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Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office Phones Down This Morning

The non-emergency phone system at the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is scheduled to be down this morning for maintenance. Emergency calls should still be placed to 911.

Temporary numbers to reach dispatchers for non-emergency calls will be  (850) 375-7795, 7796, 7797, and 7798. The jail administrative phone system will also be affected. The Santa Rosa County Jail can be reached at the temporary number (850) 375-2498.

State Briefs: Hurricane Season Starts; Job Growth Slows; DCF Official Forced Out

Here’s a look at what’s making news around Florida today:

Hurricane Season Starts Today

Gov. Rick Scott will mark the start of hurricane season in Miami, stopping at a Home Depot to remind residents to pack a hurricane kit, and taking part in a news conference at the National Hurricane Center starting off the annual summer storm season. While the Atlantic season starts June 1, Florida has already watched two named storms this year, including Tropical Storm Beryl, which while not much more than a summer squall, blew ashore in the Jacksonville area last weekend, mostly bringing rain to North Florida.

Job Growth Slowed A Bit In May

Economic growth slowed in May with just under 70,000 new jobs created, fewer than expected, and the national unemployment rate remained “essentially unchanged” at 8.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Employment increased in health care, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale trade but declined in construction. Employment was little changed in most other major industries. Republicans quickly blamed the White House for not doing enough to create jobs last month. Florida’s jobless rate is down to 8.7 percent, getting closer to the national rate.

DCF Official Forced Out After Harassment Claim

A top Department of Children of Families official was forced out because of alleged sexual harassment of an employee who was paid $150,000 by the agency to settle the issue without a lawsuit and stay quiet about it, the Palm Beach Post reported. DCF confirmed that Secretary David Wilkins decided Jamie Self, director of the agency’s Family and Community Services Office had to leave the agency after being accused of sexual harassment by employee Christie Ferris. The newspaper reported that Self hired Ferris and then had an affair with her. She claimed in a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after she was fired Jan. 19 that Self harassed her, sent her explicit text messages and that she believed if she didn’t have an affair with him she would lose her job. The Post, which obtained a copy of the settlement, quoted DCF General Counsel Drew Parker as saying that the agency settled with Ferris to avoid potentially larger costs of a lawsuit. “Sometimes employees do stuff that’s not right and that costs the agency money,” Parker told the paper. Wilkins knew Self from their work together at the Florida Baptist Children’s Home. After he worked there, Self was director of Christian education for the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bartow. He was paid $103,000 a year and oversaw high profile parts of the agency’s operations, including the child abuse hotline and child safety oversight. Self said in a note to colleagues when he resigned that he was moving his family back to central Florida.

By The News Service of Florida

Clear, Cooler Night

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 58. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. North wind around 5 mph.
• Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming southwest between 5 and 10 mph.
• Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. West wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
• Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
• Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90.
• Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69.
• Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90.
• Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69.
• Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning – Including Molino, Cantonment

THE FOLLOWING WARNING WAS CANCELED AT 7:45 p.m.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR…
CENTRAL ESCAMBIA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA…

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 726 PM CDT…A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER
SIZE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS OVER 60 MPH WAS LOCATED 3 MILES WEST
OF MOLINO…OR 9 MILES NORTH OF CANTONMENT…AND MOVING SOUTH AT 10
MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE…
MOLINO… GOULDING… GONZALEZ…
FERRY PASS… ENSLEY… CANTONMENT…
BRENT… BELLVIEW…

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 10 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 1 AND 16.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY! IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER…YOU ARE CLOSE
ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

Memorial Day Events Planned

Here’s a look at Memorial Day programs planned across the area:

At 6 p.m. Monday, a Community Memorial Day Service will be held at the Mount Carmel United Methodist Church on Mount Carmel Church Road in Jay. Speaker will be Bro. Matt Dobson. Video tribute to those that have served from the Jay area and white table ceremony honoring POW’s and MIA’s.

Programs were held earlier today as follows:

At 9 a.m. Monday, there was a Memorial Day Service at The Naval Aviation Memorial Chapel aboard NAS Pensacola. Guest speaker was Ron Sepulveda, Veterans Administration assistant secretary for Human Resources and Administrations.

At 10 a.m. Monday, a Memorial Day program was held at the Atmore Memorial Monument in front of Atmore City Hall, presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7016 and the American Legion Post 90. Keynote speaker was Brigadier General (Ret.) Wendell B. McLain.

At 11 a.m. Monday, a Memorial Day Ceremony was held at the Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Plaza located at 5131 Willing Street in Milton. The event included a keynote address by Colonel James C. Slife, Commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing located at Hurlburt Field, a rifle salute, and a casting of the wreath on the water rite.

Hot Weather Continues

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

• Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
• Tuesday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
• Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 95. West wind around 5 mph.
• Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. Southwest wind around 10 mph.
• Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 91.
• Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 65.
• Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 91.
• Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 67.
• Monday: Sunny, with a high near 95.

Critical Need For O Negative Blood

There is a current a critical need for O Negative blood donors, according to Betty Roberts of Northwest Florida Blood Services.

“We need your help to boost the blood supply around Memorial Day weekend,” she said.

All donors today will receive a $10 Walmart gift card from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Northwest Florida Blood Services location at 1999 East Nine Mile Road (just east of Target).

Memorial Day Closures, Trash Schedule

Here is a look at what’s closed on this Memorial Day Monday in the North Escambia area:

• All county offices in Escambia (Fla. and Ala.) and Santa Rosa
• All city offices in Century, Jay, Pensacola, Atmore and Flomaton
• Schools in Escambia Escambia (Fla. and Ala.) and Santa Rosa
• West Florida and Santa Rosa County public libraries
• University of West Florida
• Pensacola State College
• ECUA business offices
• U.S. Postal Service, with no mail delivery except for Express Mail
• There will be no change in ECUA garbage collections, with North Escambia pickups as usual on Tuesday.

Beryl Makes Landfall In Florida

Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall near Jacksonville Beach this morning with winds of 70 mph. About 24,000 customers were without power, and trees were downed across the Jacksonville area.

Beryl, the second named storm of the 2012 hurricane season marked the first time since the 1908 hurricane season that two Atlantic named storms have formed this early in the year. The only other year with two storms this early was 1887. Records of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic extend back to 1851.

The latest information on Beryl is in the graphic below, click to enlarge for details.

Pictured top: Palm trees blow in the wind as clouds from Tropical Storm Beryl roll in to Jacksonville Sunday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

Coming Monday: Northview Class Of 2012 Holds Baccalaureate

The Northview High School Class of 2012 held their Baccalaureate service Sunday afternoon at the First Baptist Church of Bratt. Coming up Monday morning, NorthEscambia.com will have a photo gallery and coverage from the event.

Pictured: The Northview High School Class of 2012 Senior Ensemble performs Sunday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

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