FHP Investigating Fatal Crash
October 14, 2015
A fatal crash Tuesday in Escambia County is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
According to the FHP, a 2010 Toyota Camry drive by 57-year old Doan Thi Thuy-Nga and a 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier drive by 76-year old Clara Darby Ward collided at the intersection of Mobile Highway and Boulder Avenue.
Ward was pronounced deceased at Sacred Heart Hospital after the crash; Thuy-Nga was taken to Sacred Heart in serious condition.
The FHP has not released details on the cause of the accident as they continue their traffic homicide investigation. And charges are pending the outcome of that investigation.
Flags At Half Staff Today In Escambia County For Fallen Airman
October 14, 2015
Flags in Escambia County will be at half-staff today in honor of Air Force Senior Airman Nathan C. Satain of Pensacola. Sartain, 29, lost his life in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel when his C-130 aircraft crashed in Afghanistan on October 2, 2015. He was assigned to the 66th Security Forces Squadron of Massachusetts.
Funeral services for Sartain, a graduate of Pensacola High School, were held today at the Naval Aviation Memorial Chapel with burial at Barrancas National Cemetery with full military honors.
While deployed to Afghanistan, the 66th performed fly-away security team, better known as FAST, missions, meaning they flew on aircraft and were protecting the aircraft itself, the aircrew, passengers, and cargo, as these aircraft flew from one location to another.
Betty J. Harper
October 14, 2015
Betty J. Harper went home to be with our Lord on Monday, October 12, 2015. Betty was born June 26, 1930, to Walter Arick and Naomi Robinson Arick in Columbus, Ohio. She moved to Pensacola, FL in 1970 where she continued to raise her family.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Nelson Hane; and her second husband, Delbert “Red” Harper, Jr.; son, Charles Hane; daughters-in-law, Sherry Hane and Cheety Hane; and son-in-law, David Reeves.
She is survived by her children, Nelson (Nettie) Hane, Kenny (Donna) Hane, Diana (JR) Howard, Carol Reeves, Sandy (Doug) Whitfield; 20 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; and two very special friends Ronnie and Diane Hemby.
Our family would like to thank Dr. Miley and Covenant Hospice for all their wonderful care to our mom.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 16, 2015, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North.
Burial will follow in Gonzalez United Methodist Church Cemetery.
A visitation will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2015, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Jacqueline “Jackie” Ann Diederich Swain
October 14, 2015
Jacqueline “Jackie” Ann Diederich Swain, 81, of Cantonment, died Sunday, October 11, 2015. Jackie was born in Garrett, IN and moved to Pensacola 44 years ago. She worked as a teacher’s aide at Ensley Elementary for many years. Jackie was also a Girl Scout leader and a board member for both Cantonment Baseball and Football.
Jackie is preceded in death by her loving husband, Robert Louis Swain, Jr.; her parents, Herman Diederich and Anna Simpson Diederich; and two sisters, Lorreta Raub and Barbara Hoffmeyer.
She is survived by her son, Christopher Swain of Cantonment; four daughters, Melissa Swain Jacobs of Pensacola, Linda (Charlie) Martz of Corunna, IN, Lorie (Scott) Romero of IN, and Christine Lott of Foley, AL; Gregory Jacobs, who she considered a son; 11 grandchildren, Rachel (Nate) Schermerhorn of Kendallville, IN, Nicklaus (Cyndi) Martz of Oak Park, IL, Tyler (Rachel) Martz of Auburn, IN, Mariah (Austin) Miller of Corunna, IN, Maria and Olivia Romero of IN, Christian, Braedan, and Noah Jacobs of Cantonment, Kaylee Swain of Pensacola, and Ava Berroa of Pace; and four great-grandchildren, Myles and Margo Martz of Oak Park, IL and Grant and Gabriella Schermerhorn of Kendallville, IN.
Jackie was a loving mother and a super Nana.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 15, 2015, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North with Father Casstley officiating.
Burial will follow in Pensacola Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
A visitation will take place Wednesday, October 14, 2015, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Another Atmore Home Heavily Damaged By Fire
October 13, 2015
A home in the 300 block of South Presley Street in Atmore was heavily damaged by fire early Tuesday morning. It was the second house fire in Atmore in less than 24 hours.
There were no injuries reported in either fire.
For information about Monday’s fire, click here for an earlier story.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Today: Supreme Court To Hear Death Penalty Case From 1998 Nine Mile Popeye’s Murder
October 13, 2015
FOR AN UPDATE TO THIS STORY, CLICK HERE.
Today, U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled hear arguments in a challenge to the way Florida sentences people to death — a challenge backed by three former Florida Supreme Court justices and the American Bar Association.
The case, which stems from the 1998 murder of a Nine Mile Road Escambia County fast-food worker, focuses on the role that juries play in recommending death sentences, which ultimately are imposed by judges.
Hurst, now 36, was convicted in the 1998 murder of Cynthia Lee Harrison, who was an assistant manager at a Popeye’s Fried Chicken restaurant where Hurst worked. Harrison’s body was discovered bound in a freezer, and money was missing from a safe, according to a brief in the case.
Attorneys representing Death Row inmate Timothy Lee Hurst, including former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman, contend that Florida’s unique sentencing system is unconstitutional. Supporting that position in friend-of-the-court briefs are former Florida Supreme Court justices Harry Lee Anstead, Rosemary Barkett and Gerald Kogan, along with the American Bar Association and seven former Florida circuit judges.
Part of the argument centers on what are known as “aggravating” circumstances that must be found before defendants can be sentenced to death. Hurst’s attorneys argue, in part, that a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling requires that determination of such aggravating circumstances be “entrusted” to juries, not to judges.
Also, they take issue with Florida not requiring unanimous jury recommendations in death-penalty cases. A judge sentenced Hurst to death after receiving a 7-5 jury recommendation.
“Florida juries play only an advisory role,” Hurst’s attorneys wrote in a May brief. “The jury recommends a sentence of life or death based on its assessment of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, but that recommendation has no binding effect. Moreover, the jury renders its advisory verdict under procedures that degrade the integrity of the jury’s function. Unanimity, and the deliberation often needed to achieve it, is not necessary; only a bare majority vote is required to recommend a death sentence.”
But in an earlier brief, attorneys for the state argued that the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court have repeatedly denied challenges to the sentencing process, including the Florida Supreme Court rejecting Hurst’s challenge. The state attorneys argued that a jury, in recommending the death penalty, has found facts that support at least one aggravating factor — which can be the basis for sentencing a defendant to death.
“Therefore, because the jury returned a recommendation of death, this court may infer the jury did find at least one aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt,” state attorneys wrote in a January brief in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In sentencing Hurst to death, a judge found two aggravating circumstances — that the murder was committed during a robbery and that it was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel,” according to the brief filed by Hurst’s attorneys. That brief, along with others in the case, were posted on an American Bar Association website and on SCOTUSblog, which closely tracks U.S. Supreme Court proceedings.
Much of the hearing could focus on how to apply the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision — a major case known as Ring v. Arizona — to the Florida law. Hurst’s attorneys contend that the 2002 decision held that “findings of fact necessary to authorize a death sentence may not be entrusted to the judge.” They said Florida’s system undermines the juries’ constitutional “functions as responsible fact-finder and voice of the community’s moral judgment.”
The brief filed on behalf of Anstead, Barkett and Kogan raised similar arguments and said there is “no assurance that Florida death sentences are premised on a particular aggravating circumstance found by the jury.”
“And because jury unanimity is not mandated during the sentencing process, there is no assurance that a Florida jury’s death recommendation represents a reliable consensus of the community,” the brief said. “As a consequence, (the former justices) believe that the jury’s role is impermissibly denigrated and that there is an unacceptable risk that Florida death sentences are erroneously imposed, in violation of the Sixth and the Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Farm Tour Highlights North Escambia Agriculture (With Photo Gallery)
October 13, 2015
Participants in the Escambia County Farm Tour recently learned about agriculture in the North Escambia area.
Local governmental officials, community leaders and even international visitors toured several agricultural locations in North Escambia and get an up close and personal look at a variety of farming activities.
Following registration at the Molino Community Center, farm tour participants heard presentations from 4-H members before heading to Lulu Road in Molino to learn about forestry. Attendees then observed peanut production with Eric Koehn on Crabtree Church Road, visited the Birdsong Peanut Buying Point outside Atmore, and watched a cotton harvest with Mike Koehn on Kansas Road in Walnut Hill.
The farm tour then stopped to observe the growth of a sun hemp, a cover crop growing at Highway 97 and Kansas Road in Walnut Hill, and then visited the West Florida Gin Company on Meadows Road near Davisville.
Pictured top: Cotton production, and pictured inset: Peanut production. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com. Pictured below: Inside the West Florid Gin with cotton ginning equipment. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
October 13, 2015
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending October 8 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers Pettey, Barnard and Livesay were working dove hunting. After hearing multiple shots, the officers found four hunters hunting over a baited field. The hunters were hunting near an active corn feeder and wheat was also spread on the field. The four hunters were charged with hunting migratory birds over bait.
Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling in the Perdido River Wildlife Management Area when he encountered a couple parked on management area property after legal entry hours. When he made contact with them, he observed evidence of drug use. A search revealed cannabis, THC “dabs”, hash oil, methamphetamine, and various drug paraphernalia. The driver of the vehicle admitted to possession of the items and was arrested and transported to the Escambia County Jail. Charges included possession
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
No information submitted for Santa Rosa County.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
Driver Cited, Company Fined For Dump Truck Versus School Bus Wreck
October 13, 2015
An Escambia County company is facing thousands of dollars in penalties and a driver cited on multiple charges for a wreck involving a school bus and Mack dump truck in late August.
The Florida Highway Patrol Bureau Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement conducted a compliance review of G.B. Green Construction Management and Consulting. The review found multiple civil violations that resulted in $14,555 in civil penalties. The driver of the dump truck, Abraham Larry, Jr. was charged with traffic violations for failure to obey a red light and expired registration. He was also issued faulty equipment violations for brakes and tires.
The bus loaded with students from Pensacola High School was hit by the company’s dump truck on August 27.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 16 students were transported to area hospitals, two as “trauma alerts”. The FHP said bus driver Harriet Collins, 27, along with 22 students and a driver’s assistant were westbound on Jordan Street attempting to cross Pace Boulevard.
A Mack dump truck being driven by Larry, Jr., age 33 of Pensacola, was traveling north on Pace Boulevard. The dump truck driven by Larry ran the red light at the intersection of Jordan Street on collided with the left rear side of the school bus. The collision caused the school bus to overturn and strike a utility pole, coming to final rest on its right side.
Tire photos courtesy Andrew McKay, NewsRadio 1620 for NorthEscambia.com. Other photos are NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Learn Quilting For Beginners At The Molino Library
October 13, 2015
Cena Harmon will teach the basics of hand quilting at the Molino Branch Library in a two part series.
In part one at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20, at 6 p.m. participants will discuss how to chose patterns and fabrics, and look at how to use basic tools. In part two of the series on Tuesday, October 27, at 6 p.m., attendees will start piecing together their quilt.
Both classes will be held in Room 123. The Molino Branch Library is located in the Molino Community Center at 6450 Highway 95A. For more information, call the Molino Branch Library at (850) 435-1760 .