki Strahota. Exhibit on display through Oct. 7. 17 E. Zaragoza St, 438-2363 or quaysidegallery.com. BLUE MORNING GALLERY 10 a.m. "East Meets September 5, 2013

kitschy lyrical innuendo, and polished grandstanding that brought Franz Ferdinand into the limelight in the first place. I would be remiss if I were to tell you that it isn’t catchy. It is very catchy, but it was catchy the first time I heard it in 2004, and then again in 2005, and then again in 2009. They have failed to recapture the magic that prevailed with brilliantly riffed hit “Take Me Out,” or even lesser known single “Do You Want To.” I don’t hate the band by any means, all I’m asking for is something to keep my attention. Meet me halfway guys, or you will join Aerosmith and Metallica on my list of bands who I wish would stop putting out music and just tour on their catalog because they’re ruining themselves. “Same Thoughts, Same Words, Same Action”…I mean, “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action” is out now via Domino Records.

Okkervil River –

‘THE SILVER GYMNASIUM’

“Show me my best memory, it's probably super crappy. Nine years down in Texas with sluts of both sexes, liars, lumps, and drug addicts, and drunks!” I have absolutely zero qualms with saying that Okkervil River are one of the best bands to come from the indie rock boom of the first decade of the 21st Century. The band are able to maintain this reputation for several reasons, not the least of which being their work ethic, consistency, and idealism toward writing very pure, simple, catchy pop rock. From 2002 to 2011, the band released six full-length albums, along with a slew of studio EPs, live EPs, singles and collaboration contributions. Just last week, the band added to this impressive amount of output by releasing their seventh fulllength album, “The Silver Gymnasium.” West, Through Asian Art," features the art of the Far East reflected through Western eyes. Exhibit on display through Sept. 28. 21 S. Palafox. 4299100 or bluemorninggallery.com. DRAGONFLY GALLERY 10 a.m. The gallery’s feature room is a favorite site for artists from throughout Santa Rosa County. 5188 Escambia St., Milton. 981-1100 or thedragonflygallery.com. ARTEL GALLERY 10 a.m. 223 Palafox, Old County Courthouse. 432-3080 or artelgallery.org. ‘LANDSCAPES’ 10 a.m. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. 432-6247 or pensacolamuseumofart.com. TAG AT UWF 4 p.m. CFPA Design Interns Exhibition Closing Reception. TAG Gallery, 11000 University Pkwy., Building 82, Room 240. 474-2696. WINE TASTING AT AWM 5 p.m. Aragon Wine Market, 27 S. Ninth Ave. 433-9463 or aragonwinemarket.com. WINE & GLIDE SEGWAY TOUR 5:30-7:30 p.m. This one-hour Segway tour includes a stop at Seville Quarter or Aragon Wine Market for a wine

The album is homage to lead singer/songwriter Will Sheff’s hometown of Meriden, N.H., a small place that shaped Sheff into the great storyteller he is today. It was a “use your imagination or be bored to death” situation. The outcome has been good to him, and proximally good to us. The album is replete with glossy, catchy tracks with lyrics that bounce between heavy and light, much akin to most of Okkervil’s catalog. Highlights include the somber “Lido Pier Suicide Car,” groovedladen “Pink Slips,” and the piano driven lead single “It Was My Season.” This album also has a few additional online gems that have been used to build up anticipation. On NPR’s All Songs Considered site, you can peruse a virtual map of the town which inspired “The Silver Gymnasium,” and on the band’s website, you can play as a young Will Sheff in a RPG based on the album. These serve as additional perks to an album that is certain to be a favorite for Fall 2013. “The Silver Gymnasium” is out now via ATO Records, and be sure to catch Okkervil River with Torres at the Alabama Music Box in Mobile on September 19. {in}

tasting. Emerald Coast Tours, 701 S. Palafox. $45. 417-9292 or emeraldcoasttours.net. STAND UP COMEDY OF KEVIN JAMES 8 p.m. Kevin James, champion of working class comedy, is most-known for his role as Doug Heffernan in "The King of Queens," as well as roles in movies such as "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," and "Grown Ups." Saenger Theatre, 118 South Palafox. $39.50 - $65.00. 595-3880 or pensacolasaenger.com.

live music

LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD 6 p.m. The Deck at The Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003 or fishhouse.goodgrits.com. RADIOLIVE 6 p.m. Singer-songwriter Georgianna Callaghan returns to RadioLive with piano, guitar and her Sarah McLaughlin-esque voice. At 5:15 p.m. members of the Belmont Youth Band will give a pre-concert performance. Museum of Commerce, 201 E Zaragoza St. 474-2787. THE DAVENPORTS 6 p.m. The Leisure Club, 126 S. Palafox. 912-4229 or tlcdowntown.com. 17

happenings

Thank You!

Here are just a few of our favorite photos from our Pet Photobooth event. Thanks to all who came, donated and got ridiculously cute photos in the process. All in all, we raised over $200 worth of monetary, food and pet supply donations. Proceeds were split between The Humane Society, Jr. Humane Society, and a rescue dog The Spotted Dog is currently helping named Bruce. {in}

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happenings JAMES AND FRIENDS 7 p.m. Hub Stacey's Downtown, 312 E. Government St. 469-1001 or hubstaceys.com. DUELLING PIANOS 8 p.m. Rosie O’ Grady’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. KRAZY GEORGE KARAOKE 8:30 p.m. Lili Marlene’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. COLLEGE DANCE NIGHT: MR. LAO 9 p.m. Phineas Phogg's at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com.

FRIDAY 9.6

VIVA FLORIDA 500 ‘ARTIFACTS’ 9 a.m. First City Art Center Studios and Gallery, 1060 N. Guillemard St. 429-1222 or FirstCityArt.org MESS HALL 10 a.m. 116 N. Tarragona St. 877937-6377 or PensacolaMESShall.org. QUAYSIDE ART GALLERY 10 a.m. 17 E. Zaragoza St, 438-2363 or quaysidegallery.com. DRAGONFLY GALLERY 10 a.m. 5188 Escambia St., Milton. 981-1100 or thedragonflygallery.com. BLUE MORNING GALLERY 10 a.m. 21 S. Palafox. 429-9100 or bluemorninggallery.com ‘LANDSCAPES’ 10 a.m. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. 432-6247 or pensacolamuseumofart.com. WINE TASTING AT SEVILLE QUARTER 5 p.m. Palace Café at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. WINE TASTING AT CITY GROCERY 5:15 p.m. City Grocery, 2050 N. 12th Ave. 469-8100. WINE TASTING AT EAST HILL MARKET 5:30 p.m. 1216 N. Ninth Ave. WINE & GLIDE SEGWAY TOUR 5:30-7:30 p.m. This one-hour Segway tour includes a stop at Seville Quarter or Aragon Wine Market for a wine tasting. Emerald Coast Tours, 701 S. Palafox. $45. 417-9292 or emeraldcoasttours.net. GROUP RUN AT PLAY 5:30 p.m. All abilities welcome. A casual run with fun partner exercises. Play, 16 S. Palafox, Suite 100 466-3080 or iplaypensacola.com. ARTEL GALLERY 6 p.m. Artel presents the opening reception for “Experimental Art with a Lens,” a juried exhibit on display through Oct. 4. 223 Palafox, Old County Courthouse. 432-3080 or artelgallery.org. STARGAZING AT FORT PICKENS Sunset – 10 p.m. Weather permitting, volunteers from the Escambia Amateur Astronomers' Association will set up several telescopes for public viewing of the stars, planets and constellations. The program is free; however, there is an $8 entrance fee to the Fort Pickens Area. Battery Worth Picnic Area, Fort Pickens, 1400 Fort Pickens Rd. 934-2600.

live music

LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD 5 p.m. The Deck at The Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003 or fishhouse.goodgrits.com. VINYL MUSIC HALL PRESENTS – NAPPY ROOTS 8 p.m. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox, $12$15. 435-9849 or vinylmusichall.com. DUELLING PIANOS 8 p.m. Rosie O’ Grady’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. RAISING KARMA 8:30 p.m. The Tin Cow, 102 South Palafox, 466-2103 or thetincow.com. THE BLENDERS 8:30 p.m. Hub Stacey's Downtown, 312 E. Government St. 469-1001 or hubstaceys.com. DJ MR. LAO 8 p.m. Phineas Phogg’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. MO JILES 8 p.m. Apple Annie’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. September 5, 2013

THE MODERN ELDORADOS 9 p.m. Lili Marlene’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. JAMES ADKINS 9:30 p.m. Hopjacks, 10 South Palafox, 497-6076 or hopjacks.com.

SATURDAY 9.7

PALAFOX MARKET 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, N. Palafox St. Palafoxmarket.com. VIVA FLORIDA 500 ‘ARTIFACTS’ 9 a.m. Exhibit on display through Sept. 28. First City Art Center Studios and Gallery, 1060 N. Guillemard St. 429-1222 or FirstCityArt.org MESS HALL 10 a.m. 116 N. Tarragona St. 877937-6377 or PensacolaMESShall.org. QUAYSIDE ART GALLERY 10 a.m. 17 E. Zaragoza St, 438-2363 or quaysidegallery.com. BLUE MORNING GALLERY 10 a.m. 21 S. Palafox. 429-9100 or bluemorninggallery.com. DRAGONFLY GALLERY 10 a.m. 5188 Escambia St., Milton. 981-1100 or thedragonflygallery.com. ARTEL GALLERY 10 a.m. 223 Palafox, Old County Courthouse. 432-3080 or artelgallery.org. BAYOU TEXAR TORCHLIGHT TOUR 7 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 26. Pensacola Paddle Sport Rentals offers an evening of exploring the waters of Bayou Texar guided by torch, under the light of the moon. Tour leaves from the beach next to the fishing pier at Bayview Park, 2001 E. Lloyd St. $10 for single kayaks; $15 for tandem kayaks. 255-5423 or pensacolapaddlesport.com. SAENGER CLASSIC MOVIE SERIES – WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 7 p.m. Saenger Theatre, 118 South Palafox. $5 General Admission. 595-3880 or pensacolasaenger.com.

live music

DJ MR. LAO 8 p.m. Phineas Phogg’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. DUELLING PIANOS 8 p.m. Rosie O’ Grady’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. VINYL MUSIC HALL PRESENTS – “TIMBROOKSHAWK” 8 p.m. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox, $10. 435-9849 or vinylmusichall.com. MO JILES 8 p.m. Apple Annie’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. RAISING KARMA 8:30 p.m. The Tin Cow, 102 South Palafox, 466-2103 or thetincow.com. KRAZY GEORGE KARAOKE 9 p.m. Hub Stacey’s Downtown, 312 E. Government St. 4691001 or hubstaceys.com. THE MODERN ELDORADOS 9 p.m. Lili Marlene’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com.

SUNDAY 9.8

BUBBLES & BRUNCH 9 a.m. Enjoy Gourmet Brunch Trios for $12...you pick the three delicious items to build your perfect brunch. Bottomless Champagne & Mimosas for $5. The Leisure Club, 126 S. Palafox. 912-4229 or tlcdowntown.com. THE FISH HOUSE BRUNCH 10:30 a.m. Delicious Sunday brunch on the Pensacola Bay. The Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003 or fishhouse.goodgrits.com. SEVILLE QUARTER SUNDAY BRUNCH 11 a.m. Whether it’s a special occasion, an opportunity for friends to catch up, or a pleasant start to a lazy Sunday, brunch at Seville Quarter’s is a great way to treat your family every Sunday. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. END OF THE LINE BRUNCH 11 a.m. This vegan café offers its unique brunch every Sunday. 610 E. Wright St. $12. 429-0336 or eotlcafe.com.

MESS HALL 1 p.m. 116 N. Tarragona St. 877-9376377 or PensacolaMESShall.org.

live music

TOMATA 1 p.m. Hub Stacey's Downtown, 312 E. Government St. 469-1001 or hubstaceys.com. KRAZY GEORGE KARAOKE 8:30 p.m. Lili Marlene’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. BROOKS HUBBERT 9 p.m. McGuire's Irish Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. 433-2849 or mcguiresirishpub.com.

MONDAY 9.9

live music

JAZZ SOCIETY’S “BLUE MONDAY” 6:30 p.m. Jazz Society of Pensacola's "Blues" night, featuring Bryan Lee and the Blues Power Band. Doors open at 5:30. Seating is first come, first serve. $8 for JSOP members with membership card; $10 for non-members; $5 for students with ID. Five Sisters Blues Cafe, 421 W. Belmont St., 912-4856. MONDAY NIGHT BLUES 8 p.m. Lili Marlene’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. BAR BINGO WITH BUCK AND THE SEVILLE GIRLS 8 p.m. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com.

TUESDAY 9.10

RUNNING: SIX AT SIX 6 a.m. Running Wild, 3012 E Cervantes St. 435-9222 or werunwild.com. VIVA FLORIDA 500 ‘ARTIFACTS’ 9 a.m. First City Art Center Studios and Gallery, 1060 N. Guillemard St. 429-1222 or FirstCityArt.org MESS HALL 10 a.m. 116 N. Tarragona St. 877937-6377 or PensacolaMESShall.org. QUAYSIDE ART GALLERY 10 a.m. 17 E. Zaragoza St, 438-2363 or quaysidegallery.com. DRAGONFLY GALLERY 10 a.m. 5188 Escambia St., Milton. 981-1100 or thedragonflygallery.com. BLUE MORNING GALLERY 10 a.m. 21 S. Palafox. 429-9100 or bluemorninggallery.com ARTEL GALLERY 10 a.m. 223 Palafox, Old County Courthouse. 432-3080 or artelgallery.org. ‘LANDSCAPES’ 10 a.m. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. 432-6247 or pensacolamuseumofart.com. HALF-PRICE SUSHI 5 p.m. Atlas, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003 or atlas.goodgrits.com. TWO FOR ONE 5 p.m. 2 for 1 Tuesday Nights features 2 for 1 house Wines, 2 for 1 Domestic Beers and 2 for 1 Ice cream Scoops All Night. The Leisure Club, 126 S. Palafox. 912-4229 or tlcdowntown.com.

PRIME TIME TUESDAYS 5:30 p.m. Jackson’s, 400 S. Palafox. 469-9898 or jacksons.goodgrits.com. YOGA AT EVER’MAN 6 p.m. $2 for non-members. Ever’man Natural Foods, 315 W. Garden St. 438-0402 or everman.org. MCGUIRE'S RUNNING CLUB 6 p.m. McGuire's Irish Pub, 600 E Gregory St. mcguiresrunners.com. STRUT YOUR MUTT 6:45 p.m. Join fellow dog owners for a 45-minute leisurely stroll in East Hill. Dogs must be leashed and well-behaved. Owners should be prepared to pick up after the pets. Meet at the entrance of Bayview Park, 20th Ave. and East Mallory St. 291-7658.

live music

LIVE JAZZ: KITT & FRIENDS 5 p.m. opens for drinks and dinner, 6 p.m. show. Lili Marlene’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com. LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD 5 p.m. The Deck at The Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003 or fishhouse.goodgrits.com. BANDS ON THE BEACH 7 p.m. Crosstown performs. Bring your lawn chair and join us this summer for hot music, smooth grooves and a whole lot of good times. Concert Series runs every Tuesday night until October 1. Free admission. Gulfside Pavilion, 735 Pensacola Beach Blvd. visitpensacolabeach.com.

WEDNESDAY 9.11

VIVA FLORIDA 500 ‘ARTIFACTS’ 9 a.m. First City Art Center Studios and Gallery, 1060 N. Guillemard St. 429-1222 or FirstCityArt.org MESS HALL 10 a.m. 116 N. Tarragona St. 877937-6377 or PensacolaMESShall.org. QUAYSIDE ART GALLERY 10 a.m. 17 E. Zaragoza St, 438-2363 or quaysidegallery.com. DRAGONFLY GALLERY 10 a.m. 5188 Escambia St., Milton. 981-1100 or thedragonflygallery.com. BLUE MORNING GALLERY 10 a.m. 21 S. Palafox. 429-9100 or bluemorninggallery.com. ARTEL GALLERY 10 a.m. 223 Palafox, Old County Courthouse. 432-3080 or artelgallery.org. ‘LANDSCAPES’ 10 a.m. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. 432-6247 or pensacolamuseumofart.com. BLUE ANGELS MEET AND GREET 11:30 a.m. Although the Blue Angels 2013 air shows and practices have been cancelled, the team will continue to hold meet 7 greet autograph sessions for our Museum visitors each Wednesday. Naval Aviation Museum, 1750 Radford Blvd. navalviationmuseum.org. IN MARTINI NIGHT 5 p.m. The Global Grill, 27 S. Palafox. 469-9966. WINE DOWN WEDNESDAYS 5 p.m. All bottled wines are 50 percent off. Jackson’s, 400 S. Barracks St. 469-9898 or jacksons.goodgrits.com. RUN4WINE 5:30 p.m. The Wine Bar. 16 S. Palafox. run4wine.net WINE DOWN WEDNESDAYS 6:30 p.m. Halfpriced bottles of wine and live jazz. The Leisure Club, 126 S. Palafox. 912-4229 or tlcdowntown.com.

live music

LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD 5 p.m. The Deck at The Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. 470-0003 or fishhouse.goodgrits.com. FOLK MUSIC NIGHT 7 p.m. End of the Line Café, 610 E. Wright St. 429-0336 or eotlcafe.com. DUELLING PIANOS 8 p.m. Rosie O’ Grady’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. 434-6211 or sevillequarter.com.

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I was born long, long ago in a country far, far away (New Zealand). It took me 40 years to get to the gulf coast and I have remained here for 28 years. When I arrived from Brussells, Belgium, I was accustomed to listening to classical music 24/7. Finally, through judicious dial twiddling I found 88.1 FM and I’ve been a staunch supporter ever since. WUWF gives me so much – the music I crave, the news I need, the laughter I want, and the information which is critical to live in this area. WUWF’s local, national and international news keeps me in the loop. That is why

WUWF 88.1 is My Public Radio and I Make it Possible. “Kiwi” Margo Evitts Listener, Member, Volunteer

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music

by Sarah McCartan

TimBrooksHawk—A Musical Hybrid

Timberhawk / photo by Ryan Eaton What do you get when you cross two of the most applauded regular gigs in town? Why, you get “TimBrooksHawk,” of course. Although Timberhawk and Brooks Hubbert III have performed together in a multitude of capacities, they have yet to do so in a fully integrated fashion. That is, until now. Saturday, Sept. 7, TimBrooksHawk will take the stage at Vinyl Music Hall, presenting a solid mix of both well-established and yet to be heard original tunes from each of the two respective acts. “We decided it would be a really fun way to sort of re-dress both groups’ original material,” explained Jordan Richards, guitarist and vocalist of Timberhawk. “The idea is hopefully with this setup, they're all going to feel like new songs again.” If you have been around the music block in Pensacola even just once in the last decade, you’ve undoubtedly heard Timberhawk. From Seville to beach bars, Timberhawk regularly enhances local nightlife with a healthy balance of covers and original tunes. They have performed several times at Vinyl Music Hall, showcasing all original music, including a CD release show last Fall. For this weekend’s hybrid performance, “we'll be doing everything from the oldest Timberhawk songs to the newest Brooks Hubbert songs and vice versa,” said Richards. “We always jump at the opportunity to play with Brooks in any capacity. You’re September 5, 2013

Brooks Hubbert III / photo by Nathan Dillaha guaranteed to learn something every time... man's a wizard.” Despite being a Gulfport, Miss. native, Hubbert has also been an

Guire’s Irish Pub and Tuesday and Thursday nights downtown at the Ticket Sports Bar, Hubbert plays various combinations of covers and original music. “It varies depending on the situation,” he said. “At Vinyl, it’s predominantly original music. At a bar, I’m not just going to sit there and pelt people with [only] originals. You hook them with something they know and they are apt to be curious about what you do.” One might ask—what exactly does Hubbert do; or what exactly does he play rather? “It spans across the board. It’s just one of those things—I love all music and it comes through,” said Hubbert. “What I try and tell people is: being from the South it’s hard not to be influenced by blues, bluegrass and country styles. Growing up close to New Orleans, jazz was a huge part of music education. Then what really inspired me to pick up WHAT: Timberhawk and Brooks Hubbert III a guitar after playing saxophone in with Kaboom! band was heavy metal.” WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 Albeit best known for his guitar WHERE: Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox mastery and looping abilities, it COST: $10 certainly doesn’t stop there. This DETAILS: vinylmusichall.com vocalist and multi-instrumentalist can be found playing one if not more of the following instruments

“It was just an idea—what if we joined forces and made a cool mash-up of ourselves? It’s fun doing something just because you can.” Brooks Hubbert III active and visible part of the local music community in Pensacola for well over a decade, and has been playing music almost the entirety of his life. “Music has always been a part of my life,” he said. “My dad is a musician and it was part of my landscape of youth. I started when I was six years old. I was playing violin and then went through a host of other instruments—drums, saxophone and then guitar when I was 13 or so.” Between special events, and recurring weekly gigs, including Sunday nights at Mc-

at any given time—guitar, fiddle, harmonica, cello and mandolin. For this particular show with Timberhawk, Brooks, explains, “It was just an idea—what if we joined forces and made a cool mash-up of ourselves? It’s fun doing something just because you can. And I came up with my own way of interacting with them—playing harmonica and mandolin at the same time.” This setup is one that Richards affirms adds an exciting dynamic to the evening’s collaborative performance. “With Brooks on mandolin and harmonica simultaneously, it adds a certain texture and fullness to the two guitars, bass, and drums set up we most often use in Timberhawk. And it felt really good and natural right from the get-go,” said Richards. “For all you guitar heads out there—worry not—there will be some songs that feature three guitars screaming at once. How could we not?” While the plan is for this to be an evening of almost entirely original proportions—there is the informal promise of one, and only one, memorable cover song—for familiarity’s sake. And hey, maybe even a blast from the distant past. You never know. I for one will at least cry out for “Shotgun Girl” once, if not twice. If you are unable to make the show, be sure to remain on the lookout for great things coming down the pipe from both acts in the near future. Brooks has not just one, but three albums currently in the works—his solo project, a duo with local drummer, and his full band called Serius Face. Meanwhile, Timberhawk’s primary focus for the remainder of the year will be centered on touring, writing and recording new material. {in}

‘TIMBROOKSHAWK’

DIFFERENCE MAKER MAIN LIBRARY MAKES A NEW HOME FOR “ALL THAT JAZZ” Louis Armstrong famously said, “Hot can be cool, and cool can be hot, and each can be both. But hot or cool, man, jazz is jazz.” Whether it’s hot or cool, jazz is alive and well in Escambia County, and it has a new showcase at the West Florida Public Library. The Library, in partnership with the Jazz Society of Pensacola and the Friends of the West Florida Public Library, will host a reception on September 11, 2013, to celebrate the grand opening of the Jazz Room at the new Main Library at 239 North Spring Street. The reception will begin at 3:00pm and the grand-opening ceremony will begin promptly at 3:30pm. The Jazz Room is the culmination of a long-standing partnership between the Jazz Society and the West Florida Public Library. It houses the entirety of the Main Library’s collection of approximately 800 books, CDs, and movies covering the history, performance, and culture of jazz in its many forms. Other special features of the room include a listening station where patrons can sample a variety of jazz styles before deciding which albums to check out and jazz-related artwork donated by loyal library users. The completion of the Jazz Room represents the final step in the renovation and expansion of the downtown library. It also signals a new approach to the Library’s mission to inform, empower, and entertain the communities of Escambia County. “The expansion of the Main Library heralded a rebirth of the library in a variety of ways,” explained Darlene Howell, Library Administrator. “The addition of the Jazz Room stands out among them.” The Jazz collection has been built and is maintained by the ongoing support of the Jazz Society of Pensacola and the Friends of the West Florida Public Library. The installation of the Jazz Room was made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Ralph Knowles in memory of his wife, Janet. Special thanks to Dr. Knowles, Dr. Rovena Hillsman, and Ms. Cay Simpson for their donations of original art. For more information about the West Florida Public Library and the resources and programs it offers, go to MyWFPL.com.

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news of the weird

by Chuck Shepherd

SPREADSHEET PARENTING Loco Parentis: First-time mother Amy Webb proudly notates dozens of data points about her child each day and obsessively tracks their detailed progression by computer on spreadsheets, according to the provocative first-person account she wrote for Slate. com in July. In categories ranging from ordinary vital signs, to the kid's progress in sound-making, to dietary reactions, to quantity and quality of each poop, stats are kept 24/7 (even with a bedside laptop to facilitate nighttime entries). She began tracking her own health during pregnancy, but then decided, "Why stop now?" when her daughter was born. Webb's pediatrician rated the kid's health as "A-minus," but the parents' as "C," adding: "You guys need to relax. Leave the spreadsheets (out)." Webb and her husband remain confident that their extreme tracking optimizes their chances of raising a healthy daughter.

vulgar but omnipresent acronym on the Internet.) Rev. Goodman pointed out that even Dr. Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, seemed not to be shocked by her sticker when he saw it. • The wife of Valentino Ianetti was found dead in Stanhope, N.J., in 2010 with 47 stab wounds, leading police to immediately suspect her husband, who was at home with her. However, after three years' incarceration, Ianetti, 63, won release in August by finally convincing prosecutors that his wife actually committed suicide. Although the case is still officially "under investigation," the medical examiner concluded that 46 of the wounds were superficial - - "hesitation" cuts perhaps selfinflicted as the wife built up the courage to administer a final thrust. Also, the wife was found with a heavy dose of oxycodone in her system and likely felt little pain from any of the 47 wounds.

PERSPECTIVE Researchers can accurately estimate a person's economic status just by learning which environmental toxins are in his body, concluded a University of Exeter (England) research team recently, using U.S. data. Although "both rich and poor Americans are walking waste dumps," wrote the website Quartz, reporting the conclusions, poorer people's typical food leaves lead, cadmium and the banned bisphenol-A, whereas richer people more likely accumulate heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, thallium) from aquatic lean protein (and acquire oxybenzone from the active ingredient in sunscreens). Previous research was thought to show that richer Americans ate healthier (for example, eating fruits and vegetables instead of canned foods), but the Exeter research shows they merely house different toxins.

STRANGE OLD WORLD In May, a Brazilian cancer-fighting foundation, AAPEC, published a series of photos of its new mascot that it hopes will call attention to the dread of testicular cancer, and the initial worldwide reviews demonstrate that, indeed, people may never, ever forget their first glance at "Mr. Balls." AAPEC described its character as a "friendly snowman in the shape of testicles"— friendly in the sense of a buck-toothed humanoid with a puffy-cheeked smile and the body of a huge scrotal sac dotted with small curly hairs and rough skin. As photos of the genial "Senhor Testiculo" circulated in June, he was variously described as "disturbing," "horrifying," "terrifying" and "a nightmare."

COMPELLING EXPLANATIONS Dr. Timothy Sweo said later that he was only trying to make his diagnosis of lumbar lordosis "less technical" for patient Terry Ragland when he described her condition as "ghetto booty." The shape of her spine makes her buttocks stick out more, he said, and he prescribed pain medication as there is no cure, per se. Nonetheless, Ragland felt insulted and filed a complaint against Dr. Sweo with the Tennessee Department of Health in July. Said she, "I couldn't believe he said that." • An Anglican parishioner complained in August about the "blasphemous" bumper sticker she saw on the car of Rev. Alice Goodman of Cambridge, England, but Rev. Goodman immediately defended it as not irreligious (although, she conceded, perhaps "vulgar"). The sticker read "WTFWJD? " which is a play on the popular evangelical Christian slogan "WWJD? "— "What Would Jesus Do? " ("WTF" is a

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LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS Recurring Themes: (1) Vade Bradley, 39, was arrested on arson charges in Hayward, Calif., in August after burning down an apartment house carport, totally destroying six vehicles. He was siphoning other people's gasoline in the carport when he decided to light a cigarette. (2) Richard Boudreaux was charged in January with burglarizing Kenney's Seafood (where he previously worked) in Slidell, La., when he became the most recent perp to fail to outflank surveillance cameras. He had thought to wear a bucket over his head as he moved through the store—except he had waited until well inside (within camera range) before actually putting it on. {in}

Send your weird news to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla., 33679 or weirdnews@earthlink.net, or go to newsoftheweird.com September 5, 2013

Independent News | September 5, 2013 | inweekly.net