Erlene McCall Pugh
January 26, 2025
Erlene McCall Pugh, age 96, of Oak Grove, FL passed away on January 23, 2025, in Pensacola, FL. She was born on October 14, 1928, in Atmore, AL to Thomas and Dora Lucille Walker McCall. Erlene was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She was a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church. She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Arnold L. Pugh; her grandson, Shawn W. Pugh and her siblings, Wildon Wayne McCall, CWO James Edward McCall and Calvin R. McCall.
Erlene is survived by her children, Donald L. (Donna) Pugh of Cantonment, FL, Darryl (Concha) Pugh of Canton, GA and Connie (Steven) Hart of Oak Grove, FL; her sister, Norman Jean Taylor of Monroeville, AL; her grandchildren, Jennifer Nolan, David Pugh, Rachel Losier, Brian Hart, Denise Bushaw, and Daniel Hart and her eleven great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at 12:30 p.m. at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Dennis Terry officiating.
Interment will follow in Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Oak Grove, FL.
Active pallbearers will be her grandsons.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, January 29, 2025, from 11:30 a.m. until service time at 12:30 p.m. at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home in Atmore, AL.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Ribbon Cutting Set For New ‘Paper Park’ At Former IP Golf Course
January 25, 2025
An official ribbon cutting has been set for Escambia County’s new Paper Park on the 68-acre former International Paper golf course in Cantonment.
The ribbon cutting will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 30.
Paper Park features a walking path, playground, an 18-hole disc golf course, and a704 square feet covered pavilion with picnic tables. Once opened, the recreational area will be open to the public free of charge from sunrise to sunset.
The new playground offers play features for children of all ages, including six slides, a swing set, climbing structures, and more. The playground also features shade sails and benches.
Escambia County Parks and Recreation also added 49 parking spaces on Mintz Lane (opposite end of the park from Highway 29) to make the park easily accessible.
Area residents have been using the park for week, even though it was not officially open.
Pictured: The new Paper Park in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment 10,000 Pound Food Distribution Set For Tuesday
January 25, 2025
The Cantonment Improvement Committee will hold a 10,000 pound food distribution Tuesday, January 28 at Carver Park, 208 Webb Street.
The event will start at 3 p.m. Attendees should like up facing north on Webb Street. Must have an identification to receive food.
The event was originally planned for January 21, but rescheduled due to winter weather.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Historic, Once In A Lifetime Snowfall Totals Broke 130 Year Old Record
January 25, 2025
This week’s snowfall was truly a historic event, being called a once in a lifetime snow.
At the “official”, Pensacola weather gauge at the airport, a 130-year-old record for two-day total snowfall was smashed. The record, set in 1895, was a mere three inches. The all-time Florida snowfall record was four inches.
This week, Pensacola set a new record of an astounding 8.9 inches.
Some other North Escambia area numbers included:
Molino – 10 inches
Century — 9 inches
Bratt – 9 inches
Jay — 9 inches
Walnut Hill – 8.5 inches
Northeast of Molino: 8 inches
Cantonment – 8 inches
Beulah – 7 inches
Some of these measurements are from trained weather observers and law enforcement. Other totals were reported by the general public. Snow measurements can vary greatly between nearby locations.
NorthEscambia.com and submitted photos.
Flomaton Man Charged With Drug Trafficking After Atmore Traffic Stop
January 25, 2025
A Flomaton man was arrested for drug trafficking after a traffic stop in Atmore.
The Atmore Police Department pulled Michael Depew over on North Main Street for an unspecified traffic violation.
The officer noted suspicious behavior and Depew consented to a search, APD said. During the search, officers reported finding over a dozen grams of methamphetamine and “items used to package narcotics”.
Depew was charged with drug trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Today Is The Last Day For Special Primary Early Voting
January 25, 2025
Today is the final day of early voting in the special election primary in the race for the Congressional seat previously held by Matt Gaetz.
Early voting sites will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. at:
- Escambia County Extension Services, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
- Molino Community Center, 6450 Highway 95A North, Molino
- Bellview Library, 6425 Mobile Highway, Pensacola
- Asbury Place at Cokesbury, 750 College Blvd, Pensacola
- Supervisor of Elections Office, 213 Palafox Place, Second Floor, Pensacola
- Main Library, 239 N. Spring Street, Pensacola
- Southwest Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola
Eligible voters may choose any one of the seven available locations, each of which is also equipped with a ballot marking device.
Special primary election day will be Tuesday, January 28. The winner will advance to the special election on April 1.
Three Early Vote locations that were open during the 2024 Election Cycle are not open for the 2025 Special Primary Election. Those three locations are:
- Billy G. Ward Courthouse in Century
- UWF Center for Fine and Performing Arts in Pensacola
- Brownsville Community Center
The 2025 Special Primary Election is for Republican voters only. The State of Florida holds closed primary elections, meaning only registered Republicans will be eligible for the 2025 Special Primary Election.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Lipscomb Elementary School Recognizes Leaders Of The Month
January 25, 2025
Lipscomb Elementary School recently recognized their December Leaders of the Month with a pizza party. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sunny, Warming Up Weekend
January 25, 2025
Here is the complete North Escambia area forecast
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph after midnight.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. Calm wind.
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63.
Wayne Anthony Robinson
January 25, 2025
Wayne Anthony Robinson departed this life on January 12, 2025.
He was born on July 25, 1957, in Washington, DC, and was the youngest of his six siblings. And he was affectionately called his mother’s “Baby Boy”. He is the son of Delores E. Robinson and the late Arthur S. Robinson. He was educated in the DC public schools. After graduating from Eastern High School, he proudly joined the United States Army. His military career spanned 22 years. After retiring from the military, he worked at Canon USA as a Repair Technician followed by 17 years at ForTec Medical as a Training Technician.
From his first union, he was blessed with a son, Wayne (deceased), and two daughters, Anndria and Jasmine. He met Kecia Witt in 2012, and they married in 2014.
Following his father’s footsteps, he loved going fishing. He had a passion for model cars and enjoyed cooking on the grill. His favorite sports team was his home team, the Washington Commanders.
He is survived by his loving wife, Kecia Witt-Robinson; his 2 daughters, Anndria Robinson Bailey (Robert) and Jasmine Robinson; stepson, Darrell Witt; 8 grandchildren; 2 brothers, Arthur Robinson, Jr. and Walter Pitts (Jenell); 3 sisters, Willette Taylor, Wanda Ferguson (Wilbert), and Annette Baxter; mother-in-law, Shirley Witt; brothers-in-law, Timothy Witt (Johnetta) and Andre Witt (Sherrie); sisters-in-law, Wanda Tinsley (Mike) and Deborah Dixon (Timothy); and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, family members, friends and his army
buddy, John Montgomery.
In addition to his father, Arthur Robinson, he is preceded in death by his son, Wayne A. Robinson, Jr. and his sister, Deborah C. Robinson.
Ribbon Cutting Held For Brazilian Manufacturing Company’s Expansion In Century
January 24, 2025
A ribbon cutting was held Thursday for Algaplast, a 50-year old Brazilian manufacturing company in the Century Industrial Park.
In May 2023, AlgaPlast Corp. inked a lease for a town-owned industrial park building commonly known as the Helicopter Technology Building. AlagaPlast is the new American subsidiary of Grupa GA230 of Arujá, Brazil.
In Century, the company produces a variety of projects, including plastic injection products such as the front panels of retail gas station fuel pumps and laser cut and welded metal parts for other companies. Some of their custom metal parts are used by Blue Wind Technology and GE Vernova in Pensacola. The metal parts for GE are used to secure wind turbines as they are transported by train out of Pensacola.
For a photo gallery, click here.
“We also deal with special engineering for developing these devices and industrial automation solutions,” AlgaPlast CFO Marcos Martins told NorthEscambia.com after Thursday’s ribbon cutting.
He said the company is proud to call Century their American home.
“Being in Century makes a difference for use and for the town,” Martins said. “This place was chosen carefully in order to allow us to deal with two very important customers to us, one in Austin (Texas) and another in North Carolina. And we’ve gained the opportunity to deal with Blue Wind and General Electric.”
Algaplast current employs five people in Century, but the company hopes to double that workforce soon with additional growth to come.
Martins said the company has already invested $2.5 million in the new Century facility, and they are looking to invest another $2 million into expanding the facility.
Interim mayor Alicia Johnson said she is proud to welcome AlgaPlast to Century, and she looks forward to the company’s growth and contribution to the community.
Algaplast is renting the industrial park building from the town. The town re-acquired the 40,000 square foot industrial space at public auction for less than $1 out of pocket back in August 2009, following the town’s foreclosure judgment against the now defunct Helicopter Technology company. The building has sat empty since empty from 2009 until AlgaPlast’s occupancy.
The Florida foreign direct investment economic development project was facilitated by the FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance, the economic development organization for Escambia County.
Those interested in potential job opportunities at Alagapast should visit employflorida.com.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
