Tate High’s Class Of 2021 Sets Academic Records, Including School’s Highest Ever GPA
June 6, 2021
The Tate High School class of 2021 set records with the highest valedictory, salutatory, and Top Ten percent GPAs in the school’s history. Valedictorian Katelyn Loudon achieved the highest GPA in the school’s history with a final GPA of 5.725.
Salutatorians Maggie Brown and Michael Dixon tied to the exact decimal GPA of 5.55. They are both the younger siblings of former Tate valedictorians (Samantha Brown, Class of 2017, and John Dixon, Class of 2019) Their GPAs are greater than their siblings’ past achievements, but missed the mark to get the valedictory award among this competitive class.
This year’s Top 10 Percent, in a class of 479 students (The Top 48), were head to head in the GPA battle. The anchor, Ethan Middleton, received his gold tassel with a final GPA of 4.6652. The Top 20 graduates’ GPAs all surpassed an outstanding 5.0. Tate’s Class of 2021 will graduate with 130 students (top 27%) achieving summa cum laude honors with a GPA greater than 4.0.
Valedictorian: Katelyn Loudon (Final GPA: 5.725)
Katelyn is a four-year member of Tate’s Biomedical Science Academy, is an AP Scholar with distinction, and is the Escambia County Council PTA Student of the Year. She has completed her certifications for basic life support, patient care Technician, and certified medical administrative assistant.
Clubs and Honor Societies: National Honor Society (president); Science Honor Society (president); Mu Alpha Theta; Rho Kappa; National English Honor Society; National Technical Honor Society; Aggie Advanced Institute
In the fall, Katelyn plans to attend the University of West Florida. She has been awarded the Academic Excellence Merit Scholarship valued at $20,000, is a Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholar, and received scholarships from Boardwalk Pipelines, the Elks’ National Foundation, and the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge. Katelyn plans to major in nursing and pursue a career as an emergency room nurse practitioner or physician associate.
Salutatorian: Maggie Brown (Final GPA: 5.55)
In 2018, Maggie was a quarterfinalist on Jeopardy’s Teen Tournament, was on the 2020 Senior Homecoming Court, was appointed to the 2021 Senior Hall of Fame, and volunteers as assistant coach of Ransom Middle School’s Academic Team and is a Science Saturday Robotics volunteer at the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition.
Clubs and Honor Societies: Academic Team (team captain); member of the Escambia County Academic All-Stars Team and is a state champion; Aggie Advanced Institute; Rho Kappa (president); Foreign Language Club (president); National Honor Society (vice president); Mu Alpha Theta (treasurer).
In the fall, Maggie plans to attend the University of West Florida. She has been accepted to the honors program, and plans to major in international studies and minor in art history. She has been awarded the Academic Excellence Merit Scholarship valued at $20,000, in addition to receiving a grant from Pensacola Interstate Fair, and being a Florida Bright Futures Academic Scholar.
Salutatorian: Michael S. Dixon (Final GPA: 5.55)
Michael is a National Merit Finalist, a four-year member of the Showband of the South, and was this year’s head drum major.
Clubs and Honor Societies: Academic Team, Aggie Advanced Institute, National Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Rho-Kappa, and Tri-M Musician’s Honor Society.
Band Honors/Awards: Assistant drum major his junior year, and head drum major his senior year. He was the principal French horn all four years; first chair horn in All-County band all four years; member of All-State bands in 2018 and 2021; received superior ratings at local and state solo and ensemble competitions on both French horn and piano. Recipient of the Escambia County Mira Award for music.
In the fall, Michael plans to attend the University of Florida to double major in music composition and psychology. He has been accepted into UF’s Honors Program, and has received the Benacquisto Scholarship (full ride) in addition to the University of Florida Presidential Scholarship, Band Scholarship, and Friends of Music Scholarship. He also was awarded the Better Business Bureau’s Student Ethics Scholarship and the Tate Showband Bill Slayton Scholarship.
The Top 10% honors graduates are as follows:
1. Katelyn Michelle Loudon
2. Maggie Ruth Brown
2. Michael Robert Dixon
4. Quang Tam Vo
5. John Thomas Semple
6. Kobi Seth Menser
7. Morgan Kelly Anderson
8. Jonathan David French
9. Haley Grace Vranich
10. Brianna Marie Deason
11. Bailey Nicole Jenkins
12. Jackson Cecil Chatwood
13. Brentley Marie Garrett
14. Evelyn Campbell
15. Bristol Denae Kelley
16. Gwenivier Elise Ward
17. Staci Marie Saucier
18. Samantha Guerrier
19. Joseph Pusateri
20. Eva Marie Miller
21. Abigail Breanne West
22. Maddison D’Rea Dorion
23. Courtney Ryan Adams
24. Jessica Jean Conti
25. Allison Suzanne Jefferis
26. Adam Cooper Lee
27. Nicholas Chase Walsh
28. Mia M Brown
29. Jonathan Evan Chisolm
30. Joanna Jiang
31. Kiera Jolie Goodyear
32. Kendall Jordyn Blackmon
33. Jacob Ryan Hutto
34. Aaron Stephen Neshem
35. Jacob Heath Greeson
36. Jacob Lawson Chatwood
37. Sidney Claire Stojak
38. Chandler Gray Hastings
39. Lindsey Carole Morris
40. Tayler Lynn Bridges
41. Layah Denae Seals
42. Matthew William Luebke
43. Cristian Alexander Bates
44. Jordan Tyler Jarman
45. Emily Rene’ Johnson
46. Natalee Ann Stuart
47. Armonie Michele Hughes Nettles
48. Ethan Daniel Middleton
Biographical information was provided by the students.
Garcon Point Bridge Toll Suspended For Another 30 Days
June 6, 2021
The Garcon Point Bridge toll suspension has been suspended for another 30 days while traffic is limited on the recently reopened Pensacola Bay Bridge.
Tolls are now suspended on the Garcon Point Bridge through Tuesday, July 6.
“The extension allows the Garcon Point Bridge to continue serving as an alternate route while the Pensacola Bay Bridge is being repaired from damage sustained during Hurricane Sally,” the Florida Department of Transportation said in a release.
The Pensacola Bay Bridge reopened on May 28, but traffic is reduced from four lanes to two across a section of the three mile long bridge.
Man Charged With DUI Manslaughter After Escambia County Wreck Kills Woman
June 6, 2021
A Tennessee man was charged with DUI manslaughter after a fatal wreck Saturday in Escambia County.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 37-year old Albert Winn Lewis of Fayetteville, Tennessee, ran a stop sign at the intersection of Gulf Beach Highway and Bauer Road about 1:45 a.m.. His Dodge Challenger collided with a vehicle driven by a 55-year old Pensacola woman who died from her injuries.
Troopers said Lewis was arrested for DUI manslaughter and additional charges are possible depending on the outcome of their investigation.
The name of the victim has not been released.
Meyer, Bleday Lead Blue Wahoos Past Mississippi
June 6, 2021
Max Meyer dazzled as usual. JJ Bleday wowed again.
Peyton Burdick returned to recent form.
And the Blue Wahoos won again.
Three of the team’s most acclaimed players were part of an impressive display in a 4-1 victory Saturday night against the Mississippi Braves, delighting an overflow crowd at Blue Wahoos Stadium before post-game fireworks lit the bayfront sky.
“It’s a fun team,” said Meyer, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft by the Miami Marlins, after allowing just three hits in six innings for his longest start in pro ball.
“Even if you are up or down, we’re still going to play how we play,” said Meyer, who improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his earned run average to 1.86. “All these guys are rooting for each other.”
Amid a game played in just two hours, 15 minutes — this may have been the Blue Wahoos best overall home game experience this season.
And that’s saying a lot.
The spectators including Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng, the first woman in history to serve as general manager of a team in any of the big four North American sports – MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL.
She watched the Blue Wahoos up-close for the first time and saw a team that has combined stellar pitching, sound defense and timely hits into an 18-11 record.
“The leadership on this team has been great,” said Bleday, whose two-out, two-run homer in the sixth inning broke a tie game. “If one guy doesn’t get the job done he hands it off the next dude and he is able to get it done and get it started.
“Our pitchers and relievers have just done a tremendous job of keeping us in the game.”
That played out again Saturday with Meyer dueling with Mississippi Braves’ righthander Jose Rodriguez, signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Braves on April 21.
Meyer matched his pro career high Saturday with nine strikeouts, yielded just one walk and threw 60 strikes in his 82 pitches.
The only dent in a stellar pitching line was a home run off a 93-mph fastball by Greyson Jenista to lead off the third inning.
After that, Meyer retired the next six batters he faced. He finished his outing by striking out the side in the sixth inning.
“That one home run, I went down and in, and I was trying to go down and up a little bit,” Meyer said. “He put a good swing on it and stuff like that happens.
“I went around the whole order. I mixed up how I threw to guys every at bat, so I feel like I was keeping them off balance a little bit.”
Meyer, the former University of Minnesota star, kept the capacity crowd (5,038) enthralled by how fast he works and how often he records outs. It was the first time he started on a Saturday night home game.
“Honestly, when I’m pitching I don’t really notice how big the crowd is. I am just dialed in,” Meyer said. “It’s just me and the catcher, but a little more adrenalin and it’s always fun pitching to a packed crowd.”
With the game tied 1-1, Bleday bombed a changeup from Rodriguez into the crowd of kids sitting on the grass berm beyond the right field wall. Total distance was 393 feet.
His two-run homer was his third home run this season, second in three days. All three have been in this ballpark. He scored Burdick, who led off the inning with a triple.
“It felt great, because I missed the changeups in the previous two at-bats,” said Bleday, the Marlins’ No. 1 pick in 2019 out of Vanderbilt and former Panama City Mosley High star.
“I was right on ‘em, but I was just a tick early pulling off a bit and getting a little antsy with it,” Bleday said. “But he came back and he hung one middle away and I put a good swing on it.”
The Blue Wahoos got their first run on Demetrius Sims’ RBI single to score catcher Nick Fortes. In their first four hits, the Blue Wahoos went double, single, triple, home run, for a team cycle.
Burdick, who went 2-for-4 after a hitless start in the series, added insurance with his RBI single in the eighth inning.
“The leadership on this team has been great,” Bleday said. “If one guy doesn’t get the job done he hands it off the next dude and he is able to get it done and get it started. Our pitchers and relievers have just done a tremendous job of keeping us in the game.”
The series and homestand will conclude Sunday with a 4:05 game. Following the game, the Blue Wahoos will have Monday off before taking a road trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. to face the Chattanooga Lookouts – the Cincinnati Reds Double-A affiliate.
by Bill Vilona, Blue Wahoos senior writer
Final OLF-8 Design Plan Accepted By Escambia Commission
June 5, 2021
The Escambia County Commission has accepted a final design for the OLF-8 property on Nine Mile Road.
The OLF-8 design is a consensus after months of discussion and debate about the balance between commercial, residential and community space on the 630-acre parcel.
The final “Adjusted Hybrid Plan” is a combination of commerce, residential and amenities. It allocates 271 acres to commerce and industrial; 61 acres to residential including duplexes, townhomes and multifamily; 47 acres to a mixed-use center such as residential over retail and office over retail; and 45 acres to trails and public amenities such as a post office, school, day care and community garden.
The plan next goes to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for land use approval and to the planning board this summer for master plan code updates. With approval, the commission will vote on final approval for the OLF-8 Master Plan in early October.
To read the full 71 page OLF-8 plan, click or tap here.
In January 2019, Escambia County acquired OLF-8 in a land swap with the U.S. Navy for property in Santa Rosa County. The county hired DPZ CoDesign to develop the best plan for OLF-8, and the firm presented four plans ranging from a commerce park based concept to designs with a mix of commerce, residential and green space on the 500 plus acre site along Nine Mile Road in Beulah.
Click graphics to enlarge.
Ransom Middle School Names Students Of The Month
June 5, 2021
Ransom Middle School named Kristyne Yelverton and Tom Fleming as Students of the Month for May. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Stops Releasing Daily COVID-19 Case And Death Reports
June 5, 2021
The Florida Department of Health has ended daily COVID-19 reports that were used by the public and media to track the number of cases and deaths in the state. And as a result, our daily reports on NorthEscambia.com have also come to an end.
We’ve published the reports daily since March 2020. As cases declined, so did the number of people reading our reports. But in the interest of public service, we continued daily publication because thousands of people tracked our reporting to see changes and trends in their local community.
The Florida Department of Health plans to publish a weekly update on cases and vaccines. It remains to be seen how detailed that report will be and if we will be able to provide updates on cases at the local community level for places like Pensacola, Cantonment, Molino, Century and Walnut Hill.
NorthEscambia.com will evaluate the new reporting format and determine if we will publish weekly updates. Rest assured, however, that we will update you if there’s any major local trend change reported by the state.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, told The News Service of Florida on Friday that there is no need to keep issuing the daily reports.
“Covid-19 cases have significantly decreased over the past year as we have a less than 5 percent positivity rate, and our state is returning to normal, with vaccines widely available throughout Florida,” Pushaw said in an email.
In the last week, Escambia County recorded 60 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths.
No Injuries As Fire Damages Flomaton Mobile Home
June 5, 2021
Fire damaged a mobile home in Flomaton late Friday night.
The fire was reported about 11:40 p.m. in the 300 block of Dixon Road, not far north of the Alabama-Florida state line.
There were no injuries reported and no immediate word on the cause of the fire.
The Flomaton, Friendship and Lambeth fire departments from Alabama, the Century Station of Escambia (FL) Fire Rescue and MedStar EMS responded.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Stewart And Steady Hitting Lead Blue Wahoos To 4-1 Friday Win
June 5, 2021
The Blue Wahoos completed the first month of their season Friday night in the same way it started.
Strong starting pitching. Flawless performance by the bullpen. Mixed together with a couple big swings and defensive plays.
The summation was another win, this one a 4-1 victory against the Mississippi Braves that evened the series (2-2) and gave a capacity crowd (5,038) at Blue Wahoos Stadium a familiar look.
“It has been apparent all year that our pitching has been dominant — from the starters to the bullpen — and I think that’s been the main thing that has kept us in every single game,” said Blue Wahoos catcher Nick Fortes, who went 2-for-4 with a triple and made the game’s biggest defensive play with a perfect throw to catch the M-Braves’ Riley Unroe stealing third in the third inning.
“We kinda started out a little slow at the beginning of the year with the bats,” Fortes said. “But I feel that everybody is starting to hit their stride a little bit and making things move a little bit more crisply out there.”
The Blue Wahoos (17-11) began their season — and new affiliation with the Miami Marlins — on May 4 with a win against the M-Braves.
Since then, it’s been a consistent element with the pitching staff in each win. Friday was lefthander Will Stewart’s turn to shine.
The 23-year-old, Huntsville, Alabama native worked six innings and threw a season-high 92 pitches with six strikeouts, one walk and one run allowed.
“Honestly, it all started with my mindset,” said Stewart, who earned his first win as a Blue Wahoos starting pitcher. “I think earlier in the month, I came out and there was a lot of doubt in my mind.
“I didn’t have as much confidence as I do now. It took me really finding a routine and getting into what works for me instead of trying to emulate things here and things there.”
Reliever Tyler Stevens followed by striking out four of the six batters he faced. Colton Hock followed in the ninth by earning his seventh save to become the Double-A South leader.
The Blue Wahoos lead the Double-A South in team pitching (3.39 ERA) and in team relief.
After dropping back-to-back mid-week games to the M-Braves, the Blue Wahoos flipped the script Friday. They got a first-inning lead when Peyton Burdick worked a walk, Jerar Encarnacion followed with a single and JJ Bleday continued his hot bat with an RBI single.
In the fifth inning, Encarnacion blasted a two-run homer into the right field berm off a fastball from M-Braves’ reliever Chris Nunn. This one exited at 101 mph off his bat and the ball seemed to further accelerate as it was leaving the ballpark.
The Blue Wahoos added another run in the sixth inning after Fortes led off with a single and scored on Tristan Pompey’s single.
The game’s key moment occurred after Stewart yielded three singles to start the third inning. With a run in, Unroe got a jump to steal third. But Fortes’ throw was perfect to have Blue Wahoos’ third baseman Demetrius Sims apply the tag a split-second before Unroe’s headfirst slide reached base.
“Oh my gosh, if we don’t throw that guy out there, they’ve got runners on first and third with one out and I am notoriously getting in that situation,” Stewart said. “For (Fortes) to take that away and me not have to deal with that, you can’t ask for anything more.
“It was big. I think if we don’t have that throwout there, I probably don’t go six innings.”
Instead it worked out well for him.
The first 2,000 fans entering the ballpark Friday night received a power-blue beach mat, courtesy of game sponsor, Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in Atmore, Ala.
The final two games of this series are Saturday and Sunday with the Blue Wahoos throwing their top two pitchers, Max Meyer and Jake Eder, for the first time on a weekend.
by Bill Vilona, Blue Wahoos senior writer
Navy To Sample Drinking Water Wells Near Outlying Fields In Florida And Alabama
June 5, 2021
The U.S. Navy is preparing to sample drinking water wells near Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field’s Outlying Landing Fields (OLFs) in Florida and Alabama beginning in June. The investigation includes OLFs Evergreen, Brewton, Silverhill, Summerdale, Barin and Wolf in Alabama; and OLFs Harold, Pace, Spencer, Santa Rosa and Holley in Florida.
The Navy will be sampling drinking water wells within a designated sampling area at each OLF for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. PFAS have been used nationwide since the 1950s in products that resist heat, stains, grease and water. They have been used in a variety of products and substances such as non-stick cookware, food packaging such as microwaveable popcorn bags, water-resistant textiles and sprays used to treat carpets and fabrics. PFAS are key components in aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).
The Navy will sample drinking water wells to determine if AFFF or other PFAS-containing materials used at a NAS Whiting Field OLF have migrated through groundwater into off-base drinking water wells at levels greater than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory levels for two specific PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).
In May 2016, the EPA announced a lifetime health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for both PFOS and PFOA. Although these health advisory levels are not enforceable regulatory standards, the Navy is proactively seeking to identify drinking water wells that may contain levels of PFOA and/or PFOS greater than the EPA lifetime health advisory. To do this, the Navy needs to sample drinking water wells in the designated sampling area.
The Navy has mailed a letter to property owners in the designated sampling area, for each OLF, to provide further information and to request permission to sample their drinking water. Sampling will be available to property owners within the designated sampling area at no cost.
The Navy will host an online “virtual” open house to inform the public and provide answers to questions about upcoming efforts to sample drinking water wells near the OLFs for PFAS. The online virtual public meeting will be available at https://WhitingFieldPFAS.com.
This online presentation will be available for the public with materials that may be downloaded for more information. There will also be contact information for Navy representatives, along with partnering agencies including, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Alabama Department of Public Health, and the Florida Department of Health, with representatives who are also available to answer questions.
To schedule a drinking well sampling appointment, please call 844-NASWFLD (844-627-9353).