Rick's Podcasts

ABC News' Jason Nathanson reviews what's on the big screen and streaming this weekend.

Pensacola Catholic High School Robotics Team, also known as ‘Crubotics,’ will compete in the MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) World Championship for the third year in a row. The event will be held June 19-22 in Kingsport, Tenn.  Dana Lupton has the details.

Lumon May remembers the great Rev. Theophalis May.

"My father to me was just a great man. His mom died in childbirth; his father died when he was five. He was homeless all the way until he went into the Navy at age 15. He served at Annapolis in the kitchen as a kitchen helper in World War II.  And he often said the first time he ever had a pair of shoes, the first time he ever was full was because of going in the Navy. "

He became an entrepreneur because he didn't want to work for anybody. He renovated Old Christ Church and the L&N Terminal. Lumon said, "He owned Mays Quarter, he owned a grocery store, he owned the taxi stand and the construction business."

Former Mayor Grover Robinson IV talks about his father, Grover Robinson III.

He shared one of his favorite memories of his day, "I moved back here in 95, and it was about 1997 when I actually beat him on the tennis court at Roger Scott. And that was a momentous day for me to actually win on the tennis court because that never happened as a child. So that was a big kind of passing of the torch mark. My father, certainly, he loved me, he taught me a lot, but he was never going to let me win at anything. Oh, that's great. So I had to earn that."

David Bear and I share stories about his dad, Lewis Bear, Jr. 

"I have one voicemail I still have saved from him on my phone - 'And David call me immediately.' I can't tell you how many of those I had. And I would call him, and he's like, 'What's up, dude?'" David said. 

"And I'd be like, 'You just left me an email like your house was on fire, and it was my fault.'"

The statue outside the Bodacious Shops in downtown Pensacola is a gift from Rishy Studer to her husband, Quint.  The statue is of Quint's dad, Quinton "Quin" Studer.

"He worked as a diesel mechanic during the day, and then at night, he worked at people's houses as a handyman. And on weekends, he worked at Pilot Brothers Junkyard because he loved auto parts," Quint shared. "We'd never had a car in a garage. It was always full of lawnmower engines and outboard engines. You know how people go rescue dogs? He rescued engines back then. People put engines out on the curb, and he'd go pick 'em up and take 'em home. And he just got joy out of bringing engines back to life. "

Quint talks about how accurate the Quin Studer statue is.

Rick talks with Jennifer Brahier, Chip Simmons, Jessica Perez, Wendi Davis and Em Nguyen.

The 2024 Latin Salsa Festival will be held at Museum Plaza (300 S. Tarragona St.) in Downtown Pensacola on Sat., June 22 from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. Admission is free.

This year’s musical lineup includes Zona Libre, Omar Brown, Candela del Caribe, Conjunto Tierra Linda and the award winning, Orchestra Fuego led by Indie Music Hall of Fame Artist Marcus Hernandez.

Ranked as the Number One independent Salsa Band in the world by IMC, ReverbNation and Spotify, Orchestra Fuego performs a high-octane blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms mixed with Nuyorican flavor. Their latest of six albums, Candela, received Best Song, Best Band and Best Album awards in the 2022 Independent Music Awards in Hollywood, CA. and RIAA Platinum status in 2023. More than 30 business and food vendors featuring various Latin American and Caribbean foods are participating.

 
Organizer Jessica Perez shares the details.

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons has made fentanyl and methamphetamine investigations a top priority.  

“We've doubled down. I've put more investigators in the narcotics unit with the task of  ‘Hey, kick more doors’ like we used to do, in conjunction with the technology we're doing with the real-time crime center,” he said.  “I want to say we're at number 25 or 26 drug house we've kicked just in the last couple of months.”

He continued, “Each one of these drug busts, we’re taking guns and drugs from the street, taking away drugs from the street. These are rather significant arrests, and these are letting people know that you're not going to do that in this neighborhood.”

The Pensacola City Council, meeting as the Community Redevelopment Agency board, unanimously approved donating three properties to the Northwest Florida Community Land Trust in a 5-0 vote. CRA chair Jennifer Brahier has the details.