Pensacola To Host Sun Belt Conference Basketball Championships; Barry Says $3 Million Annual Benefit To Escambia County
March 4, 2020
The Sun Belt Conference announced today that the Pensacola will host the 2021-25 Sun Belt Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.
“These championship events will have an economic impact of nearly $3 million annually to our area with more than 8,500 fans and visitors expected to attend,” Escambia County District 5 Commissioner and Chairman Steven Barry said. “This experience will support more than 600 jobs directly. Commissioner Lumon May was the board member taking part in the majority of the conversations with the Bay Center and Sun Belt leadership, and I’d like to make sure he is recognized for his efforts.”
Over the five-year agreement, the conference is set to return to 12-team formats for both men’s and women’s tournaments. The 2021 Sun Belt Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are scheduled for March 5-8 with first-round and second-round games played simultaneously at the Pensacola Bay Center and Hartsell Arena on the campus of Pensacola State College and semifinal and championship games played at the Bay Center. Both championship games are slated for live coverage with the women’s final on ESPNU and the men’s final on ESPN or ESPN2.
“To build on the rich basketball history across our men’s and women’s programs in the Sun Belt, it was important to find a home for our championships where we could grow and create new traditions for our entire membership,” said Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill. “Pensacola is an energized community that has embraced our conference and already is a premier destination for Sun Belt fans and alumni.”
“We are excited to roll out the red carpet for the entire Sun Belt family and create memorable championship experiences for all,” said Pensacola Sports President/CEO Ray Palmer. “With the staggering number of world-class athletes and champions who call Pensacola home, hosting the Sun Belt Basketball Championships is a great opportunity to showcase our City of Champions.”
The conference is taking its men’s championship to the Sunshine State for the first time, while the women’s championship makes a return for the first time since the 1988 tournament was played at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla.
Pensacola was selected from a bid process managed by the Sun Belt office and a review process voted on and approved by the league’s presidents and chancellors and directors of athletics.
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Bratt Elementary Names Students Of The Month For February
March 4, 2020
Bratt Elementary School has named Students of the Month for February. They are:
Pre-K
Leighton Freeman
Lizzie Stewart
Kindergarten
Kaylee Jace Marshall
Patrick Quinnlelly
Ja’Keelan Perry
Will Norton
1st Grade
Shaleigh Wesley
Cameron Parmer
Tiffin Hubbard
Bentley Kirkland
2nd Grade
Tripp Gilly
Cooper Rice
Riverly Heathcock
Carrie Emmons
3rd Grade
Azyiah Jackson
Lane Campbell
James Kerns
Payton Coon
Elynne Johnson
4th Grade
Jacob Dove
Madalynn Pittman
Tyler McAnally
Michael Greenwell
5th Grade
Dakota Richardson
Annberly Dunn
Hayden Gipson
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Flomaton Beats Northview Baseball (With Gallery); Jay Defeats Northview Softball
March 4, 2020
BASEBALL
Flomaton 13, Northview 0
The Flomaton Hurricanes shut out the Northview Chiefs 13-0 Tuesday night in Bratt.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Caleb Sibernagel earned the win for Flomaton, giving up zero runs on zero hits over one inning, striking out one and walking one.
Bradley Freeman took the loss for Northview in one-third of an inning, allowing four runs and one hit while striking out one.
Will Smith and Hunter Wilson had two hits each for Flomaton. Alex Cash, Nick Turner, Dalton Kent and Hunter Wilson had one hit each.
For Northview, Logan English had a fourth inning single, and Kaden Odom added a hit.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR ADDITIONAL SCORES)
Flomaton 6, Northview 5 (JV)
In junior varsity action, Flomaton came back in the fifth to get past Northview 6-5.
River Ramer took the win for Flomaton allowing one hit and one run in two innings while sitting down two.
Cameron Patrick took the loss for the Chiefs in one inning, allowing four runs on one hit and striking out one.
Joshua Zisa led the Chiefs at the plate, going 1-3. JT Spizzirro went 2-3 for Flomaton.
SOFTBALL
Jay 17, Northview 7
The Jay Lady Royals beat the Northview Lady Chiefs 17-7 Tuesday night in Jay.
Ella Nelson and Bailey Lopez led the Lady Royals at the plate with two hits each. Audrey Watson, Rylie Cochran, Kassidy Nevels, Caitlyn Gavin and Carsyn Seib added a hit apiece.
For Northview, Ashley Ragsdale, Heather Knowles and Kaylin Watson had two hits apiece. Nevaeh Brown, Aubrey Stuckey, Emma Gilmore and Rylee Huskey had a hit each.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Three Down: Tate Baseball Sweeps Escambia
March 4, 2020
Tuesday was a good night for Tate High Aggie baseball with three wins over the Gators of Escambia High School.
Tate 10, Escambia 4
The Tate Aggies handily beat the Escambia Gators 10-4 on Tuesday.
Josiah Glodfelter went five innings for the aggies, giving up four runs on six hits while striking out six.
Jackson Penton and Darrien McDowell had a couple of hits each for the Aggies. Chase Tolbert, Adam Nisewonger, Jordan Jarman, Zak Licastro, Cole Fryman and Trevor Norton each had a hit.
Tate 4, Escambia 2 (JV)
Tate 16, West Florida 0 (Freshmen)
The Freshmen Tate High School Aggies beat West Florida 16-0 in just three innings Tuesday.
James Davis led the Aggies at the plate with three hits. Ethan McAnally and Byrd added two each.
Tate Aggies Tennis Boys And Girls Defeat Escambia
March 4, 2020
Tate High Aggie Tennis beat the Escambia Gators Tuesday night. Boys won 6-1, and girls won 7-0.
The Tate Boys are now 2-3 one the season, and the girls moved to 4-1.
Tate Tennis will be at home Thursday against Milton.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Navy Helicopter Pilot Reports Church Fire. Here’s What The Fire Department Found.
March 4, 2020
Multiple fire departments were dispatched to a possible church fire reported by a Navy helicopter pilot Tuesday night.
Whiting Field reported the fire to Escambia Fire Rescue about 8:30 p.m. using GPS coordinates that led dispatchers to believe the fire was at the Dry Springs Community Church on Pineville Road, a dirt road west of Walnut Hill in a remote area of extreme western Escambia County near the Perdido River.
Firefighters searching the area found a burning debris pile some distance away from the only church in the area.
The Walnut Hill, McDavid, Molino, McDavid, Century and Cantonment stations of Escambia Rescue, Atmore Fire Department and Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department were all initially dispatched to the reported church fire. All units except Walnut Hill were canceled before arrival.
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Century Considers Company To Replace 400 Gas Meters, Postpones Over Bid Law Concerns
March 3, 2020
The Town of Century considered a proposal Monday night to hire company for about $64,000 to replace natural gas meters, but the council stepped back and did not vote over concerns if state bid laws were met.
Interim City Administrator Vernon Prather recommended that the town hire Precision Meter Repair (PMR) of Plant City to replace 400 residential meters at $160 each.
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 underbilling of many natural gas customers. Since that time, 15 commercial and about 200 residential meters have been replaced. With their other daily tasks, town employees have not been able to progress any faster, leading to Prather’s recommendation to hire an outside firm that could complete the task by installing 400 meters in matter of weeks.
The town does not have a sufficient balance in its gas fund to pay an outside company to replace the meters, but Prather recommended using Local Option Sales Tax funds.
Gulf Power: We Delivered Best-Ever Service Reliability In 2019
March 3, 2020
Gulf Power Company says they delivered their best-ever service reliability in 2019, thanks to the company’s efforts to make the energy grid stronger and more storm-resilient, according to information filed today with the Florida Public Service Commission.
“Our ongoing investments in strengthening the grid are delivering real results and improving service for our customers,” said Marlene Santos, president of Gulf Power. “We’re continuing to step up our investments over the next several years in storm hardening projects and smart grid technology that will help us deliver even more reliable service to our customers, in good weather and bad.”
The average amount of time that a Gulf Power customer experienced an outage was approximately 25% less than in 2018, the company said in thanks to investments to strengthen the energy grid. The company also achieved best-ever performance for the average number of momentaries or flickers experienced by customers, which are most commonly caused by animals or tree limbs touching power lines.
Between 2019-21, Gulf Power is investing nearly $100 million in storm hardening and reliability improvement efforts. The long-term storm hardening efforts include replacing wooden transmission structures with concrete or steel; hardening the distribution power lines to extreme wind loading criteria; and upgrading flood monitoring at several substations, which will go beyond 2021.
Reliability improvements underway include the installation of 5,500 automated lateral switches by 2021, with the first 2,000 completed last year. Automated lateral switches on power poles help detect and respond to a power outage on a line without having to send a lineworker out. The device can decrease the number of customers affected by outages and prevent temporary issues on the grid, such as a tree branch that falls across a line without breaking it, from becoming extended outages.
Other smart grid investments, such as self-healing network devices, are helping reduce outage times and, in some cases, avoid outages altogether for customers.
Other measures Gulf Power uses to increase reliability include:
Assessing the condition of power lines and other infrastructure using drones, which are more efficient, safer and can spot potential outage issues before they occur.
Clearing vegetation – a major cause of power outages – from more than 9,000 miles of power lines each year.
Inspecting all of the company’s distribution power poles within an eight-year cycle.
While weather plays a part in electric service reliability, the investments Gulf Power is making to improve reliability can help offset those impacts. For example, this January Northwest Florida had three times the number of lightning strikes compared to January 2019, but Gulf Power’s reliability was twice as good this January compared to a year earlier.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Nine Mile, Highway 29 Closure Rescheduled For Sunday Night
March 3, 2020
The nighttime lane and road closure on Highway 29 and Nine Mile Road have been rescheduled due to forecasted inclement weather.
Drivers traveling Highway and Nine Mile Road in Escambia County will experience the following lane and road closures from 8 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday as crews pour the deck for the final section of the new bridge.
- Southbound Highway 29: The outside, southbound lane will be closed.
- Nine Mile Road: All traffic will be directed to the on and off-ramps at the U.S. 29 overpass. Traffic control officers will be on site to help direct motorists. The following detour will be in place:
- Eastbound Nine Mile Road will be reduced to one lane, directed to Highwya 29 southbound, U-turn at West Hood Drive, and return to Nine Mile Road.
- Westbound traffic will perform the same operation at West 9 1/2 Mile Road.
- Additionally, Highway 29 traffic between Interstate 10 and 9 1/2 Mile Road may experience alternating lane closures as crews continue drainage and paving operations.
Construction activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather. Drivers should use caution, especially at night, when traveling through the work zone, and watch for construction workers and equipment entering and exiting the roadway.
Pictured: Highway 29 southbound at Nine Mile Road Tuesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Second Arrest Made In Social Media Shooting Threat Against Middle School In Atmore
March 3, 2020
Escambia County (AL) Sheriff Heath Jackson has confirmed a second arrest in connection with a social media threat against Escambia County Middle School in Atmore.
One other juvenile was previously arrested for the threat made February 25 alleging violence the following day. The names of the juveniles have not been released.
In a post widely shared, someone wrote that “I will be shooting up the shooting up the school tomorrow I will hurt everybody”, and it continued with a list of student names and the name of a staff member (redacted from the image).
Extra security was on campus as a result of the threat.
“All emergency protocols were activated and due to efforts by school staff, administrators, parents, and law enforcement, we were able to insure that no child was placed in a dangerous situation and we were able to maintain the goal of educating our children in a safe environment,” Jackson said Monday. “We would like to ask the parents in the community to monitor their children’s social media platforms and remind them that threats are not something to joke about.”