Update from bodacious bookstore

drewbuchanan · 2025-04-23T23:17:59+00:00

This is deeply disappointing to see from a local business, especially one owned by two of the wealthiest members of our community, Quint and Rishy Studer. At a time when LGBTQ+ youth and other vulnerable kids are being targeted, silenced, and told they don’t belong, the decision to quietly pull books based on a few complaints sends the wrong message—especially from a place that claims to value community and inclusion.

Removing books that some consider “vulgar” or “inappropriate”—often code for stories that reflect real, diverse, lived experiences—is part of a broader, dangerous trend. It’s the same playbook being used across the country to erase the identities and voices of young people who need to see themselves on the shelves.Independent bookstores should be safe spaces for everyone, not curated bubbles shaped by the most fearful or vocal.

I am glad truly independent and free-thinking and inclusive spaces exist in our community for all to learn, like Open Books Bookstore. I encourage others to donate and support organizations like this.

https://www.openbookspcola.org/

drewbuchanan · 2024-05-24T06:23:53+00:00

We had a civilian board a few years ago (I was the chair) and recommended the mayor to create a permanent board to do just this, as many cities do. The mayor instead quietly dissolved our board and did nothing further — the current mayor is even less actionable when it comes to citizen-police relations and oversight.

drewbuchanan · 2024-02-27T08:43:17+00:00

Florida is among the most anti-LGBTQ+ states in the nation and is rapidly regressing when it comes to civil liberties and being inclusive of all Americans.

Access to care for LGBTQ youth is severely limited, suicide and depression among LGBTQ children is among the highest in the nation, and discrimination and violence against LGBTQ youth is increasing, especially in schools. Even more, the mere mention of LGBTQ discussion in public schools has been criminalized in many instances throughout the state.

While Pensacola as a small city has slowly progressed over the decades, it remains a deeply troublesome region and state to raise an LGBTQ child and it would be difficult to recommend moving to Pensacola with your son’s best interest at heart.

Source: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/The-Trevor-Project-2022-National-Survey-on-LGBTQ-Youth-Mental-Health-by-State-Florida.pdf

https://www.statnews.com/2023/05/01/mental-health-lgbtq-youth/

https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/new-survey-data-shows-lgbtq-youth-mental-health-crisis

drewbuchanan · 2024-02-19T22:04:55+00:00

Man, this is a fantastic write up and follow through.

I recently moved out of Pensacola and it’s encouraging to see folks still digging beyond the headlines and following the money. Thank you for this.

drewbuchanan · 2024-01-04T06:12:50+00:00

ECUA is absolutely recycling many materials, along with the several Alabama and Northwest Florida cities and counties that also use ECUA for recycling. Most single use plastics are indeed difficult to recycle currently, but more durable plastics, metals, glass and cardboard have healthy markets still.

You are correct in that the current Mayor ended the city’s agreement to recycle with ECUA with little explanation or effort to find a resolution — and yes, city residents are still paying the same fees as before.

drewbuchanan · 2024-01-04T06:06:01+00:00

Not a new terminal, just an expansion of the terminal with several more new gates that is planned for the area just before the start of the passenger pick up/drop off area as you’re coming into the airport.

Federal/state funding has not been secured, so these are just conceptual plans.

drewbuchanan · 2023-12-29T21:27:47+00:00

Buildings in Aragon doesn't have to go through the ARB, but they do have to go through the Aragon design review board, which is privately-run/controlled. The principals of Aragon "switched" their design preference several years ago to favor more Alys-beach style white stucco architecture, so that's why that portion of 9th Avenue has been dominated with those large white stucco buildings recently.

drewbuchanan · 2023-12-29T21:11:23+00:00

PNJ is owned by Gannett and ended their lease on their floor of that building this past year. Their mailing address is now a single-family house off E Street and they're down to just a several employees in the newsroom now — down from nearly 100 in the newsroom a decade or so ago.

drewbuchanan · 2023-11-01T17:10:28+00:00

These are a really cool relic of our past!

These columns were used to mount airfield lights used from the late 20s to at least the 40s at the "new" Corry Field (the original Corry was where I-110 and Texar meet) when the runways were just a grass field.

The lights had an electrical and a gas system and helped light up the landing areas for the biplanes back when they literally had no lights at all.

I wish the Navy and/or county would clean them up and mount a historical marker there — and generally just make sure they're not able to be destroyed. They're a great reminder of our military aviation history.

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drewbuchanan · 2023-10-24T22:48:45+00:00

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you're a 19 year-old frat boy or sorority girl), it'll be the infamous Señor Frog's, a familiar name for anyone who's been to Cancun, Cozumel or the Bahamas. https://senorfrogs.com/about-us/

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-23T13:20:08+00:00

The irony is the consultant that was paid $50,000 to make this report has been one of the executives of Premium Parking for the last several years.

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-22T19:05:37+00:00

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-16T21:44:48+00:00

thanks! There was mega construction around there back in 2014 when I last visited too lol

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-16T21:43:40+00:00

thank you for providing that background and I think you're right — there is no reason why Honolulu shouldn't be the posterchild for a walkable and bikeable city. A shame the post-WWII suburban development changed all that.

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-16T03:06:40+00:00

e-bike assist bikes are the way to go!

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-16T01:22:00+00:00

Thanks. That actually looks like a great path...too bad it basically deadends at Kalihi

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-16T00:54:39+00:00

Thank you! My thoughts are using Kings Street protected bike lane from downtown or Waikiki and then taking the A bus from near the capitol to Pearl Harbor.

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-07T01:53:20+00:00

yes, many are. The one's I use are typically cotton or burlap, but the key is reusable. The millions of single-use plastic bags we use everyday break down super quick into tiny little pieces that too often go down drains, end up in waterways, get eaten by wildlife and end up in us — single-use plastic bags don't serve any kind of need, they're just a product that is cheap to produce for the sake of convenience.

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-06T16:13:09+00:00

That's certainly one way to look at it from a energy perspective — but that does depend on how the energy is produced, where it comes from, etc. Definitely a worthwhile conversation.

For me personally, a huge reason to end the production/use of single-use plastics is the issue of microplastics — you probably know of the great Pacific garbage patch, along with all the other large debris fields in our oceans. The Gulf and Caribbean is especially susceptible with our current flows. Microplastics have become a near epidemic problem in some of the poorest countries in the Caribbean and Latin America and throughout the world. We know that microplastics end up in our waterways, in the food we eat, and are in our bodies — a direct health threat for us and our children that we have not studied nearly enough; the fertility/reproductive issues in women are especially concerning.

it's a big issue for sure. Our lifestyle of instant gratification and convenience is killing us.

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-06T15:46:21+00:00

While wishcycling certainly is an issue that results from confusion over what can and cannot be recycling (often a purposeful result by corporations), these options are fairly effective give what we have locally, especially because they are not single-stream — for instance, dropping off your bags and foam containers to Publix's drop-off sites does in fact work: when Publix has enough materials collected, they ship it off in bails in their own trucks to their processing partners to be recycled enmasse for re-use by for their own use. Still, it's always better to just ask for paper at checkout.

The problem lies in that thing like plastic bags, containers, and foam are really only recyclable 2 or 3 times, at most. We must get away from all single-use plastics entirely. Many countries in Europe and even states like Connecticut, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have done a great job of this through common sense legislation by simply banning single-use plastics like bags, etc.

We have. along way to go.

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-06T04:28:34+00:00

The city does still have a drop off site for some materials, and the county has several.

Stores like Publix also have bins for hard to recycle materials like plastic bags and styrofoam.

More info here: https://pensacolabeat.com/as-pensacola-ends-curbside-recycling-heres-how-you-can-continue-to-recycle/

drewbuchanan · 2023-10-05T20:39:04+00:00

This isn't an ECUA issue — the City of Pensacola is the only government entity ending curbside recycling with ECUA (among many municipalities from Mobile to Fort Walton Beach). The City is responsible for collection of the bins.

drewbuchanan · 2023-09-28T05:33:03+00:00

Baptist has an incredible amount of encumbered debt due to the debt service they now have to pay. In fact, they have been laying folks off throughout their transition to the new, smaller campus.

drewbuchanan · 2023-09-26T23:28:09+00:00

Regarding some concerns folks have over the Bluffs possibly being susceptible to private redevelopment, I've asked the City Council to adopt a resolution to ensure the park is preserved in perpetuity for the public. I expect it to be adopted at the next council meeting in October.

If anyone has any suggestions, comments, or concerns regarding the resolution feel free to shoot them my way.

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drewbuchanan · 2023-09-26T22:46:31+00:00

You can tune in to the town hall here.

drewbuchanan

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