Pensacola Police Join Multi-State Speed Enforcement Campaign

The Pensacola Police Department will join a coordinated multi-state effort to crack down on speeding and aggressive driving next week as part of Operation Southern Slow Down.

The campaign runs July 13 to July 18 and will target speeding and aggressive driving on interstates and highways across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Multiple law enforcement agencies in all five states will participate in the enforcement initiative.

Pensacola police have documented a troubling trend of traffic fatalities in recent months. According to a PPD news release, the department has investigated 18 traffic fatalities since January 2025, which they believe were caused by speeding or aggressive driving.

"Utilizing grant funding from the Florida Department of Transportation, the Pensacola Police Department will be utilizing overtime officers in order to combat speeding and aggressive driving within the City of Pensacola during the campaign period," the release stated.

The grant funding will allow PPD to deploy additional officers specifically focused on traffic enforcement during the week-long campaign. These overtime officers will concentrate their efforts on identifying and stopping drivers engaged in dangerous speeding and aggressive driving behaviors.

Operation Southern Slow Down represents a significant regional effort to improve roadway safety across the Southeast. By coordinating enforcement across multiple states, law enforcement agencies hope to send a consistent message about the dangers of reckless driving.

The campaign comes as summer travel season continues across the region, with increased traffic on major highways and interstates. Police officials say the timing of the initiative is critical to protect drivers and passengers during peak travel periods.

Residents and travelers in Pensacola should expect increased police presence on local roads and highways during the campaign week. Officers will be monitoring for speeding violations, aggressive lane changes, and other dangerous driving behaviors.

The Pensacola Police Department encourages all drivers to maintain safe speeds, follow traffic laws, and practice defensive driving techniques. Safety officials emphasize that every driver plays a role in preventing traffic fatalities and protecting everyone on the road.

Northwest Florida Farmer Ryan Jenkins Reports Crops Running a Month Behind — But Reasons for Optimism

Jay, FL (NewsRadio 92.3) -- Jay farmer Ryan Jenkins checked in with Pensacola's Morning News Friday morning with his monthly farming update — and says while things are looking better than they did earlier this season the numbers tell a humbling story. Crops across the board are running about a month behind schedule.

The culprit is a season that swung from one extreme to the other. A drought that stretched back to last August pushed back planting and left fields too dry to work. Then when rain finally arrived it kept coming — and while the moisture was welcome it created its own set of problems. Wet fields meant weeds were growing faster than farmers could manage them. Equipment couldn't get in to apply fertilizer or chemicals at the right time. Cotton that needed to be slowed down and encouraged to produce fruit was instead spending its energy growing taller.

Jenkins noted that the old farming saying — cotton thigh-high by the Fourth of July — simply didn't apply this year. Normally by early July a farmer wants to be mostly done with crop management other than insecticide applications. This year there is still about a month of catch-up work ahead.

The bright spot is corn. Jenkins says the corn crop is looking genuinely good and has received enough rain that even a dry stretch in the coming weeks likely wouldn't hurt it significantly. He is hoping to report the start of corn shelling when he checks back in next month.

On the financial side Jenkins says fuel and fertilizer prices remain elevated. He says the area's farmers were unable to pre-purchase fertilizer at lower prices and ended up paying peak prices for inputs at a time when the season was already challenging. He says he is still struggling with those costs.

Jenkins also addressed the recent death of an Escambia County man killed by a tractor — noting that while he doesn't know the details of that specific case older tractors with bypassed or worn-out safety switches are a leading cause of farm fatalities. He says experienced farmers can become complacent after years of doing the same tasks and that complacency combined with aging equipment is a dangerous combination. He says he can name five people in the area alone who have been run over by their own tractors.

Pensacola Woman Sentenced In Fatal DUI Crash That Killed Uber Driver

Pensacola, FL (NewsRado 92.3) -- A twenty-one-year-old Pensacola woman is headed to prison for eighteen years after a deadly DUI crash. A judge sentenced Terriny Krepps Thursday for killing a sixty-year-old Uber driver and seriously injuring two Navy sailors back in June of twenty twenty-four. Troopers say Krepps ran a red light at Navy Boulevard and Gulf Beach Highway, and her blood alcohol level tested at point-one-eight-six. She's now being held without bond, awaiting transport to state prison.