09-02-2025
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
