Fatal Shooting Near ‘Graffiti Bridge’
June 21, 2015
FOR AN UPDATE TO THIS STORY, CLICK HERE.
Pensacola Police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Saturday night near the 17th Avenue boat ramp and the “Graffiti Bridge”.
Police were notified of the shooting around 9:13 p.m. A man who was shot died at the scene.
Officers are pursuing leads on a possible suspect in the shooting. Additional information will be released when it becomes available.
Anyone having information on the incident is asked to contact the Pensacola Police Department at (850) 435-1900.
Molino Volunteer Fire Open House Today
June 20, 2015
The Molino Volunteer Fire Department will host their second annual open house from 4-8 p.m. Saturday.
The event will feature free food, drinks and festivities, special guest appearances, vendors, fire station tours and more. There will be a demonstration event at 6 p.m. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for food plates.
The Molino Hotshots will hold a car wash at the fire station Saturday morning.
The Molino Volunteer Fire Department is actively seeking volunteers for emergency and non-emergency operations. Applications are accepted from persons age 16 and older. The Molino Fire Station is part of Escambia Fire Rescue and provides emergency services to the Molino community.
Positions needed include clerical assistance, medical first responders, apparatus operators and firefighters. Free training is provided and includes junior firefighters 16 to 18 who can earn valuable credit for Bright Futures Scholarships through volunteer service and training.
Pictured: A live burn demonstration during last year’s open house at the Molino Volunteer Fire Department. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Hot Weekend Weather
June 20, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. West wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. South wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94.
On Eve Of Session’s End, House Members Spar Over Budget
June 19, 2015
The long-delayed end of the 2015 legislative process drew into view Thursday, as lawmakers prepared to pass a budget for the year that begins July 1 and leave Tallahassee after a nearly three-week special session.
In the House, members sparred over the spending plan ahead of a final vote Friday. While a 72-hour “cooling off” period prevented them from actually approving the budget until Friday evening, the chamber went ahead and finished off debate over the $78.7 billion plan.
Republicans and some Democrats focused on the virtues of the proposal: record public funding of education in raw dollars, a patch for the loss of $1.2 billion in federal funding for hospitals and other health care providers, and environmental spending that the GOP says will meet the requirements of a voter-approved constitutional amendment aimed at land and water conservation.
“If you vote no, you are snubbing your constituents on these helpful, useful programs,” said House Majority Leader Dana Young, R-Tampa.
But Democrats who planned to oppose the bill said it was not enough, noting that education funding would not set a record in terms of per-student spending, that the state would not have to fill the health-care hole if it approved Medicaid expansion, and that too few of the dollars spent for conservation actually went to buying environmentally important lands.
“The budget doesn’t reflect Floridians’ priorities as much as it reflects short-sighted and narrow-minded thinking and planning,” said House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach.
Others blasted how the budget deal was reached, pointing in particular to a late-night meeting Monday where legislative leaders doled out more than $300 million in projects in a pair of proposals that emerged at the last minute.
“By the very definition of the word, this process has not been transparent at this point,” said Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach. “And to call it ‘historically transparent’ is not only untrue, but I believe it demonstrates an assault on the very English language.”
Even some supporters of the spending plan acknowledged that changes in the budget process might be needed. Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said he was also surprised at some of the items that got stuck into the final agreement during the Monday night meeting.
“There were also some things that I thought were resolved (during earlier meetings), and they got kind of re-opened because there was additional money spent,” said Lee, who presided over the Monday meeting.
But the issues and acrimony that marked the regular spring legislative session — during which lawmakers failed to pass a budget on time for the first time in five years — seemed to linger. Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven, defended the House’s decision to leave the regular session three days early, even though the move was later found unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.
“For those who relish repeating that a procedural decision of this Florida House was unconstitutional, I would say that the greater constitutional obligation is producing a good and thoughtful balanced budget, and that the action of the Florida House on April 28 was the right decision to create the respectful environment that has allowed us to fulfill our essential constitutional obligation by passing this good balanced budget,” Wood said.
Even if both the House and Senate approve the budget Friday, as expected, they will have only three months before returning to the Capitol for committee meetings and the first stages of pulling together a new spending plan. There will be new challenges with the Low Income Pool, the health-care funding program that the federal government reduced from $2.2 billion in the current budget year to $1 billion for the upcoming year. That total will fall again to $600 million the following year.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, suggested that his chamber might not be as eager next year to use state funds to help make up the difference.
“I think you’ve got to start phasing that out,” Crisafulli said. “You may have something next year that comes about that we have to look at from the standpoint of a small infusion, but ultimately, I believe that the hospitals now have kind of seen what the future holds for them. And I think it’s important for them to recognize that they’re going to have to restructure their business model and know that Washington isn’t going to be there for them anymore, and the taxpayers of Florida aren’t necessarily excited about being there for them.”
But Senate President Andy Gardiner, an Orlando Republican and hospital executive, said Thursday that lawmakers should be prepared during the 2016 session to consider using more money to replace lost funding from the federal government. Lee was even blunter when asked whether the state would have to continue picking up the slack.
“I don’t see any alternative at this point,” he said.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Senate To Debate Budget
June 19, 2015
Planning to vote on a new $78.7 billion budget quickly after a review period ends, the Florida Senate will hold an afternoon session Friday to explain and debate the spending plan. House members started a question-and-answer session on the budget Thursday morning.
Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, indicated he plans to hold a vote on the budget immediately after a 72-hour review period ends at 5:37 p.m. Friday. The Senate will go into session at 1 p.m. The House is scheduled to go into session at 6 p.m. Friday.
House and Senate leaders finished negotiating the budget late Monday, and the complete version was sent to lawmakers at 5:37 p.m. Tuesday. That triggered the legally required 72-hour review period.
Lawmakers have been in special session since June 1 to pass a budget.
by The News Service of Florida
Tropical Storm Bill Makes Landfall
June 16, 2015
Tropical Storm Bill made landfall at 11:45 Tuesday morning on Matagorda Island, TX., with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. The storm will have no direct impact on our local weather.
Mosquito Spraying Tonight In Hwy 29, Kingsfield, Chemstrand, Nine Mile Area
June 15, 2015
Escambia County Mosquito Control plans a “fogging mission” tonight in parts of District 5, including:
- Kingsfield Rd south to Nine Mile Rd, Highway 29 east to Chemstrand Rd [Map]
- Ten Mile Rd and UWF south to Nine Mile Rd, Chemstrand Road west past UWF [Map]
- Muscogee Rd south to Kingsfield Rd, Highway 29 west to Chemstrand Rd [Map]
Methods used to determine necessary fogging mission activity include dry ice-baited light traps, landing rate counts and receiving focally located service requests from the public. For more information, call (850) 937-2188.
Showers And Thunderstorms, Otherwise Mostly Sunny Today
June 14, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93.
Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
Typical Summer Weekend Weather
June 13, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Saturday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Wednesday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 95.
Wednesday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72.
Thursday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
Thursday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72.
Friday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90.
Free Sports Physicals For All NHS Athletes
June 12, 2015
Free sports physicals will be offered for all Northview High School athletes this Saturday, June 13 at 7 a.m. at the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze. All forms must be complete and signed by a parent prior to the physicals.
Click here to download the physical form.