Here's a look back at our top stories of the week
Here's a roundup of our top stories from the past week.
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Did your favorite Pensacola pizza make it to the Elite 8? Second round voting starts now.
Round one of our PNJ March Madness pizza bracket has officially wrapped, and the Pensacola area’s pizza lovers have spoken. With 6,684 votes tallied so far, we’re getting a pretty good idea of the best places to get pizza in the Pensacola area. See how your favorite fared in our Sweet 16 match-up and vote in our Elite Eight round below. Our Sweet 16 matchups were compiled from over 600 reader nominations.
Full story: Did your favorite Pensacola pizza make it to the Elite 8? Second round voting starts now.
New Pensacola Italian restaurant has captured diners' hearts with over 130 menu options
A from-scratch Italian restaurant has joined Pensacola’s west side at 1350 S. Blue Angel Parkway, and customers can't stop talking about it.
The owners of the new place that debuted in December, Pizzaioli Italian Cuisine, set out to create a place where the New York-style pizza is hand-tossed, and the sauces, sandwiches and salads are all made-in house.
With over 130 items, the menu has a wide range of Italian classics to choose from. The restaurant has a cozy diner feel with scattered tables and tiled floors, grey wood paneling and beach landscape artwork lining the walls. So far, the homemade ingredients and affordable prices have been noticeable in reviews from raving fans. Pizza may be in the restaurant’s name, but the homemade pasta, hot sub and stromboli offerings can stand alone.
Full story: New Pensacola Italian restaurant has captured diners' hearts with over 130 menu options
Police arrest Gulf Breeze High School student for allegedly bringing gun to school
Gulf Breeze police arrested a Gulf Breeze High School student on campus Monday after allegedly finding a weapon on school grounds.
The student was arrested for possession of a firearm on school property and possession of a firearm by a minor after school resource officers and school administration began investigating a threat.
In a message to parents, GBHS Principal Sara Barker said there was no need to place the school into a "heightened protocol such as lockdown" due to the "immediate actions of school staff and law enforcement."
Full story: Police arrest Gulf Breeze High School student for allegedly bringing gun to school
A neighbor's plumber left 15-foot trench in woman's yard. Months later, it's still there.
Yolanda Reed-Fisher comes home briefly each afternoon during the week to make sure her 17-year-old son, who has autism, gets safely inside the house after school.
One afternoon last November, Reed-Fisher was headed to her Pensacola home on Guillemard Street when she turned the corner and saw something that wasn’t there when she left the house that morning – a big trench in her backyard.
“I'm like what is that in my yard? What is that going on back there?” Reed-Fisher said. “They had it dug up. I'm like, ‘Man, there’s a big hole in my backyard. Who's done this? What's going on? What work is going on?'”
Four months later, the trench is still there, and Reed-Fisher is still waiting for answers and her property to be returned to normal.
Full story: A neighbor's plumber left 15-foot trench in woman's yard. Months later, it's still there.
Huge homeless camp is building on N. Palafox. Business owners say it's not safe for anyone
Some people who live and work next to Escambia County’s largest homeless camp say they are fed up with the daily problems that come with living next door to the campers, and they are looking for relief.
Businesses that border the camps in Brent say they are having issues with trespassing, gas and water theft, people passed out in parking lots, and noxious fires, among other issues.
Peterson Precision Painting has been at 4310 N. Palafox for about six years. Campers live on the other side of their back fence, which borders the county’s property. The News Journal spoke with staff at the business last spring about the campers and for a while they say the situation got better.
Staff say campers had cleared out of the area for many months after a fire and they hoped they were gone for good, but recently people have started camping along their back fence again, as well as in the woods behind another business next door.
Full story: Huge homeless camp is building on N. Palafox. Business owners say its not safe for anyone
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola top news stories: March 18-22