Here’s How Alabama Is Handling The Coronavirus, From Closing Beaches To Takeout Only Eats
March 20, 2020
The State of Alabama has implemented several new regulations in an effort to help curb the coronavirus spread.
Those regulations include:
- All restaurant, bars, breweries are limited to delivery or pick-up. Hospital food service is exempted from this order.
- All schools and universities are ordered to close.
- All gatherings of 25 or more of those that cannot maintain a 6-foot distance between people are prohibited.
- All Alabama beaches are closed.
- All senior citizen gatherings, senior citizen centers across the state are closed.
- All preschools, childcare centers are closed statewide. This ban doesn’t apply to childcare centers serving families of government, first responders or healthcare workers.
- Visitors and non-essential personnel are banned at hospitals and nursing homes. There are exceptions for end-of-life and maternity situations.
- All elective medical and dental procedures are delayed. Medical offices remain open and are serving patients.
Click here to read the full order.
Escambia Tax Collector Office Closed; Services Available By Phone Or Online
March 20, 2020
All Escambia County Tax Collector offices are now closed to the public, but many services are still available online or by phone.
From Tax Collector Scott Lunsford:
Employees will continue to assist as many citizens as possible by way of a phone queue. All current appointments are cancelled.
For service, visit www.EscambiaTaxCollector.com and click “Join the Line” at the top. Pick an office and follow the prompts. Calls to customers who join the phone queue will be returned in the order in which they joined. A valid phone number must be provided. Call-backs will be from a 438 (Escambia County) or 595 (State of Florida) exchange.
Assistance for the following transactions will be processed through the virtual phone queue:
- Title services (to the extent possible)
- Original registrations (new tags; renewals are online only)
- Print electronic titles
- Handicapped parking placards
- Florida birth certificates
- Surrender plates
- Driver license (to the extent possible)
If you are currently Real ID compliant and your last driver license or identification card renewal was done in an office, you may be eligible to renew online. A 30-day extension has been issued for those citizens those licenses or identification cards expire between March 16, 2020 and April 15, 2020.
The following transactions are available online only:
- • Property Tax Payments – Property tax payments are due by the end of March and at this time, there is no provision of law to extend the statutory delinquency deadline for the payment of real estate and tangible property taxes
- • Business Tax Receipt – Businesses can renew and print their business tax receipts online
- • BTExpress – Citizens and business owners can apply for a new business tax receipt or edit information on your current account
- • Tag Renewal – Renew online and pick up the same or next business day in one of our convenient drive-thrus or have the registration mailed to you
- • Hunting and Fishing License – Purchase or renew online
Full payment of fees is required at time of service, and payment may be made by eCheck, debit, or credit cards.
Payments made by eCheck are fee-free. Credit and debit transactions are subject to convenience fees charged by the payment vendor(s). If you must pay by cash, you may visit a drive thru at our Downtown, Marcus Pointe, or Molino offices.
One Dead, Two Injured In Escambia County Triple Shooting
March 19, 2020
One person was killed and two others were injured in a triple shooting Thursday afternoon in Escambia County.
It happened at a home on 61st Avenue not far from Fairfield Drive. The three victims were found inside the home. The two injured persons were transported to an area hospital suffering from gunshot wounds.
Caleb Gladden, 19, was taken into custody by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Additional information has not been released as the investigation is underway.
City Of Pensacola Closes Restaurant Dining Rooms, Movie Theaters; Escambia County Could Follow
March 19, 2020
Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson has ordered restaurants in the city to close their dining rooms for two weeks starting Monday. The order also closes movie theaters and other entertainment venues.
Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May, speaking at a press conference at Pensacola City Hall, said the Escambia County Commission will consider similar closures during a special meeting Friday morning.
“These were incredibly difficult decisions, and they are not ones that I take lightly,” Robinson said. “I know the impact on our restaurant and local business industry will be felt by many, but the safety and health of our community is my top priority. In this unprecedented situation that we are facing, I would rather take aggressive preventative action to protect the public than to not do enough and risk an even greater negative impact to our community.”
Robinson’s order includes all restaurants in the city limits with seating for eight or more people. The order does not apply to dining at the airport or hospitals.
Robinson encouraged the restaurants to offer drive-thru, curbside pickup or delivery.
Click to read the city ordinance.
Escambia, Santa Rosa Beaches To Remain Open; Okaloosa And Walton Beaches Close
March 19, 2020
The beaches in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties will remain open for now. Gatherings should still be limited to 10 or fewer people following CDC guidelines, officials said Thursday.
Hotels on Pensacola Beach will reduce occupancy to 50%.
Okaloosa and Walton counties closed their public beaches Thursday morning.
In Alabama, beached will close at 5 p.m. Thursday under order from the governor.
Pictured: Pensacola beach on Wednesday. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Police Make Arrested In 35-Year Old Cold Case Using DNA, Cigarette Butt
March 19, 2020
After 35 years, an Escambia County man has been charged with murdering a woman in Pensacola.
Daniel Leonard Wells, 57, is charged with homicide and sexual battery in the death of 23-year old Tonya Ethridge McKinley.
She was killed in the early-morning hours of January 1, 1985. Her partially nude body was found on the side of Peak Drive near Scenic Highway about four hours after she was last seen alive at Darryl’s Restaurant behind what was then University Mall. The investigation found she had been strangled to death and sexually assaulted.
Wells was developed as the suspect after a DNA sample from the crime scene ran through a database identified some of his’ relatives. Police created a family tree and tracked him down. They surreptitiously obtained a cigarette butt discarded by Wells and made a DNA match to the crime scene.
Cantonment Man Charged With Stealing Gun, Other Items From Godmother While She Was In Jail
March 19, 2020
A Cantonment man was charged with stealing a gun and other items from his godmother’s home in Cottage Hill while she was in jail.
Travis Paul Sterback, 23, was charged with armed burglary, two counts of grand theft of a firearm, petit theft and criminal mischief.
Sterback allegedly stole multiple items from the home on Cottage Hill Road, including a .22 caliber rifle, a six-round magazine, a cell phone, camcorder and an antique Thermos valued at $20, an arrest report says. A small $40 safe was also forced open with paperwork missing, according to the victim.
The rifle was later pawned by Sterback, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Escambia County COVID-19 Patient Traveled To France
March 19, 2020
We are learning more about the travel histories of the two people from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties confirmed to have COVID-19.
On Monday, the Florida Department of Health announced Escambia County’s first case. New information shows he was a 53-year old man that had visited France.
A Santa Rosa County patient died last week while being treated at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola. He was a 71-year old man with underlying medical conditions that had traveled to Egypt and Israel.
Navy Federal Credit Union reported Tuesday evening that an employee that last worked March 14 on the Pensacola campus had tested presumptively positive for COVID-19. Health officials say he had no relation to the other Escambia County, and they are working to confirm his presumptive diagnosis.
Four other Florida Panhandle cases have been reported in Okaloosa County. The latest was a 24-year old woman that traveled to Colorado. Other Okaloosa County cases are a 66-year old female that traveled to Japan, a 78-year old female that had traveled to Italy and a 61-year old female with a travel history that included Florida, California and Mexico.
City, County, Sacred Heart To Open Drive-Thru Testing Site In Brownsville
March 19, 2020
Escambia County, the City of Pensacola, Ascension Sacred Heart and Community Health Northwest Florida have partnered to open a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at Brownsville Community Center at 3200 West De Soto Street. It will open on Monday, March 23.
All patients are required to be screened before arriving at the drive-thru testing center by calling the Ascension Sacred Heart COVID-19 Screening Call Center at (850) 746-2684. Those who have not been screened over the phone will not be provided access to the drive-thru test center.
Once patients have been pre-screened through the call center for symptoms, they will be sent to the testing center for a nasal swab.
The screening call center will be open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The drive-thru clinic will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We believe resources need to be in every neighborhood,” said District 3 County Commissioner Lumon May. “After much conversation with local leaders we decided to do something that could benefit the entire neighborhood. I am very proud of this partnership with our health care providers, faith-based community and local government to make our community better during this unprecedented global event.”
Flomaton To Strictly Enforce Nightly Curfew For Minors
March 19, 2020
The Town of Flomaton will be strictly enforcing a curfew for minors, according to Flomaton Police Chief Chance Thompson.
No unaccompanied minor under the age of 19 will be allowed in any public place or establishment from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m during the week or 12:01 a.m. until 6 a.m. on the weekends. Parents and guardians of minors can also be guilty of allowing a minor to violate the ordinance. Any owner, operator or employee of any establishment can be convicted for allowing a minor to remain on the premisseesduring curfew hours.
The ordinance has been on the books in Flomaton since 1998.
“Now it is very important especially with the current issues with minors being out of school,” Flomaton Police Chief Chance Jackson said. “Our officers will be strictly enforcing this ordinance to help assure the safety of our community’s children.”
The curfew does not apply when the minor was:
- Accompanied by the minor’s parent or guardian;
- On an errand at the direction of the minor’s parent or guardian, without any detour or stop;
- In a motor vehicle involved in interstate travel;
- Engaged in an employment activity, or going to or returning home from an employment activity, without any detour or stop;
- Involved in an emergency;
- On the sidewalk abutting the minor’s residence or abutting the residence of a next door neighbor if the neighbor did not complain to the police department about the minor’s presence;
- Attending an official school, religious, or other recreational activity supervised by adults and sponsored by the town, a civic organization, or another similar entity that takes responsibility for the minor, or going to or returning home from, without any detour or stop, an official school, religious, or other recreational activity supervised by the town, a civic organization, or another similar entity that takes responsibility for the minor;
- Exercising First Amendment rights protected by the United States Constitution, such as the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, and the right of assembly; or
- Married or had been married or had disabilities of minority removed in accordance with the appropriate state laws.
Flomaton has also closed all parks to persons of all ages.