Century Set To Finalize Employment Contract With Vernon Prather As Interim City Manager
January 19, 2020
The Town of Century is set to finalize an employment contract this week with Vernon Prather as interim city manager.
Prather will be paid $40 an hour for 30 hours per week, or $1,200 per week. He will have complete control over his work schedule and hours worked. If he exceeds 30 hours per week, he will not be paid overtime but will be allowed to take comp time off at his discretion. He will also receive a $600 per month vehicle allowance, but will not receive employee benefits such as vacation, retirement or insurance.
The council voted 4-1 back in December to hire Prather. Council member James Smith cast the dissenting vote, saying Prather was not Century’s “saviour” and that the town was getting “robbed”. Smith said the town could not afford Prather and could user the same funds to hire three employees.
Prather served Gulf Breeze in various positions from 2006 to 2017, including director of public services, operations consultant and assistant city manager. He also hold wastewater and water system certifications.
The council will have the right to suspend Prather with full pay and benefits at anytime if the council and Prather mutually agree, or if the council votes to suspend him for just cause after he’s been given 10 days notice.
If the council terminates Prather before the expiration of the contract, they will owe him a lump sum cash payment of six weeks salary. Prather can be terminated for cause including criminal conviction. If Prather resigns, he will provide 45 days advance notice, unless all parties agree otherwise.
If the council approves the employment contract with Prather, it will be retroactive to January 1. The contract will end December 1, 2020, unless extended.
The Century Town Council is set to vote on the contract during their regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
What’s Closed For The MLK Holiday, Trash Pickup Info
January 19, 2020
Here are closures in Escambia County and the Town of Century in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Monday, January 20.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Escambia County offices and departments closed Monday, Jan. 20:
- Escambia County Board of County Commissioners - All departments, including:
- West Florida Public Libraries (All locations – normal hours will resume Tuesday, Jan. 21)
- The Escambia County Animal Shelter
- Escambia County Property Appraiser
- Escambia County Tax Collector
- Escambia County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s office
- Escambia County Area Transit
Exceptions:
- The Perdido Landfill will be open
TOWN OF CENTURY
All town of Century office will be closed. A council meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 21.
ECUA
ECUA business offices will be closed on Monday, January 20, in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday. However, residential and commercial sanitation collections for ECUA customers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties will be unaffected by the holiday and will be carried out as usual. Customers may contact ECUA Customer Service at (850) 476-0480 for more information.
Escambia County Arbor Day Tree Giveaway Held Saturday
January 19, 2020
A tree giveaway was held Saturday in observance of Arbor Day was held Saturday.
Escambia County held the tree giveaway and public planting Saturday morning at Beulah Middle School. Support for the event wass provided by the Florida Forest Service, Escambia County Natural Resources Management Division and UF/IFAS Extension with help from volunteers including the Beulah Middle School FFA and International Paper.
The event began with a tree planting ceremony followed by a tree giveaway and educational sessions. Families received two free native 1-gallon trees while supplies lasted, including swamp chestnut oak, chickasaw plum, red maple and mayhaw.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Stop Crape Murder: Don’t Cut Back Your Myrtles
January 19, 2020
by the Santa Rosa County Extension Service
Proper pruning is one of the most misunderstood of all gardening practices, yet it is one of the most important procedures in a landscape. A common victim of bad, improper pruning is the crape myrtle. Crape myrtles will occasionally need pruning to obtain the desired landscape effect, but many times these plants are butchered for no good reason.
According to Dan Gill, LSU Ag Center Horticulturist, an unfortunate trend in crape myrtle pruning is to lop off their tops, which results in a tree reduced to large branches ending in stubs. The lush growth that occurs at these cut sites appears vigorous but is actually structurally weak and more susceptible to fungus diseases such as powdery mildew. And when pruning is conducted improperly over several years, unsightly large, swollen knobs form at the point where pruning is done each year.
Flowers are not the only virtue of this tree. Many varieties have beautiful bark and growth habits that can be enjoyed all year if trees are not heavily pruned.
Crape murder
This unsightly, ugly pruning known as crape murder is not recommended. Once it’s done, it ruins the tree’s graceful natural shape for the rest of its life.
Often gardeners think they are supposed to prune their crape myrtles that way, and nothing could be farther from the truth. Many think that crape myrtles need to be cut way back to bloom well. This is not accurate. The flower clusters may be larger on lopped trees, but the added weight on the ends of long branches causes them to bend over awkwardly, especially after it rains. And since the tree is smaller, it actually produces fewer flower clusters.
Many people say they need to cut a crape myrtle back because of its size. If the height of the crape myrtle is not causing a problem with a nearby structure or power lines, there is little reason to reduce the tree’s height. To cut a crape myrtle back for the vague reason of “it just seems too large” ignores the fact that these plants are trees. They are supposed to be large.
To prune a crape myrtle properly, first decide if it needs to be pruned. As with any pruning project, you must have a specific, valid purpose in mind before you begin. In other words, if you can’t come up with a good reason to prune your tree – leave it alone. If you do see something that calls for pruning, study the tree carefully and determine what needs to be pruned to accomplish the specific purpose identified.
There are a few valid reasons for pruning a crape myrtle. One reason is to eliminate crossed and rubbing branches because rubbing branches can lead to open wounds.
Over time, branches that are too low on the trunk will need to be pruned to raise the canopy. We often need to remove weak, thin branches from the inner part of the tree to produce a cleaner-looking tree. Selected branches may need to be pruned back to a side branch or the trunk to create a shapelier tree. Of course, you need to prune to keep suckers removed from the base of the trunk.
Generally, avoid cutting back or shortening branches much larger than your finger, although cutting larger branches back to a side branch or to the trunk when needed is fine.
Visitors to our area often marvel over our crape myrtles. During summer, their colorful flowers, attractive bark and beautiful shape make them among our most valuable landscape plants. Please appreciate this – and stop the unfortunate trend of hacking them back.
Pictured top: Crape myrtle trees do not need pruning for new growth. Pictured below: These Crape myrtles were ruined with unnecessary topping. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com.
Guy Thompson, Former Milton Mayor And United Way Boss, Headed To Federal Prison
January 18, 2020
Guyland Thompson, former Milton mayor and formerexecutive director of the United Way of Santa Rosa County, was sentenced Friday to 51 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion.
Thompson, 65, of Milton, was ordered to forfeit $221,868.28 seized from his bank accounts and pay an additional monetary judgment of $430,132.33.
Thompson pled guilty last May to 20 counts of wire fraud and three counts of tax evasion stemming from his embezzlement of funds from United Way of Santa Rosa County while he ran the organization. Between at least 2011 and 2018, Thompson embezzled over $650,000 from the charity. He used his position and access to the charity’s records and bank accounts to steal money from the charity for years by conducting a series of complicated financial transactions to cover his tracks. He also made false representations to board members, employees, bank tellers, and United Way Worldwide to keep his fraud undetected for so long.
Thompson then failed to report the extra income from his embezzlement scheme to the IRS.
“These crimes affected not only an outstanding charitable organization, but also the many individuals who depended on multiple nonprofits to help them deal with day-to-day challenges. This defendant violated the trust of all these innocent victims, and this sentence reflects the harm he did to so many,” said Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
As a result of Thompson’s crimes, United Way of Santa Rosa County lost its charter with the international organization and was forced to close. The restitution Thompson was ordered to pay will be divided between United Way of Santa Rosa County and 15 local charities that previously had been supported by it.
The United Way of Escambia County later expanded their service area to include Santa Rosa County and changed the organization’s name to the United Way of West Florida.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Pensacola Offering Creditor Monitoring To Thousands After Cyberattack
January 18, 2020
The City of Pensacola is offering credit monitoring to an estimated 57,000 people following a ransomware cyberattack last month.
Pensacola’s computer network suffered the attack during the early morning hours of December 7.
City officials say any current customer of Pensacola Energy, an employee or retiree of the city, an active applicant or recipient of Section 8 Housing assistance and/or a vendor of the city who supplied a social security number rather than an federal tax ID number are all at risk.
The personal information that may have been obtained by the hackers includes individuals’ first and last names; social security number, driver license number, or other identification number; bank account number, credit card number, or debit card number.
The city is now offering LifeLock credit monitoring and identity theft protection services via a letter in the mail. The letter is described as nondescript with a return address in Suwanee, Georgia.
Anyone with questions regarding the security breach or personal information that was kept by the city should contact LifeLock at (877) 368-4457 by April 30, 2020.
Woman Cited After Rear-ending School Bus With 14 Students On Board
January 18, 2020
A woman was cited by troopers after rear-ending a school bus in Escambia County Friday.
The Escambia County school bus was stopped with red lights flashing and stop sign deployed on Tower Ridge Road when it was rear-ended by a 2007 Buick Lucerne driven by 59-year old Donna Edwards, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The Buick became pinned under the bus, but Edwards was not injured.
The driver of the bus, Brittaney Gay of Walnut Hill, and the 14 students on board were also not injured.
Edwards was cited for careless driving and knowingly operating a motor vehicle with suspended or revoked license.
Tate Varsity Cheerleaders Take Regionals, Advance To State Finals
January 18, 2020
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The Tate High School varsity cheerleaders won their third consecutive FHSAA Region 1 championship Friday night. This year, they competed in the Medium Varsity division at Oakleaf High School in Orange Park.
With the win, the Tate cheerleaders advance to the finals at the FHSAA state competition January 31-February 1 in Gainesville.
Last season, the Tate varsity cheerleaders won the state championship and placed fifth in the nation.
Pictured are (front, L-R) coaches and seniors Morgan White (coach), Madelyn Ray, Trista King, Kensley Foley, Shelby Fleming (captain), Bailey Carter (captain), Kyndal Milsted, Abigail Manoso, Keaden Martin, Annie Wiggins (assistant coach), (back, L-R) Briana Ragan, Alana Polk, Emily McNair, Kyndell Ammons, Erin Johnson, Morgan Warrington, Ashlyn NeSmith, Angelena Tamoria, Hagyn Helton, Ashlie Houdashelt, Paige McKinney, Emma Romero and Landry Bellard. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Registration Underway At Molino Ballpark, Northwest Escambia
January 18, 2020
Molino Ballpark
Molino Ballpark spring registration is underway though next Saturday online only.
Register for tee ball, baseball and softball through 11:59 .m. on January 25 at www.molinoballpark.com. Further information and costs can be found on the website.
Northwest Escambia
Registration is underway from Northwest Escambia tee ball, baseball and softball. Registration is open online at www.nwebaseball.com through January 31. Additional information is available on the website.
In-person registration will also be held from 9 a.m. until noon on January 25 and February 1 at the Bradberry Park Fieldhouse.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Jury Selected In Case Of Man Accused Of Murdering Three Family Members Four Years Ago
January 18, 2020
A jury has been seated for the trial of an Escambia County man accused of the murder of three family members over four years ago.
Jury selection wrapped up Friday and opening statements will begin Tuesday morning in the case against Donald Hartung. He is facing three counts of first degree premeditated murder in the death of his mother and two half-brothers, Voncile Smith, John Smith, and Richard Smith. State Attorney Bill Eddins said prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
All three bodies were found on July 31, 2015, in their home on Deerfield Drive. All three were beaten with a claw hammer and their throats slit, and Richard Smith was also shot in the head.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigation first found witchcraft may have been involved in the killings. But further investigation revealed the motive may have been more financially motivated.