Rep. Bradley Byrne Announces Candidacy For U.S. Senate
February 21, 2019
Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) announced his candidacy Wednesday night at a downtown Mobile restaurant, just down the street from where he grew up.
In announcing his candidacy, Bradley said his campaign will focus on his record as a fighter for Alabama’s values.
The fight for America’s future is too important to sit on the sidelines. I am running for the United States Senate to defend the values important to Alabama. We need a Senator who will fight with President Trump “to defend the Constitution, build the wall, stand up for the unborn, push for lower taxes, make health care more affordable, and protect the Second Amendment. I will fight every day to bring Alabama’s conservative values to Washington,” he said.
Pictured top: Congressman Bradley Byrne during a town hall meeting last year in Atmore (NorthEscambia.com photo). Pictured below: Byrne announces his candidacy for U.S. Senate Tuesday night in Mobile.
DeSantis Looks To Allow Floridians To Purchase Approved Drugs From Canada
February 21, 2019
Pointing to the high costs of health care, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced plans to create a program that would allow Floridians to have access to FDA-approved drugs from Canada.
Appearing at The Villages, DeSantis said he will work with President Donald Trump on creation of the program, which would require approval from the Trump administration.
“I spoke personally to President Trump on both Sunday and Monday about this,” DeSantis told a crowd at the huge Central Florida retirement community. “He’s not only supportive, he’s enthusiastic.”
DeSantis said his administration is working on keeping regulations — and taxes — down for Florida businesses.
“Now the biggest hurdle is paying for the health insurance,” he said. “And a lot of it is … because of the prescription drugs.”
The governor’s office didn’t release a detailed plan. But DeSantis said the program would be possible under the federal Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.
The law allows imports from Canada of prescription drugs for personal use and eliminated a prohibition against manufacturers entering into agreements to prevent the sale or distribution of imported products.
But a program cannot be created unless the secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services certifies to Congress that the imports don’t threaten the health and safety of the American public and would reduce costs. Such a certification has not happened.
“Sixteen years this has been on the books, and yet it has never been put into practice,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said the changes would also help reduce the amount of money the state spends on drugs for prisoners. A federal judge in November ordered the Florida Department of Corrections to begin treating all prison inmates who test positive for hepatitis C virus with next-generation medications.
It’s estimated that between 20 to 40 percent of the 100,000 people in Florida state prisons have the hepatitis C virus. Treatment can cost $20,000.
The governor was accompanied in The Villages by House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, and Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew.
Oliva has made lowering health-care costs a top priority for the next two years. He has taken aim at Florida hospitals for being the primary drivers of increased costs and has pushed to eliminate regulations that he says give hospitals an unfair advantage over other health-care facilities, such as ambulatory surgical centers.
“There are tremendous efforts on behalf of interest groups to keep things as they are,” Oliva said. “And it takes the courage of the people that you all send up to Tallahassee to make a difference. So I can finally say, ‘We are all here and we’re going to make a difference.’ ”
by Christine Sexton, The News Service of Florida
More Clouds And Rain, Warmer
February 21, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Areas of fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 80. South wind around 5 mph.
Friday Night: Areas of fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. South wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Saturday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 56. South wind around 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 67. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. North wind around 5 mph.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Monday Night: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 55.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69.
Highway 29 Ramp, 9½ Mile Road To Close Friday Night
February 21, 2019
The northbound Highway 29 on-ramp from Nine Mile Road, and 9 ½ Mile Road at Highway 29 will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22 to 6 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 23 as crews place drainage pipes across the roadways. Nine Mile Road travelers wanting to head north on Highway 29 will be redirected to northbound Palafox Street, Ten Mile Road, back to Highway 29. Travelers wanting access to 9 ½ Mile Road east of Highway 29 will use Palafox Street.
All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather.
North Escambia Community Transportation Begins Service Today
February 20, 2019
The North Escambia Transportation Service Pilot Project begins today as a door-to-door on demand transportation project in the area north of Quintette Road.
The project will service Walnut Hill, Davisville and Bratt on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Century, Molino and McDavid on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The service will be available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) gave the public a chance to check out the brand-new 10-passenger vehicle Tuesday at Community Health of Northwest Florida click in Century.
“It was a beautiful ride. It drives real smooth,” said local resident Gloria Castleman after an inaugural trip. “It’s a nice van, one of the nicest ones we have ever had here in Century. It think it will be used very well. The public will benefit from it very well and we can utilize it to our benefit. It will help a lot of people here to get back and forth to doctors and other businesses.said Gloria Castleman after an inaugural trip.”
“This is going to be a really wonderful service for our patients,” said Chief Community Engagement Officer Ann Papadelias of Community Health. “We have a high number of patients with no transportation. Some walk to the clinic but sometimes the weather is bad. This is going to help in so many ways, whether someone is using it to get to the clinic, the store, visit a friend’s house of anything else.”
The service is $1 per trip within the North Escambia area. Riders will be picked up at their home or other location within the North Escambia area. The new service will not run a fixed route, but it will allow connections at the standard fare to the ECAT Route 60 bus that connects Century, Molino and Cantonment to the rest of the ECAT system.
“It’s going to be wonderful to connect people to their health care services,” Papadelias said. “It’s tough getting to an appointment when you don’t have a vehicle.”
To qualify for the program, participants must live north of Quintette Road within Escambia County and complete a short application (click to download). All trips will require a 24-hour advance reservation by calling (850) 595-0501 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays
The service is available for anyone living in the service area that completes the application and meets one or more of the following conditions:
- Persons with no other means of transportation that do not live on a bus route
- Persons age 60 or older
- Persons with disabilities
- Persons that have an economic hardship
The North Escambia Transportation Service Pilot Project is funded through a Transportation Disadvantaged Mobility Enhancement Grant.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Dense Fog Advisory; Showers And Thunderstorms Likely
February 20, 2019
There is a dense fog advisory in effect until Thursday at 9 a.m. Visibility will be one quarter mile or less at times, creating hazardous driving conditions.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
This Afternoon: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 75. South wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before midnight, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Areas of fog after midnight. Otherwise, cloudy, with a low around 65. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 79. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. South wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Saturday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind around 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 71. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Monday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 54. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 70. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Softball Openers: Tate Shuts Out Pine Forest; Northview Shuts Out Freeport
February 20, 2019
Northview 8, Freeport 0
Northview 9, Freeport 2 (JV)
Northview led with a run in the first, then powered ahead with four in the bottom of the second as the Chiefs defeated Freeport 8-0 in their season opener Tuesday night in Bratt.
Tori Herrington pitched seven strikeouts while going 2-3 at the plate. For Northview: Aubree Love 2-3, Payton Glchrist 1-2, Nevaeh Brown 1-1, RBI, Kaitlin Watson 1-3, Heather Knowles 1-4.
The junior varsity Northview Chiefs beat the Freeport Bulldogs 9-2.
Northview will host the Flomaton Hurricanes Thursday at 4:00 for JV and 6:00 for varsity.
For a photo gallery from Northview vs. Freeport, click here.
Tate 15, Pine Forest 0
The Tate Aggies shut out Pine Forest Tuesday night in their season opener at home.
Avery Beuchaine earned the win for the Aggies, striking out nine in three innings.
For Tate: Shelby McLean 1-3, R, RBI; Amber Decoux 2-2, 2R, 2RBI; Avery Beuchaine 3-3, 3B, R, RBI; Madison Cawby 1-1, 2B, R, RBI; Ryleigh Cawby 2-3, 2R, 2RBI; Cam Wolfenden 1-2, R: Gabby Locke, 1-1, R; Abbie Burks 1-1, R, 2RBI.
On Thursday, Tate will host Washington.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Three Charged After Clerk Killed During Convenience Store Robbery In Escambia County
February 20, 2019
An attempted convenience store robbery turned deadly Tuesday night in Escambia County, and now three suspects are in custody.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan identified the victim as store clerk Govardhan Kotha, 50. He was shot about 8:15 p.m. at the Quick Fill on Mobile Highway near Lockhart Street. The Sheriff’s Office responded to a robbery call and arrived to find Kotha deceased at the store with gunshot wounds.
Efidarius Gemeateus Bryant, 29, was charged with felony murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. He is believed to be the shooter,according to Morgan. He is seen in a mask with a gun in surveillance video. Keandra Martez Smith, 23, is also charged with felony murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. He entered the store first to “case the joint” according to Chip Deputy Chip Simmons. Both are being held without bond in the Escambia County Jail.
Crystal Elaine Clausell, 33, was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and is being held on a $100,000 bond.
“Their days of freedom in Escambia County are over,” Simmons said.
The incident was captured on surveillance video, and no additional suspects are wanted, Simmons said.
Kotha was scheduled to travel from Escambia County Thursday to attend his daughter’s wedding, Morgan said.
Tate Basketball Regional Game Start Time Changed
February 20, 2019
The start time of Tate High School’s playoff boys basketball game has been changed.
The Aggies (20-8) will host Tallahassee Chiles(11-19) in the Region 1-8A quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The Aggies accommodated an earlier start time for Chiles due to travel time from Tallahassee and the time zone difference.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Celebrates National FFA Week With Breakfast
February 20, 2019
FFA members at Northview High School are celebrating National FFA Week with a variety of events.
Tuesday morning, the FFA officers and members prepared a homestyle breakfast for teachers, staff and invited guests that support the FFA program. Northview’s FFA program has been recognized as one of the top chapters in both the state and the nation.
For more photos, click to enlarge.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
