Meet The New Boss — Rick Scott Comes To The Capitol
November 10, 2010
Governor-elect Rick Scott made his first post-election trip Tuesday to the Florida Capitol, taking part in a pair of brief, closed-door meetings with outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist and incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon.
Scott then met the media.
A pair of availabilities, first with Crist – and then with the incoming chief executive flanked by Cannon – each spanned just over three minutes.
“Our goal is to have a smooth transition, and I’m looking forward to getting to work,” Scott said, with Crist looking on.
Scott offered little about his plans for governing, staffing or the Legislature’s upcoming special session to override several vetoes imposed by Crist. Instead, he seemed to stray little from the campaign themes which carried him to a 1.16 percent, wafer-thin margin-of-victory over Democrat Alex Sink last Tuesday.
“The reason I won the election is over one issue: And that’s getting us back to work,” Scott said. “My whole goal and the things I’m going to focus on when I take office is how we’re going to get this state back to work.”
The Legislature next week plans to follow its one-day organizational session with a brief special session where ruling Republicans intend to override Crist’s vetoes of nine bills and a budget item which took $9.7 million from Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville. The money was intended to serve an additional 18,000 uninsured Floridians and make the state eligible for another $12 million in federal Medicaid matching money.
Scott during his campaign had called for the Legislature to approve a tough new immigration law, similar to that approved in Arizona which required police and sheriff’s deputies to enforce federal laws. The governor-elect, however, said he wasn’t asking lawmakers to push a similar measure this month.
“I’m not suggesting they have anything on this special session,” Scott said.
Crist is clearly the target of the Legislature’s override session – which, if successful, would mark only the third time in 24 years that a Florida governor was unable to sustain a veto. But Scott could sustain some collateral damage.
Lawmakers are looking to revive a measure (HB 5611) that would take oversight of the state’s troubled Department of Management Services away from the new chief executive – placing it under the governor and the state’s three Cabinet members.
Scott shrugged-off the move.
“I don’t think anybody’s trying to go after my power,” Scott said of legislative leaders. “They’re following through on things they believe in.”
Lawmakers also are ready to use the special session to restore some spending provisions that may clash with Scott’s campaign push to shrink government and reduce state spending.
Along with the Shands funding, lawmakers are looking to resolve the state’s outstanding commitments to homeowners and businesses taking part in a pair of energy rebate programs.
Legislative leaders are calling for accepting $31.3 million of federal stimulus cash to cover rebates owed thousands of Floridians who installed qualified air-conditioning systems or made solar energy improvements.
Scott campaigned against the Obama administration and the federal stimulus – calling it wasteful spending that contributed to the nation’s mounting debt. He seemed to draw a distinction with the Legislature’s reaching for more Washington money.
“What I’m concerned about stimulus money is that it’s money that creates a long-term obligation and it’s just interim money….I don’t want stimulus dollars that cause us long-term to spend money that we don’t have,” Scott said.
Following his meeting with Scott, Cannon said “his vision and mine are very similar.”
The incoming governor said he would also drawn good advice from his predecessor, Crist.
“I asked him ‘what’s your best advice, and he said, `follow your heart,’” Scott said. “And that makes all the sense in the world to me.”
Scott also indicated he would stay out of another legislative drama which appears ready to unfold during next week’s session. Cannon, R-Winter Park, and incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, have embraced a call by Sink to revive the vetoed SB 5603, a measure backed heavily by the state’s leading business groups, which would have reduced the cost of prescription drugs in workers’ compensation cases.
Crist’s veto was prompted, he said, by concerns the legislation would have made it “more awkward to get the medicine they need.” Urging a Crist veto were the Florida Orthopedic Society, Florida Medical Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Also playing a key role in pushing the vetoes were a pair of South Florida doctors, Paul Zimmerman and Gerald Glass, who steered $1 million to political committees led by Haridopolos and Cannon – money that was used to finance TV ads against Scott during the Republican primary, when the two lawmakers supported Bill McCollum’s losing candidacy.
Automated Healthcare Solutions, a Miramar company headed by the doctors, also steered $605,000 to the Florida Republican Party in the weeks following the primary — this time, apparently to help Scott’s election. Similarly, Cannon seemed ready to make an easy transition back to the side of the state’s business lobby.
“That bill passed overwhelmingly in both chambers,” Cannon said. “We think it was good policy then, so we think it’s good policy now. It doesn’t really matter to me who supported it or opposed it.”
By John Kennedy
The News Service Florida
Flomaton Opens New, Expanded Library
November 10, 2010
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday for the new Flomaton Public Library.
“It will allow us to offer many more services because it has so much more room,” said Librarian Faye Knowles. “It is a great facility.”
The town’s old library was only 2,400 square feet, while the new library is nearly four times that size. The extra space will allow the library the room to increase its book collection, provide space for meetings and programs, and offer room for library patrons to sit and read or use the wireless Internet access.
Residents outside of Flomaton are also able to enjoy the library, Knowles said, with library cards available to residents of both Alabama and Florida at no charge. Proper identification and a complete library card application are required.
The new Flomaton Public Library is located at the corner of Church and Houston streets, one block east of Sidney Manning Boulevard (Highway 29) in the downtown area. The library is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday. For more information, call (850) 296-3552.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
New Graphic Arts Academy Planned For Northview High
November 9, 2010
A new graphics art career academy is planned for Northview High School.
The Escambia County School Board is expected to approve the Northview High School Graphic Arts Career Academy at their November 16 meeting. The academy will open next fall for the 2010-2011 school year.
The academy will focus on a digital art and design curriculum that can lead students to industry certifications and internships related to graphic design.
Students will learn through a hands-on approach, according to the school district, using the Adobe Creative Suite and the Microsoft Office Suite, under the leadership of instructor Donna Smith.
“Mrs. Donna Smith is a great business teacher, and she has worked diligently over the years to not only stay abreast of the fast-changing technology software programs, but she has also used her time to become industry certified. Through her efforts, Northview has been declared a Certiport Testing Site,” said Northview Principal Gayle Weaver. “With her industry certification, not only is Mrs. Smith able to test Northview students and give them the opportunity to become certified applicants in the job field, but she has also single-handedly increased the points toward our school grade, through the addition of students who pass the industry certification test.”
This year, there are 33 students enrolled in the Digital Design Program at Northview . These students will be given an opportunity to enroll in the new career academy. Other students in the country will be able to apply for NHS Graphic Arts Academy.
Northview is currently home to a Building Trades and Construction Design Academy.
The School District of Escambia County’s career academies are small learning communities within a school that focus on a career pathway for a two to four year period span. Students enter through a voluntary application process and take a mixture of career and academic classes each year.
Classes meet entrance requirements for four-year universities. Students develop knowledge in a given industry, and usually have opportunities to earn industry certification relevant to the career academy. Students’ senior year may include work experience in the community.
Programs, Parades Planned To Honor Veterans
November 9, 2010
Several programs, parades and events will honor veterans this week in the North Escambia area.
Thursday, November 11
Veterans Day Parade, Atmore, 10 a.m. The parade will travel from the Atmore City Hall, south through downtown along Main Street to Lindberg Avenue and end at Escambia County High School.
Veterans Day Parade, Pensacola, 9 a.m. The parade will travel from Spring and Main Streets to the Wall South memorial. Former POW and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Pyle will be the parade grand marshal and guest speaker at the ceremony. Retired Air Force Colonel George “Bud” Day is scheduled to be one of the ceremony honorees. More info: Robert Hall (850) 456-1561.
Blue Angels homecoming air show Thursday through Saturday at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Performances begin at 9:30 a.m. with the Blue Angels flying at 2 p.m. each day. There will also be an evening show beginning at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Gates open at 8 a.m. each day. (850) 453-2389.
Friday, November 12
The Byrneville Elementary School Veterans Program will be held in the Northview High School Theater at 9 a.m. on Friday, November 12.
The annual Ernest Ward Middle School Veteran Program will be held Friday, November 12 at 9:30 a.m. in the school gym. The program will include special music, a drama performance, student presentations and more. The program will also include student-led interviews with area veterans about their wartime service, giving them an opportunity to tell their story “in their own words”. Plans also call for the Coast Guard to land a helicopter at the end of the program and to honor them for their service in catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill. All veterans are invited to attend. Refreshments will follow the program.
No Injuries In Monday Night Highway 97 Crash
November 9, 2010
There were no injuries in a single vehicle accident Monday night on Highway 97 south of Walnut Hill.
The driver apparently lost control while northbound on Highway 97 just north of Tungoil Road about 10:45 p.m.. Her vehicle left the roadway, struck a culvert and came to rest in a ditch. The driver, who walked to a nearby home for help, was not injured.
The accident was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Atmore Ambulance also responded to the call.
Pictured: There were no injuries in this single vehicle accident on Highway 97 near Tungoil Road Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
FFA Smoked Meat, Citrus Sales Underway
November 9, 2010
The annual Northview High School FFA Alumni Smoked Turkey and Boston Butt Sale is now underway, just in time for Thanksgiving. And, the Northview FFA’s Fruit Sale is also underway.
Turkeys And Boston Butts
In the annual fund raiser, you can choose either a seven to nine pound smoked Boston butt or a 10-12 pound smoked turkey for $25 each.
Boston butts will be available for pickup on Thursday or Friday, November 18-19, and the the smoked turkeys will be available for pickup on Monday or Tuesday, November 22-23.
Proceeds from the sale will go to benefit the Northview High School FFA Scholarship Fund. The sale is sponsored by Archie’s Catering Smokehouse in Molino. For a printable order form that you can mail to the school with your payment, click here. Orders must be placed by Friday, November 12.
Fruit Sale
The NHS FFA is selling citrus in attractive 2/5 or 4/5 bushel boxes perfect for gift wrapping. The Florida citrus is from RiverBrite in Vero Beach.
Orders must be made by Wednesday, December 1. The delivery date is Tuesday, December 14.
For an order form click here. Order forms and payment can be returned to Northview by mail (the address is on the order form), or dropped off at the school office. Fruits available include red apples, grapefruit, navel oranges, tangelos and Hamlin oranges. Mixed trio half bushels are also available.
For more information, call (850) 327-6681, ext. 248.
Gulf Oil Spill Task Force Begins Meetings In Pensacola
November 9, 2010
EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson on Monday in Pensacola pushed a federal task force to go beyond its immediate charge to look into ecosystem damage caused by the Gulf oil spill and explore ecological problems in the system that pre-dated the disaster.
Jackson, speaking to members of the Gulf Ecosystem Restoration Task Force at its first meeting, called on the 12-member task force to seek remedies to decades of environmental degradation and population pressures that have occurred on what once was one of the most productive ecosystems in the country.
“We’re taking one step back and saying what does the Gulf region need to be resilient,” Jackson told a group of more than 250 stakeholders who attended the panel’s first hearing. “It’s not just oil. It’s hypoxia and nutrients in our system that are creating dead zones. It’s just the fact that we have so many people who want to live on the Gulf of Mexico.”
Monday’s kick-off of the federal task force’s work in Pensacola was overshadowed by related events unfolding in Washington, where the White House’s oil spill commission found no evidence that the offshore spill following the April 20 explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig happened because BP and its partners cut corners to save money.
The panel agreed with nearly all of the findings of BP’s internal investigation of the accident released this summer. BP’s report assigned much of the blame for the accident to its drilling partners including Halliburton, which provided the cement used to secure the wellhead and blowout protectors, which also malfunctioned.
Critics have accused BP and other companies involved in drilling the well of sacrificing safety for monetary savings in the run up to rig explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed millions of barrels of oil into Gulf over the summer
Florida participants in the ecosystem task force include state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mimi Drew, a task force member who said the state’s reliance on the Gulf region makes its participation in regional efforts critical.
“The tourism and seafood industries are really the backbone of our economy,” Drew said. “Our goal is to restore consumer confidence in our beaches and our seafood.”
Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida, was hopeful yet skeptical that the panel made up of the same agencies that have let the Gulf slip are the ones trying to fix it up.
“I think you have to be optimistic at this point of the game,” Young said. “But let’s just say I remain concerned.”
In addition to Jackson’s call for a broader look at environmental dangers to the Gulf system, officials also said the economic impacts of the spill and other threats also should be part of the task force’s work.
“While not overlooking the environment, I hope this task force will also look at the economic effects of the oil spill,” said David Stewart, chief of staff for Alabama Governor Bob Riley. “There are businesses today that are on the precipice of extinction.”
Southeastern officials also need buy-in from a wider audience, said the executive director of the task force, John Hankinson.
“We need to articulate to the nation why this is the nation’s Gulf,” said Hankinson.
The task force must return a set of recommendations by October, 2011. Until then the panel will hold a series of meetings throughout the region to compile an overall strategy to address the differing needs of all Gulf States.
By Michael Peltier
Jay Cross Country Takes 3rd In District, Headed To Regionals
November 9, 2010
The Lady Royals of Jay High School placed third at the District 1-1A Championships held recently in Tallahassee.
Four of the Royals placed in the top 15 runners. Robin Blackman led the Royals with a time of 21:29, placing seventh overall.
Other Royals in the top 15 were Leely Trevino (12th), Jessica Thornton (13th), and Allison Blair (15th). Jenna Thornton who ran fifth for the Royals set a personal record with a time of 23:19. Of the 12 teams from District 1 the top six teams automatically advanced to the region competition. The overall top fifteen individuals also advance individually. The Royals will run at the regional competition in Gainesville on Friday, November 12.
Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
It’s Runoff Election Day In Century For Council Seat
November 9, 2010
It’s runoff election day in Century, with just one council seat on the ballot.
Incumbent Henry Hawkins is facing political newcomer Jacke Johnston for Century Town Council Seat 3.
NorthEscambia.com will have election results posted tonight.
Here’s what you need to know to vote in today’s Primary Election in Century:
- Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- The only precinct is located at the Century Town Hall. Only registered voters that reside within the town limits of Century are eligible to vote.
- You must present photo and signature identification. Acceptable forms of identification are: Florida Driver’s License, Florida ID card issued by the Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, U.S. Passport, Debit/Credit Card, Military ID, Student ID, Retirement Center ID, Neighborhood Association ID, and Public Assistance ID. If you fail to present proper identification at the polls, you must vote a provisional ballot.
- You are not required to present your voter identification card in order to vote.
- To vote on a paper ballot, completely darken the oval to the left of the your choice.
- There is at least one touchscreen machine available. While primarily intended for persons will disabilities, any voter may choose to vote on the touchscreen. It has an audio ballot feature.
- You may vote if you are still in line at 7:00 p.m.
- You have the right to ask for assistance in voting.
- You can receive up to two replacement ballots if you make a mistake.
- If your registration or identity is questions, you have the right to cast a provisional ballot.
- You have the right to written instructions on how to vote, and, upon request, oral instructions by elections officers or any other person.
Pictured top: A voter exits Century Town Hall during last month’s general election. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Meeting Tonight To Discuss New I-10 Exit In Beulah
November 9, 2010
A new exit on I-10 at Beulah Road is under consideration, and the public will have the opportunity to offer their input tonight.
A public meeting to discuss the proposed interchange in the vicinity of the overpass where I-10 and Beulah Road intersect has been scheduled for Tuesday from 5:30 until 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Beulah Baptist Church, 5805 Beulah Church Road.
The meeting is being held to allow local officials, affected property owners and the public an opportunity to express their views and comments concerning the proposed interchange in an informal environment. The meeting will be hosted by PBS&J, the engineering firm retained by the county for the feasibility study and project design.
For more information, contact Eugene Harris, Escambia County Project Manager, 595-3434, or Greg Allen, PBS&J Project Manager, at 478-9844.