FHP Wins America’s Best Looking Cruiser Contest For The Fourth Year
July 14, 2026
For the fourth consecutive year, the Florida Highway Patrol has won the American Association of State Troopers (AAST) “Best Looking Cruiser” competition.
This year’s photo was taken in front of Tampa’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge during a typical Florida afternoon thunderstorm, and to commemorate America’s 250th birthday, the bridge was illuminated in red, white, and blue.
The featured cruiser, an iconic black‑and‑tan 2023 Mustang 5.0 GT, is assigned to the 2025 Trooper of the Year, Trooper David Kitchen. Trooper Kitchen received this recognition following a multi‑county pursuit of a reckless driver traveling southbound on Interstate 75 on July 14, 2024. The pursuit concluded after the suspect struck multiple vehicles, resisted arrest, and gained control of a firearm from inside his vehicle, prompting Trooper Kitchen to use deadly force to stop the threat. Immediately afterward, Trooper Kitchen rendered aid to the injured suspect, ensuring the safety of the public and the victims involved.
Click image to enlarge.
Escambia Man Charged With Attempted Homicide In Connection With Stabbing
July 14, 2026
An Escambia County man is facing an attempted homicide charge following a stabbing last week.
On Tuesday, July 7, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to Krystal on Fairfield Drive, where deputies located a 66-year-old male suffering from two stab wounds, including one to the chest.
Investigators determined that 30-year-old Thomas Cortijo attacked the victim near the Waterfront Mission on L Street. Cortijo was taken into custody on Sunday, July 12, and booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond. He is also charged with drug possession.
The victim’s current condition has not been released.
Rescheduled Century Town Council Meeting Is Tonight
July 14, 2026
The regular Century Town Council meeting that was originally scheduled for July 7 will be held tonight, Tuesday, July 14.
The town council normally meets at 6:15 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month. This month, the second meeting will be on Tuesday, July 21.
All meetings are held at the Century Town Hall, 7995 North Century Boulevard.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Atmore Community Hospital Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Vows to Keep Doors Open
July 13, 2026
Atmore Community Hospital has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but hospital leadership emphasizes that the facility will remain fully operational with no cuts to patient services.
The hospital serves not only Atmore but also surrounding areas, including many North Escambia residents.
The voluntary petition was filed on Friday, July 10, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama by Escambia County Alabama Community Hospitals, Inc. (ECACH), the non-profit organization that manages the 49-bed hospital. According to court documents, the hospital reports estimated assets between $10 million and $50 million, with estimated liabilities ranging between $1 million and $10 million.
Hospital board members stated that the restructuring is part of a broader financial strategy aimed at stabilizing the facility’s long-term future and preserving local access to healthcare.
“This decision was not made lightly,” said Debbie Rowell, Chair of the ECACH Board of Directors. “After carefully evaluating all available options, our Board approved this action because it is the best path to stabilize the hospital’s financial future and preserve local access to healthcare for the Atmore community.”
Ongoing Financial Battles and Tax Dispute
The bankruptcy filing follows a sharp decline in the hospital’s financial health, which forced the closure of its surgery department in 2024. Hospital officials pointed to standard rural healthcare pressures, including rising operational costs, staffing shortages, and lower reimbursement rates. However, the filing also aims to address “legacy financial obligations” connected to an ongoing legal battle.
Since April, ECACH has been locked in a lawsuit against the Escambia County Health Care Authority, the entity responsible for distributing local tax revenues to healthcare providers. The non-profit’s complaint alleges that the Health Care Authority and its chief financial officer disproportionately allocated property tax revenues to the larger D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges that the Health Care Authority has blocked ECACH from accessing financial records, keeping them from fully assessing the hospital’s financial standing. The non-profit claims these funding disparities placed Atmore Community Hospital on the “precipice of financial insolvency and collapse.”
No Changes to Patient Care
Despite the financial restructuring, hospital officials stress that patients will see no disruption in care. The Chapter 11 process allows the hospital to organize its debts under court supervision while maintaining daily operations.
According to hospital press releases and court notifications:
- Emergency Services: The Emergency Department will remain open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Staffing: The same physicians, nurses, and clinical teams will remain on staff.
- Appointments: Patients are urged to keep all scheduled appointments, procedures, and tests.
- Insurance: The hospital will continue to accept existing insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid.
A New Management Strategy
In an effort to stabilize operations prior to the bankruptcy filing, executive leadership from USA Health was placed onsite in January 2026. USA Health has been working alongside the local board to assess the hospital’s financial health and build a sustainable, long-term vision to eventually expand healthcare access in the region.
Among the hospital’s largest unsecured creditors listed in the bankruptcy documents are Forefront Healthcare, LLC ($395,831.33), Trubridge, LLC ($252,179.81), and Emcare Physician Services, Inc. ($190,529.00).
Hospital leadership has not detailed exactly how long the Chapter 11 reorganization process will take but promised to provide regular updates as milestones are reached.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Century Awarded AARP Grant For Pedestrian Safety And Walkability Study
July 13, 2026
The Town of Century has been awarded a $2,500 grant through the nationwide AARP Community Challenge program to study community walkability.
The grant will fund a community walk audit designed to assess sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and lighting along key town corridors. The initiative aims to identify barriers to mobility and highlight opportunities for future infrastructure improvements to enhance the quality of life for residents, particularly those aged 55 and older.
Kleinhaus Consulting Group, LLC has been selected to lead the project. The group will manage community engagement activities, facilitate the audit process, and prepare a final report of findings and recommendations for the Town’s consideration.
“Creating a community where residents can safely walk, stay active, and remain connected is important for people of all ages,” Century Mayor Benjamin Boutwell said. “We appreciate AARP’s investment in Century and look forward to working with residents and our partners to identify ways we can make our town even more welcoming and accessible.”
The walk audit is scheduled to take place this fall. Local officials plan to issue a public call for volunteers in the coming months, encouraging community members, local leaders, and older adults to participate and share their perspectives. Community meetings will also be held to share the results and help guide future planning efforts.
Century’s grant is part of a larger $30,000 commitment by AARP to three Northwest Florida organizations. Other regional recipients include Divine Revelations Ministries Inc. and the Florida Housing Coalition, both located in Tallahassee.
Statewide, AARP Florida awarded 24 grants totaling over $200,000 this year as part of the 10th anniversary of the Community Challenge program. Nationally, the organization committed $8.3 million to fund 750 quick-action projects.
“Communities across Florida are eager for real solutions that boost mobility, connection, and quality of life,” Jeff Johnson, State Director at AARP Florida, said. “These projects will bring real improvement to Northwest Florida by improving accessibility, transportation methods, pedestrian safety, and digital literacy across the region.”
Stock image.
Federal Court Halts Florida ‘Stop Woke’ Law
July 13, 2026
A federal appeals court kept in place a district court’s preliminary injunction on Florida’s law banning “woke” instruction at public universities.
A 2-1 ruling last week from the three-judge panel on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Florida’s assertion it could control the speech of its employees, including college professors, to be “a breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse in the very places the state’s own statutes recognize as centers of inquiry.”
Judge Britt Grant, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote the opinion and was joined by Judge Charles Wilson, an appointee of President Bill Clinton.
“Florida seeks to strip public university professors—and by extension their students—of the ability to fully engage with ideas that are, for better or for worse, very popular in some academic circles,” Grant wrote. “The State asks us to consider its rules a means of targeting discrimination. But hearing an idea you disagree with is not discrimination; it is an opportunity to come up with a better idea, or maybe even change your mind.”
The case was brought by a set of university professors and backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
“We are thrilled the court has stopped the erasure of topics that have real implications for our students, allowing them to learn, discuss, and develop tools for combatting the complex issue of racism in our country without being gagged by those who would dictate that only state-approved thought may be promoted,” LeRoy Pernell, a Florida A&M University College of Law professor, and one of the instructors who brought the lawsuit, said in a released statement.
The ruling prevents Florida from enforcing part of the “Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act” passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022.
DeSantis pushed for the law as a bulwark against “indoctrination” in university classrooms. It bars professors from endorsing precepts of critical race theory, including eight specific tenets.
For example, the law bans instruction that causes students to “feel guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress because of actions, in which the person played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin or sex.”
Supporters of the law said they sought to halt teachings that supported racial discrimination, while opponents in the Legislature, mostly Democrats contended it was really an attempt to quash candid teaching about historic racial horrors in the U.S., including slavery and the Jim Crow era.
Other parts of the law sought to ban workplace training at companies regarding racial, gender and sexual orientation issues, but those provisions have been struck down by federal courts.
Judge Barbara Lagoa, also a Trump appointee, wrote a dissent arguing the state had the right to restrict the speech of professors in the classroom.
“To be clear, the First Amendment protects all viewpoints in the public square, whether they are conventional or controversial. But it does not compel all viewpoints to be worthy of state-sponsored endorsement,” Lagoa wrote. “We need not agree or disagree with Florida that the viewpoints at issue here constitute racial discrimination; we need only acknowledge that the State is allowed to decide what is endorsed by its professors in its own classrooms.”
Before Lagoa was appointed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals she sat on the Florida Supreme Court as an appointee of DeSantis.
In her decision Grant stated she agreed the courts shouldn’t choose the content of university classrooms, but argued they must intervene when the government unduly restricts speech.
“We share the dissent’s view that the federal courts do not police curriculum. But we do police the First Amendment,” Grant wrote. “And if the history of that Amendment tells us anything, it is that the government cannot forbid what it perceives as heresy.”
by The News Service of Florida
Wet Pattern To Start The Week Before Summer Heat Returns
July 13, 2026
Numerous to widespread showers and thunderstorms are expected through Tuesday, with periods of heavy rainfall that may lead to localized flooding. Any stronger storms will also be capable of producing gusty winds and frequent lightning.
Hotter conditions return Wednesday through the end of the week, with afternoon heat indices climbing back into the triple digits.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Monday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 10am. High near 84. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Monday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am, then a chance of showers between 1am and 4am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 72. West wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Tuesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. West wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm, then a chance of showers between 10pm and 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the morning.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. West wind around 5 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. West wind around 5 mph.
Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
AAA: Florida Gas Prices A Nickel Higher Than Last Week
July 13, 2026
Florida gas prices face renewed upward pressure after tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated over the weekend, according to AAA. Oil prices increased in overnight trading amid uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil shipments.
The state average price for gasoline declined early last week, then rose 13 cents per gallon. Sunday’s state average of $3.82 per gallon was 5 cents more than last week, 8 cents less than a month ago, and 86 cents more than a year ago.
The Pensacola metro had the lowest average price per gallon in the state at $3.57. In Pensacola on Sunday, multiple stations were at $3.39, while the low price in North Escambia was at $3.46 at a station on Highway 29 in Cantonment.
“Concerns about potential fuel supply disruptions have nudged oil prices higher,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA – The Auto Club Group. “With tensions in the Middle East adding uncertainty to the global oil market, gas prices could remain volatile in the coming weeks.”
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Century Reports 2,500 Gallon Raw Sewage Spill
July 13, 2026
The Town of Century recently reported a raw sewage leak from town equipment at the Century Correctional Institution at 400 Tedder Road, according to a report filed with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
“The prison had a major leak that caused the lift station to being overloaded with flow. The pumps could not keep up with the flow coming in,” the report states.
Approximately 2,500 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled, and the town applied lime for cleanup.
Pictured: The Century Wastewater Treatment Plant. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Former Baptist Health Employee Sentenced To Seven Years For Molesting Teen Patient
July 13, 2026
A former Baptist Health Care employee has been sentenced to state prison for molesting a 15-year-old patient while he worked in 2024.
Judge John Simon sentenced 28-year-old Tariq Smith to seven years and designated him as a sex offender. According to court documents, Smith sexually battered a 15-year-old girl in his care after she was involuntarily committed for mental health problems at Baptist Behavioral Health. Smith was 26 years old at the time of the incident on June 30, 2024.
After serving seven years in state prison, Smith will be on sex offender probation for three years.