Boil Water Notice: Portion of Kingsfield Road And Area
March 3, 2017
THIS BOIL WATER NOTICE WAS LIFTED Sunday, March 5, 2017.
Effective immediately, a Precautionary Boil Water Notice -PBWN- has been issued by the ECUA to customers located within the following area due to loss of water pressure from a broken 8-inch water main.
The area includes:
- Kingsfield Rd., from Riddle Rd. to Portebella Place
- Ryale Drive, north of Kingsfield
- Cricket Ridge Dr.
- Cricket Cir.
- Riddle Rd.
- Summer Shade Lane
- Portebella Place
Precautionary Boil Water Notices are issued as a part of the standard protocol following any loss of water pressure, whether as a result of planned maintenance activities or unscheduled repairs.
Residents located in the specified PBWN area are advised to boil water for one minute at a rolling boil or to use 8 drops of regular unscented household bleach per gallon of water, for water to be used for drinking or cooking purposes. Two independent bacteriological samples have been initiated and the advisory will be lifted as soon as possible. This process routinely takes 48 hours.
ECUA crews isolated the broken main section by inserting valves on either side of the break in order to restore service as quickly as possible, and have flushed out the lines. Residents are advised that there is a possibility of discolored water as a result of the utility work, and to flush their home’s plumbing by running their taps for a few minutes. If problems persist, customers are asked to contact ECUA Customer Service at 850-476-0480 for assistance. Precautionary boil water notice guidelines are available on the ECUA website at www.ecua.fl.gov/water-quality/boil-water-notices-and-why-we-issue-them.
$1.3 Million In State Tornado Aid Still Has Not Reached Victims
March 3, 2017
The Town of Century was awarded $1.3 million in state grants for tornado recovery and other housing assistance last November. But NorthEscambia.com learned this week that not a single dime of that money has reached Century tornado victims.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity made $600,483 in emergency funding available for recovery efforts following the February 15, 2016, EF-3 tornado. The application process for Century was basically a formality…the state announced that Century was the only local government eligible to apply for the funds.
Century was also awarded a $700,000 small cities Community Development Block Grant for housing rehabilitation and replacement that can be used for tornado recovery.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity notified the Town of Century that it had been awarded the grants in letters dated November 17, 2016. The DEO letter notified the town that the grant agreement and other required contract documents would be emailed to the town. The executed contract was required before checks would be written.
As of Thursday morning, town officials told NorthEscambia.com that, despite multiple requests, the contract documents had not yet been received by the town. Without the contracts and without checks for $1.3 million, the town had been unable to provide much needed financial assistance to tornado victims, many of which had no insurance to cover their loses.
We contacted the Florida DEO Thursday morning looking for an explanation. Director of Communications and External Affairs Erin Gillespie emailed NorthEscambia.com a short time later, advising that the director of the state program was in a meeting at Cape Canaveral until 2 p.m., and that she was unsure if we would have answers to our questions by the end of the day.
We also contacted Rep. Clay Ingram and the office of Sen. Doug Broxson.
“The grant process is very cumbersome and we are pressuring the agencies involved to streamline the process because the end result, particularly in this case, is that the people in need are not receive the funding in a timely fashion. And that is tragic,” Ingram said.
The Town of Century notified NorthEscambia.com late Thursday afternoon that the Florida DEO had finally emailed the needed contract documents on the $600,483 emergency grant. Town officials said that they expect to execute the contract and have the funding in hand shortly, at which time they should be accepting citizen aid requests.
More information on the aid application process will be posted as it become available.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Driver Crashes Into Wooded Area Near Bratt
March 3, 2017
One person was injured in a single vehicle crash early Friday morning near Bratt.
The driver lost control while northbound on North Pine Barren Road at Jerkins Road about 1:45 a.m. The vehicle entered a wooded area off the roadway and became airborne. The driver was reported to be trapped in the vehicle but crawled out as first responders arrived on scene.
The driver was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola by Atmore Ambulance. His condition was not immediately available.
Further information has not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol as they continue their investigation.
The Walnut Hill and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the accident.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Highway 4 Temporary Railroad Crossing Readied In Century
March 3, 2017
A temporary railroad crossing has been constructed adjacent to State Road 4 in Century as a $1.13 million project gets underway to resurface the roadway from Highway 29 to the Escambia River Bridge.
Crews will mill and resurface the travel lanes, construct minor shoulder widening, place new signs and pavement markings along the project, and reconstruct the CSX railroad crossing. Law enforcement will be on site to assist with traffic control as the temporary railroad crossing is put into service.
This is a Florida Department of Transportation project, and is not funded or managed by the Town of Century.
Pictured: Progress on a temporary railroad crossing in Century as seen on Thursday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Free Escambia Storm Rebuilding Permits End Today
March 3, 2017
Today is the final day for waived fees for Escambia County residents impacted by storms in early January.
Severe storms with powerful winds caused damage January 1 and 2 in the Chemstrand and Ten Mile Road area. Escambia County is waiving all fees relating to permitting and inspection for storm damage repairs, with the submission of the required permit application documentation, until 4:30 p.m. today.
Northview Tops Jay (With Photo Gallery)
March 3, 2017
The Northview Chiefs beat Jay 12-3 Thursday night in Bratt.
The Lady Chiefs struck first in the second inning with Aubree Love scoring on an error by the left fielder following a single by Peighton Dortch. Northview scored eight more in the 4th, one in the 5th and two in the 6th. The Lady Royals managed just three runs with two coming in the 5th and one in the 6th.
Winning pitcher-Tori Herrington 7 IP, 6 K’s, 2 BB, 6 H, 3 ER
Losing Pitcher-Destiny Herring 4 IP, 7K’s, BB, 2 HBP, 8 H, 9 ER
Avarie Jackson 2 IP, K, 5 H, 2 ER
Jamia Newton (2-4, R, 2 singles, RBI) Kendall Enfinger (1-4, R, single, RBI) Tori Herrington (1-3, 2R, single, BB) Aubree Love (3-4, 2R, 3 singles, RBI) Peighton Dortch (3-4, 2R, 3 singles, 2 RBI) Alana Brown (1-3, R, double, HP, RBI) Valen Shelly (1-4, 2R, single, 3 RBI) Lydia Smith (0-3, R, HP) Teriana Redmond (1-3, R, single, RBI)
For the Royals: Haven Taggert (2-3, R, 2 singles) Harley Taggert (1-3, R, single BB, RBI) Avarie Jackson (1-4, R, triple, RBI) Alyssa Baxley (1-4, R, single) #33 (1-3, single, RBI)
The Lady Chiefs travel to Brewton Friday and Saturday to play in the T. R. Miller Invitational with the first game against Blacksher at 5:00 followed by a game with T. R. Miller at 7:30.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos.
Senate Panel Poised To Consider Fracking Ban
March 3, 2017
Just hours after the annual legislative session starts Tuesday, a Senate committee will take up a bill that would ban fracking in Florida.The Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee is slated Tuesday afternoon to consider the bill (SB 442), filed by Sen. Dana Young, R-Tampa.
Fracking is a method of drilling for oil and natural gas that has become controversial in recent years as it has become widely used in other parts of the country.
Florida lawmakers heavily debated a measure last year that would have created a regulatory framework for fracking in the state, but the bill did not pass the Senate. Environmentalists opposed the bill, arguing that it could open the door to fracking.
Young held a news conference in January with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to announce an effort to ban fracking. Supporters of fracking say the practice helps meet energy demands and holds down energy costs for consumers.
by The News Service of Florida
Seuss Week: Thing 1, Thing 2, Bratt Elementary Has Twins Too
March 3, 2017
Bratt Elementary has 11 sets of twins attending the school.
In celebration of Dr. Seuss Week, the twins were honored on the morning news. Each set of twins was called out by name along with their description of how they go together. They also received a treat bag decorated as Thing 1 or Thing 2 according to their birth order.
The twins are listed along with their definition of how they go together.
- Four-year olds Adalynn and Madalynn Lowery go together like forever and always.
- Five-year olds Jeremiah and Zechariah Russell go together like green eggs and ham.
- Five-year olds Tucker and Cade Hare go together like cookies and milk.
- Seven-year olds Genevieve and Gabriella Graham go together like peas and carrots.
- Seven-year olds Wyatt and Noah Spence go together like peanut butter and jelly or peas and carrots.
- Seven-year olds Margaret and Montgomery Baker go together like chicken and dumplings.
- Seven-year olds Jakeriyah and Ja’kayvioun Jacobs go together like cookies and milk.
- Nine-year olds Derek and Justin Kinley go together like nachos and cheese or milk and cookies.
- Ten-year olds Anija and Anyla Mcneir go together like cake and icing.
- Eleven-year olds Raegan and Rabekah Abbott go together like peanut butter and jelly or cake and ice cream.
- Eleven-year olds Jayla and Jaden Brown go together like copy and paste or fire and ice.
Justices Uphold Ban On Openly Carrying Guns
March 3, 2017
Rejecting arguments by Second Amendment supporters, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a longstanding state ban on people openly carrying firearms in public.
Justices, in a 4-2 ruling, said the state law “regulates only one manner of bearing arms and does not impair the exercise of the fundamental right to bear arms.” In doing so, the Supreme Court sided with the 4th District Court of Appeal, which ruled in 2015 against a man arrested in St. Lucie County for openly carrying a gun in a holster.
“(We) agree with the 4th District and are satisfied that the state’s prohibition on openly carrying firearms in public with specified exceptions — such as authorizing the open carrying of guns to and from and during lawful recreational activities — while still permitting those guns to be carried, albeit in a concealed manner, reasonably fits the state’s important government interests of public safety and reducing gun-related violence,” said the 47-page majority opinion, written by Justice Barbara Pariente and joined fully by Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and Justice Peggy Quince. Justice R. Fred Lewis agreed with the result but did not sign on to the opinion.
But Justice Charles Canady, in a dissent joined by Justice Ricky Polston, said the law “collides with the Second Amendment right as understood” in a landmark 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a Washington, D.C. gun law. He described as “feeble” arguments that the open-carry ban is justified for public-safety reasons.
“Of course, many people are made uncomfortable by the fact that others are permitted to keep and bear arms at all,” Canady wrote in the 10-page dissent. “But contemporary sensibilities cannot be the test. Such sensibilities are no more a basis for defeating the historic right to open carrying than for defeating the understanding that the Second Amendment recognizes the right of individuals to keep and bear arms.”
Justice Alan Lawson, who joined the court at the end of December, did not take part in the case.
The challenge to the law stemmed from the 2012 arrest in St. Lucie County of Dale Norman, who had a concealed-weapons license but was carrying a gun openly in a holster. A jury found Norman guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor, and a trial judge imposed a $300 fine and court costs, according to Thursday’s ruling.
Norman, who was represented by attorney Eric Friday of the Second Amendment group Florida Carry, then took the case to the 4th District Court of Appeal before ultimately going to the Supreme Court.
Pariente’s majority opinion traced issues in the case to a 1987 law that authorized the state to issue concealed-weapons licenses. She wrote that lawmakers also passed a separate measure that year barring people from openly carrying firearms.
The majority opinion drew a distinction between the Florida open-carry ban and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Washington, D.C. case and another case involving gun laws in Chicago. She wrote that unlike those laws, “which completely banned the possession of handguns in one’s home, Florida’s open carry law regulates only how firearms are borne in public.”
“Because this law does not amount to an entire ban on a class of guns or completely prohibit the bearing of firearms in public and does not affect the right to keep arms in one’s home … we conclude that Florida’s open carry law does not severely burden the right,” Pariente wrote.
Canady, however, pointed to the long period of time between the 1987 legislation and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the 2008 case, known as District of Columbia v. Heller.
“More to the point, the Legislature decided that the sacrifice of open carrying was a necessary and appropriate response to the public opposition generated by the passage of the concealed-carry law,” Canady wrote. “But the legal landscape has now dramatically shifted. Heller has settled that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms. And Heller’s historical analysis points strongly to the conclusion that the individual right includes the right to carry arms openly in public.”
Thursday’s ruling came five days before the start of the 2017 legislative session, which is expected to include a series of debates about gun rights. Lawmakers last year did not pass a proposal that would have allowed people with concealed-weapons licenses to openly carry firearms.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Escambia Attorney Arrested
March 3, 2017
An Escambia County attorney has been arrested.
State Attorney Bill Eddins said James C. Corrigan was charged with racketeering and grand theft. The warrant was issued by an Escambia County judge based on an investigation by the State Attorney Office of a complaint filed by The Florida Bar following an audit Corrigan’s trust account.
Corrigan, who does business as James M. Corrigan, PA, represents clients in personal injury and medical malpractice cases. According to the warrant and supporting documents, Corrigan engaged in a multi-year, complex, continuous scheme in which he misapplied and misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars of his clients’ funds.
The Office of State Attorney will continue the investigation and anyone with information should contact investigator Taylor Wells at (850) 595-4200.