REIMAGINE PALAFOX GETS PRELIMINARY APPROVAL

Downtown Pensacola is getting a major makeover. The City Council, who met as the Community Redevelopment Agency on Monday, voted five-to-two to approve more than ten-point-seven million dollars for the Reimagine Palafox project. The council still needs to give final approval Thursday. The project will completely rebuild Palafox Street from Garden to Main with wider sidewalks, better drainage, and brick pavers. The street will be closed for several months starting in January, though sidewalks and storefronts will stay open. Business owners have worried the construction will drive customers away, but businessman Quint Studer pledged to loan money to any business facing cash flow problems during construction. The contractor gets a bonus if Palafox reopens by late May, and the city is making over four hundred parking spaces free during construction. Mayor D-C Reeves says the project will help make downtown a destination for residents and businesses.

PENSACOLA STABBING VICTIM IDENTIFIED

Pensacola Police have identified the man found stabbed to death Monday at a North Davis Highway business. Fifty-seven-year-old Dean Edward Chambers was discovered by an employee at AA Top Shop on North Davis Highway shortly after seven a-m. Police say Chambers leased space from the business and was known to employees there. He was found with multiple stab wounds in an office in the building. No arrests have been made yet. Anyone with information is asked to call Pensacola Police or call crime stoppers.

CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES AG UTHMEIERS LETTER

Pensacola city leaders say they're caught between political pressure and potential lawsuits over a controversial Christmas drag show. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wants the December 23rd performance canceled.... Councilmembers, including attorney Allison Patton analyzed the letter. Patton says city attorneys warn of a significant legal risk in breaking the contract for the drag show -- she suggested the city might reconsider if the Attorney General's office would cover litigation costs. A public forum is scheduled Thursday. The show has sold nearly a thousand tickets.