Huey Donald “Don” Clark
September 20, 2013
Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Mervin Clark; and sisters, Lee Savage, Jean Bultman and Nan McQuillan.
Survivors include his beloved wife, Charlene Clark; his son, Greg B. (Micaela) Clark of Cantonment; his daughters, Janice P. (Dennis) Phillips of Monroe, LA, and Marian Kay (Bill) Beardsley of Pace; eight grandchildren ; six great grandchildren; his brothers, Louie Max Clark and Robert Finn Clark, both of Athens, GA; his sisters, Valda Goss and Ann Taylor, both of Sale City, GA; a number of nieces, nephews and friends.
Funeral services will be Friday, September 20, 2013, at 10 a.m.at the Eastern Gate Memorial Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Eastern Gate Memorial Gardens with full military honors. Pallbearers will be Carter Autin, Jackson Autin, Gregory D. Clark, Mark Connolly, John Ferris, William Beardsley, Jaimie Autin, Bill Beardsley and Samuel Jones. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 9 a.m. until the service hour. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ministry Village at Olive Baptist Church, 1836 Olive Road, Pensacola, FL 32514.
Liston Jenkins “L.J.” Dewberry
September 20, 2013
Mr. Liston Jenkins “L.J.” Dewberry, age 90 of North Pineview Circle in Brewton (Pineview Community), passed away Wednesday morning September 18, 2013, at a local hospital after an extended illness.
Mr. Dewberry was a native of Canoe, Ala., and a life long resident of the Brewton area. He was a retired powerhouse operator from Champion Paper Co. with 33 years of service. Mr. Dewberry was a United States Air Corp veteran and was a member of the Pineview Pentecostal Church.
He is survived by his wife Delray Godwin Dewberry of Brewton; sister-in-laws; Juanita Parker of Brewton, Johnnie White of Flomaton, Porcia Pettis of Wallace, Ala, Delores Baggett of Molino; brother-in-law Robert Godwin of Pineview; and a host of nieces, nephews and other family members.
Visitation will be held Friday morning September 20, 2013, from 10-11 a.m. service time at Craver’s Funeral Home with Rev. James Peacock officiating. Interment will follow in Pineview Cemetery in the Pineview Community, Brewton with Craver’s Funeral Home directing.
Century T-ball Coach Sentenced On Federal Weapons Charges
September 19, 2013
A Century man arrested on federal weapons charges while coaching t-ball is headed to federal prison.
Joshua Duane Griffis, age 26 of North Century Boulevard, was sentenced by Senior Judge Lacey Collier to seven years in federal prison followed by three years supervised released after his conviction on charges of unlawful transport of firearms and transport of stolen firearms.
ATF Special Agent George Bruno testified that in September 2012 Griffis went to the home of a person known to him on Green Village Road near Walnut Hill and advised the resident that he needed to retrieve a cell phone charger from a bedroom. The resident complied.
Later that evening, the resident discovered his .22 caliber revolver was missing. The victim’s wife confronted Griffis. According to an arrest report, and he said that he had let a friend working offshore borrow the gun but it would be returned soon. Agent Bruno testified that Griffis instead pawned the firearm at State Line Pawn in Atmore on September 27, 2012.
Court documents show Griffis has prior adult felony convictions for grand theft, fraudulent use of credit cards, two counts of burglary of a dwelling, two counts of concealing information to obtain a prescription and receiving stolen property. His record also includes 13 misdemeanor convictions for worthless checks, two counts of petit theft, two counts of driving while license suspended and domestic violence third degree assault.
Just eight days before the firearm was pawned, Griffis was sentenced to two years probation and a suspended year in jail for receiving stolen property and domestic violence offenses. Court documents also reflect that Griffis has substance abuse issues.
Griffis was taken into custody without incident as he coached a little league t-ball game at a Century ballpark last May. He was escorted off the field by deputies and handcuffed out of sight of children, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). A federal magistrate ruled that Griffis posed a danger to the community and ordered him held without bond until his trial.
Alligator Mystery: Gator Apparently Hit By Vehicle On Highway 97
September 19, 2013
A five-foot alligator was found dead on the shoulder of Highway 97 in Walnut Hill Wednesday, apparently struck and killed by a vehicle. But exactly how the alligator got there is a bit of a mystery that’s now under investigation by state law enforcement.
The gator, found just south of North Highway 99 and the Walnut Hill Mennonite Church, had injuries that were consistent with being hit by a vehicle, likely while it was still alive. There were no injuries that would firmly indicate the alligator fell out of a moving vehicle.
While it is currently alligator harvest season in Florida, the gator did not appear to have a harvest tag attached as required by law. But the alligator did have rope tied to at least two legs.
Could the alligator have come from a Walnut Hill waterway?
The nearest body of water, Little Pine Barren Creek, is about 1,000 yards from where the gator was found.
Stan Kirkland, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said it would be unlikely, but entirely possible, that alligators could live in the small creek. Bill Eubanks of Walnut Hill, who owns nearby property along the creek, said he has seen an alligator in the Little Pine Creek, but that sighting was many years ago.
Around midday or early afternoon Wednesday, the alligator’s carcass was removed from the Highway 97 shoulder by an unknown individual.
FWC Lt. Brian Lambert said possessing the untagged alligator carcass is illegal, even for the person that removed the carcass.
Anyone with information about the alligator is asked to call the Florida FWC’s Wildlife Alert Reward Program at 888-404-3922. Callers may be eligible for a cash reward.
Pictured top and inset: This alligator was found dead, apparently hit by a vehicle, alongside Highway 97 in Walnut Hill Wednesday. Pictured below. The highlighted areas show rope tied to two of the gator’s legs. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Jay Man Charged With DUI Manslaughter
September 19, 2013
A 32-year old Jay man was charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter in connection with the August traffic death of a 64-year woman in Milton.
Milton Police said Travis Alan Kelly was the driver of a semi-truck that crossed the center line on Highway 87 at Magnolia Street. The semi collided head-on with a SUV driven by Susan Ann Hartfelder, a speech therapist at Bagdad Elementary School. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the August 16 crash. A school bus also hit the SUV after the initial crash.
Kelly was also charged with DUI property damage and possession of marijuana under 20 grams. He was not seriously injured in the crash.
Lawyer: Century Can’t De-Annex Resident That Once Claimed Slavery, Discrimination
September 19, 2013
Century’s lawyer has once again determined that the town can’t de-annex the property of a woman that once claimed she is the victim of slavery and discrimination based upon the town limits drawn 34 years ago.
Leola Robinson, a resident of of 350 West Highway 4, claimed at a March 2012 Century Town Council meeting that her nearby “farm” was wrongly annexed into the town back in 1979 when other farmland belonging to white property owners was not.
“It is slavery and discrimination,” Robinson told the council on March 19, 2012. “It must be because I am black.”
Matt Dannheisser, the town’s attorney, said in 2012 that Robinson’s property cannot be removed from the town limits because it would leave other parcels of property non-contiguous — essentially cut off from the town.
Robinson once again approached the council this year, requesting that her agricultural acreage be removed from the town limits.
And in a letter dated, September 11, Dannheisser reiterated that removing the property from the town’s limits would simple be illegal.
According to Escambia County Property Appraiser website records, Robinson a owns a 28.72-acre parcel at 351 West Highway 4, across the street from her residence, that is zoned improved agricultural and contains two mobile homes. The remainder of the property is wooded, according to property appraiser aerial images. She also owns a 19-acre parcel at 7501 Williams Road that is currently zoned for a mobile home. Records indicate three mobile homes are on the property.
State Attorney’s Office Clears PNJ Of Illegal Recording Allegations
September 19, 2013
The State Attorney’s Office has wrapped up an investigation into allegations that employees of the Pensacola News Journal may have illegally recorded a meeting involving representatives of the University of West Florida.
That State Attorney’s office concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish that a crime was committed.
Read the complete findings, click here.
Miller First, Northview Second In Cross Country Meet
September 19, 2013
T.R. Miller took first place at a Tuesday cross county meeting in Brewton, while the Northview Chiefs placed second and the Flomaton Hurricanes were third in both the boys and girls divisions.
The fastest Northview girl was Moriah McGahan and the fastest Northview boy was Brandon Korinchak.
Pictured: Northview High School Cross Country team members (L-R, front) Jessica Barrows, Dakota Craft, Zacara Davis, Jessica Brown, (middle) Mason Solchenberger, Moriah McGahan, Bethany Reynolds, (back) Josh Poston, Zach Calloway, Brandon Korinchak, Noah Coker, Isaac McGahan and Joshua Borrelli. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Under Fire, Feds Add Health Care Law Privacy Protections
September 19, 2013
In the wake of criticism from Republicans including Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the Obama administration is beefing up security measures for data submitted to “navigators” by people seeking insurance under the federal health overhaul.
Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Edith Ramirez met with senior White House officials and several state officials on Wednesday before announcing the new plans aimed at protecting private information in advance of the Oct. 1 roll-out of online health insurance marketplaces.
“Today, we are sending a clear message that we will not tolerate anyone seeking to defraud consumers in the Health Insurance Marketplace,” Sebelius said in a statement Wednesday.
Consumers will be able to report fraud through a toll-free hotline and on the website healthcare.gov. The administration plans to route complaints through a central database and set up a “rapid response” mechanism for data breaches. State and federal agencies will be able to access the hub to investigate fraud, and state and federal fraud experts will meet regularly to monitor potential fraud associated with the marketplace.
“Navigators” and “assisters” help people apply for insurance on the online marketplaces, or “exchanges,” which are a crucial part of carrying out the federal Affordable Care Act.
Sebelius said the federal agencies are using the same protections already in use as safeguards for Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Scott, a Republican who launched his political career fighting against the health care law, quickly issued a statement taking credit for the Obama administration’s attention to the security issues, which Scott raised in a letter to congressional leaders on Monday. Scott noted that Florida “has become ‘ground zero’ for the frenzy of activity” to sign people up through the online exchanges. Sebelius has made Florida a frequent stopping place to promote the health care law.
“Whenever the federal government forces a brand new program this big to move this fast, mistakes are made — just as we saw last week in Minnesota,” Scott said in statement Wednesday. An employee of the state health exchange in Minnesota mistakenly sent an e-mail containing about 2,400 insurance agents’ personal data, including Social Security numbers to a man applying to become a navigator.
The federal officials’ security measures leave many questions unanswered, Scott said.
White House officials insisted the security measures announced Wednesday were part of the plan all along.
“This was part of our whole roll-out. We wanted to send signals before people started enrolling about the type of information they should and should not share,” a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call Wednesday afternoon.
The official, who spoke on background, said that some but not all navigators are required to undergo background checks and noted that many of the groups that have contracts to act as navigators have done similar work in their communities in the past.
“It’s a question of how many resources do you want to dedicate to a problem that has yet to be identified as a meaningful threat,” he said.
Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, who was at the White House meeting Wednesday, said in a statement that he and his colleagues, who will have access to the federal hub, have “extensive experience” working with federal officials to combat consumer fraud.
But Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who first raised the issue of the navigators at a Cabinet meeting last month and has made the privacy concerns a talking point on national television, said she was unaware that attorneys general were working with the administration.
“It’s nice to know that the administration now takes consumer protection against health care fraud as seriously as we do, and the people deserve,” Bondi said in an email.
By Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
County, Sheriff’s Office To Meet On Jail Transfer Agreement
September 19, 2013
Plans are coming together for Escambia County to assume control of the county jail on October 1.
Escambia County and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office will tentatively meet to discuss the memorandum of understanding regarding the Escambia County Jail transfer beginning at 10 a.m. Friday.
The workshop will be held at 221 Palafox Place in the fourth floor training room within the Escambia County Administration office. The meeting is open to the public, but space is limited.