Florida School Shooting: Hundreds Attend Gun Rally
February 18, 2018
Chants of “Enough is enough!” reverberated down the street as hundreds of people gathered for a gun-control rally on the steps of the federal courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale, in response to a mass shooting at a Broward County high school on Wednesday.
Saturday’s speakers included students and teachers who survived the horrific event at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland — the second-deadliest mass school shooting in the nation’s history — along with state and local elected officials and others.
“I am not here as a candidate for governor, I am here as a mom,” Democratic gubernatorial Gwen Graham said. “And I have had it. I have had it. As a mom I am crushed. Enough. Enough. Enough.”
The League of Women Voters of Florida organized the rally to call for stricter gun control laws after gunman Nikolas Cruz shot dead 17 individuals — including 14 teenagers — using an assault weapon-style rifle.
Cruz, who was expelled from the high school, had such a troubled history that some of those who knew him weren’t surprised by his violent outburst. Authorities have charged the 19-year-old with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
“Sadly, my sister lost four of her friends and so many other friends and parents were lost that day, and it’s a terrible event,” said David Hogg, a student at the Parkland high school. “Now is the time that we say, ‘thank you for your prayers and condolences, but that is not enough.”
On Friday afternoon, the FBI acknowledged that it had failed to act on a tip about Cruz expressing concern about his erratic behavior.
Hogg was among the students and teachers who criticized Florida’s gun laws, questioning how individuals like Cruz are able to purchase semi-automatic weapons despite alerts to the FBI.
“Teachers should not fear for the lives of their children,” said Melissa Falkowski, the school’s journalism teacher who hid students inside a closet during the shooting.
Student Emma Gonzalez said shooting drills at schools could be stopped “when we have had our say with the government.”
“Maybe the adults have gotten used to saying, ‘it is what it is,’ but if us students have learned anything, it’s that if you don’t study, you will fail. And in this case, if you actively do nothing, people continually will end up dead,” an impassioned Gonzalez said.
Congressman Ted Deutch, whose district includes Parkland, pledged to continue to fight for common-sense gun-control laws in Washington.
“Five years ago, elementary school kids were slaughtered at Sandy Hook, and there is silence out of Washington,” Deutch, a Democrat, said. “After the horrific mass shooting here in our community, that silence will not continue.”
Like others in the crowd, Western High School junior Isabella Wood and Tara Callahan, a teacher at Lyons Creek Middle School, expressed optimism after attending the rally.
But, they said, change needs to occur for schools to feel safe again.
“It makes me sad. I shouldn’t have to come out here today,” Callahan said, holding back tears. “I shouldn’t have to see small children here today. I shouldn’t have had to come here to see teenagers here today who don’t know (if) they’re going to be able to return to their parents.”
by Nathalie Sczublewski The News Service of Florida
Camp Fire Kids Celebrate 100th Day Of VPK
February 18, 2018
Students at the Camp Fire Youth Learning Center in Century recently celebrated the 100th day of this years VPK program. Courtesy photos for NorthEcambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: We Are Broken
February 18, 2018
We are broken.
Those were the words of a grieving parent Thursday, the day after his 14-year-old daughter, Jamie, was gunned down by Nikolas Cruz at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting.
Fred Guttenberg spoke at a vigil in the community where thousands of mourners — including Florida Gov. Rick Scott — prayed, wept and reminisced about the 17 victims shot dead by Cruz.
“What is unfathomable is Jamie took a bullet and is dead. I don’t know what I do next,” a torn Guttenberg, whose son Jesse survived the shooting, said. “We are broken.”
State and federal officials, including Scott and President Donald Trump, are flocking to Broward County in the aftermath of the Valentine’s Day shooting, less than two years after many of the same politicians faced the television cameras following the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando that left 49 people dead and dozens of others injured.
The horrific deaths of 14 teenagers and three school staff members — including football coach Aaron Feis, who died shielding students from the bullets hailing from Cruz’s semi-automatic rifle — immediately rekindled the emotionally raw and familiar debate over gun laws, in Florida, in Washington and throughout the nation.
Cruz, who was expelled from the high school, had such a troubled history that some of those who knew him weren’t surprised by his violent outburst.
Yet, advocates of stricter gun laws point out, Cruz was able to legally purchase, without any waiting period, the rifle he used to mow down students and teachers at the school.
Gun rights proponents, meanwhile, stress the need for better mental-health services and argue the Parkland shootings are evidence that people who have concealed-weapons licenses should be allowed to bring guns to schools.
Adding their voices to the conversation, students are demanding action from political leaders like Trump and Scott, who said “everything is on the table.”
Marjory Stoneman Douglas junior Cameron Kasky told CNN Friday morning that students felt that “our politicians had abandoned us.”
“This can be stopped,” Kasky said, adding that “thoughts and prayers are appreciated” but “there’s much more that can be done.”
Kasky praised the focus on mental health but said that isn’t enough, asking for state and national leaders to pass guns laws aimed at preventing atrocities like the one on his campus.
“The only people who don’t care are the people who are making the laws,” he said.
SENATE FOCUSES ON MENTAL HEALTH SPENDING
The day after Cruz went on the shooting spree at his former high school, the Florida Senate budget committee approved a plan to steer $100 million to public schools for mental-health screening and services and to boost funding for school safety programs.
Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who will take over as Senate president in November, pushed for the boost in funding for the plan, which had originally been allocated $40 million. The Senate also wants a $13 million increase for “safe school funding,” used primarily for school resource officers.
Galvano said he is also exploring what, if anything, lawmakers can do to prevent the sale of guns to people like Cruz, who was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and who left a years-long trail of telltale signs of mental illness.
Like Floridians throughout the state, legislators in the Capitol reeled as news continued to emerge about the mass shooting.
Several Broward County lawmakers rushed to South Florida.
State Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a graduate of the Parkland high school, called the scene “surreal.”
“I got here last night. My high school looked like a war zone. Streets that I drive all the time looked like a war zone,” Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, said in a telephone interview Thursday morning.
The neighborhood surrounding the school was peppered with mobile command centers and mass triage units on cordoned-off streets, Moskowitz said.
Moskowitz’s 4-year-old son was learning how to write his name when his teacher’s daughter was mowed down by Cruz, whose lengthy history of disturbing behavior prompted reports to the FBI identifying him as dangerous.
The FBI acknowledged Friday that it had received a call Jan. 5 from a person expressing concern about Cruz’s behavior and the potential that he could conduct a school shooting. But the FBI acknowledged that it did not properly handle the report, with the information not forwarded to a Miami field office for investigation.
Moskowitz, meanwhile, said he doesn’t know what to say to parents who ask him what state lawmakers are going to do to prevent future tragedies.
“We’ll do the same thing we’ve been doing. Which is nothing. We live in a state that if you try to do anything with gun laws and you’re a local official, we will throw you in jail,” he said. “I mean this kid was telling everybody what he was going to do. He was basically wearing a neon sign saying, ‘I am going to come and kill people.’ And yet, he bought a gun legally.”
Florida law bars people who have been involuntarily committed under the Baker Act from purchasing firearms. A 2013 law expanded that prohibition to individuals who voluntarily admit themselves for mental-health treatment.
But Scott indicated he might want an even broader prohibition.
“If someone is mentally ill, they should not have access to a gun,” said Scott, who spoke Thursday with House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron.
Galvano said he, too, is examining the issue.
“We need to explore that issue and understand both the political realities and then the physical realities of someone who has a chronic history of posting things on social media that a lay person could identify as warped. How someone like that, in the existing system, could end up with a firearm that ultimately engages in this,” he said.
But what the shape of legislation would be is unknown.
“I’m looking into that. We’re going to have that discussion. I don’t have a specific answer right now. But we can’t ignore that aspect of it,” Galvano said. “While we’re off having a debate, there are things we can do today to make our students safer.”
CONCEALED WEAPONS PROPOSAL PUT ON HOLD
Meanwhile Thursday, the sponsor of a measure that would allow some concealed-weapons license applications to be approved when background checks have not been completed put her bill on hold after the Parkland atrocity.
The Senate Appropriations Committee had been scheduled to take up the proposal as part of a wide-ranging package (SB 740) involving the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“This isn’t the day to have that conversation,” bill sponsor Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said before the committee meeting. “Right now, our priority is to help the situation down there, helping law enforcement. Let’s look at the things at which we can have control, mental health, safety in our schools, that’s the more urgent things to discuss today.”
Kate Kile, the Tallahassee leader of the gun-violence prevention group Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, said she wasn’t surprised by the postponement, noting the negative attention that could have come after the shootings.
“It would be a pretty bad day to talk about some legislation we feel is very dangerous and not the direction we need to be headed,” Kile said.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican running for governor, requested the proposed licensing change, which would require concealed-weapons licenses to be issued if Putnam’s office is unable to complete criminal background checks within 90 days and if no other disqualifying information is found. Such situations could occur, for example, if the department receives incomplete criminal-history information.
Any permit issued after the 90-day period would be immediately suspended if the full background history arrives and contains disqualifying information, according to the proposal.
Putnam sent out a statement Thursday before the Senate meeting that “out of respect for their families and those suffering as a result of this tragedy, I’m working with bill sponsors to postpone consideration of the legislative proposal related to the licensing process.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Nikolas Cruz, 19, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after gunning down 14 students and three faculty members Wednesday at Broward County’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the nation’s second-worst school shooting in history.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Something is better than nothing. So I’ll take anything. Give me something to go back to these parents and say, ‘This time was different. We did something.’ ” — State Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, referring to a Senate plan to steer $100 million to public schools for mental health screening and services.
by Dara Kam, the News Service of Florida
Weekend Gardening: February Tips
February 18, 2018
Here are gardening tips for the month of February from your local Extension Service:
Flowers
- Re-fertilize cool season flowerbeds, using a liquid or granular form of fertilizer. Be careful not to apply excessive amounts and keep granules away from the base of stems.
- Prepare flowerbeds for spring planting by adding and incorporating soil amendments like mushroom compost, manure or homemade compost. Till or spade the bed to incorporate the amendments with the existing soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Allow the prepared bed to lie undisturbed for 3 to 4 weeks before planting. This provides time for some important biological activity to take place, and new plants are less likely to suffer from stem and root rots as a result. Have a soil test done. Sometimes lime is needed. However, a lime application should be made only if the need is revealed by the test.
- Replenish mulch in flowerbeds.
- Prune rose bushes.
Trees and Shrubs
- February is possible the best month for rejuvenation of old, overgrown shrubs. When pruned now, plants have an entire growing season to recover.
- Prune summer flowering deciduous shrubs such as Althea and Hibiscus. Since they flower on current season’s growth, flowering can actually be enhanced by proper pruning
- Do NOT prune the spring flowering shrubs yet. Azaleas, Spiraeas and Forsythia flower during early spring because buds were formed last summer and fall. Pruning in February would therefore remove most of the flower buds.
- Cold damaged trees and shrubs should NOT be pruned until new growth appears. You want to preserve as much healthy plant material as possible.
- Replenish mulch in shrub beds
- Finish planting ornamental and fruit trees.
Fruits and Nuts
- Fertilize established pecan trees. Use a “special pecan fertilizer” that contains zinc. Use 2 lbs. for every year of age of the tree up to a maximum of 55 lbs. Broadcast the fertilizer evenly beneath the tree.
- Fertilize established peach, plum, pear, persimmon, apple and fig. Apply about 1 ½ lbs of a 10-10-10 (or similar) fertilizer for each year of age of the tree until a maximum of 10 to 15 lbs. per tree is reached.
- Blueberries are very sensitive to nitrogen and can be killed easily, particularly when they are young. Fertilize only if your goal is to increase yield or berry size. An annual application of 2 ounces of a special “azalea/camellia” or “special blueberry” type fertilizer per plant in February is ample fertilizer on 2-year-old plants.
- Prune muscadine grapes between mid-February to mid-March. A standard method is to allow 2 to 4 node spurs spaced every 6 inches of cordon. You may notice that pruning cuts bleed, but there is no evidence that this is injurious to the vine.
- Grapes (bunch and muscadine) should be fertilized at the rate of 1 ½ lbs of 10-10-10 for each year of age with a maximum of 5 lbs per plant applied in late February.
- Last call for planting fruit trees! Most fruit trees such as pecans, plums, persimmons, figs, peaches and nectarines are shipped bare roots and should be planted during the dormant season.
- Apply a spray containing horticultural oils emulsion to dormant fruit trees and ornamental shrubs. Follow label directions carefully.
Vegetable Garden
- Several winter vegetables can still be successfully grown by starting them this month. Plant beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, collards, endive/escarole, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, parsley, English peas, radish and turnips.
- Plant Irish potatoes. Purchase certified seed potatoes rather than using the grocery store kinds. Use 2-ounce seed pieces with eyes and plant them 3 to 4 inches deep.
- Prepare spring vegetable and herb beds for planting by adding and incorporating soil amendments like mushroom compost, manure or homemade compost. Wait 3 to 4 weeks before planting.
Lawns
- Hold off on fertilizing the lawn. It is still too early for an application of nitrogen containing product. Cold temperatures and lack of plant response would likely result in wasted fertilizer. However, your winter weeds would benefit greatly.
Firefighters Respond To Report Of Smoke Inside Century Residence
February 18, 2018
A ceiling fan was reportedly to blame for smoke in a Century residence early Sunday morning.
Area fire departments were dispatched to the 8000 block of Old Flomaton Road at 2:50 a.m. Firefighters were able isolate the source of smoke to a faulty ceiling fan and remove it from the residence.
There were no injuries reported.
The Century, McDavid, Walnut Hill and Molino staitons of Escambia Fire Rescue, the Flomaton Fire Department, Jay Volunteer Fire Department and Escambia County EMS were dispatched to the smoke report. Most units were canceled prior to arrival.
Saturday Morning Wreck Claims One Life
February 17, 2018
A crash early Saturday morning in Beulah claimed one life.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 58-year old Miao Huang of Pensacola pulled her Cadillac from the stop sign on Frank Reeder Road into the path of a Dodge Ram driven by 43-year old Billy Ray Foley, Jr. of Seminole, AL.
Huang was pronounced deceased at Sacred Heart Hospital, while Foley was transported to Sacred Heart in critical condition following the 5:50 a.m.crash.
Any charges in the crash are pending the outcome of a Florida Highway Patrol investigation.
A dog pen with three hunting dogs inside was ejected from the bed of the pickup during the crash. The dogs escaped from the pen, but volunteers were able to locate all three, including two on the Navy’s Outlying Field 8, or OLF-8.
The Beulah and Bellview stations of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Flomaton Fire Destroys One Home, Damages Another
February 17, 2018
An early morning fire destroyed one home and damaged another in Flomaton.
The fire was reported about 4 a.m. on Cotton Ridge Drive. Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton said firefighters battled the fire for about three hours, due to construction factors like a double ceiling and a metal roof. A home next door was also damaged by the fire.
There were no injuries reported.
The exact cause of the fire is under investigation by the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office. Responding agencies included the Flomaton and Friendship fire departments, the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County (FL) EMS.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Motorcyclist Killed In Escambia Crash
February 17, 2018
A Friday night crash claimed the life of an Alabama man on new Warrington Road near Martha Avenue.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 61-year old Anthony DiCenso of Elberta, AL, was traveling on a Harley motorcycle on New Warrington Road. The FHP report states 38-year old Christopher Sullivan of Pensacola pulled his Toyota 4Runner away from a stop sign into DiCenso’s path about 7:25 p.m.
Censo was transported to Baptist Hospital and later succumbed to his injuries.
The Florida Highway Patrol said charges are pending the outcome of their investigation.
Editor’s note: The Florida Highway Patrol report identified the driver as Anthony Censo, but multiple family members tell us his last name was DiCenso.
Firefighters Respond To Cantonment Pizza Hut
February 17, 2018
Multiple Escambia Fire Rescue stations responded to a report of smoke inside the Cantonment Pizza Hut restaurant at 744 South Highway 29 about 8 p.m. Friday.
Initial information indicated the smoke was from a light fixture.
There was no major damage and no injuries reported.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Trump, Florida Leaders Meet With School Shooting Victims
February 17, 2018
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Florida Senate leaders visited Broward County on Friday as the community continued to reel from a mass shooting this week that killed 17 people at a Parkland high school. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump also visited school shooting victims on Friday.
Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, and Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, went to Broward Health, where they met with medical workers who treated victims of Wednesday’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to Negron’s office.
They also met with family members, hospitalized victims and Broward County schools Superintendent Robert Runcie and saw parts of the high school.
“I cannot imagine the fear our students and teachers were facing on Wednesday afternoon. The pictures and video I viewed previously did not prepare us for the horrendous sight we viewed today at Stoneman Douglas,” Negron said.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, who was expelled from the school last year because of disciplinary issues, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after entering the high school with an AR-15 rifle and going on a shooting spree. The shooter pulled a fire alarm and was dressed to blend in with the crowd of students. He then opened fire for seven minutes close to dismissal time.
A football coach, an athletic director, a social studies teacher and 14 students were killed. At least 14 people were wounded, with five suffering life-threatening injuries.
Nelson, talking with reporters Friday, expressed concerns about how Cruz, despite having mental-health issues, purchased the semi-automatic rifle.
“I grew up here in Florida on a ranch. I have always had guns as a boy growing up on a ranch,” Nelson, a Democrat, said. “I have hunted all my life and still hunt with my son, but an AR-15 is not for hunting. It’s for killing.”
On Friday afternoon, the FBI acknowledged that it had failed to act on a tip last month about Cruz. That led Governor Rick Scott to issue a statement calling for FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign.
“The FBI’s failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable,” Scott said. “The FBI has admitted that they were contacted last month by a person who called to inform them of Cruz’s ‘desire to kill people,’ and ‘the potential of him conducting a school shooting.’ ”
The attack Wednesday was the second-worst mass school shooting in U.S. history.
Charlotte Dwyer, a junior at the high school, told The News Service of Florida that she was in Spanish class, across campus from where the shooting took place, when her class heard the fire drill. Dwyer and her classmates walked 10 to 15 feet from their building when they saw students running for their lives.
“Everyone started screaming, ‘Stop! Please, go back inside! Code Red! Code Red! Active shooter!.’ ” Dwyer said. She and her classmates ran into the auditorium, which was the nearest place for shelter and hid in the seat aisles.
“We didn’t know what was happening. Some people thought it was a drill, we were discussing new safety procedures,” she said. “We went on Twitter and saw tweets that people were actually shot, and that was heartbreaking because we just thought maybe it was a kid who came in with a gun and not that anybody was actually hurt. About two hours later, we were evacuated, and that was a really good feeling because just sitting there, waiting, wondering whether somebody was going to come in or not, was terrifying.”
Scott traveled to Parkland on Wednesday to be briefed by law enforcement officials and to visit the wounded in area hospitals. He attended memorial services and vigils on Thursday.
Nelson on Friday talked with reporters about the difficulty in passing gun-control measures.
“It’s very hard to pass legislation unless the president will support it,” Nelson said. “What I would say to the president is, please change your position on assault weapons. Please, change your position, Mr. President, on background checks. These are two common-sense things that we need to etch into law right now.”
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in honor of the shooting victims and issued a statement Thursday about the shooting.
“Today we mourn for all of those who lost their lives,” he said. “We comfort the grieving and the wounded and we hurt for the entire community of Parkland, Florida, that is now in shock and pain and searching for answers.”
Annika Dean an elementary school teacher, wrapped up her day when she received a text message from her son about an active-shooter drill. A few moments later, Dean got a text message from her son notifying her that it was not a drill. Dean was a survivor of a mass shooting last year at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. Now, her son is also a mass shooting survivor.
“In the airport, I was pretty calm. I was scared. I wasn’t sure if I was going to live or die,” she said. “Mostly, I was concerned about being able to continue to be my son’s mother. With this incident, I just felt helpless. I was worried for him. I knew exactly what he was going through.”
Funerals for the victims began Friday morning, with attendees including U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat whose district includes Parkland. Deutch has worked on a bill, called “The ‘Students, Teachers and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act” to try to improve local early intervention programs to prevent future school violence.
Dwyer urged local and national lawmakers to act and implement gun-control laws.
“So many of these things have happened,” she said. “We’ve had Sandy Hook, other school shootings and movie theater shootings. When is it going to be enough for them to say, ‘You know what? It’s time we need to put different laws down.’’”
Nelson was taken aback by how vocal students have been in the aftermath of the shooting in calling for changes.
“The students are terrific,” he said. “The fact that they are speaking up as boldly as they are, maybe that is the turning point. You haven’t heard students speak up one after another, after another, after they witnessed this carnage and speaking with conviction.”
by The News Service of Florida
Pictured: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump also visited school shooting victims on Friday. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.