Highway 97 Driver Hits Two Culverts, Six Mailboxes, Trash Can, Sign And A Toy Dump Truck
January 9, 2020
A driver ran off Highway 97 and struck two culverts, six mailboxes, a speed limit sign, a trash can and a toy dump truck Wednesday night in Davisville.
The man first left the roadway near Highway 97 and Highway 4 where he hit the first culvert and continued south on the shoulder for several hundred yards, hitting things along the way.
The man, reportedly in his 70s, refused medical transport to the hospital.
The Florida Highway Patrol has not released further details, and there’s no word yet on what charges the driver might face.
Escambia County EMS, the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Woman Charged With Attacking Her Boyfriend With A Hatchet
January 9, 2020
A Cantonment woman has been charged with cutting her live-in boyfriend multiple times with a hatchet.
Jennifer Nicole Franko, 36, was booked into the Escambia County Jail on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon with bond set at $3,000.
At a residence in the 1400 block of Tate School Road, deputies found the victim suffering from several cuts to his torso area and arms. Deputies said he appeared calm and did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He said he had become involved in a verbal altercation because she refused to leave the residence.
During the altercation, Franko allegedly grabbed a hatchet and began cutting the victim before he was able to get the weapon from her, according to an arrest report. The victim also began to record the incident using his cell phone. Franko then grabbed his air mattress and was going to throw it outside because he could not find her cell phone charger. The victim said once at the door, another altercation started before she fell down the stairs.
Franko stated under oath that she became engaged in a verbal altercation because she refused to leave the residence. She told deputies that her boyfriend pulled her off the couch by the legs and shoved her out the front door, causing her to fall down the stairs.
A neighbor told deputies that it appeared Franko simply lost her balance and was she was not shoved hard enough to cause her to fall.
On the way to the jail, Franko made statements that she wanted to hurt other people and needed to be locked up in a psych ward, according to her arrest report.
The victim suffered injuries consistent with his statements, the report states. He was evaluated on scene by Escambia County EMS but was not transported to the hospital.
ECSO: Century Man Goes On Rampage With Baseball Bat In A House With Seven Kids
January 9, 2020
A Century man allegedly went on a rampage, threatening to use a baseball bat to kill everyone in a house occupied by seven children while assaulting an adult female.
Brian O’Neil Madison, 32, was booked into the Escambia County Jail on charges of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery.
Madison had lived with the female victim for 11 months, according to arrest report, and walked into the bedroom screaming about the location of his possessions. He grabbed the victim, snatched her out of the house causing her to fall on the steps and continued screaming at her incoherently. Someone in the house gathered the children and locked them in a bedroom.
Madison reentered the house armed with a baseball bat as the victim tried to hide in a bathroom. He struck the door with the bat, grabbed her by the throat and began to threaten to hit her with the bad. Instead, he smashed the bathroom sink, the report states.
Responding deputies found several broken tables, a smashed bathroom sink and overturned bed in the house.
The report notes none of the children observed any of they violence but could hear yelling and screaming as Madison broke items in the house.
Madison was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $7,500 bond.
Century Library Children’s Area Expansion, Other Improvements Planned At Century And Molino Libraries
January 9, 2020
Escambia County is set to make various modifications and improvements at the Century and Molino branch libraries at a cost of $190,000.
The improvements are planned as follows:
Molino Library
- Modification of existing ramp at the north side of the building to be ADA compliant.
- Installation of ADA power door openers at north and south end of building.
- Create two ADA compliant parking spaces in exist parking lot adjacent to the north ramp. Include all ADA signage, stripping and warning pads as required. .
- Modification of staff circulation desk casework for ADA access.
- Sound dampening panels to improve acoustics.
Century Library
- Expansion of the children’s area by by reducing onsite storage
- Addition of outside amenities (benches, bike rack, tables, etc.)
- Improvements to the public service desk for increased accessibility
- Emergency exit with ramp from the staff workspace.
- New carpet and paint throughout the facility.
The Escambia County Commission approved a contract for the improvements with contractor A.E. Ner, Jr. Inc. during a Tuesday meeting.
Pictured top: The current children’s area at the Century Branch Library. Pictured below: The children’s area is to be expanded into half of this storage room. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century Drafts 10 For Citizens Advisory Task Force
January 9, 2020
The Town of Century has appointed a Citizens Advisory Task Force (CATF) to increase the odds of landing a grant.
By appointing the CATF, the town will receive 10 extra points when applying for a Community Development Block Grant. The council voted to appoint up to 10 members of the current Charter Review Committee to the CATF without notifying or asking any of the individuals in advance.
Mayor Henry Hawkins said the 10 were chosen because they could quickly meet as a task force because they have already taken part in Sunshine Law and ethics training.
The council did not specify any tasks for the CATF to accomplish or set a meeting date.
The 10 members of the Charter Review Committee — and the CATF if they accept their nomination — are : Shelisa McCall Abraham, Mary H. Bourgeois, Cheryl Boutwell, Michelle Cunningham, Evelyn Hammond, Janice M. Jennings, Dynette Lewis, Eunice McKinney, Delores Wright Miley and Jennifer Read.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
It’s That Time Of The Year For Smoke From Controlled Burns
January 9, 2020
It’s the peak of the controlled burn season, according to the Florida Forest Service Blackwater Forestry Center.
“Residents in our area will see smoke coming from burns on both private and public lands. Sometimes the smoke will drift into the more populated areas of our region but the impacts should be short-lived and minor,” the Forest Service said.
For most people, the smoke was drifting from a 1,600 acre controlled burn near Munson in northern Santa Rosa County. There was also a 423 acre controlled burn west of Pine Forest Road in Walnut Hill, a 166 acre burn north of Cotton Lake Road and east of Highway 29 in Escambia County and several smaller burns.
Pictured: A smoke plume from a 423 acre control burn off Pine Forest Road in Walnut Hill, as seen Wednesday afternoon from Highway 97. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Argos For The Win: UWF Athletics Top 10 Moments Of The Decade
January 9, 2020
The lobby of the UWF Field House was remodeled early in 2019 to enhance presentation for the Argos growing treasure chest of athletics awards.
Looking back, the timing was perfect.
With the football team’s national title trophy now the latest, gleaming part of the display, UWF rings in a new year and new decade Wednesday on heels of its greatest past decade of athletics in school history.
From 2011 through 2019, the Argos won five NCAA national championships in four sports, along with four teams finishing national runners-up in various other years.
The Argos surpassed the century mark for Gulf South Conference championships across all sports. They had athletes win national awards for player/athlete of year and had coaches reach rare milestones for career wins.
This is truly the best of times in Argos’ athletics. The UWF brand has furthered its national profile in the NCAA, but most importantly, the Argos have made a major impact in the Pensacola area with awareness and support.
What better way to honor success than a Top 10 list of greatest achievements in the past 10 years? It was not an easy selection. And there are many others worthy of mention.
But here goes.
10. Volleyball twice hosted NCAA D-2 Championships – In addition to winning seven GSC volleyball titles during this decade, including the latest in 2019, plus reaching the NCAA tournament all 10 seasons, the UWF volleyball program under Melissa Wolter hosted the NCAA Championship tournament in 2012 and 2017.
It gave the Argos a chance to twice showcase the sport’s national stage in the Pensacola community. This season was Wolter’s 17th at UWF and 20th overall. She has been part of the coaching staff for USA Volleyball, the NCAA D-2 Women’s Volleyball National Committee and has taken the Argos to the NCAA Tournament in 14 consecutive seasons
9. Women’s Swimming Program Launched, Champions Crowned – In 2013, UWF added its eighth women’s sport when the swimming and diving team began its inaugural season. It didn’t take long to make an impact.
The Argos finished No. 23 nationally in their first season, climbing to a pair of sixth-place NCAA finishes in 2016 and 2017. During the program’s first six seasons, the Argos have honored a national swimmer of the year, Theresa Michalak (2017), who won five D-2 individual event titles in her career and two-time, national diver of the year, Monica Amaral (2016, 17), who swept the 1-meter and 3-meter diving titles.
8. Men’s Golf Has NCAA Champion – Chandler Blanchet created his special legacy in UWF golf program history by rallying from a three-shot deficit on the final three holes to win the 2017 NCAA Division II individual championship. He has gone on to build a solid start to his professional career, playing on the PGA Tours in Canada and Latin America the last two seasons while earning conditional status for the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour.
He joined former UWF player Orjan Larsen (the 1998 D-2 NCAA champion) in winning the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award and the Arnold Palmer Award as medalist in the national championship tournament. Both players were mentored by long-time UWF coach Steve Fell, who has led UWF to a pair of D-2 national team championships and won national coach of the year three times in his 23 seasons.
The following season, UWF finished as 2018 NCAA D-2 national runner-up. In 2017, 2019 the team finished tied for third in the national tournament.
7. Men’s Basketball Has Historic Season – In his third season as UWF coach, Jeff Burkhamer led the Argos to their greatest heights. They reached the 2018 NCAA D-2 Tournament for the first time in school history, following a school-record 28-4 season.
The Argos cracked the national top 10 in the coaches poll for the first time in school history en route to winning their first GSC Tournament title. Though falling against Barry University in the first round NCAA South Regional, the breakthrough season brought large crowds to the UWF Field House and increased awareness in the community.
6. Softball’s Special Year – Under first-year coach Ashliegh McLean in 2019, the Argos produced their second-most wins as an NCAA-member program and second trip in three seasons to the Women’s College World Series. The Argos were ranked No. 1 nationally during four weeks of the regular-season and finished No. 5 in the final coaches poll.
The team’s 54-11 record was surpassed only by a 2005 team that won 60 games. The Argos won the GSC regular-season title, the GSC Tournament title and two NCAA regional titles enroute to reaching the national stage in Denver, Colo.
5. Women’s Basketball Reaches Elite Eight – In 2017, the Argos produced their greatest season in school history with a 28-7 record, including 18-4 in conference play and first-ever GSC regular-season title, plus the first-ever trip to the national quarterfinals.
In D-2, the final eight teams reach the national tournament stage and UWF battled No. 2 ranked California Baptist all the way, before losing 77-69. The game in Columbus, Ohio occurred during the height of March Madness and was shown by Pensacola area sports-theme restaurants.
4. UWF Men’s Tennis Gets Third National Title – After winning back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005, the Argos produced the trifecta in 2014 with a 29-0 record and 5-3 win against Hawaii-Pacific in the national title match. They added a fourth three years later with a 32-1 slate in 2017.
In his 21 seasons, coach Derrick Racine has taken the Argos to the final four an astonishing 11 times. His teams have included four NCAA champions in singles, including Bruno Savi in 2013 and two doubles teams winning national titles, including Alex Peyrot-Pedro Dumont in 2016.
3. UWF Women’s Soccer Back-To-Back Title Appearances – In 2012, UWF capped an undefeated season (22-0-1) with a 1-0 victory against University of California-San Diego in the NCAA Division II national championship game.
Chelsea Palmer, the most decorated women’s soccer player in UWF history, scored the goal in the 76th minute. Palmer also scored the game-winner in the national semifinal. She was named the national player of the year and this year was inducted into the UWF Athletics Hall of Fame.
In 2013, UWF advanced to the national title game again, finishing runner up after a 2-0 loss to Grand Valley State. During the 2019 season, UWF’s long-time coach Joe Bartlinski attained his 500th career win. It’s been quite a decade for this program.
2. Baseball Team Wins 2011 D-2 College World Series – Three years after beloved coach Jim Spooner passed away after battling leukemia, his coaching prodigy, Mike Jeffcoat, took the Argos to the mountaintop.
They won their first NCAA region championship in dramatic fashion at Jim Spooner Field, then rolled through the CWS bracket in their first-ever appearance to win the national title. The Argos won a school-record 52 games that season, shattering the previous best of 43, which also happened under Jeffcoat’s guidance in 2007.
Beyond baseball, however, the win elevated UWF’s entire athletic profile in the Pensacola community and set the stage for what followed in succeeding years.
1. Football Team Wins Historic National Title – An easy choice. This was historic in NCAA football history across all divisions. The riveting, edge-of-seat, 48-40 triumph Dec. 21 against Minnesota State in the Division II title game in McKinney, Texas completed an improbable, dizzying odyssey in just four seasons of existence.
UWF went from a start-up program in 2016 — born a year earlier from practices on a well-used intramural field — to twice playing on ESPN broadcast for a national championship. It’s never happened before in college football history.
The 2017 breakthrough run and title game loss was topped in 2019 by playoff wins over unbeaten, No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 ranked teams, all on the road. Incredible barely describes what this football program has attained in four years.
HONORABLE MENTION
* UWF women’s golfer Paloma Vaccaro finished second in the 2018 NCAA D-2 Women’s Golf Championship tournament, the highest finish in school history.
* The UWF women’s tennis team produced a program-best 31-4 record in 2018 and reached the national championship match before losing to No. 1 ranked Barry University in the final.
Two Vehicles Hit A Horse On Highway 29 In Molino Wednesday Morning
January 8, 2020
Two vehicles struck a horse early Wednesday morning in Molino.
It happened about about 6:05 a.m. on Highway 29 near Duxbury Avenue.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 50-year old Katie Dailey of Atmore first struck the horse with her Dodge Avenger. The horse toppled over the car and landed in the inside lane of Highway 29. John Yuhasz, age 31 of Molino, then struck the horse with his Ford F150.
The FHP said neither driver could see the horse due to the lack of light. Yuhasz’s picked struck another truck driven by 23-year old Makayla Kreakbaum of Molino.
None of the drivers were injured,, and no charges were filed.
The horse did not survive.
The Molino and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Century Woman Airlifted To The Hospital After Wreck Near Century Prison
January 8, 2020
One person was critically injured in a two vehicle crash near the Century Correctional Institution early Wednesday morning.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 33-year old Cynthia Ann Morgan of Century failed to stop at a stop sign on Elsie Davis Road and pulled into the path of a Ford pickup driven by Micheal Lee Parker of Molino.
Morgan was extricated from the car using the Jaws of Life and airlifted by LifeFlight helicopter to Sacred Heart Hospital. Parker was not injured.
The FHP ticketed Morgan for failure to obey a traffic control device.
The Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Flomaton Fire Department, Escambia County EMS and MedStar EMS also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Photos: A Steamy Sunrise At Lake Stone
January 8, 2020
Temperatures just below the freezing mark lead to steam fog, also known as sea smoke, on Lake Stone in Century Wednesday morning, making for a beautiful sunrise.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
