Fields Of Faith: Community Worship Service Held (With Gallery)
October 10, 2019
Northview High School’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes hosted their annual Fields of Faith Wednesday night in the Tommy Weaver Memorial
“Through our faith our focus changes,” said guest speaker Garrison Strahan, student pastor at First Assembly of God in Bay Minette. “There is nothing you can’t do if you have faith.”
Fields of Faith is national student-led initiative. “Students invite, pray for, share with, and challenge their peers to read the Bible and follow Jesus Christ. An athletic field provides a neutral, rally point where a community can come together,” according to national organizers.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Molino Park Elementary Fall Carnival Is Friday
October 10, 2019
The annual Molino Park Elementary School Fall Carnival is Friday from 5: until 7:30 p.m. at the school. A live auction will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The event will feature food, games, music, vendors, a bake-off, silent auction, face painting, bounce house, photo booth, cake walk, and plenty of fun.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
One Year Since Hurricane Michael (With Photo Galleries)
October 10, 2019
October 10 marks one year since Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle.
Mexico Beach was ground zero. It was near total devastation from the Category 5 hurricane’s 160 mph winds. The destruction stretched far inland into the small towns north of the coast, like Marianna.
“My home, the city of southern charm, has been laid to waste. Honestly the pictures do not do the destruction, justice. May God be with all of us.”
Those were the words of U.S. Army combat photographer SPC Scott Hagan after seeing the devastation of Hurricane Michael in his hometown of Marianna as he documented the damage in photos published on NorthEscambia.com.
Eight months later, last June, he returned to Marianna and documented the slow recovery process.
“I rode around the remnants of a town I called home. My first time being back in the City of Southern Charm since Hurricane Michaels initial landfall and I’m still in disbelief. These little farming communities that dot the landscape of the Panhandle of Florida remain unrecognizable. These pictures were not taken days, nor weeks, or even a couple months after the wrath of God stormed upon land,” Hagan said. “This is how people are living, working, and picking up the pieces of what’s left of not only their lives, but the communities we all call home.”
“And once the storm was over, you don’t remember how you made it through the terror, or how you managed to survive it’s power. You aren’t even sure if in its aftermath, is the nightmare really over? But one thing is certain, when you came out of the hurricane, you were no longer the same the person who greeted the storm. That’s why God sent the storm in the first place; because smooth seas don’t make for skilled sailors,” he said.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from Mexico Beach, click here.
For a photo gallery from Marianna just days after the storm, click here.
For Marianna photos eight months after the hurricane, click here.
Pictured above and first two photos below: Near total destruction is seen in Mexico Beach in these NorthEscambia.com photos by Sheena Carach. Pictured remaining photos: The destruction in Marianna days after Michael in photos by SPC Jeffrey Scott Hagan for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
To see more of Hagan’s pictures, click here.
Cat Country 98.7 Named CMA Small Market Station Of The Year
October 10, 2019
Cat Country 98.7’s Brent Lane and Candy Cullerton received a surprise phone call Wednesday morning from country music megastar Carrie Underwood.
“I have some news for you this morning,” Underwood said. “Congratulations! WYCT (Cat Country 98.7) you are the CMA broadcast award winners for Small Market Station of the Year!”
“Thank you so much Carrie Underwood,” Candy said, as Brent remained pretty much speechless for a few seconds, which is saying a lot for a morning radio host.
“I have no words,” Brent said.’ Thank you so much….What a thrill to represent our community in Nashville this year. I am so excited.”
“You deserve it,” Underwood replied.
Cat Country will receive the Country Music Association’s Small Market Station of the Year Award during the annual CMA Awards in Nashville on November 13. The CMA awards will be telecast locally on WEAR 3.
Stations are judged by a panel of broadcast professionals on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and format leadership.
Cat Country 98.7 was named CMA Station Of The Year once before in 2017. The station is locally owned by ADX Communications.
Pictured top: Morning hosts Brent Lane and Candy Cullerton react to a phone call from Carrie Underwood letting them know Cat Country 98.7 has been named CMA Small Market Station of the Year. Courtesy image for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Three People Killed In Lillian Bridge Crash
October 10, 2019
Three people were killed in a fiery crash Thursday morning on the Highway 98 Lillian Bridge in Escambia County.
Russell Joseph Drummund, age 19 of Elberta, was traveling east from Alabama on the bridge about 4:50 a.m. when his 2007 Chevrolet Impala crossed the centerline into the westbound lane and collided head-on with a Peterbilt box truck hauling lumber, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Drummund and his passenger, 19-year old Christian Coleton Beech of Lillian, were both ejected and pronounced deceased on the scene. The driver of the truck, 48-year old Sheldon Ray Liddell of Pensacola, was also pronounced deceased on scene.
The bridge was expected to remain closed into the afternoon for cleanup and the investigation.
Molino Man Pleads Guilty, Sentenced On Child Porn Charges
October 9, 2019
A Molino man was sentenced to state prison Tuesday on child pornography charges.
Steven Ryan Godwin pleaded guilty to nine counts of possession of child pornography and was sentenced by Judge Jan Shackelford to nine and a half years in state prison. He will also be designated as a sexual offender upon release.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement had charged Godwin with 20 counts counts of possession of child pornography for images found on his cellphone, along with one count of transmitting child pornography for a file he allegedly sent by Facebook Messenger. According to an arrest report, the Facebook message depicted an exposed 11-13 year old nude female sitting against a wall.
In August 2018, FDLE agents received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that a suspect was uploading child porn to another user on Facebook. Authorities were able to trace the uploads to a residence in the 3500 block of Highway 97 in Molino.
FDLE agents obtained a search warrant that was served at Godwin’s residence in September 2018. When the occupants of the home were exiting, Godwin continued to reach towards his waistband before dropping a LG cell phone, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The phone was seized and contained child pornography images featuring children under the age of 10, with multiple images including children younger than two years old, according to FDLE.
Analysis of the phone included the image allegedly sent via Facebook Messenger and 140 child pornography images, according to FDLE.
NAS Pensacola Names 10-Year Old Cancer Patient As Commanding Officer
October 9, 2019
NAS Pensacola made a young man commanding officer Tuesday afternoon as he continues his battle with cancer.
Kohlton James, 10, visited NAS Pensacola and was named commanding officer for the afternoon.
“Skipper” Kohlton was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 2 and battled it for seven years. Kohlton was cancer free for 10 months before it returned.
He is about to begin chemotherapy and is determined to beat it again.
His dream is to join the military and be a pilot. Capt. Tim Kinsella Jr., commanding officer, gave Kohlton a NAS Pensacola hat with his new call sign, “Iron Man,” and a set of aviation wings.
He was also given a signed photograph from the Blue Angels and was driven to the National Naval Aviation Museum in a police car. At the museum, he had a party with his friends and got to pose for a photograph in front of the F4U Corsair aircraft his great grandfather actually flew in World War II.
Base officials said they look forward to the day Kohlton returns to NAS Pensacola to become a Navy pilot.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Man Charged With Taking Purse From Vehicle At Gas Station
October 9, 2019
A Cantonment man is facing a felony charge for allegedly stealing a woman’s purse out of her vehicle at a gas station.
Danielle Lamar Nettles, 42, grabbed the purse out of the victim’s Nissan Rogue she was inside the Circle K at Kenmore Road and Highway 29 paying for gas, according to an arrest report. The woman ran outside and grabbed the purse out of Nettles’ hands before calling the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
A witness old deputies that Nettles grabbed the purse out of the vehicle, looked through it and then put it back in the vehicle before the victim ran outside.
Nettles was taken into custody at the nearby Key West Inn and booked into the Escambia County Jail on a felony charge of burglary and petit theft with bond set at $3,000.
One Dead, Two Critically Injured After Being Rear-ended By ECUA Truck
October 9, 2019
One person is dead after a collision with an Emerald Coast Utilities Authority vehicle on Perdido Key Tuesday.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 19-year old Victor Hernandez Rogel was driving a Ford F250 ECUA maintenance truck east on Perdido Key Drive when he rear-ended a Chevrolet Captiva that was slowing in front of him.
A passenger in the Chevrolet, 60-year old Melissa Farmer of Portland, Tennessee, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver, 20-year old Ashley Farmer, and a passenger, 22-year old Jacob Farmer, were both airlifted to South Baldwin Hospital in critical condition. Robel was transported to Baptist Hospital with minor injuries.
Any charges are pending the outcome a traffic homicide investigation, according to FHP.
Pam Barnes Named Molino Park Elementary Teacher Of The Year
October 9, 2019
Pam Barnes has been named teacher of the year at Molino Park Elementary School. She teaches third grade at Molino Park. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.