Great Florida Weather For Canada Geese
March 8, 2018
These Canada Geese were spotted apparently enjoying a cool Wednesday morning at a pond on Lambert Bridge Road in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
School District Publishes Plan For Lockdowns
March 8, 2018
The Escambia County School District has published instructions on their website for students, parents and the community outlining what to do in regards to school lockdowns, which they now term “Elevated Security Notifications”.
From the Escambia County School District:
What to Expect In the Event of a School Elevated Security Notification
Students
- Stay calm and alert.
- Follow the directions given to you by teachers and staff.
- Refrain from speculating on the event and broadcasting via cell phone or social media.Misinformation can aggravate the situation.
- In the event of an evacuation, remain calm and follow the directions of school staff and law enforcement.
- You will be reunited with your parents as soon as practical.
Parents
- Teachers and staff have been trained to handle emergencies that affect your student’s school.
- There will be no student checkout during an event.
- DO NOT attempt to access your student at the school during an event.
- Information provided by staff and students in the school during any event is generally incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. Refrain as much as possible from reacting to any information not originating from local authorities
- Remember, in most cases, school security is elevated as a precautionary measure because of an external threat or because of law enforcement activity in the vicinity of your student’s school not because of activity on campus.
- Normal school activities will be impacted by security-related events.
- Status updates will be provided by the District.
Community
- Be alert and report suspicious activity to local law enforcement.
- Consider your ability to assist with recovery efforts if community support is requested.
Flomaton Police Seek Gas Station Burglars (With Video)
March 8, 2018
The Flomaton Police Department is searching for two burglars that targetting a Chevron Station on Highway 31 early Tuesday morning.
It is believed the duo made their getaway in a Crown Victoria or similar model vehicle. The vehicle did not have tinted windows and was dark or tan in color.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Flomaton Police Department at (251) 296-5811.
A video appears below, or click here.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Mother Of Accused Atmore Shooter Charged With Attempted Murder
March 8, 2018
The mother of a teen accused in a shooting last week in Atmore has been arrested.
Yashetta McKenzie, 36, is charged with attempted murder. She was allegedly driving the car from which her son, 17-year old DeAndre Lamar Mitchell, opened fire, shooting 17-year old Trenton Atchison on the afternoon of February 27.
McKenzie is being held on a $150,000 bond. McKenzie drove Mitchell to the Atmore Police Department a shot time after the shooting. He was charged with attempted murder as an adult. Police say more arrests are possible in the case.
Police said Atchison was shot when Mitchell fired at a group of classmates gathered in a porch on the 300 block of East 4th Street off Martin Luther King Avenue. Officials believe the shooting may have been retaliation after a fight that happened at Escambia County High School in Atmore.
Atchison was conscious and able to identify Mitchell as the shooter.
House Approves School Safety Bill
March 8, 2018
Three weeks after Nikolas Cruz gunned down 14 students and three faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida lawmakers Wednesday passed a sweeping school-safety bill that sparked bipartisan and racial divisions over gun issues.
The House in a 67-50 vote approved the proposal (SB 7026), after the fathers of two slain students watched hours of floor debate from the House gallery. The Senate had earlier passed the measure, which now goes to Gov. Rick Scott.
Andrew Pollack, whose 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, was among the students killed on Feb. 14, called the bill “the first step in enhancing the safety and security of our schools,” and, speaking for the 17 families, urged Scott to sign it into law.
“We thank the House and Senate for voting in favor of protecting our children, but more needs to be done and it’s important for the country to unite in the same way the 17 families united in support of this bill,” Pollack, reading from his cell phone, told reporters after the House vote Wednesday evening.
“On a personal note, my precious daughter Meadow’s life was taken, and there’s nothing I can do to change that. But make no mistake, I’m a father and I’m on a mission. I’m on a mission to ensure that I’m the last dad to ever read a statement of this kind. If you want to help me, and keep my children safe, I want you to follow me, because there’s strength in numbers, at remembermeadow.com,” he said.
Wednesday’s vote came after days of charged debate in the House and Senate, and after weeks of even more emotional advocacy by parents, students, teachers and others from the Parkland school and neighboring communities.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Coral Springs Democrat who graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and served on the Parkland City Commission, gave a detailed account to a rapt chamber of the bloody scene he encountered when he and other lawmakers arrived at the school hours after the Valentine’s Day massacre.
Moskowitz broke down describing how his 4-year-old son’s pre-school teacher was giving him writing lessons when her daughter, Jamie Guttenberg, was shot dead at the high school.
He acknowledged that the bill did not go as far as many would like in imposing new gun restrictions, but he urged his colleagues to support it.
“This bill is necessary, but it’s not sufficient. It’s not enough. When major corporations around this country are ahead of us, we are behind. We should be leading, not following,” Moskowitz said.
He chided House members who throughout the day called the vote on the bill a difficult decision.
“This isn’t hard. Putting your kid in the ground is hard. This is a button. … Push the green button,” Moskowitz concluded, referring to the button for “yes” votes.
The $400 million package includes $69 million for early mental health screening and services, $97 million for school resource officers, $98 million for school-hardening grants, and $25 million to raze and rebuild the freshman building where the shooting spree occurred.
The bill also includes more than $67 million for a controversial program that has overshadowed the other elements of the bill: the “Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program,” named after an assistant football coach who died after using his body to shield students from a hail of bullets from the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle that 19-year-old Cruz was charged with using to wreak havoc on the school he once attended.
The program, which was rebranded from the “school marshal” program to the “guardian” program, would allow specially trained school personnel, who are deputized by local sheriffs, to bring guns to schools. Schools boards and sheriffs would have to agree to implement the program for it to go into effect.
Black lawmakers fear the program could endanger minority students, who are more likely to be punished at school and could be unfairly targeted in an emergency, as could armed school personnel who are “black or brown.”
“I believe this is not a bad bill, but I believe this is a scary bill,” Rep. Cynthia Stafford, a black Democrat from Miami, said.
The bill is dangerous “because there is an implicit bias that exists against boys and girls of color,” Stafford said.
“I’m afraid that in an emergency situation, a black or brown student who may be running down the hall to get away like everyone else, who reaches for his or her cell phone to call their parent, may be seen not as a student, but as a shooter,” she said.
Black lawmakers also objected that the proposal fails to address gun violence that they maintain has disproportionately affected their communities.
“While there may be kids who are in fear of their lives when they’re going to school, and we don’t want that, I propose to you there are countless of our kids who are scared to step out of their front door,” said Rep. Al Jacquet, a black Democrat from Lantana “I have nothing to go to those families who lost their children … to say I’ve done something about gun violence.”
On the other end of the gun-control spectrum, Republicans are being targeted by gun-rights groups, including the powerful National Rifle Association, that oppose provisions in the bill that would raise the age from 18 to 21 and impose a three-day waiting period for the purchase of rifles and other long guns.
The measure would allow law-enforcement officials to seek court orders to seize guns from people who have shown they could be a danger to themselves or others.
But House Rules Chairman Jose Oliva, the bill sponsor, said raising the age for the purchase of rifles, an age already required for handguns, treats all weapons equally.
“This is not an infringement upon your right to bear arms. This is a judgment call about when you should be able to have that right,” said Oliva, a Miami Lakes Republican slated to take over as speaker in November.
If signed into law by Scott, the legislation would impose the first gun restrictions in Florida in nearly two decades.
The school-safety package, which quickly morphed into a debate about guns, overshadowed other business in the final days of the legislative session.
Students, parents and teachers flooded the Capitol, pleading with the Legislature, and Scott, to take action. Many Douglas High student survivors demanded a ban on assault-style weapons, along with a hike in the age to purchase rifles.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been inundated by emails and phone calls from opponents and supporters of the measure.
But supporters of the proposal, including the victims’ families and Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky, called the proposal an important first step.
After nearly eight hours of debate, Oliva addressed the concerns about guns, beginning with the lack of an assault-weapons ban.
Oliva said handguns were used in the “great majority” of mass shootings after a federal ban on assault weapons, which has since expired, went into effect.
“But the rhetoric is something that makes people feel that you didn’t do anything,” Oliva said. “This is a deranged person that caused it. So we looked at it and say, what can we do about every step along the way.”
Scott has not said whether he will sign the measure, but he has said he opposes the three-day waiting period and is against arming teachers.
The Senate earlier this week watered down the guardian program, excluding teachers who “exclusively” work in the classroom from participating. But teachers who have additional duties, such as drama or track coaches, would be eligible.
Scott called the revised guardian program “a step in the right direction,” and said he would read the bill when it makes it to his desk.
“My goal is this never happens again in our state,” Scott, who will have 15 days to act on the bill after he receives it, told reporters Wednesday. “I’m going to review the bill line-by-line, and the group that I’m going to be talking to, the group that I care the most about right now, because it impacted them so much, is the families.”
Scott reiterated his opposition to “arming teachers,” saying he believes “we ought to be increasing our law enforcement presence.”
“I want law enforcement presence at all of our schools. So that’s what I’m going to focus on,” he said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Freeze Warning Tonight
March 8, 2018
There is a freeze warning in effect for North Escambia tonight. Temperatures at or below freezing and widespread frost could damage or kill sensitive plants and vegetation if left unprotected.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Areas of frost after 1am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 32. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: Areas of frost before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 66. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night: Increasing clouds, with a low around 47. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Light and variable wind becoming south 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Saturday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 60. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 44. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 62.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 64.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 69.
Free Festival Of Flight This Saturday In Molino
March 8, 2018
A Festival of Flight will be held Saturday in Molino.
Special demonstrations of drones and model planes will excite the guests with the marvels of technology, while bird presentations will amaze with nature. The event will be held at the Escambia County 4-H Livestock Facility at 5600 Chalker Road, just off South Highway 99.
The Pensacola MESS Hall, Audubon Florida, Escambia County 4-H, National Naval Aviation Museum, and the Northwest Florida Modelers are expected to take part.
Admission to the Festival of Flight is free and will be open 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
For more information, contact Carrie Stevenson at UF IFAS Extension at ctsteven@ufl.edu or 850-475-5230. Visit http://gulfcoastsciencefestival.org/schedule/ for a full schedule of other community events that are part of the Gulf Coast Science Festival.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Recognize These Kids? Canvas Family Photo Prints Found In Parking Lot
March 8, 2018
These canvas prints of two children were found in the parking lot of the Winn Dixie on Highway 29 in Gonzalez. If you know who these belong to, email us at news@northescambia.com and we will put you in touch with person who has the prints. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lawmakers Looks For Agreenment In Opiod Battle
March 8, 2018
Lawmakers continued to negotiate the terms of opioid legislation Wednesday, with the Senate standing firm in its position that insurance companies should not put obstacles in the way of medication-assisted therapy.
The Senate took up a House opioids bill (HB 21) but tagged on an amendment that includes appropriating $54.5 million for such things as outpatient and residential treatment. It also would ban insurers and HMOs from using prior authorization or “step therapy” or making other requirements as a prerequisite to the use of medication-assisted therapy in treating substance abuse.
Senators are expected to vote on the bill Thursday and send it back to the House.
Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said Wednesday night that the bill tackles the state’s growing opioid problem like the public health crisis that it is.
“For men and women who come forward and have an addiction who want help, they want to turn their lives around, they want to go back to work and be with their families … that should be treated as a public health issue, and I think this bill goes a long way toward that,” Negron said..
The original House bill did not have the medication-assisted treatment language, and it remains an issue the two chambers must hammer out before the 2018 legislative session ends in the coming days.
The centerpiece of the bill, however, may be a three-day limit on prescriptions for treatment of acute pain. Physicians could prescribe up to seven-day supplies of controlled substances if deemed medically necessary.
The Senate agreed with the House to exempt from the prescription limits cancer patients, people who are terminally ill, palliative care patients and those who suffer from major trauma. The bill also would require physicians or their staff members to check with a statewide database before prescribing or dispensing drugs.
As amended, the bill would earmark $991,000 for improvements to the database, known as the prescription drug monitoring program, so that it can interface with physicians’ offices and electronic health records used by doctors.
The bill, proponents of opioid limits say, will go a long way toward helping the state curb the use of opioids, which are narcotic painkillers that have caused widespread overdoses.
In 2016, heroin caused 952 deaths in Florida, fentanyl caused 1,390 deaths, oxycodone caused 723 deaths, and hydrocodone caused 245 deaths. Those statistics led Gov. Rick Scott in May 2017 to declare a state of emergency.
The $54.5 million in funding is a slight increase from an original Senate proposal of $53 million. Negron said the chambers haven’t finalized the opioid funding and that the amount of money could still increase. That would be good, said Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“My thoughts are $53 million is a great start for this year, but we need much more to combat that crisis overall,” she said.
by Christine Sexton, The News Service of Florida
Marjorie Marsa Leah Wellman Belanger
March 8, 2018
Marjorie Marsa Leah Wellman Belanger, age 84, of Brewton, Alabama went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, March 4, 2018. She was born on March 10, 1933 in Houston, Texas, the baby of nine children born to Benjamin Harrison and Myrtle Valentine Wellman. Shortly after her birth they returned to Florida where she grew up in Lake Worth and West Palm Beach.
She married Bryan J. Belanger in 1950 and they were married 66 years until Bryan’s death in 2016 at the age of 84. They had two children, Vickie and Bryan, Jr. whom they loved dearly. Her favorite pastimes were being a mother and homemaker, caring for her family, reading her Bible, teaching Sunday School, raising her children, grandchildren, great- grandchildren and great-great grandchild to love the Lord, and sharing Jesus with others. As her love for the Lord grew she carried a small red New Testament Bible (King James Version) in her purse for many years so that she could accurately tell and share with others The Word of God. Marjorie was a kind person who truly followed God’s Commandment to Love Others.
Marjorie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bryan; her son, Bryan, Jr.; and seven brothers and sisters.
She is survived by her sister, Ada Wellman Baker of West Palm Beach, Florida; her daughter, Vickie Lynn Belanger (David) West of Berrydale, Florida; two grandsons, David (Cecilla) West, ll of Remlap, Alabama and William Joseph West of Brewton, Alabama; four great-grandchildren, Dawson (Brandii) West, Jessica West, Danay West; two great-great grandchildren; a beloved sister-in- law, Jean Belanger (Davis) Woody; brother-in- law, John Belanger and many dear nieces and nephews and a special friend, Ashley Dykes, her faithful and loving Care Giver. We appreciate more than words can express the sacrifices made by her precious family the many times Ashley would stay overtime with us to help with Margie’s unexpected needs. And last, but not least, our family would like to thank Emerald Coast Hospice. Each nurse and staff member exhibited love and compassion daily for our Mother and Grandmother during her last months. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Emerald Coast Hospice, 5536 Stewart Street, Milton, Florida, 32570.
Visitation will be held from 11:00 am til 12:00 pm with services following at 12:00 pm on Saturday, March 10, 2018 at Crossroads Community Church, 110 Grice Street, East Brewton, Alabama. Jay Chapel is in charge of the arrangements