Century Sets Timetable For Hiring A Town Administrator
June 3, 2025
The Town of Century has set a timetable for hiring a town administrator who will work as the chief operations officer of the town and carry out the mayor and town council’s initiatives. The town administrator will report directly to the elected mayor and work in close coordination with the town council.
According to the job description, the salary range for the position is $112,000 to $137,000, with the likely offering salary between the minimum of $112,000 and the midpoint of the range, or about $124,500.
An applicant will be recommended by a selection committee that includes Mayor Ben Boutwell, council members John Bass and Henry Cunningham, interim town manager Howard Brown, and key staff members. Brown has stated that he will not apply for the town administrator position. According to the town charter, the final hiring recommendation to the council must come from the mayor.
The timetable states applications will be accepted until June 28, with application reviews from July 1-7. Interviews are tentatively set for July 15, with a finalist selected by July 22. After contract negotiations, the formal appointment by the town council is set for August 5, with the first day on the job set for August 12.
Pictured: Century interim town manager Howard Brown says he is not applying for the open town administrator position. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Barrineau Park Historical Society Awards Five Scholarships
June 3, 2025
The Barrineau Park Historical Society recently presented five scholarships.
Recipients were:
Katie John Crow, a 2025 Tate High graduate, received a $1,000 Bernice and Bill Vaughn Scholarship. “KJ” has been very active and received many accolades from her four years at Tate. She plans to attend Coastal Alabama Community College on a tennis scholarship.
Laney Clarke was the recipient of a $1,000 Barrineau Park Historical Society scholarship. She was homeschooled and was a dual enrollment student at Pensacola State College. Laney has been very active in Escambia County 4-H and Girl Scouts Gateway Council and plans to attend the University of South Alabama majoring in marketing.
Josiah Rogers is a winner of a $500 Haupert Scholarship. He was a homeschooled senior who was dual enrolled in Pensacola State College. Josiah’s activities include Escambia 4-H, martial arts, piano, and setting up his own lawn service. He plans to attend the University of West Florida in September and major in mechanical engineering.
Laura Laborde was a Northview High senior and received a $500 Jennings/Crabtree Scholarship. She also has taken college courses through dual enrollment at Pensacola State College. Laura is a ballet dancer and teaches her art to younger students. She plans to attend the University of West Florida in the fall and major in nursing.
Ryan Clarke is the winner of a$500 Lynda Minchew Scholarship. She was a homeschooled senior who was dual enrolled at Pensacola State College and has been accepted to Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.
She plans to major in criminology and “catch the bad guys” as she said.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Community Revival Continues Tonight At Carver Park
June 3, 2025
A Cantonment Community Revival is going on each night this week at Carver Park.
The event is sponsored by the Cantonment Improvement Committee (CIC) and the North Escambia Fellowship of Churches.
The Cantonment Community Revival schedule is as follows:
- Tuesday, June 3: Rev. Leon Bell, Associate Pastor Greater First Baptist Church of Cantonment
- Wednesday, June 4: Pastor Gene McCants, Providence Baptist Church
- Thursday, June 5: Brother Vincent Wilson, Deliverance Tabernacle
- Friday, June 6: Youth Night with Pastor Robert Gross, Back to the Cross Christian Center
- Saturday, June 7: A Family and Friends Fellowship Day will wrap up the week from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The revival is taking place under the big tent in Carver Park, 208 Webb Street in Cantonment.
Pictured: The first night of the Cantonment Community Revival Monday night at Carver Park. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
UWF Faculty, Students Develop Software That Analyzes Security, Privacy Levels Of Mobile Apps
June 3, 2025
University of West Florida faculty and students have developed software that analyzes the security and privacy levels of mobile applications.
Dr. Hossain Shahriar, associate director and professor for the University of West Florida Center for Cybersecurity, and his graduate students have developed a platform that evaluates how well thousands of mobile applications are securing users’ personal information.
“Many times now, before a doctor’s appointment, you will be told to go fill out your information on the apps,” Shahriar said. “That’s fine, but that is protected health information; so what we are doing is researching whether these apps are secure and compliant with HIPAA, the federal law restricting the release of medical information, when storing your data.”
Shahriar’s goal is for the platform to help companies be proactive in enhancing their app’s security level before deploying it. He also hopes it will help individuals understand the risk factor level of each app when inputting their information. The app uses a scale of low, medium, high and critical when testing vulnerabilities. It also includes vulnerability and risk breakdowns.
“For example, if the meter shows 87% risk factor, then the user knows they should not be using that app,” Shahriar said. “Why? Because if they put their social security number in there, it is probably being disclosed as plain text and the encryption is not there.”
The project has been funded by a two-year $545,000 National Institutes of Health Small Business Technology Transfer grant that Shahriar received in 2023 in partnership with Ubitrix, Inc. Shahriar said when the project began a couple years ago, he could not find anything similar in the market that would analyze apps and give a score based on their compliance with privacy laws. He said the project has involved building new algorithms, as well as static and dynamic analysis techniques. Abdul Barek, graduate research assistant in UWF’s intelligent systems and robotics doctoral program, has been the lead student developer on the project since its inception. Other project members include Md Bajlur Rashid, Md Mostafizur Rahman, ABM Kamrul Riad and Md Abdur Rahman.
“We saw some vulnerabilities in some of the popular apps from the marketplace; it was amazing to see that we discovered that from our work,” Barek said.
Shahriar said the platform has not just been used to run security risks for medical information but also general information of thousands of applications that are developed in different popular platforms like Android, iOS and more. According to Shahriar, at least one Fortune 500 company has used the app and found some holes in the security of their app. The currently deployed tool can be publicly accessed and tested on hipaachecker.health. The tool currently supports Android app, iOS app and web apps, while a new Large Language-based module to recommend the discover insecure code fixing is in the development process.
Honduran Man Arrested After Crashing Into Barricade At NAS Pensacola Gate
June 3, 2025
A Honduran man was charged after crashing into a barricade at Naval Air Station Pensacola.
Moises Garcia Hernandez, 34, was charged in federal court with illegally entering a military, naval, or coast guard property, and resisting or impeding arrest by a federal officer.
Court documents allege that, on May 25, 2025, Garcia Hernandez crashed into a barricade outside a checkpoint at the gate of Naval Air Station Pensacola and then ran from military forces onto NAS Pensacola to escape capture. Garcia Hernandez was ultimately caught at gunpoint after a foot pursuit. If convicted, Garcia Hernandez faces up to 18 months’ imprisonment and deportation from the United States.
The case involved a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Navy. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.
Tate Baseball Names Summer Teams
June 3, 2025
The Tate Aggies have named their summer baseball teams.
The summer season begins June 10 at Tate as the Aggies take on Pace at 4 and 6 p.m.
A Team
- Keelan Beasley
- Lance Brady
- Aiden Bramblett
- Beau Bryant
- Mason Bryant
- Hunter Clayton
- Nate Connors
- Griffin Cook
- Connor Dethlefs
- Cal Foxworth
- Cooper Halfacre
- Kannon Ham
- Logan Kimmons
- Bryton McLellan
- Cade McNair
- Aydan Nigam
- Kaden Posta
- Evan Taylor
- Hunter Taylor
- Brody White
B Team
- Bryson Adams
- Kash Brown
- Landon Campbell
- Tanner Clark
- Dylon Dirks
- Jordan Edmond
- Trenton Godwin
- Brayden Luciano
- Trent Madden
- Grayson McLellan
- Carter Patero
- Ethan Priest
- Camden Siefert
- Sean Smith
- Carter Stewart
- Cayden Thompson
- Jackson Turner
- Parker White
- Elijah Wilbanks
- Antwonn Williams
- Frederick Woods
Stovetop Fire Blamed For Causing Molino House Fire
June 2, 2025
Escambia County Rescue has determined that a Molino house fire last week originated on the home’s stovetop before moving quickly to the attic through a vent pipe.
The fire about 1:30 p.m. on May 29 in the 550 block of Cedartown Road, just off Highway 95A, left two people without a home.
Firefighter arrived to find heavy smoke pouring from the eaves and ridge vent of the single-story wood framed home. Firefighters found a fire in the kitchen that expanded to the attic. The home sustained significant damage to the attic and moderate damage to the kitchen and living room. The home can be tenable again with substantial repairs.
There were no injuries reported.
The American Red Cross assisted two adults who were displaced by the fire.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Photos: Tennessee Monument Honors Fallen No. 6 Blue Angels Pilot
June 2, 2025
It’s been nine years since Blue Angel No. 6 crashed, killing pilot Jeff Kuss in Smyrna, Tennessee.
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jeff Kuss, a native of Durango, Colorado, was a decorated pilot who joined the Blue Angels in 2014. Prior to the Blue Angels, he served in Afghanistan and had accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours and 175 landings on aircraft carriers.
On June 2, 2016, at the age of 32, Kuss tragically lost his life when his jet crashed during a practice one day before The Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna. A Blue Angel F/A-18C Hornet similar to the jet flown by Captain Kuss and on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola is on permanent display as part of the Captain Jeff Kuss Memorial. He is survived by his wife Christina, children Calvin and Sloane, parents Janet and Michael, and brother Eric.
Kuss is memorialized with a public monument at a park across the road from Smyrna airport, near the crash site. Local residents gathered in the park following the tragic crash, holding an impromptu vigil.
NorthEscambia.com took our cameras to the memorial recently.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The monument features a retired Blue Angel F/A-18 Hornet that is on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. The “Freedom Playground” in the surrounding park has a Blue Angels color scheme and several features that were designed with the Blue Angels in mind.
The Blue Angels will perform this weekend, June 7-8 , during the The Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Woman, 87, Airlifted After Highway 29 Rollover Crash In Molino
June 2, 2025
One person was seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash Sunday afternoon in Molino.
The crash occurred about 5:20 p.m. at the intersection of southbound Highway 29 and Chance Road.
The Florida Highway Patrol said a green pickup truck was stopped in the paved median on Highway 29 with a yield sign when the it pulled into the path of an oncoming southbound SUV.
The pickup truck overturned, come to rest on its side. The pickup’s driver, an 87-year-old female driver from Cantonment, was extricated by firefighters using the Jaws of Life before being airlifted by LifeFlight to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola. The SUV driver, a 64-year-old male from Cookeville, TN, and his passenger, a 59-year-old female also from Cookeville, suffered only minor injuries and were not transported to the hospital.
The crash closed southbound Highway 29 for about an hour, and the northbound lanes were closed for a brief period for the helicopter.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Molino, Cantonment, and McDavid stations of Escambia County Fire Rescue responded, along with Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
AAA: Florida Gas Prices Are Slightly Higher Than A Week Ago
June 2, 2025
Florida gas prices are slightly more expensive than last week, according to AAA. The state average on Sunday was $3.09 per gallon. A week ago, it was $3.075 per gallon.
The average price per gallon in Escambia County on Sunday night was $2.83. A North Escambia low price of $2.75 was available at two stations on Highway 29 in Cantonment.
“Oil prices have remained stable for the past two weeks,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA – The Auto Club Group. “This should enable Florida gas prices to remain within the same 20-cent range they’ve cycled in for the better part of the past year.”
NorthEscambia.com file photo.