Healthy Start Celebrates With Free Shots, Wellness Checks
July 29, 2016
The Century Healthy Start program held a grand opening celebration Thursday morning at their facility on Church Street. From immunizatons were available to children of all ages from Alabama and Florida, and free newborn wellness checks were provided.
Smokey the Bear was also on hand, and children were able to enjoy a bounce house.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Montgomery Beats The Wahoos
July 29, 2016
The Montgomery Biscuits bats came alive just in time to score three runs in its last two at bats to overcome the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, 4-1, Thursday at Riverwalk Stadium.
Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Jackson Stephens had silenced the Biscuits’ bats by retiring 11 in a row before Montgomery catcher Armando Araiza singled to right field in the seventh inning to start a two-run rally that put the Biscuits on top, 3-1.
After Araiza’s hit, Montgomery got three more in a row to knock Stephens from the game. Araiza crossed home plate for the first run of the inning when Biscuits center fielder Braxton Lee singled on a bunt back to the mound. Montgomery second baseman Kean Wong then hit a groundball into left field to drive in first baseman Pat Blair.
The Biscuits padded that lead in the eighth inning when Araiza hit a grounder back to the mound that Pensacola reliever Jacob Ehret threw away, allowing third baseman Juniel Querecuto to score for a 4-1 Montgomery lead.
Montgomery had scored first in the bottom of the first inning to go up, 1-0, when DH Jake Bauers singled to right field to drive in Lee, who started the inning with a single.
Pensacola had knotted the score, 1-1, in the second inning when first baseman Ray Chang scored on a passed ball after leading off the inning with a walk. Chang led the Blue Wahoos at the plate getting two hits in three at bats and walking once to raise his average to .275.
The Blue Wahoos, though, went 0-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight Pensacola runners on base.
In the sixth inning, Pensacola loaded the bases with two outs but failed to score.
Stephens ended up working 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, giving up one walk, and striking out six. He fell to 6-10 with a 3.39 earned-run average.
Montgomery starter Brent Honeywell lasted five innings, and gave up one unearned run on four hits and two walks, while striking out six. He did not figure in the decision but his ERA now stands at 1.21.
Pensacola, the first half Southern League champions, dropped to 16-17 in the second half. Montgomery improved to 20-13 and lead the North Division.
Missing, Endangered Century Teen Found Safe (With Exclusive Photos)
July 28, 2016
A missing and endangered Century teen was found safe and sound early Thursday morning, some seven hours after she was last seen.
Alia Wardell, 15, was reported to be missing and in great need of her medication Wednesday night. She was last seen about 6 p.m. walking into the First Baptist Church on Church Street — and that’s exactly where she was found hours later.
Dozens of people from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, a Century Correctional K-9 team, KlaasKIDS, Escambia Search and Rescue and numerous friends and family members were involved in the search for Wardell early Thursday morning. After a private citizen obtained a key to the church, a K-9 team from the Century Correctional Institution entered the building.
NorthEscambia.com was there was Wardell was located in a bathroom about 1:10 a.m. Family members said she suffers from a medical condition that sometimes causes her to suddenly fall asleep, and they believe she fell asleep in the bathroom before the lights were turned out and church was closed and locked for the night.
As word spread that Wardell had been located, family members and friends rushed toward the church, offering their praises and thanks that she was unharmed.
After posing for a photograph with the Century Correctional officers that found her, Wardell stepped outside the church were a small crowd had gathered.
“I want to thank everyone that helped find me,” she told an applauding crowd.
Pictured top: Alia Wendall (in white shirt), who had been reported missing and endangered, thanks dozens of people that searched for her Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Pictured below: Alia poses with her rescuers, Century CI K*9 team members (L-R) Jamie Sanders, Burley Townson and Kevin Reeves. Pictured below: ESAR’s command center was set up in Century and manned by volunteers. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Residents Call For End To Violence, Surrender Of Murder Suspect
July 28, 2016
Dozens gathered in Cantonment Wednesday evening to remember a man they say was a loving father, son and friend.
Alphonso Leon Griffin, 29, was honored during a candlelight vigil in the Sheppard Street yard where he was found suffering from a gunshot wound Saturday night. He later passed away at Sacred Heart Hospital.
“We don’t want this to happen again in our neighborhood under no circumstances,” a pastor told the crowd.
“No hatred,” his mother, Capitola Griffin said. “No animosity like you’re getting back and retaliation. I don’t want that because ain’t nothing going to bring my son back. As a mother my heart aches but I know joy is going to come in the morning.”
The family said they want justice, and they are asking 19-year old Marquis Bryant, the suspected gunman, to turn himself into authorities.
Bryant was captured by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office just five days before the shooting, but not placed under arrest.
On Sunday, July 17, Bryant allegedly stole a classic Ford Mustang. On Monday, July 18, deputies spotted Bryant in the stolen 1965 Mustang at 3:47 p.m. near Hicks Street and Muscogee Road, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. When a deputy attempted a traffic stop, Bryant refused.
The deputy followed the vehicle, not exceeding the speed limit. Bryant opened the driver’s side door while the vehicle was still in motion. He then jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot.
The Sheriff’s Office said Bryant was located by a K-9 a short time later.
Sgt. Andrew Hobbs, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said deputies suspected that Bryant ingested some type of narcotics before being captured. He was transported to a local hospital for medical care. Hobbs declined to say which day Bryant was released from the hospital, citing medical privacy laws.
Hobbs said deputies submitted a grand theft auto warrant for judicial review. At the time of the murder, the warrant had not yet been signed by a judge.
Bryant now has an outstanding homicide warrant. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Vigil images courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
No Powerball Winner, Jackpot Rolls To $478 Million
July 28, 2016
There were no winners in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing, pushing Saturday night’s estimated prize to huge $478 million…the fifth largest ever.
There has been no winner in the Powerball drawing for three months, pushing the jackpot closer and closer to half a billion dollars.
The numbers drawn Wednesday were 10, 47, 50, 65, and 68. The Powerball is 24.
New Travel Related Zika Case Reported In Escambia County
July 28, 2016
A new travel-related case of the Zika virus has been reported in Escambia County by the Florida Department of Health. It is the second travel-related case in the county this year.
The Escambia County case was one of 17 new travel related cases announced Tuesday and the only new case reported in the Florida panhandle. A case was previous reported in Santa Rosa County in February.
Florida health officials said Wednesday they are investigating two additional Zika cases that might not be linked to travel outside the state. The announcement means health officials are now looking at four cases that might not be travel-related — a potential sign that mosquitoes could be infecting people with the virus in Florida. Two of the cases are in Miami-Dade County, while two are in Broward County.
The number of Floridians diagnosed with the virus has steadily climbed, but until recently health officials said all of the infections had resulted from travel outside the state. As of Wednesday, the state had 328 cases that did not involve pregnant women, with 96 of those cases in Miami-Dade and 55 in Broward. The state said it also has monitored 53 pregnant women who showed evidence of Zika, though it does not release the counties where those women live.
The health department urges Floridians to drain standing water weekly, no matter how seemingly small. A couple drops of water in a bottle cap can be a breeding location for mosquitoes. Residents and visitors also need to use repellents when enjoying the Florida outdoors.
Debate Emerges On Carving Up ‘Docs V. Glocks’ Law
July 28, 2016
As a federal appeals court ponders the constitutionality of Florida’s “docs v. glocks” law, attorneys this week debated in court documents whether it would be possible to jettison parts of the controversial measure — and keep others.
The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments June 21 in a challenge by physician groups and individual physicians to the 2011 law, which seeks to restrict doctors from asking questions and recording information about patients’ gun ownership. Two days after the arguments, the court asked attorneys to file briefs about the issue of “severability,” a legal concept that can involve eliminating unconstitutional parts of laws while retaining other provisions.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office and a lawyer for the physicians filed briefs Monday taking starkly different positions on the question.
Bondi’s office said the appeals court could carve out unconstitutional pieces of the law while keeping the rest intact.
“The act’s provisions are functionally independent, and any invalid provision can easily be severed without disrupting the operation or integrity of the remaining provisions,” Deputy Solicitor General Rachel Nordby wrote. “If the court determines that any provision of the act is invalid, the court should apply the doctrine of severability and uphold all remaining valid provisions of the act.”
But plaintiffs say the law, dubbed by the Legislature as the Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act, cannot be broken apart. The plaintiffs contend the law violates doctors’ First Amendment rights.
“The challenged provisions of FOPA (Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act) are parts of a single legislative act, adopted by the Florida Legislature as a package, with a shared unconstitutional purpose,” plaintiffs’ attorney Douglas Hallward-Driemeier wrote. “In enacting FOPA, the Florida Legislature indisputably intended to chill speech by health care practitioners about firearms — and indeed a particular viewpoint on the same — with which the Legislature disagreed.”
The law, which is backed by gun-rights groups such as the National Rifle Association, seeks to place a series of restrictions on doctors and other health providers. For example, it seeks to prevent physicians from entering information about gun ownership into medical records if the physicians know the information is not “relevant” to patients’ medical care or safety or to the safety of other people.
Also, the law says doctors should refrain from asking about gun ownership by patients or family members unless the doctors believe in “good faith” that the information is relevant to medical care or safety. Also, the law seeks to prevent doctors from discriminating against patients or “harassing” them because of owning firearms.
In addressing the severability question, Hallward-Driemeier’s brief said some members of the appeals court during oral arguments posed a “hypothetical scenario” about possibly trying to narrow the anti-discrimination provision.
The appeals court typically does not signal when it will rule in cases, and judges have been divided on the constitutionality of the law — widely known as the “docs v. glocks” law.
A U.S. District Court judge blocked the law from taking effect, but a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the law in three rulings. The full appeals court then took the somewhat-unusual step of agreeing to hear the case.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Over Biscuits 3-1
July 28, 2016
Four Pensacola pitchers combined to limit Montgomery to one run and Phillip Ervin delivered the clutch hit to help the Blue Wahoos win, 3-1, Wednesday over the Biscuits at Riverwalk Stadium.
Pensacola starting pitcher Rookie Davis, who struck out the side in the second inning, ended up working 5.1 innings, allowing one run on a homer by Montgomery second baseman Paul Blair. He gave up five hits and two walks with six strikeouts total. He improved to a team-best 9-3 with and lowered his earned run average of 2.62.
Meanwhile, relievers Abel De Los Santos, Carlos Gonzalez and Alejandro Chacin threw 3.2 scoreless and hitless innings, while striking out four.
Like he has done all season for Pensacola, Chacin took over and tossed a scoreless ninth inning getting Montgomery out 1-2-3 with a strikeout to earn his 20th save this year, which leads the Southern League. He has struck out 49 batters in 44.1 innings.
Meanwhile, Pensacola left fielder Phillip Ervin stepped to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third in the fifth inning. In 87 previous at bats with two outs Ervin was hitting .195. He singled to center field in the fifth inning and drove in catcher Chad Wallach and center fielder Beau Amaral to put his team up, 3-0, over Montgomery.
His clutch hit made him 1-4 on the night. Six of the Blue Wahoos nine hitters got one hit Wednesday.
Pensacola scored first in the fourth inning when the hot-hitting shortstop Zach Vincej tripled in Brandon Dixon, who had singled to center field, with two out to put the Blue Wahoos up, 1-0.
Vincej went 1-4 and is hitting .346 and has an on-base percentage of .400 in July, which are both his highest marks this season. He also has 11 RBIs this month, which is highest total.
Montgomery did get on the board when Blair, who was batting ninth in the lineup and averaging .168, lifted a solo homer to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull the Biscuits within, 3-1.
Chih-Wei Hu pitched six innings, allowing three runs on six hits, walking one and striking out three. He fell to 3-7 with 2.34 ERA. Hu and two Biscuits’ relievers — Kyle Bird and Jordan Harrison — retired 12 in a row until Pensacola first baseman Eric Jagielo earned a walk in the ninth inning.
Pensacola improved to 24-27 on the road. The first half Southern League champions are now back to .500 at 16-16 in the second half and in third place 2.5 games behind the Mississippi Braves (18-13). Montgomery fell to 19-12 but still leads the North Division.
Century Holds Meeting In Apparent Violation Of State Sunshine Law
July 27, 2016
The Town of Century conducted a meeting Tuesday afternoon in an apparent violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law. The state law requires that the public’s business be conducted in open, public noticed meetings.
A public notice published on NorthEscambia.com and in the weekly Tri-City Ledger newspaper in Flomaton stated that the Town of Century’s Community Development Block Grant Citizen’s Advisory Task Force (CATF) would meet at Century Town Hall at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
NorthEscambia.com arrived for the 4 p.m. meeting to find the front doors of the Century Hall locked and the parking lot empty.
When reached by phone, Debbie Nickles, Century’s town planner, said the meeting had been held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. She said letters mailed to the four citizens on the task force had advised them to arrive for a meeting at 2 p.m. She said the discrepancy between meeting time in the letters and the legal public notices was discussed, and the meeting was held despite the improper public notice.
Nickles said she was present at the meeting, along with town consultant Robin Phillips and CATF members Sylvia Godwin, Helen Mincy, Robert Mitchell and Alfonzie Cottrell.
According to the meeting minutes, the CATF voted to recommend that the council apply for the CDBG grant.
When NorthEscambia.com reached Century Mayor Freddie McCall on his cell phone Tuesday to inquire about the meeting, he was with a local group at a church camp in Kentucky and said he was unaware of the meeting. Town Clerk Leslie Gonzalez did not work Tuesday and did not answer her cell phone, and Deputy Clerk Kim Godwin said she was unaware of the meeting.
Nickles said that another CATF meeting would be scheduled and properly noticed. At about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the town provided notice that the committee would meet again Thursday afternoon at 1:50 p.m.
Pictured: The Century Town Hall was locked and the parking lot empty at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the time of a publicly noticed town task force meeting. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
First Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens In Florida
July 27, 2016
Florida first legal medical-marijuana dispensary formally opened Tuesday in a Tallahassee storefront, a week after the company known as Trulieve received state approval to begin selling a type of non-euphoric cannabis.
A 2014 law allows the company to sell low-THC cannabis oil to patients who suffer from cancer, chronic muscle spasms and seizures.
Another law, passed during the most recent legislative session, allows terminally ill patients to use full-strength marijuana.
“When I say it is an historic and momentous day, it really is,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers said during a packed news conference at the store Tuesday. “We are really overwhelmed and so proud to be this pioneer.”
The company plans to open a Northwest Florida location in Pensacola.
So far, one issue facing patients who want to get legal weed is finding doctors who will sign off on the treatment. As of last week, only 15 doctors had signed up to order the low-THC products.
While lawmakers gave approval in 2014, a series of legal battles has delayed the cannabis from becoming available to patients.
by The News Service of Florida and NorthEscambia.com
Pictured top: Trulieve’s Tallahassee location opened Tuesday. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.