Wahoos Beat The Shuckers
May 16, 2018
Aristides Aquino belted a pair of home runs to help the Blue Wahoos even the series against the Biloxi Shuckers with a 10-8 win.
Pensacola and Biloxi traded runs in the first inning and Aquino put the Blue Wahoos back in front with a solo home run on the first pitch of the second inning. The Blue Wahoos rallied for three runs in the third to go up 5-1. The first three hitters reached with singles before Brian O’Grady ripped an RBI double down the right field line. Daniel Sweet scored the third run of the frame on a ground out from Nick Longhi.
After the Shuckers cut the score to 5-4, the Blue Wahoos rallied again with four runs in the top of the sixth. Aquino struck again with a two-run shot after Longhi led off with a single. After Shed Long singled home Chris Okey, Luis Gonzalez belted a ground rule double to score Long and cap the four-run sixth and stretch the lead to 9-4.
Pensacola picked up a valuable insurance run in the eighth inning to briefly make it 10-5 before Biloxi responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. The Shuckers got a run and brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Carlos Navas got Jake Hager to fly out in foul territory down the right field line to end the game.
Vladimir Gutierrez pitched 4.1 innings in the start for Pensacola. He allowed four runs on six hits with a season-high eight strikeouts. Gutierrez took a no-decision with Rafael De Paula (W, 1-3) getting the win with two innings pitched in relief. Adrian Houser (L, 0-1) gave up five runs (4 ER) on seven hits with three strikeouts.
Pensacola looks for its third series win of the season. RHP Wyatt Strahan (4-2, 6.75) will get the start for the Blue Wahoos against Shuckers LHP Kodi Medeiros (3-1, 3.34).
One Injured In Highway 95A Cantonment Crash
May 15, 2018
One person was injured in a two vehicle crash Tuesday about 6:20 p.m. on Highway 95A near Tate School Road. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the accident. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
No Injuries In Highway 29, Well Line Road Wreck
May 15, 2018
There were no injuries in a crash about 4:00 Tuesday afternoon at Highway 29 and Well Line Road in Cantonment. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Man Charged With Park Burglary
May 15, 2018
A Cantonment man stands accused of a burglary at Ashton Brosnaham Park.
Justin Scott Martin, 24, was arrested on charges of burglary, grand theft and criminal mischief. He remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $5,500.
A nearby resident reported that Martin had stayed with him a few nights and had a box of athletic and other items that he stated were found in the park of 10 Mile Road.
According to an arrest report, deputies recovered many items valued at over $2,300, including gloves, whistles, clothing, Gatorade, two laptop computers, a printer and a golf cart charger.
The equipment belong to a soccer league that uses the park.
Florida Department of Corrections Honors Fallen Officers And Staff
May 15, 2018
Monday, the Florida Department of Corrections honored fallen correctional officers and employees during an annual wreath laying ceremony at Wakulla Correctional Institution.
On this solemn day, we take time to remember and honor the members of our Department who have fallen while protecting Florida’s communities. This year, we honor Sergeant Thomas Crosby. It is never easy to add a name to this wall, but here our fallen officers are memorialized eternally. We are forever grateful for their service,” FDOC Secretary Julie Jones said.
The name of Sergeant Thomas Crosby, Florida State Prison, will be added to the memoria. He had more than 13 years of service with the department when he passed away on duty from natural causes.
Century Little League Receives $3,000 Donation (With 8U Game Photos)
May 15, 2018
The Pensacola Sports Association made a $3,000 contribution to Century Little League.
The check was presented Monday between games at Showalter Park.
Pensacola Sports is a private not-for-profit agency primarily funded from revenues generated from membership and events. The group’s focus is education, inspiration and participation in various team, individual, amateur and professional sports activities.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
This Week’s Escambia County Meeting Schedule
May 15, 2018
Here is a schedule of Escambia County public meetings through Friday:
Tuesday, May 15
- Board of Electrical Examiners – 9 a.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place
- Environmental Enforcement Special Magistrate – 1:30 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place
Wednesday, May 16
- Board of Adjustment – 8:30 a.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place.
- Development Review Committee – 1 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place.
Thursday, May 17
- Community Redevelopment Agency (Agenda) & Board of County Commissioners Agenda Review – 9 & 9:15 a.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, Board Chambers, 221 Palafox Place
- BCC Public Forum – 4:30 p.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, Board Chambers, 221 Palafox Place
- BCC Regular Meeting – 5:30 p.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, Board Chambers, 221 Palafox Place
Judge Rules Against Use Of ‘Jane Doe’ In NRA Lawsuit
May 15, 2018
Expressing sympathy for her plight, a federal judge nevertheless turned down a request by the National Rifle Association to keep the identity of a 19-year-old Alachua County woman secret in a challenge to a state law that raised from 18 to 21 the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns.
Lawyers for the NRA late last month asked U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to keep the identity of “Jane Doe” secret, based in large part on a declaration filed by the gun-rights group’s Florida lobbyist Marion Hammer, who detailed threatening emails she had received featuring derogatory words for parts of the female anatomy.
“If it were entirely up to this court, this court would not hesitate to grant the NRA’s motion. One need only look to the harassment suffered by some of the Parkland shooting survivors to appreciate the vitriol that has infected public discourse about the Second Amendment. And this court has no doubt that the harassment goes both ways; Ms. Hammer’s affidavit proves just that,” wrote Walker, who in a footnote called the messages sent to Hammer “hateful and abhorrent” and of such an “offensive nature” that he would not repeat them in his order.
“People — especially teenagers — should not have to subject themselves to threats of violence, continued harassment, and a concerning amount of public scrutiny just to share their views about the Second Amendment (whatever those views may be),” he added.
But the judge said he was hamstrung by previous court decisions, which forced him to deny the request to keep secret the identities of Jane Doe and John Doe, a 19-year-old man who is also a part of the case.
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.”
The debate over the pseudonyms came in a lawsuit filed on 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 hears appeals from Florida, “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.
Walker gave the NRA until May 21 to file an amended complaint, without the pseudonyms.
“We are of course disappointed by the court’s ruling. Just as in Roe vs. Wade, individuals should be able to stand up for the Second Amendment without having to expose themselves to harassment and bullying,” Hammer, a former president of the national gun-rights organization, said.
Courts historically have relied on three factors to determine whether to keep parties’ identities private, including whether they will be “required to disclose information of the utmost intimacy,” a standard that involves issues such as abortion, prayer and personal religious beliefs, Walker wrote.
“One would think that the standard covers more, but apparently it doesn’t,” the judge noted, pointing out in a footnote that courts have denied the use of pseudonyms in cases involving sexual assault.
The NRA also could not show that two other factors — whether the plaintiffs were seeking anonymity to challenge government activity, or whether they needed the pseudonyms because they intended to engage in illegal activity that could result in prosecution — weighed in favor of anonymity, Walker wrote.
But, expressing sympathy for Jane and John Doe, the factors laid out in the previous decisions fail to take into account “concerns about the potential harassment and threats they face,” Walker wrote.
“To be clear, this court does not intend to diminish those concerns,” he added.
Saying that his discretion was limited, the federal judge relied heavily on a 1981 decision, in a case known as Doe v. Stegall, in which a mother sued over “religiously-oriented ceremonies” being conducted at her children’s middle school in Mississippi.
The mother asked that she and her two children be permitted to proceed under fictitious names out of fear of harassment and violence, using remarks made at a local school-board meeting as evidence of the potential danger her family faced.
“Some of the comments voiced at the meeting appear to be just as hateful as the emails Ms. Hammer attached to her affidavit in this case,” Walker noted.
A district court ruled against the mother, but a federal appellate court struck down the decision, saying the plaintiffs’ identities should be kept secret — but not because of the potential harm that the family could incur, Walker wrote. The court’s ruling was based on other factors, such as “religious belief” and the ages of the minor children. In contrast, Jane and John Doe are both 19 years old, Walker pointed out.
“True, they are still young, but maybe not quite so young that they share the same ‘special status and vulnerability’ that the ‘child-litigants’ in Stegall had,” the judge wrote.
But Walker also cautioned that “a lot has changed in society” since the Stegall case was decided more than three decades ago.
“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
Over 100 Attend Annual Escambia County Farm Tour
May 15, 2018
Over 100 people took part in this year’s Escambia County Farm Tour, getting a first look at five locally owned farms and their relationship to the economy, the community and Escambia County.
The tour made its first t stop at Renfroe Pecan Company on West Fairfield Drive. Tour participants were treated to a guided, behind-the-scenes view of pecan sorting, processing and packaging, along with an exclusive after-hours walk through the retail store.
The tour continued along West Fairfield Drive, stopping at Johnson’s Beekeeping and Escarosa Beekeepers Association, where participants were able to view the honey harvesting process, from hive to jar. Honeycomb and interactive educational portions of honey bee habitats were also on view.
“This year we tried to highlight alternative agriculture,” said Nick Simmons, Escambia County Extension Services Director and member of the Farm Tour Committee. “We were excited to be able to highlight agriculture in more of an urban setting. Everything on this tour was south of I-110 and everything was within roughly a 10-mile radius of the county Central Office Complex and the downtown area.”
The tour also stopped at one of Pensacola Bay Oyster Farm’s downtown locations, Jenkins Timber Properties near Perdido Bay and finally at the fairgrounds to see view youth livestock projects and watch a mock livestock competition involving three calves of varying ages and breeds.
“We received a lot of positive feedback this year,” Simmons said. “One of the things we heard a lot from people, is that they’ve been on the tour before or lived in this community for a long time and had never heard or seen a lot of the places we took them to, even though the sites are not far from their own homes.”
New Ambulance Service In Flomaton, Replaces Escambia (FL) EMS
May 15, 2018
For the first time in 37 years, Escambia County (FL) EMS is no longer the primary first responding ambulance service in the Flomaton area. Monday, Medstar EMS (owned by Lifeguard) took over those duties on Monday after reaching an agreement with the the Escambia County (AL) Healthcare Authority (ECHA).
Escambia County (FL) EMS had provided the primary ambulance service in Flomaton since 1981. The move came about after Escambia County expanded their primary service area to include an ambulance stationed in Walnut Hill.
The Escambia County (FL) EMS unit that normally serves Flomaton is stationed in Century, and that unit will remain based in Century, according to Mike Weaver, Escambia County Public Safety Director, and there will be a mutual aid agreement in place between Escambia County and Lifeguard.
Lifeguard is the exclusive ambulance service in Santa Rosa County, operates under the MedStar name in Baldwin County, AL, and provides ambulance services in several other cities including Mobile and Birmingham, AL; Bay County, FL; and Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville, TN.
Pictured: A Medstar EMS unit Monday at the Flomaton Fire Department. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.