Jay Girls Beat Baker
January 8, 2010
In girls basketball action Thursday, the Jay Royals beat the Baker Gators. The Lady Royals are now 7-5 on the season, 4-2 in the district.
Jay 44 Baker 41
Jay — Jennings 9, Hendricks 8, Mulford 7, Steadham 10, Calloway 10.
Jay 11 11 8 14-44 Baker 10 8 4 19-41
Congressman To Hold Health Care Town Hall
January 8, 2010
Congressman Jeff Miller will hold an open town hall meeting on health care Friday evening in Pensacola.
Miller is inviting interested persons to attend the meeting and ask questions or make comments about the pending national health care legislation.
The Pensacola Health Care Town Hall Meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the WSRE Amos Performance Center at the corner of 12th Avenue and College Boulevard (near PJC and the airport).
WEAR, Mediacom Reach Agreement
January 8, 2010
Sinclair Broadcasting, the parent company of WEAR 3, and Mediacom have reached a one year agreement that will keep WEAR on Mediacom cable for another year.
Mediacom “has finalized a 12-month agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. covering retransmission consent rights for 22 television stations carried in Mediacom cable systems,” Tom Larsen, senior vice president for legal and public affairs for Medicacom, said in a written statement. “Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.”
““We are very happy with the outcome of the negotiations which includes an acceptable economic arrangement. We are pleased that our viewers and Mediacom’s customers will continue to receive the important and popular programming carried on our stations such as the local news, sports, and network shows as CSI, American Idol and 24,” said David Smith, president and CEO of Sinclair, in a written statement.
WEAR was set to be pulled at midnight Friday from Mediacom, which serves about 100,000 customers on the Gulf Coast including Atmore. Sinclair’s programming was scheduled to be removed from Mediacom’s cable systems on December 31, but the two companies reached an eight day agreement so viewers could watch college bowl games.
The dispute centered around the amount of money Medicacom pays Sinclair for the right to retransmit the programming of WEAR and 21 other stations in 15 markets. A similar dispute in 2007, did not end before deadlines passed. WEAR was off Mediacom for about month.
Eddie Cooper Honored For 25 Years With County NRCS
January 8, 2010
Eddie Cooper of Molino was honored Thursday night for 25 years of dedicated service to Escambia County.
Cooper currently serves as the division manager of the National Resource Conservation Division, Neighborhoods and Community Services Bureau. The Escambia County Natural Resources Conservation Division (NRCS) was formerly known as the Soil and Water Division.
The NRCS office administers federal funds that are headed to farmers, ranchers and landowners participating in a variety of federal programs. In the just the past 10 years, the NRCS has administered over $27 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture dollars made available to Escambia County and agriculture producers. Agriculture is a $32 million a year industry in Escambia County, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey.
Keith Wilkins, deputy bureau chief of Neighborhoods and Community Services, said Cooper has always been one of the department’s most ethical, sincere and diligent employees.
“I just want to thank Escambia County for giving me the privilege to serve,” Cooper said, adding that he is looking forward to several more years with Escambia County before his retirement.
Pictured above: County Administrator Bob McLaughlin (left) presents a framed proclamation to Eddie Cooper at Thursday night’s Escambia County Commission meeting.
McLaughlin Officially Out; County Names Interim Administrator
January 8, 2010
The Escambia County Commission has named Larry Newsom as the county’s interim county administrator.
Newson currently serves as Escambia County’s manager of traffic engineering. He will begin his new duties on February 7, the day after the non-renewed contract of current Administrator Bob McLaughlin. Thursday night, the commission voted 4-1, with Marie Young voting against, to officially not renew McLaughlin’s contract.
Also Thursday night, commissioners voted unanimously to name Joy Blackmon as an interim assistant administrator.
A national search for a permanent administrator will begin in Monday with the goal of hiring the a permanent administrator by April.
Newsom and Blackmon will return to to their respective jobs once a permanent administrator is hired.
Lady Cougars Make State Top Ten
January 8, 2010
The Escambia Academy Lady Cougars are now ranked as one of the top ten Alabama Independent School Association basketball teams.
The Cougars are number nine in the latest poll from the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
“I am extremely proud of the girls’ hard work, dedication and committment to the team,” said Lady Cougars Head Coach Heath Gibson. “ Of course, our goal is to stay focused and to keep climbing in the polls.”
Team members include: Kristen Matthews, Lacie Flowers, KayLeigh Miller, Taylor Helton, Amber Huskey, Sydney McGhee, Rachel Fuller, Samantha Lee, Grayson Emmons, Allie Brooks, Paige Allen, Page Lancaster, Jordan Jaye, Carlie Broughton.
Current Escambia Goverment Consolidation Effort May Be Dead
January 7, 2010
It appears that the possible governmental consolidation of Escambia County, Century and Pensacola may be over — at least until 2012 at the earliest.
Tonight, the Escambia County Commission voted to ask the Escambia County legislative delegation to delay any possible public vote on a proposed governmental consolidation plan until 2012.
Escambia County Commissioner Wilson Robertson said this morning that he would introduce a motion at tonight’s commission meeting to yank the commission’s support for the current consolidation proposal.
The Escambia County Consolidation Study Commission’s proposal to unify the three governments is due by January 15, but it is still not complete. The group has three meetings remaining, including one on January 14, in which it planned to hammer out a final proposal.
Robertson said that he disagrees with many parts of the consolidation committee’s draft proposal, and he feels that the entire process was rushed.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to follow this story.
During Job Interview At Sheriff’s Dept., Local Man Admits To Child Porn
January 7, 2010
A former North Escambia resident applying for a job at the Escambia County Jail ended up in jail after he admitted during his job interview that he had child pornography on his computer.
Clarence W. Burnette, 25, of Little Paul Lane, Jay, was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail and will be charged with one count of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony. According to Escambia County Clerk of Court records, Burnette was a resident of Water Tank Road in Bratt during August, 2009, and the 5000 block of Highway 4 in Bratt in 2003.
Burnette, 25, had applied for a position as a detention deputy, known also as a corrections officer, with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. He told deputies during his pre-employment polygraph test that he possessed images of child pornography. CyberCrime investigators interviewed Burnette at his home in the Sellersville community near Jay, and Burnette admitted to possessing images of child pornography, according to the Florida Attorney General’s Office. Investigators seized a computer and conducted forensic analysis to confirm child pornography was indeed on the computer.
Additional charges may be added at a later date, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Burnette will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit.
He was released without bond from the Santa Rosa County Jail.
Burnette was arrested by the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit with assistance from the U.S. Marshall’s task force, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Sleet, Snow In Tonight’s Forecast
January 7, 2010
There’s a chance of sleet and snow in our forecast for tonight, but the National Weather Service says we can expect little or no snow or sleet accumulation.
If you plan to travel north into Alabama Friday morning — the weather service is forecasting about an inch of snow down to Monroeville and Evergreen.
Here is your official National Weather Service forecast for North Escambia:
- Tonight…Rain and light sleet in the evening…then chance of rain and snow after midnight. Little or no snow and sleet accumulation. Lows in the lower 20s. West winds 5 to 15 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.
- Friday…Sunny. Highs in the upper 30s. North winds 10 to 20 mph.
- Friday Night…Partly cloudy. Lows around 16. North winds 5 to 15 mph.
- Saturday…Sunny. Highs in the lower 40s. North winds 10 to 15 mph.
- Saturday Night…Clear. Lows around 16. North winds 5 to 10 mph.
- Sunday…Sunny. Highs in the mid 40s.
- Sunday Night…Clear. Lows around 15.
- Monday…Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s.
- Monday Night…Mostly clear. Lows 18 to 23.
- Tuesday…Sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.
- Tuesday Night…Partly cloudy. Lows 26 to 31.
- Wednesday…Mostly sunny. Highs around 60.
- Wednesday Night…Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 30s.
- Thursday…Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain showers. Highs in the upper 50s. Chance of showers 20 percent.
Pictured top: Ice covered most of an Oak Grove pond Wednesday morning. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
BCS National Championship Tonight — Who Do You Think Will Win?
January 7, 2010
The No. 1 BCS-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, the Southeastern Conference champions, and the No. 2 BCS-ranked Texas Longhorns, champions of the Big 12 Conference, will play in the Citi BCS National Championship Game at 7:38 tonight.
Who do you think will win? Submit your comments on the game below and show your team spirit!
With its win of the Southeastern Conference crown for the 22nd time, Alabama is going to a bowl for the sixth straight season. The Crimson Tide also enters the game with a perfect mark of 13-0 overall, 9-0 in conference. Alabama has been to the eighth most Rose Bowl Games in history (6), behind only: USC, Michigan, Washington, Ohio State, Stanford, UCLA and California; most of any team outside of the Big Ten and Pac-10.
Texas enters the BCS National Championship game after clinching the Big 12 Conference title for the third time (28 conference championships overall) and a record of 13-0 overall, 9-0 in conference. The Longhorns are bowl eligible for the 12th consecutive season and are one of two schools in the nation (Utah) that has won five straight bowl games. This streak includes three straight BCS games (2009 Fiesta Bowl, 2006 BCS National Championship, 2005 Rose Bowl).
Tonight’s game marks Texas and Alabama’s eighth meeting in history; the last time was on January 1, 1982, in Dallas, Texas, at the Cotton Bowl where the Longhorns defeated the Crimson Tide, 14-12.
Pregame festivities for the 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game begin at 7 p.m. and include musical performances by Josh Groban, Audra McDonald and the coin toss by legendary football announcer Keith Jackson. The game is televised nationally on ESPN on ABC with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters calling the action. Locally, the game airs on WEAR 3.