Flomaton Tops Ernest Ward (With Photo Gallery)
October 17, 2017
The Flomaton Hurricanes defeated the Ernest Ward Middle School Eagles Monday night, 10-8. The EWMS Eagles will wrap up their season next Monday night, October 23, as they host Flomaton in Walnut Hill.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Grover Robinson Pre-files To Run For Pensacola Mayor
October 17, 2017
Monday, Escambia County District 4 Commissioner Grover Robinson became the first candidate to pre-file for mayor of Pensacola.
Robinson has served on the county commission since 2006, and was appointed chairman in 2010 and 2016. He has also serves as chairman for the Florida Gulf Consortium and as an at-large board member of the National Association of Counties. His past services include president of the Florida Association of Counties from 2014-15 and 2016 class member of Leadership Florida.
Robinson has been actively involved in the community, serving as a current or past board member for the Pensacola State College Foundation, Junior Achievement of Northwest Florida, United Way of Escambia County, Baptist Health Care Foundation, Christ Church Episcopal Parish and more. He and his wife Jill have two children, Grover V and Anna Lowrey.
Robinson’s current term on the Escambia County Commission is set to end in November 2018.
Gas Prices Dropping After Double Hurricane Spike
October 17, 2017
Gasoline prices in Florida have fallen 7 cents during the past week and 25 cents over the past month, after hurricanes Harvey and Irma drove up costs at the pump.
The downward trend is expected to continue in the coming weeks, barring more tropical weather in the Gulf of Mexico.
The auto club AAA said the average price per gallon of gas in Florida is $2.47 a gallon, down from $2.72 a month ago. In the Escambia County area , the average price per gallon is $2.43, down from $2.63 one month ago.
AAA spokesman W. D. Williams said production and distribution are returning to normal at refineries and ports, while demand is decreasing. Williams said price volatility has been felt across the country, beyond states directly impacted by the storms.
“Florida and the Southeastern states that accepted so many of the Florida people who were fleeing from their homes, they had the impact as well,” Williams said. “So, the supply and demand impacted more than just Florida.”
The current price is still more than 20 cents a gallon higher than a year ago. Florida’s most expensive gas is in Miami and West Palm Beach, while the cheapest fuel can be found in the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas.
by The News Service of Florida
Impact 100 Awards Over $1 Million To Area Non-Profits
October 17, 2017
Local women’s philanthropy group Impact 100 has awarded over $1 million in grants to local non-profits.
Each of the following nonprofitorganizations was awarded $107,700 after a thorough grant review, committee process and membership vote:
ARTS & CULTURE
Pensacola Delta Enrichment Center, Inc.
Project: Young, Gifted, and Underprivileged – Warrington Arts Development Project
West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc. dba UWF Historic Trust
Project: History and Storytelling Circle
EDUCATION
Capstone Adaptive Learning and Therapy Centers, Inc.
Project: Capstone Pet Place
Escambia County School Readiness Coalition, Inc. dba Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County
Project: Grow with Me
FAMILY
Horizons of Okaloosa County, Inc. dba The Arc of the Emerald Coast
Project: IMPACT 100 Dream Wheels For New Beginnings
My Father’s Arrows, Inc.
Project: Mama’s House
ENVIRONMENT, RECREATION & PRESERVATION
Humane Society of Pensacola, Inc. dba Pensacola Humane Society
Project: The Humane Express
Pensacola Lighthouse Association, Inc. dba Pensacola Lighthouse & Museum
Project: Fresnel Lens Restoration
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Feeding the Gulf Coast, Inc.
Project: Serving the Community During Disasters
Santa Rosa Kids’ House, Inc.
Project: Changing for Children
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Beulah Beltway Public Meeting Scheduled
October 17, 2017
A Beulah Beltway Alternative Corridor Evaluation Public Meeting will be held Monday, October 30 from 6-8 p.m. at Hillcrest Baptist Church at 800 East Nine Mile Road.
The meeting will provide the public an opportunity to review project materials, ask questions of Escambia County staff and provide comments about the proposed Beulah Beltway project. Agenda items include an overall discussion of the project, northern route overview, southern route overview and discussion of future steps for the project.
For more information about the Beulah Beltway project, to access project reports and maps, or to submit comments, visit beulahbeltway.com.
A previous Beulah Beltway meeting in early August saw tempers flare and the air conditional falter asan estimated 250 people tried to pack their way into the public meeting at the Plainview Baptist Church on West Nine Mile Road. That prompted county officials to announce that another meeting would be held in a larger venue.
The Beulah Beltway will serve to connect Nine Mile Road in Beulah to Highway 29 somewhere in the area from south of West Quintette Road to Barrineau Park Road. There’s no funding available yet for the northern potion of the project.
Pictured: An August Beulah Beltway meeting. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Century Fire Visits Camp Fire Learning Center
October 17, 2017
For National Fire Safety Week, crew members of Engine 519 of the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue visited and shared fire safety tips with the children of the Camp Fire Century Youth Learning Center. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Book Fair At Jim Allen Elementary
October 17, 2017
Jim Allen Elementary School is holding its annual Scholastic Book Fair through Friday in the school’s Media Center. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Portion Of Alabama Hwy 21 Named For Slain Holman Correctional Officer
October 17, 2017
A portion of Alabama Highway 21 near Atmore was named the “Alabama Correctional Officer Kenneth L. Bettis Memorial Highway” during a ceremony Monday.
Bettis, 44, was assaulted and stabbed by an inmate at the Holman Correctional Facility on September 1, 2016, after refusing to serve the inmate an extra lunch tray. He died from his injury on September 16.
Bettis served the State of Alabama Department of Corrections for seven years, with his entire career at Holman. He was a decorated combat veteran who served in Iraq with the 142nd Battlefield Surveillance Brigade out of Decatur.
The Alabama Legislature voted to name nearly five miles of Alabama Highway 21 from I- 65 to Smithfield Road as the “Alabama Correctional Officer Kenneth L. Bettis Memorial Highway”. This includes the portion of Highway 21 near the Holman and Fountain correctional facilities.
For additional photos, click here.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Dish Network Takes Florida TV Tax Fight To U.S. Supreme Court
October 17, 2017
Pointing to “protectionism,” a major satellite-television company is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a constitutional challenge to a Florida law that sets different tax rates for cable and satellite TV services.
Dish Network in September filed a 39-page petition in the U.S. Supreme Court, nearly five months after the Florida Supreme Court sided with the state and the cable industry in upholding the law.
The long-running battle focuses on the state’s communications-services tax, which is 4.92 percent on the sale of cable services and 9.07 percent on the sale of satellite-TV services. Dish Network contends the different tax rates are a form of protectionism that violates the “dormant” Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which bars states from discriminating against interstate commerce.
“In particular, it forbids a state from taxing or regulating differently on the basis of where a good is produced or a service is performed,” said the Dish Network petition, posted on the SCOTUSblog website, which closely tracks the U.S. Supreme Court. “That’s exactly what the unequal Florida tax does. It puts a heavier duty on pay-TV programming that is assembled and delivered without using massive infrastructure within the state.”
But the Florida Supreme Court, which sided in April with the state Department of Revenue and the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association, rejected the notion that cable was an “in state” interest that was being protected by the law. Justice Peggy Quince wrote, for example, that Florida’s largest cable providers are headquartered out of state, as are the satellite companies.
“Cable is not a local, in-state interest any more than satellite,” Quince wrote. “While it may be true that cable employs more Florida residents and uses more local infrastructure to provide its services, the Supreme Court has never found a company to be an in-state interest because it had a greater presence in a state.”
The U.S. Supreme Court only agrees to hear a relative handful of the thousands of appeals filed each year. Responses to the Dish Network petition are due Nov. 13, according to a court docket.
In the petition, Dish Network argued that the “practical effect of Florida’s unequal sales tax is to benefit local economic interests associated with cable,” including state and local government.
“What possessed the state to adopt this unequal excise on competing services? In a word, protectionism,” the petition said. “Though cable and satellite may be interchangeable from the viewer’s perspective, they have very different relationships with the local economy.”
(Disclosure: The News Service of Florida has a partnership with the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association for the Capital Dateline news show.)
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Free Forestry 101 Workshop For Landowners
October 17, 2017
A workshop will be held October 20 at the Pace Community Center for landowners interested in the foundations of good stewardship of timberland. The workshop will take place 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at the Pace Community Center at 5976 Chumuckla Highway.
The event will cover road and boundary maintenance, harvest, site preparation, planting, threat of invasive species and certification. Attendees also will have the opportunity to network with forestry professionals. Consulting foresters will lead the workshop as well as Florida Forest Service foresters. This event is sponsored by the Florida Tree Farm Committee and there is no cost to attend. Lunch will be provided.
Pre-registration for this workshop is required by October 17. To register, call Escambia County Forester Cathy Hardin at (850) 587-5237.