Rick's Podcasts

A Santa Rosa County jury awarded $16 million for medical malpractice and wrongful death to the family of a woman who died while in the care of Armor Correctional Health Services in the Santa Rosa County jail. Misty Williamson contracted pneumonia while under the care of Armor Correctional Health Services in the county jail. Armor health care providers delayed transfer to the emergency room. When she arrived at the ER, her pneumonia had turned into sepsis. Williamson died in the emergency room from septic shock.Zarzaur Law, P.A., brought suit on behalf of the client’s family, arguing that Armor’s neglect and delay in transfer to the emergency room caused her untimely death. The verdict included $6 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages for the surviving spouse and children. Joe Zarzaur discusses the case.

On Tuesday, Aug. 15, WCOA celebrated the second anniversary of "Real News with Rick Outzen" with a live remote from the newly renovated Atlas Oyster Bar.U.S. Sen. Rick Scott brought fresh donuts and talked about his “Keeping Our Kids Safe” tour that he is making around the state. “We all want our kids to be safe,” he said. “Think of how the world's changed. When we raised our daughters, we weren't worrying about school shootings. We were worried about drugs, but not this fentanyl that just with a few grams will kill you. And the social media was not even around. If they had cell phones, it was to call us or their girlfriends.” Rather than spend money to hire more IRS agents, Sen. Scott wants the funds spent on school safety. He said, “Why not take that money and put it into training law enforcement in our schools? Pretty basic. If we do, we could do that every private and public school in the country.” Other elements of this plan included securing the borders to curb the influx of fentanyl and holding Big Tech accountable. Sen. Rick Scott praised local leaders for turning around the Pensacola area. As Florida’s governor from 2010-2018, he played a significant role in the expansion of the Navy Federal Credit Union in Beulah and the construction of ST Engineering facility at the Pensacola International Airport. “When I came to campaign in 2010, downtown was pretty dead,” said Sen. Scott. “And you look at what's happened in, 13. You look at the jobs, the airport. I mean, it's pretty impressive that everybody here has done a great job. My job as governor was just to try to be helpful as much as I could.”

The second hour included  Atlas co-owner Collier Merrill and Chef Justin Hughes, Dee Dee Davis, Jennie Noonan, City Councilwoman Jennifer Brahier, Community Health CEO Chandra Smiley, Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender, Supervisor of Elections David Stafford, Attorney Troy Rafferty, Port of Pensacola director Clark Merritt and Sena Maddison.

On Tuesday, Aug. 15, WCOA celebrated the second anniversary of "Real News with Rick Outzen" with a live remote from the newly renovated Atlas Oyster Bar. Over two hours, we interviewed 20 elected officials and community leaders, including Sen. Rick Scott.This podcast covers the first hour and includes Sheriff Chip Simmons, former mayors Grover Robinson and Ashton Hayward, Triumph Gulf Coast chair David Bear, PYP president Justin Oswald, DIB executive director Walker Wilson, state senate candidate Frank White, Mayor D.C. Reeves and Escambia County Commission chair Lumon May.

The full show for Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.

We celebrate the 56th anniversary of Rosie O’ Grady’s on Wednesday, Aug. 16. Buck Mitchell has the details.

The Escambia County Commission approved the 2023-24 budget in record time.  County Administrator Wes Moreno talks about what happened behind the scenes.

he NOAA has upgraded its hurricane forecast from “near-normal” to “above-normal.” The hurricane prediction increased to six to 11, up from five to nine. Forecasters expect two to five major hurricanes. Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore discusses the predictions.

The full show for Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. We covered Community Health Northwest Florida celebrating National Health Center Week. Jason Nathanson reviewed "Jules" and "Painkiller. Dr. Eman El-Sheikh discussed the University of West Florida Center for Cybersecurity expanding CyberSkills2Work, and DIB executive Walker Wilson discussed how the Pelican Drop meeting went.

DIB Executive Director Walker Holmes discusses the meeting held to decide the future of the Pelican Drop.