Three Injured In Cantonment Rollover Accident
September 18, 2018
Three people reportedly suffered non-life threatening injuries in single vehicle rollover accident about 8:10 p.m. Monday on Devine Farm Road in Cantonment. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Portion Of Hwy 4 Dedicated As The ‘Senator Greg Evers Memorial Highway’
September 18, 2018
A stretch of road in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties was official dedicated Monday as “Senator Greg Evers Memorial Highway.” Evers, 62, died last summer in a single-vehicle accident near his home in Okaloosa County.
The memorial designation is on part of State Road 4 between Munson Highway and State Road 189 in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.
Evers, a Republican, served nine years in the Florida House before his election to the Senate in 2010. Evers left his Senate seat in 2016 to make a bid for the U.S. House but lost the Republican primary to U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Grand Jury Report On ECUA Allegations Remains Secret Two Months Later
September 18, 2018
Today marks two months since an an Escambia County grand jury completed its review into complaints and allegations involving the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority. But that report still has not been released.
The grand jury report was sealed by the court and will remained secret until a court orders its release.
“All matters contained in this report are required to remain secret until released by the Court,” a press release from the State Attorney’s Office said on July 18. “For these reasons no further information may be provided by this office regarding this matter.”
Century Blackcats Show Off New Uniforms
September 18, 2018
The Century Sports Association president stopped by the Century Town Council meeting Monday night to show off the teams’ new uniforms, and to thank the council for their support.
In July, the town council voted to contribute $1,600 towards the purchase of 75 new uniforms. The total purchase price was $4,860.
Century Sports President Amanuel Dobose said program is a positive influence for Century’s youth.
Century’s games begin at 5 p.m. as below for the remainder of the season:
· Sept. 22 – Century at Castleberry
· Sept. 29 – Repton at Century (Homecoming)
· Oct. 6 – Frisco City at Century
· Oct. 13- Century at Georgiana
· Oct. 20 – Beatrice at Century
· Oct. 27 – Jamboree, location TBA
Pictured: Century Sports President Amanuel Dobose gives the Century Town Council a look at new Blackcats uniforms. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blood Drives This Week At Tate, Northview And UWF
September 18, 2018
Blood drives will be held this week at Tate and Nothview high schools and the University of West Florida.
The Big Red Bus will be at the:
- Tate High School on Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
- Northview High School on Wednesday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
OneBlood welcomes blood donations from donors 16 years old and older. Donors that are 16 years old must present a signed permission form from their parent or a guardian before the donation.
Pictured: The OneBlood Big Red Bus earlier this month at the Molino Branch Library. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
State Asks Justices To Clear Way For Amendments
September 18, 2018
Saying First Amendment arguments raised by opponents are “irreconcilable with our constitutional history,” Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office Monday asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that could block at least three proposed constitutional amendments from going on the November ballot.
Bondi’s office filed a 44-page brief in a battle focused on proposed amendments that the Florida Constitution Revision Commission approved this spring. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers ruled Sept. 5 that the proposals should not go on the ballot because they improperly “bundled” unrelated issues.
In doing so, Gievers sided with arguments raised by former Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead and fellow plaintiff Robert J. Barnas, who contend the bundled proposals would violate voters’ First Amendment rights. That contention stems from voters potentially having conflicting opinions about issues in the same proposal.
But the brief Monday assailed that argument, describing it as a “novel constitutional theory.” The brief pointed, for example, to state and federal constitutional changes that bundled different issues.
“In short, our constitutional history is replete with examples of situations in which voters have been asked to vote up or down on bundled provisions addressing distinct rights and issues — including the ratification of the Constitution and the First Amendment,” the brief said. “This longstanding historical practice militates against any suggestion that the First Amendment requires arguably unrelated provisions to be adopted on a piecemeal basis.”
Anstead and Barnas last month challenged six proposed amendments approved by the Constitution Revision Commission, a 37-member panel that meets every 20 years and has unique power to place measures on the ballot. Gievers’ decision in the case focused on three amendments because the other three were subjects of separate challenges at the Supreme Court.
But the brief filed Monday by Bondi’s office indicates the case could lead to invalidating more than the three amendments addressed by Gievers. A footnote in Gievers’ ruling said her findings “apply to all 6 of the proposed amendments” but that because of the other challenges “(no) further opinion will issue here as to those amendments.”
The three proposals blocked by Gievers included a measure that would ask voters to ban offshore oil drilling and vaping or the use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces. Gievers rejected the suggestion that the oil-drilling and vaping proposals could be considered related.
“The court is unconvinced by the respondent’s (state’s) argument that offshore oil and gas drilling and vaping are germane as they are both environmentally related,” she wrote. “These measures are independent and unrelated and do not constitute a comprehensive plan of revision and cannot be imposed upon the voters as a unit. Voters cannot reasonably answer the statutorily required yes or no question … without potentially being deprived of their First Amendment constitutional right to cast a meaningful vote on each independent and unrelated proposal.”
Along with the proposal on oil drilling and vaping, Gievers struck from the ballot a measure that deals with governance of the state-college system and death benefits for survivors of first responders and military members. Also, she struck a measure that would remove constitutional language that prohibits “aliens ineligible for citizenship” from owning property and would revise language to make clear the repeal of criminal statutes does not affect the prosecution of crimes committed before the repeal.
With vote-by-mail ballots going out to some voters this week — and the Nov. 6 election less than two months — the Supreme Court is moving quickly in the case. The state appealed Gievers’ ruling to the 1st District Court of Appeal, which passed it along to the Supreme Court.
The state’s brief Monday raised a series of legal issues in addition to arguing that the First Amendment should not block the proposed amendments. Among those arguments was that Anstead and Barnas waited too long to file the challenge.
The Supreme Court this month rejected one of the other constitutional amendments that Anstead and Barnas challenged, though the legal issues in the cases differed. That amendment dealt with charter schools and other education subjects.
Justices, however, upheld the other two measures that Anstead and Barnas challenged — again, in cases that involved other legal issues. Those measures deal with crime victims’ rights and charter county governments.
by Jim Sanders The News Service of Florida
One Injured In Wreck Involving A Scooter And Car In Cantonment
September 17, 2018
One person was injured when a car and a scooter motorcycle collided on Well Line Road near Morris Avenue Monday. Their injuries were not considered to by life threatening. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Fire Destroys Shed; Firefighters Save Nearby Home
September 17, 2018
Fire destroyed a large shed and threatened other structures, including a mobile home, Monday afternoon in Flomaton.
The fire was reported just after 1 p.m. on Martin Luther King Avenue. The Flomaton, Lambeth, Barnett Crossroads, Pineview and Century fire departments were dispatched to the blaze.
Siding melted on a nearby double-wide mobile home, but firefighters were able to save the structure from further damage.
There were no injuries reported, and the cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Santa Rosa Schools Placed On Lockdown After Suspect Flees From Deputies
September 17, 2018
UPDATE: The suspect was taken into custody at 10:49 a.m. with the assistance of FWC and FDOC, including a K-9 team from Century Correctional.
The search for a suspect placed several Santa Rosa County school into lockdown this morning.
At 8:30 a.m., deputies with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office located a stolen vehicle driving in the area of Pace Patriot Boulevard and Norris Road. The vehicle did not stop, with the driver then fleeing on foot.
Nearby Sims Middle School and SS Dixon Intermediate School were placed on lockdown, and outdoor activities at Pace High School and Dixon Primary were canceled.
Santa Road County deputies, school resource officer and a FWC helicopter were used in the search.
Additional deputies were deployed near school areas, and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office asked that parents and family members not go to the school.
At about 10 a.m., the schools were placed on a “soft” lockdown.
Further details will be posted as they are are released.
Photo courtesy Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. Officer faces were removed from the photo by SRSO.
School Bus Driver Cited After Wreck; No Students Injured
September 17, 2018
A school bus driver was ticketed after morning crash with no injuries just south of Nine Mile Road.
The Florida Highway Patrol said bus driver Erica Godwin, 25, was stopped at a stop sign on Warning Road at Bush Street when she turned her school bus into a Dodge Avenger driven by 57-year old Angela Lord of Pensacola. The front of the bus collided with the side of the car.
There were 15 students on the bus that were not injured. Lord and her two passengers, one of which was a 4-year old child, were also not injured.
Godwin was cited for failing to yield the right of way by the FHP.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
