Here’s a roundup of our top stories from the past week.
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Pensacola makes $1.2 million deal to buy old Escambia Clinic on Palafox
The city of Pensacola has negotiated a contract to buy a longstanding eyesore on N. Palafox, Escambia County’s old Medical Center Clinic, and the mayor says they’re using grant money from the Hollis T. Williams project to cover the cost.
According to the contract, the purchase price is $1,275,000 for the four-story building at 1750 N. Palafox and two adjacent parcels of land that are all owned by Real Business Consultants, Inc.
Real Business Consultants bought the building from ECUA in 2016 for $75,000. About a year ago, the company listed it for close to $2 million.
Full story: Pensacola makes $1.2 million deal to buy old Escambia Clinic on Palafox
FINALLY! Grover’s Milton restaurant opened Thursday. Here’s a look inside
The wait is over for Milton’s new Grover’s, opened to the public on July 24 at 5614 Stewart St., following over a year of eager community anticipation.
The sparkling new Milton restaurant carries over the old-school diner feel of the original location, Grover’s Fingers & Wings at 9418 N. Davis Highway, but now with a drive-thru, glittery cherry red booths, black-and-white checkered floors and quadruple the seating.
Keep reading: FINALLY! Grover’s Milton restaurant opening Thursday. Here’s a sneak peek inside
Pensacola accused of ’embarrassing’ rollout of garbage pickup as recycling returns; considering credits for customers
Many Pensacola residents are upset over the city’s switch to weekly garbage pickup and what they say is a lack of communication about the change.
Residents have taken to social media to voice anger about the changes, with some upset over the change and others upset over missed pickups on their single pick-up day.
Anger online was reflected in comments at the Pensacola City Council meeting on July 17, where Councilman Charles Bare called the rollout of the new changes “embarrassing.”
“I want to apologize to the residents of District 2 for what’s happening with sanitation,” Bare said. “It’s been embarrassing to be a council member.”
Full story: Pensacola accused of ’embarrassing’ rollout of garbage pickup as recycling returns
Pensacola is now considering an option to credit sanitation customers after the botched transition to once-a-week residential garbage pickup frustrated residents.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said the communications surrounding the transition were “not up to our standard.”
Full story: Pensacola looking into bill credits after botching change to once weekly garbage pickup
Women on Pensacola streets are trafficked every day. It’s difficult to prove and stop.
Lisha Banks has been living off and on the streets for years, camping in the woods, along rail lines, or wherever the 59-year-old can find a quiet place to be. There’s no such thing as a “safe” place to live for most women on the street.
They are disproportionately vulnerable to violence, including sexual violence from people they know and others they don’t.
In fact, escaping violence can be the reason why some women, like Lisha, end up homeless.
“It’s hard. If you’re not tough bad things happen. They get raped all the time,” Banks said. “When I was at Beggs Lane, I had a 28-year-old try to rape me. Thank God a friend came by and got his attention and I could get out of there. You have to keep one eye open and whatever weapons you can have, and still that’s not going to do any good if you got 10 guys coming on you, especially the older women.”
Keep reading: Women on Pensacola streets are trafficked every day. It’s difficult to prove and stop.
Blue Angels sued for killing Seattle woman’s cat. What Pensacola has to say about that
A Seattle, Washington, woman has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy’s elite high-flying aerobatics squadron, the Blue Angels, blaming them for killing “the greatest cat that ever lived” with the “sonic assaults” they inflict during their annual August show over Puget Sound.
Lauren Ann Lombardi filed the lawsuit in federal court alleging that her 14-year-old cat “Layla,” which she loved like a daughter, died as a result of the Blue Angels “auditory carpet bombing.”
The suit says the elderly cat’s health started deteriorating after the Blue Angels’ show in August 2024 and their most recent show was the final straw.
Blue Angels lawsuit: Blue Angels sued for killing Seattle woman’s cat. What Pensacola has to say about that
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Top Pensacola news: Grover’s opens, Blue Angels face lawsuit