Bicyclist Hit By Car On North Palafox, Critically Injured
April 21, 2019
A bicyclist was seriously injured Saturday afternoon when he was hit by a car.
The 54-year old man entered the direct path of a Chevrolet Malibu driven by 42-year old Lakeshia Snow of Pensacola about 3:45 p.m.on North Palafox Street south of Hope Drive.
The bicyclist was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition. His name has not been released as the FHP attempted to notify his next of kin.
Wahoos Shut Out The BayBears
April 21, 2019
Pensacola’s lauded starting pitching rotation got a new cast member on Saturday evening at Blue Wahoos Stadium as Sean Poppen made his first start in a Blue Wahoos uniform. True to the part, the Harvard grad delivered 5.0 shutout innings and struck out 11 BayBears batters in a 5-0 win for Pensacola. With tonight’s outing by Poppen, Blue Wahoos starting pitchers now have a 1.39 ERA this season, having allowed just 13 earned runs in 84.1 innings.
Poppen, who made his first appearance of the year on the mound for AAA-Rochester, recovered from some first inning hiccups before cruising to the win. The game’s leadoff batter Jahmai Jones singled and one batter later Jack Kruger was hit by a pitch, but Poppen quickly worked out of the jam, striking out a pair in the inning.
After walking the first batter in the second, he struck out two more. In the home half of the inning, Tanner English was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on an Ernie De La Trinidad single, the first of three for De La Trinidad.
Poppen was back at it in the third, striking out a pair for the third straight inning. In the fourth, he one-upped himself, striking out the side. Two more strikeouts followed in the fifth, giving him 11 in the game, the most by a Blue Wahoos pitcher this season.
Pensacola scored twice in the bottom of the fifth, using a walk to Brian Schales and singles by Luis Arraez, Jaylin Davis, and English to go up 3-0.
Following the fifth inning, both teams welcomed John Matthew Peacock, an inspirational local 4-year-old who has battled medical problems throughout his life after being born prematurely, for 2019’s first Home Run For Life. John Matthew circled the bases, high fiving the players on both teams, before leaping on home and hugging Kazoo while a sold-out crowd gave him a standing ovation.
LHP Jovani Moran took over on the mound for Pensacola and picked up where Poppen left off, striking out five over 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings. RHP Cody Stashak followed in the eighth, and struck out a pair over over 2.0 scoreless to finish out the shutout for the Blue Wahoos and give Pensacola pitchers 18 strikeouts in the game.
Offensively, Pensacola had nine hits in the game, including a 3-4 night by De La Trinidad. English was 2-2 with a walk, two RBI, three runs scored, and two stolen bases. Davis was 2-3 with a run and a steal.
The win improves Pensacola’s record to a league-best 11-5 while Mobile falls to 6-9.
Escambia County Weekly Meeting Schedule
April 21, 2019
Monday, April 22
Library Board of Governance – 4 p.m., Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
Wednesday, April 24
April Coffee with the Commissioner – Jeff Bergosh, District 1 – 6:30 a.m., McDonald’s, 5 S. Blue Angel Parkway
Development Review Committee – 1 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place
Visit Pensacola Board of Directors Meeting – 3 p.m., 120 Church St.
Santa Rosa Island Authority Committee Meeting – 5 p.m., 1 Via De Luna Drive, Pensacola Beach
Two Jay Royals Place At State Weight Meet
April 21, 2019
Two Jay High School lifters places in the recent state 1A weightlifting meet.
Senior James Eddings tied for third in the 183 pound weight class with a total of 595 pounds at the state meet. The tiebreaker was a weigh off and resulted in a fourth place medal.
Junior Dylan Phillips had the winning total in the 119 pound weight class. There was a tie for the state championship in that weight class and Phillips finished as runner up in the tie breaker.
No Injuries In Highway 29 Rollover Wreck
April 21, 2019
A driver escaped injury early Saturday morning in a single vehicle rollover crash on Highway 29 near Cedar Tree Lane in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Area Unemployment Rate Dips Slightly
April 20, 2019
The latest job numbers released by the state show a decrease in the unemployment rate in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Escambia County’s unemployment dropped slightly from 3.5 percent in February to 3.3 percent in March. There were 4,743 people were reported unemployed during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 3.7 percent.
Santa Rosa County’s unemployment rate decreased from 3.2 percent in February to 3.1 percent in March. Santa Rosa County had a total of 2,477 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 3.4 percent.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in March 2019, unchanged from the February 2019 rate, and down 0.3 percentage point from a year ago. There were 360,000 jobless Floridians out of a labor force of 10,346,000. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in March.
The jobless numbers released by the state do not include persons that have given up on finding a job and are no longer reported as unemployed.
Licenses Issued In Alabama Industrial Hemp Program Including Seven In Escambia County
April 20, 2019
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) has licensed 152 growers, 59 processors, and 5 universities to grow, cultivate, process, and research industrial hemp in 2019 — including seven licenses in Escambia County, AL.
2019 Grower License Holder List
- F.M. Nalty Timerlands LLC
- Hemp Ag Group, Inc.
- Phytoleum Hemp Development of Alabama
- Brad Ward
2019 Processor License Holder List
- Phytoleum Hemp Development of Alabama
- Sothern Star Farms Inc
2019 University License Holder List
- Alabama State University
Individuals and businesses must be licensed by the ADAI to grow or process industrial hemp in Alabama. Under Alabama and federal law, it is unlawful to possess any raw or unprocessed hemp, hemp plants, or hemp seed without a license from the ADAI.
Camp Fire Kids Attend Easter Egg Hunt At Century Health And Rehab
April 20, 2019
The children at the Camp Fire Century Youth Learning Center recently attended an annual Easter Egg Hunt with the staff and residents at the Century Health and Rehabilitation Center. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scientists Officially Upgrade Hurricane Michael To Category 5
April 20, 2019
Scientists at the National Hurricane Center have officially upgraded Hurricane Michael to a category 5 storm.
They have made the final determination that the wind speed of the storm was 160 mph, 5 mph over the original estimate, at the time of landfall on October 10, 2018, near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base.
Michael is the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States as a category 5 since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and only the fourth on record. The others are the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Michael is also the strongest hurricane landfall on record in the Florida Panhandle and only the second known category 5 landfall on the northern Gulf coast.
The real-time operational intensity estimate was 155 mph. The final best track intensity estimate of 160 mph was determined by a review of the available aircraft winds, surface winds, surface pressures, satellite intensity estimates and Doppler radar velocities – including data and analyses that were not available in real time. The 5 mph increase in the estimated maximum sustained wind speed from the operational estimate is small and well within the normal range of uncertainty, according to the National Weather Service.
Category 5 winds were likely experienced over a very small area at and near the coast, and the change in estimated wind speeds is of little practical significance in terms of the impacts associated with the storm. Michael produced devastating winds and storm surge and was directly responsible for 16 deaths and about $25 billion in damage in the United States. Before hitting the United States, the cyclone brought hurricane-force winds to the western tip of Cuba when it was a category 2 Hurricane.
Along with wind speed, atmospheric pressure is a measure of storm intensity. In general, the lower a storm’s central pressure, the higher the winds. Michael’s central pressure of 919 millibars (mb) at landfall is the third lowest on record for a landfalling U. S. hurricane since reliable records began in 1900, trailing only the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (892 mb) and Hurricane Camille of 1969 (900 mb).
Pictured: Mexico Beach just days after after Hurricane Michael. NorthEsambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Split Doubleheader In Biloxi
April 20, 2019
The Pensacola Blue Wahoo split a doubleheader in Biloxi Friday. Pensacola took game one 9-1, and fell in game two 4-3.
Game One
The Blue Wahoos came out swinging in game one of their Friday night double header in Biloxi, using a pair of home runs and another brilliant outing from Griffin Jax on their way to a 9-1 victory.
Pensacola scored four times in the third inning. Brian Navarreto led off the inning with a double and Mark Contreras followed by reaching on a walk. A fielding error by Biloxi pitcher Alec Bettinger on a Jordan Gorec comebacker allowed Navarreto to score. Brian Schales followed with a three-run home run to make it 4-0.
With the lead, Jax was brilliant. The Air Force grad entered the game with the best ERA in the league and delivered 6.0 stellar innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out five. Major League rehabber Gabriel Moya added a scoreless inning of relief after Jax’s strong outing.
Navarreto was 3-4 in the game with 3 RBI, including a three-run home run in seventh and a double. Mark Conteras was 2-3 with an RBI.
Game Two
For the fifth time this season, the Blue Wahoos played in a game that ended with a 4-3 final score, this time ending on the losing end in game two.
Biloxi took an early 2-0 lead, scoring twice in the home half of the first on a throwing error, stolen base, and three consecutive singles.
Pensacola answered with two of their own in the top of the second. Mitchell Kranson opened the inning with a solo home run. Caleb Hamilton followed with a triple and scored on an RBI ground out by Taylor Grzelakowski.
A single, balk, and subsequent RBI single by C.J. Hinojosa gave Biloxi the lead back in the third inning against Blue Wahoos starter Andro Cutura, but the Blue Wahoos again answered the following inning, using a double by Brian Schales, a ground out to move him over, and a wild pitch to tie the game.
Jeff Ames entered in relief of Cutura (3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) in the bottom of the fourth. A pair of walks and an RBI single by Michael O’Neill gave the Shuckers the lead back at 4-3.
The score held there as Biloxi relievers Angel Perdomo (W, 2.1 IP, 0 H, 5 K) and Nate Griep (S, 1.0 IP, 0 R) combined to close out the game and preserve the win for the Shuckers.