Century Woman Charged With Attacking Neighbor’s Porch, Clawing At Deputies
August 18, 2018
A Century woman was jailed after allegedly attacking her neighbor’s porch, threatening her with a pipe and clawing at Sheriff’s deputies.
Shirley Ann Knight, 62, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal mischief with property damage and resisting arrest. She remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $6,000.
Knight allegedly damaged two front porch columns at a home on Academy Street with a metal pipe before threatening the resident with the pipe.
After she was arrested and placed in a deputy’s vehicle, she managed to remove one hand from handcuffs and began hitting the center divider of the vehicle. As deputies tried to re-cuff Knight, she grabbed a deputies hand, scratching him. She then attempted to claw two deputies and refused to get back in patrol vehicle, according to arrested report. Deputies picked her up and placed her inside the Tahoe. On the way to the jail, she starting spitting at the deputy and all over his vehicle, the report states. The incidents were captured on video.
Bicyclist Gets Prison Time After Assaulting Deputy During Traffic Stop
August 18, 2018
An Escambia County man stopped for riding a bicycle without a light has been sentenced to prison for assaulting a deputy.
A jury found Curtis Searles guilty of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting a law enforcement officer with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer. Circuit Judge Joel Boles presided over the trial sentenced the Searles to seven years in state prison with a three year minimum mandatory sentence for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The charges arose from a traffic stop on November 24, 2017. An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Searles for riding his bicycle without a light. Searles ran into the woods during the traffic stop. The deputy followed Searles into the woods, and tried to detain him for resisting. Searles grabbed the deputy’s arm, and they fell to the ground. Searles got on top of the deputy and grabbed the deputy’s gun. The deputy struggled to keep his gun in his holster with both of Searles’ hands on the deputy’s gun. Other deputies responded to the scene, and Searles continued to resist the deputies as they tried to detain him.
Searles has been convicted of six prior felonies including an aggravated assault, throwing a missile into a vehicle, sale, manufacture, or delivery of a controlled substance, introduction of contraband into a detention facility, and two perjury convictions. he also has three resisting an officer without violence convictions.
County Talks West Kingsfield Road Improvements, Realignment With Beulah Road
August 18, 2018
Escambia County is exploring options to improving West Kingsfield Road and possibly realign it with Beulah Road.
In 2017, an in-house safety study was performed for West Kingsfield Road from Highway 97 west to Beulah Road.
In the past two years, there have been more than $178,000 in roadway, drainage and signage improvements completed by the county in the area. Options are being explored to improve upon current areas with 90-degree curves. Those options would realign Kingsfield with a terminus further north on Beulah Road, likely near the entrance of the Escambia County Landfill.
Intermediate plans call for the entire road to be resurfaced and restriped using about $1 million in Local Option Sales Tax money, once approved. Otherwise, the road is currently set for resurfacing in 2027-2028.
During the time period of January 2011 to December 2016, there were 18 reported traffic crashes on West Kingsfield. Of those, 12 were vehicles that ran off the road, four were vehicles that were side-swiped and one was head-on.
The commission will continue discussion on Kingsfield Road in the future. no plans have been finalized.
Pictured: This graphic depicts a possible route for realigning Kingsfield Road with Beulah Road to avoid several 90-degree curves. NorthEscambia.com graphic.
United Way Recruits Volunteers, Projects For Day Of Caring
August 18, 2018
United Way of Escambia County is now recruiting volunteers and organizations in need of support for its 26th Annual Day of Caring on October 5.
Day of Caring is the largest single day of volunteerism in Northwest Florida. Each year, individuals and groups are matched with local nonprofit agencies and schools to spend the day working on various service projects. Day of Caring volunteers have the opportunity to see firsthand the needs of our community while working together to combat those issues through volunteerism.
Last year, more than 1,300 volunteers rolled up their sleeves across our community to spend time with seniors, read to students, paint, build, landscape, and more. Together, Day of Caring volunteers completed 97 projects at 68 local nonprofit agencies and schools, and donated 4,463 hours of their time for an estimated $107,748 impact on our community.
Volunteers or organizations looking to participate in 2018’s Day of Caring should register online at http://www.unitedwayescambia.org/dayofcaring by August 31.
Once all volunteer applications and project requests are received, a committee of United Way staff and volunteers carefully review them to match groups with preferred projects or those most appropriate based on a group’s skills or size.
For more information on how to get involved, contact United Way’s Volunteer Center at 850-434-3157 or by emailing volunteer@unitedwayescambia.org.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Vernon Tops Northview (With Photo Gallery)
August 18, 2018
The Northview Chiefs fell to Vernon Friday night in Bratt during their annual Kickoff Classic.
In a varsity second half, Vernon topped Northview 20-7.
“There were times we were competing really well, and there were times we were not…..I was a little disappointed in our energy toward the end of the game. We will definitely work on that,” Coach Derek Marshman said. “On defense, we’ve got to get batter at tackling. Offensively, I thought we executed well at times, but we’ve got to get better up front.”
In a junior varsity first half, Vernon beat Northview 20-6. The Yellow Jackets do not have a JV team, so they fielded some of their varsity players.
“The JV competed really hard,” Marshman said. “Our JV kids, battled, battled, battled. Eventually they ran out gas a little bit. We are not 100 percent game shape yet. They are going to win some football games this year, and they have a bright future ahead of them.”
The Northview Chiefs will kickoff their regular season next Friday night against Lighthouse Christian. Lighthouse does not have a football stadium; the game will be played at the Brent Athletic Park on North W Street at Beverly Parkway at 7:00 p.m.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
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Local Unemployment Rate Dips
August 18, 2018
Escambia County’s unemployment rate s 3.9 percent, down 0.4 percentage point from a year ago, according to the latest numbers released Friday.
The industries with the highest growth over the year in Pensacola were construction, and leisure and hospitality. The Pensacola area had 4,643 job openings, including 1,286 openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.
Florida’s unemployment rate dipped in July, hitting an 11-year low of 3.7 percent, according to numbers posted Friday by the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The latest estimate represents 383,000 Floridians considered out of work — 4,000 fewer than in June — from a workforce of 10.2 million. The mark, the lowest for Florida since April 2007, kept the state below the national figure of 3.9 percent for July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Tate Aggies Beat Pensacola High
August 18, 2018
The Tate High School Aggies beat Pensacola High School all around Friday night in Cantonment.
The varsity Aggies beat PHS 14-0. Quarterback Hunter Riggan found Patrick Palmer on an 81-yard touchdown pass. Riggan also threw a 60-yard TD pass to Spencer Ruiz.
The JV Aggies beat PHS 12-0; and the freshmen Aggies upended PHS 20-8.
The Tate Aggies will host Choctaw next Friday night in Pete Gindl Stadium at 7:00. Pensacola High will be at Pine Forest.
Wahoos Drop Third Straight Against Shrimp
August 18, 2018
The Wahoos were held to three hits as they lost 6-1 to the Jumbo Shrimp Friday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Double-A debutant Dustin Beggs (W,1-0) was excellent for the Shrimp. The 25-year old held the Wahoos to one run on one hit. He faced the minimum through the first three innings, with a Mitch Nay walk the only thing disrupting a perfect start to the game.
Pensacola’s only run came on a broken play in the sixth inning. With two on and one out, Narciso Crook hit a slow roller to Brian Schales at third. He tried to start a double play by stepping on third, but he sailed the throw to first, which allowed TJ Friedl to score. That made the score 5-1, and that was the closest the Wahoos would come to a rally.
Simply put, the Wahoos could not keep pace with the Jumbo Shrimp offense. Daniel Wright (L, 6-9) allowed five runs on eight hits over six innings of work. Jacksonville scored once in the first inning and then scored their next three runs on homers. Monte Harrison hit a solo shot in the second and John Silviano belted a two-run homer in the fourth, which made it 4-0.
After avoiding a series loss for 12 consecutive series, Pensacola has now dropped three straight. Over their last six games, the Wahoos have been outscored 51-17, and are 1-5 over that stretch.
The Wahoos will try to salvage the series against Jacksonville Saturday night. RHP Wyatt Strahan (6-10, 4.16) will take the hill for the Blue Wahoos against RHP Cody Poteet (2-10, 5.).
18-Wheeler Overturns In Cantonment
August 17, 2018
An 18-wheeler overturned on Muscogee Road at Highway 29 in Cantonment Friday, causing traffic delays for over five hours.
There were no other vehicles involved in the 1:11 p.m. accident. The driver of the truck, 38-year old Darryl Harlow of Foley was able to crawl out of the cab and was not injured.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Harlow failed to maintain control the semi as he turned let on Muscogee Road from Highway 29 northbound.
The truck was hauling paper and weighed over 70,000 pounds, according to the FHP.
Harlow was cited for careless driving.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Century Budget: Gas Department Facing Big Loss; Mayor Wants Employee Raises
August 17, 2018
Century’s gas department is expected to lose over $200,000 next fiscal year, and the mayor is proposing a 3 percent raise for employees. Those were just two of the items discussed Thursday afternoon during a Town of Century budget workshop.
Gas Department Losses
The town’s gas tentative gas department budget is projecting a loss of $214,000 as the town works to figure out where the gas they purchase from their supplier is going because much of it is not being billed to customers.
Gas Superintendent Wally Kellett said it’s certain the gas is not leaking because that would be very obvious. The problem, he said, is either with customer meters, meter reading and billing, or a discrepancy between the amount billed by the town’s supplier and the quantity actually delivered.
The town plans to install a “gate station” meter to measure and verify the amount of gas received from the supplier, and they are considering about $50,000 for new meters for all customers because current meters are decades old. The system currently servers 498 customer accounts in and around the town. There were 520 gas customers just a few weeks ago.
“It’s hard to say how much of a difference it will make, but it will be tremendous,” Kellet said the increased revenue expectorated from new, more accurate gas meters.
About $160,000 in gas revenue was lost this year because, according to town officials, a meter reader was not properly reading meters. That meter reader is no longer employed by the town.
“The biggest unknown right now for the gas department is how much are we going to bill (next fiscal year),” accountant Robert Hudson said. “”We are seeing problems with the gas department as far as billing versus purchases.”
The proposed budget moves administrative salaries out of the gas department in order to curtail losses. The gas fund had typically paid a portion of the the salaries of the mayor, town council and administrative clerks. An $18,000 budgeted rent the gas department had paid the general fund has also been eliminated to improve the balance sheet.
Employee Raises
Mayor Henry Hawkins has requested a 3 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) across the board for employees. The current COLA as set by the Social Security Administration is 2 percent, according to Town Clerk Kim Godwin.
The town’s total personnel costs, including salaries and benefits, is budgeted at $1.045 million.
Not Final Yet
The budget discussed Thursday is not yet final and no formal actions were taken. A preliminary budget draft will be presented during a council workshop at 1 p.m. on Friday, August 24.