Cancer Stinks; City Hall Gets Skunked
March 6, 2009
Cancer stinks, and something stinky is going on around Century. And you could be next.
The Century Town Hall and its staff were “skunked” Thursday afternoon. On the Town Hall lawn, a sign proclaimed “You Have Been Skunked”.
It’s all for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. The Century Branch Library’s team will place the skunked sign and skunks at the location of your choice for $5.
Once you’ve been skunked, the sign stays until you donate $5 to relay for life. If you never want to be skunked again, that takes a $10 donation to Relay for Life.
To have someone skunked, call the library at at 256-6217.
Pictured above: The Century Town Hall was “skunked” Thursday afternoon as part of a Relay for Life fund raiser. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
ACLU Lawsuit, Judge’s Order Prompts Prayer Rally At High School
March 5, 2009
An ACLU lawsuit and a federal court judge’s order against any prayer or promotion of religion has prompted over a dozen Santa Rosa County churches to organize a prayer service at Jay High School.
“We are going to come as Christians, not any denomination, and offer prayer that our students will serve the Lord,” said Pastor Mitch Herring of Poplar Dell Baptist Church. His church is located in North Escambia, but he is taking part in the service because he lives in Jay.
“We want the children to know we are for them, even though they took Baccalaureate away from them,” the pastor said.
U.S. District Court Judge Casey Rodgers issued an injunction banning prayer and religion in Santa Rosa County Schools following an ACLU lawsuit against Santa Rosa County. That injunction prevents the school district from promoting or sponsoring prayers during school-sponsored events, including graduation; planning or financing religious Baccalaureate services; holding school-sponsored events at religious venues when alternative locations are reasonably available; and prohibits school officials from promoting their personal religious beliefs in class or during school-sponsored events and activities.
That order has also prompted many Escambia County high schools, including Northview, to eliminate a school sponsored Baccalaureate this year.
Several Jay churches are currently working together with the Jay Royals senior class to organize a Baccalaureate service.
At 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, at least 14 churches will come together on the baseball field at Jay High School to pray for the students in the Jay area. Herring said the gathering will not be impacted by the judge’s order because the event is not school sponsored, and the churches are paying to rent the facility under district guidelines.
“We want to encourage these kids to stand in their faith,” the pastor said, “and let them know that they have people praying for them. We want the Lord to raise up leaders at our schools.”
Under the judge’s order, Herring said, teachers are not even allowed to pray for students if the student asks for prayer.
Want to go? The prayer service will be held at Jay High School, Saturday, March 14 at 4 p.m. It is open to the public, not just to people connected to Jay High School or Santa Rosa County.
Florida House Bill Would Make It Easier To Fight Alabama For Economic Development
March 5, 2009
A proposed bill in the Florida House would give Florida counties that border Alabama and Georgia a little extra ammunition in their fight for economic development.
On Wednesday, Florida Rep. Dave Murzin announced proposed changes to the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) and the Rural Infrastructure Fund (RIF) included in a proposed economic development committee bill.
Essentially, the bill would allow counties like Escambia and Santa Rosa that border either Alabama or Georgia to be reclassified as rural to allow for more economic development funding.
“Border counties are currently at a competitive disadvantage when competing against another stat for economic development,” Murzin told NorthEscambia.com Tuesday afternoon. The bill would allow the rural designation to be applied based upon the average population per square mile, ignoring the fact that a county like Escambia is very urban in one part of the county.
“These changes will help Florida’s border counties be more competitive with neighboring states,” said Murzin. “Especially in Escambia County, where we are adjacent to Alabama on two sides, we have a real need to level the playing field and ensure our business community can compete strongly in a multistate region.”
The proposed REDI and RIF changes will expand the definition of rural in several sections of the Florida Statutes to include counties that exhibit rural characteristics but exceed population thresholds. With this change in the definition, some Northwest Florida counties will be able to access REDI resources and state infrastructure grants, if available, as well as technical assistance.
Murzin said the bill was reported favorably by the Economic Development Policy Committee Wednesday morning.
Century Mayor Freddie McCall told NorthEscambia.com recently that it is hard for Florida to complete on the economic development front against Alabama.
“We all know that Alabama is more free with money for industry than Florida,” McCall said recently. “Something has got to change if Florida is going to compete with Alabama.”
NorthEscambia.com ran an interview with Murzin Tuesday. Click here for that story.
Tonight In Century: School Board To Hold Public Meeting About School Closure
March 5, 2009
The Escambia County School Board plans to hold a meeting in Century tonight to discuss their redistricting plan that will close Carver/Century K-8 School.
The meeting will be held at 5:30 in the Carver/Century cafeteria. School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas plans to present data that he says supports closing the school, including the fact that it is losing about $1 million year as teachers struggle to improve student test scores.
On January 20, the board approved advertising the redistricting of Carver/Century students to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School. State law says they must advertise the plan for 28 days prior to official approving it. They plan to vote on the redistricting plan that would close Carver/Century at their March 17 board meeting.
At the January meeting, the vote was 3-2 to move forward with advertising the redistricting plan. Board members Bill Slayton, who represents District 5 where Carver/Century is located, and Linda Moultrie voted against the proposal. Jeff Bergosh, Gerald Boone and Patty Hightower voted for Superintendent Malcolm Thomas’ plan.
Pictured above: Century resident Leola Robinson speaks to the Escambia School Board in support of keeping Carver/Century open on January 20 while Gerald Boone (left) and Malcolm Thomas (right) look on. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Molino Ball Teams Formed, Still Need A Few Players
March 5, 2009
The Molino Recreation Association needs more players for several teams to complete their rosters.
“We have had a great response to the registration at the park,” Arty Kleinatland, Molino Recreation Association president, said. But a few teams are short of the needed number of players.
The need is as follows:
Baseball
WeeBall (3-4 yrs)- 2 teams, need 2 players
T-Ball (5-7 yrs) – 5 teams, need 4 players
Coach Pitch (8-9 yrs) – 1 team, need 2 players
Minor (10 yrs)- 2 teams, need 2 players
Major – 1 team
Softball
8U – 1 team, need 2 players
10U – 2 teams, need 3 players
12U – 1 team
16U – 3 teams, need 3 players
The Molino Recreation Association is also forming a team for juniors (13-15 yrs), six players are needed to form team.
To register, visit the ballpark any weeknight except Wednesday and see any board member or ask for information at the concession stand. Slots are available on a first come, first serve basis.
For more information, call Arty at (850) 516-2674.
Friday Deadline To Register For Ag Program For Producers, Landowners
March 5, 2009
Friday is the the deadline to register for a program for landowners and agricultural producers that will be held next week in Century.
The program will be held Tuesday, March 10 at the Century Ag Building on Highway 4. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the program starts at 9:30.
The program will highlight agricultural programs that are available in Escambia County from the USDA-Natural Resources Service, Farm Service Agency, Escambia County, University of Florida/IFAS Extension, Florida Division of Forestry, and Escambia Soil and Water Conservation District.
Lunch will be served following the program. RSVP by noon on Friday, March 6 to (850) 587-5404 ext. 102. Click here for more information (pdf).
In addition to the program, the Perdido Bay Tribe of Southeastern Lower Muscogee Creek Indians will have their Mobile Museum on site.
Honors For Bus Drivers From Bratt, Carver/Century And Molino Park
March 5, 2009
Three North Escambia bus drivers have been named as School Bus Operator of the Month at their elementary school.
Drivers of the month are Mikie Johnson from Molino Park Elementary, Vicki Godwin from Carver/Century School, and Vicki Eubanks from Bratt Elementary.
Tina Vickery, route supervisor for the north sector of the Escambia County School district, says the three were chosen by their peers for professionalism, team support and overall good work.
“These drivers work so hard to safely transport students everyday to school and back home,” Vickery said. “I am very proud of each of these ladies.”
At a recent awards ceremony at the Panhandle Restaurant in Century, the drivers were given their award and a gift bag.
Pictured above: North sector School bus Operators of the Month are (L-R) Vicki Godwin from Carver/Century, Mikie Johnson from Molino Park Elementary, and Vicki Eubanks from Bratt Elementary. Submitted photos for North Escambia.com.
Atmore Teen Receives National Community Award
March 5, 2009
An Atmore teen has received a national honor in The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards – America’s largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteerism.
Alan Ash, 17, of Atmore, was named an Alabama state honoree.
Ash, a senior at Escambia Academy, launched a project to convert brightly colored T-shirts into hospital gowns for children. While visiting a friend stricken with brain cancer, Alan noticed how drab and uncomfortable hospital gowns looked. So, after his friend died, Alan worked with fellow members of his school’s Student Government Association to solicit donations of T-shirts, tailor them into gowns, and deliver 250 of the converted shirts to children at the Children’s Hospital of the Birmingham.
Northview Reclassifed By FHSAA; Number Of Games May Be Reduced
March 4, 2009
Northview High School has dropped one class under reclassifications released Tuesday by the Florida High School Athletic Association, joining Jay in Class 2A. And another big change is coming to non-football sports in Florida, with new limitations on the number of games that can be played proposed by the FHSAA.
In boys and girls basketball, Northview will be in Class 2A District 1 with Jay, Baker, Freeport, Pensacola Christian and Ponce De Leon. The same class for girls volleyball will include the same schools, minus Ponce De Leon.
Under the reclassification originally proposed by the FHSAA, Northview was in Class 3A, a class that includes schools with a 2008 fall population of 522-1305 . Northview had 544 students during the October week used by the FHSAA to determine the new classifications, but schools in the lower 10% of the population breakdown of each classification have the option of playing down one classification if it is deemed more suitable for district travel reasons.
Class 1A is for schools with 521 or fewer students, plus those that “play down” like Northview.
In preliminary district alignments released in December for football, Northview remained in District 1-2B. Under the “play down” rule, the Chiefs requested a move down one district to District 1-1A, also the same district as the Jay Royals.
Contest Limits
The FHSAA has proposed reducing the number of games in a number of Florida high school sports. (See graphic at bottom of page.)
Under the proposed rules, the number of proposed varsity boys and girls basketball games would drop from the current 25 to 20. For junior varsity teams, that number would drop to 15.
The same drop would be imposed for high school baseball and softball in Florida. Instead of the current 25 games, varsity teams would play 20 baseball games and junior varsity teams would play 15.
Volleyball would face the same major cuts, from the current 25 games to 20 for varisty and 15 for junior varsity teams.
Junior varsity football would drop from eight games per season to six.
The contest limits would be dropped under the proposal for other sports as well. For cross country teams, the current allowed 13 meets would drop to 11 for varsity and 8 for JV.
Golf would decrease from 14 matches per year to 13 for varsity and nine for junior varsity.
Pictured below: This graphic shows the changes proposed by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
Legislative Session Begins; State Rep. Murzin Speaks Out On State, Local Issues
March 4, 2009
Times in Florida have changed, and it is now time for Florida to change with the times — that was the message from Florida Rep. Dave Murzin as he weighed in on Florida’s budget and issues like government consolidation in Escambia County.
As the Florida legislature convened on Tuesday, lawmakers were facing an unprecedented budget shortfall perhaps as high as $5 billion.
“It’s not going to be pretty, and it is going to get worse,” Murzin said. “It is going to be 2010, if we are lucky, before we turn around.”
During his State of the State speech Tuesday night, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist urged the legislature to approve gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to raise $100 million per year for educatio.
Murzin is not sold on the gambling plan.
“We are desperate for money if we turn to Indian gambling for a few dollars,” he said.
Murzin said Florida has survived and thrived with a service based economic focus for far too long, services related to tourism in particular. Now that tourism is down, service jobs are being eliminated.
“When gas to $4 a gallon, people don’t go to see the mouse,” Murzin said, referring to the decline at the Orlando area amusement parks. “If people are worried about their jobs, they don’t go see the mouse.”
The overall Florida economy relies on sales tax and people coming into the state to spend their money, the state representative said. Now that tourism is faltering, so is Florida economy.
Additional problems arise with strict government regulation in the state, he said.
“We need to streamline the process,” he said of growth management in Florida, giving the example of a business that might be required to install turn lanes in order to build or expand. “Eventually you reach this point where it gets to be cost prohibitive.”
Here in Northwest Florida, local governments face an additional hurdle with economic expansion — Alabama.
“The state of Florida loses to Alabama because Alabama does a better job than Florida in economic development and incentives,” Murzin said.
On the subject of education, the state representative from Pensacola said that the state must restore funds cut from educating the state’s children.
“I don’t know where we will get the money to restore the cuts,” he added. “But we have to find it.”
On a more local note, Murzin said there may be problems with the possible consolidation of the Town of Century, Pensacola and Escambia County governments.
“There will be issues with things like the debt on the Maritime Park,” he said. The Pensacola Maritime Park will incur about $40 million in expenses.
“County residents did not have an opportunity to vote on the issue, but the debt is going to be spread to county residents,” he said.
Murzin is leaving the Florida House due to term limits. He is an announced candidate for the state senate seat currently held by Durell Peaden, Jr. State Rep. Greg Evers is the only other announced candidate for the post.
Pictured above: State Rep. Dave Murzin addresses the Tri-Cities Rotary Club recently. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.