Cold Rain Into The Weekend
February 12, 2021
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Showers. Low around 45. North wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday: Showers, mainly before noon. High near 52. North wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 44. North wind around 10 mph.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 54. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45. North wind around 5 mph.
Washington’s Birthday: Showers likely, mainly after noon. Cloudy, with a high near 58. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday Night: Showers likely before midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 31. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 33.
Wednesday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57.
Wednesday Night: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Thursday: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50.
County Seeking Applications for Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
February 12, 2021
Escambia County is accepting applications for an open position on the Escambia-Pensacola Affordable Housing Advisory Committee to fill a member’s unexpired term through September 30, 2021.
The committee was established for the purpose of reviewing affordable housing incentives available within the county and to make recommendations concerning those incentives to the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners and Pensacola City Council.
The board is seeking to fill one slot from one of the following specializations:
- One citizen who is a representative of those areas of labor actively engaged in home building in connection with affordable housing;
- One citizen who is a representative of a not for profit provider of affordable housing;
- One citizen who is actively engaged as a real estate professional in connection with affordable housing; OR
- One citizen who represents essential services personnel, as defined in the local housing assistance plan
The committee meets quarterly with more frequent meetings while reviewing the Local Housing Assistance Plan and affordable housing incentives. Positions will be recommended to the board for approval in February.
Citizens interested in serving should complete an application available online here, or request a form via email at NED@myescambia.com. Completed applications should be forwarded to Neighborhood Enterprise Division/AHAC, 221 Palafox Place, Suite 200, Pensacola, FL,32502. All applications must be received no later than February 19 for consideration.
Army Vet And Purple Heart Recipient, Age 104, Receives COVID-19 Vaccination
February 12, 2021
World War II veteran Duane Brewton, age 104, received the COVID-19 vaccine Thursday at Olive Baptist Church.
While serving in the Army infantry, Brewton was awarded the Purple Heart after an artillery shell exploded near him and caused critical injuries from multiple shrapnel wounds.
State Sen. Doug Broxson praised Brewton for serving again in a different kind of war — to stop the sickness and death caused by the coronavirus.
“Let’s get this thing knocked out altogether,” Brewton said after getting his vaccine shot. He said he hopes to inspire other seniors to receive the vaccine.
He was vaccinated during a clinic organized by Ascension Medical Group Sacred Heart and Olive Baptist.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FDOH Reports Two Additional COVID-19 Deaths, 152 New Cases In Escambia County
February 12, 2021
THIS IS AN ARCHIVED STORY. SEE NORTHESCAMBIA.COM FOR THE LATEST DATA.
The Florida Department of Health reported two additional COVID-19 deaths and 152 new cases Thursday in Escambia County.
Here is the latest data:
Escambia County cases:
Total cases: 32,484 (+152)
Non-Florida residents: 3,367
Recovered: 30,861*
Total deaths: 582 (+2)
Long-term care facility deaths: 253
Current hospitalizations: 137 (-5)
Number of tests reported last day: 1,428
Percent positive reported last day: 8.7%
Percent positive reported last week: 11.1%
Escambia County cases by location*:
Pensacola: 24,168 (+117)
Cantonment: 2,943 (+19)
Century: 1,130
—-including 774 Century prison inmates
Molino: 447 (+2)
McDavid: 193
Bellview: 56
Walnut Hill: 49
Perdido Key: 21
Gonzalez: 12
Santa Rosa County cases:
Total cases: 16,308 (+91)
Non-Florida residents: 208
Total deaths: 237
Long-term care facility deaths: 72
Cumulative Hospitalizations: 736*
Number of tests reported last day: 670
Percent positive reported last day: 12.0%
Santa Rosa County cases by location*:
Milton: 7,827 (+41)
Navarre: 3,287 (+27)
Gulf Breeze: 3,061
Pace: 1,295 (+7)
Jay: 502 (+1)
Bagdad: 31
Florida cases:
Total cases: 1,806,805
Florida residents: 1,774,013
Deaths: 28,382
Hospitalizations: 75,454*
*“Hospitalizations” in the statewide and Santa Rosa County totals is a count of all laboratory confirmed cases in which an inpatient hospitalization occurred at any time during the course of illness. Most of these people are longer be hospitalized. The FDOH does not provide a count of patients currently hospitalized. The Escambia County number is current data compiled each day from the local hospitals.
**On cases by location, the city is based upon zip code and is not always received as part of the initial notification. There may be a delay in reporting locations, and locations will not total the daily case increase as a result.
***The Florida Department of Health does not have a clear standard or definition of “recovered” and does not report a number of recovered individuals. Escambia County is reporting an approximate recovery number defined as the total cases prior to last month, minus deaths. In other words, anyone that tested positive more than a month ago is presumed to have recovered by Escambia County.
**Data Sources: Florida Department of Health, Escambia County, City of Pensacola, local hospitals.
Lillian L. Jones
February 12, 2021
Lillian L. Jones, a 58 year resident of Molino, Florida, passed away on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at the age of 88. She was born in Paxton, Florida to the late Carlton Alcus Mitchell and Lena Mae Nobles Mitchell on March 1, 1932. Lillian was a member of Highland Baptist Church and the Molino Homemakers. She enjoyed gardening, canning, sewing, and flower gardening.
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Lillian is survived by son, Donald W. (Kimberly A.) Jones; daughter, Deborah A. (Vernon L.) Prather; grandchildren, Christina O’Steen, Kenneth W. Jones, A. Ryan Prather, and Nicholas L. Prather; great grandchildren, Nathan O’Steen, Jacob O’Steen, Kristen Jones, Keaton Prather, and Parker Prather.
Funeral services will be held at noon on Monday, February 15, 2021 at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North with Pastor Brian Calhoun officiating. Burial will follow in Highland Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at 11AM prior to services.
Raymond Wilbert Boutwell
February 12, 2021
Mr. Raymond Wilbert Boutwell, age 72, of Atmore, AL passed away on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at Mobile Infirmary.
Mr. Boutwell was a long time resident of the Atmore community where he worked for 25 years as a correctional officer for the State of Alabama. He enjoyed fishing, shooting pool, working on cars, weightlifting, planting a garden and anything involving a yard sale. He attended Atmore Baptist Temple and was preceded in death by his parents, Wilbert and Louise Conway Boutwell and his sister, Willonise Boutwell.
Mr. Boutwell is survived by his wife of 48 years, Donna Boutwell of Atmore, AL; sons, Shannon Boutwell of Atmore, AL and Desmond (Ashley) Boutwell of Loxley, AL; sister, Eloise Boutwell of Big springs, TX; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held on Monday, February 15, 2021 at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel from 10 AM until 11 AM.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 15, 2021 at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel at 11 AM with Pastor William Odom officiating.
Interment will be in Traveler’s Rest Cemetery in Flomaton, AL.
Pallbearers will be Shannon Boutwell and Desmond Boutwell.
Grand Jury Indicts Two On Murder Charges In Cantonment Shooting Death
February 11, 2021
A man and woman have been indicted on murder charges by an Escambia County grand jury for a February 1 shooting on Lawson Lane in Cantonment.
Jonathan Taylor Hobbs was indicted on one count of first degree premeditated murder with a firearm, and Dawn Lucille Sluder was indicted on one count of first degree premeditated murder. Both remain in jail without bond and are set for arraignment later this month.
Danny Blackmon, Jr., 35, was shot and killed as his 19-year old girlfriend watched in horror, according to Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons.
“We had a crazy and deadly series of events that unfolded in North Escambia,” Simmons told NorthEscambia.com.
Sluder is the mother of Blackmon’s 19-year old girlfriend.
On the Saturday before the shooting, Sluder reported her 19-year daughter as either a runaway or as being held against her will.
“We made contact with the daughter, and she told us, ‘I am happy where I am at and with my boyfriend’,” Simmons said.
Investigators found Blackmon deceased with numerous gunshot wounds, including two on his upper torso, one in his neck and at least two in his head. After Blackmon fell to the ground, Hobbs reportedly leaned over his body and fired at least two more rounds before running away. Blackmon’s girlfriend witnessed the entire incident and attempted to perform CPR until she beaten and pulled away by her hair by Dawn Sluder, an arrest report states.
“You read about this kind of craziness in other places or see it on television, but unfortunately this time it happened here,” Simmons said. “It’s just crazy. We have a lady whose boyfriend is dead, and her mother and grandmother are in jail. It was a wild weekend.”
Sluder was apprehended at a convenience store on Muscogee Road near Jacks Branch Road. There was extensive damage to her SUV (pictured below) consistent with having collided with the Ford F-150 as stated by the witness. Hobbs walked up to a resident on Country Hills Road and asked to use the phone. The resident called 911, and deputies responded to take Hobbs into custody without further incident.
Hobbs and Sluder requested attorneys and refused to make any statement in the hours after their arrests.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to a call of an armed home invasion at Blackmon’s residence in the days before his death. The girlfriend’s grandmother, 57-year old Holly Marie Sluder, and the grandmother’s boyfriend, 63-year old Charles Burnell Parker, were both charged with first degree armed burglary . Parker allegedly pointed a gun at Blackmon while Holly Marie Sluder kept her hand on a holstered weapon as they took two cellphones. Blackmon tracked the phones to an area near their residence, and he phones were located when a search warrant was executed on Greymont Lane.
Pictured; A female suspect was taken into custody on Muscogee Road following a shooting Monday afternoon in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Century To Attempt Charter Review Again, Seeking Volunteers For Committee
February 11, 2021
Century will try again to rewrite the town’s charter and is seeking volunteers to help.
The previously appointed 11-member Century Charter Review Committee is now down to just six people.
The Century Town Council appointed the committee in August 2019 to explore the town charter — the document that establishes the town, outlines its powers and spells out how it should operate. The charter has not been updated in almost 40 years, and that often creates problems in the operation of the town.
The committee held their first meeting in October 2019, two months after it was established. The early meetings were spent learning about the Sunshine Law, orderly meetings and background information. Most of the discussion at the committee’s sporadic meetings then centered around one central topic — the form of government and the possible addition of a permanent city manager.
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed regular meetings for the charter committee and any chance of moving forward in 2020, preventing any charter change from making the ballot.
The Century Town Council is accepting applications for volunteers for their Charter Review Committee until March 4, 2021. All applicants must reside with the town limits.
To download an applications, click or tap here. Applications are also available at the Century Town Hall. The deadline to apply is March 4.
Pictured top: Century Charter Review Committee Chairperson Mary Hudson Bourgeois (right) and member Evelyn Hammond at a 2019 meeting. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Showers And Thunderstorms Continue Into The Weekend
February 11, 2021
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before midnight, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Low around 55. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after noon. Cloudy, with a high near 61. North wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Friday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 51. North wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 60. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. North wind around 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Washington’s Birthday: A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Cloudy, with a high near 59.
Monday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 39. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 52.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 58.
Northview High School Names Students Of The Month
February 11, 2021
Northview High School has named their January Students of the Month. They are Elianna Morales and Dallon Rackard. They are pictured with Northview Principal Michael Sherrill. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.