Cantonment Couple Charged After Children Found Living In Squalor
December 22, 2018
A Cantonment couple was arrested after authorities found two children living in squalor.
Camie Denean Linton, 36, and Robert Clinton Wooten, 37, were each charged with two counts of felony child abuse.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded after the Department of Children and Families requested a welfare check due to possible child neglect.
Deputies found “a deplorable residence with black mold on the ceiling and walls,” according to a Sheriff’s Office report. They also found cans of rotting food with insects, floors completely covered with piles of clothing and trash, food containers with flying insects inside, and a syringe in a Styrofoam cup that was covered with spider webs, according to the report. The electricity did not work in parts of the residence.
The children’s grandmother told deputies that the children did not have any food and would beg her to bring them food.
DCF took custody of the children and placed them with another family member.
Linton and Wooten remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $10,000 each.
Cantonment Man Appears On Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
December 22, 2018
A Cantonment man appeared on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” Friday night.
Curt Bell didn’t win the million dollars, instead he won $5,000 after missing the $10,000 question.
“What country’s second-largest city is named for Mount Royal, which sits right smack in the middle that city?” He answered Switzerland, but the correct answer was Canada (the city is Montreal).
Bell is a Flomaton High School graduate and has taught math the school since 2010.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Kids Receive New Bikes From The Escambia Sheriff’s Office
December 22, 2018
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office presented 30 new bicycles to children Friday.
The recipients were identified by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Students had to know how to ride a bike, have good academic achievements, and good behavior. Thirty children received bicycles and helmets Friday courtesy of Academy Sports.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Let The Tate Band Do All Of Your Gift Wrapping
December 22, 2018
The Tate Band Showband of the South will be wrapping gifts for donations at Walmart on Highway 29 in Ensley through Christmas Eve. Look for the big white tent near the entrance.
Tate Band Gift Wrap Schedule:
Sunday, Dec. 23rd – 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 24th – 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Pictured. Tate band moms wrapping gifts outside Walmart in Ensley. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Dept. Of Corrections Schedules Holiday Visitations
December 22, 2018
The Florida Department of Corrections will hold visitation for Christmas Day on December 25 and visitation for New Year’s Day on January 1.
Weekend visitation will take place on December 22-23 and December 29-30. Visitation will not be allowed on December 24 or December 31 regardless of state office closures.
Following the holiday season, visitation will resume regular schedule.
Scott: Escambia Area Creates New Jobs
December 22, 2018
Gov. Rick Scott said Friday that the Pensacola area added 3,600 new private-sector jobs in the past year, making the total number of new private-sector jobs created in Pensacola 25,100 since December 2010. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.9 percent in November, down 0.8 percentage point in the past year. Statewide, Florida businesses created 23,000 new jobs in November bringing the total number of new private-sector jobs created in Florida to 1,673,500 since December 2010.
The industries with the highest growth over the year in the Pensacola area were leisure and hospitality with 1,100 new jobs and government with 1,100 new jobs. In November, Pensacola had 6,219 job openings and of those, 1,810 were for high-skill, high-wage STEM jobs in November.
Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.3 percent represents a drop of 7.5 percentage points since December 2010; this drop is faster than the national decline of 5.6 percentage points.
Escambia Man Convicted Of Selling Drugs From Hotel Room Where His Kids Were Sleeping
December 22, 2018
An Escambia County man that was selling drugs from a Highway 29 motel hotel room has been convicted.
Tony Kwabena Lovelace was convicted of one count of trafficking in heroin, possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, one count of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, two counts of child neglect and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
On May 7, 2018, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Investigators served a search warrant at a hotel room at the Luxury Suites on Pensacola Boulevard. An investigation began after information was received that Lovelace was selling heroin from the hotel room. Lovelace, an unknown female, and Lovelace’s two young children were located in the hotel room, along with more than 19 grams of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and over $6,600 in cash.
Lovelace’s two children were asleep in the bed near the controlled substances. Lovelace is a convicted felon and has a criminal history that includes several prior convictions for possession of controlled substances with intent to sell.
Circuit Judge Stephen Pitre scheduled sentencing for December 31, 2018.
Lovelace faces a maximum of seventy years in State Prison. She faces at least a 15 year minimum mandatory (day for day) sentence on the count of trafficking in heroin.
Photo Gallery: Century Christmas Parade
December 21, 2018
The Century Christmas Parade was held Friday morning.
See the entire parade in our NorthEscambia.com photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Fire Destroys Atmore Home
December 21, 2018
Fire destroyed a home in Atmore Friday morning.
The fire on Cloverdale Road, near Atmore Community Hospital, was reported to the Atmore Fire Department about 11:20 a.m. No one was home at the time of the fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
For Second Time, State Disagrees With Century Mayor’s Claims About Security Cameras, Inmate Labor
December 21, 2018
For the second time, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is disagreeing with claims made by Century Mayor Henry Hawkins about the need for security cameras in order to use inmate labor from Century Correctional Institution.
In November Hawkins said, “We are about to lose our inmates if we don’t get security cameras. People have been dropping off stuff over at Showalter Park and even at the maintenance shop for the inmates to pick up. This has happened now for three straight months. And if we don’t put in security cameras, they are going to pull our inmates.”
“Everywhere that we put inmates, we got to have them. But our biggest traffic area for drugs right now is at Showalter and the maintenance shop. We actually need some at the roadside park (Nadine McCaw Park),” the mayor said in November. Hawkins said the prison is requiring that the cameras be professionally monitored.
NorthEscambia.com followed up with the FDC, and we were told they had not mandated the use of professional monitored cameras by FDC Press Secretary Patrick Manderfield.
This week, Hawkins told the Century Town Council that “whoever” made those statements was wrong.
“Whoever that was … they printed this stuff wouldn’t at this meeting between me, the major and the warden, and the assistant warden. Whoever that was, and I don’t know, they wouldn’t at this table,” he said.
“My question is do we have to have the security cameras to keep the inmates?” Council President Ann Brooks asked.
“Yes we do,” Hawkins replied. “Yes.”
“So whoever spoke for the Department of Corrections was incorrect?” Brooks asked.
“Right,” Hawkins answered.
And, again, the FDC backed up their original statement in an email on Thursday.
“If contraband is discovered in a work squad area, inmate work crews are unable to go out until the issue is investigated, causing a disruption in work. For this reason, the Department recommends the use of cameras with local officials in the best interest of the safety of staff and the community. The Department had discussions with the Town of Century about the potential use of cameras in work squad areas but has never mandated it as a requirement. Since November, the Department has continued to provide work squads for the Town of Century in accordance with our contract agreement,” Manderfield said. He underlined “but has never mandated it as a requirement” in his email.
Hawkins also told the council that the FDC wanted a key and access to search the town shop where inmates often work.
“They wanted to come in early before anybody come to work. They wanted a key to our facilities, and I said nope, that’s not going to happen. Somebody will be there when they do their inspections,” the mayor said.
“There were no specific discussions about searching, but the Department requires institutional staff to search work squad areas for any contraband,” Manderfield said Thursday.
He said the Florida Department of Corrections will continue to provide inmate labor to the Town of Century … even without the cameras.
“If we have to have cameras, I want that in a contract with them,” council member Ben Boutwell said.
In November, Hawkins presented the town council with two quotes for cameras — one from McCullough and Sons in Bratt and one from a company he did not name. The McCullough and Sons quote was for just over $21,000, and included five years of professional monitoring, he said. He recommended that the cameras first be installed at Showalter Park and the town maintenance shop on Alger Road for a cost of about $4,800.
There were no funds budgeted by the town for the purchase of security cameras this fiscal year. “I’m not going on an oral agreement or anything. It has to be written down in a contract that we have to have cameras.
He asked for the approval to purchase security cameras in June after he said vandals had struck several parks. “We need to move quickly on cameras, because we are going to go broke with nickel and dime repairs,” Hawkins said in June.
In May, he presented the town council with a security camera proposal from Security Center USA in Jacksonville for about $700 per month under a 36 month lease purchase with a $1 buyout. The proposal included eight HD cameras at town hall and the Nadine McCaw Park, seven HD cameras at maintenance shop and Showalter Park, and three HD cameras at the water treatment plant. Installation, video recorders, streaming, accessories and monitoring were included.
The council has not approved any of Hawkins’ requests for security cameras.
Pictured: Century Mayor Henry Hawkins discusses security cameras and prison inmates during a council meeting. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
