Gaetz, Saunders Advance in UWF Presidential Search
September 1, 2016
Former state Senate President Don Gaetz and Martha Saunders, a University of West Florida provost and vice president, were among eight candidates recommended to advance in the search for a new president for UWF.
A presidential search committee made the recommendations Wednesday, after interviewing 16 candidates at the university’s Pensacola campus over three days.
The committee is scheduled to meet again Tuesday to review the references of the eight candidates provided by a consulting firm and then recommend further on-campus interviews with at least three of the candidates.
The next round of interviews is set for Sept. 12 to Sept. 14. After those interviews, the search committee will recommend at least three candidates to be considered by the university’s Board of Trustees, which is scheduled to meet Sept. 15 to pick a president to succeed Judy Bense, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Gaetz, who lives in Niceville, has been a Republican member of the Florida Senate since 2006, serving as the chamber’s president from 2012 to 2014. Gaetz, who is term-limited this year, is also a former Okaloosa County school superintendent.
Saunders, the provost, is a former president of the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The other six presidential candidates include: James Applegate, executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education; Frank Ashley, senior vice president for The College Board; Ron Elsenbaumer, a senior adviser to the president for entrepreneurship and economic development at University of Texas at Arlington; Bahman Ghorashi, a provost and vice president for academic affairs at Tennessee Tech University; William “Mike” Sherman, vice president for innovation and economic development at The University of Akron; and Alan Utter, a professor and vice provost for research at Appalachian State University.
by The News Service of Florida
Cheerleaders Selling Smoked Boston Butts
September 1, 2016
Five Ernest Ward Middle School UCA All American cheerleaders are raising funds to cheer in this year’s Thanksgiving parade at Disney in Orlando.
They are selling smoked Boston butts for $35. They can be picked up at the Bradberry Ballpark in Walnut Hill on Saturday, September 3 from noon until 1 p.m. To order, call (850) 292-7972.
Wahoos Drop Series Finale To Jacksonville Sons
September 1, 2016
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos head into its last five games Thursday against the Birmingham Barons, chasing the Mississippi Braves for the Southern League South Division second half title.
After winning the first four games of the series against visiting Jacksonville, the Suns picked up a win in the finale, 4-1, in front of 4,277 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Pensacola reached 302,340 in attendance for the season, which is the fifth straight year it surpassed 300,000 since its inaugural year in 2012.
Pensacola, which already captured the first half winning a franchise record 41 games, is 1.5 games behind Mississippi, which defeated the Chattanooga Lookouts, 6-2. The Braves are 36-28 (70-63), while Pensacola dropped to 35-30 (76-58).
Blue Wahoos manager Pat Kelly congratulated the Blue Wahoos fans and its front office on drawing more than 300,000 fans for five consecutive seasons.
“That’s a great accomplishment,” Kelly said. “Usually, you have a honeymoon period because it’s the new thing in town. This has been great.”
The highlight for Pensacola fans besides the attendance was Pensacola second baseman Brandon Dixon hitting a bullet over the right field fence in the sixth inning for his second homer in the five-game series.
The solo shot was his 16th of the season, which is fourth in the Southern League. With five games left in the season, Dixon is one behind the franchise record of 17 homers clobbered by outfielder Juan Duran in 2014.
Kelly said Dixon, who went 3-4 and is hitting .373 in August to lift his season average to .265, liked watching the home run rocket over the right field fence. He’s also liked being able to play Dixon in all three outfield positions and second and first base.
“That’s a great sign, if he can hit a ball to right field like that,” Kelly said.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos starter Nick Travieso started the game out strong walking one to start the game and then retiring the next six batters with two strikeouts.
However, the Jacksonville Suns scored four runs on five hits and a walk, sending all nine batters to the plate. The first two runs scored when Jacksonville left fielder Austin Dean doubled into the left field corner. Suns second baseman Derek Dietrich, doing a MLB rehab, scored when center fielder Kenny Wilson grounded out to second. Jacksonville first baseman Chris Curley then singled to left field to score third baseman Brian Anderson to put the Suns up, 4-0.
Travieso developed bronchitis and has had trouble breathing. He stopped the game with two outs in the fourth inning and threw a warm up pitch for Pensacola manager Pat Kelly, pitching coach Danny Darwin and trainer Tyler Moos. He then struck out Dietrich to end the inning.
“He couldn’t catch his breath and panicked a little bit,” Kelly said. “We got him to relax. “He just had that one bad inning.”
Travieso, who struck out seven over six innings, lost the game, dropping to 4-7 with a 4.10 ERA. He last won July 8 against the Mobile BayBears when he threw a two hitter in six scoreless innings.
Kelly said he’s been resting his starters the past two weeks in preparation for the playoffs. He said he will make adjustments in the last series of the season against Birmingham to get ready.
“If we win (the division) great, if not we at least get the first two games at home,” Kelly said. “To me, this is the time to ramp up and get ready for the playoffs.”
Driver Critical After Slamming Into Gonzalez Barber Shop
August 31, 2016
One person was critically injured when they slammed their vehicle into a Gonzalez barber shop early Wednesday morning.
The driver hit Purvis’ Barber Shop on Old Chemstrand Road near the corner of Highway 29 just before 2:30 a.m. The driver was transported by Escambia County EMS to a Pensacola hospital as a “trauma alert”.
The business hopes to be open Wednesday, if possible.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details have not been released.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Broxson Beats Hill For Florida Senate
August 31, 2016
Republican state House members Doug Broxson is ready to move to the Florida Senate after a primary victory on Tuesday.
Broxson, a Republican from Gulf Breeze, topped Rep. Mike Hill of Pensacola Beach for the District 1 seat held by Greg Evers.
Broxson (pictured left) received 33,833 votes (56.57%) to Hill’s 25,970 votes.
District 5 Incumbents Barry, Walker Are Primary Winners
August 31, 2016
Distirct 5 incumbents were winners during Tuesday’s Primary Election.
Incumbent County Commissioner Steven Barry defeated challenger Danny Smillie by a two-to-one margin.
Barry received 8,437 votes (67.63%) to Smillie’s 4,038 (32.37%).
“I am thankful and humbled by the support of the residents of District 5. I recognize the degree of trust and of responsibility placed in this season of public service. A successful campaign requires dozens of friends and hundreds of hours of volunteered labor, and we are blessed to have some of the best folks of District 5 on our team. Also, I’d like to thank Danny for conducting such a spirited and positive campaign,” Barry, an interdependent certified financial planner, said.
With no challenger in November, Barry will return to office for another four years.
Republican District 5 incumbent ECUA board member Larry Walker defeated Jim Taylor. Walker received 5,577 (60.04%) votes, while Taylor had 3,712 (39.96%). Walker will face James Hunt, a no party candidate, in November.
Pictured top: Steven Barry supporters wave signs Tuesday at Pinewoods Presbyterian Church. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Local Sex Offender Gets Federal Prison On Child Porn Charges
August 31, 2016
A Chemstrand Road man was sentenced Tuesday to federal prison on child porn charges.
Daniel Leroy Ard, 33, a registered sex offender, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in June 2016 to receipt of child pornography.
During an online investigation, federal agents discovered that on numerous occasions, between June 14, 2014, and May 26, 2015, Ard received or attempted to receive child pornography images and videos. A forensic review of Ard’s laptop computer and numerous hard drives recovered approximately 87 videos and 4,257 images containing child pornography.
Ard was previously convicted in 2003 of lewd or lascivious battery on a victim age 12-15 years old.
The case was investigated by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Pensacola Police Department, and the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp.
Century’s Mayor Race: Runoff Between Hawkins, McCall
August 31, 2016
Unofficial results in the Century mayor’s race show that there will be a November runoff between incumbent Freddie McCall and former council member Henry Hawkins.
Unofficial totals show:
Henry Hawkins 128
Freddie McCall 112
Ben Boutwell 93
Felic Fussner 0
The top candidate would have needed 50 percent plus one vote in order to have avoided a runoff.
McCall has served two terms as mayor, while Hawkins served four years on the town council followed by an unsuccessful run for mayor in 2011.
Gaetz Wins Republican Nomination For Congressional Seat
August 31, 2016
Tuesday, Matt Gaetz won the Republican primary for Florida’s First Congressional District.
Gaetz received 35,675 votes (36.12%), followed by Greg Evers with 21,532 votes (21.8%) and Cris Dozev with 20,608 votes (20.86%). North Escambia native Rebekah Johansen Bydlak, finished fourth with 7,689 votes (7.78%).
“Thank you to Northwest Florida voters for giving me the honor of standing as the Republican nominee for the First Congressional District. Our nation is in trouble. We need bold conservative leadership to fight Washington and restore America. I will fight every day for our veterans and military, defend our Second Amendment rights, build the wall to stop illegal immigration, and defeat radical Muslim terrorists,” said Matt Gaetz.
“I want to thank our volunteers, supporters, family and friends for their overwhelming support in this election. I am very proud of the high energy grassroots campaign we ran. Our goal was to find new ways to interact with and listen to voters. We knocked on over 25,000 doors, made more than 40,000 phone calls, and amassed a Facebook audience of 44,000 fans. I cannot thank the voters enough for the trust they have placed in me with tonight’s nomination,” Gaetz said.
Rubio To Face Murphy For U.S. Senate Seat
August 31, 2016
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican incumbent, will face Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy in November in a high-profile race that could decide control of the Senate.
As votes continued to roll in Tuesday night, Rubio and Murphy were both cruising against their primary opponents.
With 87.5 percent of precincts reporting, Rubio was leading developer Carlos Beruff by roughly 53 percentage points — carrying almost 71.9 percent of the vote to Beruff’s 18.7 percent. Two other minor candidates drew the rest.
On the Democratic side, Murphy had almost 58.9 percent of the vote, with fellow Congressman Alan Grayson getting 17.7 percent and attorney Pam Keith drawing 15.4 percent. The rest of the votes were divided among two other candidates.
Setting a tough tone for the November general election, Murphy zeroed in on Rubio’s voting record during remarks to supporters. During a failed bid for the presidency, Rubio had one of the lowest attendance marks in the Senate.
“Marco Rubio is the worst of Washington, because he puts himself first every time,” Murphy said.
The Democratic nominee also needled Rubio over the latter’s repeated resistance to promising to serve a full six-year term in the Senate, rather than running for president again, if re-elected. Rubio recently told CNN that “no one can make that commitment.”
“Guess what, senator?” Murphy said Tuesday. “I’ve got two words for you: I can.”
Republicans returned fire. U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., blasted Murphy in a statement congratulating Rubio for his victory.
“(Rubio’s) work ethic and positive vision for Florida and America stand in stark contrast to Privileged Patrick Murphy, who has been exposed for repeating falsehood on falsehood about every aspect of his professional life prior to his career in politics,” said Wicker, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “After spending the summer running from scandal and avoiding voters, Murphy has given Floridians little reason to believe he’ll work on their behalf in Washington.”
The GOP primary victory marked the latest turn in a tumultuous year for Rubio, who began 2016 as one of the front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination before being swept away by the wave of support for real-estate developer Donald Trump. Rubio, who vowed that he would not pursue a second term in the Senate, then reversed course and ran for re-election.
That chased away every major Republican opponent except Beruff, who had never run for elected office. Despite a blunt style that was similar to Trump’s, Beruff never gained traction against Rubio.
The Democratic race was expected to be closer, with Grayson drawing on his support among progressive activists to topple the centrist Murphy. Murphy was also dogged by questions about whether he had exaggerated aspects of his biography.
But Grayson’s campaign was essentially capsized when his ex-wife accused him of domestic violence. Grayson denied the allegations, but at least two progressive groups withdrew their support and Murphy cited the reports as a reason not to debate Grayson.
The general election in Florida, the largest swing state in a presidential year, is expected to be critical to Democratic hopes to recapture the majority in the Senate. Republicans are defending 24 seats in the 2016 election, compared to 10 Democratic seats that go before voters. The GOP currently holds a total of 54 seats, while Democrats and two independents who usually vote with them have 46.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida