What Will Happen To Gas Prices As Gordon Steers Toward Refineries?
September 3, 2018
Millions of motorists traveling over the weekend paid the most expensive Labor Day gas prices in four years. Prices could get even more expensive, depending on the path and severity of Gordon.
Gas prices in Florida are higher than a week ago. The state average of $2.80 per gallon is 7 cents more than last week, and 17 cents more than this time last year. The state average rose 8 cents last week, in anticipation of strong holiday demand; then leveled off over the weekend.
The average price per gallon in Escambia County was $2.76.
So far, the Gordon has not affected gas prices, but that would change if refineries suffer damage or go offline. Refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi began making preparations for the storm on Monday. As of press time, no refineries, oil rigs or platforms have shut down.
The Gulf Coast is home to nearly half (45%) of the nation’s refinery capacity. Last year, pump prices surged after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 storm, causing mass flooding and refinery outages. Energy production dropped approximately 21 percent as a result. Although oil prices didn’t change much, gasoline futures jumped 47 cents within five days of Harvey’s arrival. Fifteen days after landfall, gas prices in the southeastern U.S. had climbed 40-50 cents.
“It’s too early to know just how much of an impact – if any – Gordon will have on prices at the pump,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Market watchers will pay close attention to how refineries respond to this storm. Any supply outages would likely cause prices to climb.”
Pictured: Drivers fill gas cans in advance of Gordon Sunday afternoon just across the state line in Atmore. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Clinch Playoff Berth In 4-3 Win Over Smokies
September 3, 2018
Taylor Featherston delivered a go-ahead two-run homer against Scott Effross (L, 2-6) and the Wahoos clinched a playoff berth for the fourth season in a row with a 4-3 win Sunday night Smokies Stadium.
Trailing 2-1 in the in the seventh inning, Gavin LaValley led off the inning with a single. Featherston followed and belted Effross’s 2-1 pitch over the right-field fence, which put Pensacola up 4-3. The Wahoos picked up their first two runs of the game courtesy of Shed Long’s two-run homer in the top of the fourth.
Daniel Wright started the game for the Wahoos and allowed three runs across five innings. After scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth, the Smokies took the lead against Wright after Eddy Martinez hit a two-run homer to give the hosts a temporary 3-2 lead.
The bullpen turned in four shutout innings for Jody Davis to secure the win. Nick Howard (W, 2-0) turned in a scoreless sixth inning, and after the Wahoos retook the lead, Joel Bender pitched two scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth. Alex Powers (S, 18) closed out the ninth inning in what will likely be his final appearance of the regular season with his 18th save of the year.
With Mobile’s loss to the Biscuits earlier in the day, Pensacola mathematically clinched the final spot in the 2018 Southern League Playoffs with a chance to defend last year’s Southern League Championship. The Wahoos join the Montgomery Biscuits as the second Southern League team this decade to make the playoffs four years in a row. Pensacola will begin their title defense on Wednesday, September 5 in Biloxi against the Shuckers.
With Birmingham’s 6-3 win over Biloxi on Sunday, the Wahoos can clinch the second-half title with a win over Tennessee and a Biloxi loss on Monday. As it currently stands the Wahoos are guaranteed a playoff spot as the wildcard, meaning that four of the five games (if needed) would be played at MGM Park. If the Shuckers hang on to win the second-half, Pensacola’s only home playoff game in the first round would be on Friday, September 7 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The 2018 regular season concludes Monday afternoon in Kodak. RHP Wyatt Strahan (7-11, 6.35) is looking to wrap up the campaign on a winning note while RHP Keegan Thompson aims to give Tennessee a consolation win to end their season.
No Injuries In Highway 29 Rollover Sunday Morning
September 2, 2018
No one was injured in a rollover crash Sunday morning on Highway 29 south of East Kingsfield Road about 5:40 a.m..
Further details have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Ensley and Cantonment Stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Statewide Amber Alert Issued For Missing 2-Year Old
September 2, 2018
Bratt Road Bridge Closed Almost Nine Months With No Work
September 2, 2018
The Bratt Road Bridge over Canoe Creek has been closed for nearly nine months, and it will be several more weeks before work begins on a replacement bridge.
The current wooden-support bridge was constructed in 1956 and was closed by FDOT December 6 after it failed an inspection.
The Florida Department of Transportation is set to award a contract to replace the bridge on September 26. Once construction begins, it will take up 90-120 days to install a temporary bridge and open it to traffic.
Once the temporary bridge is opened, construction will begin on a new permanent concrete bridge.
The bridge averaged 425 vehicles per day prior to closure.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
One Injured In Highway 29 Incident Early Sunday
September 2, 2018
One person was transported to the hospital following an incident on Highway 29 in McDavid early Sunday morning.
At about 12:45 a.m., Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS were dispatched to the report of a single vehicle wreck on Highway 29 about two miles north of Highway 164. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to a reported disturbance following the crash.
Authorities discovered a southbound Ford pickup truck had crossed the median and rotated into a ditch alongside northbound Highway 29. The Florida Highway Patrol responded but did not work the incident as a traffic crash because there was no property damage.
A female was transported by Escambia County EMS to Sacred Heart hospital in Pensacola, but exactly how she was injured was not immediately clear.
Further details were not released by authorities.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Huelsbeck Retires After 70 Years Service To Cantonment, Molino Catholic Communities
September 2, 2018
Longtime Cantonment resident Jody Huelsbeck has retired from St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Cantonment after over 70 years of service to the Catholic church community in Cantonment and Molino.
Whether he was keeping the church campus mowed, changing light bulbs, eradicating wasp nests, or whatever needed to be done, he was there.
He served as an altar boy at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church many years ago, was involved with Santa Maria Church, and was involved with St. Judge’s since its inception – even helping with construction of the church.
He was a member of the Knights of Columbus Santa Maria Council, donating his times and talents to help and serve wherever needed.
Huelsbeck, according to those that know him best, always had a smile on his face and a witty greeting for anyone he encountered.
He also known for the creating beautiful rosaries, sometimes combining them with a religious artwork print for bishops, priests and other dignitaries. He has also sent his special artwork with greetings from St Jude’s to Pope Francis and President Donald Trump, receiving replies of gratitude in return.
NorthEscambia.com graphic.
Florida Smokers Puff More Than Counterparts
September 2, 2018
Slightly more than 13 percent of Florida adults smoked in 2017, but they go through more tobacco than average smokers nationally, a draft report given Tuesday to Florida health officials shows.
The findings, culled from the Florida Adult Tobacco Survey, show that a Florida smoker on average puffs 14.6 cigarettes a day, Erik Crankshaw, a researcher with North Carolina-based RTI, told members of a tobacco advisory council who met in Tallahassee.
Nationally, the draft report said smokers average 11.4 cigarettes per day. About 14 percent of adults nationally smoked in 2017.
Crankshaw said researchers don’t know why Florida smokers smoke more.
“It continues to stand out, it’s one we don’t have a good explanation for, and we are always looking for creative thoughts on why it might be,” Crankshaw, told members of the Comprehensive Tobacco Education and Use Prevention Program Advisory Council. “It is significant, and it has been for years.”
While they smoke more cigarettes, Florida smokers try to kick the habit more often than their peers nationally. According to the draft report, 59.8 percent of adult smokers in Florida had made an attempt to quit in 2017, compared to 48.9 percent nationally.
While not everyone who attempts to quit is successful, Crankshaw said it’s important data to track because it is “something that is quite sensitive to programmatic efforts” to reduce smoking.
While RTI has conducted independent reviews of the Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida, the findings this year may have added importance.
Public health advocates beat back efforts this spring to eliminate a decade-old requirement that mandates certain funding requirements for Florida’s anti-smoking efforts.
Les Beitsch, a state deputy secretary of health who chaired Tuesday’s meeting, said it would be very important to show the return on investment that the anti-smoking program has had for the state.
Beitsch was referring to a proposal this year that would have eliminated a requirement in the Florida Constitution to set aside 30 percent of overall tobacco education and prevention funding for an edgy advertising and marketing campaign. The money comes from a 1997 multibillion-dollar legal settlement with the tobacco industry.
Ultimately, the proposal was never endorsed by the Constitution Revision Commission, which meets every 20 years and has the ability to put amendments on the ballot. Nevertheless, Beitsch said public health advocates need to be prepared to answer some tough questions about Tobacco Free Florida in the coming years.
To that end, RTI’s analysis this year included a section on the economic analysis of proposed funding cuts. According to RTI’s analysis, smoking-related health care costs between 2019 and 2028 will total $86.3 billion.
A 5 percent reduction in funding, according to RTI, could increase the cost estimate by $500 million over 10 years.
Crankshaw also told the group that a 2017 survey of 2,000 health care providers across the state showed that many of them were not aware that Medicaid offered smoking-cessation services, including nicotine patches.
“Seventy-three percent of those polled did not know that Medicaid covered the nicotine patch,” he told members of the advisory council, which meets quarterly to advise the Department of Health on policies to help eradicate smoking.
The percentage of smokers in the Medicaid program is high. Pooling the data between 2012 and 2016, RTI estimated that the total population of smokers in the state was 14.6 percent.
Insurance status also affects smoking status according to the RTI analysis. Whereas 9.8 percent of those with private insurance were smokers, 25.4 percent of people on Medicaid were smokers. That nearly equals the percent of smokers among the uninsured, which equaled 25.8 percent.
by Christine Sexton, The News Service of Florida
4-H And FFA Youth Show Out At Cow Show In Molino
September 2, 2018
The Barrineau Park 4-H Club hosted the Escambia County 4-H Labor Day Classic Classic Steer and Heifer Show Saturday at the 4-H property in Molino.
Nineteen 4-H and FFA youth from Alabama and Florida participated in a showmanship clinic before showing their animals in showmanship, heifer and and steer classes.
Fallon Ray won the junior division of showmanship, with Dow Boyd winning the intermediate division, and Jacey Adkins winning the senior division. Dow Boyd also took home both the Supreme and Reserve Supreme Champion heifers. Whitnie Yoder won the Prospect steer class with Dalton Coleman placing second. For the market steers, Allen Thomas Bridgers took home the Supreme Champion with Jessica Conti taking home the Reserve Supreme Champion.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Monday Century Council Meeting Rescheduled
September 2, 2018
The Century Town Council has rescheduled their regular council meeting from Monday to September 10 at 7 p.m. due to the Labor Day holiday.
A budget workshop will be held on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Unless otherwise rescheduled, the Century Town Council hold regular meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month at the Century Town Hall.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.