Sailor With Local Ties Receives Commendation Medal
February 5, 2017
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Scott G. Searcy has been decorated with the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
The medal is awarded for meritorious service or heroism in a combat or non-combat role. Its recipients have demonstrated either consistently superb performance or a singular exceptional act of heroism, service or professional leadership that contributes greatly toward accomplishment of the unit’s mission.
Searcy is the son of Tim Searcy of Nolensville, Tenn., and Joyce L. Searcy of Nashville, and husband of Anna T. Searcy of Cantonment..
He is a 2005 graduate of John Overton Comprehensive High School, Nashville, Tenn.
Pictured: Rear Adm. Michael White, commander, Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), presents a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal to Petty Officer 1st Class Scott G. Searcy of Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station during this year’s NETC Sailor and Instructor of the Year awards ceremony. Searcy, the husband of a Cantonment woman, was named mid-grade Instructor of the Year. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Possible Police Chase Ends With Wreck, Vehicle Fire
February 4, 2017
A reported police chase from Santa Rosa County ended with a vehicle crash and fire in Escambia County early Saturday morning.
The crash and vehicle fire were reported at the intersection of Rockey Branch Road and East Quintette road about 12:05 a.m. Initial reports indicated that the vehicle was being chased or closely followed by deputies from Santa County for an unknown reason prior to the wreck.
The driver of the vehicle fled the scene of the crash.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details, including information about the possible police chase, have not been released by the FHP or the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
IP Explosion: Neighborhood Cleanup Update
February 4, 2017
Here is the latest update on the International Paper explosion cleanup in Cantonment:
- Cleanup work is progressing well, with cleanup crews completing the majority of cleaning required for approximately 10 homes per day.
- The Unified Command has directed that soil samples be taken at each residence at the conclusion of cleanup operations.
- Unified Command representatives are collecting daily air, water and soil samples from various locations in the impacted area and presenting the data to the environmental unit, which is comprised of the Florida Department long-term environmental monitoring plan will be implemented after daily monitoring and cleanup efforts have been completed.
- Residents who believe their property may have been affected by the material released as a result of the incident and would like further information should call the Joint Information Center available 24/7 at 1-850-968-4208.t of Environmental Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Escambia County, the Florida Department of Health and International Paper.
Rollover Crash Under Investigation
February 4, 2017
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a vehicle rollover accident Friday night near Cedar Tree Lane and North Highway 29. The driver of the vehicle had apparently fled the scene prior to the arrival of authorities. Further details have not been released. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Gulf Power’s Bentina Terry Headed To Georgia
February 4, 2017
Bentina Terry, Gulf Power’s Customer Service and Sales vice president, has been selected as senior vice president of the Metro Atlanta Region for Georgia Power. In this role, she will be responsible for the company’s operations, sales, customer service, economic and community development, and external affairs activities across metro Atlanta, which includes 1.2 million customers.
“My time in Pensacola has been an incredible part of my life. I’ve met and become close with so many special people who will continue to have a big impact on who I am,” said Terry.
Terry expressed how grateful she is to those who have supported her as well as her hopes and dreams for this community.
“Most importantly, I want to thank our customers. I’ve learned and grown so much through serving them and plan to take those lessons with me in my new role serving customers in Atlanta,” she said.
Terry began her career with Southern Company in 2001 at Georgia Power and progressed through leadership roles in compliance, ethics, power delivery, customer service and external affairs.
She came to Gulf Power in 2007 as the External Affairs and Corporate Services vice president where she was responsible for the company’s external efforts including regulatory affairs, governmental relations, environmental affairs, community and economic development, corporate communications and corporate services.
In 2014 Terry moved into her current position as the energy provider’s Customer Service & Sales vice president. In this role, she has been responsible for the company’s marketing, customer service, community and economic development, and community relations organizations.
“Since coming here in 2007, Bentina’s vision has helped our team position Gulf Power as more than your local energy provider,” said Stan Connally, Gulf Power’s chairman, president and CEO. “Over the last nine years, her dedication and passion for our customers and our community has made us better.”
In 2013 Terry received the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce’s Community Leader of the Year award. And, in 2016 she was named No. 1 on the InWeekly Power List of the top 100 most powerful and influential people in greater Pensacola.
Her active participation across the state of Florida was recognized in 2015 when she was named one of Influence Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Florida Politics. She also served our region and our state as chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation from 2012-14 and as chair of Leadership Florida from 2014-15.
“These accomplishments and many others will have a lasting and positive impact on our customers, our community and our company. We are so grateful for her service and wish her well in Atlanta. She will be missed,” added Connally.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Now Everybody’s Talking
February 4, 2017
Like any capital city, Tallahassee is often dominated by talk — from rumors about running for office, to discussion of policy proposals, to analysis of how the latter might influence the former. The size of Tallahassee just amplifies the chatter.
“This town’s so small a whisper can be heard a mile away. And people here will gossip when there’s nothing else to say,” Reba McEntire sang in “Rumor Has It,” and it’s as fitting a description of Florida’s political players as of a troubled relationship.
This week, in particular, talk drove the news around the capital. One of the state’s more prolific talkers, trial attorney John Morgan, continued to test-drive a message in case he runs for governor in 2018, while one state senator floated his name for governor and another plunged into a Cabinet race.
The Associated Press’ annual legislative planning event put Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders before reporters and editors who quizzed the officials on their intentions for the session that starts March 7. The upshot was another escalation in the war of words between Scott and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a Land O’ Lakes Republican who poured lighter fluid on the yearly guessing game about whether the Legislature might fail to get a budget done by the end of the regular session.
As usual, all of that brand of talk could come to nothing more than pre-session speculation. But as Reba sang, “Talk is cheap but the price is high when it’s true.”
NETFLIX FOR NOTEBOOKS
The AP’s annual planning session is akin to binge-watching press conferences. This year, Scott, Republican and Democratic leaders of both legislative chambers and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam were on the docket, each speaking for a half an hour (give or take). And among the babble, some news emerged.
Scott followed recent tradition and used his presentation to the group to unveil his proposed budget for the year that begins July 1. Some of the biggest-ticket items — $618 million in tax cuts, an expansion of the Bright Futures scholarship program and tens of millions of dollars for business incentives and tourism marketing — had already been released. But details matter in budgets, and reporters were finally able to dig beneath some of Scott’s numbers.
What they found in the $83.5 billion plan was some of the same kind of creative calculus that other governors have employed: far-fetched projections of cuts in parts of the budget that Scott doesn’t like and at least one non-starter with the House of Representatives.
In perhaps the most sizable new detail in the proposal, Scott would once again boost per-student funding for public education, to $7,420.99, an increase of 3 percent. But that would rely heavily on an infusion of $557.9 million in additional local property taxes resulting from an increase in property values.
Meanwhile, his recommendations cut deeply into payments for hospitals. The state would reduce payments to public hospitals by $298 million. It would also save $581 million by allowing the managed-care plans that handle Medicaid patients to tweak how they reimburse hospitals. Another $50 million in funding for inflation and automatic Medicaid increases would be eliminated.
All of which technically could be done by the Legislature, but leaders weren’t eager to jump on board. And Corcoran flatly ruled out using the proceeds of increased property values, saying it constituted a tax hike.
“I’ve said it a thousand times: The House will not raise taxes,” Corcoran said Tuesday, drawing out the last six words for emphasis.
The speaker also suggested he was willing to push the legislative session into overtime because of the disagreement.
“We will not raise taxes,” Corcoran said. “And if that means a lengthy year, we’re prepared for that. But we will not raise property taxes — not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”
The comments seemed to echo Corcoran’s vow not to “dance” with the Senate on an alternative to Medicaid expansion in 2015, when Corcoran was House budget chairman — and the Legislature had to return for a special session to finish its work on the spending plan.
BUSINESS BATTLE
The budget proposal also contributed to a long-running skirmish between Corcoran and Scott over the governor’s plan to spend $85 million on business incentives and another $76 million to market the state’s tourism industry. Scott didn’t mention Corcoran by name when he threw a few elbows in his budget speech, but he left no doubt about the target of his remarks.
“I believe that those who oppose investing in growing businesses simply don’t understand how business works,” Scott said. “We need to compete for jobs here in Florida so we can diversify our economy for generations to come.”
Corcoran gave as good as he got, implying that the governor and other incentive supporters were uneducated on the issue.
“They haven’t read enough,” Corcoran said, if they support “the concept that those who create jobs will all believe that picking winners and losers and having government engage in free market is a good thing.”
Scott kept up the pressure on Thursday, urging members of Enterprise Florida — which oversees the state’s business recruitment efforts — to lobby lawmakers to move ahead with the funding.
“Let House members in your area, and your senators, know,” Scott said during a meeting of the public-private Enterprise Florida at the Caribe Royale in Orlando.
Meanwhile, the House Careers & Competition Subcommittee was planning a hearing next week on a 172-page bill that would make wide-ranging changes in economic development, including abolishing tourism marketer Visit Florida, repealing laws that established and govern Enterprise Florida and transferring funds related to Enterprise Florida programs to the state Department of Economic Opportunity.
Scott also held a two-day “jobs summit” where he, business leaders and others raised concerns about what would happen if incentives went away. Kelly Smallridge, president of Palm Beach County’s Business Development Board, said the state is already experiencing the impact of the House leaders’ stance.
“I can already see a slowdown in the prospect pipeline, which is pretty scary,” Smallridge said.
On the final day of the summit, Scott suggested he wasn’t too concerned about the House’s move toward demolishing Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida.
“I’m very comfortable that there is no way a bill like that is going to go through the Legislature,” Scott told reporters.
THE PERMANENT CAMPAIGN
There was only one elected Floridian who officially plunged into a statewide campaign this week: Sen. Denise Grimsley, a Sebring Republican who said she will run for agriculture commissioner in 2018.
A hospital administrator and registered nurse, Grimsley said in a campaign announcement that she is a fifth-generation Floridian who has long been involved in the citrus and ranching industries.
“We will continue to fight for a smart statewide water policy, we will protect our environment and blessed Florida resources, and we will pursue expansion of the over 2 million jobs Florida agriculture provides our state,” Grimsley said in the announcement. “I offer my broad life experience and an optimistic vision to achieve so much for our state.”
Putnam, who is barred by term limits from running for re-election, is rumored to be angling for Scott’s job, which also will open up because of the state’s two-terms rule. But both Putnam and Scott, who’s expected to run against U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., stayed away from too much overtly political discussion this week
.
“We’ve got a lot to do and there will be plenty of time to focus on ‘18 after the session,” Putnam said Tuesday.
As one might expect given his brash personality, Morgan was more willing to talk about his possible plans — though the ever-present television pitchman and Democratic mega-donor suggested he won’t make a decision on whether to run for governor until next year.
No term limits would be needed to pry Morgan out of office, he said during a visit to Tallahassee’s Capital Tiger Bay Club, part of a “talking tour” that the attorney is undertaking to gauge his potential support.
“Why do we need two terms of governors? Isn’t one term enough of these guys?” Morgan said at one point. “If I ran, I’d only give you one term, I’m sorry to say. Then I’d go back to St. Bart’s. Up in Virginia, it’s a one-term deal, and it works just fine. If you can’t get it done in one year, you damn sure don’t need eight.”
Morgan suggested he would make a push to increase the minimum wage a central issue of his campaign, after he waged a successful fight to broadly legalize medical marijuana through a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2016.
Morgan would join a Democratic primary that could also be shaped by the decision of former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, the daughter of former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham. The younger Graham is also considering a bid.
In addition to Putnam and possibly Corcoran, the GOP also got another potential candidate for governor this week: powerful Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.
“I’ve been involved in Florida government and politics for a long time. I think I understand it as well or better than anybody else who’s been interested in becoming a candidate,” said Latvala, a political veteran considered by many in the legislative process as one of the state’s savviest tacticians.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his complete $83.5 billion budget proposal on Tuesday, opening up confrontations over local education property taxes and business incentives.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We kind of went downstairs in the kitchen at about 3 in the morning and we turned on the lights. And I don’t mean this in a disparaging way to anybody, but there’s cockroaches everywhere and I think you’re seeing that. You turn on the lights, and there’s Enterprise Florida and you say, let’s take a closer look to it.”—House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, on House efforts to examine agencies such as Enterprise Florida.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Toddler Airlifted To Hospital After Dog Bite In Century
February 4, 2017
A toddler was airlifted to a Pensacola hospital after being bitten by a dog in Century.
The two-year old girl was reportedly bitten in the abdomen by a Labrador mix about 3:40 p.m. Monday. The bite occurred on in the 4600 block of Highway 4A, just north off North Century Boulevard.
The child was transported by Santa Rosa Lifeguard EMS to the McDavid Fire Station and then flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Pensacola. An update on the child’s condition was not available.
The circumstances around the incident were not immediately known. Escambia County Sherrif’s deputies were on the scene looking for the dog, and Escambia County Animal Control was called.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
IP Explosion: Town Hall Addresses Health, Claims Concerns
February 3, 2017
Health issues and property claims were the hot topics at community town hall meeting Thursday night to discuss the January 22 explosion at the International Paper mill in Cantonment.
Many residents expressed concerns over personal health problems — ranging from skin irritation to difficulty breathing. Again and again, officials referred the individuals to seek care from their personal physician for any concerning issues.
Officials acknowledged that it was not known exactly what chemicals were in the air immediately after the explosion. Dr. Paul Nony, senior toxicologist. from the Center For Toxicology and Environmental Health, said it was known what should have been in the air from material safety data sheets on black liquor, which was spewed on over 100 homes and businesses around the plant. But the EPA did not arrive and begin monitoring activities until Monday.
Dr. John Lanza (pictured left), director of the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County, said the chemicals should only cause “short term” problems, defining short term as lasting just days to weeks.
“Each one of your need to come live in our houses for a week so you can understand where we are coming from,” resident Patricia Osbahr (pictured below left) told the panel. After Lanza admitted that he has not actually visited the Woodbury neighborhood that took the brunt of the black liquor and other fallout, she blasted him.
“You work for us, you are an employee for us and you need to come see what we are talking about,” Osbahr said. Lanza made note of her address and vowed to visit her home Friday afternoon.
Resident Richard Johnson was among those that expressed concerns about lower property values and the need for IP to provide written certification that a property was remediated for any future potential buyer.
Multiple residents complained during the meeting at Tate High School about the lack of communications between residents and the paper mill, between the mill and their claims representatives and between the parties involved in the cleanup efforts.
Residents were repeatedly given the local contact phone number — (850) 968-4208 — to ask individual questions or speak to claims adjusters, and local personnel took down their names and numbers during the meeting for followup.
One man told the panel that he had agreed with claims adjusters on a dollar amount he should received, but when the check arrived it was for half, which he said they explained was due to depreciation.
“We are committed to closing those gaps and make sure that everybody’s issues are heard,” Mill Manager Brett DeJong said as he encouraged residents to continue to work with International Paper. “We are not going anywhere. We are going to be here…we are going to get this taken care of,” he said. “We are making good progress. Just stick with us a little bit longer.”
Thursday night’s meeting was held by the Unified Command, which is comprised of International Paper, Escambia County EMA/Public Safety, Florida Department of Health, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Pictured top: International Paper Mill Manager Brett Dejong addresses about 150 people at a post mill explosion town hall meeting at Tate High School Thursday night. Pictured below: Woodbury Drive resident Patricia Osbar provides her address to Dr. John Lanza, health department director, after he said he had not set foot in the impacted Woodbury neighborhood. Pictured below: Additional scenes from Thursday night’s meeting. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Walnut Hill Woman Arrested On Animal Cruelty Charges
February 3, 2017
A Walnut Hill woman has been arrested on animal cruelty charges in case that spans back nearly two years, according to court records.
Heather Michelle Shanks, 33, was arrested this week on four counts of unlawful confinement or abandonment of an animal with bond set at $20,000. She was also booked into the Escambia County Jail on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in a misdemeanor case. If released on bond, a judge has ordered that Shanks not possess any animals.
In January 2015, Escambia County Animal Control Officers visited Shanks’ property on Lambert Bridge Road in Walnut Hill where they reported finding two thin horses, a fence down in several places and no grass or hay available. A notice of violation was left. In late February, Animal Control officers rechecked and found horses that were “very thin” and fencing still not repaired. No contact was made with Shanks.
In May 2015, Animal Control made contact with Shanks about two horses on the property, one of which was emaciated, and about downed fencing. They explained to Shanks how to correct the issues, according to court records.
Shanks was issued another violation notice in June 2015 due to her horses roaming, public nuisance, non-potable water and fencing. Animal control seized horses in late July 2015 due to them being in direct summer sunlight with no shelter or water. There was no running water on the property, and the horses were listed as being thin and dehydrated.
Animal control officers picked up additional horses and continued to receive complaints that they were roaming around the Lambert Bridge Road area during 2016.
The warrant for Shanks’ arrested was issued in early September 2016.
Jim Allen Elementary School Names Students Of The Month
February 3, 2017
Jim Allen Elementary School has named Students of the Month for January. They are Dawson Miller (left) and Shelby Coleman. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.