Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Gary FineoutFebruary 20, 2015

At a rural crossroads in Northwest Florida, the state may encounter a tough choice in its ongoing debate over the future of gambling. It’s here — amid mobile homes, cow pastures and cotton fields near the Alabama-Florida line — that a small, Alabama-based Indian tribe wants to expand its gambling operations into the Sunshine State. Rebuffed […]

Shannon NickinsonFebruary 2, 2015

Tim Wyrosdick has a big idea that could change the educational and economic future of the Pensacola metro area. If you have $55 million, he says he can provide the staff and students to fill it. “It’s a pie-in-the-sky dream kind of thing,” says Wyrosdick, Santa Rosa County School District superintendent. The idea – Innovation […]

Shannon NickinsonJanuary 22, 2015

Are you ready for the class of 2027? Those who gathered at the ECARE breakfast at Sanders Beach Corrine Jones Community Center recently got a glimpse of what that graduating class may hold. The 10 sweet faces of the children from Top Notch Christian Academy who performed Bear Snores On with their teachers gave us […]

Shannon NickinsonJanuary 5, 2015

The New Year’s resolutioners are so cute. They were all over town Thursday and Friday, walking the neighborhoods, prowling the produce department at the grocery store, listening to their “getting fit” playlists. They need our help. Because helping them helps the economy of the Pensacola metro area. “Say what?” you say. “Say amen,” I say. […]

Shannon NickinsonNovember 30, 2014

When you’ve been waiting as long as these Escambia County residents have been, it stings to be asked for more patience. The people who live near the Rolling Hills and Longleaf construction and demolition debris facilities have waited years for their complaints to be heard. So Monday, when they had an audience with people at […]

Shannon NickinsonOctober 23, 2014

Santa Rosa County voters first had the chance to fund construction of a new courthouse in 2002. That measure failed, but the need to replace the nearly 90-year-old facility in downtown Milton, about 25 miles from Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle, has only grown in the intervening 12 years. And if it fails again on […]

Shannon NickinsonSeptember 22, 2014

Kindergarten isn’t what it used to be. Back in the day, kindergarten was a place to learn to work and play well with others. Letter, numbers, a little “See Spot Run.” That’s the way I remember Mrs. Graham’s class at Waverly School. Kids today start out behind the curve if they wait until kindergarten to […]

Shannon NickinsonAugust 28, 2014

More than once over the six months I have spent reporting material for what became the Pensacola Metro Report, I’ve been asked what I thought the bottom line was from the report. The bottom line is that we have to do better. Back in 2001, I was part of the team that worked with the […]

Shannon NickinsonAugust 21, 2014

Most people do resolutions in January. I think Pensacola — and all of Florida — should dare to be different. I think August is a great time for a resolution. A resolution to take the mantra of “each one, teach one” seriously and to heart. The school year is beginning. The sales tax holiday is […]

Shannon NickinsonAugust 19, 2014

We’re going to need a bigger bridge. To make a meaningful dent in crime prevention, the gap between law enforcement and those they are sworn to protect needs to be narrowed. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office in Northwest Florida is trying to do its part, and for that it deserves due credit. It hosted a […]

Tag: Escambia County

Tribe offers Florida a choice: casino or marijuana

Shannon Nickinson: Santa Rosa dreams of Innovation High School

Shannon Nickinson: Early learning is crucial for Pensacola — and beyond

Shannon Nickinson: To get economy in shape, get body in shape

Shannon Nickinson: Progress, but the waiting goes on for some Escambia County residents who want dumps closed

Shannon Nickinson: Our infrastructure is expensive and mostly invisible until it breaks

Shannon Nickinson: Testing students is fine — until it interferes with educating them

Shannon Nickinson: Pensacola Metro Report: We can do it, we can do better

Shannon Nickinson: Take time to improve a child’s future, our future prosperity

Shannon Nickinson: A bigger bridge is needed between law enforcement, community