Florida House, Senate Face $2 Billion Divide
March 31, 2017
The House and Senate are on track to start budget negotiations with a gap of $2 billion in their proposals, providing fresh reasons for skepticism that lawmakers will complete a spending plan by the scheduled May 5 end of the legislative session.
The Senate on Thursday published an initial draft of its budget that would spend $83.2 billion in the year that begins July 1. Shortly afterward, House leaders announced that their spending plan would check in around $81.2 billion.
That could set up a collision course between the two chambers, which will have to decide how much to spend before the smaller details of how to divvy up the money can be hammered out by negotiating committees.
House and Senate budget-writing panels are expected to vote next week on the competing budget plans, which come as state finances are expected to weaken in future years.
The state is projecting a small surplus in the fiscal year that starts July 1, followed by a $1.3 billion shortfall the following year and a $1.9 billion hole the year after that.
One of the few new details in the Senate plan unveiled Thursday was the outline of a long-promised increase in pay for state workers. The proposal would provide $219.7 million in raises for employees. Most workers making up to $40,000 a year would get a $1,400 raise, with an increase of $1,000 for those making more.
Some workers, including front-line corrections officers and judges, would get larger pay increases. State law-enforcement officers would see their paychecks increase by 5 percent; assistant public defenders with at least three years of experience would receive a 6 percent hike.
“For far too long, the honorable and dedicated state employees who guard prisons, protect our highways, care for abused and neglected children, and who provide many other critical government services, have gone without an increase in their pay,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who has made raises one of his priorities. “The Senate budget makes it clear that we value the contributions these public servants make to our state.”
House leaders focused on the future impact of their plan, which they said would turn the shortfalls in future years into surpluses. House Appropriations Chairman Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, underscored a decision to slash about a quarter of $700 million of budget projects that were wedged into spending plans by past lawmakers and draw on year-after-year funding.
“For the first time in at least my time up here, we’ve gone after recurring projects and member projects and have eliminated a substantial amount of them,” he said.
But many of those ideas seem destined to run into opposition in the Senate. The House would slash the budgets of colleges and universities, despite Senate President Joe Negron’s focus on boosting higher education in the state. Cuts in health care are also likely to prove controversial in the upper chamber.
And the House and Senate remain divided by whether to roll back school property-tax rates to make sure homeowners don’t face larger tax bills even if the value of their properties increase.
The House is expected to publish its full budget Friday.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Pedestrian Struck By Vehicle In Century, Critically Injured
March 30, 2017
A pedestrian was critically injured when he was struck by a car Wednesday night in Century.
The pedestrian was reportedly in the roadway at 7995 North Century Boulevard, near the Century Town Hall, when he was hit by the vehicle about 8:15 p.m. The adult male was transported by Escambia County EMS to a Pensacola hospital.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details, including the man’s name, have not yet been released.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the accident.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Woman Trapped In Highway 29 Pickup Crash
March 30, 2017
One person was injured in a single vehicle crash Wednesday night on Highway 29 north of McDavid.
The driver of a northbound pickup truck lost control on Highway 29 near Roach Road and struck a guardrail. The pickup cross over the guardrail and apparently flipped end over end between the guardrail and the woodline. The male driver of the pickup was not seriously injured. But the female passenger of the truck was trapped as firefighters worked to extricate her.
The woman’s name and condition were not available. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Atmore Ambulance and the Century and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to the crash.
Pictured above and below: First responders worked to free a woman trapped in a wrecked pickup Wednesday night on Highway 29 near McDavid. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Byrneville Elementary Considers Becoming Accredited
March 30, 2017
Byrneville Elementary School’s Board of Directors decided Wednesday to consider going through the accreditation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
Accreditation is a process in which an independent agencies such as SACS assess the quality of education that an education institution offers and ensures they meet certain standards. All K-12 school operated by the Escambia County School district are accredited, but Byrneville Elementary operates as a charter school and must independently seek accreditation.
“It’s more like a self-check thing,” Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan said, “to find our if we are fulfilling our mission…It validates what we are already doing.”
She said the accreditation process would be lengthy and create a lot of work for the school staff and community volunteers. But without the accreditation, it is possible that an out of state district might not accept a child’s educational record at face value if a Byrneville student were to transfer elsewhere.
The accreditation process costs $500 and is $900 per year thereafter. The board will make an official decision on the accreditation process at an upcoming meeting.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
New Members Inducted Into Northview High Beta Club
March 30, 2017
New members were inducted Wednesday into the National Beta Club at Northview High School. The new members are:
9th Grade
Will Beach
Keaton Brown
Lacie Carter
Karlee Criswell
Jackson Edwards
Ashlan Harigel
Anna King
Kayla McKillion
Colby Morris
Kinzie Rackard
Savannah Roley
Savannah Spence
Jace Weber
10th Grade
Lexxi Baggett
Logan Chavers
Justin Cruce
Rebecca Dunn
Dalton Hamilton
Tanner Levins
Delaney Reynolds
Valen Shelly
Aaliyah Tucker
The National Beta Club’s purpose is “to promote the ideals of academic achievement, character, leadership and service among elementary and secondary school students.”
Pictured: New Beta Club members at Northview High School Ninth grade (below) and tenth grade (above). NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Spring Livestock Show, Blue Jacket Jamboree Are Saturday
March 30, 2017
University of Florida IFAS Extension in Escambia County is hosting the Gulf Coast Agriculture & Natural Resources Youth Organization Annual Spring Livestock Show and FFA Blue Jacket Jamboree Saturday, April 1 at the Escambia 4-H Livestock Facility located at 5701 Highway 99 in Molino.
This year’s show begins at 8 a.m. with over fifty 4-H and FFA youth exhibiting hogs, beef cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, and rabbits from Escambia and neighboring counties. The day will conclude with youth exhibitors auctioning off their market animals beginning at 5 p.m. The event is open to the public and there is no charge to attend.
Youth exhibitors receive quality premiums for their animals as well as proceeds from the auction of their animals. The GCA/NRYO show and auction is the culmination of the projects that youth have invested months and numerous hours in preparation. The livestock auction has become a success through the generous support of local sponsors and businesses who purchase the animals.
The Northview High School FFA Blue Jacket Jamboree will be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. with plenty of arts and crafts, a car show, a tractor show and more. An Egg Drop will be held at noon, with over 2,000 Easter eggs dropped from a ladder fire truck for children to hunt for free.
Arts and crafts vendors are still being accepted….visit bluejacketjamboree.org or call (850) 712-6267 or (850) 572-1076.
The Blue Jacket Jamboree is sponsored in part by NorthEscambia.com.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
NorthEscambia.com Publisher Named One Of Area’s Most Influential People
March 30, 2017
The Pensacola Independent News has released their 2017 IN Power List — their ranking of the most the most powerful and influential people in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Only two people that work primarily in the North Escambia area were named to the list — Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry of Cantonment and, for the sixth consecutive year, NorthEscambia.com Publisher William Reynolds.
Topping this year’s list was Rishy Studer, co-owner Studer Properties, Blue Wahoos and Bodacious Shops.
To read this year’s Inweekly Power List edition, click here.
Multiple Fires Set Along Miles Of Roadway
March 30, 2017
Firefighters battled about a dozen brush fires along a 3-4 mile long stretch of Highway 31 east of Flomaton Wednesday afternoon. It appeared that as many as dozen small fires may have been intentionally set along the roadway, with several of those fires spreading into wooded areas. The Flomaton, Brewton, McCall and Friendship fire departments from Alabama, and the Century and McDavid fire stations of Florida were dispatched to the fires. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Former Tate Football Coach Arrested On Multiple Child Sex Charges
March 29, 2017
A former Tate High School football coach and church leader has been arrested on multiple child sex offenses against multiple victims over a period from at least 1997 to 2016. Offenses allegedly occurred in locations that included the Tate High School locker room.
Charlie Mabern Hamrick, 54, is facing charges that include three counts of providing obscene material to minors, multiple counts of lewd and lascivious behavior on a victim age 12 to 16, lewd and lascivious behavior on a victim less than 12 years old, and 36 counts of capital sexual assault on a victim under 12. The capital assault charges are life felonies. He remains in the Escambia County Jail.
Hamrick was allegedly director of a boy’s group called the Royal Rangers at Harvest Christian Center in Cantonment when a 11-year old boy asked him about puberty during the summer of 2014. The victim’s mother agreed to allow Hamrick to show an educational video to the boy. Hamrick took the boy to the Tate High School locker room and showed him a series of videos, including teens discussing puberty, nude men in sexual acts ,and a video of a nude man and woman engaged in sexual intercourse, according to court documents.
Hamrick is also accused of inappropriately touching a 13-year old boy’s private area at Hamrick’s home at 7855 Sasser Lane. He also allegedly led a young boy to a bedroom in his home and while Hamrick was nude in front of him.
An adult male came told investigators this month that he was abused by Hamrick between 1997 and 2000. The victim was 8-11 years old at the time of the alleged abuse and had met Hamrick through his position as a Sunday School teacher at Pine Forest United Methodist Church. Charges against Hamrick include 36 counts of capital sexual assault for allegedly abusing the young boy on numerous occasions at his home, then in the Pebble Creek Subdivision, and at a Pensacola Beach house and onboard his boat.
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report details numerous types of sexual contact between Hamrick and the boy, averaging about once per month for three years. Some of the inappropriate contact reportedly happened under a blanket in Hamrick’s living room while his wife was present, but the victim told investigators that the wife had no knowledge of the abuse.
The victim said he just recently reported the abuse from the late 1990’s because he heard of Hamrick’s other charges and wanted to make sure it did not happen to anyone else.
Another boy reported late last year that he was abused by Hamrick during the summer of 2016 while at his house for fishing, four-wheeler riding and other activities with an additional male friend. The victim was 12-13 years old at the time.
Hamrick was not a full time school district employee, but was paid a stipend as a coach at Tate High School where he reportedly served as the freshman team coach. He was at Tate from August 1, 2012, to September 14, 2015.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan is encouraging any additional victims to come forward and contact local law enforcement.
ECSO: Woman Pulls Machete On Man Outside Century Business
March 29, 2017
A woman was jailed after allegedly threatening a man with a machete in the parking lot of a Century gas station Monday afternoon.
Sandra Ann Delafosse was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia following the 2:50 p.m. incident at the Century Food Mart in the 7900 block of North Century Boulevard.
The victim told deputies that Delafosse pulled a machete out of her car and approached him. He said he was in fear for his life and that he felt she was going to cut him, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report.
When deputies searched Delafosse, they reported finding a burnt glass pipe on her person. Further details on the incident have not yet been released.
Delafosse was booked into the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $7,500.