Bonus Gallery: Tate Beats Washington
October 3, 2016
For a photo gallery from Friday night’s Tate defeats Washington game, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Jennifer Repine, click to enlarge.
Bonus Gallery: Northview Football
October 3, 2016
For a photo gallery from Friday night’s Northview at Maplesville, AL, game, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Gary Amerson, click to enlarge.
Vendors Needed For Century Chamber Fall Festival
October 3, 2016
The Century Area Chamber of Commerce is planning a Fall & Craft Festival & Car Show for Saturday, October 15 at Showalter Park.
The event will feature craft booths, family fun, food, a car show and entertainment featuring The Horseshoe Halo Band and Michael Peterson.
The chamber is currently seeking vendors, entertainment and sponsors for the event. For a vendor booth application, click here. For sponsorship or other information, call Kim at (850) 256-3208 or email kgodwin@centuryflorida.us.
The festival is sponsored in part by NorthEscambia.com.
Pictured: NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Thousands Attend Jay Peanut Festival (With Photo Gallery)
October 2, 2016
The 27th annual Jay Peanut Festival attracted thousands of people this past weekend.
The Jay Peanut Festival at the Gabbert Farm has been a fall tradition on the Gulf Coast, showcasing the history, agriculture, food and fun of Santa Rosa County. What started as a chance for local kids and farmers to show off their best of the season has become an annual event covering 15 acres and drawing about 70,000 people to the Gabbert farm over two days.
The event included tours of the 1930s Farm Museum, food booths, dozens of arts and crafts vendors, pony rides, games and fun. The Jay Peanut Festival was also a chance to try all varieties of peanuts – boiled, green, fried, candied and more.
The Gabbert farm is located at 3604 Pine Level Road.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Marcella Wilson, click to enlarge.
UWF Takes Down #16 Florida Tech In Inaugural Coastal Classic
October 2, 2016
The UWF football team scored 21 unanswered points and held of a late rally to upset No. 16/19 Florida Tech, 42-39, before a sold-out crowd of 6,588 at Blue Wahoos Stadium Saturday.
UWF (3-2, 1-1 Gulf South Conference) collected 458 yards of total offense and 360 through the air in claiming the inaugural Coastal Classic, which pitted the only Division II football programs in the state of Florida.
The Argonauts scored 21 points in each half against the Panthers, who entered the game ranked second in the country, yielding just 8.8 points per game. Additionally, UWF collected three red zone scores against an FIT group that had allowed just three successful efforts all season.
Kaleb Nobles was 23-of-42 with a 74-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Robinson. Nobles also ran for a score for the second-consecutive week. Grey Jackson was 1-for-4 and completed a 65-yard scoring strike to Ishmel Morrow in the second quarter that gave the Argonauts the lead for good.
Morrow finished with 129 yards on seven catches. It was his third-straight 100-plus yard game. Anas Hasic added 60 yards on three receptions.
Florida Tech (4-1, 2-1) grabbed the early 7-0 lead when Trevor Sand scored from seven yards out just over three minutes into game. The short field came about after UWF fumbled at its own 35-yard line on its first play from scrimmage.
Jemari Ford tied the game on UWF’s next possession with a 2-yard rush. The Argonauts went up 14-7 on the long Jackson-to-Morrow play, before taking a 21-7 lead into the locker room following Leroy Taylor’s 17-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Coming out of the intermission, the Panthers trimmed the margin to 21-17 with a field goal and 12-yard scoring pass. The teams traded scores before UWF made it a 2-possession game on the Nobles-to-Robinson connection.
FIT wouldn’t go away, scoring twice in a span of 1:48 before UWF held off a late push to midfield to claim its first-ever win over a ranked opponent.
UWF will hit the road next week when it faces Mississippi College on Saturday, Oct. 8 in Clinton, Miss. Kickoff at Robinson-Hale Stadium is set for 2:00 p.m.
Special Commission Meeting To Address New County Jail
October 2, 2016
A special Escambia County Board of County Commissioners meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 19 at 9 a.m. to discuss the new county correctional facility. The meeting will be held in the Board Chambers, Room 100, in the Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place in Pensacola.
DLR Group Inc., was selected by the board of county commissioners to be their design criteria professional for the new correctional facility. DLR Group’s scope of services is to prepare the design criteria package for a design-build entity, to design and construct the new facility and to serve as the owner’s representative during the construction and transition into this new facility. County staff and the DLR Group will be giving a presentation to the board addressing the status of the property acquisition, discussions of the design-build process, the design criteria professional’s phases and scope of services, the current project status and steps moving forward. Additional topics may be discussed at the board’s discretion.
This meeting can be viewed live on MyEscambia.com/ectv, channel 98 for Bright House, Cox Cable and Mediacom (Pensacola Beach) subscribers and channel 99 for AT&T U-verse subscribers and will be available on ECTV On Demand.
Pro-Pot Group Gets $1 Million Boost In Legalized Marijuana Fight
October 2, 2016
Proponents of a constitutional amendment that would broadly legalize medical marijuana in Florida received a $1 million boost this week from a political committee focused on similar initiatives in other states.
The committee, New Approach, is tied to the family of the late philanthropist Peter Lewis, the former head of Progressive Insurance who died in 2013 and who bankrolled medical-marijuana proposals in Washington and Massachusetts. New Approach also was a major contributor to an Oregon initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in 2014.
It’s the largest single contribution received by supporters of Amendment 2 and comes as the battle over the constitutional question heats up in advance of the Nov. 8 election. As another sign of the growing battle, a powerful state senator and a former Florida Supreme Court justice appeared at a news conference Friday to oppose the ballot initiative.
“We are obviously very pleased to receive such a generous donation (from New Approach). It’s going to be put to good use very quickly, making sure that our message is on television across the state and that Floridians understand this is about putting medical decisions back in the hands of doctors and patients and out of the hands of politicians,” said Ben Pollara, campaign manager of People United for Medical Marijuana, also known as United for Care.
Pollara is hoping to parlay the contribution from New Approach into more financial support.
“It’s going to be a big acknowledgment to our existing donor base of 8,000 people that we’re almost to the finish line and we’re getting substantial support. I think it will be a huge boon for our fundraising,” Pollara said Friday.
Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan and his law firm have been the major financial backers of Amendment 2, which mirrors a similar proposal that voters narrowly rejected two years ago. So far this year, Morgan and his firm have contributed more than $2.6 million to People United for Medical Marijuana, which he also chairs.
Morgan is also paying for radio ads running statewide urging voters to support the amendment. Exactly how much he has spent on the ads has not yet been reported, and Morgan said he doesn’t know what the total will be.
“I’m spending a fortune right now,” Morgan said in a telephone interview Thursday evening. “I don’t know what the number will be until the month’s over. I’ve done a dangerous thing — I’ve given a blank check to the radio stations.”
This week’s contribution from New Approach came as the Drug Free Florida Committee — which played a key role in defeating the 2014 amendment — spent more than $1.8 million during the first three weeks of September to fight the initiative, with most of the money going to advertising.
Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson contributed $1 million this month to the Drug Free Florida Committee, which also received $800,000 in July from the Carol Jenkins Barnett Family Trust. The trust, associated with the daughter of Publix Super Markets founder George Jenkins, also contributed $540,000 in 2014 to the Drug Free Florida Committee.
Tampa Bay developer Mel Sembler has also contributed $1 million this year to try to defeat the proposal. Developer Al Hoffman also contributed $25,000 to oppose the amendment.
On Friday, state Sen. Jack Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who opposes the amendment, told reporters he was underwriting a television ad in the Tampa Bay area urging his constituents to vote “no” on the ballot proposal. Latvala, the incoming Senate appropriations chairman, appeared at a news conference in Tallahassee with former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Bell.
Latvala, who estimated the cost of the ad at about $100,000, acknowledged that recent polls have showed Florida voters overwhelmingly back legalizing medical marijuana.
“My position is probably upside down at this point,” he said.
Latvala two years ago opposed a measure that legalized non-euphoric medical marijuana for people with chronic muscle spasms, epilepsy or cancer. That law, which was expanded this year to include full-strength marijuana for terminally ill patients, was aimed at helping children with severe forms of epilepsy. Parents argued the low-THC treatment can dramatically reduce or eliminate life-threatening seizures.
“I have seen the effects that marijuana has on individuals,” Latvala said. “I’m a moderate on many issues. … But not on this one.”
Five weeks before the general election, Amendment 2 has received less attention than the marijuana issue got during the 2014 election season.
One of the highest-profile opponents of the 2014 measure — the Florida Sheriffs Association — has stayed on the sidelines thus far, opting not to take a position on the revamped proposal.
Two years ago, Morgan used a bus tour to promote the marijuana initiative to college students.
In one of many appearances across the state, the Orlando lawyer was caught on tape delivering a boozy, expletive-laced monologue to what appears to be a crowd of young supporters at a bar after a rally in the Lakeland area.
“I’ve decided that less of me is more. I want the focus to be on the issue, not on me,” Morgan said of this year’s campaign.
Cantonment Woman Cited After Serious Injury Crash
October 2, 2016
A Cantonment woman was cited by the Florida Highway Patrol for causing a wreck about 8 p.m. Saturday on Blue Angel Parkway at Saltillo Street in Escambia County.
According to the FHP, 36-year old Janet Orth of Cantonment was northbound on Blue Angel Parkway in a 2011 Kia Forte when she was distracted by “an internal distraction in the vehicle” and drifted into oncoming traffic. Her vehicle collided with a 2000 Jeep Cherokee driven by 61-year old Nancy Thompson of Lillian. The Jeep overturned into the path of a 2016 Chrysler 200 driven by 26-year old Samantha Dyson of Cantonment.
Thompson and her passenger, 65-year old Richard Miller of Lillian, were trapped in the Jeep before be extricated by Escambia Fire Rescue. Thompson was transported to Baptist Hospital as a trauma alert, while Miller was transported to Baptist with minor injuries. Dyson was also transported to Baptist with minor injuries.
Orth received minor injuries but was not taken to the hospital. She was cited for failure to drive in the proper lane by the FHP.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Arrested For Making Bomb Threats
October 2, 2016
Multiple charges have been filed against an Escambia County man who made telephone bomb threats to local businesses in September.
Lamarte Bre Flynn, 21, was arrested late Friday night. He was charged with one count of threat to bomb/false report bomb explosive weapon mass destruction and three counts of threat to bomb/threaten discharge destructive device. He remained in the Escambia County Jail Sunday with bond set at $20,000.
The phone calls were made to 911 between September 3 and 26. In addition to numerous law enforcement resources used to investigate the incidents, bomb K-9 units were deployed from Pensacola International Airport and from Eglin Air Force Base.
Wiggins Graduates From Auburn
October 2, 2016
John W. Wiggins graduated Cum Laude from Auburn University on August 6th, 2016 with a bachelor of chemical engineering and a minor in business and was also a graduate of the Auburn University Cooperative Education program.
John is a member of Theta Chi and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
He currently works for BP in Chicago. John is the son of Glen and Jean Wiggins of Walnut Hill.