Pandemic Pauses Century’s Natural Gas Meter Replacement Plans
April 26, 2020
COVID-19 has put the brakes on Century’s plan to replace natural gas meters in an effort to increase natural gas billings and curb losses.
Interim City Administrator Vernon Prather said they are not able to replace residential gas meters during the pandemic because the process requires going inside a customer’s home to verify that pilot lights are on and everything is safe.
In 2019, the town undertook a systematic approaches to auditing natural gas accounts and replacing meters. By early this year, audits had uncovered at least a half dozen locations that were not in the billing system and over two dozen meters that had stopped working.
At the first town council meeting in March, Prather recommended that the town hire Precision Meter Repair (PMR) of Plant City to replace 400 residential meters at $160 each. They would have been able to install 400 meters in a matter of weeks.
Florida Gas Utility, which provides natural gas consulting service to the town, obtained three quotes to change out the meters ranging from PMR’s $160 to a high of $1,000 each, Prather said.
The town council was not completely satisfied that would meet state bid laws, and tabled action until compliance could be determined.
The town purchased hundreds of new meters in early 2019 to replacing aging meters believed to be causing the under-billing of many natural gas customers. At of early March, 15 commercial and about 200 residential meters had been replaced.
Thousands Of Pounds Of Food Given Away In Flomaton And Century; Flomaton Will Do It Again
April 26, 2020
Free food distributions were held Saturday in Flomaton and Century, and Flomaton’s mayor said his town is going to do it again.
Over 11,000 pounds of USDA food were distributed in Flomaton Saturday morning. Individuals, local churches and business joined Feeding the Gulf Coast to provide the food to families in need. The Flomaton Town Council approved a recommendation from Mayor Dewey Bondurant establishing the a food bank at the Flomaton Community Center.
“We will do this again for the next two Saturdays,” Bondurant said. NorthEscambia.com will post details on the next giveaway times when they are announced.
A food distribution was also held in Century Saturday morning at the Century Business Center. The drive-thru event was sponsored by Mayor Henry Hawkins “and friends,” along with Feeding the Gulf Coast and the First Baptist Church of Ferry Pass.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Learning To Teach In A Distant Learning World. It’s The New Reality For Student Teachers.
April 26, 2020
University of West Florida student teachers have made the transition to online classrooms alongside their cooperating teachers, implementing new technologies and learning invaluable lessons in agility that will serve them well in their future teaching careers.
The printer whirred in the background as University of West Florida senior, Kate Powers, answered the phone.
“Hello! I’m so sorry for getting back to you so late—I got busy! And now I’m just trying to print off a few assignments, actually they’re time capsules, for students to record living through COVID-19.”
Talking to Powers, who is finishing up her last semester as a student teacher at an elementary school, it’s evident that the work hasn’t stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic—it’s simply changed. These sudden, unprecedented changes are met with gumption by educators and student teachers like Powers.
Argos are resilient. When the waters get rough, they don’t turn back; they raise their sails. The student teachers at UWF will continue on—joining Zoom calls, helping teachers with remote lesson plans and thinking of their students from afar.
Student teaching is the capstone experience for students in the elementary education and ESE/elementary education degrees. During the semester-long experience, teacher candidates gradually assume full teaching responsibilities in a classroom with the guidance and support of an experienced teacher. They, along with the rest of class of 2020, will graduate with an unexpected skill set that will shine throughout their professional lives.
Following the lead of many other school districts, the Santa Rosa County School District, which includes Powers’ assigned school, made the decision to close schools in March. This meant that students wouldn’t return to the classroom following spring break. Teachers were left distraught, wondering how they would adapt to this “new normal.”
“It’s just been so sad for everyone,” Powers said. “I told all of my students on the Thursday before spring break, ‘have a great week’ without knowing it was the last time I would see them.”
In November, the UWF student teaching program began the national accreditation process, and they determined one of their opportunities for improvement was incorporating more technology into the program.
“The changes that came with COVID-19 have accelerated the introduction of technology, which is a good thing for many of our student teachers because they can adopt these skills into their own classrooms someday,” said Kelly Aeppli-Campbell, assistant director of field placement at UWF who works with student teachers as a professor of senior seminar. “Different counties utilize different learning platforms and technologies. This situation allows our students to work with their cooperating teachers and learn the practical application of designing a lot of the coursework for online.”
Aeppli-Campbell says that this shift has jump-started how they will change the program long-term, requiring their student teachers to design Google classrooms as a part of their coursework, among other virtual assignments.
Alongside their cooperating teachers, they’re adapting all facets of their lives, including learning new and utilizing familiar technologies and communication methods, to best serve their classrooms.
For Powers, she’s using this opportunity to help create lesson plans that can be sent home or accessed entirely online.
“It’s been challenging because I work alongside my cooperating teacher in a fifth grade exceptional student education inclusion classroom,” she said. “Prior to COVID-19, I had the experience of learning how to cater to every child’s individual learning needs. Now we’re adapting those practices into work that can be sent home or accessed online.”
In addition to completing her final semester remotely, she’s also been working alongside her mom, who is a fourth grade teacher at Berryhill Elementary School in Milton.
“My mom, grandmother and aunt are all teachers,” she said. “When I was in the second grade, I used to envision how I would set up my own classroom someday. While my on-site student teaching experience has ended, I’m able to work alongside my mom and see the behind-the-scenes action of continuing to teach during this crisis.”
Like Powers, teaching runs in the family for UWF senior Ashtyn Kaunitz, who will also graduate in May. Kaunitz’s love for teaching was born in her grandmother’s first grade classroom, where she was an assistant. She says now that she’s close to completing her degree and student teaching assignment, education has become her passion.
Kaunitz is engaging with her students at Bagdad Elementary school in Milton using Zoom, an interface which allows online video conferencing. She says the response has been positive.
“I’m able to lead Zoom meetings with the students to help them catch up on new concepts and ask questions,” Kaunitz said. “The students are excited to talk to me and eager to turn in their work, despite missing the classroom experience. I think it is an exciting and new way to learn, and it may never need to happen again on this scale.”
Annie Buck is a UWF student who plans to graduate this Spring. She is interning at Montclair Elementary School in the Escambia County School District and like her fellow education students, she notes the challenges of shifting to online learning.
“As teachers, we can only do so much when we are not in the classroom with our students,” Buck said. “Making sure that they do not walk away from their computer during the day is a challenge because there is only so much we can do over the computer.”
Over a short period of time she has been working tirelessly; from keeping students on task to assisting her cooperating teacher with making tote bags to help students ease into distance learning. Despite the challenges, she says an unanticipated positive reaction has emerged from the crisis: a newfound gratitude from her students.
“I think that this situation has changed the way that some of the students view school,” Buck said. “I believe that a big part of the students’ work ethic, while we are out of school, is because of the relationships we have built with the students and also their parents. It has made the process of switching to distance learning easier. The students that I have in my class are making the teacher that I work with, and me, very proud.”
The physical classrooms may be empty, but the compassion from teachers to help their students is as present as ever.
“We want your children to succeed just as much as you do,” Buck said. “They have a special place in our heart, and just because things are tough right now does not mean we have given up, we just work harder.”
DeSantis: No Movie Theaters In May. And Only Sports With No Crowds.
April 26, 2020
Don’t plan on a trip to the movies any time soon, or a concert. And there may be sports, but there won’t be anybody in the stands.
Those were some of the points from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ remarks to the media on Saturday as he outlined a slow rollout of live events an entertainment.
Movies theaters don’t work for the governor due to the “enclosed environment”, and he said there will be “big events here when the time is right…time’s going to be far into the future.”
“We’re not doing in-person sports yet no matter what,” DeSantis said. “That’s just not going to happen in May.”.
But that does not mean no sports. It just means no crowds.
“I’ve been very vocal about trying to get UFC, we have coming. WWE, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson,” the governor said. “That’s for TV … so people have some content.”
DeSantis did offer defense of time in outdoor spaces with social distancing, saying that people are more likely to get get COVID-19 indoors than outdoors.
How Should Florida Re-open The Economy? This Is Your Chance To Tell The State Task Force.
April 26, 2020
The Re-Open Florida Task Force Satuday launched a public comment submission portal open to all Floridians. Public feedback will be a critical component of the Task Force’s final report to Governor Ron DeSantis. All interested Floridians are encouraged to submit their ideas regarding the safe re-opening of Florida’s economy.
The Re-Open Florida Task Force is seeking public comment as it finalizes its recommendations on exactly how to reboot Florida’s economy.
The state launched a public comment submission portal open to all Floridians. The comment form asks for name and contact information and allows for the submission of a comment up to 4,000 characters. Attachments up to 30Mb are also accepted.
Floridians may submit feedback on any topic related to the re-opening of Florida’s economy, including the impacts to small business, healthcare, education, tourism, agriculture, retail, recreation and sports and construction.
“Comments that are not relevant to the work of the Task Force or the safe re-opening of Florida’s economy will not be considered by the Task Force,” the form states. It also notes that comments with threats of violence may be forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for further review.
“Public feedback will be a critical component of the Task Force’s final report to Governor Ron DeSantis,” the Governor’s Office said in a press release.
Latest Data: Local Available Ventilators, Hospital Beds
April 26, 2020
The latest datae from local hospitals show no change in the number of ventilators in use compared to last week and hundreds of available hospital beds.
HOSPITAL DATA APRIL 26
- Bed Capacity: 1,315
- Bed Occupancy: 789
- Beds Available: 526 (-56 since last week)
- Total Ventilators: 220
- Available Ventilators: 175 (-1 since last week)
HOSPITAL DATA APRIL 19
- Bed Capacity: 1,315
- Bed Occupancy: 733
- Beds Available: 582 (+5 since last week)
- Total Ventilators: 220 (-2 since last week)
- Available Ventilators: 176
HOSPITAL DATA APRIL 12
- Bed Capacity: 1,315
- Bed Occupancy: 738
- Beds Available: 577
- Total Ventilators: 222
- Available Ventilators: 183
Birds Cause Power Outage Up To Four Hours For 2,200 EREC Customers Saturday Morning
April 25, 2020
About 2,200 Escambia River Electric Cooperative customers lost power for up to nearly four hours Saturday morning due to birds living in a substation.
The birds had built nests in the Jay power substation that caused an equipment failure about 8:30 a.m.
The resulting power outage included 2,191 EREC customers in the Jay area, along with a few customers across the Escambia River on the west side of Century.
Repairs were complete on the substation by about 10:45 a.m. which restored power to most. However, additional repairs to power circuits away from the substation were completed by 12:30 p.m. to restore a much smaller number of customers.
Atmore Police Investigating Murder; Victim Was Found Shot And Stabbed
April 25, 2020
The Atmore Police Department is investigating an early morning murder near a local apartment complex.
Police responded to an apartment complex on Patterson Street just east of Highway 21 about 1:24 a.m. for a reported assault victim outside the apartments. That’s where they found 43-year old Desmond Deshun Dirden of Atmore with what appeared to be a gunshot and a stab wound, according to Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks.
Dirden was pronounced deceased at the scene.
There have been arrests and no suspects publicly named.
Anyone with information on the murder is asked to call the Atmore Police Department at (251) 368-9141.
File photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
COVID-19 Drive-ThruTesting Monday In Cantonment With No Pre-screening Call Needed
April 25, 2020
Community Health Northwest Florida will offer drive-thru COVID-19 testing Monday in Cantonment.
Testing will be from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday at Carver Park, 208 Webb Street in Cantonment. Unlike other test sites, there is no pre-screening phone call required, and the tests are free with or without insurance.
“Our goal is to get testing to all who feel they need it,” said Chandra Smiley, CEO and executive director of Community Health.
She said patients will be asked their name, date of birth, address, contact phone number and insurance information, if they have insurance.
Community Health also offers drive-thru testing at Cantonment Pediatrics at 470 South Highway 29 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Pre-screening is required for the Cantonment Pediatrics location by calling (850) 746-2684.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida’s Unemployment Website Is Down Until Monday
April 25, 2020
Florida’s troubled unemployment website is down until Monday as the state struggles to catch up with payments to jobless residents.
“In order to maximize payments to claimants, the CONNECT system is offline and currently making payments and processing claims through Monday, April 27 at 8 a.m.,” the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said in a social media statement.”
Visitors to the site on Friday were met with a message about the downtime and a link to an alternative site.
Paper applications are also still available for printing.