Weather Stations Installed At All Escambia District High Schools
January 23, 2019
Weather observations are now available in real-time from each high school in Escambia County.
Recent tragedies involving students participating in outdoor sports and activities in harsh weather conditions have led to an increased focus on finding ways to predict conditions which may be hazardous to students. Advance knowledge of extreme temperatures and humidity levels is important, especially for students and staff members participating in outdoor activities or events, according to the Escambia County School District.
Visit escambia.weatherstem.com to see the weather observations.
The traditional system of measuring temperature and humidity, known as the heat index, has been improved by adding measurements of radiation from the sun and wind to provide a new metric known as a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT).
“Using a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature to gauge the heat and humidity is far more accurate because it also considers wind speed and solar radiation. However, conditions can change quickly and getting updated readings every half-hour takes the proper equipment and dedicated manpower. Many schools around the state do not have the equipment or an extra trained, responsible person to dedicate to this, so athletic directors across Florida are very happy to have weather stations from WeatherSTEM to rely on instead,” explained Escambia County School District’s Director of Athletics Roger Mayo.
“We are pleased to announce that all Escambia County public high schools now have access to real-time, WBGT information and predictions provided by WeatherSTEM,” added Mayo.
Each WeatherSTEM unit has a variety of sensors that collect data including solar radiation, ultraviolet radiation, amounts and the rate of rainfall, wind speed and wind direction. They are powered by a solar panel and they transmit the data collected to WeatherSTEM where the data can be compiled into a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature which provides guidance to principals, coaches, band directors as well as other instructors and student leaders. Each station includes placement of sensors in two locations, one high and one at field level. The height of the first location also allows a camera to transmit a view of the sky above the school’s field.
Escambia County’s Superintendent Malcolm Thomas explained that installing the stations at the high schools will be beneficial to all ECSD schools. “The information available to us will reduce the chance of our students experiencing heat stroke by giving us information about increasing water breaks, having ice available or canceling outdoor activities all together. Installing the WeatherSTEM equipment is a great investment, especially if even one student is prevented from experiencing hazardous conditions.
“When you look at the data available at Escambia.WeatherSTEM.com, such as the temperature and humidity levels, you will see that our elementary and middle school administrators will be able to use the results from the high schools closest to their campus to get information to adjust plans for outdoor activities,” said Thomas.
Principals, coaches and teachers will be able to receive alerts when conditions reach a set level, or when predictions warn of dangerous levels. These predictions will give coaches and other instructors the ability to plan when they may need to adjust their schedules, practice in the morning, start practice later, stay inside or bring extra water and ice.
Pictured top: The WeatherSTEM station on the press box above Northview High School’s football stadium. Pictured below: The weather station at Tate High School. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Push Underway To Raise Florida’s Minimum Wage To $15 An Hour
January 23, 2019
After spearheading efforts to pass a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana, Orlando attorney John Morgan said Tuesday he is moving ahead with a ballot drive aimed at gradually raising Florida’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Morgan said a group he leads has collected more than 120,000 petition signatures, far more than needed to trigger a Florida Supreme Court review of the proposed ballot wording. If the court approves the wording, backers of the proposal would ultimately need to submit 766,200 valid petition signatures to take the issue to voters in November 2020.
Morgan, the head of the firm Morgan & Morgan, said increasing the minimum wage would give people the right to “work with dignity” as he pointed to vast income inequality.
“Our belief is the single greatest issue for America and Florida today is a living wage,” he said during a news conference in Orlando.
But as in other parts of the country that have considered a $15 minimum wage, Morgan likely will run into opposition from business groups if the proposal goes on the 2020 ballot. The Florida Retail Federation and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, for example, said they do not favor placing such a mandate on businesses.
James Miller, a spokesman of the Florida Retail Federation, said a higher minimum wage could lead to “difficult decisions” for business owners, including the possibility of reducing jobs.
“Businesses, focusing mainly on small businesses which make up around 95 percent of our membership, only have a finite amount of money they can allocate to salaries and still make a profit,” Miller said in an email Tuesday. “By forcing a retailer to pay an employee(s) more, you’re going to force that retailer to do one of two things to protect their bottom line, either pay the increased wages and pass those increased costs onto customers in the form of higher prices or pay select employees that wage and let others go altogether.”
Morgan last year formed a political committee, known as Florida for a Fair Wage, which had received about $478,000 from his law firm as of Dec. 31, finance reports show. The committee had spent nearly $476,000, with almost all of that money going to petition-related expenses.
Under the proposal, the state’s minimum wage would go to $10 an hour on Sept. 30, 2021 and increase by $1 each year until it hits $15 an hour on Sept. 30, 2026. The state’s minimum wage this year is $8.46 an hour.
“I think in the quiet of the night, fair people go, ‘There’s no way to live on $8 an hour,’ ” Morgan said.
Florida voters in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment that increases the minimum wage each year based on inflation. By comparison, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
But the Morgan proposal would go much further. The state Division of Elections website Tuesday did not list any petition signatures submitted by Florida for a Fair Wage, but Morgan said signatures will be mailed this week. A Supreme Court review is triggered by submission of 76,632 valid signatures.
During the news conference Tuesday, Morgan noted his experience with passing the medical-marijuana amendment, which narrowly failed in 2014 before getting overwhelming approval in 2016. He said it is better to propose such measures in presidential-election years, instead of in off-year elections.
“The good news is, I understand how to do this,” Morgan said.
Morgan said phasing in the higher minimum wage will help small businesses adjust, but he also said larger paychecks will help businesses retain employees longer. But business groups do not want employers to be required to pay higher wages.
“Nothing is more important to Florida’s business community than economic prosperity for all Floridians,” Edie Ousley, a spokeswoman for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said in an email Tuesday. “Rather than adding another new mandate on local businesses, we should come together to ensure there’s a universal path to prosperity through job training that creates $50,000 careers for the less than 4 percent of Floridians earning a minimum wage full time.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
New Schedule: Escambia Commission Will Hold Morning Meeting On Thursday
January 23, 2019
Thursday will mark the first morning meeting of the Escambia County Commission since the board made changes to their meeting schedule and public forum.
The public forum will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the regular commission meeting at 9 a.m.
The commission voted to make the changes to allow county staff more time to devote to their regular job duties rather than spending hours in meetings, and “better meet their duty to residents of offering open, efficient and accessible commission meetings,” according to a county statement.
The commission changes include
- The elimination of one agenda review session.
- Moving one regular meeting a month to the morning to accommodate residents who do not wish or are unable to attend night meetings. One meeting a month will still be held in the evening.
- During the public forum, citizens will have three minutes to address the board, with additional time for questions and input for commissioners. Minutes can no longer be donated to another person to extend their time.
For a 2019 meeting schedule, click here.
Flomaton Mourns Loss Of Longtime Educator John Folsom, Sr.
January 23, 2019
The Flomaton community is mourning the loss of a longtime educator.
John Lewis Folsom, Sr., 92, passed away on Monday.
Folsom was a member of the Flomaton community for 60 years. He was an educator for 40 years in the Escambia County (AL) School System, with 18 of those years as the principal of Flomaton High School.
He was also a member of the Flomaton Lions Club.
Visitation for John Lewis Folsom, Sr. will be Saturday from 5-8 p.m. at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel with funeral services Sunday at 2 p.m. at Flomaton First Baptist Church. Interment will follow at Flomaton Cemetery.
For the complete obituary, click here.
Century Cross Country Classic 5K This Saturday
January 23, 2019
The Century Chamber of Commerce will present the “Century Cross Country Classic 5K” this Saturday. Runners and walkers will lace up their shoes and run and walk over a mixture of grass, gravel, dirt, and pavement through Anthony Pleasant and Showalter parks in Century.
The 5K will being at 8 a.m. with a half mile fun run/walk to follow at about 9:15 a.m. Race day registration is $25 and begins at 6:30 a.m. at Anthony Pleasant Park on East Highway 4. For a printable registration form, click here.
Awards will be presented in 34 different age groups, and t-shirts will be given to the first 50 registered runners and walkers.
“It will be fun and family-friendly. I’m looking forward to helping with the event. It’s the perfect setting for a community cross country race and it’s safer because it’s not being conducted on a city street. Anthony Pleasant and Buck Showalter are two Century sports icons. They have given notoriety to Century in professional sports. How fitting that we exercise through the parks named after them. Come run and walk with us,” Matt Dobson, race director, said.
For more information, contact Dobson at (850) 217-2603 or Tony Nolen at (850) 232-1453.
Tuesday High School, Youth Basketball Scores
January 23, 2019
Tuesday scores:
Boys High School
Freeport 74, Northview 64
Milton 75, Pensacola High 62
Escambia County (Atmore) 66, UMS Wright 65
Girls High School
Freeport 43 , Northview 7
— Freeport’s Bulldogs held Northview scoreless in the second and fourth period as they allowed only seven points from the Chiefs.
Pine Forest defeats Tate
Washington 49, Choctaw 32
West Florida 65, Walton 42
Youth Basketball
Rockets 27, Century Heat 12
— Milkavion White lead the Century Heat in scoring with six points as the Heat came up short against the Rockets in Atmore on Tuesday.
Gaetz Nominates 30 Students To U.S. Military Academies
January 23, 2019
Congressman Matt Gaetz has nominated 30 students from the 1st Congressional District to U.S. military academies.
“This is the best part of the year for me to be the Congressman from the 1st Congressional District. There is no part of my job I like better than today. Before the day is over, I will nominate 30 of North West Florida’s best patriots for service in our military academies. At times like these where it is easy to be discouraged about government, we’re in the middle of a shut-down, it’s nice to be able to see the applications of people in northwest Florida who see the value in serving our country and who want to express their own love of country through service in our military academies,” Gaetz said.
Nominated from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were:
- Connor Stibolt, Pensacola Christian Academy – Air Force and Naval academies
- Clint Hinrichs, Pensacola High School – Air Force and Naval academies
- Jeffrey Sutherland, Pensacola High School – Air Force Academy
- Allison McGaugh, Pensacola High School – Naval Academy
- Malcolm Rivers, Pensacola High School – Naval Academy
- Noelle Matzinger, Pine Forest High School – Naval Academy
- MacKenzie Schmidt, West Florida High School – West Point, Naval and Merchant Marine academies
- Isaac Kelly, Pace High School – Naval and Merchant Marine academies
- Trevor Compton, Gulf Breeze High School – Naval Academy
- Zachary Walden, Gulf Breeze High School – West Point
- Caroline Opager, Santa Rosa Christian School – Naval and Merchant Marine academies
- Luciana Combs, Navarre High School – Naval Academy
- Westen Key, Milton High School – Naval Academy and West Point
“These are the ones who stayed after class and did the extra homework, they are the ones who maybe didn’t have as much fun on the weekends because they were doubling down on that school project,” Gaetz said. “They are the ones who their peers look to for leadership in organizations whether it’s athletics or service clubs. We see a tremendous wealth of leadership in the people we have selected to advance from our community.”
Gaetz also explained that this is a highly competitive process. Students had to show academic excellence, strong citizenship, and they were interviewed by a committee of local leaders. He also stressed that the nomination is not a guarantee of admission. It is a key step in the highly competitive application process, but not the final step.
Additional students received service academy nominations, but their names won’t be released until they are notified.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia County (AL) High School Listed As Failing School
January 23, 2019
One Escambia County (AL) school is on a list of failing schools released by the state.
Escambia County High School in Atmore was one of 76 schools listed as failing under the Alabama Accountability Act. The school has made the list for at least three consecutive years.
The bottom 6 percent of schools by number of students that are proficient on standardized testing in the spring are listed as failing.
Students who live in the attendance zone of a failing school like Escambia County High School can request a transfer to another school in the same district or qualify for a tax credit or a private scholarship funded by tax credits to attended a private school.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
DeSantis Picks Muniz As Third New Supreme Court Justice
January 23, 2019
In the final step in reshaping the Florida Supreme Court, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday named Carlos Muniz, general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, as his third selection to the state’s highest court.
The appointment of Muniz, 49, who served as chief of staff to former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and deputy general counsel to former Gov. Jeb Bush, solidifies a conservative majority on the court after years of justices regularly thwarting the Republican-led Legislature and the GOP governor.
“The court is going to apply the law as written,” DeSantis said while announcing his selection outside the governor’s mansion. “You may not agree with every decision, but they are not going to go off on a major tangent. I think that is very good for us. I think that the separation of powers will be strengthened with the newly constituted court.”
Muniz said in his new role he has a “solemn duty to set aside my own policy preferences.”
“The role of a judge is to preserve the Constitution, not to add to it or subtract from it,” Muniz said. “I believe strongly in judicial independence, but judges have to earn that independence through their fidelity to the Constitution.”
Muniz noted he shares DeSantis’ “judicial philosophy,” which was outlined in the governor’s inaugural address this month. DeSantis said justices should not “legislate from the bench” and should make the state and federal constitutions their “supreme” guide.
In between his state and federal positions, Muniz worked in private practice. DeSantis said Muniz’ lack of a judicial background should be a plus.
“One of the critiques I’ve had of the court is that they have not understood their proper jurisdiction,” DeSantis said. “They’ve expanded it beyond where they should.”
However, the Florida Democratic Party criticized the selection by noting the appointment leaves the court without a black justice for the first time since 1983 and that Muniz lacks experience as a judge.
“From his appointment it’s clear that Ron DeSantis has no respect for the rule of the law and is seeking to stack the courts with his political allies,” state Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo said in a statement. “Carlos Muñiz has no judicial experience, instead comes with a long political resume that includes working for (U.S. Secretary of Education) Betsy DeVos’ Department of Education and Pam Bondi’s Attorney General Office.”
But Senate President Bill Galvano, a Republican from Bradenton, applauded Muniz’s “comments on the importance of judicial independence and the commitment each judge must make to set aside personal policy preferences.”
In a past role as chairman of the House Rules Committee, Galvano worked with Muniz, who also served as a counsel in the Florida House and as a general counsel of the Florida Department of Financial Services.
As Bush’s deputy general counsel, Muniz worked under Charles Canady, now the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. At the time, Canady was Bush’ general counsel.
Bush praised the selection.
“Carlos Muniz is one of the brightest legal minds I know, and he will serve Florida with integrity and with the utmost respect for the rule of law,” Bush tweeted on Tuesday.
Muniz, a Yale Law School graduate who clerked for two federal judges, was appointed in 2017 to the U.S. Department of Education role by President Donald Trump, an ally of DeSantis and Bondi.
DeSantis during the past two weeks appointed appellate judges Robert Luck and Barbara Logoa to the Supreme Court. Luck and Logoa served on the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Miami.
Lagoa, Luck and Muniz replaced longtime justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince, who were required to step down this month because of a mandatory retirement age.
Muniz, Luck and Lagoa were among 11 names recommended for the court by the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission.
DeSantis, an attorney, said he did not ask Muniz during an interview about how he would act on specific matters but rather how they approach questions of law.
“I’m confident if you have the intellectual horsepower and the wherewithal, the right method and you’re applying that, I may not agree politically with whatever decision comes out, but you shouldn’t do that,” DeSantis said. “But I’m confident those will be well-rounded decisions. I think that goes for Carlos. I think that goes for others.”
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
FHP Looking For Dump Truck With Equipment Trailer In Hit And Run
January 22, 2019
UPDATE: The Florida Highway Patrol has released a photo of third vehicle wanted in connection with a hit and run crash January 17 on Fairfield Drive.
Troopers are looking for a single axle dump truck with a white cab and black dump bed, towing a 30-foot dove-trail trailer that is possibly yellow with three pieces of equipment, including a Bobcat.
The photo released by the FHP is above.
A white Dodge pickup truck was traveling westbound on Fairfield Drive approaching Pace Boulevard as a pedestrian was crossing northbound on Fairfield Drive. Witnesses told troopers that the pickup did not have headlights and was driving in two lanes when the pedestrian was struck.
The truck is a white in color Dodge pickup, possibly a dually, with white hub caps. It may have a black color front grill protector.
Friday afternoon, the FHP said they are also looking for a dark in color pickup that may have also been involved in the crash. Troopers also said the drivers of the black and white pickup trucks many not have known they struck the pedestrian.
The pedestrian was pronounced deceased on the scene. His name has not yet been released pending notification of next of kin.
Anyone with any information about this crash or information about a possible vehicle, is asked to contact FHP Corporal E. Diaz at (850) 484-5000.