Road Prison Inmates Graduate From Welding Program
March 4, 2018
The Escambia County Corrections Department recently recognized eight Road Prison welding program graduates with a ceremony at the Escambia County Road Prison. Two of the graduates also received their GED in addition to the Occupational Certificates of Participation and American Welding Society certificates.
- Joshua Carr – GED and AWS Certification
- Nicolas Feraci – GED and AWS Certification
- James Johnson – AWS Certification and OCP Certification
- Kenneth Munoz – AWS Certification and OCP Certification
- Herman Dillard – AWS Certification and OCP Certification
- Johnathan Ross – AWS Certification and OCP Certification
- Marcus Dale - OCP Certification
- Jared Stanga – AWS Certification
Ceremony attendees included Road Prison Commander Charles Snow, Escambia County Corrections Director Tammy Jarvis, Assistant County Administrator Matt Coughlin, Instructor Danny Cain and George Stone Technical Center Principal TJ Rollins.
Through a partnership with George Stone Technical Center, the Escambia County Road Prison offers nationally-recognized certifications including stick welding, pipe welding, MIG and TIG welding, or metal inert gas and tungsten inert gas. Participating students choose to opt into the program during their time at the road prison.
During the 2016-17 school year, 30 inmates participated in the welding program through the county’s partnership with George Stone Technical Center. George Stone issued 45 Occupational Certificates of Participation for various welding disciplines, and 21 of the 30 inmates received American Welding Society National Certifications that are recognized through the United States.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia BOCC Weekly Meeting Schedule
March 4, 2018
Here is a schedule of Escambia County public meetings for the week of March 5-9:
Tuesday, March 6
Planning Board-Rezoning – 8:30 a.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place (Agenda)
Planning Board-Regular – 8:35 a.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place (Agenda)
Amalgamated Transit Union 1395 Collective Bargaining Session – 10 a.m., Escambia County Area Transit Administrative Offices & Rosa Parks Bus Terminal, 1515 W. Fairfield Drive
Environmental Enforcement Special Magistrate – 1:30 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place (Agenda)
Wednesday, March 7
Contractor Competency Board – 9 a.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place
BCC and International Association of EMTs and Paramedics Bargaining Meeting – 10:30 a.m. Escambia County Public Safety Building, 6575 N. W St.
Amalgamated Transit Union 1395 Collective Bargaining Session (if necessary) – 12 p.m., Escambia County Area Transit Administrative Offices & Rosa Parks Bus Terminal, 1515 W. Fairfield Drive
Development Review Committee – 1 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place
Thursday, March 8
Executive Session – Amalgamated Transit Union – 8 a.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place
BCC Committee of the Whole – 9 a.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place
Registration Underway For Annual Century Sawmill Pageant
March 4, 2018
Registration is underway for the 26th Annual Century Sawmill Pageant to be held April 7.
The remaining registration date is Saturday, March 17 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Southern Treasures Florist across from Whataburger in Century. The registration deadline will be March 23 by 5 p.m. For a printable registration form and more information, click here.
The pageant is for girls age 0 and up through high school. There will be a $250 scholarship awarded to both the middle and high school division overall queens.
On The Night Shift: Santa Rosa Sheriff Johnson Makes ‘Substantial’ Drug Bust
March 4, 2018
A traffic stop by the Santa Rosa County sheriff led a “substantial” drug arrest.
Sheriff Bob Johnson was working an evening patrol shift about 9:00 when he observed a vehicle with several violations traveling eastbound on Highway 98. Sheriff Johnson conducted a traffic stop with his unmarked cruiser at the intersection of Highway 98 and Fox Den Drive.
The driver was identified via passport as Sunsiarae Swatzel, a 47- year old female from Fort Walton Beach.
Johnson said he believed there were indicators of other activity and called for a K-9 unit to respond. Shortly after, K-9 Zeus arrived and alerted on the vehicle for the presence of narcotics. After a search of the vehicle, the following illegal items were inside Swatzel’s purse that was inside the vehicle, according to the SRSO:
- four bags of methamphetamine,
- four Xanax pills,
- one Alprazolam,
- 0.8 grams of heroin,
- 5 grams of marijuana,
- one syringe with unknown clear liquid
- a powder substance that was possibly Fentanyl
Swatzel was charged with delivering or distributing meth, two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and marijuana possession She also received two traffic citations.
Pictured: Drugs recovered by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. Pictured below: Sheriff’s Bog Johnson was working an evening patrol shift when he made a traffic stop and arrested a woman who allegedly had a “substantial” quantity of drugs in a purse. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
eFlorida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Parents Plead For Action
March 4, 2018
Last week, the students had the spotlight. This week, it was grieving parents who dominated the discussion.
Their focus, and the attention of lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott, was on a measure that began as a wide-ranging school-safety proposal but is now known inside the Capitol as a “gun bill” that’s alienated people on both ends of the Second Amendment spectrum.
Republican leaders last month hurriedly assembled a package dealing with mental health, school safety and stricter gun regulations in an effort to prevent another tragedy like the Feb. 14 massacre of 17 people — including 14 students — at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Now they’re fighting against time — and bipartisan dissatisfaction — to get a bill passed in the week before the legislative session ends.
What began as a unified pledge by Scott and GOP legislative leaders to make schools safer and keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill people like Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz has — in less than a week — morphed into a fiery debate over whether teachers should be allowed to bring guns to schools and whether more restrictions should be placed on buying guns.
National Rifle Association Florida lobbyist Marion Hammer sent out an alert to “members and friends” this week in advance of an expected Senate vote, warning that “senators are being bullied into voting for gratuitous gun control measures in order to be able to vote on school safety.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High alum, said the bill had been “hijacked” by Republicans who insist on keeping the controversial provision that would allow school districts to use specially trained teachers who are deputized by sheriffs to bring guns to class. The proposal has been dubbed the “school marshal” program.
“I just don’t get why they even came up with that,” Cameron McEachern, an 18-year-old Marjory Stoneman Douglas High senior, said after a press conference Friday in the Capitol. “It’s not what we want.”
POLITICS BE DAMNED
Accompanied by the father and brother of a student slain during the mass shooting in Parkland, Scott made a rare appearance before the House and Senate on Thursday to urge lawmakers to pass a school safety measure.
The governor’s direct message to the Legislature, with the aid of grieving parent Ryan Petty, came as the House earlier in the day put its plan on hold. Republican leaders acknowledged the plan — opposed by the powerful NRA, black lawmakers, some survivors of the massacre and others — needs more work.
Scott is touting an alternative plan that relies heavily on putting law enforcement officers in schools.
“If this devolves into a gun control debate, we are going to miss our opportunity to get something done. What’s different about the governor’s plan is that we are focusing on securing our schools,” Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter Alaina was among the 17 people killed, told reporters after pleading with lawmakers in both chambers to pass a bill.
The day after Petty and Scott, accompanied by Petty’s son, Patrick, addressed the House and Senate during floor sessions, the Senate postponed debate on its bill, scheduling a highly unusual Saturday floor session. [Read more ...]
Senate President Joe Negron announced the Saturday session in a memo Friday morning, saying the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Bill Galvano, wanted “additional time to work on this important issue.”
Delaying consideration of the measure (SB 7026) until next week would affect the House’s ability to hear the Senate bill because of procedural reasons, Negron said.
Galvano said Friday he has the votes to pass the measure, but acknowledged it is problematic for many of his colleagues.
“We have some that think we’re going too far, some that think we’re not going far enough. Certain interest groups like some components, don’t like others. That means, in my experience, that we probably have a pretty good piece of legislation, that we’ve hit a balance between competing interests,” Galvano, a Bradenton Republican slated to take over as Senate president after the fall elections, said. “But at the end of the day, none of that matters. We had a tragedy just a couple of weeks back. What we should be concerned about is not what group likes what, but can we come together, put a meaningful safety package out there and pass it that’s going to save lives. And then the politics of it be damned.”
Scott on Thursday reiterated his rejection of the school marshal program.
“I want to make sure that there’s a law enforcement presence at our schools. I don’t believe in arming the teachers. I’ve been clear about that since I put out my proposal last week,” the governor told reporters.
House and Senate budget committees approved the two chambers’ similar proposals on Tuesday.
The bills would raise the age from 18 to 21 to purchase rifles or other long guns and create a commission to explore failures leading up to the massacre.
About 40 parents from Parkland, the affluent Broward County enclave where the nation’s second-worst school shooting occurred, traveled to the Capitol to share their stories and requests with key legislators and Scott.
Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex was among the victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, strained to choke back tears as he begged lawmakers to act.
“I’ve never been an outspoken person. I never wanted to be in this situation. But I’m pleading with you to put your differences aside. It’s time to learn to compromise and help make our schools safe again,” Schachter, comforted by his father, Steve, told the House Appropriations Committee. “We owe it to all these students. You owe it to me and you owe it to all those 16 other families.”
BUDGET TALKS ON THE SIDE
The $400 million school-safety initiative is also playing a role in House and Senate negotiations about the state’s $87 billion budget.
After striking a deal on local property taxes, the House and Senate late Thursday agreed to spend $21.1 billion on public schools in the 2018-2019 academic year, which would represent about a $100 increase per student.
But they are still trying to allocate that funding while accommodating a $400 million school-safety package, prompted by the Broward County mass shooting.
The cost of the school-safety initiatives as well as other recent impacts on the state budget, including a decline in projected corporate income-tax collections and higher Medicaid costs, are impacting other areas of the proposed $87 billion-plus budget.
On Thursday, the Senate backed off a proposal that sought $345 million in state performance funding for the university system, agreeing with the House to leave it at $245 million, which is the current level. Negotiators also agreed on $30 million in state performance funding for the 28 state colleges, which is also the current level.
In the prison system, lawmakers find themselves forced to respond to legal settlements in cases alleging prisoners are not receiving adequate treatment for infectious diseases, mental health issues and disabilities.
Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican who is leading the Senate negotiations on civil and criminal justice issues, estimated the new budget will contain about $100 million in response to those legal mandates involving the Department of Corrections.
The issues include money for treating prisoners with hepatitis C, an infectious disease that may affect as many as one out of every five prisoners in the system. Treatment can cost as much as $37,000 for a 12-week regimen.
The House and Senate agreed Thursday to spend another $42.6 million on mental-health treatment, including hiring 289 people, in response to a separate lawsuit.
And lawmakers are in agreement on spending more than $6 million to care for disabled prisoners under a court settlement that came after advocates alleged the state was discriminating against prisoners who were deaf, blind or confined to wheelchairs.
Despite the overall challenges, Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said the budget negotiations remain on target for a final deal by Tuesday, which will allow lawmakers to vote on the spending plan on March 9, the last day of the 2018 session.
“We’re having great communications. It’s been a very smooth process,” Bradley said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: With time running out in the legislative session, key House and Senate committees approved school-safety initiatives that include a controversial program allowing specially trained teachers to bring guns to schools.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “What you’re asking Republicans to do, if you vote for this, you’re toast. If you want to move up, you’re toast.” — State Rep. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, who serves as Sarasota County Republican chairman, on a school-safety proposal (HB 7021) opposed by the NRA.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Woman Killed In Davis Highway Crash
March 3, 2018
A 31-year old Pensacola woman was killed early Saturday morning in a crash on Davis Highway at I-10.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 28-year on Sean Reid Wadlow of Pensacola was the driver of a 2015 Chevrolet Impala that was stopped in the center lane on Davis facing north when he pulled into the path of a 2014 Nissan Sentra driven by Lydia Brianne Moretz.
Moretz was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Wadlow and his passengers, 26-year old Maurice Tyrone Campbell and 24-year old Jesse Dean Fowler, were not injured.
The FHP said Wadlow was not under the influence of alcohol. Their investigation is continuing.
Escambia County Awarded Grant For Eleven Mile Creek Stormwater Project
March 3, 2018
Congressman Matt Gaetz announced Friday an Escambia County stormwater project will receive grant money from the U.S. Treasury Department.
“The Office of Gulf Coast Restoration in the Department of the Treasury plans to award a $268,800.00 grant to Escambia County for planning assistance towards planning, design, and permitting of two stormwater ponds in Escambia County’s Eleven Mile Creek Basin,” he said.
The grant will be funded under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). The stormwater ponds will reduce downstream stormwater flow rates and improve adjoining floodplains/wetlands, coastal flood protection, and overall water quality for the downstream outfall locations. The activities funded by the grant are identified as planning assistance for a coastal flood protection and related infrastructure eligible activity.
“This award will obligate $268,800.00, approximately 1.6 percent of Escambia County’s $16,589,894.27 Direct Component allocation as of December 31, 2017 from Deepwater Horizon oil spill civil penalties paid after July 6, 2012 under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,” Gaetz said.
The grant started on March 1, permitting Escambia County to begin the stormwater project and incur costs. The county will later be reimbursed with Direct Component funds.
Pictured: Eleven Mile Creek. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Weekend Gardening: March Tips
March 3, 2018
Here are gardening tips for the month of March from the University of Florida IFAS Extension office:
Flowers
- Annual flowers that can be planted in March include: ageratum, alyssum, amaranthus, asters, baby’s breath, begonia, calendula, celosia, cosmos, dahlia, dusty miller, gaillardia, geranium, hollyhock, impatiens, marigold, nicotiana, ornamental pepper, pentas, phlox, rudbeckia, salvia, sweet Williams, torenia, verbena, vinca and zinnia.
- Caladium bulbs are extremely sensitive to cold soil. There is no advantage to planting early. Purchase caladiums while there is a good selection, but wait until late March or April before planting them in shady beds.
Trees and Shrubs
- Finish pruning summer flowering shrubs such as althea, hibiscus, abelia, oakleaf hydrangea and oleander.
- Delay the pruning of azaleas, camellias, spiraeas, gardenias and other spring flowering shrubs until after flowering is complete.
- Prune any cold weather-damaged plants after new growth appears.
- If needed, fertilize shrubs and small trees with a slow release fertilizer. A good general-purpose landscape fertilizer is a 15-0-15.
- Mature palms should receive an application of granular fertilizer. Use a special palm fertilizer that has an 8-2-12 +4Mg (magnesium) with micronutrients formulation. Apply one pound of fertilizer per 100 sqft of canopy area or landscape area.
- Last opportunity to spray shrubs with dormant horticultural oil.
- Pick up all fallen camellia blossoms and remove them from your property. This practice helps to prevent petal blight next season.
- Prune ornamental grasses.
- If you are in the market for specific colors of azaleas, visit the local nurseries and garden centers this month. Though this is not the most ideal planting time you are assured of the right flower color without having to wait until next blooming season.
Fruits and Nuts
- Time to finish planting bare-root fruit trees.
Vegetable Garden
- This is the month for establishing a spring vegetable garden. Early March plantings have about an even chance of avoiding a late frost.
- The warm season vegetables that can be planted this month are: bush beans, pole beans, lima beans, cantaloupes, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, southern peas, peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, summer squash, winter squash, tomatoes and watermelon.
- The cool season vegetables that can be planted this month are: beets, carrots, celery, collards, endive, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, bunching onions, parsley, English peas, Irish potatoes, radish and turnips.
- More conservative gardeners might wish to wait until the middle to latter part of the month to risk tender plants such as tomatoes and peppers.
Lawns
- Remove excessive accumulation of leaves from the lawn. This will increase the effectiveness of fertilizers and pesticides applied to the lawn.
- If a preemergence lawn herbicide is needed to control summer weeds, it should be applied in early March. Make certain to choose one that is safe on your kind of grass.
- Keep lawn herbicides away from the root zones of desirable flower, shrubs and other plants.
- Fertilize the lawn only after the danger of frost has passed and when the grass has greened up. Fertilize using a complete fertilizer applied at 0.5 lbs nitrogen per 1000 sqft containing 50% soluble and 50% slow-release nitrogen.
- Service the lawn mower: include a sharpening of the blade and adjusting of the cutting height for your type of grass.
- Anyone considering establishment of centipedegrass from seed should hold off until the soil warms up and stabilizes above 70°F. Add Item Here…
Cantonment Rotary, Third Graders Plant Trees At Jim Allen Elementary
March 3, 2018
The Cantonment Rotary Club donated several trees to beautify the Jim Allen Elementary School campus. Friday, members of the club planted the trees with the help of Jim Allen third grade students. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
UWF Football Team Reads To Pine Meadow Elementary Students
March 3, 2018
Members of the University of West Florida football team read books to students Friday Morning at Pine Meadow Elementary School. Friday was National Read Across America Day, an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
