Killer Of UWF Student Exhausts State Death Sentence Appeals
February 16, 2018
With the scheduled execution a week away, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by Death Row inmate Eric Scott Branch
Justices issued a 15-page unanimous opinion that included denying Branch’s request for a stay of the February 22 execution.
Branch, now 47, was sentenced to death in the 1993 sexual assault and murder in Escambia County of University of West Florida student Susan Morris.
In the appeal, Branch’s attorneys argued, in part, that Branch was 21 at the time of the murder and that brain development continues into the mid-20s, according to court documents. As a result, they contended he should be considered like a juvenile for death-penalty purposes.
The U.S. Supreme Court has barred the death penalty for people under age 18 because it would violate an Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the argument that Branch should be considered like a juvenile, saying that “the United States Supreme Court has continued to identify 18 as the critical age for purposes of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence.”
The Florida Supreme Court last week also denied another stay sought by Branch on other legal grounds.
“Branch will most likely appeal this decision to the federal courts,” the State Attorney’s Office said Thursday. “However, this concludes his state appeal process.”
Mental Health Money Sought As Florida Reels From School Shooting
February 16, 2018
Less than 24 hours after a troubled gunman killed 17 people — most of them teenagers — at a Broward County high school, a top state senator released a plan Thursday to steer $100 million to public schools for mental-health screening and services and to boost funding for school safety programs.
Sen. Bill Galvano is also exploring what, if anything, lawmakers can do to prevent the sale of guns to people like Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after Wednesday’s slaughter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Like Floridians throughout the state, legislators in the Capitol were reeling as details of Cruz’s troubled past emerged.
Several Broward County lawmakers rushed to South Florida after news of the shooting broke.
State Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a graduate of the Parkland high school, called the scene “surreal.”
“I got here last night. My high school looked like a war zone. Streets that I drive all the time looked like a war zone,” Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.
The neighborhood surrounding the school was peppered with mobile command centers and mass triage units on cordoned-off streets, Moskowitz said.
Moskowitz’s 4-year-old son was learning how to write his name when his teacher’s daughter was mowed down by Cruz, who had a lengthy history of disturbing behavior that prompted at least two reports to the FBI identifying him as dangerous.
Moskowitz said he doesn’t know what to say to parents who ask him what lawmakers are going to do to prevent future tragedies.
“We’ll do the same thing we’ve been doing. Which is nothing. We live in a state that if you try to do anything with gun laws and you’re a local official, we will throw you in jail,” he said. “I mean this kid was telling everybody what he was going to do. He was basically wearing a neon sign saying, ‘I am going to come and kill people.’ And yet, he bought a gun legally.”
The Parkland massacre — the second worst school shooting in the nation’s history, after a gunman killed 26 children and teachers at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 — sparked outrage from Moskowitz and other Democrats, whose attempts to pass legislation imposing gun restrictions have been repeatedly rejected by the Republican-dominated Legislature.
Galvano told The News Service of Florida his efforts, for now, are focused on taking action to inoculate schools from tragedies like the one in Parkland that left 15 students and two adults dead and 20 others injured, according to reports from local authorities.
“We have to address the things that we can take immediate action on that aren’t steeped in controversy, such as being more aggressive on mental health and illness, making sure we are taking steps, physically, at our schools to make it more difficult for a perpetrator to conduct this type of activity. And then having the resources available so that schools can have the security they need,” said the Bradenton Republican, who is slated to take over as Senate president after the November elections.
Galvano’s proposal would more than double the $40 million now earmarked for a Senate plan that would create a special category for mental health in the annual funding formula for Florida’s 67 school districts. Under the proposal (SB 1434), school districts, as well as charter schools, would have to develop mental-health plans that would be submitted for review to the state.
The mental health plans would have to include partnerships with at least one community program or agency to provide “prevention, diagnosis and treatment services for students.” The services would be aimed at reducing social, emotional or behavioral problems in at-risk students and could deal with issues such as bullying, trauma and violence.
“How do we get help to the kids that have issues, so that it doesn’t escalate to where we are now. That unites us. There is no one that disagrees with that concept, no one. It’s just a question of how we do it, and how much money we put into it,” Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican who’s sponsoring the legislation, told the News Service on Thursday.
The Senate’s proposed $87 billion state budget for the upcoming year also includes a $13 million increase for “safe school funding,” money that can be used to pay for school resource officers, among other things. The House budget proposal keeps safe school funding at its current $64 million level, which is 10 percent less than the state gave to school districts for the program a decade ago.
“We may have to refocus those dollars and make sure that those dollars are doing what they are actually supposed to do and not going to bonuses and things like that, and put additional dollars on top of it,” Galvano said.
According to Galvano, only 1,500 of the state’s 4,000 schools have dedicated school resource officers, although some schools rely on sheriff’s deputies to provide security.
“Some of these dollars need to be available to fill in the gap,” he said.
School districts are also required to perform safety and security audits, something Galvano said he pushed as an education committee chairman following the Sandy Hook shooting. Galvano said the audits haven’t been completed yet, “and that needs to happen.”
Rep. Jose Oliva, a Miami Lakes Republican who will become House speaker in November, told the News Service his chamber is open to discussions about the mental-health funding for schools, with a caveat.
“If we take a real comprehensive view and we try to really find a solution, we don’t simply take a large amount of money, move it in a direction, and then walk away feeling like we prevented this,” Oliva said. “Especially in light of a terrible tragedy, we should rush to the conversation. We should not rush to the conclusion.”
In Parkland, Moskowitz — who said he waited with parents Wednesday night as law enforcement officials informed them whether their children had survived — welcomed news of the Senate proposal.
“Something is better than nothing. So I’ll take anything. Give me something to go back to these parents and say, ‘This time was different. We did something,’ ” he said.
Republican leaders expressed remorse and sent prayers of support to victims and survivors of the Parkland shooting. But they avoided talk of gun-control measures that would limit access to or sales of automatic rifles like the ones used by Cruz and a shooter who killed 49 clubgoers at a popular Orlando gay bar less than two years ago.
But Gov. Rick Scott, on the scene in Parkland, said Thursday he wants to explore “how to make sure individuals with mental illness do not touch a gun.”
Florida law bars people who have been involuntarily committed under the Baker Act from purchasing firearms. A 2013 law expanded that prohibition to individuals who voluntarily admit themselves for mental-health treatment.
But Scott indicated he might want an even broader prohibition.
“If someone is mentally ill, they should not have access to a gun,” Scott said.
Galvano said he, too, is exploring such a possibility, but stopped short of opening a debate on the emotionally charged gun-control issue.
“We need to explore that issue and understand both the political realities and then the physical realities of someone who has a chronic history of posting things on social media that a lay person could identify as warped. How someone like that, in the existing system, could end up with a firearm that ultimately engages in this,” he said.
But when asked where state law fell short, and what can be done, Galvano admitted he doesn’t yet know.
“I’m looking into that. We’re going to have that discussion. I don’t have a specific answer right now. But we can’t ignore that aspect of it,” he said. “While we’re off having a debate, there are things we can do today to make our students safer.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Century Celebrates Tornado Recovery With Tree Giveaway
February 16, 2018
Thursday, Cqentury celebrated their recovery progress following and EF-3 tornado two years ago with a tree giveaway.
The storm tore through the town with winds of up to 152 mph, damaging or destroying over 100 homes and businesses on February 15, 2016.
The Florida Forest Service made free one gallon potted shumard oak, river birch and fringe trees available to area residents.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Supervisor Of Elections Registers Northview Students To Vote
February 16, 2018
The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office visited Northview High School Thursday to give students a chance to register to vote. Students that were 16 or 17 years old were able to per-regsiter. Students who missed the chance to register, or any other local citizens, can pick up a voter registration application at any local library branch, including Century and Molino, or register at a number of locations found by clicking here. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Mary Walton Garrett
February 16, 2018
Mrs. Mary Walton Garrett, age 92, passed away Thursday, February 15, 2018 at her home in Bay Springs, Florida.
Mrs. Garrett was a native of Carabelle, FL and a resident of Bay Springs, FL since 1947. She was active in the community serving as a seamstress and baker. She was a member of the Bay Springs Full Gospel Church. She is preceded in death by her husband, Samuel Alvin Garrett; two sons, William Brooks Garrett and Dennis Alvin Garrett, Sr.; one daughter, Connie Marie Garrett; two brothers, W.D. Bill Walton and John Walton and one sister, Lois Elizabeth Walton.
Survivors include one son, Kenneth “Sambo” (Margaret) Garrett of Bay Springs, FL; two daughters, Mary Dianna (Doug) Murray of Daphne, AL and Donna Jane Shaw (Randy) Hammac of Pensacola, FL; one brother, Ernest Walton of Robertsdale, AL; one sister, Minnie Mae Dunnaway of Salem, AR; one sister-in-law, Ruth Walton of Livingston, TX; twelve grandchildren; twenty great grandchildren and fifteen great great grandchildren and one daughter-in-law, Sara Garrett of Davisville, FL.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, February 17, 2018 at 2:00 PM at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Kenny Johnson officiating.
Burial will follow at the Bay Springs Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Saturday, February 17, 2018 from 1:00 PM until service time at 2:00 PM at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Shane Garrett, Sammy Garrett, Jason Sims, Will Norris, Lance Yuhasz and Jamie Garrett.
Century Tornado Two Years Later: County, Town Can’t Afford To Clean Up Damaged Sawmill
February 15, 2018
On this second anniversary of an EF-3 tornado that ravaged part of Century, there has been significant progress in recovery. But looming over the progress is a heavily damaged industrial property that has sat untouched since the 150 mph tornado winds just before 4 p.m on February 15, 2016.
“It’s like a giant sleeping monster, ready to come back to life and destroy our homes again,” a Front Street resident said. Their home suffered significant tornado damage is being replaced under a government program; they did not wish to be identified due to fear of retribution. “At any time another storm, even a big summer thunderstorm, could move through here with 70 mph winds and send that metal into our homes.”
“I’m very proud of the recovery strides that have been made by the town, the county, and countless non profit and faith based organizations. Unfortunately, many of those successes are within sight of the destroyed Alger Sullivan Mill property,” Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry said.
Front Street is directly adjacent to the former Alger-Sullivan Lumber Mill — a sprawling property encompassing 330,200 square feet in eight buildings on 38 acres. Damage included the collapse of the rear portion of the largest building. Portions of the buildings blew into, and in some cases through, houses along Front Street. Since the tornado, residents have pushed the Town of Century and Escambia County to clean up the property.
The property owners — listed in county records as DMT Holdings LLC in Navarre and DMT Holdings LLC in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada — were cited by Escambia County Code Enforcement. The county provides code enforcement services under contract within the town limits of Century.
With no response from the owners. a special magistrate for Escambia County issued an order against the property at One Lumber Road on October 4, 2016, giving the owners until November 1, 2016, to clean up the property. Failing to comply, the property owners were assessed costs of $1,100, and fines of $50 per day have been accruing ever since. To date, the property owners have accrued fines of about $23,500.
In June 2017, Escambia County obtained three estimates to demolish the buildings and clean up the property. Those bids came in at $800,000, $2.3 million and $3 million. The low estimate from Bellview Site Contractors in Pensacola included the caveat that costs would rise above their $800,000 estimate if concrete foundations were greater than six inches thick or if asbestos were to be found.
But there’s a huge problem for Escambia County — there’s not enough in the budget to pay for even the lower cost cleanup option.
“In most instances like this, when we have a property owner unwilling, or unable to clean their property up to code, then Escambia County will solicit low bids for the the demolition and cleanup of the property, and then lien the property until the bill is paid by the current or subsequent owner of the property,” Barry said. “However, in this case, the low bid was $800,000, and that is the problem holding back the demolition and cleanup.”
Last fiscal year, Escambia County spent $435,000 abate properties. This fiscal year, the budget is up to $463,425.
“That $463 thousand is the entire clean up budget for the entire county for the year,” Joy Tsubooka, county public information officer said.
“I have had multiple conversations with former Mayor Freddie McCall and current Mayor Henry Hawkins, but we have not been able to come to a feasible method to pay for the cleanup. I am optimistic and open minded and I desperately want to see the property cleaned up and put back in its highest and best use for the town, but I am not exactly sure how we are going to accomplish that goal,” Barry said.
“Someone has to find some way of getting that sawmill cleaned up,” the Front Street resident said. “It’s not just that it looks bad. Somebody is gonna get their house tore up, or somebody is going to get hit by flying tin in a storm and be killed.”
NorthEscambia.com and courtesy photos, click to enlarge.
Warm Days In The 70’s
February 15, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia. area forecast:
Thursday: Areas of dense fog. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 75. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
Thursday Night: Cloudy, with a low around 61. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 77. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the morning.
Friday Night: A 10 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. South wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. South wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. North wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Washington’s Birthday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76.
Monday Night: Cloudy, with a low around 60.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 62.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72.
Bratt Elementary Students Open Little Free Library In Travis Nelson Park
February 15, 2018
A Little Free Library was dedicated Wednesday at the Travis Nelson Park on West Highway 4 in Bratt, thanks to the hard work of students from Bratt Elementary School.
The Little Free Library concept is simple — anyone from the community may borrow a book or keep a book or add a book to the library. Anyone taking a book or two from library does not need to return that exact book, and there are no due dates. The library is currently supplied with mostly children’s books, but donations of more books for adults would be greatly appreciated. The library is open park hours — sunrise to sunset daily.
Bratt students collected over 500 blocks for the new Little Free Library in Bratt and an a second Little Free Library in Century that will that opens Thursday.
Bratt Elementary worked on the community service project for over a year after educators took note of students entering school with lower than expected skills.
“Often students do not have a large bank of words to speak and they have a limited understanding of words that are spoken to them. Bratt Elementary decided if the homes had more books, the students would increase their word bank for both speaking and understanding. When asked, many students stated they have no books at home to read. The idea to collect books and have a free community little library was born,” said Sheila Bryan, guidance counselor at Bratt.
During ‘Red Ribbon Week’ students were encouraged to focus on doing something good instead of only focusing on not doing drugs. The community little library project was introduced and students began donating books. It was amazing to see the students willingly giving away their books to benefit their community,” she added.
Looks for an upcoming story on NorthEscambia.com with details about the new Little Free Library in Century.
NorthEscambia.com phtoos, click to enlarge.
Driver Hits Boat On Highway 29
February 15, 2018
A driver hit a boat and trailer Wednesday afternoon on Highway 29 at West Roberts Road Wednesday afternoon. There were no injuries in the crash. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Gulf Power Seeks To Pass Savings Along To Customers
February 15, 2018
Wednesday, Gulf Power filed a request with the Florida Public Service Commission seeking approval to pass along approximately $103 million in tax savings to its 460,000 customers. If approved by the FPSC, the average Gulf Power customer using 1,112 kilowatt-hours per month can expect to see a $14 drop on their monthly electricity bill for 2018 — the largest decrease in company history. More than $30 million in savings for customers will continue into 2019 and beyond if approved by the FPSC.
The tax savings are the result of federal tax reductions under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on Dec. 22, 2017, and became effective on Jan. 1, 2018. The decrease in the Corporate Tax Rate from 35 percent to 21 percent reduces the amount of federal income tax Gulf Power will have to pay and allows the energy provider to pass that savings along to customers.
“This is very good news for customers,” said Stan Connally, Gulf Power chairman, president and CEO. “Reduced tax costs create an opportunity for Gulf Power customers to benefit from decreases in their energy prices. We are glad this allows us to quickly lower rates for our customers — in fact, this is the seventh time in 10 years we’ve decreased prices. If the Florida Public Service Commission approves this agreement, customers should see the savings beginning in their April bills.”
Gulf Power worked together to reach a settlement with the Office of Public Council, the Florida Industrial Power Users Group and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to agree on how to deliver these savings to customers as soon as possible. J.R. Kelly, the Public Counsel, and Jon Moyle, counsel for the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, both applauded Gulf Power for acting quickly to provide customers with rate relief resulting from the federal tax reform legislation. Kelly and Moyle said that it’s important for Gulf Power’s customers and their clients to see real rate relief sooner rather than later, and they believe that this agreement, if approved by the Commission, will achieve that goal.
This decrease comes on the heels of record power consumption by Gulf Power customers due to prolonged extremely cold temperatures in January. The energy provider is working aggressively to make sure customers start receiving the savings as soon as possible.
“This price reduction will provide relief for many who had higher bills due to January’s frigid temps,” said Connally. “With 21 days in the 30s and below, our customers used a lot electricity — in fact on Jan. 18, customers set a record new high energy peak, surpassing the last high by 100 megawatts.”
While Gulf Power will pass along the tax savings to customers across Northwest Florida, the company will continue to invest in the energy grid to maintain the safe, reliable and affordable service customers have come to expect.
“We’re excited to pass along these savings to our customers, while continuing to make smart investments in our energy grid to continue the high reliability our customers have come to expect,” said Connally