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Highway 29, Nine Mile Intersection Closures And Detours All Week

Stage Set For Reaching Deal On Florida Tax Cuts

Florida lawmakers prepared Friday to hammer out a tax-cut plan, with the Senate introducing a $148 million package and the House scrapping a controversial tax-related proposal that local governments argued could prevent them from banning unwanted businesses such as “puppy mills.”

For most Floridians, the highlights of a final package could be sales-tax “holidays” for back-to-school shoppers and hurricane-season preparations, though the details of House and Senate proposals differ and will have to be negotiated.

House and Senate leaders said earlier this week that they expect a final tax-cut package of about $80 million. Both proposals are larger than that benchmark, but legislative leaders have said they will need to scale back tax cuts to help pay for a $400 million school-safety plan after the mass shooting last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

House Ways & Means Chairman Paul Renner, a Palm Coast Republican whose committee crafted a nearly $400 tax-cut package, acknowledged Friday that changes will be needed.

“Given the recent events, there will be some changes before we get to the final tax bill,” Renner said.

The House on Friday took up its package (HB 7087) and positioned it for a vote as soon as Monday.

The House package includes a 10-day tax holiday for back-to-school shoppers, which would allow people to avoid paying sales taxes on clothes costing $60 or less and school supplies costing $15 or less and on the first $1,000 of the cost of personal computers and accessories. The House plan also includes three seven-day holidays on the purchases of hurricane supplies.

Also, the House package includes a controversial plan to expand by $154 million a year sales-tax credits that businesses could receive to fund voucher-like scholarships in the Gardiner Scholarship Program and the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

The Senate package (SB 620) approved Friday by the Appropriations Committee does not include the tax-credit proposal.

Renner called the school tax credits a “very, very important” part of the House plan. But Renner moved Friday to remove two controversial proposals that had only been in the House package.

The first was language that would have prohibited local governments from banning sales of goods that are subject to sales taxes. Local government officials argued the policy change could have lifted restrictions now in place against “puppy mills” and adult entertainment establishments.

The second issue removed Friday would have further lowered a tax on aviation fuel, a proposal that had been opposed by airport officials across Florida.

Proponents of the aviation fuel tax reduction — the rate is already set to drop from 6.9 cents to 4.27 cents a gallon next year — argued a further decrease would help draw more air traffic. Airport officials countered that the reduction wouldn’t result in more flights to Florida, and their facilities rely on the fuel tax to obtain matching federal dollars to pay for upgrades.

Renner said “our priorities have changed” after the Parkland school shooting and that the move wasn’t tied to a Delta Air Lines decision to drops a discount program for National Rifle Association members — an issue that has drawn heavy attention in Georgia’s legislature.

“This is a first step in looking at how we make additional revenues available,” Renner said of removing the proposed $14.1 million aviation fuel-tax reduction from the bill. “We’re going to spend upwards of $400 million in school hardening, in school security and mental health, and these other areas, and that money has to come from somewhere.”

Senate Finance and Tax Appropriations Chairwoman Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said the Senate measure, which includes components of other bills, should address the needs of many Floridians, especially “people who suffered from Hurricane Irma.”

The Senate is offering a reduction in a commercial lease tax from 5.8 percent to 5.7 percent.  The House has proposed dropping the tax rate to 5.5 percent starting Jan. 1.

The Senate package includes a seven-day tax holiday on hurricane-preparation items such as batteries, portable self-powered radios and generators.

The Senate’s back-to-school holiday would run three-days in early August. Unlike the House’s 10-day proposal, the Senate would not lift sales taxes on the first $1,000 of the price of a personal laptop computers and accessories.

Both the House and Senate would provide tax breaks on fencing materials purchased for repairs after Hurricane Irma. Also, proposals call for providing tax breaks for citrus packing houses that have had their businesses interrupted by Hurricane Irma or the disease citrus greening and for fuel used to transport agricultural products after the storm.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Volunteer Sought for Escambia Pensacola Human Relations Commission

The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners is seeking Escambia County residents interested in volunteering to be considered for an appointment to the Escambia-Pensacola Human Relations Commission. The EPHRC was established by an interlocal agreement between the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners and the city of Pensacola in April 1974. The purpose of the commission is to be responsible for the promotion of fair treatment and equal opportunity to all citizens of the local community. Commission members, who are called commissioners, serve a two-year term of office.

Commissioners meet once a month for one hour. The commission meetings are held to discuss the previous month’s day-to-day activities and to ensure that the interlocal agreement between Escambia County, the city of Pensacola and the EPHRC are in compliance. Additional meetings may be held for special discussion, workshops, training sessions or community activities.

Escambia residents interested in serving on the Escambia-Pensacola Human Relations Commission are asked to submit a resume and letter indicating their desire to serve on the commission by the close of business on Friday, March 16. Resumes should be submitted to Judy Witterstaeter, Program Coordinator, Escambia County Board of County Commissioners, P.O. Box 1591, Pensacola, FL 32502, or emailed to jhwitter@myescambia.com.

Firefighters Respond To Smoke Inside Century Residence

Area fire departments responded to smoke inside a residence in Century Sunday morning.

Shortly after arriving in the 7000 block of Jefferson Avenue, firefighters determined the smoke originated with a malfunctioning HVAC system. There was no major damage and no injuries reported.

The Century and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, the Jay Fire Department and the Flomaton Fire Department

NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.

Branden Penegar Car Show Set For March 17

The annual Brandon Penegar Memorial Car Show is scheduled for March 17.

Any make, model or year car is welcomed for the show. Car registration will be from 8:00-11:00 a.m. on March 17th. The fee is $15 to only display a car, $25 to enter the car in the show. Spectator admission is free. Click here for a printable flyer (pdf) with more information.

Branden Penegar, known as the “Gentle Giant” was a 2011 graduate of Tate High School, an assistant coach for the freshman Tate Aggies’ football program and varsity tennis team, and a member of the Tate High School Student Hall of Fame. He passed away in March 2013 at the age of 20. Penegar was a active member of the Gonzalez United Methodist Church and youth program.

Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

West Florida Library Top 10 Books Of The Month

Alleged Hit And Run Driver Found Three Miles Away From Crash Scene

Authorities caught up with an alleged hit and run driver with her vehicle’s engine on the ground three miles from an injury crash Saturday in Davisville. The incident landed the driver in jail.

According to witnesses, a driver  was waiting to make a turn from Highway 97 onto Meadows Lane south of the Piggly Wiggly store, when she was rear-ended by a black Kia Soul driven by 53-year old Cheryl Rene Parrish of McDavid about 4:20 p.m. Witnesses further stated that Parrish and the  Kia Soul then struck a Nissan car before running several other drivers off the road and continuing south on Highway 97.

An Escambia County Sheriff’s deputy located the disabled Kia, with Parrish reportedly still behind the wheel, three miles away on Highway 4 just west of Still Road. The force of the collision had broken the motor mounts on the Kia, and the engine was resting on the ground. The front and side curtain air bags in the vehicle had deployed at the time of the crash.

Multiple parts apparently from the Kia were located along the three mile route between the crash site and the final resting place of the Kia.

The driver of the vehicle that was rear-ended refused medical treatment at the scene but later reported going to the hospital. The the driver of the Nissan car was transported by Escambia County EMS to an area hospital.

Parrish was transported by Escambia County EMS to Atmore Community Hospital for evaluation. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail early Sunday morning with one hit and run involving injury charge and two additional counts of misdemeanor hit and run. She was released on a $2,000 bond late Sunday morning from the Escambia County Jail.

Further details on the crash have not yet been released by the Florida Highway Patrol as they continued their investigation.

Florida Senate Backs Armed Teachers, Rejects Assault Weapons Ban

After hours of intense debate on a school-safety measure, Senate Democrats were unable Saturday to strip a controversial provision that would allow specially trained teachers to bring guns to schools or to add an assault-weapons ban demanded by survivors of last month’s mass shooting at a Broward County high school.

Democrats spent the rare Saturday floor session trying to amend the sweeping bill, hurriedly crafted by Republican leaders in response to the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 14 students and three faculty members dead.

But outnumbered 23-15 in the Senate, and even with the frequent support of two Republicans, Democrats were only able to make marginal changes to the bill (SB 7026) aimed at making schools safer and keeping guns away from mentally ill people.

Much of the debate in the week since Republican leaders rolled out the package has centered on a proposed “school marshal” program. That program would allow specially trained teachers and other school workers, who would be deputized by local sheriffs, to carry guns to school.

Gov. Rick Scott is among critics — including the PTA, the union representing teachers, and many parents and students from Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High — who oppose the proposition.

Sen. Perry Thurston, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat who is chairman of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, pleaded with senators to support an amendment that would have removed the marshal program from the bill, saying that it would further endanger minority children who are at risk of gun violence.

Black parents already must have “the talk” with their children about how to avoid getting into confrontations with law enforcement officers and how to keep interactions with police from escalating, Thurston said. That talk will have to begin earlier if teachers are allowed to be armed, he predicted.

“We can’t agree to that. No type of way. No form. No shape. This is a non-starter,” he said.

The Senate plan and a similar House proposal would allow school boards to decide whether they want to implement the marshal program. If school boards opt for the program, the House proposal would require sheriffs to participate, while the Senate proposal would not.

While being grilled by Democrats, Sen. Bill Galvano, the bill’s sponsor, said that the school-marshal plan “hasn’t just been drawn out of the air,” but was based on other programs in Florida and across the country.

“We’re seeking to transform school security in the state of Florida,” said Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who will take over as Senate president in November.

The marshal program would exist “in a new state of affairs,” based on other components of the bill, such as a new Office of School Safety within the Department of Education and requiring school-safety specialists and threat-assessment teams at the local level.

The legislation includes broad outlines for the marshal program, including the requirement of at least 132 hours of training and psychological screening, but would leave up to sheriffs and school districts details such as what types of guns could be used and where they would be stored, Galvano said.

That means parents, students and others would have no way of knowing which teachers might be armed, Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, said.

“We will have no clue in 67 counties in this state of what this marshal program looks like,” Gibson said. “We don’t need additional guns in schools. You don’t add fuel to a fire that’s already burning. It’s burning just fine on its own.”

But Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson argued that allowing teachers to carry guns would make students safer.

“We are many colors in this chamber. I would want a teacher to have the opportunity to stop an evil person from slaughtering children,” Simpson, R-Trilby, said. “But the only thing that’s going to stop a slaughter, in that moment, is if it’s fortunate enough to have a person in that room with a firearm. And the marshal program provides an opportunity, not a guarantee, for that to be done.”

The House and Senate packages have faced pushback from politicians on both ends of the gun-control spectrum.

Many House Republicans and the National Rifle Association are opposed to proposed regulations that would raise age requirements from 18 to 21 and impose a three-day waiting period for the purchase of rifles and other long guns. Proposals would also allow law enforcement officers to seize weapons from people who pose a danger to themselves or others and ban the sale of what are known as “bump stocks,” an idea also opposed by the NRA.

Democrats are frustrated because the proposals fail to include a ban on assault-style weapons such as the semi-automatic rifle used by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after the nation’s second-worst school shooting.

Survivors of the shooting, parents of slain students and high schoolers from across the state have flooded the Capitol since the Valentine’s Day shooting, with the vast majority seeking a ban on assault weapons.

The students asked lawmakers “to do one thing: make school shootings and assault weapons a thing of the past,” said Sen. Linda Stewart, an Orlando Democrat who offered an amendment Saturday that sought to ban them.

“Assault weapons are really killing machines. They are not rifles, and they are not guns that we use to protect our homes and go hunting,” she said at the end of an hourlong debate on her amendment.

Immediately after the amendment failed in a 20-17 vote, Senate President Joe Negron ordered a moment of silence as requested by Scott for the entire state on the 17th day after the 17 Parkland students and faculty were killed.

Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, a member of the black caucus, conceded Saturday that the ban on assault weapons was “too divisive” for the GOP-dominated Legislature.

“It splits us down the middle, and it’s not the time to do that right now. This is the time to come together,” Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, said.

But he beseeched his colleagues to support a proposed amendment doing away with the marshal program, saying lawmakers need more time to explore the issue.

“This is an important piece of legislation that we’ve put together in a week. We can all get behind (it) if we don’t have something like this in it that splits us down the middle,” Braynon said. “Why would we take this moment when we need to come together … to almost tear us apart as a body?”

After nearly eight hours of debate on the attempted amendments, Sen. Tom Lee proposed removing the most-controversial portions of the bill: the marshal program and the new restrictions on the purchase of long guns.

Lee, a former Senate president, said lawmakers have consensus on two issues — keeping guns out of the hands of mentally ill people and school hardening.

The “gun control and that marshal plan are for a bumper sticker in November,” Lee, R-Thonotosassa, said.

“They’re going to do nothing. Neither one of them,” he said. Lee’s proposal to remove the issues failed.

by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida

FDOT: Weekly Traffic Alerts

Drivers will encounter traffic disruptions on the following state roads in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties as crews perform construction and maintenance activities

Escambia County:

• State Road (S.R). 742 (Creighton Road) Construction Improvement Project from east of Davis Highway to Scenic Highway- Intermittent and alternating lane closures between Davis Highway and Scenic Highway from 8:30 p.m., Friday March 2 to 5:30 a.m. Saturday, 2 Saturday, March 3 continue as crews perform milling, paving, sidewalk and curb replacement.
• U.S. 29 Resurfacing between U.S. 90 and Muscogee Road – Alternating lane closures on U.S. 29 north and southbound, from Muscogee Road to West 9 ½ Mile Road, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday, March 4 through Saturday, March 10 as crews pave the roadway.
• I-10 Widening from Davis Highway to the Escambia Bay Bridge – Intermittent and alternating lane closures on I-10, between Davis Highway (Exit 13) and Scenic Highway (Exit 17), and on Scenic Highway, between Whisper Way and Northpointe Parkway, from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, March 4 through Thursday, March 8 as crews perform construction activities. The speed limit on I-10 will be reduced to 60 mph during nighttime lane closures.
• U.S. 98 (S.R. 30) Pensacola Bay Bridge Replacement – Alternating lane closures on U.S. 98 east and westbound, between 14th Avenue in Pensacola and Bay Bridge Drive in Gulf Breeze, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday, March 4 through Sunday, March 11 as crews perform construction activities.
• U.S. 29 Widening from I-10 to Nine Mile Road- Drivers traveling U.S. 29 and Nine Mile Road will encounter traffic pattern changes from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, March 5 through Saturday, March 10 as follows:

• • Nine Mile Road at the U.S. 29 overpass: Travel lanes will be reduced to one lane for each direction. Alternating traffic shifts will direct all traffic onto the westbound OR eastbound lanes throughout the night as crews begin construction of the new center bridge deck.
  • U.S. 29 between I-10 and 9 1/2 Mile Road: Drivers may experience alternating lane closures as crews prepare for future traffic shifts.
  • U.S. 29 at Nine Mile Road Overpass: Monday and Tuesday, Mar. 5 & 6, north- and southbound U.S. 29 will be reduced to one lane each and detoured onto the Nine Mile Road off- and on-ramps as crews place the beams for the center portion of the new bridge deck.

·         S.R. 292 (Perdida Key Drive) Turn Lane Construction just east of River Road- Traffic on Perdido Key Drive just east of River Road will encounter intermittent lane restrictions in the center lane from 8 p.m. Thursday, March 8 to 5 a.m. Friday, March 9 as install bi-directional pavement markings in the westbound. Left turn lane in front of La Riva Condominium.
Santa Rosa County:

• I-10 Widening from Escambia Bay Bridge to Avalon Boulevard (S.R. 281/Exit 22) Alternating lane closures on I-10, from the Escambia Bay Bridge to east of S.R. 281 from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday, March 4 through Friday, March 9 as crews widen the roadway. In addition, alternating lane closures on Avalon Boulevard, near the I-10 interchange, will also be encountered as crews reconstruct the overpass.

• U.S. 98 (S.R. 30) Pensacola Bay Bridge Replacement – Alternating east and westbound lane closures, between 14th Avenue in Pensacola and Bay Bridge Drive in Gulf Breeze, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday, March 4 through Sunday, March 11 as crews perform construction activities.

• S.R. 89 North Median Landscape Enhancement- Drivers may encounter intermittent inside lane closures between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday, March 5 through Friday, March 9 as crews landscaping the medians.
• S.R. 87 Multilane from Eglin AFB boundary to Hickory Hammock Road – Traffic between County Road 184 (Hickory Hammock Road) and the Eglin AFB boundary is restricted to loads less than 11-feet wide. The restriction will be in place until the project is complete.

All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or re-scheduled in the event of inclement weather. Drivers are reminded to use caution, especially at night, when traveling through a work zone and to watch for construction workers and equipment entering and exiting the roadway.

Tate Lady Aggies Shut Out Two Challengers, Suffer Two One-Run Tourney Loses

The Tate Lady Aggie softball team picked up two shutout wins and record two touch one-run losses in tournament play this weekend in the Florida-USA Softball Challenge Panama City Beach.

Results were as follows:

Friday

Marianna 1, Tate 0

Tate 12, McCarthy 0

Saturday:

Daphne 5, Tate 4

Tate 6, North Bay Haven 0

Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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