PNJ’s top news stories: Matt Gaetz tapped for AG, Whiskey Joe’s closes

Here’s a roundup of our top stories from the past week.
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Whiskey Joe’s is permanently closing its waterfront restaurant on the Pensacola Beach Boardwalk after Nov. 27 with a new concept coming in March, Whiskey Joe’s Marketing Manager Kelsey Hanson confirmed in an email Monday.
The “Floribbean,” island-time inspired restaurant opened on Pensacola Beach at 400 Quietwater Beach Road, Unit 16, in early 2022. The waterfront property boasted an outdoor tiki bar, main indoor dining room and separate spaces for private events.
Whiskey Joes has several other locations across Florida, and Pensacola Beach was selected due to the “sun-seeking, laidback crowd” that Pensacola Beach attracts, John Tallichet, CEO of the Specialty Restaurants Corporation that includes Whiskey Joe’s, told the News Journal ahead of the restaurant’s opening in 2022.
Keep reading:Whiskey Joe’s set to permanently close this month on Pensacola Beach, new concept coming
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has resigned from Congress, “effective immediately,” House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Wednesday, just hours after President-elect Donald Trump announced he was tapping Gaetz for U.S. Attorney General.
“He issued his resignation letter effective immediately from Congress,” Johnson said during a press conference Wednesday night. “That caught us by surprise a little bit.”
Johnson said Gaetz’s abrupt resignation allowed for a faster special election in Northwest Florida to replace him and shore up the thin Republican majority in the House.
Keep reading:Matt Gaetz resigns from Congress ‘effective immediately’ after Donald Trump taps him as AG
As painful as it is to revisit her sister’s murder, Diamond Jordan is determined to make sure people know what happened and that her younger sister’s death isn’t minimized or forgotten.
“Tierra had a lot of life left, and Christian Ketchup took her life from her. I feel like it’s our job to be her voice because she can’t anymore,” Jordan said.
Ketchup is charged with second degree homicide and has pleaded not guilty.
Although his case has not gone to trial yet, Jordan is concerned he won’t be held accountable, especially after his girlfriend and co-defendant in the case, Rachel DeRise, received a “slap on the wrist,” in Jordan’s opinion, for her role in the deadly altercation.
Keep reading:Sister of woman gunned down at Mugs & Jugs wants justice. Why she worries she won’t get it
With its solicitation last week for companies to come forward to demolition the old Baptist Hospital, Pensacola is on a course to demolish the entire campus.
The decision came after engineering consultants made clear to city officials that reusing the main building and towers of the old Baptist Hospital would not be “commercially viable.”
In May, the city hired Geosyntec Consultants to assess the Baptist Hospital campus for reuse and perform what is known as a phase I environmental study for potential pollution on the property.
At the time, the city was still awaiting word on whether Gov. Ron DeSantis would approve $7 million in state funding to pay for the demolition of the old Baptist Hospital. The funding was approved in the state budget, and now the city is conducting a phase II environmental survey along with a full title and land survey to work out the details of a donation agreement with Baptist Health Care.
The city issued a “request for qualifications” last week to seek qualified contractors to demolish the entire campus.
Keep reading:Engineer study shows reuse of Baptist Hospital not ‘commercially viable’
Over the past year, the urban design firm Gehl heard the voices of more than 1,700 Pensacola area residents, reviewed more than 30 previously drafted municipal plans and reports, and looked at examples of other long-term strategic plans from other communities across the nation and globe.
Gehl’s team came away with a clear mission for the city of Pensacola: that by 2035, “all residents have the support they need to stay and thrive in their city – at every stage of life.” And to help meet that goal, Gehl created a 71-page report with clear instructions, steps and metrics showing the way forward.
On Monday, Gehl publicly released a 10-year strategic plan for the city called “Strive to Thrive: Pensacola 2035,” a document that is “the result of input from over a thousand voices, setting a vision for the cityʼs future over the next decade and beyond.”
Keep reading:8 goals to make Pensacola thrive by 2035: City unveils 10-year strategic plan