Severe Weather Becoming More Likely For The Weekend
January 9, 2020
There is an enhanced (level 3 of 5) risk of severe weather in place for the entire area by Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Damaging winds and perhaps a tornado will be possible.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Today: Increasing clouds, with a high near 69. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 61. Southeast wind around 10 mph.
Friday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after noon. Cloudy, with a high near 70. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Friday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a low around 67. Southeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could be severe and produce heavy rainfall. High near 74. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. North wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 59. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 64.
Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 76.
Tuesday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 65.
Wednesday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 75. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Century Drafts 10 For Citizens Advisory Task Force
January 9, 2020
The Town of Century has appointed a Citizens Advisory Task Force (CATF) to increase the odds of landing a grant.
By appointing the CATF, the town will receive 10 extra points when applying for a Community Development Block Grant. The council voted to appoint up to 10 members of the current Charter Review Committee to the CATF without notifying or asking any of the individuals in advance.
Mayor Henry Hawkins said the 10 were chosen because they could quickly meet as a task force because they have already taken part in Sunshine Law and ethics training.
The council did not specify any tasks for the CATF to accomplish or set a meeting date.
The 10 members of the Charter Review Committee — and the CATF if they accept their nomination — are : Shelisa McCall Abraham, Mary H. Bourgeois, Cheryl Boutwell, Michelle Cunningham, Evelyn Hammond, Janice M. Jennings, Dynette Lewis, Eunice McKinney, Delores Wright Miley and Jennifer Read.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
It’s That Time Of The Year For Smoke From Controlled Burns
January 9, 2020
It’s the peak of the controlled burn season, according to the Florida Forest Service Blackwater Forestry Center.
“Residents in our area will see smoke coming from burns on both private and public lands. Sometimes the smoke will drift into the more populated areas of our region but the impacts should be short-lived and minor,” the Forest Service said.
For most people, the smoke was drifting from a 1,600 acre controlled burn near Munson in northern Santa Rosa County. There was also a 423 acre controlled burn west of Pine Forest Road in Walnut Hill, a 166 acre burn north of Cotton Lake Road and east of Highway 29 in Escambia County and several smaller burns.
Pictured: A smoke plume from a 423 acre control burn off Pine Forest Road in Walnut Hill, as seen Wednesday afternoon from Highway 97. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Argos For The Win: UWF Athletics Top 10 Moments Of The Decade
January 9, 2020
The lobby of the UWF Field House was remodeled early in 2019 to enhance presentation for the Argos growing treasure chest of athletics awards.
Looking back, the timing was perfect.
With the football team’s national title trophy now the latest, gleaming part of the display, UWF rings in a new year and new decade Wednesday on heels of its greatest past decade of athletics in school history.
From 2011 through 2019, the Argos won five NCAA national championships in four sports, along with four teams finishing national runners-up in various other years.
The Argos surpassed the century mark for Gulf South Conference championships across all sports. They had athletes win national awards for player/athlete of year and had coaches reach rare milestones for career wins.
This is truly the best of times in Argos’ athletics. The UWF brand has furthered its national profile in the NCAA, but most importantly, the Argos have made a major impact in the Pensacola area with awareness and support.
What better way to honor success than a Top 10 list of greatest achievements in the past 10 years? It was not an easy selection. And there are many others worthy of mention.
But here goes.
10. Volleyball twice hosted NCAA D-2 Championships – In addition to winning seven GSC volleyball titles during this decade, including the latest in 2019, plus reaching the NCAA tournament all 10 seasons, the UWF volleyball program under Melissa Wolter hosted the NCAA Championship tournament in 2012 and 2017.
It gave the Argos a chance to twice showcase the sport’s national stage in the Pensacola community. This season was Wolter’s 17th at UWF and 20th overall. She has been part of the coaching staff for USA Volleyball, the NCAA D-2 Women’s Volleyball National Committee and has taken the Argos to the NCAA Tournament in 14 consecutive seasons
9. Women’s Swimming Program Launched, Champions Crowned – In 2013, UWF added its eighth women’s sport when the swimming and diving team began its inaugural season. It didn’t take long to make an impact.
The Argos finished No. 23 nationally in their first season, climbing to a pair of sixth-place NCAA finishes in 2016 and 2017. During the program’s first six seasons, the Argos have honored a national swimmer of the year, Theresa Michalak (2017), who won five D-2 individual event titles in her career and two-time, national diver of the year, Monica Amaral (2016, 17), who swept the 1-meter and 3-meter diving titles.
8. Men’s Golf Has NCAA Champion – Chandler Blanchet created his special legacy in UWF golf program history by rallying from a three-shot deficit on the final three holes to win the 2017 NCAA Division II individual championship. He has gone on to build a solid start to his professional career, playing on the PGA Tours in Canada and Latin America the last two seasons while earning conditional status for the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour.
He joined former UWF player Orjan Larsen (the 1998 D-2 NCAA champion) in winning the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award and the Arnold Palmer Award as medalist in the national championship tournament. Both players were mentored by long-time UWF coach Steve Fell, who has led UWF to a pair of D-2 national team championships and won national coach of the year three times in his 23 seasons.
The following season, UWF finished as 2018 NCAA D-2 national runner-up. In 2017, 2019 the team finished tied for third in the national tournament.
7. Men’s Basketball Has Historic Season – In his third season as UWF coach, Jeff Burkhamer led the Argos to their greatest heights. They reached the 2018 NCAA D-2 Tournament for the first time in school history, following a school-record 28-4 season.
The Argos cracked the national top 10 in the coaches poll for the first time in school history en route to winning their first GSC Tournament title. Though falling against Barry University in the first round NCAA South Regional, the breakthrough season brought large crowds to the UWF Field House and increased awareness in the community.
6. Softball’s Special Year – Under first-year coach Ashliegh McLean in 2019, the Argos produced their second-most wins as an NCAA-member program and second trip in three seasons to the Women’s College World Series. The Argos were ranked No. 1 nationally during four weeks of the regular-season and finished No. 5 in the final coaches poll.
The team’s 54-11 record was surpassed only by a 2005 team that won 60 games. The Argos won the GSC regular-season title, the GSC Tournament title and two NCAA regional titles enroute to reaching the national stage in Denver, Colo.
5. Women’s Basketball Reaches Elite Eight – In 2017, the Argos produced their greatest season in school history with a 28-7 record, including 18-4 in conference play and first-ever GSC regular-season title, plus the first-ever trip to the national quarterfinals.
In D-2, the final eight teams reach the national tournament stage and UWF battled No. 2 ranked California Baptist all the way, before losing 77-69. The game in Columbus, Ohio occurred during the height of March Madness and was shown by Pensacola area sports-theme restaurants.
4. UWF Men’s Tennis Gets Third National Title – After winning back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005, the Argos produced the trifecta in 2014 with a 29-0 record and 5-3 win against Hawaii-Pacific in the national title match. They added a fourth three years later with a 32-1 slate in 2017.
In his 21 seasons, coach Derrick Racine has taken the Argos to the final four an astonishing 11 times. His teams have included four NCAA champions in singles, including Bruno Savi in 2013 and two doubles teams winning national titles, including Alex Peyrot-Pedro Dumont in 2016.
3. UWF Women’s Soccer Back-To-Back Title Appearances – In 2012, UWF capped an undefeated season (22-0-1) with a 1-0 victory against University of California-San Diego in the NCAA Division II national championship game.
Chelsea Palmer, the most decorated women’s soccer player in UWF history, scored the goal in the 76th minute. Palmer also scored the game-winner in the national semifinal. She was named the national player of the year and this year was inducted into the UWF Athletics Hall of Fame.
In 2013, UWF advanced to the national title game again, finishing runner up after a 2-0 loss to Grand Valley State. During the 2019 season, UWF’s long-time coach Joe Bartlinski attained his 500th career win. It’s been quite a decade for this program.
2. Baseball Team Wins 2011 D-2 College World Series – Three years after beloved coach Jim Spooner passed away after battling leukemia, his coaching prodigy, Mike Jeffcoat, took the Argos to the mountaintop.
They won their first NCAA region championship in dramatic fashion at Jim Spooner Field, then rolled through the CWS bracket in their first-ever appearance to win the national title. The Argos won a school-record 52 games that season, shattering the previous best of 43, which also happened under Jeffcoat’s guidance in 2007.
Beyond baseball, however, the win elevated UWF’s entire athletic profile in the Pensacola community and set the stage for what followed in succeeding years.
1. Football Team Wins Historic National Title – An easy choice. This was historic in NCAA football history across all divisions. The riveting, edge-of-seat, 48-40 triumph Dec. 21 against Minnesota State in the Division II title game in McKinney, Texas completed an improbable, dizzying odyssey in just four seasons of existence.
UWF went from a start-up program in 2016 — born a year earlier from practices on a well-used intramural field — to twice playing on ESPN broadcast for a national championship. It’s never happened before in college football history.
The 2017 breakthrough run and title game loss was topped in 2019 by playoff wins over unbeaten, No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 ranked teams, all on the road. Incredible barely describes what this football program has attained in four years.
HONORABLE MENTION
* UWF women’s golfer Paloma Vaccaro finished second in the 2018 NCAA D-2 Women’s Golf Championship tournament, the highest finish in school history.
* The UWF women’s tennis team produced a program-best 31-4 record in 2018 and reached the national championship match before losing to No. 1 ranked Barry University in the final.
Where’s All That Smoke Coming From?
January 8, 2020
Escambia and Santa Rosa County residents were reporting a lot of smoke outdoors Wednesday afternoon, especially in the Nine and Ten Mile Road areas.
For most people, the smoke is reportedly drifting from a 1,600 acre controlled burn near Munson in northern Santa Rosa County. There’s also a 423 acre controlled burn west of Pine Forest Road in Walnut Hill (map below), a 166 acre burn north of Cotton Lake Road and east of Highway 29 in Escambia County and several smaller burns.
It’s the peak of the controlled burn season, according to the Florida Forest Service Blackwater Forestry Center.
“Residents in our area will see smoke coming from burns on both private and public lands. Sometimes the smoke will drift into the more populated areas of our region but the impacts should be short-lived and minor,” the Forest Service said.
File photo.
Two Vehicles Hit A Horse On Highway 29 In Molino Wednesday Morning
January 8, 2020
Two vehicles struck a horse early Wednesday morning in Molino.
It happened about about 6:05 a.m. on Highway 29 near Duxbury Avenue.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 50-year old Katie Dailey of Atmore first struck the horse with her Dodge Avenger. The horse toppled over the car and landed in the inside lane of Highway 29. John Yuhasz, age 31 of Molino, then struck the horse with his Ford F150.
The FHP said neither driver could see the horse due to the lack of light. Yuhasz’s picked struck another truck driven by 23-year old Makayla Kreakbaum of Molino.
None of the drivers were injured,, and no charges were filed.
The horse did not survive.
The Molino and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Century Woman Airlifted To The Hospital After Wreck Near Century Prison
January 8, 2020
One person was critically injured in a two vehicle crash near the Century Correctional Institution early Wednesday morning.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 33-year old Cynthia Ann Morgan of Century failed to stop at a stop sign on Elsie Davis Road and pulled into the path of a Ford pickup driven by Micheal Lee Parker of Molino.
Morgan was extricated from the car using the Jaws of Life and airlifted by LifeFlight helicopter to Sacred Heart Hospital. Parker was not injured.
The FHP ticketed Morgan for failure to obey a traffic control device.
The Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Flomaton Fire Department, Escambia County EMS and MedStar EMS also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Photos: A Steamy Sunrise At Lake Stone
January 8, 2020
Temperatures just below the freezing mark lead to steam fog, also known as sea smoke, on Lake Stone in Century Wednesday morning, making for a beautiful sunrise.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Update: Second Arrest Made For Fight Inside Cordova Mall
January 8, 2020
The second person wanted in connection with a fight light month inside Cordova Mall has been arrested.
Keiondre Mathis of Pensacola, 18, turned himself in Wednesday on charges of affray and orderly conduct for the December 21 incident.
An arrest warrant for the same charges has been issued for 18-year old Keiondre Mathis of Pensacola.
Images from eyewitness video (below) provided to NorthEscambia.com shows the fight near the mall’s center court, directly adjacent to children visiting with Santa.
NorthEscambia.com images.
80-Year Old Man Working To Recover From Lake Stone Camper Fire. Here’s How You Can Help.
January 8, 2020
Neal Koe, 80, was fast asleep early Saturday morning in his camper at Escambia County’s Lake Stone Campground in Century. He was jarred awake by the sound of the window by his head blowing out.
“I woke up to smoke filling the room and saw flames,” he said. “I managed to get out wearing only my skivvies.” He was not injured and refused transport to the hospital.
Tuesday afternoon, he was back searching the charred remains of his camper for anything that could be salvaged. He didn’t find anything.
“I was asleep in the bed up there,” he said, pointed to what is now nothing more than springs. “My table was over there. I had a new computer on it. But they are all gone now.”
Koe said he used to live “down in Florida”, including Tampa where he was in aerospace engineering, working on on simulators for IBM. He said later in life he came to Century where he was a caretaker at Lake Stone. “But I got too old and could not keep up with the work. I just stuck around after that.”
He poked around in the ashes some more.
“This is all I have left. Nothing. But I got out. God took care of me,” Koe said. “God took care of me.”
After the fire about 3:45 Saturday morning, several people stepped up to help him, including Victor Boyd with the Escambia County Facilities Department. He took Koe to Jay to get him some clothes, essentials and run a few errands. Dennis Kole, who is the current caretaker at Lake Stone, has also worked to help Koe where he can.
But Koe also needs additional assistance to get back on his feet. He did not have insurance and has no local relatives.
Donations are being accepted at the Lake Stone office on West Highway 4, including clothing (sizes below). He also needs basic household items that could be used in a camper. And he needs a camper. For more information, call the Lake Stone office at (850) 256-5555.
Clothing sizes:
- Large shirts
- 33/31 pants
- Size 7 to 11 socks
- Shoes 10W
- Large boxer briefs
- Large t-shirts
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
