Ernest Ward Beats Escambia County Atmore (With Gallery)
September 30, 2016
Ernest Ward Middle School defeated Escambia County Middle School 46-26 Thursday in Atmore.
Next Thursday, Ernest Ward will host T.R. Miller in Walnut Hill.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Farm Bureau Distinguished Service Award Presented To County Administrator Brown
September 30, 2016
Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown was presented the Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service to rural Escambia County by the Escambia County Farm Bureau during their annual meeting Thursday night in Molino. Photo Pictured with Jack Brown (middle) are Farm Bureau leaders Jimmy Cunningham (left) and Brett Ward. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Kena Spivey, 2, Loses Battle With Cancer
September 30, 2016
Kena Spivey, age 2, lost her battle to cancer Thursday morning. We introduced your to Kena and her unlikely friend, Bryant Cooper, in previous stories here on NorthEscambia.com.
In late October of 2014, Bryant was a happy, focused young man with a love for football. And John Deere…that love was strong enough that he had even landed a dream job of sorts with a local John Deere dealership. But pain in his back — he thought just a pulled muscle or maybe kidney stones — sent him to the emergency room. The preliminary diagnosis was not good…suspicious spots on his liver. More tests for a final diagnosis that Bryant and his mother, Janet Little Cooper, never expected on November 4, 2014.
Cancer. Not just cancer, but a Stage 4 rare neuroendocrine cancer, and it had spread with a vengeance to other parts of this body.
Kena was diagnosed with a Stage 3 tumor on her cervix and uterus on July 7, 2014.
Kena was in Sacred Heart Hospital for a chemo treatment, and Bryant was in for his first ever treatment when the two met on November 17. Her parents, Charles and Dawn Spivey, were walking her down the hallway trying to calm her when they met Janet.
Kena’s tears stopped when she saw Bryant lying in his hospital bed. The friendship continued to grow up until her passing.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
On average, 43 teens are diagnosed with cancer each day. And before the day ends, a childhood cancer will claim seven lives, Janet Cooper said. “There are billions and billions of dollars spent on cancer research every year in this country. But only four percent is spent on find a cure for childhood cancers.”
JV Football: Baker Over Northview
September 30, 2016
In junior varsity football, Baker defeated Northview 44-20 Thursday night in Bratt.
The JV Chief s will travel to West Florida at 6 p.m. on October 13, and the will host West Florida on October.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Jay Sweeps Northview
September 30, 2016
The Jay Royals defeated the Northview Chiefs in volleyball action Thursday in Jay.
JV 18-25, 18-25 Jay wins
Varsity 13-25, 12-25, 16-25 Jay wins
Northview travels next to Baker on Tuesday before a Senior Night game at home against Escambia High School on Thursday.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Photos by Kayleen Amerson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
ECUA Encourages Proper Recycling Participation
September 29, 2016
ECUA’s Interim Materials Recycling Facility, or IMRF, is up and running at the Perdido Landfill. ECUA is encouraging customers enrolled in the recycling program to resume the separation of their recyclables .
The collaborative effort between ECUA and Escambia County is a state-of-the-art facility that will have the capacity to recycle up to 40,000 tons of materials per year.
The $10.6 million project was initiated to offer a long-term, regional recycling solution for this community, while at the same time, to assist Escambia County in reaching its state-mandated 75 percent recycling goal. On February 12, ECUA broke ground for the IMRF, which encompasses a 53,460 square-foot fabric building and recycling equipment that is expected to process up to 165 tons of materials per day.
The following items can be recycled:
- Glass; any color
- Newspaper & Inserts
- Magazines & Catalogs
- Junk Mail & Envelopes
- Cardboard
- Phone Books
- Office and School Papers (colored paper)
- Brown Paper Bags (grocery)
- Boxboard (cereal, cake & cracker boxes, etc.)
- Pizza Boxes
- Plastic Produce Clamshells
- Plastics No. 1 through 7
- Plastic Milk Jugs; 2-Liters; bottles and containers
- Aluminum Cans & Lids
- Pet Food Cans and Dry Pet Food Bags
- Aluminum Foil Baking Pans
- Balls of Tin Foil; Foil Pie Tins
- Tin and Steel Cans & Lids
- Metal Pots, Pans & Cookie Sheets
- Egg Cartons, cardboard only at this time
The following items cannot be recycled:
- No Plastic Bags
- No Ice Cream Cartons
- No Waxy/Paper Milk Cartons
- No Aerosol Cans
- No Juice Boxes / Bags
- No Garbage or Yard Waste
- No Garden Hoses
- No Window Blinds
- No Tarps
- No Bedding or linens
- No Carpeting or Rugs
- No Construction Materials
For more information, visit www.ecua.fl.gov.
Pictured: A small portion of the machinery at the IMRF. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Two Injured In Nine Mile, I-10 Crash
September 29, 2016
Two people were injured in a two vehicle crash Wednesday night on Nine Mile Road at I-10.
The two injured persons were transported to area hospital by Escambia County EMS following the crash about 8:40 p.m.
One driver was observed being taken into custody by the Florida Highway Patrol. It was not know what, if any charges, were filed against the individual.
Further detail have not yet been released by the FHP.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
September 29, 2016
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending September 22 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers Cushing, Manning and Trueblood were patrolling the waters of the Gulf of Mexico aboard the FINCAT with assistance from Officer Tolbert and his Aviation Unit. One of the vessels that Officers Manning and Trueblood inspected in federal waters was in possession of 16 red snapper. Red snapper is currently closed for harvest in federal waters. The operator of the vessel stated that he thought state waters were closed and federal waters were open. Officer Trueblood issued a citation to the operator for the violation.
Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling the Perdido River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) when he observed a vehicle parked at a closed gate late at night. The area is closed at night. When he spoke to the couple in the vehicle, the woman’s suspicious actions prompted a closer look. After a glance into the woman’s purse, paraphernalia used for drug use was observed. Heroin and prescription pills were located in the purse along with a needle and crushed pills mixed with water. The woman admitted to shooting up the day before and was arrested for possession of controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
No reported submitted from Santa Rosa County.
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.
Court: Student’s Tweets About Shooting Up School Are Not A Crime
September 29, 2016
Sarasota County high-school student’s statement on Twitter that he “can’t WAIT to shoot up my school” does not constitute a criminal threat under Florida law, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned a juvenile-delinquency ruling involving “J.A.W.,” the student who sent the tweets in 2014. But in a rare step, the court also suggested that the Legislature might want to look at updating the state’s law against violent threats — originally approved in 1913 — to account for the growth of social media.
“With this popularity comes the unfortunate but inevitable problem that social media posts, like any other form of communication, can be used to make threats of violence,” Judge Nelly Khouzam wrote for the court. “But many threats made on social media will fall outside the narrow language of (the law), which was originally written with pen-and-paper letters in mind.”
The law was updated in 2010 to account for electronic communications, but because it requires the threat to be sent to the person threatened or a family member of that person, the court ruled that it doesn’t always apply to posts on social media.
J.A.W., who is not identified by name in the ruling because he was a juvenile, sent out several tweets that suggested he would open fire at his school. In one post, he wrote: “night f[***]ing sucked can’t wait to shoot up my school soon,” according to the court. He also tweeted out “it’s time,” accompanied by a picture of a gun being slipped into a backpack.
Meanwhile, there was at least one tweet that indicated he might be joking, as J.A.W. later said he was. “My mom and dad think I’m serious about shooting up my school I’m dying,” he wrote. He later apologized on Twitter “to anyone who took me seriously” and said he didn’t even own a weapon.
J.A.W. claimed the tweets were, in the court’s words, part of a joke with a “group of friends who often joked about being unfairly stereotyped as potentially violent based on their interest in video games and rock music.”
The student’s tweets were found by GeoCop, a company formed to scour social media for threats of school violence. The company notified law enforcement, which then told officials at Sarasota High School about the threat. As the school planned to let students out and officers went to the campus, J.A.W. was arrested at his home.
But the tweets don’t fall under part of the law that punishes anyone who “sends or procures the sending of” a written threat, Khouzam wrote, brushing aside the state’s argument that J.A.W. procured the actions of those who brought the threat to the school’s attention.
“There was no evidence that any of J.A.W.’s Twitter followers were students or staff at the school or members of their families,” Khouzam wrote. “By the time it was received by the school, the threat was several steps removed from its original context.”
Courts have worked for several years to adapt state law to the ever-changing world of social media. In a 2013 case, the 1st District Court of Appeal found that a threat on Facebook violated the law. But Khouzam said that case was different because one of the defendant’s Facebook friends was a mutual relative of one of the people threatened in the post.
Khouzam’s opinion, joined by Judges Darryl Casanueva and Matthew Lucas, also suggested that lawmakers consider amending the law to cover social media threats that are public and can move around the internet quickly.
“In this context, a threat of violence made publicly on social media is likely to reach its target and cause fear of bodily harm just like a traditional letter might,” she wrote. “The facts of the instant case exemplify this phenomenon.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Northview To Hold Fish Fry Benefit For Byars
September 29, 2016
Northview High School will hold a benefit Fish Fry Lunch on Monday, October 10 for Kay Byars, cancer patient and wife of Northview teacher and FFA sponsor Perry Byars.
Plates will include two fish fillets, cole slaw, baked beans hush puppies and a dessert for $7. The Northview High School cafeteria will be open from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. for pick up. Delivery is available for orders of 15 plates or more.
Orders should be placed by October 3. To order, call Vicki Godwin at (850) 327-6681, ext. 222.
Click here for more information and an order form. For additional information, contact the school at (850) 327-6681 and speak to Teresa Johnson, ext. 225, Joyce unn, ext. 229, Sheila Holland, ext. 221, Gerry Pippins, ext. 228, or Gayle Weaver, ext. 227.