No Injuries In Two Pickup Crash
April 17, 2018
There were no injuries in collision involving two pickup trucks on Tate Road at Highway 29 Tuesday morning. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Town Of Century Buying AED For The Flomaton Fire Department
April 17, 2018
The Century Town Council voted Monday night to pay for an automated external defibrillator (AED) for the Flomaton Fire Department.
The AED will cost $1,103, according to Century Mayor Henry Hawkins, who made the request on behalf of the fire department.
“We are trying to get several more units,” Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton said in a phone interview following the meeting. “They save lives.”
Just last week, a Flomaton High School student fell to the gym floor in cardiac arrest during a basketball game. An AED was used in his resuscitation, and he was back home with his family by Saturday night. [Read more...]
The Flomaton Fire Department provides a mutual aid response in Century.
AED’s are already part of the emergency response in Century — they are carried by deputies from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Escambia County EMS ambulances and trucks from Escambia Fire Rescue. The town also purchased AED units for the town hall, the community center on Highway 4 and the town maintenance shop.
Stanton say anyone that wishes to contribute toward the purchase of AED’s should call Flomaton Town Hall at (251) 296-2431.
Pictured: An AED installed in the lobby of the Century Town Hall. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Students Redesign Ascend’s Parking Lot In STEAM Challenge
April 17, 2018
Students from four schools recently took part in the “Parking Lot Challenge” STEAM competition, pitching parking lot capital improvement plans to leaders at Ascend Performance Materials in Cantonment..
Teams of middle and high school students presented their ideas to redesign the primary administrative parking lot at the company.
Detailing plans for budgets, timelines and resources, the students focused on identifying safety and efficiency improvements to one of the large parking lots for the nylon manufacturing site that employs around a thousand workers in Cantonment. A team of Ascend site leaders, including executives and engineers, reviewed the projects and awarded the winning design to the team from Gulf Breeze Middle School.
Following the award, Ascend leaders revealed plans for a pending parking improvement project that incorporated many design elements gleaned from the student plans. Schools represented included Sims Middle School, Gulf Breeze Middle School, Avalon Middle School and Jay High School.
Santa Rosa County Schools has a comprehensive K-12 science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — also known as STEAM — curriculum in their schools.
This year, Santa Rosa County has become the first district in the nation to integrate STEAM learning into every grade level.
STEAM Innovate trains teachers and administrators — also known as innovators — how to better educate students for the world they will face in the future, according to Assistant Superintendent Bill Emerson.
“We partner with Discovery Education to help transform the way students learn and think and the way teachers set up their classrooms and deliver instruction,” Emerson said.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview, Tate FFA Chapters Named Among Florida Finest Chapters
April 17, 2018
The Florida FFA on Monday announced Monday at the Northview and Tate High School FFA chapters have been named among “Florida’s Finest” FFA Chapters.
The selection of these chapters is based upon the completion of the National Chapter Award program application. These chapters have excelled in the areas of growing leaders, building communities and strengthening agriculture and have worked hard to fulfill the mission and vision of the FFA.
One member and one advisor from the Northview and Tate FFA chapters will be recognized in June during the 90th Florida FFA Convention in Orlando.
Pictured: Tate (top) and Northview (below) FFA members and National Degree recipients at the at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN, last November. Both the Tate and Northview FFA chapters were recognized in the 2017 National Chapter Award Program from the National FFA Organization. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Learn About Audiobooks, E-books, Magazines And More Digital Items At The Library
April 17, 2018
The Century Branch Library will present a “Digital Shelf” program Thursday at 6 p.m.
Library patrons can learn more about digital audiobooks, e-books, magazines and even comics that can be downloaded for free from the library. The workshop will include information on how to access this resource from the West Florida Pubic Library.
The Century Branch Library is located at 7991 North Century Boulevard, next to the Century Town Hall.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Bratt Elementary Releases Latest Honor Roll
April 17, 2018
The following students were named to the third nine weeks honor roll at Bratt Elementary School:
Kindergarten Honor Roll
Shayla Adkins
Waylon Bell
Teagen Black
Rex Brown
Bailey Campbell
Jonah Carter
Sarah Jane Classen
David Daniel
Zoey Davidson
Ella Grace Diller
Amanuel Dubose
Linley Dunn
Brooklynne Fountain
Audrey Franklin
Cameron Gipson
Cade Hare
Riverly Heathcock
Kalli Ikner
Zoe Jantz
Rylan Johnson
Aubree Kite
Ivyonna Knight
Trevor Knighten
Brantley Laborde
Landon Lee
Jadon Long
Bentley Lowery
Madalynn Lowery
Makyla Mason
Freddie McCall
Alyssa McCann
Brylynn McGhee
McKenzie Norton
Dalton Perdue
Brylee Peters
Kailah Pompa
Bentley Rice
Aric Rolin
Chayton Rolin
Anniston Salter
Calee Satterwhite
Houston Smith
Emma Southard
Makiah Spates
Byron Stewart
Bella Walker
First Grade A Honor Roll
Alexis Amerson
Alexa Beasley
Abigail Brown
Addison Carpenter
Harmony Cruz
Aubrey Flowers
Olivia Garrett
Kyndal Hadley
Autumn Heist
Mason Helton
Sophia Ikner
Maybree Johnson
Jeremy Lisenby
Noah Luker
Parker Marsh
Jonathan Patrick
First Grade A-B Honor Roll
Eric Anthony
Sadie Baker
Nola Barber
Jaxon Byrd
Payton Coon
Carson Eady
Pryce Flowers
Kintley Flowers
Josyah Fontenot
Nathan Gilmore
James Kerns
Ava Marquis
Briley Moore
Natalia Morales
Layla Pettway
Keylashia Randle
Madison Rice
Caden Sanspree
Tragen Slate
Jamileon Syria
Kimmora Thomas
Javan Thompson
James Thompson
Brooklyn Turk
Mi’Kavion White
Kinley White
Dillon Wiggins
Second Grade A Honor Roll
Landon Allcock
Logan Diller
Sawyer Gilmore
Brody Hall
Ja’kayvioun Jacobs
Camden Jacobson
John McAnally
Makinzi Roley
Lani Steadham
Kaylee Wilson
Second Grade A-B Honor Roll
Govan Alexander
Tyler Amerson
Eli Anthony
Kendal Ard
Gabrielle Boatwright
Jack Carpenter
Jamarreai Davison
Jacob Dove
O’Neshia DuBose
Brayden Faircloth
Blake Faith
Zachary Flowers
Parker Ganey
Presley Gibson
Emmalee Grimes
Evelyn Jones
Annabella Keen
Hunter Parker
Levi Peters
Madalynn Pittman
Kain Pompa
Brooklyn Reynolds
Christian Roberts
Jackson Salter
Breah Shelly
Adalynn Southard
Noah Spence
Wyatt Spence
Cassandra Stilwell
Kameryn Thompson
Third Grade A Honor Roll
Amara Campbell
Christian Caraway
Caley Daharsh
Hayden Gipson
Presley Johnson
Kaylee Long
Savannah Lowry
Mikayla McAnally
Dakota Richardson
Anna Claire Sanspree
Avery Stuckey
Third Grade A-B Honor Roll
Presley Amos
Montgomery Baker
William Classen
Crimson Davis
Carlie Davis
Kylar Davis
Annberly Dunn
Nolan Eady
Cathryn Greenwood
Micheal Griffis
Laila Hadley
Lori Hall
Dallas Kelson
Logan Morris
Makayla Plato
Miles Smith
Jake Taylor
Raleigh Warr
Cobie Wiggins
Fourth Grade A Honor Roll
Desiray Bagwell
Jackson Bridges
LanDon Johnson
Jessica Jowers
Jackson Simmons
Fourth Grade A-B Honor Roll
Lauren Abbott
Claire Amerson
Wade Bailey
Bailey Blackwell
Karissa Boatwright
Nevaeh Bush
Luke Chavers
Addison Classen
Tristan Crumm
Aakira Davis
Jordan Dawson
Addison Eicher
Allison Flowers
John Glenn
Talise Gregson
Joseph Hardenbrook
Kailey Hawkins
William Heard
Fallon Hubbard
Tristan Johnson
Cheyenne Keen
Keeli Knighten
Samantha Minchew
Carley Moore
Christopher Odom
Braylan Shelly
Brayden Smith
Justy Starns
Maggie Stewart
Charles Waters
Mya Wilson
Jasmine Zisa
Fifth Grade A Honor Roll
Colton Criswell
Beau Daw
JaCee Dortch
Jamison Gilman
Mary Catherine Hughes
Laura Laborde
Colby Pugh
Ally Richardson
Maggie Scott
Zakyla Smith
Fifth Grade A-B Honor Roll
Ayden Atallah
Evan Chick
Kinslee Coker
Ashton Covan
Calene Davis
Payton Daw
Noah Faulkner
Aliyah Fountain
Taliyah Johnson
Kamryn Langham
Michael McGhee
Adannaya Mondaca
Sophia Morris
Bryce Stabler
Ashkia Weaver
Brayson White
Jayden White
Florida Voters To Get Say On Education Changes
April 17, 2018
The Florida Constitution Revision Commission on Monday signed off on a proposed constitutional amendment that could lead to term limits for county school-board members and make a revision that one critic called a “game changer” for charter schools.
The commission voted 27-10 to put the proposed education amendment (Proposal 6003) on the Nov. 6 ballot. It was one of a series of ballot proposals — ranging from issues dealing with oil drilling to victims’ rights — that the commission considered during a day-long debate.
The education proposal, if approved by 60 percent of voters in November, would impose eight-year term limits on school-board members. That would make school boards similar to the Legislature and state Cabinet, where members are generally limited to eight years.
The proposed constitutional amendment also would direct the Legislature to put in law efforts to promote civic literacy in schools.
But while the term-limits and civic-literacy issues drew little discussion Monday, another part of the proposed constitutional amendment related to school governance spurred controversy.
Under current law, school boards operate and control public schools within their counties. But the proposed constitutional amendment could lead to the state having control over public schools that would not be established by school boards.
Commissioner Roberto Martinez, a Coral Gables attorney and former member of the State Board of Education, said the proposal is designed to create a state process to oversee charter schools. That would come after years of clashes between some county school boards and charter-school operators about whether charter schools should be allowed to open. Charter schools are public schools that are typically run by private organizations.
“It (the proposal) is a big deal,” said Martinez, who voted against the proposal. “It’s a game changer.”
But Commissioner Patricia Levesque, who is a top official with two education-advocacy organizations founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush, said the proposal is not only about charter schools. She said it also could help lead to more university lab schools or collegiate high schools at state colleges.
Levesque said the current system was set up in the state’s 1968 Constitution and that the Legislature could be “very innovative” with changes.
“Right now, we have a governance model that was built 50 years ago,” said Levesque, CEO of the non-profit Foundation for Excellence in Education and executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future.
Martinez and other critics sought unsuccessfully to break apart the proposed constitutional amendment and take up the issues separately. In part, they said voters should be able to consider each of the issues rather than taking an up-or-down vote on the bundle.
“They are not related sufficiently to stay bundled, in my opinion,” said Commissioner Bill Schifino, a Tampa lawyer who is a former president of The Florida Bar.
But Levesque said all three issues deal with kindergarten through 12th-grade education and part of the Constitution that governs education.
“Absolutely, these issues are related,” she said.
Northview Track Races To Raise Money With GoFundMe To Attend Regionals
April 17, 2018
A record number of Northview High School track team members will be headed to regionals next week, and they are seeking financial help.
There were 29 athletes that qualified to attend the regional competition April 24-26 in Tallahassee, with top finishers advancing to the state finals on May 3-6.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help the Northview Chiefs track athletes attend regional and state competitions. To donate, click here.
Drilling, Vaping Bans Headed To November Ballot In Florida
April 17, 2018
Florida voters will get a chance to decide this fall whether to ban nearshore oil and gas drilling and prevent people from vaping or using electronic cigarettes in many public places, under a proposed constitutional amendment approved Monday.
Without debate, the Florida Constitution Revision Commission on Monday voted 33-3 to back a single proposed amendment (Proposal 6004) that includes the drilling and vaping issues.
The 37-member commission approved a series of proposed amendments Monday, amid repeated questions about linking multiple issues in single proposals.
Commissioner Brecht Heuchan, chairman of the commission’s Style and Drafting Committee, said the drilling and vaping issues were linked because sponsors worked together with a moniker of “clean air, clean water.”
“If anything went together, it was those two,” Heuchan said.
The proposed ban on vaping and electronic cigarettes in workplaces was sponsored by Commissioner Lisa Carlton, a former state senator from Sarasota County. Commissioner Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, a former mayor of Sewall’s Point, sponsored the proposed drilling ban. She handed out seashells to fellow commissioners after the vote.
In a committee meeting last month, Thurlow-Lippisch called her proposal a needed “statement” to help the economy, wildlife and quality of life for Floridians.
“It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, or black or white or an alien from outer space, if you get to come here, you can walk the beaches and enjoy what they are,” Thurlow-Lippisch said.
Florida law currently prohibits the state from granting leases to drill for oil or natural gas in state coastal waters. But putting into the Constitution a ban on exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas in coastal waters would be more permanent.
The anti-drilling proposal comes amid debate about plans by President Donald Trump’s administration to allow oil and gas drilling in federal waters off various parts of the country.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke appeared in January in Tallahassee and said drilling would not occur off Florida’s coasts, but the administration’s stance has continued to draw questions. The federal issue involves waters beyond the nation’s outer continental shelf — a jurisdictional term describing submerged lands 10.36 statutory miles off Florida’s West Coast and three nautical miles off the East Coast.
Carlton’s vaping measure, meanwhile, would expand a 2002 voter-approved constitutional amendment that banned smoking tobacco in workplaces, including gathering spots such as restaurants. The proposal would expand that prohibition to apply to “vapor generating electronic devices.”
Carlton, in a committee meeting last month, recalled watching her gymnast daughter work out at a gym and sitting behind someone who was vaping.
“I think it’s time to clean up our restaurants, our malls, our movie theaters, so we can all breathe clean air again, which is what the 2002 constitutional amendment intended,” Carlton said.
The Constitution Revision Commission, which meets every 20 years to evaluate possible changes to the Constitution, is taking final votes on 12 proposed constitutional amendments. Measures that go on the Nov. 6 ballot will need approval from 60 percent of voters to pass.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Florida Crime Victims Measure To Go On November Ballot
April 17, 2018
With the measure drawing support from state leaders and law-enforcement officials, Florida voters in November will decide whether to approve a proposed constitutional amendment that would spell out a series of rights of crime victims.
The Florida Constitution Revision Commission on Monday voted 34-3 to approve the measure (Proposal 6001), which largely focuses on a victims’ rights initiative known as “Marsy’s Law.”
The proposal, which will need support from 60 percent of voters in November, would seek to ensure the rights of victims to receive information and provide input during criminal cases. Also, for example, it would ensure victims have the right to talk with prosecutors about issues such as plea agreements, restitution and sentencing.
Commission member Tim Cerio, a Tallahassee attorney who sponsored the proposal, said Marsy’s Law is about “making sure victims have a right to be engaged in the process.”
Among other things, the proposal also would establish a right for the safety of victims and their family members to be considered when bail is set in criminal cases.
Before approving the proposal, the commission rejected a series of changes sought by member Hank Coxe, a Jacksonville defense attorney. One of the changes, for instance, sought to add wording that would have said victims are entitled to the rights “to the extent that these rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights of the accused.”
But with Cerio and others opposed, Coxe’s proposed changes were rejected. Coxe, former Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and Orlando attorney Rich Newsome voted against the overall proposal.
The Constitution Revision Commission approved the measure as it began taking final votes on a dozen proposals for the November ballot. The 37-member commission, which meets every 20 years, has the unique power to place issues on the ballot. Proposals need support of 22 members of the commission to advance.
Several of the proposed constitutional amendments bundle more than one issue. The measure including Marsy’s Law also would change a mandatory retirement age for state judges. If approved by voters, the age would go from 70 to 75.
The measure also includes a proposed change that would affect legal cases involving the interpretation of state laws or rules. The proposal would direct judges to not “defer to an administrative agency’s interpretation” of the laws or rules in the cases.
The commission Monday had a lengthy debate about whether the measure including Marsy’s Law and other proposed constitutional amendments should be “unbundled” — which would effectively require each issue to be voted on separately.
Commission member Roberto Martinez, a Coral Gables lawyer, argued the commission was bundling unrelated issues and that voters should be given clear choices on approving proposed constitutional amendments.
“Do they (the three issues in Proposal 6001) all deal with the courts? They do,” Martinez said. “But are they really related? They are not.”
But Brecht Heuchan, chairman of the commission’s Style and Drafting Committee, which bundled issues, said it was “absurd” to think voters would get confused. He and other commissioners defended the process, in part arguing that they were following precedents from when the commission put measures on the ballot in 1978 and 1998.
“The whole process is being attacked,” Heuchan said.
Commissioners rejected an attempt by Martinez to send the measure including Marsy’s Law back to the Style and Drafting Committee to be unbundled.
The Marsy’s Law proposal has drawn support in recent months from state leaders such as Gov. Rick Scott and many sheriffs and prosecutors. It also has the backing of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who serves on the Constitution Revision Commission.
The proposal is part of a broader national movement stemming from the 1983 death of a California woman, Marsy Nicholas, who was stalked and killed by an ex-boyfriend.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida