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Escambia School District Holding Hiring Event For Teachers

Escambia County School District is holding a Spring Hiring Event on April 29, for those interested in becoming ECSD teachers for the 2017-2018 school year. To be invited by the ECSD Human Resources Department to attend and interview, all application requirements must be completed by April 25th.

This event will feature all Escambia County School District schools with available positions and is designed for individuals who have their applications submitted and reviewed by the HR Certification Staff in time to be invited to interview the morning of Apruil 29. Those applicants will be contacted with additional details.

“This is a great way to introduce yourself to principals from multiple schools, interview for various positions, and see what the Escambia County School District has to offer for the upcoming school year,” said Dawn Ramirez, ECSD’s Coordinator of Teacher Certification. “Many of our schools will be filling positions during this event. Last year, 100 individuals were offered employment and were fully processed through Human Resources during a similar hiring event.”

Information about the application process can be found at the page, escambiaschools.net/teachecsd

Applicants must complete an online application and submit all required documents to participate in the hiring event. These documents typically include:

• Resume
• Official transcripts
• Verification of highly qualified status
• Out of state certificate, if applicable
• Florida subject area exam score report (Applicants may provide HR with the unofficial subject area exam results report and replace it with the official report when it arrives)

Deadline to submit your application and accompanying documents to be invited to attend the Spring Hiring Event, April 25, 2017.

“Once you have applied, your information will be vetted through our Certification Department for eligibility. Candidates who have been identified as eligible for employment will be contacted via email regarding the details of the hiring event, i.e. date, time, and location. This is a closed hiring event and only qualified and vetted individuals eligible for hire will be invited to participate,” said Ramirez.

Dawn Ramirez also explained that if someone can’t get the necessary documents by Apr. 25, they should still continue to work on getting everything submitted, because there are usually additional openings during the summer months.

“For example, we know that some college students will not have graduated in time for this round of interviews. We recommend they get their application started, that they request to have their final transcript sent to us by their university, and that they contact us as they near completion of the process,” Ramirez added.

The teachecsd page has additional information that is organized by situations:
· Education Degree Pending
· Certified in Florida
· Certified in Another State
· Teaching as a Second Career
· Substitute Teaching
Additional questions can be addressed to Jane Bell, Certification Specialist (for applicants with last names starting with A – K) 850-469-6252 or Bonnie Staples, Certification Specialist (for last names starting with L – Z) 850-469-6251.

FDOT: Weekly Traffic Alerts

Drivers will encounter traffic variations on the following state roads in Escambia County as crews perform construction and maintenance activities.

Escambia County:

·         Interstate 10 (I-10)/ U.S. 29 Interchange Improvements Phase I – Alternating lane closures on I-10 near U.S. 29 (Exits 10A and 10B) from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday as crews perform barrier wall and clearing work. In addition, intermittent lane closures on the I-10 westbound to U.S. 29 north ramp (Exit 10B). Traffic will be detoured to Exit 10A for access U.S. 29.

·      Perdido Key Drive (State Road (S.R.) 292) Resurfacing from the Alabama State line to the ICWW (Theo Baars Bridge) – Drivers may encounter lane shifts and periodic lane closures in short duration and length the week of Monday, April 24 as crews perform miscellaneous construction activities to complete the project.

·         Fairfield Drive (S.R. 295) between Davis Highway and 12th Avenue Routine Maintenance- Eastbound outside lane closure from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, April 24 through Friday, April 28 as crews clean and video ECUA sewer line.

·         Bayou Boulevard (S.R. 296) from the mall entrance to Askew Drive Roadway Repairs- Intermittent lane closures in the westbound lane and right turn lane from 8 p.m. Monday, April 24 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, April 25 as crews make repairs to the asphalt.

·      Nine Mile Road Turn Lane Construction south of Scenic Hills Drive – East and westbound lane closures from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, April 24 through Thursday, April 28 as crews construct two eastbound, right turn lanes on the south side of Nine Mile Road, just east of Westside Drive and add a westbound, left turn lane across from Scenic Hills Drive.

·         Nine Mile Road from Beulah Road to Pine Forest Road Widening – Alternating lane closures near Pine Cone Drive from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Tuesday, April 25 and Wednesday, April 26 as crews relocate utilities. Traffic flaggers will be on site to safely direct drivers through the work zone.

·         I-10 over Perdido River Routine Bridge Inspection- Westbound lane restrictions from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 25 and eastbound lane closures 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, as crews perform a routine inspection.

·         I-10 Widening from Davis Highway to the Escambia Bay Bridge – Alternating lane closures on I-10 westbound, between Davis Highway (S.R.) 291/Exit 13) and Scenic Highway (U.S. 90/Exit 17), from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. the week of Monday, April 23 as crews perform paving work.

·         U.S. 29 (S.R. 95) Widening from I-10 to Nine Mile Road- Alternating lane closures continue from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on U.S. 29 between I-10 and 9 1/2 Mile Road and on Nine Mile Road near the U.S. 29/ Nine Mile Road overpass as crews perform drainage and bridge operations.

·         Nine Mile Road (S.R. 10/U.S. 90A) Widening from Pine Forest Road to U.S. 29- Alternating lane closures continue on Untreiner Avenue as crews perform jack and bore operations.

Drivers are reminded to use caution, especially at night, when traveling through the construction zone, and to pay attention for workers and equipment entering and exiting the work area.  All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather.

Justices Approve Felon Rights, Gambling Initiatives

In a pair of high-profile issues that could go on the ballot next year, the Florida Supreme Court has approved proposed constitutional amendments that would restore felons’ voting rights and restrict the expansion of gambling in the state.

The court’s approval of the measures is a critical initial step, but supporters still face the task of collecting hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to get the proposals on the November 2018 ballot.

Groups backing both initiatives quickly said they will move forward with collecting and submitting the required 766,200 signatures to reach the ballot. Supporters of the gambling measure had submitted 74,626 signatures as of last week, while backers of the felon-voting initiative had submitted 71,209, according to the state Division of Elections.

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has approved the language of this amendment and we can move forward with our efforts to ensure that Florida voters — not gambling industry influence and deal making — are the ultimate authority when it comes to deciding whether or not to expand gambling in our state,” said John Sowinski, chairman of Voters In Charge, a group spearheading the gambling measure.

The Supreme Court does not rule on the merits of proposed constitutional amendments but looks at issues such as whether ballot titles and summaries would be clear to voters and whether initiatives comply with a single-subject requirement.

The court unanimously signed off on the proposal that would automatically restore the voting rights of many felons after they have completed the terms of their sentences. The amendment would not apply to people convicted of murder and felony sexual offenses.

The issue of restoring felon rights has long been controversial in Florida, with critics of the state’s process comparing it to post-Civil War Jim Crow policies designed to keep blacks from casting ballots. A system approved in 2011 by Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet required felons convicted of nonviolent crimes to wait a minimum of five years to have their rights restored, while others could wait up to 10 years before being eligible to apply.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and other supporters of the process have argued that the restoration of voting rights for felons should be earned and only after a sufficient waiting period.

But the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which is helping lead efforts to pass the ballot initiative next year, said the proposal would bring Florida in line with other states.

“Now the work of gathering signatures and mounting a successful campaign to change the Florida Constitution begins in earnest,” Kirk Bailey, ACLU of Florida political director, said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to Florida voters being given a chance to bring our state’s voting rules out of the 19th century and into the 21st.”

The Supreme Court was more divided about whether the gambling-related initiative should move forward. The measure was approved in a 4-2 decision, with Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and Charles Canady in the majority and justices Ricky Polston and R. Fred Lewis dissenting. Justice Alan Lawson, who joined the court at end of December, did not take part.

If the amendment is approved in November 2018, it would give voters the “exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling” in the state. It would require voter approval of casino-style games.

Polston, in a dissenting opinion joined by Lewis, argued the proposal is misleading and violates the single-subject requirement. He contended, in part, that the proposal would not fully inform voters about its possible effects on a constitutional amendment passed in 2004 that authorized slot machines in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Under that amendment, local voters also had to approve the slot machines.

“The initiative is placing voters in the position of deciding between a preference for controlling the expansion of full-fledged casino gambling and Florida’s current legal gaming landscape,” Polston wrote.

But the majority rejected arguments that it should block the measure from going on the ballot.

“The opponents primarily argue that the initiative should not be placed on the ballot because it is unclear whether, if passed, the amendment would apply retroactively and what effect, if any, the amendment would have on gambling that is currently legal in Florida — including gambling that was previously authorized by general law rather than by citizens’ initiative,” the majority wrote. “However, as the sponsor points out, the opponents’ arguments concern the ambiguous legal effect of the amendment’s text rather than the clarity of the ballot title and summary.”

by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida

Update: Century Tornado Debris Burn Reaches 75 Percent

Here’s an update on the Town of Century’s efforts to burn vegetative tornado debris in the town industrial park.

The town burned the first of numerous piles on March 14, with town employees burning the piles under permits issued on available burn days from the Florida Forest Service. As of last week, the town had burned about 75 percent of the 800 dump truck loads of trees and other vegetative debris from the February 15, 2016, EF-3 tornado.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Wahoos Fall To Mobile Ending Winning Streak

Pensacola Blue Wahoos eight-game win streak — the longest in franchise history — came to an end Sunday when the Mobile BayBears pulled out a, 3-2, victory at Hank Aaron Stadium.

Mobile scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning when third baseman Andrew Daniel singled to center field to score center fielder Zach Welz.

Pensacola starter Luis Castillo had left the game in the sixth inning with a 2-2 tie. He allowed five hits and struck out four and didn’t walk any batters.

However, the Blue Wahoos usually reliable bullpen gave up the final run of the game. Pensacola reliever Ismael Guillon gave up a line drive single to centerfield to Welz in the eighth and balked to move him to second.

After a groundout, Blue Wahoos reliever Geoff Broussard replaced Guillon and promptly gave up the game-winning hit to Daniel. The loss was Guillon’s first of the season and evened his record at 1-1. It was also the first run Guillon has given up in five relief appearances for Pensacola giving him a 1.42 ERA.

Pensacola did get runners on first and third with two outs in the top of the ninth but Blue Wahoos right fielder Aristides Aquino, who is tied for the team lead with second baseman Josh VanMeter and center fielder Brian O’Grady with seven RBIs, struck out to end the game.

For the game, Pensacola had plenty of chances to score. It put runners in scoring position in eight of the nine innings against Mobile. But it was 1-15 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.

Pensacola did score two runs in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead. VanMeter singled to right field to drive in DH Devin Mesoraco, who had doubled to center field to start the inning. Blue Wahoos first baseman Angelo Gumbs then doubled to center to score VanMeter.

Mobile catcher Jose Briceno doubled on a line drive to Pensacola left fielder Leon Landry to score Daniel in the first inning. He then tied the game 2-2, with a line drive single to Landry that scored Mobile first baseman Zach Houchins in the fourth inning. He was 2-4 with two RBIs to lead Mobile at the plate.

BayBears reliever Eric Karch gave up two hits and two walks and struck out one in the final two innings but earned the victory and is 1-1 with a save and a 0.84 ERA.

Pensacola still has the best record in the Southern League at 13-4 and leads second place Mississippi Braves, who are 8-9, in the Southern Division by five games.

Earlier in the day, RHP Ariel Hernandez was recalled to Cincinnati and looks to become the 42^nd former Blue Wahoos player to make their Major League Debut.

Century Resident Charged With Threatening To Kill Man, Run Over Him

A Century man was charged after he allegedly tried to hit another man with his car and threatened to kill him with a knife.

Cortez Rasheen Davison, 23, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and marijuana possession. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on $10,000 bond.

Davison allegedly drove to the victim’s home and began calling him racial slurs. The victim told Escambia County deputies that he tried to ignore Davison, but Davison pulled out a pocket knife and began to walk toward him. The victim told deputies that Davison threatened to shoot him, shoot up his home and burn down his shed.

After the victim called the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Davison went back to his car and tried to run over the victim as he was driving away, according to an arrest report. The victim told deputies he was not hit because he jumped behind a tree.

Barrineau Park Cleans Up

A community clean up event was held Saturday in Barrineau Park in honor of Earth Day. The annual event is co-sponsored by the Honeysuckle Garden Club and the Barrineau Park Historical Society.

Each of over 20 volunteers selected an area to clean, was given gloves, a vest to wear, trash bags and  bottled water, and then sent out to pick up the litter.  All the trash was piled up under an oak tree at the community center.

The volunteers were then served a free lunch, funded by Kenneth Gibbs and prepared by Honeysuckle Garden Club.

Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Earth Day Celebrated In Century

An Earth Day celebration was held Saturday in Century.

The event, held around the Ole Mill Pond at the Century Health and Rehabilitation Center, featured several eco-friendly vendors and exhibitors.

For more photos, click here.

Pictured top: Earth Day in Century on Saturday. Pictured: An owl on dislay from the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida. Pictured below: Handmade wood carvings for sale. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Sometimes, apologies take a long time in public life. Other times, they come more quickly. And still other times, despite how the old saying goes, it is too late to say you’re sorry.

Miami Republican Frank Artiles learned about the last variation the hard way this week. After making expletive-laden and racially explosive comments, Artiles offered apologies to his colleagues in the Florida Senate — but that was not enough to prevent his resignation under pressure Friday.

In the background, the machinery of the legislative session continued to turn, as Gov. Rick Scott tried a few late interventions to get more money for the environment and tourism marketing. While lawmakers said publicly they were making progress toward a budget deal that could close out the session, there were few concrete public signs that an agreement was within reach.

There will perhaps need to be an apology if they fail to get their work done on time. But the cause of that act of contrition would pale in response to the mistakes that drew apologies this week — whether because of an unguarded conversation in downtown Tallahassee, or because of workers at a reform school in the Panhandle.

THE MAN FROM HIALEAH

Artiles has never been accused of pulling punches. Indeed, the Marine veteran is known for tough talk. But he went a step — or two or three — too far Monday night at a members-only club near the Capitol.

It was there that Artiles berated Sen. Audrey Gibson, a black Democrat from Jacksonville, calling her “girl” and a “bitch,” among other things. Artiles also used the n-word or a derivative thereof, depending on who was telling the story. For good measure, he threw in a Trumpesque description of Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

At first, Artiles sounded determined to hold on to his seat, despite Negron’s decisions to yank him from the chairmanship of the Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee and ask the Senate’s general counsel, Dawn Roberts, to investigate Artiles’ behavior.

In a public apology, Artiles expressed regret for his blow-up, including the use of the n-word.

“With regard to the word which I used toward no one in particular, but is rightfully the most inflammatory, I know my explanation is inadequate but it is sincere,” Artiles said. “I grew up in a diverse community. We share each other’s customs, cultures and vernacular. I realize that my position does not allow me for the looseness of words or slang, regardless of how benign my intentions were.”

Gibson, who kept her back turned to Artiles throughout his nearly four-minute speech, later called Artiles’ apology “meaningless.” She said Artiles unleashed the invectives in reaction to Gibson’s questioning the Republican’s amendments during committee meetings last week.

“It’s just ugly, in any setting, and totally unacceptable. I doubt that he would talk to his wife that way. I don’t guess that he does, or any other woman that he cares about, or any other people that he cares about,” she said.

By the end of the week, the calls for Artiles to step aside had grown too loud to ignore. In a statement Friday that seemed fully in character, Artiles announced his resignation while expressing both regret and defiance.

“This experience has allowed me to see that for too many years I have sacrificed what I hold most dear in my life, my wife and my two young daughters,” he said. “While I take full responsibility for using language that was vulgar and inappropriate, my family has fallen victim to a political process that can distort the truth for the sole purpose of political gain.”

A day before Artiles asked for forgiveness on the Senate floor, two groups sat in the House gallery Tuesday to witness apologies that they had been waiting decades to hear.

One of the groups included 17 former students of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, a now-closed reform school that became a sort of torture camp for many of the youths sent there.

A House resolution (HR 1335) acknowledged that treatment of boys sent to Dozier and a related facility in Okeechobee was cruel, unjust and “a violation of human decency.”

More than 500 former students have alleged brutal beatings, mental abuse and sexual abuse at the Dozier school, which was shuttered in 2011 after 111 years of operation in Marianna.

“That was a genuine thing that was heartfelt by all of the White House boys,” said Charles Fudge, a 69-year-old Homosassa resident who wiped away tears during the House debate and vote. “It means an awful lot for them to acknowledge the abuse that went on.”

Fudge, who was sent to Dozier with three of his brothers in the early 1960s, is part of the “White House Boys” group, which is named after a facility at the school where boys were beaten and abused.

The House also unanimously passed a bill (HB 7115) that would authorize the creation of monuments in Tallahassee and in Jackson County, which includes Marianna, to commemorate the Dozier and Okeechobee victims.

“It’s time,” said Rep. Cynthia Stafford, a Miami Democrat who helped sponsor the bill. “It’s time for closure. It’s time for accountability. It’s time for justice.”

Also on hand Tuesday were descendants and relatives of the “Groveland Four,” a group of four black men accused of raping a white woman in 1949 in Lake County. Only two of the men survived the manhunts and discredited trials that followed the allegations, with the case becoming the subject of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Devil in the Grove.”

Among those watching the proceedings was Carol Greenlee, the son of Charles Greenlee. She still remembered one time when she visited her father six decades ago.

“I’m the child that went to the prison one Sunday with my mother, and my daddy kissed me on the head and said, ‘Don’t bring her back no more. It’s too hard,’ ” Greenlee recalled. “And I didn’t see him no more until I was 12 years old.”

Now 67, she lived to see the House vote to formally apologize for the prosecution and persecution of her father as well as Walter Irvin, Samuel Shepherd and Ernest Thomas.

“The memories can’t be erased, the pain they’ve endured can’t be fixed, but today we have an opportunity to provide closure to these families in the form of an apology,” said Rep. Bobby DuBose, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat who sponsored the House measure (HCR 631).

The Senate is expected to approve the apology before the end of the legislative session.

SCOTT INTERVENES

Over the seven regular legislative sessions during his time as governor, Scott has alternately been intensely involved, utterly indifferent, or somewhere in between. This year, after weeks of campaigning for more money for economic development incentives, the governor has decided to push hard in the closing weeks for environmental funding and tourism-marketing dollars.

Scott began the week by throwing his support behind a revised Senate water-storage plan in the Everglades and called for lawmakers to financially help the federal government speed repairs to the dike around Lake Okeechobee.

In a news conference, Scott urged lawmakers to add $200 million to the budget to help the federal government’s ongoing repairs to the Herbert Hoover Dike.

He also backed a redrawn water-storage plan south of Lake Okeechobee that has been a priority of Negron.

“If we can start working to fix the dike, we can help solve a lot of the water issues we have seen with Lake O,” said Scott, who met with seven Senate leaders individually prior to his announcement on Monday. “Repairing the dike is key to enhancing the water quality in South Florida. I am going to be very aggressive at doing whatever we can to protect our environment.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently anticipates a $1.7 billion project to reinforce the dike could be completed by 2025.

Scott said he’s addressed his desire to complete the dike repairs by 2022 with President Donald Trump’s administration. He also said state money could be freed up for the environmental work because of a federal commitment last week to boost what is known as Low Income Pool health-care funding to $1.5 billion.

The governor also pushed this week for more money for Visit Florida, which touts the state’s beaches and other tourism draws. That’s nothing new, but the size of Scott’s ask — $100 million — was $24 million more than he requested earlier.

“As I travel the state and talk about this, people are just shocked that the House would even think about reducing marketing in the state for tourism,” said Scott, who has feuded for months with House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, about the future of Visit Florida and the economic-development agency Enterprise Florida.

STORY OF THE WEEK: Miami Republican Frank Artiles resigned from the Senate after using vulgar and racially charged language during a conversation Monday evening with colleagues.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I’m from Hialeah.”—Sen. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, explaining his use of the n-word or a close variation of it Monday night, as recounted by Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, to a reporter for the Miami Herald.

by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida

Notice Of Minor Party Changes To Registrants

The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office recently received notice from the Florida Division of Elections that the registration status of the Independence Party of Florida (IDP) has been cancelled.

As a result, they were required to change the party affiliation of any voter registered in the Independence Party of Florida (IDP) to No Party Affiliation (NPA). New voter information cards reflecting the change are being mailed to all impacted voters, along with a list of active political parties and a Florida Voter Registration Application.

Voters whose party affiliation has been impacted may remain registered as No Party Affiliation, or may choose to register with one of the ten political parties currently active and recognized by the Division of Elections, a list of which can be accessed at http://dos.myflorida.com/elections/candidates-committees/political-parties/ or at EscambiaVotes.com. A party change can be made using a Florida Voter Registration Application or by submitting a signed, written notice to a voter registration official.

The Florida Division of Elections also notified the SOE that the application status of the Independent Party of Florida (IND) has been approved and is now an active minor political party in Florida.

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