Molino Remains On High Alert After Attacks
November 4, 2009
The Molino community remains on high alert this morning following two home invasion attacks on young female cheerleaders.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department has few leads — the attacker from a Friday night incident and one Tuesday morning was described in a similar fashion. Both victims described him as wearing a black ski mask, a long sleeve black shirt, and black pants. He was described as being a tall, perhaps a few inches over six feet, thin white male.
In Tuesday’s attack, neighbors reported seeing a primer gray or possibly gold colored older model car leaving the area . But neither victim saw a vehicle.
The two crimes occurred less than a mile apart, and both victims knew each other well.
ECSO Sgt. Kevin Vickery said the department is continuing to investigate both crimes, and he said they are on the lookout for any suspicious activity in the area. He encouraged anyone that notices anything out of the ordinary to call the sheriff’s department.
“I think the whole community is on alert,” Angela McMahan, the mother of the 16-year old victim, said.
“We are looking out for each other,” Highland Baptist Church Pastor Brian Calhoun said. “We are being very vigilant.”
“The only way we’ll feel safe is when this guy is caught. Either by an angry dad hunting this man or by police,” Brenda Garrett-Mcall, the mother of the 13-year old victim, said.
Pictured above: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department and Escambia County EMS respond to a home invasion victim Tuesday morning at Highland Baptist Church. Pictured below: An Escambia County deputy pulls away from the scene of Tuesday’s home invasion. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Lady Chiefs Play Tonight InVolleyball Tournament
November 4, 2009
The Northview High School Lady Chiefs will be on the road tonight in Blountstown in regional quarterfinal volleyball playoff action.
The Chiefs (9-18, 5-5) are the second seed in District 1-1A. Tonight is just the third time in the school’s history that a volleyball team as advanced beyond the district level.
“We could progress from there; nothing says the state champ can’t be a second seed in the quarterfinals,” Head Coach Betty Heaton said.
The Chiefs will take on t Blountstown at 7 p.m. We will have complete scores and stats Thursday morning on NorthEscambia.com.
No Rain, Warm Days, Cool Nights
November 4, 2009
Our weather forecast remains dry through the weekend, with warm afternoons and cool nights.
Here is your official North Escambia weather forecast:
- Today: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
- Tonight: Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, clear, with a low around 46. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 72. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 40. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 72. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
- Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. Calm wind.
- Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 75. East wind around 5 mph.
- Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 53. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 76.
- Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55.
- Monday: A 30 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77.
- Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57.
- Tuesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
H1N1 Vaccine Available To Health Care Workers
November 4, 2009
Escambia County now has additional H1N1 vaccine available and is able to serve the priority group of health care workers with direct patient contact.
In addition to offering the vaccine at the health department’s Fairfield location, more than 2,000 doses of vaccine are being sent to area hospitals who will deliver it to their workers through employee health offices. The health department continues to provide vaccine to pregnant women, children of 6 months – 18 years of age, and caregivers of infants younger than six months old, according to Mollye Payne Hardin, spokes person for the Escambia County Health Department.
The H1N1 vaccine is available to the priority group on a walk-in basis at the health department’s Fairfield Drive location from 8 a.m. to 4 pm., Monday – Friday.
Priority groups are defined as pregnant women, children ages 6 months -18 years old, and people who live with or care for infants younger than 6 months of age. Now that additional vaccine is available, the health department is also providing it to health care workers with direct patient care responsibilities.
On Thursday, October 22, the Escambia County Health Department began offering voluntary H1N1 vaccination through schools and childcare centers. School-based vaccination will continue through December as long as vaccine is available. If distribution of the vaccine slows, clinics will be rescheduled. Parents will get information about the vaccine and permission forms about one week before the voluntary vaccination clinic is scheduled to be at their child’s school. The Health Department is also providing vaccine to the larger child care centers in the county.
Another Cheerleader Attacked In Second Molino Home Invasion
November 3, 2009
(Updated 4:45 p.m.) The second home invasion in four days was reported this morning in Molino. And, like a home invasion Friday night in Molino, it involved a young cheerleader home alone.
At 8:27 this morning, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a home invasion at 8:27 this morning. A 16-year old told investigators that a tall, slender white male had entered her home on Nancy Lane through a utility room window. She fought back — throwing drinking glasses at him and dousing him with pepper spray. She then fled the home, running to nearby Highland Baptist Church to for help. She described her attacker as wearing a black ski mask, a long black shirt and black pants. The pepper spray, which contained a dye, may have stained the attacker an orange color.
She evaluated by Escambia County EMS for minor cuts to her face, arms and legs. She was not transported to the hospital. She was not able to provide a vehicle description for her attacker or tell authorities how he fled the scene; he was still inside the home, incapacitated by the pepper spray, as she ran to the church.
She told investigators that she had stayed home from school after hurting her shoulder yesterday during cheerleading practice at Northview High School. She said the only people that knew she would be at home were her parents and the person that normally gives her a ride to school. That person, also a Northview student, is a the brother of the 13-year old attacked Friday night, authorities said.
A similar home invasion was reported Friday night about a mile away on Highway 95A. In that incident, an Ernest Ward Middle School cheerleader was attacked in her bedroom by a man with about the same physical description. In Friday night’s attack, the 13-year old was attacked with a knife, receiving minor cuts to her hands as she was held down on her bed by her attacker.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to follow this breaking news story with updates all afternoon.
Pictured above: The attacker in this morning’s home invasion in Molino entered this Nancy Lane home through this utility room window. Pictured inset: The victim received minor cuts to her arms, face and legs from a broken kitchen glass she threw at the suspect. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Firefighters Respond To Train Fire
November 3, 2009
A Tuesday morning fire in a train locomotive left a CSX train headed northbound minus half of its power.
The Flomaton Fire Department responded to a reported train locomotive on fire about 6:30 a.m. at Dixon Road and Old Fannie Road, about two-tenths of a mile north of the Florida/Alabama state line.
The CSX Transportation train’s engineer had already extinguished the fire in a gear box under the train — the portion of engine with the wheels driven by electric motors. When the first Flomaton firemen arrived on the scene, the gear box was just smoldering. Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to look for hot spots inside the gear box, but they were unable to find anything unusual.
The train engineer said he had noticed the fire as the train was traveling through Flomaton, and he said he continued to Dixon Road crossing to allow firefighters to be able to reach the engine by road.
The train continued north toward its Waycross, Georgia, destination about 7:15 a.m. The engineer said that because of the fire, the rear wheels on the lead locomotive would not be used to power the train. Instead, he said they would run “dead”. The four engine train was already being powered by just three engines; the last engine was being towed to Waycross for repair.
Pictured above: A CSX employees watches a gear box under the train as it pulls away from Dixon Road in Flomaton. Pictured above: The wheels and gear box of a CSX locomotive are covered in fire extinguisher material after an engineer extinguished a Tuesday morning fire. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century To Begin $371,000 Drainage Improvement Project
November 3, 2009
The Century Town Council voted Monday night to add $230,000 to a $141,000 grant for a project that will improve drainage in an area south of the old Century High School.
The complete $371,000 project was designed prior to Hurricane Ivan, and it sat “shovel ready” since that time. The project will improve stormwater drainage in an area bordered roughly by Hecker Road to the north, Mayo Street to the west, Baptist Church Road to the east and a concrete ditch between Mayo Lane and Church Street to the south.
Acting on an opinion from the town’s attorney, the council voted to use the $230,000 from a fund that contains $1.6 million from half cent sales tax and local option sales tax funds. The town requested the attorney’s opinion to make sure the money could legally be used for drainage projects.
Pictured above: This graphic shows the approximate area that will see drainage improvements from an upcoming project. NorthEscambia.com graphic, click to enlarge.
Century Looks At Increase For Water, Sewer Customers
November 3, 2009
The Town of Century is continuing to explore options that will ultimately lead to increase in water and sewer rates for most, if not all, of the town’s residents.
The council was set to meet Monday night with William Secoy from the Florida Rural Water Association, authors of a rate study under consideration by the council. But Secoy was unable to attend the meeting due to a family emergency.
The town’s accountant, Robert Hudson, told council members that the town must increase rates in order to qualify for future loans and grants from the USDA Rural Development Agency.
Hudson offered his own simple plan for raising rates — an across the board increase for most customers of 10 to 15 percent. In contrast, the Florida Rural Water Association has proposed a more complicated rate increase that would greatly increase water rates for those that use the least amount of water and often pay a minimum bill. The min
“It’s the minimum I am really concerned about,” Council President Ann Brooks said Monday night. “I looked at the ones that had really high (water) usage, and their increase was not as much.”
Council Henry Hawkins suggested that any across the board increase be phased in over a couple of years to lessen the burden on the town’s water and sewer customers.
“That will be more fair to everybody,” Hawkins said.
Hudson said he would check with Rural Development to determine if a simple percentage water and sewer rate increase would meet their requirements.
The Town of Century has not increased water and sewer rates since 1995.
EWMS Collecting Old Cell Phones For Soldiers
November 3, 2009
The National Junior Honor Society at Ernest Ward Middle School is collecting cell phones for soldiers in a program that turns old cell phones into calling time for soldiers abroad.
The National Junior Honor Society with the help of Cell Phones for Soldiers are calling on all students, teachers, parents, and members of the community to support these brave men and women by donating old, used cell phones.
The cell phone drive will take place during the entire month of November. Anyone who would like to donate can drop their used cell phones off in a designated box located in the office at Ernest Ward Middle during school hours.
At the end of November all cell phones will be shipped to Cell Phones for Soldiers, which is a registered 501 non-profit organization, who will then in turn ship the phones to a company that pays for each phone that is recycled , providing an hour of talk time for soldiers abroad.
The EWMS National Junior Honor Society has set a goal of 1,000 cell phones which will provide 60,000 minutes of free talk time to soldiers overseas.
Cell Phones for Soldiers was created by brother and sister Brittany and Robbie Bergquist of Norwell, MA. After reading a story about a soldier who ran up a huge phone bill calling home from Iraq, the teens decided to find a way to help. They started by opening an account with $21 of their own money. For more information about Cell Phones for Soldiers visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.
The Circus Is Coming
November 3, 2009
An old-fashioned big top circus is coming to the Atmore YMCA this weekend with jugglers, acrobats, clowns, tigers and more.
The circus show, to be performed by the Lewis & Clark Circus, will harken back to earlier days when such events came bustling into town for a day and then mysteriously disappeared overnight.
Lewis & Clark is a one-ring European style circus with continuous action going on in the center ring. Traditional circus acts such as hi-flying trapeze artists, amazing acrobats, zany clowns, and liberty animal acts that include horses and camel are featured.
The Circus attracts all types of people, from the young to the young at heart, which may be why it remains a popular form of family entertainment. The circus is one of about 10 traditional big top shows that operate in the United States. The circus troop presents about500 shows a year and will be in Atmore on Saturday, November 7 with performances at 4 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, November 8 at 3 p.m. You can relive childhood dreams while your children create their own dreams and memories from this fun filled event.
Tickets can be purchased at the Atmore Area YMCA, United Bank in Atmore and from any YMCA Board Member. Advance discount tickets are $10 per adult and children under 14 are free when accompanied by an adult. Non-discounted tickets will be available on circus day.
For more information, call the Atmore Area YMCA at (251) 368-9622.