Century Historic District Homes To Be Repaired, Rebuilt Following Tornado
August 11, 2016
The Century Architectural Review Board gave approval Wednesday to the repair or replacement of almost 30 percent of the residential properties in the Alger-Sullivan Historical District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.
The historic district includes 45 buildings on about 230 acres, and is roughly bounded by Pinewood Avenue, Front Street, Jefferson Avenue, Church Street and Mayo Street. Numerous structures in the historic district were damaged or destroyed by the EF-3 tornado that struck Century six months ago.
The Architectural Review Board approved the rehabilitation of four properties — 541 Church Street, 7611 Mayo Street, 601 Mayo Lane and 410 Front Street. They board also approved the demolition and reconstruction of nine properties — 300, 307, 402, 403, 407, 416 and 426 Front Street; and 301 and 351 East Pond Street.
Several of the properties have been approved for SHIP — State Housing Initiative Program — funds, while others are still awaiting approval in what has been a slow process, according to Mayor Freddie McCall.
“A lot of people have wanted to know if I knew what the hell I was doing,” McCall said of the SHIP funding process, which has been managed by Escambia County. “This has been held up on red tape that I have nothing to do with.”
Many of of the funding delays, according to county officials, have been related to legal problems with improper deeds and other incomplete documentation.
Now that the Century Architectural Review Board has signed off on the properties, plans next go to the Century Town Council for approval next Monday night and will next be reviewed by state officials due to the historic district status of the properties.
Pictured above and below: Four of the historic district homes on Front Street that will be demolished and replaced. Pictured bottom: Members of the Century Architectural Review Board (L-R) Gary Riley, Helen Mincy and Edna Earle Barnes. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
FEMA Considering Change To Disaster Aid For States
August 11, 2016
States should back a proposed federal program that could initially have them take on more disaster recovery costs — but with the ability to lower the tab by investing in preparedness, Florida’s emergency director said Wednesday.
If the states don’t go along, they’ll risk Congress simply shifting more costs to the states without their input, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon said.
The proposed change was floated this winter by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is under pressure from Congress to reduce how much of the cost Washington picks up for natural disasters.
Currently, if states hit a certain threshold for dollar losses, a federal-disaster declaration is issued and Washington picks up a portion of the cost. But the plan put forth tentatively by FEMA would set a “deductible,” amount similar to a car or homeowners’ insurance policy. Under that amount, state and local governments would be responsible for paying for disasters, and above it federal recovery spending could kick in.
But the plan would allow states to “buy down” their deductible, or get a lower threshold for federal help, by making investments in certain disaster-mitigation infrastructure improvements, such as stronger building codes or flood or wildfire prevention projects.
FEMA asked the states to comment on the idea earlier this year, and a number responded negatively, saying they feared they’d simply be hit with higher costs and additional administrative burdens and never see much benefit.
But speaking on a panel on emergency preparedness at the National Conference of State Legislatures on Wednesday in Chicago, Koon said he worries Congress is going to shift the burden anyway.
“I don’t think keeping the status quo is something that is going to happen,” Koon said. If the states reject the FEMA idea for a deductible method for paying for disasters, “we will leave ourselves at the whims of Congress, and I don’t think that’s going to come out in a way that will be beneficial for the states.”
The federal government currently determines when to grant disaster declarations based on a measure of how much the cost of the disaster is on a per-capita basis. But the per-capita dollar amount wasn’t adjusted for inflation for several years. A 2012 Department of Homeland Security report said that if the government had adjusted the per-capita metric for inflation, about a third of presidential disaster declarations in the interim wouldn’t have been granted.
“This is one area where we continually face criticism,” acknowledged FEMA Deputy Director for External Affairs Stephanie Tennyson, who was on the panel with Koon at Wednesday’s meeting.
Koon said he worries that Congress will unilaterally change the threshold for when states can get federal aid — but without the deductible reduction option — or change the current ratio of federal disaster funding, which right now has Washington pick up 75 percent, with state and local governments paying 25 percent.
Koon fears that Congress could seek to make the ratio or the threshold reflect those lost years of inflation adjustments all at once, something that could double or triple the amount of losses needed to be eligible for federal assistance in some states.
“That could be very difficult for many of our states,” Koon said. “In the bigger states, you’re looking at nine-digit losses before you’d be eligible.”
Disaster experts also said having the deductible buy-down would offer the added effect of a long-term lowering of disaster response costs, because presumably it would reduce damages, something FEMA’s Tennyson said was also a major goal of the proposed change.
And without some sort of prodding through the type of financial incentive being considered in the FEMA plan, states may not be likely to make those investments because the benefit wouldn’t come immediately. Also, states that are less disaster prone, don’t tend to plan for extremely rare events.
“People say, ‘It’s not going to happen to us,’ ” noted former Massachusetts Sen. Dick Moore, a Democrat who also served as associate director of FEMA during the Clinton administration.
Koon, tapped by Gov. Rick Scott in 2011 to lead the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said that in his role as the current president of the National Emergency Managers Association, he is trying to urge states to at least consider the proposal, though he understands the objections of some, particularly smaller states. They have said in comments to FEMA that they’re worried they’ll face added administrative burdens for proving they’ve made infrastructure improvements, and may not get the credits in the end, only to get saddled with higher costs up front when disaster strikes.
Koon also noted that Florida has already made many of the infrastructure improvements envisioned by the deductible system, and so he’s confident his state would be ahead of the game.
“Florida has some of the strongest building codes in the nation,” Koon said. “I think that we will be able to buy down a significant portion of what that deductible is.”
Koon also said going through the change might prevent Congress from acting if it appears the states are willing to try to figure out a way to help lower federal costs.
“This is going to take a while,” Koon said of the rule development process. “The likelihood is it’s going to be close to a decade before it is fully implemented. The good news is, you are less likely to see an action by Congress to unilaterally change the cost-share methodology. We’ll buy ourselves some time to work on this issue.”
by David Royse, The News Service of Florida
Pictured: Tornado damage in Century, which did not qualify under current rules, for FEMA assistance. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Lawsuit Challenges Holding Students Back Over Tests
August 11, 2016
Fourteen parents whose children were retained in third grade after they “opted out” of Florida’s standardized tests filed a lawsuit this week, saying their rights were violated by confusing standards that rely too much on a single exam.
The lawsuit says Education Commissioner Pam Stewart, the state Department of Education, the state Board of Education and several local school districts violated the families’ rights to due process and equal protection when deciding whether to allow certain students to move on to fourth grade.
But at the heart of the lawsuit is a clash over whether students are required to take the Florida Standards Assessments before moving on from third grade. The “opt out” movement is part of a larger backlash against standardized testing, with many parents feeling that the state is subjecting students to too many exams.
The lawsuit asks a Leon County court to block the decision to retain the students in the third grade, saying the children will be “irreparably harmed” if they are held back. It points to research showing that students who are held back become isolated and lose interest in school.
“The negative behaviors associated with retention are exacerbated here because each of the plaintiffs’ children received a report card with passing grades, some earning straight A’s and Honor Roll for their hard work throughout the school year, but yet they will be retained in the third grade despite having no reading deficiency,” the suit says.
Parents also asked for an emergency injunction from the court, saying many of them didn’t find out their students would be retained until May or June, and school is set to begin shortly. The districts named in the suit include Orange, Hernando, Osceola, Sarasota, Broward, Seminole and Pasco counties.
While the suit focuses on events in the 2015-2016 school year that led to some students being held back, it also more broadly challenges efforts to require students to take standardized tests before moving on to the fourth grade.
“Refusing to accept a student portfolio or report card based on classroom work throughout the course of the school year when there is no reading deficiency is arbitrary and irrational,” it says.
The complaint portrays state and local officials as struggling to come to terms with whether to accept portfolios of students’ work or the marks on report cards in lieu of test scores, particularly for students who essentially refused to complete the tests. As a result, students who opted out were allowed to move on without test scores in some cases, but not in others.
As late as February, according to notes from a telephone call with local superintendents attached to the complaint, Stewart was insisting that state laws allowing for student portfolios to be used in retention decisions did not create an opportunity for students to refuse to take the tests.
In late May, the complaint says, the Department of Education clarified its policy. According to a Tampa Bay Times report cited in the lawsuit, the agency said retention was a local decision, and a spokeswoman for the department said “we never said you must retain a student who doesn’t have an FSA score.”
The damage was already done, the lawsuit contends.
“By May 2016, it was too late for many school districts or schools to provide guidance to teachers on what was required for documentation of the student portfolio exemption,” it says. “Students at those schools that maintained a student portfolio throughout the school year relied upon the portfolio exemption to be promoted to the fourth grade, while those schools that did not had inadequate documentation to meet the portfolio exemption criteria.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Students Head Back To Class (With Photo Gallery)
August 11, 2016
Wednesday was the first day of school across the area, with tens of thousands of students heading back to class.
We asked NorthEscambia.com readers to submit their back to school photos.
For a photo gallery, click here.
We apologize, but due to a tremendous response, we were unable to publish all the photos we received, and we are unable to add additional photos to the gallery.
Pictured top: Alexia Olson, third grade at Molino Park Elementary. Pictured inset: Brooke Odom, first grade at Pine Meadow Elementary School. Pictured below: Ryan, first grade at Jim Allen Elementary School.
Escambia Firefighters, EMS Crews Help Keep School Zones Safe
August 11, 2016
Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS units are standing by in school zones across the county with lights flashing to remind drivers to slow down during the first week of school. Pictured: A volunteer crew from the Beulah Station of Escambia Fire Rescue Wednesday morning in the Beulah Elementary School Zone. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Chamber Plans Fall Festival
August 11, 2016
The Century Chamber of Commerce is planning a fall festival for Saturday, October 15.
At a Wednesday lunch meeting, the chamber board discussed the need for festival sponsors. Anyone interested is asked to contact the chamber at (850) 256-3155. Sponsors will be listed on press releases, signage and be recognized during the festival.
The festival will feature arts and crafts, food, entertainment and kid-friendly activities at Showalter Park from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on October 15.
Pictured: The Century Chamber of Commerce board of directors planning a fall festival during a Wednesday lunch meeting. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
ECUA To Hold Recycling Facility Kick-Off Event
August 11, 2016
The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority Board, or ECUA, and Escambia County Board of County Commissioners will hold a kick-off ceremony to mark the opening of the ECUA’s Interim Materials Recycling Facility, or IMRF, on August 22 at 9:30 a.m. The event will take place at the facility, which is located at the Escambia County Perdido Landfill at 13009 Beulah Road in Cantonment.
This $10.6 million project was initiated to offer a long-term, regional recycling solution for our 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 with recycling equipment that is expected to process up to 165 tons of materials per day.
The event will be attended by the ECUA Board members, county commissioners from Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties, and city council members from municipalities within the tri-county area. In addition, representatives from the IMRF’s planning, engineering and construction team will also be in attendance.
ECUA spokesperson Natalie Bowers said early September will be a “soft start” for the facility when ECUA will begin running some materials through the equipment. She said September 26 is the best date currently available for full operation.
Pictured: The February 12 ground breaking for a recycling facility at the Perdido Landfill. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Thomas: New School Year Brings Focus On Learning
August 10, 2016
As about 40,000 students head back to school today in Escambia County, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas says the district is ready for a successful school year.
“The schools are up to the challenge,” Thomas said. “And we need students and parents to do their part. We need students coming to school prepared to learn. Our expectations are high, but we believe in every student.”
Thomas said his teacher won’t be “teaching the test” — focusing on teaching only what might be on standardized state tests — this year. “Learning is the most important, not the test,’ he said.
Each high school student in the district will receive a Chromebook computer early in the year, while middle and some elementary school students will receive a Chromebook later in the year, likely by Christmas. The shift to Chromebooks will help better prepare students, the superintendent said.
Libraries and media centers will continue to be known as Makerspaces this year — DIY spaces where students can create, invent, explore and learn using everything from arts and crafts to board games.
“It’s going to be a great year,” Thomas said.
School Lunch Information: Prices, Free Or Reduced Application Available
August 10, 2016
Parents can expedite the processing of free or reduced lunch applications in Escambia County by submitting the form online.
For students at 30 Escambia County Schools, all children will be provided free meals with no application necessary and regardless of income. Free breakfast and lunch will begin on the first day of school at the following locations in Escambia County:
Elementary Schools: Bellview Elementary, Brentwood Elementary, C.A. Weis Elementary, Ensley Elementary, Ferry Pass Elementary, Global Learning Academy, Holm Elementary, Jim Allen Elementary, Lincoln Park Elementary, Longleaf Elementary, Montclair Elementary, Myrtle Grove Elementary, Navy Point Elementary, Oakcrest Elementary, Pleasant Grove Elementary, O.J. Semmes Elementary, Sherwood Elementary, Warrington Elementary, and West Pensacola Elementary.
Middle Schools: Bellview Middle, Warrington Middle, Woodham Middle , and Workman Middle.
High School: Pine Forest High School
Special Centers: Judy Andrews, McMillian PreK Center, and Escambia Westgate Center.
Alternative Education/Charters: Camelot, Escambia Charter, and Jacqueline Harris Preparatory Academy
Parents of the students at these schools are not required to submit an application for the Free and Reduced Lunch program at that school.
For schools not on the list, parents must apply for free or reduced price meals. For the 2015-2016 online free and reduced meal application, click here for a secure form.
Application forms are sent to all homes with a letter to parents or guardians. To apply for free or reduced priced meals, parents of students not approved by direct certification must fill out the application and return it to the school. Additional copies are available in the front office.
Children from households with incomes of less than or equal to the income criteria may be eligible for either free or reduced priced meals. Each school and the school system’s Food Services office have copies which are available to the public.
Meal prices are as follows:
Elementary
- Full price breakfast – $1.25
- Reduced price breakfast – 30¢
- Full price lunch – $2.25
- Reduced price lunch – 40¢
Middle/High Schools
- Full price breakfast- $1.50
- Reduce price breakfast – 30¢
- Full price lunch – $2.50
- Reduced price lunch – 40¢
Clinton, Trump Essentially Tied In Florida In Latest Poll
August 10, 2016
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has pulled into a statistical tie with Republican opponent Donald Trump in Florida, according to a poll released Tuesday.
Clinton, who narrowly trailed in a Quinnipiac University poll of the state last month, now leads the Florida race with 46 percent of likely voters, to 45 percent for Trump. That is well within the survey’s margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac poll seems to back up nationwide surveys that have shown Clinton gaining support in the wake of both parties’ national conventions last month. The poll of 1,056 Florida likely voters was conducted from July 30 to Sunday, which also largely coincided with a fight between Trump and the Muslim-American family of a fallen soldier whose parents slammed Trump at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
In a four-way race, the poll found, Clinton and Trump are tied at 43 percent each. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, received support from 7 percent of those surveyed, while Green Party nominee Jill Stein drew 3 percent.
Last month, Trump held a three-point lead against Clinton in Quinnipiac’s head-to-head poll, with his lead growing to five points when Johnson and Stein were added to the mix.
Florida is the largest of several states that will likely decide November’s election. The Connecticut-based Quinnipiac also released poll numbers Tuesday showing Clinton leading by four points in Ohio and 10 points in Pennsylvania.
In all three states, Clinton’s support came heavily from voters who are opposed to Trump. Florida voters, though, are more hospitable to Clinton than in the other battlegrounds — 41 percent of her Florida supporters say they are mainly voting to stop Trump, while 42 percent said they are casting their ballots because they like Clinton; another 13 percent are doing so because the former secretary of state is the nominee of the Democratic Party.
“It is not that her voters are in love with Secretary Clinton — they just dislike her less than they disdain Trump,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
But Trump relies on an anti-Clinton vote even more: 54 percent of his supporters in Florida say they are backing him to oppose Clinton, with just 29 percent saying they are doing so because they like Trump. Another 10 percent of his backers are going with Trump because he is the GOP nominee.
Both candidates are underwater in terms of Florida voters’ opinions of them, with 39 percent viewing each of the major party nominees favorably. Trump’s unfavorable rating is 54 percent, with Clinton getting that mark from 55 percent of voters.
There are also large gaps between the candidates along racial, ethnic and gender lines. Clinton leads among Florida women, 53-40, while Trump outpolls her by roughly the same margin among men, 51-39. Trump draws the support of 57 percent of white voters, to 36 percent for Clinton, while non-white voters back her by almost 50 points, 68-21.
The survey’s partisan breakdown differs some from the earlier Quinnipiac poll. In July, 31 percent of respondents were Republicans, 29 percent were Democrats and 32 percent were independents. The survey released Tuesday still had the GOP making up 31 percent of the sample, but the Democratic share rose to 34 percent while independents fell to 30 percent.
Both candidates have focused heavily on Florida in recent days. After a visit to the state last week, Trump is set to return to Florida on Wednesday and Thursday. Clinton continued a swing through the state Tuesday, visiting Miami.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida