Accident Injures Three Northview Students; One Transported By LifeFlight
January 8, 2009
Three Northview High School students were injured in a single vehicle accident about 9:00 Wednesday night, with one being transported from the scene by LifeFlight.
Troopers say Victoria Chavers, 16, was eastbound on the dirt portion of Greenland Road when she missed a 90 degree curve, struck a ditch and power pole, and overturned her Volkswagon Beetle. The vehicle came to rest upside down.
Authorities say Victoria and her younger sister Tiffany Chavers were able to crawl out of the vehicle. Blaze Green, the backseat passenger was trapped in the vehicle until extricated by firefighters. Ages of Tiffany Chavers and Green were not immediately available from troopers.
Green was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola by LifeFlight. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Victoria and Tiffany Chavers were transported by Atmore Ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital with minor injuries.
Friends and family members tell NorthEscambia.com than Victoria, who is known by the nickname Tori, had received the car as a Christmas present.
The accident left homes in the area in the dark for over two hours while crews from Escambia River Electric Cooperative worked to replace a broken power pole.
The accident was about 1.7 miles east of Highway 97 near Davisville, about a half mile south of the Alabama state line. There were no obvious signs on the county dirt road warning of the approaching curve, nor were there any warning signs in the curve. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Atmore Fire Department also responded to the crash.
For a complete photo gallery from the scene, click here.
Pictured above: Firefighters work to free Northview student Blaze Green from this overturned vehicle Wednesday night. Pictured below: Three Northview students were injured in this single vehicle accident on Greenland Road near Davisville. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Town Of Century Spends $478 On Lawyer To Decide If They Could Collect Woman’s $629 Sewer Bill
January 8, 2009
The Town of Century spent $478.50 on legal services to determine if they should collect a $629 sewer bill from a woman that at one time vowed to go to jail or hell before she paid up.
When Leola Robinson (pictured left) placed a mobile home on property she owns in 1999, she did not connect the trailer to the town’s sewer system. The town billed her each month for the minimum sewage usage charge, and that bill reach about $3,000 by the time the issue came before the town council in May.
The town lowered that bill to $624 in early June due to a four year statute of limitations. With a late charge, the bill grew to $629. Robinson made her vow not to pay the bill at the council’s November 3 meeting, where she and council member Henry Hawkins questioned if the bill was due at all. Robinson has a tenant in the mobile home, and she contended that she did not owe the bill. At the request of Council President Ann Brooks, the matter was tabled until the November 17 meeting of the council.
On November 4, Mayor Freddie McCall called Matt Dannheisser, the town’s attorney, to discuss the $629 bill. According to Dannheiser’s bill obtained by NorthEscambia.com, Brooks also called him to discuss the same matter. He drafted a letter to the mayor and town council. He billed the town for 1.10 hours at $165 an hour for a total of $181.50.
Later that day, Dannheisser received a fax from Brooks that included various documentation, and he held a telephone conference with Brooks as to whether the tenant or Robinson was responsible for the bill. He billed the town for 1.20 hours at $165 an hour for a total of $198.00.
After a story about Robinson ran on NorthEscambia.com, WKRG reporter Debbie Williams visited Century to do a story for the television station. She called Dannheisser, who conferenced in Mayor Freddie McCall, according to the lawyer’s bill. He billed 0.30 hours at $165 for a total of $49.50 for WKRG’s request. In WKRG’s report, Williams stated that McCall refused to comment and the town attorney also refused comment.
McCall made one additional call to Dannheisser over Robinson’s bill on November 11. It was billed at 0.30 hours for a total of another $49.50.
That grand total, according to Dannheisser’s bill to the town, was 2.90 hours for $478.50.
At the November 17 council meeting, Brooks produced documents that showed the town had actually denied requests by Robinson and her tenant to hook into the Century sewer system. Based upon those documents, the town voted to forgive the $629 bill by a 5-0 vote.
Read the November 4 story “Woman Says She’ll Go To Jail Or Go To Hell Before She Pays Sewer Bill” here.
Read the November 18 story “Town Forgives Sewer Bill For Woman That Vowed Not To Pay” here.
High School Juniors Could Win Youth Tour Trip To Washington From EREC
January 8, 2009
High school juniors in our area have the opportunity to win an all-expense paid trip to Tallahassee in February and Washington, D.C. in June as part of the 2009 Rural Electric Youth Tour.
This spring an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D. C. will be awarded to two young people from this area by Escambia River Electric Cooperative. As participants in the Youth Tour, local contest winners will travel by plane to Washington to spend one week seeing historic sites and visiting members of Congress.
The Rural Electric Youth Tour is an annual, week-long event in June during which high school juniors from all over the country convene in Washington to learn more about government, cooperatives and rural electrification.
The tour is coordinated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), the Washington-based national service organization of the nation’s rural electric systems. The tour is sponsored by NRECA, local cooperatives and statewide organizations.
During the Rural Electric Youth Tour, students will follow state-planned itineraries, which include a day on Capitol Hill observing the House and Senate in session and visits to members of Congress. Delegates also participate in educational seminars and other fun events, such as a dinner dance on Youth Day.
Many applicants to the program will also be invited to attend the Youth Tour in Tallahassee in April. Attendees will learn about their state’s government as they visit the state capital, Supreme Court, Public Service Commission and other places of interest. During the overnight trip, they will have an opportunity to meet with representatives and senators of their state legislature.
All high school juniors in EREC’s service area are eligible to enter the contest, including students at Northview and Jay high schools. Contest entrants need to fill out an application form, which will be used to select the finalists. The finalists will be interviewed by a panel of judges who will then select the winners.
This is the 23rd year EREC has sponsored a Youth Tour contest. More than 1,200 Youth Tour participants from across rural America will meet in the nation’s capital for the 46th National Rural Electric Youth Tour.
To enter the contest, high school juniors should contact Marketing and Communications at EREC, (850) 675-4521 or (800) 235-3848, for an application. EREC will also visit high schools in its service area to present youth tour information and distribute applications. Deadline to return applications to EREC is January 29th.
Photos Of Sheriff David Morgan Swearing In Ceremony
January 8, 2009
Pictured above: New Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan was sworn in Tuesday in the Escambia County Commission Chambers. Pictured below: Morgan addresses to the standing room only crowd.
Photos courtesy Pensacola Independent News. See more here.
School Bus Sideswiped By Garbage Truck In Molino, One Minor Injury
January 8, 2009
One student received minor injuries from broken glass when an ECUA garbage truck sideswiped a school bus in Molino Wednesday afternoon.
The accident happened on Molino Road just east of Highway 29 about 3:20. Authorities say the bus was transporting special education students home at the time of the accident.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the bus and garbage truck were heading in opposite directions on Molino Road near Chestnut Road when the driver of the garbage truck, George Watson, 44, of Pensacola, veered across the center line. The left side of the garbage truck sideswiped the school bus, breaking windows on the bus and sending glass into the bus interior.
The FHP says passenger Randy D. Ledkins, 22, of Pensacola received minor injuries in the accident from the glass. Derek S. Haynie, 21, of Molino; and Cody Smith, 19, also of Molino were not injured. Bus driver Elisa J. Carnley, 52, of Pensacola and aid Portia C. Kimbrel, 57, of Pensacola were not injured.
Watson, the driver of the ECUA truck, was charged with failure to drive in a designated lane.
Engine 1819 from the Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the crash.
Pictured above: A Florida Highway Patrol trooper arrives at a school bus accident in Molino Wednesay afternoon. Pictured above and below: The windows were busted out of this Escambia County School bus in a minor collision with an ECUA garbage truck in Molino Wednesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Brewton’s New Year’s Baby From McDavid
January 8, 2009
Kayden Blake Smith of McDavid became Brewton’s New Year’s Baby New Year’s night.
Kayden was born at 7:06 p.m. last Thursday night at D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton. He is the son of Kayla Zisa and Dustin Smith. He weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long.
Mom Kayla says Kayden was born two days before her due date. Kayden is the first child for the couple.
Kayden is the grandson of Frank and Susan Zisa of McDavid, and Darrin Smith of McDavid and Carrie Jackson of Brewton.
Century Withdraws Support For Government Merger
January 7, 2009
The Town of Century has withdrawn its support for a plan to consolidate Century, Pensacola and Escambia County under one unified government, with council members saying that they were misled by the group Escambia All For One.
In December, the Century Town Council approved a resolution identical to resolutions passed recently by Escambia County and the City of Pensacola that simply says that Century supports moving forward in exploring the governmental consolidation sought by Escambia All For One. But the council has now rescinded that resolution on a recommendation from Mayor Freddie McCall.
McCall said he recommended the council withdraw its support for the consolidation plan after talking with State Representative Greg Evers. Evers did not support the pro-consolidation resolutions at a legislative delegation meeting in December.
“Greg said as soon as we make up our mind to call him,” McCall told the council, saying that he was led to believe that Century was just asking for a committee, not for a policy.
“You don’t know what you will be voting on,” McCall told the council.
Members of Escambia All For One, the group pushing for the consolidated government, made a presentation to the council on December 1.
“It lets the legislature know that you are in favor of moving to the next step,” Scott Remington (pictured left), co-chairman of Escambia All For One, told the council in early December. That next step involves a presentation to the county’s state legislative delegation on December 8. They’ll ask the state legislators to support a bill to form a commission to draft a consolidated government charter. That charter would then be a presented to Escambia County voters. At that point, voters in Century would decide if they wanted to keep Century’s town council government or become part of the consolidated Pensacola-Escambia County.
“This is not an endorsement of consolidation,” Remington told the council as they considered the resolution. He also told them that they would have no expenses involved with the resolution.
“The man misled us when I asked him if he wanted money from us,” Council member Nadine McCaw said. “He flat out misled us that he’s not going to ask for money.”
Jason Crawford (pictured left), co-chairman of Escambia All For One, told NorthEscambia.com that his group did not mislead the Century council, and he stressed that the resolution Century passed was identical to the resolutions passed by Pensacola and Escambia County.
“It’s ashamed that the council did this without contacting us first,” he said. “It seems pretty hasty. Nobody from Century, the council, the mayor, no one contacted us.”
“We are not even pushing for Century to be a part of it,” Crawford said. “I’m not convinced that Century needs to dissolve or not. They don’t need to get defensive.”
Crawford said Evers sent him an email Monday that he would support the local legislative delegation meeting for a re-draft of the bill.
“He’s going behind our backs if he is why Century did this,” Crawford said. “If that’s the case, he’s trying to roadblock the whole thing.”
NorthEscambia.com was unable to contact Evers Tuesday night prior to this story’s publication early Wednesday morning. We did subsequently speak with Evers Wednesday morning, and we have his comments in a separate article that you can read by clicking here.
Crawford said that Escambia All For One’s efforts for a consolidated government would continue, with or without Century. “We don’t have to have the support of Century,” he said.
“We are not involved in politics; we are trying to do this the right way. There’s not personal interest or personal gain here,” he said.
ECUA Phone System Overwhelmed
January 7, 2009
ECUA says that their voluntary recycling program has been so popular that their phone lines are jammed with with people signing up — so they are asking customers to use the internet to contact them if at all possible.
“ECUA’s phone lines have been overwhelmed with incoming calls from customers eager to sign up,” said Natalie Bowers, ECUA spokesperson.
To help alleviate the busy signals, ECUA is asking customers with Internet access to sign up for the voluntary curbside recycling program in one of the following ways:
- email support@ecua.org with your name, address and daytime phone number, along with the desired recycling container size — 40, 64 or 90 gallon.
- visit ecua.org and download a form located on the “Sanitation Services” page. That form can be faxed or mailed to the ECUA.
- phone lines hours have been extended to 7 p.m. “for as long as necessary”, Bowers said.
Pickup for North Escambia customers is Tuesdays. The pickup includes on 90 gallon trash container, yard waste and an option recyclables container up to 90 gallons. All three are picked up on Tuesday; the service is once per week.
“We at ECUA are doing everything in our power to make this service transition as smooth as possible, knowing that with any major change in operations there will be some inevitable difficulties. We thank all ECUA customers in advance for their patience and consideration,” Bowers said.
Rep. Evers, All For One Comment On Government Consolidation
January 7, 2009
State Representative Greg Evers says he is not necessarily against consolidating government in Escambia County, he’s just against the way that Escambia All For One went about getting support from Century, Pensacola and Escambia County for their cause. And a co-chairman of All For One says his group will continue to work with Evers and the legislature to bring the plan to the voters.
Escambia All For One presented resolutions to the Town of Century, Escambia County and the City of Pensacola. In the case of Century, the resolution written by the group was presented to the council at their December 1 meeting, and they were told that they needed to sign the resolution that night because it was to be presented the local legislative delegation on December 8. For Evers, that was just not enough time for the Century council to understand what they were supporting.
“It’s not the consolidation that I am against,” Evers (pictured left) told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday morning, “it’s the method that was used to get to this point.”
When the Century Town Council rescinded their support for Escambia All For One’s plan to consolidate Escambia County government, Century Mayor Freddie McCall cited conversations that he had with Evers as a reason for withdrawing support. Read that story here.
Scott Remington, co-chairman of Escambia All for One, just wishes that someone from Century’s government had called the group prior to the town pulling their support for the project.
“If someone from Century had called us with their concerns,” Remington said, “we could have cleared up any misunderstanding. But no one called. When the county had questions, Bob McLaughlin (county administrator) called us and we cleared up any ambiguity.”
Evers said he had individual conversations with each member of the Century council, as well as each Escambia County commissioner and felt that none had adequate time to look at the resolution, which essentially called for the formation of a committee to draft legislation to be presented to Escambia voters. And that’s where Evers has another problem with Escambia All For One.
“There was no oversight from the legislature in this,” he said. “The committee would write the charter, take it to the referendum and all the way to the governor for his signature without any oversight at all.”
But Evers said All For One is now willing to, and taking steps to, correct that issue.
“The representative and our group are on the same page and working toward the same goals,” Remington told NorthEscambia.com shortly after Escambia All For One held telephone conversations with Evers Wednesday morning. “I’ve got a lot of faith in Greg.”
The Baker Republican admits that he’s working for special interests in dealing with the possibility of consolidated government in Escambia County.
“They say I am working for special interests, and I am,” Evers said. “I am working for the citizens of Escambia County. I am not trying to torpedo anything. There are just folks on the left and folks on the right, and I am trying to find the middle.”
Evers said he and his staff are in the process of meeting with Escambia All For One and working an agreement that he said will be “equitable” to everyone.
“I’m an optimist,” Remington said. “We are going to move forward.”
“Ultimately, the folks in Escambia County will decide this issue,” Evers said.
Miller Sworn In For Fourth Term In Congress
January 7, 2009
Republican Congressman Jeff Miller was sworn in to his fourth full term as a member of the United States Congress at a ceremony Tuesday afternoon opening the 111th Congress at the U.S. Capitol.
“I am honored the people of the 1st District have chosen me to represent them,” said Miller, who is often viewed as one of the staunchest conservaties in the House. “I’m also grateful that my wife Vicki was able to be at my side at the swearing in ceremony.”
Since coming to Congress, Miller has established himself as one of the staunchest conservatives in the House and an emerging leader on the House Armed Services Committee. He has championed numerous tax relief and veterans’ measures and fought for smaller government, lower taxes, and the principles of the Founding Fathers.
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Miller has worked to strengthen our national defense and keep the promises made to America’s Veterans. Over the past two years, Miller was at the forefront of the struggle to lower energy costs and worked hard for a more sensible solution to the financial crisis affecting the economy. Miller also secured funding for two new veterans clinics in Northwest Florida that opened this year, including a “Superclinic” adjacent to Pensacola Naval Air Station. Congressman Miller was also credited with establishing Emerald Coast Honor Flight, which brings World War II Veterans to Washington, D.C. to tour their memorial.
“The next two years will be a challenge,” stated Miller. “I believe that Americans are growing tired of the dirty politics and the partisanship that is dividing this country. As Members of Congress, we need to learn to work across party lines so that we can govern efficiently, effectively, and in the best interest of the taxpayers and the nation. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that we pass legislation that benefits all Americans.”
Pictured above: Congressman Jeff Miller takes the oath of office Tuesday afternoon in Washington. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.