Firefighters Respond To Smoke In Store’s Beer Cooler
May 19, 2018
Escambia Fire Rescue responded to a report of smoke in a beer cooler at the Circle K at Highway 29 and East Kingsfield Road Friday afternoon. The smell of smoke was traced to an electronic energy saving controller inside the cooler (pictured left). There was no other damage reported. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
NRA Appeals Ruling On ‘Jane Doe’ Gun Case
May 19, 2018
The National Rifle Association is appealing a federal judge’s refusal to keep the identity of a 19-year-old Alachua County woman secret in a challenge to a state law that raised the age to purchase rifles and other long guns.
The case was placed on hold Friday pending a decision regarding “Jane Doe” from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to court documents.
The gun-rights group filed the appeal after U.S. District Judge Mark Walker this week decided that previous court rulings forced him to reject the request to keep the identity of “Jane Doe” private.
The NRA requested the use of the pseudonym for Jane Doe and “John Doe,” another 19-year-old who is part of the case. The request was based largely on a declaration filed by the group’s Florida lobbyist, Marion Hammer, who detailed threatening emails she had received featuring derogatory words for parts of the female anatomy.
“It’s time somebody stood up for the First Amendment right to go into court to fight to protect our Second Amendment right without being victimized by hatemongers who threaten you and your family,” Hammer, a onetime president of the national gun-rights organization, told The News Service of Florida on Friday.
The debate over the pseudonyms came in a lawsuit filed March 9 by the NRA, just hours after Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a sweeping school-safety measure that included new gun-related restrictions. The legislation was a rapid response to the Feb. 14 shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 students and faculty members dead and 17 others wounded.
The law raised from 18 to 21 the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns. It also imposed a three-day waiting period on the sale of long guns, such as the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz last year legally purchased and is accused of using in the Valentine’s Day massacre at his former high school.
In late April, the NRA filed a motion to add “Jane Doe” as a plaintiff to the lawsuit, which contends the age restriction in the new law “violates the fundamental rights of thousands of responsible, law-abiding adult Florida citizens and is thus invalid under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.”
The NRA asked Walker to allow the woman to remain anonymous due to fear that public exposure could result in “harassment, intimidation, and potentially even physical violence.”
But, representing the state, lawyers for Attorney General Pam Bondi argued the request for anonymity “does not provide a sufficient basis for overcoming the strong presumption in favor of open judicial proceedings.”
Suggesting that the courts have not kept up with the times, a reluctant Walker agreed.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear the appeal, “has made it clear that pseudonyms may only be used in ‘exceptional’ cases … and that there is ‘a strong presumption in favor of parties’ proceeding in their own names,’ ” the judge wrote in a 17-page opinion Sunday.
The relatively rare circumstances where pseudonyms are allowed involve issues such as abortion, prayer and personal religious beliefs, Walker wrote.
Based on precedent, “this court finds that mere evidence of threats and harassment made online is insufficient to outweigh the customary and constitutionally-embedded presumption of openness in judicial proceedings,” Walker wrote. “This is especially true where the targets of such threats and harassment are not minors and where the subject at issue does not involve matters of utmost intimacy.”
But, expressing sympathy for Jane and John Doe, Walker wrote that the factors laid out in the previous decisions fail to take into account “concerns about the potential harassment and threats they face.”
“To be clear, this court does not intend to diminish those concerns,” he added.
In a joint motion filed Friday, lawyers for the NRA and the state asked Walker to put the case on hold until the Atlanta-based appellate court decides on the pseudonyms. The judge agreed.
In a footnote in Sunday’s order, Walker called the messages sent to Hammer “hateful and abhorrent” and of such an “offensive nature” that he would not repeat them in his ruling.
“The attorney general has made it clear that she won’t agree to protecting a 19-year-old woman from bullying, harassment, threats of death or injury, and Judge Walker doesn’t seem to think he has the authority or that it’s his job to protect her, so maybe a higher court will,” Hammer said.
In Sunday’s order, Walker noted that the world has changed since the courts established the standards allowing the use of pseudonyms.
“Today we have the internet, social media, and the 24-hour news cycle. What this means is that if a person attaches their name to a lawsuit — and especially if that lawsuit is sensational — then everyone will quickly be made aware of it. Articles get posted online, and the responding comments, tweets, and whatever-else-have-yous often devolve into a rhetorical barrage of hate. Unfortunately, it seems the internet just doesn’t always bring out the best in us,” he wrote.
“Maybe the law should be modified to reflect these changes. But it’s not this court’s job to change the law; this court’s job is to apply the law,” Walker wrote. “And the law unfortunately directs that the NRA’s motion must be denied.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
New Splash Pad Opens In Atmore
May 19, 2018
A new $150,000 splash pad opened Friday in Atmore. The splash pad was made possible through a partnership between the City of Atmore and the Atmore Rotary Club, along with additional donations. The splash is open 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. daily at South Trammel Street and West Craig Street, just behind Heritage Park on South Main Street. There is also a new covered seating area for parents.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Arrest Made In Northview High School Bomb Threat (Updated With Details)
May 18, 2018
UPDATED: Thanks to video evidence, an arrest was quickly made after a bomb threat Thursday afternoon at Northview High School.
Gavin Lee Barlow, age 19 of Walnut Hill, was charged with making a bomb threat, a felony, and disturbing the peace/interfering with a school function. He remained in the Escambia County Jail early Friday morning with bond set at $5,250.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office completed a search and cleared the campus shortly after the threat was made, and deputies were able to quickly develop a suspect thanks to video evidence.
At 2:30 p.m., the school resource officer was made aware that Barlow sent a profanity-laced video through the Snapchat app to a student at the school who had just been suspended for the rest of the year, according to the Sheriff’s Office. In the video, Barlow said, “I hate that (profanity) school, I hate that (profanity), I hate Mrs. Weaver. I wish that (profanity) would blow the (profanity) up at 3:20. (Profanity) I’m gonna set a bomb off in that (profanity). I’m gonna get Russia to blow that (profanity) up.”
Barlow is not a student at the school.
Principal Gayle Weaver was informed of the threat, and a decision was made to dismiss faculty, staff and students early at 3:11 p.m., rather than the normal dismissal time of 3:20 p.m.
“The threat was time specific for 3:20,” Weaver said in a recorded photo call to parents.
After contact was made with Barlow, he met deputies at a house on Pine Barren Road, just outside the Northview campus, and Barlow was placed under arrest without incident at 4:45 p.m. There were no other arrests in connection with the threat, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
The school held their Senior Honors Night program as planned Thursday night without incident.
Pictured: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect on Pine Barren Road, just outside the Northview High School campus, following a bomb threat Thursday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Forest Service Battles 80 Acre Wildfire Near Walnut Hill
May 18, 2018
The Florida Forest Service battled an 80 acre wildfire Thursday afternoon in Enon, south of Walnut Hill.
The Forest Service utilized three bulldozers and a brush truck. It took about two hours to contain the fire off Highway 97A.
No structures were threatened by the blaze.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Northview High Names 2018 Honors Graduates; Announces $835K In Scholarships
May 18, 2018
Northview High School named their honor graduates Thursday night, as $835,812 in scholarships were announced for the Class of 2018.
Valedictorian of the Class of 2018 is Triston Parker Long, and salutatorian is Sarah Elizabeth Perritt (pictured top).
For additional photos, click here.
Summa Cum Laude (4.0 GPA and above) graduates are, in class rank order:
1. Triston Parker Long
2. Sarah Elizabeth Perritt
3. Hannah Grace Nelson
4. Tara Faith Windham
5. Destiny McKenna Watson
6. Hannah Mascaro
7. Jacob Andrew White
8. Anna Belle Barberree
9. Miracle Breanna Deloach
10. Kayla Nicole Galvan
11. Logan Daniel Calloway
12. Alayna Lauren Brown
Magna Cum Laude graduates (3.85 or higher) are:
13. John Elmer Chivington Jr.
14. Bailee Brianna Hinote
Cum Laude (3.5 and above) graduates are:
15. Jason Riley Fischer
16. Logan Michael Doremus
17. Jarrod Latrell Davison
18. Bria Ashlynn Hardy
19. Laura Abbygale Hammond
20. Braxton Wade Edwards
21. Robin Marie Nahkala
22. Natasha Nykeria Walker
Scholarships were awarded or offered as follows:
Anna Belle Barbarree
- Escambia Retired Educator’s Association – $1,000
- Delta Kappa Gamma Scholarship – $150
- PSC Academic – $1,800
- Bright Futures – Gold Seal Vocational – $2,880
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $500
Dawson Brown
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $250
Rhayeshawnna Davidson
- Johnson & Wales University – FBLA Scholarship – $8,000
- Johnson & Wales University – Presidential Academic Scholarship – $28,000
Logan Calloway
- UWF – Academic Merit – $12,000
Alexandra Carter
- PSC Scholastic Achievement Award – $500
Jarrod Davison
- Leola Robinson – $250
- James O. Gordon Schoalrship – $250
- Strides for Academic Excellence – $500
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $250
Miracle Deloach
- Bright Fututres – Florida Medallion Scholar – $9,240
- UWF -Academic Merit – $16,000
Donnie Dixon
- George Stone Scholarship – $1,000
- Northview FFA Alumni – Tommy Weaver Award – $500
- Tri Cities Volunteers – $1,000
Jason Fischer
- Take Stock in Children – $12,000
- University of South Alabama University Scholarship – $14,000
- Bright Fututres – Florida Medallion Scholar – $9,240
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $250
- Zachary Barrow Memorial Scholarship – $1,500
- UWF – Academic Merit – $12,000
Kayla Galvan
- Take Stock in Children – $12,000
- UWF – Academic Merit – $12,000
Austin Ging
- Bright Futures – Gold Seal Vocational – $2,880
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $250
Logan Hall
- Coastal Alabama Theater Sholarship – $12,300
- Coastal Alabama Book Scholarship – $3,000
John Wesley Hardin
- George Stone Scholarship – $1,000
- Northview FFA Alumni – Tommy Weaver Award – $500
Bria Hardy
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $250
Cole Hassebrock
- Ruritan Award – $300
- Northview FFA Alumni – Tommy Weaver Award – $1,000
Bailee Hinote
- Bright Futures – Florida Academic Scholar – $25,000
Cody Kite
- Glenn Key Memorial Award – $1,000
- Jamie Hall Memorial Award – $1,000
- Northview FFA Alumni – Tommy Weaver Award – $1,000
Triston Long
- University of Alabama – UA Scholar Scholarship – $90,000
- Valedictorian Award – United Bank – $500
- Auburn University – Ceddrick C. Mack Memorial Beacon Leadership Endowed Scholarship – $20,000
- Auburn University – Spirit of Auburn Founders Scholarship
- Auburn Universtiy – Lee Moody Endowed Scholarship – $1,000
- University of West Florida – Merit Scholarship – $20,000
- Bright Futures – Florida Academic Scholar – $25,000
- UWF – Academic Merit – $20,000
Hannah Mascaro
- UWF Academic Merit – $16,000
Hannah Nelson
- Florida State University – University Freshman Scholarship – $9,600
- EREC – Hermann Johnson – $4,000
- Bright Futures – Florida Academic Scholar – $25,000
- UWF – Academic Merit – $20,000
Lari McCann
- Take Stock in Children – $12,000
Sarah Perritt
- University of Alabama – Birmingham – Presidential Recognition Scholarship – $43,440
- University of South Alabama – Presidential Scholarship – $38,992
- Mississippi State – Academic Excellence – $24,000
- University of Mississippi – Academic Excellence – $32,760
- Salutatorian Award – First National Bank – $300
Orelbis Oscar Rodriguez
- Bright Futures – CAPE – $2,880
- Pensacola Civitan – $100
Mary Sanders
- PSC Music Award – $2,000
Andrew Sharpless
- Quarterback Club – $500
- University of South Alabama University Scholarship – $14,000
Fisher Spence
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $250
Hunter Spence
- Atmore Rotary All Star – $250
- Bright Futures – Gold Seal Vocational – $2,880
Evan Till
- Coastal Alabama Theater Scholarship – $12,300
- Coastal Alabama Book Scholarship – $3,000
- International Paper Scholarship – $1,000
Destiny Watson
- Louisiana State University Tiger Excellence – $48,000
- Louisiana State University Tiger Nation Scholarship – $13,340
- Florida Institute of Technology – Panther Fund Schoalrship – $20,550
- Florida Institute of Technology – LP Whitehead Schoalrship – $5,000
- University of Oklahoma – $32,000
- Bright Futures – Florida Academic Scholar – $25,000
Jacob White
- University of Alabama – Collegiate Scholar Scholarship – $24,000
- UWF – Academic Merit – $16,000
Madison White
- Bright Futures- CAPE – 2880
- Atmore Rotary All Star – 250
Tara Windham
- Atmore Rotary All Star – 500
Escambia County Extension To Host Honey Bee Workshop Saturday
May 18, 2018
Escambia County Extension will host the Escarosa Beekeepers Association Open Hive Bee Workshop on Saturday, May 19.
The meeting will take place at the county Extension Office, located at 3740 Stefani Road in Cantonment, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $20 for adults and $7 for children ages 10-12, with free admission for children under the age of 9. Lunch is provided and there will be several raffle and door prize drawings.
The workshop will include an open hive inspection, nucleus installation, live swarm demonstration, honey extraction, and a honeycomb cut out.
To register for the event, contact Rizza Johnson at 850-698-6418 or email rizzaxjohnson@gmail.com.
Get Your Important Documents, Photos Digitized At Molino Library
May 18, 2018
Saturday is “Save Yourself Digitization Day” at the Molino Branch Library.
The library will help residents get their personal important documents and photos digitized. Patrons can receive a half hour session with a library specialist who will scan and save items to a flash drive.
The library will provide the flash drives and the technology from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Call the Molino Branch Library at (850) 435-1761 to reserve a time. Drop-ins are welcome on a first come, first serve basis.
Bid To Ban Dog Racing Draws Court Fight
May 18, 2018
Greyhound breeders and trainers are asking the courts to strip a proposed constitutional amendment from the November ballot, alleging that the measure is misleading and inaccurate.
The proposal, placed on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission, would outlaw greyhound racing at dog tracks by 2020, a process known as “decoupling.” Tracks would still be allowed to operate other, more lucrative gambling activities, such as slot machines and poker rooms.
But the Florida Greyhound Association and its president, breeder James Blanchard, maintain that the proposed ballot title and summary don’t fully inform voters about the impact of the amendment if approved.
In a complaint filed Thursday in Leon County circuit court, lawyers for the plaintiffs raised what they deem numerous flaws in the amendment, which was backed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Massachusetts-based advocacy group GREY2K USA Worldwide.
Among the shortcomings alleged by the plaintiffs: The proposal does not advise voters that dog tracks still would be allowed to broadcast live greyhound races from other states. And the measure would only ban “commercial” dog racing, which means that kennel clubs would be allowed to continue dog competitions, the complaint says.
The lawsuit also alleges that the text of the proposal — which voters won’t see on the ballot — could have implications far beyond the greyhound-racing industry.
The proposed amendment says the “humane treatment of animals is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida.”
That language “might ultimately apply to animals other than dogs,” plaintiffs’ lawyers Jeff Kottkamp, a former lieutenant governor, and Paul Hawkes, a former appellate judge, wrote in the 17-page complaint.
“For example, would this statement, once adopted by voters who were not informed that it was contained in the amendment, be utilized in the future to limit horse racing? To limit the use of hunting dogs? A voter who favors ending dog racing might very well decline to pass an amendment with such a broadly-stated provision for fear that once adopted as status quo in connection to dog racing, such statement might be expanded to limit or prohibit other activities or livelihoods that involve other animals,” the lawyers wrote.
The Florida Supreme Court reviews the wording of constitutional amendments, but its scrutiny is limited, and only proposals that are “clearly and conclusively defective” don’t meet muster.
The Constitution Revision Commission relied on three legal experts in drafting the amendments.
“They approved every single word that was in every single ballot summary and ballot title,” Brecht Heuchan, who chaired the commission’s Style and Drafting Committee, told The News Service of Florida. “That doesn’t mean that some other sets of people, including some other courts, may disagree.”
The lawsuit was “bound to happen,” Heuchan said.
“When you don’t like the policy, you go to court,” he said.
Kate MacFall, co-chair of a political committee backing the proposal, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 13, called the lawsuit “a desperate attempt” to thwart voters from deciding the fate of greyhound racing.
“This lawsuit is dead on arrival. It is a desperate attempt to prevent voters from having a voice on whether greyhound confinement and deaths should continue. It was filed because greyhound breeders know that when Amendment 13 appears on the ballot, Floridians will vote yes for the dogs,” MacFall, the Florida director of The Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.
But Kottkamp asserted that the amendment effectively “hides the ball” from voters, something the courts would not permit.
“The title and summary for proposed Amendment 13 fail to meet Florida’s legal standard,” Kottkamp, the greyhound association’s general counsel, said in a statement.
For years, doing away with greyhound racing — which has been part of Florida’s gambling footprint for nearly a century — has been heavily lobbied and heatedly debated in the Legislature.
Despite what appeared to be widespread support even among legislative leaders, such proposals repeatedly failed when prohibiting dog racing became entangled with other gambling-related issues.
Bondi, who has made dog-adoption efforts part of the opening of each state Cabinet meeting and who served on the Constitution Revision Commission, called greyhound racing and the treatment of the dogs a “black eye on our state” during a meeting last month.
“We all know these dogs end up with broken legs, serious injuries and they’re shipped from track to track until they’re dead or can no longer race at all,” she said.
But Jack Cory, a lobbyist who represents the greyhound association, said the amendment, which would allow tracks to discontinue dog racing by the end of the year, “has nothing to do with animal-rights issues.”
“We are the animal-rights people. (The proponents) are political activists using animals for fundraising purposes,” Cory said, referring to GREY2K and the Humane Society. “All they do is run sad puppy commercials on TV to gain donations.”
Eliminating greyhound racing could wipe out thousands of jobs and devastate an industry Cory said generates $200 million annually. Despite reports that betting on greyhound racing is on the decline, Cory said more than $80 million was bet on live Florida greyhound races last year.
“Just because we’ve got a couple of very aggressive political action groups from out of state is no reason for us to change our business plan in the state of Florida,” he said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
FWC Law Enforcement Report
May 18, 2018
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending May 3 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers Allgood and Manning responded to a call regarding two subjects fishing from a vessel in a restricted no motor zone near Fort McRee. While approaching, they noticed there was a tent set up in the area near the vessel. They approached the tent and spoke to the two subjects who were present. While speaking to them, they noticed drug paraphernalia lying in the tent and one of the subjects had a methamphetamine pipe in his front pocket. Both subjects were found to be in possession of cannabis, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Both subjects were arrested and transported to the Escambia County Jail.
While on patrol, Officer Cushing saw a vessel near the 17th Avenue Boat Ramp without any navigational lights on not making way. A second vessel inbound was hauled by the first vessel to assist getting to the boat ramp. When both vessels neared the boat ramp, Officer Cushing contacted the disabled vessel as the assisting vessel was idling away. Cushing projected his voice several times to get the attention of the assisting vessel operator. The operator seemed hesitant to respond, but the officer eventually contacted him. When questioned about having any fish, he indicated that he only had white trout. When asked to see the fish, the individual was slow to reveal the contents of the live well. Officer Cushing directed him to move a tackle bag and open the lid fully. Inside the live well was a 33-inch redfish. Officer Cushing initiated a fisheries inspection with the other vessel. The operator stated that he had two redfish and a red snapper and some other miscellaneous fish. Officer Cushing inspected the catch. One of the redfish was oversized. Citations were issued to both subjects for the oversized redfish violations and several warnings for the other resource and boating safety violations.
Department of Agriculture Criminal Investigator Shaw advised Environmental Investigator Hughes his agency had received a complaint regarding the storage and disposal of yard trash debris (land clearing debris) on private property in Escambia County. Investigator Shaw stated the yard trash debris had been placed on the property by the complainant’s daughter’s previous boyfriend who operated a commercial stump and tree removal business. After a month-long investigation, an Escambia County Circuit Judge reviewed and issued a warrant for the arrest of a defendant for violation of Section 403.161(1)(b) pursuant to Florida Administrative Code 62-701.300(1)(a) that states “(1) General Prohibition. (a) No person shall store, process, or dispose of solid waste except as authorized at a permitted solid waste management facility or a facility exempt from permitting under this chapter” (1st degree misdemeanor).
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officers Jernigan and Arnette responded to a single vessel accident on the Blackwater River. The lone occupant lost control of his 13-foot boat and was thrown from it in a curve of the river. The vessel continued around the curve and ran up into the brush along the riverbank. The man luckily suffered only minor abrasions. The man was issued a citation for violation of a navigation rule.
Officer Ramos conducted a fisheries inspection on three subjects at a boat ramp. The officer found an oversized red drum located in a cooler next to the subjects. One of the subjects admitted to catching the oversized red drum. Officer Ramos continued his investigation and located multiple white baggies with white substances which were field tested and identified as powder and crack cocaine. The subjects were also in possession of crushed Xanax without a prescription. The subject was placed under arrest and transported to the county jail for possession of a controlled substance. He was also issued a warning for the oversized red drum.
Officers have been receiving many complaints about subjects on the Navarre Pier catching their daily bag limit for pompano, taking it home, and then returning to the pier to catch more pompano exceeding their daily bag limit. Santa Rosa County officers formed a targeted enforcement detail to address the violations in which multiple subjects were seen catching pompano, departing the area and returning hours later to catch more pompano. Several subjects were issued notice to appear citations for taking over the daily bag limit of pompano.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
NorthEscambia.com photo.