Rain Thursday; Turning Colder By Friday Night
November 7, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday Night: Showers likely before midnight, then a chance of rain after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 54. Light and variable wind becoming north 10 to 15 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Friday: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 60. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 39. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38. Calm wind.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 69. Calm wind.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph.
Veterans Day: Partly sunny, with a high near 72.
Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. Breezy.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 54. Breezy.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 53.
Rain Thursday Before Turning Colder
November 6, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: A slight chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Thursday Night: Showers likely before midnight, then a chance of rain after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 54. Light and variable wind becoming north 10 to 15 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Friday: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 60. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 39. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38. Calm wind.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 69. Calm wind.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph.
Veterans Day: Partly sunny, with a high near 72.
Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. Breezy.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 54. Breezy.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 53.
Driver’s License Service, Vehicle Registration Event Today In Century
November 5, 2019
Mobile driver’s license and vehicle registration services are available Tuesday in Century.
Thee Florida Licensing On Wheels (FLOW) mobile office will be in Century from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Billy G. Ward Century Courthouse at 7500 North Century Boulevard.
FLOW is a stand-alone mobile office with technology to provide most motorists’ needs. The mobile unit provides a convenient method to renew a driver’s license, obtain a replacement driver’s license, conversion/reciprocation of out-of-state license, change a name or address on a current driver’s license or identification card, and get a first-time identification card. In addition to licensing services, the mobile unit also provides an opportunity to renew or replace a vehicle registration and apply, renew or replace disabled parking placards. Written and driving tests are not available from the FLOW unit.
Citizens can renew vehicle registrations up to three months and driver’s licenses up to 18 months in advance of expiration.
Citizens using the FLOW services are encouraged to visit EscambiaTaxCollector.com and click the “What Do I Bring” button for information on what is needed for these services. Staff from the tax collector’s office will be on hand to answer all FLOW service questions and questions concerning all other tax collector services such as property tax, business tax receipts, concealed weapons licensing, etc. Citizens also can drop off property tax payments (checks only).
Pictured: Florida Licensing On Wheels (FLOW) provided motorist services such as driver’s license renewals in Century in early August. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Milder, Then A Chance Of Rain Later This Week
November 5, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. North wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. East wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Thursday Night: Showers likely before midnight, then a chance of rain after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 54. Light and variable wind becoming north 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of rain before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 61. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. North wind around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45.
Veterans Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Becoming A Bit Warmer
November 4, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. North wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. North wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 76. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. East wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 59. South wind around 5 mph becoming northeast after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 67.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 68.
District 5 Commissioner Holding Town Hall Today
November 4, 2019
Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry will hold a public town hall today.
The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, November 4 at the Milestone Baptist Church.
The public is invited to the open forum style town hall meeting.
Pictured: Attendees at an August District 5 town hall meeting in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Police Remove NorthEscambia.com From Youth Football Championship At ERC League President’s Request
November 3, 2019
A NorthEscambia.com editorial
NorthEscambia.com does not have coverage of Saturday’s Escambia River Conference (ERC) youth football championship games after the league president had NorthEscambia.com removed by police for taking game photographs.
The man pictured, who identified himself to Flomaton Police as ERC President Dewayne Higdon, asked the Flomaton Police Department to remove NorthEscambia.com from not only the field, but the entire Flomaton High School stadium. He stated media had no right to take or run photographs from the games because the league had a contract with a sports photography company that was selling action shots at the game. Higdon allowed an employee of a printed weekly newspaper to remain on the field.
NorthEscambia.com was removed from a freshman football championship game between NWE (Northwest Escambia) and Flomaton. NorthEscambia.com has covered NWE Football for over a decade, and has covered games involving other ERC teams like Flomaton and Jay for years.
We do not sell or otherwise make money from taking youth football game photos. It actually costs us many hours of time and use of expensive cameras and equipment. In most case we could sell reprints, and many newspapers regularly do. But NorthEscambia.com does not sell photos; our photo coverage is part of what we do in our commitment to the communities we serve.
It’s our understanding that the out-of-town sports photography company was only selling prints, DVDs and any other products on-site at the stadium Saturday during the series, not at a later time on a website or other means. We find it hard to understand how our news coverage Sunday would impact their profits on Saturday. And, notably, our photographs are not published with a file size and quality that is well suited for printing. We in no way ever discourage someone from buying a company’s photographs.
Numerous sports we cover have contracts with action photography companies. Well-managed organizations from little league teams to the Florida High School Athletic Association and member schools welcome NorthEscambia.com at their games.
It’s also worth noting that there are now hundreds and hundreds of photos, many taken with professional camera equipment, published on social media by parents and other fans that took their own photos at the ERC championships and cheerleader competition Saturday. There was no policy against camera equipment in the stadium, which is public property owned by the Escambia County (AL) School Board. Simply put, on that public property the public has the right to take photos.
NorthEscambia.com wishes to make it unmistakably clear that no one affiliated with NWE or Flomaton youth football asked us to leave or conveyed any issue with our presence. We were, in fact, encouraged to attend and cover the games by coaches. Also, we emphasize this not about the Flomaton Police Department or their outstanding officers. Higdon apparently represented himself to police in such a manner that led them to believe he had some authority over the property and they should follow his request.
We do take issue with the freedom of the press being stymied on public property during an event open to the public by the president of a youth football league.
Youth football and cheerleading should not be about the profit. Clearly, youth leagues must make money to operate and provide the best possible experience for our kids. But when did it stop being about the kids?
NorthEscambia.com has always fully supported youth sports. We have published an immense number of youth league announcements, registrations, car washes, bake sales…the list goes on and on. We do all we can to help youth leagues in all sports be as successful as possible by letting the public know about those registrations or fundraisers. We fail to see where media coverage of youth sports is harmful as we celebrate athletes’ accomplishments for many tens of thousands of people to see. Why would you not want publicity?
We cover youth sports because it is about the kids in our communities, not profit. Sports give our youth the opportunity to succeed, to have an activity to stay out of trouble, and to feel accomplished and grow personally whether they win or lose. Youth sports like NWE and Flomaton football draw our communities together, and are good for all of us.
Those NWE players we photographed years ago are the now the young men playing high school ball on Friday nights or that have gone on to play at the next level. When a star high school player says he remembers that photo we took of him and published on our front page when he played for NWE, we hope in some way our coverage was an encouragement.
And we hope just as much that the child who came off the bench even a single time was encouraged by “making the news” in one of our photo galleries. Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant perhaps said it best: “I’ll never give up on a player regardless of his ability as long as he never gives up on himself. In time he will develop.”
It was unclear Saturday night if the Escambia River Conference will allow NorthEscambia.com to photograph ERC league teams like NWE, Flomaton, and Jay in the future. We encourage the ERC board to do some soul searching and examine if their focus is on profits or players as they move forward and choose a new league president.
In the meantime, we’ll be back hard at work covering the youth sports leagues and other events in your community. If you want to let us know about any youth sport, school, church or other event, always feel free to drop us a note at news@northescambia.com. And thanks for being part of the NorthEscambia.com family.
Pictured: This man, who identified himself to Flomaton Police as ERC President Dewayne Higdon, asked the Flomaton Police Department to remove NorthEscambia.com from the Flomaton High School stadium on Saturday. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
More Sunshine For Sunday; Cool Again Sunday Night
November 3, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 68. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Calm wind.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 75. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. Calm wind.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 76.
Thursday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Pictured: Saturday’s sunset. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Sunny Saturday In The Low 60s; Back In The 30s Tonight
November 2, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 61. North wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. North wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 63. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 68. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. Calm wind.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 75. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 74.
Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 66.
Walnut Hill Vol. Fire Dept. Holding 50th Fish Fry Saturday (With Department History)
November 1, 2019
Saturday will mark the 50th anniversary of what has become one of the biggest events in Walnut Hill and surrounding communities — the annual fish fry at the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department.
The fish fry has been held annually since 1969. The first fish fry on record was held about a month after the department was chartered.
The fire department’s first fish fry was held on Saturday, April 10, 1965, just after the Walnut Hill Fire Department was officially chartered on Monday, March 8, 1965, during a meeting held at Ernest Ward High School.
Adult plates were sold for $1, and plates for children under 12 were 50 cents. According to minutes from the fire department’s charter meeting, the fish fry was suggested by O.D. Gibson. It was organized as a fundraiser, and “to let the community know what had been accomplished” with the new department. It was a two hour community event.
That first fish fry cost the department $87.62, including $43 for fish and $13.23 to Lawrence Cooper’s Grocery. The total income was $256.50, netting a $168.88 profit for the Walnut Hill Fire Department’s first fundraiser.
The fire department was organized by the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club, under the leadership of Ruritan President Royce Ward.
In 1968, the Walnut Hill Fire Department held an open house at their first building on November 16, 1968. The first firehouse was located under the water tower at Highway 97 and Arthur Brown Road. Before the building was completed, fire trucks and other equipment was stored in members’ sheds and barns.
There are no records indicating that a fish fry was held each year between 1965 and 1968, but the fish fry events have been held annually since 1969.
The department’s first truck was about a 1957 model GMC 2 1/2 ton 4×2 fuel service truck loaned from the Florida Forest Service.
The department has compiled a list of their fire chiefs as follows: E. C. (Chuck) Church, 1965 to September 1966; Bob Holdeman, September 1966 to August 1968; Vern Peters from August 1968 to 1983; Jack Brown from 1983 to December 1984; Ervin Schneider, 1985 to 1987; Dennis Rigby, 1988 to 1989; Bill Jackson, 1990 to February 1991; Al Bradley, March 1991 to 1992; Robert Stewart, 1993 to September 2008; and Chris Brown October 2008 to present.
The department’s first board of directors were: C.L. Byrd, Robert E. Holdeman, Kenneth Brown, W.H. Corley, Chief E. C. Church, Assistant Chief Buddy Sharpless, Assistant Chief Therman Raines, Captain Don Strickland, Captain James Pierce, Lt. Roger Johnson, Lt. Glenn Thrower, J.H. Morgan, Sam Jantz and Harvey Bradberry.
To read original fire department minutes from December 2, 1968, click here (pdf).
The Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department’s 50th Annual Fish Fry will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97. Plates will be $8 each with a choice of catfish fillets or grilled chicken, plus baked beans, coleslaw, hush puppies, bread and cake. There will also be drawing for door prizes beginning at 1 p.m. and a live auction.
Pictured top: This undated photograph from the early days of the Walnut Hill Fire Department shows Robert Mininger, an assistant chief; Bob Holdeman, the department’s second chief; Royce Ward, president of the Ruritan Club; and Vern Peters who served 15 years as the department’s third chief. Pictured inset: The original handwritten minutes from the department’s first meeting. Pictured below: Former Chief Robert Stewart (left) was honored in 2008. Stewart is being presented a framed uniform shirt by current Chief Chris Brown. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
