Alberta Hall Campbell
November 4, 2019
Mrs. Alberta Hall Campbell, age 84, passed away Thursday, October 31, 2019, in Pensacola, Florida.
Mrs. Campbell was a lifelong resident of Bratt, FL. She retired with the City of Century with 28 years of service. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and a loving friend to many.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward C. Campbell.; parents, Houston and Vivian Roberts; step-father, Pringle May; three brothers, Ray Roberts, Charles May, and J.C. May; two sisters, Betty Calahan and Luverne Firth.
She is survived by her two sons, Wildon (Elaine) Hall Jr. of Grand Bay, AL; David Hall of Dawsonville, GA; daughter, Donna (Eric) McCall of Bratt, FL; sister, Ruby (J.A.) Wells of Mobile, AL; one grandchild Erin (Jeremi) Pritchett and two great-grandchildren, Jase and Tucker Pritchett.
Funeral services were held Sunday, November 3, 2019, at the Shiloh Freewill Baptist Church with Rev. James Sage officiating.
Burial was at the Godwin Cemetery.
Pallbearers were John McCall, Mike McCall, Jimmy McElhaney, Jerry McElhaney, Glenn Faircloth, and Darrell Holly.
Honorary pallbearers were Ronnie Boone, David Johnson, and Willie Peebles.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Shiloh Freewill Baptist Church, 5410 County Rd 99, Century, FL, 32535.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Addie Mae Morris Lowery
November 4, 2019
Mrs. Addie Mae Morris Lowery, age 78 of Jay, FL passed away on Saturday, November 2, 2019, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, FL.
Mae was born on May 29, 1941, in Jay, FL to Emory and Irene Morris. She graduated from Jay High School in 1959. Mae was a homemaker, loving wife, mother, and grandmother.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Carlos ‘Buddy’ Morris; and her sister, Margie Spears.
Mr. Lowery is survived by her loving husband of 59-1/2 years, Melvin Wayne Lowery of Jay, FL; special fur baby ‘Missy’; son, Rickey (Amanda) Lowery; daughter, Sandy (Tommy) Cox; grandchildren, Dusty Lowery, Brandi Cox, Kristen (Kyle) Becker, April Carr; three great-grandchildren, Bentley Lowery, Chayce Becker, Kaylen Becker; sister-in-law, Marie Morris; brother-in-law, Louie Orell Spears; special niece second daughter, Nelda (Mike) Rogers; nephew, Greg Spears, and numerous cousins and special friends.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel beginning at 10 a.m. until a 12 p.m. service time with Bro. Bobby Carnley officiating.
Interment will be in Cora Cemetery in Jay, FL.
Pallbearers will be Bryan Hosterman, Bobby Porter, Kyle Becker, Greg Spears, Judson Carden, Bill Cox.
The family wishes to thank the excellent staff at Sacred Heart Hospital and Covenant Care Hospice.
Flomaton Funeral Home directing.
Jodi Woods Named Ransom Middle School Teacher Of The Year
November 3, 2019
Jodi Woods is Ransom Middle School’s Teacher of the Year. She is a mathematics instructor. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview To Host Jay In First Round Of 1A Playoffs Friday Night
November 3, 2019
The Northview Chiefs will be at home Friday night against the Jay Royals in the first round of the Florida High School Athletic Association 1A state championship series.
The Florida High School Athletic Association released final rankings and playoff brackets Sunday morning.
The Baker Gators remain the top ranked team in Region 1-1A and have a bye Friday night, along with Vernon, the No. 2 ranked team. The Chiefs are ranked No. 3, while Jay is ranked No. 6. Only the top six teams in the region make the playoffs.
The Chiefs (7-2) are coming off a 40-7 win just this past Friday night over Jay (4-6). The winner of the Northview vs. Jay regional quarterfinal game will advance to face Vernon (7-3) on November 15 in the regional semifinal round. Baker will face the winner of next Friday night’s Graceville at Freeport game.
Northview’s only two losses this season were 14-12 to Baker and 34-26 to the defending Alabama 3A state champion Flomaton Hurricanes. Baker’s 38-game regular season win streak came to an end Saturday night as Blountstown beat the Gators 33-7.
Kickoff for Friday night’s game is 7:30 p.m.
Final Region 1-1A final rankings are as follows:
- Baker 0.665 (9-1)
- Vernon 0.629 (7-3)
- Northview 0.625 (7-2)
- Freeport 0.574 (6-3)
- Graceville 0.573 (7-3)
- Jay 0.502 (4-6)
- Holmes County 0.484 (5-5)
- Chipley 0.446 (2-8)
- Cottondale 0.418 (2-7)
Teams are ranked based upon a RPI formula. RPI stands for Ratings Percentage Index. In short, it is a way to measure a team’s strength relative to other teams, based largely on the strength of their schedules.
Final four play is November 29, and the 1A state championship is in Tallahassee on December 7.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Walnut Hill VFD Honors Firemen, Community Member During Fish Fry (With Photo Gallery)
November 3, 2019
The Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department honored members of the community and the department during their 50th annual fish fry Saturday.
Austin Snyder was named Firefighter of the Year, an award chosen by his fellow firefighters. Gerry Steege was named Officer of the Year and recognized for his service to the department.
Former Northview High School school resource officer Ronnie Gill received the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department’s Community Service Award for outstanding and dedicated service to the community. He now volunteers with multiple school organizations and sports; he missed Saturday’s event and is not pictured because he was at a Northview Cross Country competition.
There were 694 catfish or grilled chicken plates sold, and another 16 people made donations. Proceeds will be used to provide assistance to displaced fire victims in the area. A blood drive and a car show were also part of the event.
Pictured: Walnut Hill Fire Chief Chris Brown presents the Firefighter of the Year award to Austin Snyder (above) and the Officer of the Year award to Gerry Steege (below). Also pictured below: Scenes from the 50th Annual Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department Fishy Fry. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Police Remove NorthEscambia.com From Youth Football Championship At ERC League President’s Request
November 3, 2019
A NorthEscambia.com editorial
NorthEscambia.com does not have coverage of Saturday’s Escambia River Conference (ERC) youth football championship games after the league president had NorthEscambia.com removed by police for taking game photographs.
The man pictured, who identified himself to Flomaton Police as ERC President Dewayne Higdon, asked the Flomaton Police Department to remove NorthEscambia.com from not only the field, but the entire Flomaton High School stadium. He stated media had no right to take or run photographs from the games because the league had a contract with a sports photography company that was selling action shots at the game. Higdon allowed an employee of a printed weekly newspaper to remain on the field.
NorthEscambia.com was removed from a freshman football championship game between NWE (Northwest Escambia) and Flomaton. NorthEscambia.com has covered NWE Football for over a decade, and has covered games involving other ERC teams like Flomaton and Jay for years.
We do not sell or otherwise make money from taking youth football game photos. It actually costs us many hours of time and use of expensive cameras and equipment. In most case we could sell reprints, and many newspapers regularly do. But NorthEscambia.com does not sell photos; our photo coverage is part of what we do in our commitment to the communities we serve.
It’s our understanding that the out-of-town sports photography company was only selling prints, DVDs and any other products on-site at the stadium Saturday during the series, not at a later time on a website or other means. We find it hard to understand how our news coverage Sunday would impact their profits on Saturday. And, notably, our photographs are not published with a file size and quality that is well suited for printing. We in no way ever discourage someone from buying a company’s photographs.
Numerous sports we cover have contracts with action photography companies. Well-managed organizations from little league teams to the Florida High School Athletic Association and member schools welcome NorthEscambia.com at their games.
It’s also worth noting that there are now hundreds and hundreds of photos, many taken with professional camera equipment, published on social media by parents and other fans that took their own photos at the ERC championships and cheerleader competition Saturday. There was no policy against camera equipment in the stadium, which is public property owned by the Escambia County (AL) School Board. Simply put, on that public property the public has the right to take photos.
NorthEscambia.com wishes to make it unmistakably clear that no one affiliated with NWE or Flomaton youth football asked us to leave or conveyed any issue with our presence. We were, in fact, encouraged to attend and cover the games by coaches. Also, we emphasize this not about the Flomaton Police Department or their outstanding officers. Higdon apparently represented himself to police in such a manner that led them to believe he had some authority over the property and they should follow his request.
We do take issue with the freedom of the press being stymied on public property during an event open to the public by the president of a youth football league.
Youth football and cheerleading should not be about the profit. Clearly, youth leagues must make money to operate and provide the best possible experience for our kids. But when did it stop being about the kids?
NorthEscambia.com has always fully supported youth sports. We have published an immense number of youth league announcements, registrations, car washes, bake sales…the list goes on and on. We do all we can to help youth leagues in all sports be as successful as possible by letting the public know about those registrations or fundraisers. We fail to see where media coverage of youth sports is harmful as we celebrate athletes’ accomplishments for many tens of thousands of people to see. Why would you not want publicity?
We cover youth sports because it is about the kids in our communities, not profit. Sports give our youth the opportunity to succeed, to have an activity to stay out of trouble, and to feel accomplished and grow personally whether they win or lose. Youth sports like NWE and Flomaton football draw our communities together, and are good for all of us.
Those NWE players we photographed years ago are the now the young men playing high school ball on Friday nights or that have gone on to play at the next level. When a star high school player says he remembers that photo we took of him and published on our front page when he played for NWE, we hope in some way our coverage was an encouragement.
And we hope just as much that the child who came off the bench even a single time was encouraged by “making the news” in one of our photo galleries. Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant perhaps said it best: “I’ll never give up on a player regardless of his ability as long as he never gives up on himself. In time he will develop.”
It was unclear Saturday night if the Escambia River Conference will allow NorthEscambia.com to photograph ERC league teams like NWE, Flomaton, and Jay in the future. We encourage the ERC board to do some soul searching and examine if their focus is on profits or players as they move forward and choose a new league president.
In the meantime, we’ll be back hard at work covering the youth sports leagues and other events in your community. If you want to let us know about any youth sport, school, church or other event, always feel free to drop us a note at news@northescambia.com. And thanks for being part of the NorthEscambia.com family.
Pictured: This man, who identified himself to Flomaton Police as ERC President Dewayne Higdon, asked the Flomaton Police Department to remove NorthEscambia.com from the Flomaton High School stadium on Saturday. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Vehicle Burns After Crashing Into Utility Pole On Highway 95A
November 3, 2019
One person was injured after their car crashed in a utility pole and burst into flames Saturday night.
The crash happened about 8:15 p.m. on Highway 95A near Old Chemstrand Road. The pole was snapped by the collision.
The driver was transported to an area hospital with unspecified injuries.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating. The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Photos: Beulah Craft & Sausage Festival
November 3, 2019
The Beulah Craft & Sausage Festival was held Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Beulah.
Over 50 vendors took part, and there as plenty of food, fun for the entire family and live music. The Pine Forest High School NJROTC also assisted with the event.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Ashland Avenue To Be Closed This Week
November 3, 2019
Ashland Avenue will be closed at the intersection of Nine Mile Road in Escambia County from 7 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5 through 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9.
The closure will enable crews to place drainage pipes across the roadway as part of the drainage improvements associated with the Nine Mile Road widening project. Traffic will be detoured to Stefani and 9 1/2 Mile roads. Signs and variable message boards will be in place to alert drivers of the temporary closure and direct traffic to the alternate routes.
All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather. Drivers are reminded by the Florida Department of Transportation to obey the 35-mph speed limit and to use caution, especially at night, when traveling through the work zone.
Escambia County Employees Receive 3% Pay Increase
November 3, 2019
Most Escambia County employees have received a 3% wage increase recently.
All employees hired by the Board of County Commissioners, except seasonal, temporary, contract and student workers, received the raise.
Escambia County fire, corrections and EMT employees received the raise even as their unions continue bargaining talks over other issues.. The International Association of EMTS and Paramedics Local, International Association of Firefighters Local 4131, and Florida Police Benevolent Association signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Escambia County in order to receive the immediate raises.