Local State Of Emergency Declared
August 23, 2008
Escambia County has declared a local state of emergency in advance of Tropical Storm Fay.
The Escambia County Commission made the declaration in an emergency meeting this morning at the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center. The declaration allows the county to make preparations in advance of and during the storm, and issue local declarations as needed. The declaration also served to partially activate the county’s Emergency Operations Center. That may be upgraded to a full activation of the EOC later today.
The county has not opened any shelters or ordered any evacuations at this time. The primary threat from Fay, the county says, will be coastal, lowland and river flooding.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to keep you updated on Fay throughout the weekend.
If your business, church, organization or other group has a closure or schedule change due to the storm, email news@northescambia.com so we can pass that information along.
Saturday Last Day For Early Voting
August 23, 2008
Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David H. Stafford confirmed that the county’s four early voting locations will be open Saturday, as previously scheduled, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Although no changes to the regular Election Day schedule for Tuesday are anticipated, given the uncertainty of the weather situation early next week, voters are encouraged to take advantage of early voting on Saturday.
The sites for early voting are:
- Supervisor of Elections Main Office, 213 Palafox Place, 2nd Floor
- Supervisor of Elections Annex, 292 Muscogee Road, Cantonment
- Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
- Tyron Branch Library, 5740 North 9th Avenue
On Election Day, Tuesday, August 26th, the polls will be open from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm. For further information on absentee ballots, sample ballots, precincts and polling locations, please contact the elections office at (850) 595-3900, or visit their website at www.EscambiaVotes.com.
Learn To Read Volunteer Workshop Saturday
August 22, 2008
Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, a nonprofit adult literacy program in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, will have a workshop to train volunteers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Century Family Practice Building, 7600 Mayo Street in Century.
The workshop will train volunteers to teach adults to read and write.
For reservations or more information, call Edna Earle Barnes at 256-0880 or visit www.learntoreadnwf.org.
County To Hold Emergency Meeting On Tropical Storm Fay
August 22, 2008
The Escambia County Commission will hold an emergency special meeting this morning to determine if a local state of emergency should be declared in advance of Tropical Storm Fay.
The commission will meet in the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center at 10 a.m. for a conference call with the National Weather Service and the county’s emergency leaders. A local state of emergency would allow the county to institute protective actions if needed.
Escambia Emergency Management officials are continuing to monitor Tropical Storm Fay. There are no evacuations or protective actions in place at this time. There will be school at all Escambia County public schools on Friday.
“The forecast path is forecasted to come through Escambia County beginning sometime Saturday and into Sunday,” John Dosh, chief of the county’s emergency management agency, said. “It will be a depression. It will not be a tropical storm at present forecast track.”
“Our concern is not so much the wind, but the rain,” Dosh said. “We could receive in excess of seven to 10 inches of rainfall over the weekend. That is our main concern at this point.
If some computer models are correct, the storm might stall in our area until Monday or Tuesday.
“That could potentially be even more rain,” Dosh said.
Today Is Last Day To Request Mailed Absentee Ballot; Early Voting Continues
August 20, 2008
Wednesday is the last day for voters to request an absentee ballot be mailed to them for the August 26 Primary Election, and early voting is continuing in the county.
Voters wanting an absentee ballot must request their ballot no later than close of business today. Voters can make their request by contacting the Supervisor of Elections by mail, phone (850-595-3900), e-mail (absentee@escambiavotes.com), fax (850-595-3914), or by using the online form at www.EscambiaVotes.com. Requests must include the voter’s date of birth and the address where the ballot should be mailed.
Voters will still have the ability after Wednesday to pick up an absentee ballot in person from the Elections Office, up to and including Election Day. Voted absentee ballots must be received in the Elections Office no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, August 26th.
Early voting is offered in four locations in the county until Saturday; the closest to North Escambia is in Cantonment. Early voters can cast paper ballots using the county’s new optical scanners, and can choose any of the four sites.
The sites for early voting are:
- Supervisor of Elections Main Office, 213 Palafox Place, 2nd Floor
- Supervisor of Elections Annex, 292 Muscogee Road, Cantonment
- Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
- Tyron Branch Library, 5740 North 9th Avenue
Early voting began Monday and will continue each day through Saturday, August 23rd from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m..
By the end of the day Tuesday, about 2,700 people had cast early ballots in Escambia County.
Donate Blood In Walnut Hill Today, Maybe Win A Car
August 18, 2008
You can give the gift of life Monday in Walnut Hill and have the chance to win a new car at the same time
The Northwest Florida Bloodmobile will be at the Walnut Hill Farm Supply Monday from 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. All donors will be entered into a drawing for a 2008 Kia Optima. The second place winner of the drawing will win a $500 gas card and the third place winner will receive at $250 gas card. The drawing will be from all entrants across the area in January 2009.
The Walnut Hill Farm Supply is at the corner of Highway 97 and South Highway 99.
Community Market Day Today
August 16, 2008
A Community Market Day will be held this morning at Century’s Roadside Park on North Century Boulevard.
The Community Market Day will begin at 8 this morning Local residents are encouraged to sell their items, including arts and crafts and produce.
At a recent Community Market Day, vendors sold a variety of items, including fresh produce, arts, crafts, snow cones and more. There was also local entertainment.
Another Community Market Day will be held on Saturday, August 30, according to the Century Blue Ribbon Committee, which organized the event. The group plans to continue the market days every other Saturday at least through August.
Pictured: Some of the fresh produce available at a recent Century’s Community Market Day. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
School Board Town Hall Meeting Tonight At Jay High
August 12, 2008
Santa Rosa County School Board members will conduct a town hall meeting tonight at Jay High School.
The meeting will include a status report on the districts financial situation and detail the superintendent’s budget plan for the next two years. The discussion will include information on how schools will address loss of revenue and increased operational costs.
The meeting will take place at 7:00 tonight in the Jay High School auditorium.
For more information, call Tim Wyrosdick, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment, at (850) 983-5040.
Molino Churches To Hold Blood Drive
August 10, 2008
Two Molino churches will hold a blood drive Sunday.
Aldersgate United Methodist Church and Highland Baptist Church will be having a Community Blood Drive on Sunday. The Northwest Florida Bloodmobile will be at Aldersgate, 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. and at Highland from noon until 2 p.m. Everyone is invited to come and give the “Gift of Life”.
Aldersgate UMC is located on Highway 29 just south of Highway 97. Highland Baptist is located a on Highway 95A just south of Molino Road.
Summer Jam ‘08 Is Tonight
August 9, 2008
Summer Jam ‘08 will be held Saturday evening at Flomaton High School, and it will feature a popular Christian rock band from North Escambia.
XII Gates, from the First Baptist Church of Bratt, will be one of three bands appearing at the family friendly contemporary Christian concert sponsored by the Escambia (AL) Baptist Association.
Anna King of the Escambia Baptist Association said the concert is for all denominations, not just Baptists.
The concert will be headlined by Seraph from Mobile, Alabama. Seraph recently released their second CD “Shout It Out”. Soul Society from Brewton, Alabama, will also perform.
The guest speaker will be Bro. Jeff Howard, pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Cantonment.
Admission to Summer Jam ‘08 is just $2. There will be door prizes, and concessions will be available.
You can hear music from Seraph by visiting their Myspace page by click here. You can hear Soul Society on their Myspace page by clicking here.
To learn more about XII Gates, read a NorthEscambia.com story about the band by clicking here.
Pictured above: XII Gates performs at “Rock the Block” on May 17. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.