Puddle of Mudd to Rock Free Concert on NAS Pensacola

Wow - this band has really fallen from grace.

NAS Pensacola and TK 101 have announced a free Puddle of Mudd concert at the naval station. That’s great that our military and the people of Pensacola get to go to a free concert, but this gig is a career low for the pop-rock band. Weren’t these guys rockin’ arenas like six years ago?

The military and the radio station will split 14,000 tickets between the soldiers and people of Pensacola. The show will take place on Thursday, April 24th at 6:30.

Meriwether and Deepfield will open up for the Fred Durst creation on the Portside Lawn of NAS Pensacola.

IP Permit for Pipeline Should be Approved if Effluent Will Be Safe for Environment

International Paper is re-submitting their application for a permit to build a ten-mile long pipeline from their plant in Cantonment to wetlands in Perdido Bay. If built, the pipeline will carry water that has been used to make paper, and dump it into the wetlands.

The PNJ said International Paper applied for the permit to build the pipeline last year, but it was denied by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection because a judge said the “mill had not proved there would be no negative impact on the wetlands where the waste would be discharged”. In International Paper’s new application, the company said they will pay for “a $70 million upgrade to the mill's wastewater treatment system”.

Should the Florida DEP approve the new pipeline application?

They should if the effluent is truly safe for the environment around the dumping site. If the DEP can prove to the residents that live around Perdido Bay, that they will still be able to swim and fish near the effluent dumping point, then the application should be approved.

Did Law Enforcement Officers Violate First Amendment Rights at McCain Rally? Part 2

Picture of Protestor's Sign

Yesterday, I asked everyone if the first amendment rights of protestors were violated at McCain’s PJC rally. Well, I have proof that their rights were violated. I’ve received an email from one of the protestors who corroborated what I reported in yesterday’s post.

The protestors were not disturbing the rally. Also, the PJC police officer that threatened to boot them from the rally was not off-duty. The PJC police officer violated the first amendment rights of the protestors.

In order to speak openly about the incident, the protestors asked that I not divulge their names. The protestors said they went to the rally because they had “the intention of letting people, McCain specifically, know that not all Republicans in Pensacola were blindly following him.”

The protestors said they quietly unfurled their sign at “the very top of the bleachers, so we weren't blocking anyone's view of McCain.

The protestor said about five minutes after the rally started, a local candidate and campaign staffer asked them to stop displaying the sign. The protestors “refused politely”.

After they refused to take down the sign, “A police officer (definitely not off-duty) then confronted us and said "either I take the sign or I take you." After the police officer confronted them, “we decided to not take it any farther and gave her the sign”.

In their email, the protestors talked about their run-in with the same police officer at the last McCain rally in January. “Members of our group, including those I was with, had a confrontation with this same officer last time McCain was at PJC - she seems to have a personal issue with us and our political views.”

After the protestors were forced to stop displaying their sign, they walked outside to discuss the incident. They talked about what happened, decided to go back in, but were denied re-entry. Even though, “other people who didn't speak to us were allowed in”.

This is a very serious incident; The PJC police officer violated the first amendment rights of the protestors and the administration at the college must address this issue. The right to peacefully air your grievances should never be infringed upon, especially on a college campus.

Did Law Enforcement Officers Violate First Amendment Rights at McCain Rally?

I was shocked when I read the PNJ coverage of today’s McCain rally at PJC. The paper said, “Minutes after the event began, a sign that read, "Republicans Against McCain," was confiscated by law enforcement officers from a small group of individuals.”

The PNJ article was short on their details of the incident between the protesters and law enforcement officer, but posters commenting on the story were quick to fill in the details.

YourStar99 wrote, “I was standing right beside the one young man when the police officer came and said something along the lines of "I take the sign or I take you," so he gave it to the officer, and they all walked out.” The poster added, “They hadn't caused any trouble or disturbance besides the sign.”

This account of the incident leads me to believe the law enforcement officer violated the first amendment rights of the protestors. The protestors were quietly protesting McCain’s presence and the law enforcement officer trampled on their rights. They weren’t disturbing the rally by shouting things that would stop it.

Forum poster Goatman tries to make the case that law enforcement officers were allowed to confiscate the protestor’s sign because the campaign rented the PJC facility and the rally was a private event. Goatman might be right if the law enforcement officer was hired by the campaign and off-duty.

But, even if the McCain campaign did rent the arena at PJC and the cop was off-duty, can we still consider the rally private? Today’s McCain event was open to anyone who wanted to attend. The line between public and private is really blurry.

Does anyone know if the law enforcement officer was off-duty? Is there anyone who saw the incident and wants to share what they saw?

Here’s a City Service You Can’t Complain About

I read a lot of complaints about local government in the PNJ forums. Most of the time, people are complaining about how the city doesn’t provide enough for its people. Well, here’s a city service that you can’t gripe about: Free Concerts at Plaza de Luna Park.

Starting this Thursday at 5:30p.m., the city will host weekly sunset concerts in the park that will feature local musical talent. There will also be entertainment for the kiddies. Doesn’t that sound fun?

I’m sure someone will find something about this event that they don’t like. I can just envision the complaints that we’ll see in the PNJ forums.

Someone will say, “THE CITY SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE GLARE FROM THE SETTING SUN.” They’ll suggest, “CAN’T THE CITY PUT UP SOMETHING TO BLOCK THE SUN; IT’S GETTING IN MY EYES.” They’ll add, “ISN’T THERE ENOUGH MONEY IN THE CITY’S BUDGET TO ERECT AN AWNING IN THE PARK.”

You’ve seen these ridiculous complaints in the forums. They're mostly typed in all-caps. The city will never be able to please everyone.

Is Meghan McCain Going to Join Her Father in Pensacola Tommorrow?

On Saturday, I asked all of Pensacola to help me get in touch with Meghan McCain. Her dad is running for president and tomorrow he'll be stumping at Pensacola Junior College.

Yesterday, I emailed her blog to see if she'll be in town with her dad when he comes to Pensacola. No one from her blog has written me back to confirm or deny that Meghan will make a stop in northwest Florida. I hope her press people don't think I'm a stalker. I'm really not; I have a girlfriend. I'm just a big fan of her blog.

Plus, I'm in Alexandria, VA and won't be able to attend the rally tomorrow. Virginia's primary is already over and McCain's campaign never reached my neck of the woods. I didn't get a chance to say hi.

I'm going to ask everyone again. With a black magic marker, will you please write "Hello Chris" on a piece of computer paper and take it to the rally. Once you're there, can you take a picture with yourself, the sign and Meghan? After you do it, can you send the picture to me? It would really be appreciated.

The parking lot near the Lou Ross Center is easily accessible from College Boulevard. It won't be hard time find; I'm sure that PJC will have numerous signs up around campus that will tell you where you need to go.

The rally for McCain is completely free; just be sure to get down to PJC by 3p.m. tomorrow.

I look forward to seeing everyone's pictures.

City Approves Demolition of Historic Downtown Building; What Will Replace It?

Last week, the City Council approved the demolition of a building in downtown Pensacola that was built in the late 19th century. The structure was battered during Hurricane Ivan and the city has since deemed it unsafe to occupy.

The doomed structure once housed an operation that built and sold supplies for ships that frequented Pensacola’s harbor.

The building is privately owned, but it’s located in a part downtown where the demolition of buildings must first be approved by the city. Due to the dangerous state of the building, the City Council deemed it necessary.

I’m fine with the demolition; I just want to know what’s going to replace it. The owner told the PNJ the current building will be replaced with “a two-story brick building with historic features.” The paper didn’t dig any deeper to find out who will occupy the new structure.

If anyone knows who will occupy the new building, will you let me know?

When Will Construction Begin on Escambia County’s New Wastewater Treatment Facility?

It was announced today that the ECUA Board of Directors will soon break ground on Escambia County’s new wastewater treatment facility. Even though the new plant will be near the Solutia plant on Highway 29, the Board will be breaking-ground near the current downtown location.

The new plant will cost $302 million.

The PNJ didn’t report on when the construction of the plant will begin or end. Hopefully the ECUA Board will announce this news at the ground-breaking on April 11 at 11 a.m.

Why Does Everyone in the PNJ Forums Use Handles?

If we’re all using these forums to have an intelligent conversation, we’d use our real names. I think some of the forum-users like to choose handles so they can hide behind them when they throw around insults.

Why does some users do this? There are some people in these forums that childishly insult local politicians. Some people in forums wouldn’t act this way if everyone knew their names. You people wouldn’t do this in the real world because they would know who you are.

I’m not saying that everyone with a handle is childish, but if we all started using our real names, the children would no longer be able to hide behind their handles.

Will the adults in the forum start using their real names so we can have a civil discussion about local issues?

How Much Did the Jackson’s Acquisition Cost the Great Southern Restaurant Group?

Today, the PNJ reports that the owners of the Fish House and Atlas Oyster House have acquired Jackson’s. Sellers Barry Phillips and Irv Miller will continue to operate the restaurant on Plaza Ferdinand in Downtown Pensacola.

The PNJ article reporting the sale does a good job of describing the presence of the Great Southern Restaurant Group and Jackson’s in Pensacola, but they leave out the details of the transaction. Most importantly, they didn’t say how much money it took to buy Jackson’s.

If any one has any inside information on how much Phillips and Miller made from the sale, I would love to know.

Should The City Cut Jobs or Salaries?

In his blog, Mark O’Brien is touting a plan by a Pensacola citizen to help save jobs and balance the budget. John Fox’s plan that he shared at last Thursday’s City Council meeting, calls for the city to cut salaries of all employees, instead of letting a few workers go.

O’Brien writes, the “plan would cut employees’ salaries enough to offset the $4-$5 million needed to make next year’s budget balance. He added, “The higher the employee’s pay, the bigger the cut.”

If the city is thinking about cutting jobs, they should first look into cutting salaries. But, cutting salaries for all city employees is going to be much harder than cutting a few jobs. It’s much easier to cut jobs because only a few are affected.

The City Council asked the City Manager to look into the idea and see if it’s feasible. Hopefully they will actually do that and report their findings to all of us.

Pensacola’s New Funding Scheme: Sell All Their Old Stuff

What do some families do when they need a few extra bucks? They have a yard sale. The city is doing the same thing.

In April, you’ll have the chance to purchase your very own unmarked police cruiser. Other city-owned vehicles and machinery will also be for sale. The city says they have a “surplus” of them.

I’m noticing a growing trend in our city: Pensacola is selling their old stuff to fund future projects.

Part of the proceeds from the city's sale of property on South Palafox will help fund the Charter Review Commission. What is the city planning on spending the yard sale money on?

Call me crazy, but I don’t think this funding scheme will be sustainable in the long-run. Obviously, there won’t be anything more to sell.

If you would like to participate in the auction, get down to the Pensacola City Garage on April 19 at 7:30 a.m. The sales will begin at 9:00.