Six Area Teams In Football Playoff Action Friday
November 19, 2019
Here are the football playoff games Friday night in the North Escambia area:
FLORIDA
7A Regional Final
Niceville (12-0) at Edgewater (11-1) 7:30 p.m.
6A Regional Final
Lee (9-3) at Escambia (12-0)
3A Regional Final
Florida High (10-1) at Pensacola Catholic (11-0)
ALABAMA
Class 3A Quarterfinals
T.R. Miller (8-4) at Flomaton (11-1)
The game is rematch of a regular season meeting that Flomaton won 20-12.
AISA State Championship Class AA
Autauga vs. Escambia Academy
The Escambia Academy Cougars will take on Autauga for the AISA Class AA State Championship at Troy University at 3:30 p.m.
NorthEscambia.com photos
UWF Football Receives First Round Playoff Bid
November 19, 2019
The UWF football team has received a bid to the 2019 NCAA Division II Football Playoffs as announced by the NCAA. The Argonauts will travel to Wingate for a Super Region 2 First Round game Saturday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. Eastern at Irwin Belk Stadium.
Both general admission and reserved tickets are available for purchase from the Wingate Ticket Office at here. Seats are $12 for adults and $8 for children in the visiting team section behind the UWF bench.
UWF finished the regular season at 8-2 overall and was second in the Gulf South Conference at 7-1. This marks the program’s second postseason appearance in the last three years and second in the four year history of the program. The Argos won four postseason games – all on the road – on their way to the 2017 national championship game in their previous appearance.
UWF is ranked 22nd in the country and averages 400 yards of total offense and 35.3 points per game. The Argo defense has been one of the stronger units in the country, yielding just 15.1 points per game. They are among the top five in the region in scoring defense, passing yards allowed, red zone defense, punt return defense and turnover margin.
No. 4 seed Wingate is 10-1 on the year and finished second in the South Atlantic Conference at 7-1, with their only loss coming to No. 2 seeded Lenoir-Rhyne three weeks ago. The 17th-ranked Bulldogs are 5-0 at home in 2019.
The UWF-Wingate winner will face No. 1 seed Valdosta State in Valdosta, Ga. on November 30. The other two first round games feature Carson-Newman at Bowie State and Miles at Lenoir-Rhyne.
Woman That Threw Drink At Congressman Matt Gaetz Gets 15 Days
November 18, 2019
The woman accused of throwing a drink at Congressman Matt Gaetz during a June town hall meeting in Pensacola will serve 15 days in federal custody.
Amanda L. Kondrat’yev was charged with assaulting a U.S. Congressman for throwing the drink at Gaetz as he was leaving his “We Won’t Back Down” town hall event at a Pensacola restaurant. The drink hit Gaetz in the back as he was making his way to his waiting car outside the main entrance of the Brew Ha Ha Restaurant.
“”I am pleased with the court’s decision today to sentence Amanda Kondrat’yev to 15 days in jail and one year of probation,” Gaetz said. “Physical assault has no place in our political discourse, and if individuals choose to engage in such activities at our events they will be prosecuted. I am grateful law enforcement and our judicial system recognized this principle today, and I remain committed to maintaining a safe environment for my constituents at future events.”
Kondrat’yev was sentenced Monday in federal court in Pensacola. She will report to U.S. Marshals on December 2, the Monday after Thanksgiving, and begin to serve her sentence.
Kondrat’yev ran against Gaetz for his Congressional seat in 2016, along with Cris Dosev and Mark Wichern. She is also the lead plaintiff in the Bayview Cross case against the City of Pensacola.
Alabama Man Arrested For Twice The Ice Machine Burglary
November 18, 2019
Deputies say an Alabama man was caught red-handed breaking into a Twice The Ice vending machine Sunday night.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said 43-year old Paul Wayne Hurst of Foley was arrested after the burglary of a Twice The Ice machine in the 4000 block of Barrancas Avenue about 10:40 p.m. He has been charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools, criminal mischief with property damage and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was released on an $8,000 bond.
It was at least the fifth Twice The Ice machine burglary in Escambia County this month. Amber Southard, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, said investigators are still working to determine if Hurst is connected the other four burglaries.
The Twice The Ice location in the 5500 block of Saufley Field Road was reported burglarized on November 2, followed by a location in the 13000 block of Johnson Beach Road on Perdido Key on November 9. Locations in the 12200 block of Lillian Highway and the 200 block of South Highway 29, across the from paper mill, were discovered burglarized on Thursday, November 14.
Anyone with information on the burglaries is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Pictured: The ECSO investigates the burglary of the Twice The Ice on Highway 29 in Cantonment on November 14. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Inmate On Death Row Gets Another Death Sentence For Killing Cellmate
November 18, 2019
An inmate already on Florida’s death row has received another death sentence for the first degree premeditated murder of a Santa Rosa Correctional Institute inmate.
Rocky Ali Beamon previously pled guilty to the January 2017 murder of inmate Nicholas Anderson.
Beamon and Anderson were cellmates at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. Beamon punched the victim in the face, tied his hands and feet together, and strangled him with bed sheets. Beamon also stabbed the Anderson in the neck with a homemade weapon, but the cause of death was strangulation.
At the time of the murder, Beamon was already serving a life sentence for a 2005 murder case from Hillsborough County. Earlier this year, Beamon was sentenced to death for the July 5, 2012, murder of an inmate at the Apalachee Correctional Institution in Jackson County.
The investigation was conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Century Grapples With Unpermitted Sewage Sludge Deliberately Dumped In Pond
November 18, 2019
Century is grappling with with unpermitted sewage sludge deliberately dumped in a pond at the town’s wastewater treatment facility (WWTF).
The WWTF reject pond is designed to receive up to 675,000 gallons of effluent that does not meet permit requirements in order to protect surface waters.
As the town was removing floating grasses and weeds from the pond in order to resolve a deficiency listed in a September warning letter from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, it was discovered that biosolids were improperly dumped in the pond. According to the EPA, biosolids are treated sewer sludge.
“The diversion of biosolids to the reject pond is the result of deliberate action of prior staff,” according to Interim City Manager Buz Eddy. It is believed the action may have occurred several years ago, resulting in a pond filled with sludge about six feet deep.
Eddy estimated it will take 112 truck loads to remove the sludge at a cost of $106,400 with a possible discount due to volume.
The town will receive proposals to clean the pond for approval at a later date.
Pictured: The reject pond at the Century Wastewater Treatment Facility. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Book Fair This Week At Kingsfield Elementary
November 18, 2019
The Fall Book Fair is this week at Kingsfield Elementary School.
There are two chances for the public to shop — during Goodies with Grands Tuesday from 1-3 p.m. or Family Night on Thursday from 4-6.
For more information and to shop online, click here.
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A Brush With Kindness: Pensacola Habitat, Church Paint Cantonment Homes
November 18, 2019
Volunteers from Habitat from Pensacola Habitat for Humanity and the Life Changing Experience Worship Center took part in A Brush With Kindness project this past weekend to paint two houses in the Carver Park area of Cantonment.
Volunteers from the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition also volunteered with Habitat to frame new construction Beland Road, just off Chemstrand Road.
For more information on how to volunteer with Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, visit pensacolahabitat.org or call (850) 434-5456 .
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Two houses in the Carver Park community were painted over the weekend through the Brush with Kindness program.
Pensacola Habitat for Humanity
Woman Charged With DUI After Crashing Into FHP Patrol Vehicle
November 18, 2019
An Escambia County woman was charged with driving under the influence after hitting a Florida Highway Patrol patrol vehicle on I-110 Saturday night.
The FHP trooper was blocking an outside lane of the interstate with traffic cones and his Dodge Charger with emergency lights activated at 10:50 p.m.
Stacy M. Paros, 45, failed to move over veered into the lane, striking a traffic cone and the left front of the patrol vehicle, according to a FHP report. She was charged with a DUI and a violation of the move over law. She was later released from the Escambia County Jail on a $500 bond.
There were no injuries in the crash.
This was the second crash involving a FHP trooper in which a driver was charged with DUI during the weekend in Escambia County. For details on the first crash, click here.
Florida Gas Prices Drift Downward Over The Past Week
November 18, 2019
Florida gas prices drifted down a few cents over the last week, according to AAA.
The average price per gallon across the state was $2.37, down three cents from a week ago.
In Escambia County, the average price was $2.36. Sunday night, one Cantonment station was at $2.28.
“On average, Florida drivers are now paying the lowest price for gasoline since February,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Strong gains in fuel supplies and flat crude prices are contributing to the downturn in prices at the pump. Drivers are now paying 43 cents per gallon less than this year’s highest daily price – set back in April. Thanksgiving Day gas prices are poised to be the lowest for the holiday in three years, so long as the state average remains below $2.45 per gallon.”