Florida Drivers See Sharp Spike In Gas Prices
July 20, 2026
Florida drivers saw a sharp spike in gas prices last week as oil markets reacted to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and strong summer fuel demand. The state average jumped 19 cents per gallon early in the week before easing slightly through the weekend. Friday’s average price of $3.96 per gallon was the highest daily average since early June.
Sunday’s state average of $3.94 per gallon is 12 cents more than a week ago, 26 cents more than a month ago, and 84 cents more than last year.
In North Escambia, gas prices were as low as $3.66 at stations on Highway 29 in Cantonment. In Pensacola, a low of $3.49 was available at the warehouse clubs.
“Geopolitical tensions can create volatility in energy markets, and that’s exactly what drivers saw last week,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “While prices eased slightly by the weekend, motorists are still paying significantly more than they were just a month ago. Drivers should expect prices to remain sensitive to developments overseas and fluctuations in the oil market.”
U.S. crude oil prices have surged nearly 20% over the past two weeks, including a 16% increase last week alone. Oil settled at $82.49 per barrel on Friday, up from $71.41 per barrel a week earlier.
Wahoos Drop Series To The Biloxi Shuckers
July 20, 2026
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos dropped Sunday night’s series finale to the Biloxi Shuckers by a final score of 11-1.
Left-handed starter, Joey Volini (L, 0-1), made his Double-A debut and pitched 3.0 innings on 65 pitches. He gave up just one baserunner through the first two innings, but faltered in the third. The first two hitters reached on a single and a walk before Jesús Made ripped an opposite field three-run homer over the right field wall, his 10th of the year.
The Shuckers offense continued to apply pressure scoring two more in the 4th, three more in the 5th, and one more in the 6th, including a two-run single from former Wahoo Mark Coley II. When it was all said and done, the Shuckers had a 9-0 lead over Pensacola.
The Blue Wahoos put a run on the board in the top of the 7th when Jay Beshears laced a double into the left field corner, scoring Payton Green all the way from first. The 9-1 score was short lived, as Josiah Ragsdale ripped a two-run homer to make it a 10 run deficit.
Shuckers starter Bishop Letson (W, 5-5) pitched 5.0 solid innings of shutout baseball and helped lead Biloxi to an 11-1 victory. The Shuckers improved to 48-38 overall and 13-8 in the second half while the Wahoos fell to 46-43 and 10-10.
The Blue Wahoos head home for a series against the Columbus Clingstones beginning Tuesday night.
written by Charlie Hobert
Tropical Storm Watch In Effect For Northwest Florida
July 19, 2026
A tropical depression formed off the coast of Florida on Sunday morning .
Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph with higher gusts. Gradual strengthening is forecast, and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm tonight or on Monday.
The next storm name will be named Bertha.
The depression is expected to gradually strengthen and could bring tropical storm conditions to portions of the Florida Panhandle, where a Tropical Storm Watch has been issued.
Interests in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas should monitor the progress of this system, as watches could be required for portions of that area over the next day or two.
Areas of flash flooding will be possible through Thursday along the eastern and central Gulf Coast from western Florida to southern portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Escambia County Reallocates $8 Million to Speed Up District 5 Dirt Road Paving
July 19, 2026
The Escambia County Commission has reallocated over $8 million in District 5 dirt road paving funds from completed or delayed projects to dirt roads that can be paved sooner in District 5.
The $8,022,410 in budgeted funds was realigned from dirt road paving projects that were completed or delayed due to right-of-way constraints to projects that are ready for design, construction or resurfacing. The dirt road paving funds will be moved into projects on Cedar Tree Lane, Fargo Road, Four Star Farm Road, and Lambert Bridge Road.
The county will readdress future funding for projects delayed by right-of-way issues.
The funds were reallocated FROM:
- Ashcraft Road Phase II — $305,986
- Bradberry Road — $312,500
- Cedartown Road — $65,000
- Chalker Road — $89,941
- Filligim Lane — $50,000
- Foster Road – Design — $50,000
- Foster Road – Construction — $473,210
- Four Star Farm Road — $22
- Godwin Road — $50,000
- Hall Road – Design — $100,000
- Hall Road Phase I – Construction — $29,093
- Hall Road Phase II — $535,100
- Jones Road – Design — $120,000
- Jones Road – Construction — $1,006,000
- Koehn Road — $50,000
- O. C. Phillips Road Phase II — $1,055,455
- Open Graded Cold Mix (OGCM) — $70,419
- Railroad Street – Design — $50,000
- Railroad Street – Construction — $642,744
- Robinson Street — $55,000
- Siglar — $22,028
- Spence Road — $100,000
- Spence Road Ph1 — $628,360
- Tobias/Arena Road — $745,418
- Toler Road — $428,000
- Water Tank Road – Design — $50,000
- Water Tank Road – Construction — $351,610
- York Road – Design — $50,000
- York Road – Construction — $536,524
The $8,022,410 was reallocated TO:
- Cedar Tree Lane DRP — $2,300,000
- D5 Dirt Road Paving — $564,550
- Fargo Road — $75,000
- Frank Ard Road — $1,900,000
- D5 Dirt Road Paving — $980,106
- Lambert Bridge Road — $2,200,000
- Pine Barren Church Road — $450
- Whirlpool Road — $2,304
Officials noted that some of the smaller amounts represent leftover funds from completed tasks, while other allocations will either fully fund a project or cover existing budget shortfalls on completed projects.
Project dates have not been announced.
Pictured: Work to pave Ashcraft Road in Bratt in 2021. Over $305,000 remained in the county budget for an Ashcraft Road phase II that was already completed. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Florida’s Jobless Rate Drops For The First Time Since 2024
July 19, 2026
For the first time since the end of 2024, Florida’s unemployment rate went down last month.
A report released Friday by the Department of Commerce shows the state’s jobless rate for June at 4.7 percent, a reduction from 4.8 percent the prior two months. The rate is still 0.5 percentage points higher than the national average.
The Escambia County unemployment rate stood at 5.0 percent, a slight increase from 4.9% one month ago. The net increase for the year stood at 700 jobs with.
Locally, the education and health services fields showed increases of three percent.
Even with the one-month decline, the state’s unemployment rate stands 0.9 percentage points higher than a year ago.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Northview Band Member Takes Part In Florida Bandmasters Association Nine Star Honor Band
July 19, 2026
Northview High School Tribal Beat band member Aubrey Flowers took part recently in the Florida Bandmasters Association Nine Star Honor Band in Orlando.
This ensemble consisted of 106 ninth-grade students representing 62 schools across 29 Florida school districts.
Over the course of two days, these students dedicated 14 hours of rehearsals to prepare eight musical selections under the direction of FBA Retired/Life Member, Jose Lopez.
Pictured top: Aubrey Flowers. Pictured below: Flowers with Northview band director Garsche Roble. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Fans Pack Pensacola Beach For Annual Air Show (With Gallery)
July 19, 2026
Thousands of people absolutely packed Pensacola Beach on Saturday for the 2026 Pensacola Beach Air Show featuring the Blue Angels.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photo by Perry Doggrell, click to enlarge.
Century Correctional Inmate Serving Time For Murder Assaulted Staff Member, FDC Says
July 19, 2026
A Century Correctional Institution inmate assaulted a correctional officer, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Inmate Angel Galarza assaulted a correctional officer by throwing a cup of unknown liquid at them, FDC said.
Galarza was serving a 25-year sentence for a 2024 Polk County conviction for first degree murder. He was set for release in 2047.
Weekly Roundup: Results Achieved
July 19, 2026
Florida Weekly Roundup is a look back at last week in a Florida politics and government.
With the white tents dismantled, generators, lighting and signage removed, and fencing no longer standing around the airstrip at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a fight over the environmental impact of Alligator Alcatraz quietly came to a close this week.
Devoid of detainees, the lawsuit over the state-run immigration detention center by the Center for Biological Diversity was withdrawn after satellite and aerial imagery showed the alleged “air-polluting equipment” had been largely dismantled and removed.
OTHER FIGHTS CONTINUE
“We achieved the desired result with our Clean Air Act lawsuit. This detestable facility’s air pollution will not continue,” said Ryan Maher, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. “But the fight continues to ensure that the site is fully remediated and the Trump and DeSantis administrations are held accountable.”
In late June, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the facility served its purpose, with those moved through the center transferred to other locations or moved out of the country.
Alligator Alcatraz closed on June 25, just shy of its one-year anniversary. But even before it opened on July 1, 2025, the facility faced numerous lawsuits on environmental, due process and civil rights grounds that sought to close it down.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in May, argued the Florida Division of Emergency Management violated the federal Clean Air Act by failing to get air quality permits for the facility.
The group alleged the diesel generators and equipment caused “substantial, unpermitted pollution,” including the release of benzene, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, and would result in more than $120,000 in daily fines.
The group will continue to pursue other litigation in federal court, including a lawsuit filed in June 2025 alleging the environmental review studies weren’t completed before building the detention facility, a requirement before approval of federal contracts according to the National Environmental Policy Act.
“We and our partners will not stop until every piece of infrastructure tied to this facility is gone for good, the damage is assessed, and Big Cypress is restored,” Maher said.
In the year it was open, Alligator Alcatraz helped the federal government deport 21,000 people. Court records show Alligator Alcatraz cost the state approximately $1 million per day to run.
Florida’s other state-run detention facility, Deportation Depot, is still operating in Baker County.
TERROR PAUSED
A lengthy list of groups designated by the state as “domestic terrorist organizations” was put on hold until state law enforcement establishes regulations to implement the changes from a new state law.
The state on Monday requested additional time to respond to the Council on American-Islamic Relations federal lawsuit as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement intends to first issue regulations to implement the law (HB 1471) and a related public records exemption (HB 1473) from the 2026 regular session.
“No designation will be made before the regulations are finalized,” the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee stated.
Scott McCoy, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represents CAIR, said the state’s action shows the law is less about public safety than politics.
“The fact that Florida officials announced their intent to designate CAIR at their July 1 press conference, before regulations they now plan to issue have come into effect, shows their calculated and cruel plan to designate CAIR is not because it is in any way a threat to public safety, but because doing so suits their political agenda,” McCoy stated.
The law took effect July 1 and DeSantis that day declared he would seek the “terrorism” designation for CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, various foreign cartels, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and the anti-fascism movement antifa.
The designations still needed to be backed by the members of the Florida Cabinet. A special meeting with DeSantis and the Cabinet members has yet to be announced.
TWO EXECUTIONS, ONE DAY
DeSantis put Florida in place to hold a day-night set of executions in less than two weeks.
As the state on Tuesday conducted its 10th execution of the year by lethal injection at Florida State Prison, DeSantis issued a new warrant for James Aren Duckett after the Florida Supreme Court lifted its stay of the former Mascotte police officer’s previously scheduled execution.
The action by DeSantis sets up two executions to take place at Florida State Prison on July 28, with Duckett scheduled to die at noon and Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, at 6 p.m., both by lethal injection.
Occhicone, who is set to become the oldest person put to death by the state in the modern execution era, killed his former girlfriend’s parents four decades ago in Pasco County.
Duckett was convicted of the 1987 death of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee.
Duckett, 68, was scheduled to be executed on March 31, but the justices imposed a stay to allow for the completion of DNA testing and a subsequent statistical analysis of the DNA sample.
The last time two executions were carried out in the state on the same day was May 12, 1964, when inmates charged with murder were put to death in Bay and Gadsden counties.
The deaths were the last conducted by the state until May 25, 1979, while waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to make a final decision on whether the death penalty was legal.
In 1972, the court in Furman v. Georgia ruled the way the death penalty was being applied was unconstitutional. However, the court four years later said the death penalty could be used when applied with clear rules for judges and juries.
STORY OF THE WEEK:
An environmental advocacy group dropped a lawsuit after evidence showed Florida had taken down generators used to power Alligator Alcatraz.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“I’m not an establishment pig. I’m a pig for the people and the hardworking families here in the state of Florida. I want to be even more clear, Republicans are a problem. But corporate Democrats are a problem as well. They are colluding with one another.” — Florida Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat, when asked Wednesday about her lack of national support in her bid to the party’s U.S. Senatorial nominee.
Compton Continues To Crush As Wahoos Wallop Shuckers
July 19, 2026
Brandon Compton continued his dominant introduction to the Southern League as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos battered the Biloxi Shuckers 16-6 on Saturday night.
Compton was 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and six RBI to tie a single-game franchise record last set by Jakob Marsee in 2024. His three-run homer in the first inning was his fourth in as many games dating back to last Saturday, becoming just the fourth Blue Wahoos player in team history to homer in four straight games. He now has eight homers and 19 RBI in his first 13 games since joining the club on June 30.
Compton’s homer in the first inning set the Blue Wahoos on a winning course, and a seven-run second inning gave the Pensacola pitching staff more than enough cushion for the rest of the night. An RBI single from Cristian Hernández resulted in an early exit for Shuckers starter Jaron DeBerry (L, 7-5), who departed with an apparent injury after 1.1 innings. RBI singles from Compton and Ryan Ignoffo followed before Ian Lewis Jr. capped the big inning with an opposite-field grand slam, the third for the Blue Wahoos this season.
Blue Wahoos starter Alex Williams allowed a two-run homer to Blake Burke in the first inning and an RBI single to Matthew Wood in the third inning, but otherwise protected his massive lead over 4.0 innings of three-run ball in a no-decision.
Hernández added an RBI single and Compton followed with a two-run double in the fifth inning, extending the Pensacola lead to 13-3. Juan Matheus finished the offensive outburst with a flourish in the seventh inning with a three-run homer of his own.
Kade Bragg (W, 6-2) worked 2.0 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win, and Gabe Bierman and Josh Hejka worked around late trouble to finish off a 16-6 final.
The Blue Wahoos wrap up their series against the Shuckers on Sunday night.
written by Erik Bremer