Wahoos Beat The Baybears 4-2
May 18, 2013
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos scored all of their runs in a four-run fifth inning and held off a late-inning comeback from the Mobile BayBears to win the series opener 4-2 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium on Friday night.
In the decisive fifth, the Wahoos posted six straight singles to start the inning with RBI’s coming from Brian Pearl, Bryson Smith, and Luis Durango to open up a 3-0 lead. After a double play and a walk, Travis Mattair laced a single to left, scoring Smith, but Durango was cut down at the plate on a strong throw from left field Brent Clevlen to abruptly end the inning. It was the second time in the ballgame Clevlen threw out Durango, with the first time coming for the final out in the first inning.
The BayBears battled back in the later innings against the Pensacola bullpen. Mobile smacked three straight one-out singles in the sixth against Brian Pearl, but was only able to get one run on a fielder’s choice. In the eighth inning, Raywilly Gomez brought home a run on an infield single with one out, but Loek Van Mil retired the next two hitters to strand an additional two runners
Missed chances reigned supreme for Mobile as they left 12 runners on base, including two in each of the last five frames. The BayBears had 13 hits in the contest, but just one extra base hit.
Wahoos’ starter Chad Rogers received a no-decision in the contest as he was ejected with two outs in the top of the fifth arguing a call at third base. Rogers was in complete control at the time of his ejection as he had scattered six hits and struck out two. Pearl (2-0) earned the win with 1.1 innings of relief and also gathered his first career hit and RBI in the fifth inning.
Prior to Rogers’ ejection, Ryan LaMarre was tossed from the game in the last of the fourth after he popped out to the second baseman. LaMarre was arguing a check swing appeal at first base on the previous pitch.
Having won four of their last five, the Wahoos turn to southpaw Ryan Dennick (2-2, 2.93) in game two of the series with the BayBears. Archie Bradley (2-0, 0.64) gets the call for Mobile. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Story by Kevin Burke
Today: Market at St. Monica’s, Palafox Market Open
May 18, 2013
Two local markets will be open today offering fresh produce and much more.
The Market at Saint Monica’s is open the first and third Saturdays of each month (including today) from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Items expected include fresh produce, meat, prepared foods, plants, jewelry, hair bows ,fresh cut flowers, arts, crafts and more.
The Market at Saint Monica’s in the parking lot of Saint Monica’s Episcopal Church, 699 South Highway 95-A, Cantonment.
As it enters its sixth season, the Palafox Market continues to expand with new vendors and more products. Customers have Saturdays to browse the unique goods offered by local farmers, gardeners, artisans and bakers.
The Palafox Market is every Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. rain or shine. The market is located under the shade trees in Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on North Palafox Street between Garden and Wright Streets. For more information, including products available and how to become a vendor, or to sign up for the weekly newsletter, visit the website at www.palafoxmarket.com.
Pictured: Lee Lee’s Sassy Blooms is an expected vendor at Saturday’s Market at Saint Monica’s in Cantonment. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
County Waives Noise Ordinance For Molino Bar Fund Raiser
May 17, 2013
The Escambia County Commission voted Thursday night for a limited waiver of the county’s noise ordinances for a June Special Olympics Fund Raiser at a Molino Bar.
The outdoor “S.O.B. A-Thon” event (with the initials representing “Special Olympic Biker”) is planned for 8 a.m. until midnight on Saturday, June 8. at Louie’s Tavern in the 200 block of Molino Road The all-day event will include a 145 mile bike run and live music beginning at 6 p.m.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office will be notified that the waiver was issued.
Ernest Ward’s Sounds Of Spring
May 17, 2013
The Ernest Ward Middle School music department presented their annual spring concert Thursday night at the Walnut Hill Community Center. The Ernest Ward advanced and beginning bands, and the Ernest Ward chorus performed during the evening event. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Barrineau Park Man Convicted Of Animal Cruelty
May 17, 2013
A Barrineau Park man was convicted on animal cruelty charges Thursday and now faces up to 12 years in prison.
Roger Legrande Kervin, 67, was originally charged with 88 animal abuse related charges. He was convicted Thursday of two felony counts of animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count. Prior to his jury trial, he pleaded no contest to one count of confinement of animals without sufficient food, water or exercise, a misdemeanor.
He remains free on bond as he awaits his sentencing on June 17.
Kervin was arrested in February 2012, three days after the first of 90 animals were seized from his property on Lawson Lane near Barrineau Park. Many of the animals were euthanized.
Before his arrest, Kervin spoke out in his own defense, saying that he had done nothing wrong. Kervin said he kept his dogs in good shape for wild hog hunting, often using the wild pork to feed people at charity events. During his trial Thursday, Kervin continued to maintain that he kept dogs on his property for hunting wild hogs.
This was not the first time Kervin had faced animal abuse charges. According to court records, he was sentenced to probation in 1992 for using animals to bait or fight other animals.
Editor’s note: The following information, from the State Attorney’s Office arrest warrant affidavit, is graphic and may be disturbing to some readers. It details the original allegations against Kervin at the time of his arrest. Dozens of the charges against Kervin were dropped or dismissed prior to his trial.
Escambia County Animal Control seized 20 dogs on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. According to an affidavit, several of the dogs were emaciated while some displayed open sores and infections. Some of the dogs were aggressive and had puncture wounds and scarring. One of the dogs was in a seizure and was in need of immediate medical attention. Another suffered a ruptured anus.
The pen where the dogs were kept were filled with feces and mud that was several inches deep with limited to no shelter. The dogs had no potable water and no food. Several where tethered with “large” or “heavy” chains. Ten of the 20 dogs –both hounds, bulldogs and mixed breeds — that were seized Tuesday were euthanized.
The affidavit details the condition of each euthanized dog. In addition to being emaciated, one or more of the dogs suffered from conjunctivitis in both eyes, sores, infections, infected toenails and fly sores.
“Several of the dogs had puncture wounds and scarring consistent with fighting,” the arrest warrant states.
In addition to the seized dogs, Escambia County Animal Control found two dead goats, one dead hog and nine skeletal remains. Another 23 dogs on the premises were living in feces-covered pens with non-potable water, no food and limited to no shelter. There were 16 hogs kept in a pen withour escape from their slop which contained feces, urine, food and mud. The hogs also had no drinking water and no food. There was, according to the report, a dead hog in the same pen as the live hog. There were 16 goats, five of which were at large on Lawson Lane. Some were malnourished and their pen had no grazing material.
When the State Attorney’s Office, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and Escambia County Animal control returned on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, with a search warrant, 23 dogs, 16 goats, 16 hogs and two piglets were seized. Authorities also seized treadmills and unspecified medications. The animals were in poor living conditions, but authorities noted that conditions had improved from the previous day. Fresh sand and dirt and been placed in all of the pens and shelters to cover the feces and mud. At least one standing pen had been washed out with a hose to remove feces from the bottom.
Pictured above and below: Roger Kervin’s property on Lawson Lane at the time numerous animals were seized. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Crime Spree Ends With Arrest In Louisiana
May 17, 2013
A suspect has been named in an April 30 robbery of an individual in Atmore. After the incident a property owner reported was doing construction work at his rental property on Fourth Avenue when he was robbed of his wallet and phone at gunpoint.
Atmore Police said three individuals traveled together from Atlanta to Louisiana, committing a string of robberies a long the way — including the Atmore robbery. They were finally apprehended by the St. Tammany Parish (LA) Sheriff’s Office.
The victim in Atmore was presented a photo lineup and positively identified 28-year old Kristopher Cameron Jones of Slidell, LA. Atmore Police expect a robbery first degree warrant to be issued for Jones. There’s not word on when he might be extradited back to Alabama to face the charge.
The April 30 robbery in Atmore prompted a manhunt that essentially shut down an area around Horner Street for several hours.
Gulf Power To Seek Rate Hike
May 17, 2013
Little more than a year after receiving approval to increase base electric rates, Gulf Power Company has given notice that it will may file another rate-hike proposal this summer.
In a letter sent to the Florida Public Service Commission, the Pensacola-based utility pointed, in part, to upgrades of its transmission system and lagging revenues.
“In addition to the increase in the cost of providing electric service …Gulf’s base rate revenues have not grown as expected,” the letter said. “The economic recovery from the severe nationwide economic recession is slower than previously predicted. Significant uncertainty still surrounds the pace of economic recovery in northwest Florida and in the nation as a whole. As a result of the slower than expected economic recovery in our region, sales in each customer segment have failed to meet forecasted growth.”
Gulf said it may file a detailed rate proposal in July, which would start a months-long process that would include a hearing before the Public Service Commission.
The letter, signed by Gulf Power President and CEO Stan Connally, said Gulf Power estimates that an increase in annual revenues of about $75 million to $80 million “is necessary to produce sufficient revenues to allow us to continue to provide the electric service our customers require.”
The PSC in March 2012 approved a $64.1 million rate increase for Gulf Power, the first base-rate hike for the utility in a decade.
by The News Service of Florida
Once Again, Jay Docs Give Up Controlled Substance Licenses
May 17, 2013
Two Jay doctors that were the target of a federal drug raid nearly two years ago have once again surrendered their licenses to prescribe narcotics.
Dr. C. David Smith and his son, Dr. Michael Smith of the Jay Medical Center, applied to reinstate their Drug Enforcement Agency licenses on April 22; the federal licenses were issued the following day and mailed, David Smith said on May 1.
They reportedly voluntarily surrendered their licenses again this week because there has been no clear word that any investigation against them has been completed.
On the morning of July 28, 2011, the FBI, DEA, the Attorney General’s Office, the Florida Department of Health and Florida Department of Law Enforcement spent hours inside the Jay Medical Clinic as Florida Highway Patrol troopers stood guard outside the complex. Federal and state agents could be seen inside the building, looking through patient files and other records. The removed many items including patient records and computer hard drives. Both doctors were forced to surrender their DEA licenses to write prescriptions for narcotics. The Jay Medical Center was able to reopen the following day.
“We never really heard anything back from the authorities,” Smith said May 1. “We are approaching the two year mark, and figured that no news was good news, and it was time to move forward.”
No charges have been filed against either man. None of the federal or state agencies involved in the 2011 raid have every commented on the investigation. The other two physicians in the practice, Dr. Marian B. Stewart and Dr. Jeffery S. Kelley were never targets of the investigation and never lost their licenses to issue all prescriptions, including narcotics.
David Smith has been a licensed physician in Florida since 1980, while Michael Smith has held his physician’s license since 2003. Neither man has any public complaints on file with the Florida Department of Health. Dr. David Smith was awarded a Florida Rural Health Association lifetime achievement award.
Pictured top: The Jay Medical Center was the target of a federal and state raid on July 28, 2011. Pictured bottom inset: Agents search records inside the facility. Pictured below: A state trooper stands guard outside the facility during the 2011 raid. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia’s Crime Up, Highest Overall Rate In Florida
May 17, 2013
Overall crime was up 5.6 percent in Escambia County during 2012 according to new data released Thursday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, while the state’s indexed crime rate declined about 6.5 percent during the same period.
Escambia County’s overall crime rate — 5,656.2 crimes per 100,000 residents — was the highest in the state in 2012, followed by Miami-Dade at 5,129.3 indexed crimes per 100,000 residents.
During the year, the overall crime index was up 5.6 percent. Murders increased 38 percent, from 16 to 22, forcible rapes decreased very slightly from 169 to 162, robberies fell 11 percent, aggravated assaults jumped 23 percent, burglaries were up 23 percent, larcenies were almost unchanged going from 9,908 to 9,920, and motor vehicle thefts were down about 7 percent.
The Escambia County crime numbers include crimes in the jurisdictions of all law enforcement agencies in the county, including the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Pensacola Police Department, University of West Florida Police Department, Pensacola State College Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol.
Of the 22 murders last year in Escambia County, 15 were in the county and seven were in the city of Pensacola. Totaled indexed crimes were up 5.9 percent in the county, 4.4 percent in the city. The crime rate per 1,000 residents was higher in the city at 6,737.5, up 4.2 percent. Escambia County had 5,351.9 crimes per 100,000 people in 2012, up 5.8 percent over 2011.
In 2012, the Pensacola Police Department cleared 40.1 percent of indexed crimes, while the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office cleared 26.3 percent.
Want to know more? Click the graphic below to enlarge and view Escambia County’s crime data as released Thursday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Northview’s Kahlil Grice Signs With Minnesota College
May 17, 2013
From team manager to a state championship to a college scholarship, hard work and dedication have paid off for senior Northview Chief Kahlil Grice.
Grice, just a few days before graduation, has signed a scholarship to play for Mesabi Range Community and Technical College in Virginia, Minnesota — just south of Canadian border.
Grice started as a team manager his freshmen year and spent the next three years playing for the Chiefs.
Pictured top: Kahlil Grice signs a football scholarship Thursday afternoon with Mesabi Range Community and Technical College in Virginia, Minnesota. Pictured inset: Grice was joined by his mother, Felicia Grice (seated) and sisters (L-R) Alisha and Keyth Grice. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.