Sandra Averhart

In this week’s Economic Report, Dr. Rick Harper talks about the Federal Reserve once again holding interest rates despite projections that an increase was coming in September.

Most observers had anticipated that the Fed would raise rates by 0.25 percent, and many were caught off guard by their decision.

“The Federal Open Market Committee held firm at the existing low interest rates,” Harper said. “We haven’t had an increase since December 2015.”

Last month, Santa Rosa County voters approved a half-cent local option sales tax for infrastructure, but rejected a half-penny tax for construction of a new courthouse in downtown Milton.

The failure of the referendum means the courthouse issue is on hold as county leaders regroup.

When the last of the August 30 Primary ballots were counted the margin of defeat for the proposed courthouse sales tax was just 819 votes.

It was nearly a year ago that the location of Tristan de Luna’s 1559 Settlement was discovered. Since then, University of West Florida archaeologists have ramped up their research of the Spanish colony that was doomed by a hurricane that struck on this day, September 19, 457 years ago.

During the past year, there’s been a lot of activity at the site, including the 2016 UWF Archaeology Summer Field School.  

In this week’s Economic Report, Dr. Rick Harper discusses the new Census Bureau report on the economic progress of American families released by the White House this week.

Among the findings in the report was the fact that household income grew at the fastest rate on record in 2015.

“It was a great report,” Harper said. “We’ve been tracking statistics on median household income adjusted for inflation. Economists call that real median household income.”

The University of West Florida Social Work Department is facilitating a new series of community workshops to explore the issue of race in Escambia County. “Racial Tension: Cooling the Fires” will kick off this Thursday evening in downtown Pensacola.

Key triggers of this focus on racial issues have included nationally publicized police-involved shootings of blacks and the massacre of nine people at a black church in Charleston, S.C.  

Julie Patton, an instructor in the UWF Social Work Department, says she and her colleagues felt compelled to dig deeper.

The University of West Florida is currently hosting a series of initiatives that are aimed at stimulating conversation and thought about race, gender, and other sometimes controversial issues. There are two opportunities to join the discussion this Thursday.

  In this week’s Economic Report, Dr. Rick Harper talks about the Pensacola Young Professionals’ annual Quality of Life survey and what the results reveal about perceptions of the area’s economy and the Port of Pensacola.

The PYP Quality of Life survey was released this week. Conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, 800 respondents were surveyed with the largest response group being those 65 and older, followed by those who were 55-64 and Harper says there weren’t big surprises in the basic findings.

Getting students to become active on their campuses and in their communities is the goal of organizations like Vote Mob and the Student Power Network. The Florida state director of these organizations recently made his pitch at the University of West Florida.

David Caicedo spoke to students in one of the classes taught by UWF Mass Communication Professor Gloria Horning.

In this week’s Economic Report, Dr. Rick Harper, associate vice president of research and economic opportunity at the University of West Florida, discusses the impact of Tropical Storm Hermine on Labor Day tourism.

Updated 12:11 p.m. August 30, 2016.  

A tropical depression that formed in the Florida Straits over the weekend is now churning in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, and is forecast to strengthen.

Tropical Depression Nine is expected to become Tropical Storm Hermine later today in the southeastern Gulf, and it could intensify before landfall.

On the Primary Election ballot in Santa Rosa County, voters are being asked to support two half cent local option sales taxes. Both would be collected for five years, with one aimed at generating funds for infrastructure and capital projects. The other proposed (half-penny) tax is the latest effort to raise funds for a new county courthouse.

In this week’s Economic Report, Dr. Rick Harper talks about a recent CNBC poll that finds many in the economic field are unsure of the Federal Reserve’s plans. He also discussed how the unexpected fall of existing homes sales creates uncertainty in the marketplace.

Fictional characters help tell the story of actual events in the Pensacola area before and during the Civil War in a new book titled Blackwater Betrayal: The Ruthless Treatment of Milton and Pensacola by the Confederacy. It was written by Milton native Richard Kyle Smith.

Smith is a retired certified public accountant, but says he’s always been a lover of words and local history. And those two passions have come together in his first literary effort.

There are six candidates vying to become the next sheriff of Escambia County. Four of them, including the incumbent, will square off in the Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 30.

There is well over a century of law enforcement experience in the Escambia Sheriff’s race.

David Morgan has held the office for the last eight years, and has more than 30 years in the field, starting as a patrolman in the Air Force.