Byrneville Elementary Continues Toward Multi-Million Dollar Construction Project
April 27, 2017
Byrneville Elementary School is continuing to work toward a change in the school’s charter status and the construction of a new multi-million dollar facility.
Exactly how much a newly constructed building will cost remains to be seen.
Wednesday afternoon, the school’s board of directors met with an area banker to discuss possible finance options, but the discussion did not move very far because the board does not yet have a bottom line cost estimate. One finance program discussed by the banker requires a note of at least $5 million.
Currently, over one-half of Byrneville’s classrooms are located in eight aging wooden portable buildings with administration, a lunchroom and a few classrooms located in a wood frame brick building constructed in 1941.
School officials have expressed interest in a new modern building containing some number of classrooms, likely a cafetorium and possibly even a small gym. Wednesday, the board decided to hold an organizational building committee meeting on May 25 at a time yet to be determined. The committee will meet with teachers and staff to learn about what they feel is needed in a new facility. After that meeting, the board hopes to determine a preliminary cost for a new facility.
The new building, if approved by the board of directors and if financing is approved, would be constructed on the Byrneville Elementary School’s current four acre property at 1600 Byrneville Road.
Byrneville has been a “conversion charter” school since 2002 when the Escambia County School District closed the existing Byrneville Elementary School and converted it into charter school operated under its own board of directors. Funding for the school is still provided by the state and local government, with the local school district providing the campus and major maintenance services.
Byrneville will need to become a full charter school, taking over building ownership, to become eligible to construct a new permanent building.
Pictured top: The main building at Byrneville Elementary was constructed in 1941. Pictured below: One of the portable classrooms on the Byrneville Elementary campus. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Asserting Right Of Way On Salters Lake Road
April 27, 2017
Escambia County is asserting ownership of a right of way along Salters Lake Road near Century.
The county has maintained about 3,490 feet of Salters Lake Road northeast of North Century Boulevard for numerous years. By adopting the maintenance map and certifying that the county has maintained the private road for over seven years, Florida law dictates that the county will have right of way on the portion of the road that has been maintained.
The process will allow the county to continue to maintain the road without having a deeded right of way.
Escambia 4-H Leadership Club Serves Breakfast At Ronald McDonald House
April 27, 2017
The Escambia County 4-H Leadership Club recently got up early to cook breakfast and serve the residents of the Ronald McDonald house in Pensacola. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Art Show Featuring Fred Hassebrock Works Opens Saturday In Molino
April 27, 2017
The Molino Mid-County Historical Society will host an Art Show featuring the works of Fred Hassebrock (1903-1975).
Some of Hassebrock’s work has been displayed at the Smithsonian National Art Gallery.
The art show opening is Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Lil King Museum, located in the old Molino School complex, 6450 Highway 95A. The art show will remain on display until June 24, 2017. Museum hours are 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The museum and the art show are closed on Wednesday and Sunday. Admissions is free.
Pictured: A few of the works of Fred Hassebrock on display at Lil Kings Museum in Molino. The art show open on Saturday. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Senate Apologizes For Dozier School Abuse
April 27, 2017
With one senator pointing Wednesday to “violations of fundamental human decency,” the Florida Legislature has formally apologized for the mistreatment of juveniles held at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.
The Senate on Wednesday joined the House and unanimously approved a resolution (SR 1440) acknowledging the physical and sexual abuse of boys who were sent to the now-closed reform school, and a related facility in Okeechobee, from 1900 to 2011.
“We apologize. We are sorry,” said Sen. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat who sponsored the resolution and was joined by 35 other Senate co-sponsors. “This resolution on behalf of this Florida Senate commits to ensuring that the children of Florida are protected from this kind of abuse and violations of fundamental human decency.”
Turning to more than a dozen former Dozier students sitting in the Senate’s public gallery, Rouson said: “Through you, yet the living, the bones still cry out.”
He was referring to a forensic investigation carried out by the University of South Florida that identified 55 graves sites at the Jackson County facility, although there were only official records for 24 burials. The investigation led to the identification of some of remains, allowing families to reclaim their relatives.
The House unanimously passed a similar resolution (HR 1335) on April 18.
“It brought tears to my eyes because it was a good feeling that they had admitted to the wrong that they had done to us,” said Johnny Lee Gaddy, a 71-year-old Brooksville resident who was sent to Dozier as an 11-year-old in 1957.
He spent five years at the reform school, and suffered a half-dozen beatings, because he was labeled as a “truant” while in the fifth-grade.
“I didn’t go to school because I stuttered and the kids used to pick at me,” he said.
In addition to the resolution, Rouson said he hopes the Senate will take up a House bill (HB 7115) that would fund two memorials for the Dozier victims, one in Tallahassee and another in Jackson County. The bill would also authorize the reburial of the unclaimed Dozier remains in Tallahassee and the reinterment of the 1914 fire victims at the Boot Hill cemetery at the former reform school.
Rouson said the formal apologies from the Senate and House were “huge” in affirming the Dozier students’ stories and helping “the healing process.”
“It gives them something to live the golden years of their lives with, the fact that the state acknowledged this shameful part of our history,” Rouson said.
by Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: A trench dug in the search for human remains at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
NWE 12U Team Captures Division Title In Pace Tournament
April 27, 2017
The Northwest Escambia 12U softball team won the 12U “B” Division this past weekened in the Gulf Coast Girls Softball Association (GCGSA) Tournament in Pace.
Photo for NorthEscambia.co, click to enlarge.
Escambia School District Announces 2017 Graduation Dates
April 27, 2017
The Escambia County School District has released 2017 graduation dates for schools across the county:
Escambia Westgate School’s Graduation
May 19, 6:00 p.m.
Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium
Escambia Virtual/George Stone Technical/Second Chance Graduation
May 22, 6:00 p.m.
Pensacola High School Auditorium
ECSD’s Extended Program Graduation
May 24, 9:30 a.m.
J.E. Hall Center, Room 160
Booker T. Washington High School’s Graduation
May 25, 11:00 a.m.
Pensacola Bay Center
Pensacola High School’s Graduation
May 25, 2:30 p.m.
Pensacola Bay Center
Escambia High School’s Graduation
May 25, 6:00 p.m.
Pensacola Bay Center
Pine Forest High School’s Graduation
May 26, 11:00 a.m.
Pensacola Bay Center
West Florida High School’s Graduation
May 26, 2:30 p.m.
Pensacola Bay Center
J.M. Tate High School’s Graduation
May 26, 6:00 p.m.
Pensacola Bay Center
Northview High School’s Graduation
May 27, 4:00 p.m.
Northview High School
Graduation ceremonies will be live streamed on YouTube.
Wahoos End Three Game Skid With Win Over Baybears
April 27, 2017
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ bats went missing for part of the five-game series against its arch-rival Mobile BayBears.
But in the final game Wednesday against Mobile, Pensacola’s bats came to life as they pulled off a, 5-3, victory over the BayBears at Hank Aaron Stadium. As a team, the Blue Wahoos lineup went a combined 11-35 for a .314 average.
In the first four games, Pensacola scored a total of four runs on 24 hits for a .183 team batting average.
Pensacola snapped its three-game skid with its offensive outburst. Leading the way at the plate for Pensacola was shortstop Blake Trahan, who went 2-5 and drove in two runs. Left fielder Leon Landry went 1-4 with a triple and had two RBIs. Designated Hitter Eric Jagielo was 4-5 and scored twice. Third baseman Taylor Sparks had a 1-4 day and scored a run.
Pensacola is batting .214 on the season for eighth best in the Southern League ahead of Mobile (.212) and Biloxi (.200).
Blue Wahoos starter Austin Ross kept Pensacola in the game. Ross didn’t allow a run in his past two starts. But his scoreless inning streak came to an end at 19.1 innings when Mobile scored in the second inning. He ended up pitching 6.1 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits, walked two and struck out three. He picked up the victory to improve to 2-0 with a 0.99 ERA.
Jimmy Herget, Pensacola’s saves leader with eight saves, came in to pitch the ninth and allowed three singles to the first three batters he faced. Mobile scored a run when shortstop Alberto Triunfel singled to left field to drive in right fielder Forrest Allday, pulling the BayBears within, 5-3. With runners on first and second, Herget calmed down to strike out two of the next three batters to end the game.
Mobile scored first when catcher Wade Wass crossed the plate on first baseman’s Luis Tejada’s ground out to go ahead, 1-0, in the second inning.
In the fifth inning, Pensacola tied the score, 1-1, when center fielder Brian O’Grady scored on pinch hitter Leon Landry’s ground out to the pitcher.
Pensacola’s Trahan added two more runs in the sixth when his line drive single to left field scored Jagielo and Sparks for a 3-1 Blue Wahoos’ lead.
The BayBears pulled back within one run, 3-2, in the seventh inning when center fielder Michael Hermosillo hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score shortstop Angel Rosa.
Pensacola went back up, 4-2, in the eighth inning when Jagielo scored when Mobile right fielder Zach Welz made an error on O’Grady’s hit to him.
The Blue Wahoos added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning when left fielder Landry tripled in second baseman Josh VanMeter, who had walked, to go up, 5-2.
Pensacola now returns to Blue Wahoos Stadium Thursday for a five-game home stand against the Biloxi.
The Blue Wahoos lead the Southern League South Division with a 14-6 record and is ahead of Mobile (10-10) by four games.
House, Senate Leaders Agree On Budget Outline
April 27, 2017
House and Senate leaders struck a deal Tuesday on the broad outline of a budget after a topsy-turvy day at the Capitol, clearing the way for negotiations that could allow the session to end as scheduled on May 5.
The deal capped off nearly two weeks of talks between House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart. Lawmakers now have about a week to reach agreement on details and then allow for a constitutionally required 72-hour “cooling off” period before the final day of the session.
Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican in line to become Senate president after the 2018 elections, confirmed late Tuesday that there was a deal between the two sides after behind-the-scenes negotiations. But a hoped-for meeting between House and Senate leaders to formalize the deal and launch the negotiations never materialized.
Legislative leaders were still looking over the final numbers late Tuesday before officially announcing the package.
The final size of the budget, which would cover the year beginning July 1, was expected to be around $83 billion, roughly halfway between the House’s $81.2 billion plan and the Senate’s $85.1 billion proposal.
In a sign that Gov. Rick Scott’s priorities were in trouble, his office quickly pushed back on reports that Visit Florida, which markets the state’s tourism industry, would get less money than requested.
Ben Watkins, director of the state Division of Bond Finance, sent a letter to lawmakers arguing that failing to promote tourism could affect the state’s bond rating.
“A significant part of the state’s credit rating is dependent on the strength of our economy,” Watkins wrote. “Investments in promoting tourism (have) been an important investment in growing our economy and creating jobs, contributing to healthy revenue growth.”
Scott had asked for lawmakers to set aside $76 million for Visit Florida before the session, increasing that number to $100 million in recent weeks.
With the House and Senate reaching a deal on the budget’s basic contours, known as “allocations,” negotiating committees featuring members of both chambers were set to start hammering out details on specific areas of the spending plan. Later, the budget chiefs on both sides and, eventually, Corcoran and Negron would take over if lawmakers struggle to reach an agreement.
Simply clearing away the clash over allocations was enough to create a sense of optimism that the Legislature’s GOP majority could avoid needing overtime to complete the budget for the second time in three years. A day earlier, the sides were hammering each other after talks stalled over the weekend.
But by Tuesday evening, the dire warnings that a special session would be needed were gone. Negotiations will still have to unfold over a shorter timeframe than in past years, when lawmakers often had well more than a week to do their work.
“We do (have time) but it would be a very, very, very expedited calendar,” House Appropriations Chairman Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, said earlier Tuesday, when the agreement was still being worked on.
The deal was struck hours after the Trujillo’s committee voted to move forward with a “standard operating budget” that would have essentially carried over current state spending levels, with some increases for critical areas like public education and Medicaid funding.
The plan never had a chance of becoming law; Senate leaders had already dismissed it. But House Republicans said the unusual maneuver could help avoid a special or extended session.
“It’s really the safety valve,” Trujillo said. “Could we get a budget done in the next 10 days? Possibly. But if we don’t, this is our safety valve.”
Democrats blasted the proposal as a sham. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, called the plan “just strategy and posturing.”
But even then, rumors were circulating that Corcoran and Negron were closing in on the deal that was finally struck later Tuesday.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
UPDATE: Endangered 11-Year Old Runaway Boy Located
April 26, 2017
UPDATE 7:20 pm — The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office reports this missing child has been located.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a missing endangered runaway child.
The ECSO said 11-year old Joseph Coleman was last seen on April 24 when he skipped school and ran away from home. He has a history of running away.
He was last seen wearing a white shirt, khaki pants and gray Jordan tennis shoes. He was also seen carrying a blue athletic bag with clothes inside.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Joseph Coleman is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.