PNJ top news stories: 'A Day without Immigrants,' UWF protest and new downtown townhomes
PNJ top news stories: 'A Day without Immigrants,' UWF protest and new downtown townhomes
Here's a roundup of our top stories from the past week.
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'A Day Without Immigrants' reaches Pensacola: A dozen restaurants close in solidarity
Dozens of Northwest Florida restaurateurs joined the nation Monday in 'A Day Without Immigrants,' a day-long demonstration that opposed the immigration crackdown and deportation policies planned by President Donald Trump and highlighted the role immigrants play in U.S. culture and economics.
Grace Resendez McCaffery, owner of La Costa Latina newspaper, said she saw dozens of restaurants spanning from Mobile, Alabama, to Walton County that closed Monday in solidarity.
'A lot of businesses and restaurants are closing today in support of the immigrant community, locally and nationally,' she told the News Journal Monday. 'The point is to feel the impact that our immigrant community has in our community, in our country. I think it's also a sign of support … it's just acknowledgement that it is an immigrant community that feeds them.'
'A Day Without Immigrants': A dozen Pensacola restaurants close in solidarity
49 baseball players to watch during 2025 season from Escambia, Santa Rosa counties
Hot dogs, apple pie, Chevrolet ...
And baseball.
That's not the iconic Chevrolet commercial slogan's correct order, but you get the gist. Baseball season for the Florida High School Athletic Association is here. The preseason began Monday, with the regular season kicking off on Feb. 10.
After a standout 2024 campaign that saw Jay win the Class 1A state championship, and other programs make solid postseason runs like Pace (6A) and Pensacola Catholic (3A), there appears to be some strong contenders once again entering the 2025 season.
Baseball players to watch: 49 baseball players to watch during 2025 season from Escambia, Santa Rosa counties
Escambia Code Enforcement says Offentsive women's camp must close
Lisha Banks, 59, has been staying in a tent behind Offentsive, a homeless and addiction outreach group, since Escambia County shut down the Beggs Lane camp last December. It was in response to a new state law that made camping on public property illegal.
Like many women on the street, Lisha is working to get back on her feet and she didn't have a place she felt safe to go. In response to situations like Lisha's, the year-old not-for-profit allowed women to pitch tents in the fenced in area behind their office on Fairfield Drive in Pensacola.
However, Escambia County now says the camp must close because the tents aren't allowed under a county ordinance recently passed in response to the same state law banning camping on publicly owned property.
'I don't understand,' Banks said. 'They throw us off the street, and now they're trying to put us back on the street. Our only options is jail or a shelter, you know? This is our house.'
Full story: Escambia Code Enforcement says Offentsive women's camp must close
UWF students, community members protest DeSantis' conservative trustee appointments
Students, alumni and community members came together Tuesday to protest a slew of conservative appointments to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees that they fear will change the university for the worse.
About 200 people gathered Tuesday afternoon on Cannon Green on the UWF campus.
Rowan Hoff, a freshman from Pensacola, said he came out to protest new UWF Trustee Chairman Scott Yenor and the other conservative board members' "misogynist agenda."
'The misogynist message that women shouldn't be in STEM, women shouldn't be in college, women shouldn't be educated, and they instead should be focused on being mothers has no place here,' said Hoff, 18, who noted he was shocked that Yenor was even appointed to the UWF Board of Trustees, much less made chair.
'Northwest Florida is a very diverse place with a lot of different views, a lot of beautiful scenery and a lot of beautiful ideas. He does not represent us.'
UWF protest: UWF students, community members protest DeSantis' conservative trustee appointments
New high-end, downtown Pensacola townhomes to begin construction next month
A new downtown townhome development is set to begin construction as soon a March.
Red Feather Townhomes will be an 11-unit, high-end townhome development at the corner of Baylen and Intendencia streets, just a block away from Palafox Street.
The units range between 2,500 square feet and 3,500 square feet. Each one will be three stories and three- or four-bedroom units with a two-car garage. The garages will open on the backside of the units to an internal driveway.
Keep reading: New high-end, downtown Pensacola townhomes to begin construction next month
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Protesters crowd into parks and plazas at anti-Trump 'No Kings' demonstrations across the US
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Demonstrators crowded into parks and plazas across the U.S. Saturday to rally against President Donald Trump as officials urged calm and mobilized National Guard troops ahead a military parade to mark the Army's 250th anniversary that coincides with the president's birthday. Atlanta's 5,000-capacity 'No Kings' rally quickly reached its limit, with thousands more demonstrators outside the barrier in front of the state Capitol and a handful of counterprotesters leaving before the rally finished. Intermittent light rain fell as sign-carrying marchers gathered for the flagship rally in Philadelphia's Love Park, where a woman wearing a foam Statue of Liberty crown brought a speaker system and led an anti-Trump sing-along, changing the words 'young man' in the song 'Y.M.C.A.' to 'con man.' Karen Van Trieste, a 61-year-old nurse who drove up from Maryland, said she grew up in Philadelphia and wanted to be with a large group of people showing her support. 'I just feel like we need to defend our democracy,' she said. She is concerned about the Trump administration's layoffs of staff at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fate of immigrant communities and the Trump administration trying to rule by executive order, she said. In Charlotte, North Carolina, crowds cheered anti-Trump speakers and chanted 'we have no kings' while people started to gather in front of Los Angeles City Hall, many carrying American flags as a drum circle began. Protests are planned in nearly 2,000 locations across the country, from city blocks and small towns to courthouse steps and community parks, organizers said, but no events are scheduled in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will take place in the evening. The 50501 Movement orchestrating the protests says it picked the 'No Kings' name to support democracy and speak out against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement. The demonstrations come on the heels of protests that flared up across the country over federal immigration enforcement raids that began last week and Trump ordering the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire. Philadelphia Several hundred people gathered in a downtown park, with organizers handing out small American flags and many people carrying protest signs saying things like 'fight oligarchy' and 'deport the mini-Mussolinis' as they waited for the march to start. Some signs bore immigrant-rights messages, including 'The wrong ice is melting' and 'Unmask ice.' A handful of people wore gas masks or balaclavas to cover their faces. One man in Revolutionary War era garb and a tricorn hat held a sign with a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson: 'All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.' Tallahassee, Florida About a thousand people gathered on the grounds of Florida's old Capitol, where protesters chanted, 'This is what community looks like,' and carried signs with messages like 'one nation under distress' and 'dissent is patriotic.' Organizers of the rally explicitly told the crowd to avoid any conflicts with counterprotesters and to take care not to jaywalk or disrupt traffic. Calling out the National Guard Governors and city officials vowed to protect the right to protest and to show no tolerance for violence. Republican governors in Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and Missouri are mobilizing National Guard troops to help law enforcement manage demonstrations. There will be 'zero tolerance' for violence, destruction or disrupting traffic, and 'if you violate the law, you're going to be arrested,' Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told reporters Friday. In Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe issued a similar message, vowing to take a proactive approach and not to 'wait for chaos to ensue.' Nebraska's governor also signed an emergency proclamation Friday to activate his state's National Guard, a step his office called 'a precautionary measure in reaction to recent instances of civil unrest across the country.' Organizers say that one march will go to the gates of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis warned demonstrators that the 'line is very clear' and not to cross it. Some law enforcement agencies announced they were ramping up efforts for the weekend. In California, state troopers will be on 'tactical alert,' which means all days off are canceled for all officers, while West Virginia's governor put the state police and National Guard on standby. Governors urging calm On social media, Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, called for peaceful protests over the weekend, to ensure Trump doesn't send military to the state. 'Donald Trump wants to be able to say that we cannot handle our own public safety in Washington state,' Ferguson said. In a statement Friday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, urged protesters 'to remain peaceful and calm as they exercise their First Amendment right to make their voices heard.' Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said his administration and state police are working with police in Philadelphia ahead of what organizers estimate could be a crowd approaching 100,000 people. Philadelphia's top prosecutor, District Attorney Larry Krasner, warned that anyone coming to Philadelphia to break the law or immigration agents exceeding their authority will face arrest. He invoked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as a guide for demonstrators.
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Minnesota lawmaker shot dead, another wounded in targeted attack
A gunman shot two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early Saturday, killing one and her husband and wounding the other, in what the northern US state's governor said were "politically motivated" attacks. The shootings came at a moment of deep political divisions in the United States, as thousands prepared to take to the streets in protest at the policies of Republican President Donald Trump. The suspected assailant was still at large, officials said, with a massive manhunt underway. US President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi decried what they called "horrific violence" and said the perpetrators would be prosecuted to "the fullest extent of the law." State representative Melissa Hortman -- the former speaker -- and her husband Mark were killed at their home near Minneapolis, Governor Tim Walz told a press conference. State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot and wounded, the governor said, his voice breaking with emotion. He said officials remained "cautiously optimistic" they would recover. "This was an act of targeted political violence," Walz told reporters. "Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don't settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint." Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Hoffman and his wife were shot first, and as police investigated, Hortman and her husband were shot about 90 minutes later. The suspected gunman was able to escape during an exchange of gunfire with officers near Hortman's residence, Evans told reporters. "We're actively searching for that individual right now," he said. In both cases, authorities believe the assailant was impersonating a law enforcement officer, ABC News reported, quoting a source familiar with the investigation. Police are looking for a white man with brown hair, wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants, local TV station KSTP said. The United States has been deeply divided since Trump returned to the White House in January. The Republican president has drawn criticism from Democrats over his harsh deportation policy, his assault on universities and the media and a perceived flouting of limits on executive power as he pushes his agenda. "At this precipice moment we're on, this tragic act here in Minnesota should serve as a reminder to all of us," Walz said. "The democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and move society to a better place." dw/sst
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France says supports Harvard, welcomes foreign students
France's foreign minister on Saturday said his country supported students and staff at Harvard, after President Donald Trump tried to ban foreign students from the prestigious US university. "We stand with universities facing the threat of government control, restriction to their funding, constraints on their curricula or research projects," Jean-Noel Barrot said during a commencement address at the high-profile HEC business school in Paris. "We stand with Harvard faculty, with Harvard students, facing unjustified stress and anxiety right now," he added in English. "Should US courts uphold decisions to ban international students, France will offer (them) a safe place to complete their degrees," he said. Universities and research facilities in the United States have come under increasing political and financial pressure under Trump, including with threats of massive federal funding cuts. Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump's campaign against top American universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and "viewpoint diversity". A US court last week put a temporary stay on Trump's latest effort to stop foreign students from enrolling at Harvard. A White House proclamation a day earlier had sought to bar most new international students at Harvard from entering the country, and said existing foreign enrollees risked having their visas terminated. The US government has already cut around $3.2 billion of federal grants and contracts benefiting Harvard and pledged to exclude the institution from any future federal funding. France and the European Union are seeking to encourage disgruntled researchers to relocate from the United States to Europe. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said last month that the EU would launch a new incentives package worth 500 million euros ($580 million) to make the 27-nation bloc "a magnet for researchers". French President Emmanuel Macron in April unveiled plans for a funding programme to help national universities and other research bodies cover the cost of bringing foreign scientists to the country. ah/rmb
