2016 In Photos: October
January 5, 2017
Today, we continue our look back at the year 2016 in photos with a look at October.
A Century stabbing suspect was on the run in late October.
A missing 83-year old woman was found on a North Escambia dirt road several days after she was last seen in Pensacola.
Century Town Council member Annie Carter Savage passed away at age 75.
Tate High School students learned about the dangers of smartphone distracted driving as part of the AT&T It Can Wait campaign.
Several hundred people attended attended a Halloween program at the Molino Branch Library.
The Tate Aggies defeated the Pine Forest Eagles 28-23 to give the Aggies a second place finish in District 1-6A.
The Baker Gators beat the Northview Chiefs 38-0 in Baker. With the win, the Baker Gators claimed the 1-1A title, dropping the Chiefs into the runner-up spot.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Beulah Middle School on West Nine Mile Road, setting into motion a much larger plan that will see major changes for West Florida High, Ransom Middle and Woodham Middle schools.
Football star Trent Richardson was in Walnut Hill, enjoying girls softball action at Northwest Escambia’s Bradberry Park as the Diamond Divas hosted Perdido Key. Richardson was there cheering on his daughter who is playing her first year of softball for Perdido Key.
The population of Flomaton roughly doubled for the town’s Harvest Festival and Trick-or-Treat Around the Block.
Two suspects were arrested after a North Escambia woman came home to find a burglar inside her residence.
A K-9 prepares to search for a suspect.
Over 100 people took part in the recent Aggies Support the Fight: A Walk to Help End Breast Cancer at Tate High School, hosted by Tate High School’s Community Caregivers and National Honor Society.
Bishop Martin Holley, a graduate of Tate High School, was appointed by Pope Francis and installed as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Memphis.
Hundreds attended the annual Williams Station Day in Atmore.
The Allen Memorial United Methodist Church Men’s Pumpkin Patch was open once again this year at the corner of Highway 29 and Neal Road in Cantonment. Pumpkins of all shapes and sizes are available, with some priced as low as $1.
Molino Park Elementary School celebrated the 50th day of the school year with a 50’s Day.
The Century Area Chamber of Commerce held a Fall & Craft Festival & Car Show at Showalter Park
Morgan Myrick was crowned Homecoming Queen at Northview High School.
The Northview Chiefs came out on top against the winless Jay Royals to clinch a playoff berth.
The Northview Homecoming Parade rolled through Bratt.
Ernest Ward Middle School wrapped up their football season with a 28-26 win over Escambia County Middle School of Atmore.
Northview, Flomaton, W.S. Neal and Escambia County High (Atmore) high schools held a Dig Pink volleyball tournament at Northview.
The Northview High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) sponsored a student led worship event “Fields of Faith” in the Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium.
The Tate High School Cheerleaders recently held a Lil’ Aggies Cheer Champ. The participants were able to cheer during Tate’s game against Pace.
A fire that destroyed the Wesley Chapel Church on Jefferson Avenue is under investigation as a possible case of arson.
Escambia Community Clinics opened their new ECC Century Pediatric Dental Clinic at 501 Church Street, in the former Health and Hope Clinic location.
The Blue Angels over Pensacola Beach on an October afternoon.
Cheering for the Tate Aggies.
International Paper in Cantonment celebrated 75 years.
Tate High School senior Markus Baxley, who suffers from cerebral palsy, scored a pre-game touchdown for the Tate Aggies.
A Pensacola man was arrested at gunpoint outside Brewton, AL, following a two state chase that reached speeds of 130 mph in Alabama and led to the lockdown of multiple schools in Florida.
Community helpers day was held at Molino Park Elementary.
Thousand attended the annual Jay Peanut Festival.
The Tate Aggies defeated Washington for their first district win of the season.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
January 5, 2017
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending December 29 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Multiple agencies responded to a call regarding a man who fell into the Escambia River and was missing. Officers searched the area by land, water and air. Shortly after arriving, FWC Pilot Tolbert and Lieutenant Golloher located the victim by air within a mile from where he fell in (pictured top). Uniformed officers recovered the body by vessel.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson received information about a subject who shot an antlerless deer out of season with a modern firearm. After an initial investigation, he learned that the individual was a convicted felon and could not legally possess a firearm. Officers Hutchinson and Clark arrived at the individual’s property in the early morning hours and made contact with his brother-in-law who also lives on the property. The officers discovered the antlerless deer carcass inside a barrel that was hanging from a skinning rack. They also discovered an ice chest with the meat from the antlerless deer. After questioning the individual, he agreed to take the officers to where the suspect was living on the property. They drove through the property to a wooded area that had a two‑story shooting house in the bushes. The brother-in-law informed the officers that the suspect lived in the shooting house. The officers made contact with the suspect who admitted to using a modern firearm to shoot the antlerless deer out of season. The officers discovered that the suspect did not have a valid Florida hunting license and that he trespassed onto a nearby hunting club to harvest the deer. The suspect turned over the firearm used to harvest the deer. The officers seized the firearm and the deer meat. The suspect was issued a notice to appear for taking an antlerless deer out of season. Additional charges are pending.
Officer Jones was patrolling the Eglin WMA when he encountered a hunter driving a vehicle on an Eglin Range road well before legal time to enter Eglin property. The officer issued a notice to appear citation for early entry.
Officers Hoomes and Long were patrolling the Roberts Pond in the Eglin WMA when they located footprints leading into a closed area. The officers located a freshly killed antlerless deer approximately 50 yards from where an individual entered the closed area. The officers also located a receipt from a local retail vendor which appeared to have been left as a marker to locate where the illegal deer was killed. The officers located the individual by using information from the receipt and interviewed him about the deer. The suspect admitted to shooting the deer and leaving it in the woods because some hunters in the area saw him attempting to retrieve it. The subject also admitted to dropping the receipt on the edge of the road as a marker when he returned to retrieve the deer. The subject was issued citations for taking an antlerless deer during closed season and for hunting in a closed area in Eglin WMA. He was issued a warning for the willful and wanton waste of wildlife.
Officers Roberson, Hoomes and Long responded to a complaint of individuals hunting with dogs in the Yellow River WMA. The officers located the individuals who were hunting rabbits with dogs. The area is closed to this activity and they were issued citations for the violations.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
Pesticide DDT Found In Escambia River, Adjacent Wetlands
January 4, 2017
The pesticide DDT has been found in sediment samples from the Escambia River and its adjacent wetlands, a post-doctoral research associate at the University of West Florida has discovered.
Dr. Geoffrey Marchal, who was hired in April to begin the research, is now testing those sediment samples to see how readily available the pollutant is to the many diverse species that inhabit the bay.
“That’s the big concern,” Marchal said. “If the DDT in the sediment is bioavailable and can go through the food chain, then we have an issue.”
Since DDT and other pollutants can be held very tightly by the sediments, the optimal finding would be that the pollutant is stable in the sediment and out of the reach of wildlife, said Dr. Johan Liebens, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
“That’s not good, but it’s the best we can hope for in the current situation,” Liebens said of the possibility of that finding.
Marchal’s research is a follow-up to a study performed in 2009 by Liebens and Dr. Carl Mohrherr, who is now a retired professor from UWF. That study showed elevated levels of DDT in the sediments of the Escambia River wetlands that exceeded a Florida government guideline known as the probable effects level.
“We got the results back and they were really very high, at least in the wetlands, in the north end of the bay, not in the bay itself,” Liebens said. “In the bay itself, there was no DDT.”
However, some details of that initial study were difficult to explain, Liebens said
DDT that has been present for a long time typically breaks down into its metabolites – DDD and DDE. But none of those breakdown products were present, Liebens said.
“It’s very, very unusual,” he said. “But one potential explanation was that the DDT was so recent, it didn’t have time to break down.”
And if the DDT has been used recently, it would be illegal. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency banned DDT in 1972 based on its potential hazardous environmental effects, including to wildlife as well as risks to humans.
The sediment samples from the study done by Liebens and Mohrherr, which was funded by the EPA, were taken to a private lab. Another possibility for the 2009 findings was that the lab was not able to detect the DDD and DDE breakdown products in the samples, Liebens said.
“Because it was very hard to explain the numbers that we got back from the lab, we wanted to go back and check and do the analysis in house,” Liebens said.
Marchal’s latest research, which was funded by a Scholarly and Creative Activities Committee grant from the UWF Office of Undergraduate Research, found that fewer sites contained DDT and the levels are lower than originally found in the 2009 study.
“The most important point is we found less sites with DDT,” Marchal said. “Originally, nearly all the wetlands were contaminated.”
Marchal is still testing samples in the wetlands research laboratory at UWF. Liebens said he hopes that the findings of the study will be published in a scientific journal, possibly as soon as April.
Whether the researchers make any recommendations to government agencies depends on the results of Marchal’s testing, Liebens said.
“It depends on what we find with the bioavailability,” Liebens said. “If we would find really high levels of bioavailability then we could advise government agencies and draw their attention to what we have found.”
Pictured top: Post doctoral research associate Geoffrey Marchal performs a soxhlet extraction in the lab. Courtesy photo. Pictured inset: The Escambia River at Molino. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
League of Women Voters Allowed Into Gulf Power Rate Case
January 4, 2017
The League of Women Voters of Florida will be able to take part in a regulatory case in which Gulf Power is seeking to raise base electric rates by $106.8 million.
Florida Public Service Commission member Jimmy Patronis, who is handling pre-hearing matters in the case, issued an order Friday allowing the League of Women Voters to intervene. The organization is represented by attorneys from the environmental law firm Earthjustice.
In its petition to intervene, the League of Women Voters pointed to concerns about issues such as energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Patronis wrote that the organization met a legal test for being able to take part in the case but also said all issues such be “germane” to the rate case.
“LWVF (the League of Women Voters) may offer testimony and provide evidence as to whether the rates, rate-structure, and charges proposed by Gulf are fair, just and reasonable,” the order said. “Notwithstanding the granting of intervention, however, I remind the parties that issues shall be limited to those appropriate to the scope of an electric rate case proceeding.”
The Public Service Commission is scheduled to start holding a multi-day hearing on the rate proposal March 20 in Tallahassee. The Pensacola-based Gulf provides electricity to customers in large parts of Northwest Florida.
by The News Service of Florida
Molino Road Set To Close Today For Bridge Replacement
January 4, 2017
Molino Road is scheduled to be closed today to start work to replace the bridge over Penasula Creek, just east of Sunshine Hill Road.
The project scope includes replacing the bridge, completing drainage improvements and signing and marking. A detour will be in place while the new bridge is built. The detour will consist of Highway 29 to Crabtree Church Road to Sunshine Hill Road to Molino Road, or Molino Road to Sunshine Hill Road to Crabtree Church Road to Highway 29.
The project is expected to be completed in approximately 265 calendar days.
The bridge has reached a level of deterioration to warrant replacement and is next on the list of the FDOT’s Five-Year Work Plan. The project will be funded and the construction work will be performed under contract for the Florida Department of Transportation. After completion of the structure, Escambia County will be responsible for the maintenance of the bridge.
The wood piling supported Molino Road Bridge over Penasula Creek was constructed in 1958.
ictured top: The Molino Road bridge over Penasula Creek. Pictured below: The deteriorating wood pilings that support the bridge. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Semi Trailer Fire Destroys Household Belongings
January 4, 2017
Someone lost a semi trailer full of household belongings Tuesday evening at the Florida Welcome Center on I-10.
Firefighters from Florida and Alabama battled the fire in a Bekins Van Lines trailer. The truck driver was able to pull his semi away from the trailer. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and there were no injuries.
The Beulah and Bellview stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Rosinton Volunteer Fire Department from Baldwin County were among the responding units.
NorthEscambia.com reader submitted and Kristi Barbour photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Sheriff Morgan Sworn In For Third Term
January 4, 2017
Sheriff David Morgan was sworn in for his third term in office this morning by the Honorable Judge Kerra A. Smith. Also pictured is Morgan’s wife, Susan, hold the Bible for the ceremony. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Keep The Wreath Green: Campaign Ends With 12 Residential Structure Fires
January 4, 2017
The annual “Keep the Wreath Green” fire safety campaign ended December 31 with 12 red bulbs, each representing a residential structure fire with damage.
During the month-long campaign, five-foot wreaths were on display at 18 county fire stations and five city fire stations, with wreaths also placed outside Escambia County’s Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building downtown, the Escambia County Public Safety Building, Pensacola City Hall and Cordova Mall near the food court entrance. Each time firefighters respond to a residential fire with damage, a green light bulb was replaced with a red one to remind citizens of the dangers posed by fires in residential home.
Five of the dozen fires were in the North Escambia area area; scroll down the page for photographs and details on each.
On December 26, fire destroyed a wood frame home on West Pond Street in Century. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Five people — three adults and two children. were displaced by a fire December 22 on Rawlings Drive at Greenbriar Boulvard. A clothes dryer in the laundry room was confirmed as the source of the fire, with flames spreading to the kitchen and smoke damage throughout the home. Damage was estimated at $50,000.
A fire on Luth Road in Molino on December 29 displaced a family. Crews arrived on scene to find an active fire in the attic, with light smoke showing from the 2 ½ story residential structure. Preliminary reports indicated the fire started from a fireplace chimney in the 5,500 square foot structure.
Fire destroyed a two story home in the 1200 block of West 9 ½ Mile Road on December 30. The fire was reported about 5:30 am. with heavy flames through the roof when firefighters arrived. Initial reports indicated the fire may have originated in the garage of the home. Two adults and two teenagers were displaced from the home.
A December 11 fire in the 8900 block of Mobile Highway in Beulah left four people without a home. One firefighter was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in stable condition for fatigue. The Florida State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
NorthEscambia.com photos.
Lunsford Sworn In As Escambia County’s New Tax Collector
January 4, 2017
New Escambia County Tax Collector Scott Lunsford was sworn into office Tuesday by Judge Amy Brodersen.
“I am very honored and humbled to serve the citizens of Escambia County as their tax collector,” Lunsford said. “My commitment is to serve the public with integrity, innovation, fiscal responsibility, and respect.”
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
County Road 97A Boggy Creek Bridge Replacement Project To Begin
January 4, 2017
Construction activities are set to begin this week on County Road 97A over Boggy Creek near Enon. The existing bridge will be replaced with a new, modern structure with 12-foot travel lanes, eight foot shoulders and a solid concrete barrier railing. The bridge approaches will also be replaced.
Crews will begin clearing trees and shrubs to build a temporary detour bridge. Once completed, traffic will be shifted to the temporary bridge as crews construct the new structure. Work is anticipated to be complete in eight months, weather permitting, on the $3,041,965 project.
Drivers are reminded to slow down to the posted speed limit of 30 mph use caution and be aware of the ‘S’ shaped curve when approaching the temporary bridge. There will be weight restriction on the temporary detour bridge. Vehicles weighing over 88,000 ponds and cranes will be prohibited.
The bridge to be replaced was constructed in 1969.
