Shannon Nickinson, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Shannon NickinsonSeptember 20, 2015

The Florida Children and Youth Cabinet recently voted to write state leaders urging them to prioritize early education and child services for “the first 1,000 days” – from pregnancy to age 3. Based on data from the Pensacola Metro Dashboard, only 66.2 percent of Escambia County’s 5-year-olds are ready for kindergarten; in Santa Rosa County […]

Shannon NickinsonSeptember 1, 2015

The Studer Community Institute’s Metro Dashboard aims to be a roadmap to help build citizen-powered change, to make Pensacola a more vibrant community for all of her citizens. That’s not a mix Pensacola always has gotten right. If we expect to build a community that brims with entrepreneurial spirit, values education, and increases middle-class jobs, […]

Shannon NickinsonAugust 18, 2015

Pensacola has officially embarked on a new chapter in the 130-year history of a community institution of health and wellness. The new downtown branch of the Northwest Florida YMCA will be — if all of the fundraising goals are met — a $15 million, 52,000-square-foot facility with an aquatic center, a gymnasium, a wellness center, […]

Shannon NickinsonAugust 9, 2015

I know that the beautiful sunsets and sugar-white sands can inspire flights of fancy in every brain. I know that the heat and humidity can make even the most focused mind wander. But some folks need to come in out of the sun. The July 31 murders of 76-year-old Voncile Smith and her two sons, […]

Shannon NickinsonJuly 28, 2015

Can we put our money where our mouth is? That’s the question the Studer Community Institute’s metro dashboard is meant to ask — and hopefully answer. The dashboard aims to be a road map to help build citizen-powered change, to make Pensacola a stronger, more vibrant community. A guide to know if our community is […]

Shannon NickinsonJuly 21, 2015

It’s time to look at the BP glass as half full. The federal judge who was to mete out financial punishment to the British oil giant for its part in the Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010 has made his ruling. Now it’s up to us to make what we will of it. Generally, the […]

Shannon NickinsonJune 30, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott touted the 2015 state budget as the Keep Florida Working budget. While that remains to be seen, one thing seems clear: It sure isn’t the Keep Florida Healthy budget. One of the casualties of Scott’s veto pen was the Florida Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, a nonprofit based in St. Petersburg […]

Shannon NickinsonJune 29, 2015

My America is not the same as yours. It’s not the same America that gay and lesbian sons and daughters of the Midwest experienced. It’s not the same America that black sons and daughters of the Deep South know. But make no mistake, brothers and sisters. It is all our America. We’ve had a chance […]

Shannon NickinsonJune 16, 2015

Can we tell your future from your ZIP code? To hear Rick Harper tell it, those five numbers may be the closest thing to a crystal ball that we are likely to get for the moment. Harper, the University of West Florida’s assistant vice president for Economic Development and senior fellow of the Studer Community […]

Shannon NickinsonJune 9, 2015

This map could be the key to improving our relationship with water for years to come. If we make it come alive. A chain of parks that runs underneath Interstate 110 and through the Longhollow neighborhood. A “daylighted” version of Washerwoman’s Creek, which used to empty into Pensacola Bay near what is now the Baskerville […]

Shannon Nickinson

Shannon Nickinson: Our children need more than a letter

Shannon Nickinson: Achieving community success takes more than lip service

Shannon Nickinson: Pensacola takes step to break unhealthy tradition

Shannon Nickinson: Murders, gruesome clues, waterfront project, City Hall intrigue roil Pensacola’s bubble

Shannon Nickinson: Make smarter community investments for a better future

Shannon Nickinson: Find that silver lining in BP settlement

Shannon Nickinson: Rick Scott vetoes hurt health care for poor

Shannon Nickinson: Bridge our divides, make America stronger

Shannon Nickinson: The tough nut of Pensacola’s renewal

Shannon Nickinson: Hunting for millions with stormwater 'treasure map'