Blue Wahoos Down Barons In Series Opener
May 26, 2016
Jackson Stephens’ family rarely miss his starts, making the five-hour drive from their home in Oxford, Ala., near the Georgia border to Pensacola.
They left the game in good spirits on Wednesday. Their son didn’t walk anybody, plus he improved his record to 4-3 and his ERA dropped to 3.22.
“My dad hates walks,” Stephens said. “I didn’t have any so he was pumped. My mom, she just wants to see her baby do good and she’s happy.”
Stephens, coming off of a combined no-hitter against the Jacksonville Suns on May 20, threw another gem. He threw seven scoreless innings allowing five hits and striking out a season-high nine batters for the second time this season. He has now thrown 12 scoreless innings.
Pensacola earned the victory, 5-1, over the Birmingham Barons in the opening game of the five-game series in front of 3,993 fans Wednesday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Stephens pumped his fist after getting first baseman Nick Basto to fly out to Donald Lutz in left field to end the seventh inning.
All four of his pitches – a two- and four-seam fastball, curveball and slider – were working for him Wednesday. He said his seven scoreless innings Thursday were similar to his last outing when he pitched five innings without allowing a hit but giving up two walks.
“I’d say they were similar,” said the 21-year-old Stephens. “You’re not going to go out there and throw no hitters all the time. My stuff was there. I was able to get ahead in the pitch count with a lot of early strikes.”
Stephens, who entered the game with opponents hitting .221 off him, limited Birmingham to .192 (5-26) Thursday.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly also liked what he saw from Stephens, who got ahead of hitters Thursday. Kelly pointed out Stephens threw about 85 pitches in both his five inning outing and Thursday’s seven inning game.
“He’s been throwing bullets but wasting them early in the ball game,” Kelly said. “That’s what he’s got to do.”
Pensacola retook sole possession of first place from the Biloxi Shuckers, who vaulted into the Southern Division lead when they beat the Blue Wahoos April 19. Pensacola is 27-19, while Biloxi is 26-19, after losing to Mobile BayBears, 9-1, Wednesday.
Pensacola’s third baseman Tony Renda doubled to lead off the first inning, went to third on a groundout by center fielder Phillip Ervin and scored on a wild pitch to give the Blue Wahoos a 1-0 lead.
Renda was also involved in the second run scored by the Blue Wahoos, too, in the third inning when he singled to drive in Pensacola catcher Chad Wallach. Renda tried to stretch his single into a double but was thrown out at second base by left fielder Courtney Hawkins.
Kelly was happy with Renda’s aggressiveness against Birmingham starter Tyler Danish, the White Sox No. 11 prospect, who threw a complete game shutout the last time he faced the Blue Wahoos on April 29.
“To scratch out a few runs early was nice,” Kelly admitted. “(Renda) had that big RBI for the second run.”
DH Eric Jagielo hit a two-out blooper to left field in the sixth inning that drove in Kyle Parker, who had singled, to put Pensacola ahead, 3-0.
Dixon got the third straight hit to start the eighth inning to drive in two runs and put Pensacola up, 5-0.
New York Yankee transplants who came over in the Cincinnati Reds trade for closer Ardolis Chapman, Renda and Eric Jagielo led the team at the plate Thursday. Renda hit in his fifth straight game, going 2-4 with a double and one run scored. Meanwhile, Jagielo went 2-4 and drove in the third run off of Birmingham’s Danish.
Jagielo, an All-Star in his previous minor league seasons, is hitting .180 but Kelly expressed confidence in him.
“To me it’s just a relaxation thing,” Kelly said. “When you’re coming to a new organization you want to show everybody what you can do. He looked good tonight.”
Century Man Facing Additional Charges For Stealing Copper Wire From Former School
May 25, 2016
A Century man arrested in late April for stealing heavy duty copper wiring from the former Century High School has been arrested again on similar additional crimes.
Nicholas Depue, 33, was arrested for burglary and grand theft, in addition to previous charges of burglary of an unoccupied structure and two counts of grand theft. He remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $50,000.
The site foreman responsible for the demolition of the old Century High School told investigators that 100 pounds of salvage copper wire was missing from inside one of the campus buildings.
Upon contacting Advance Environmental Recycling in Flomaton, Escambia County (FL) Sheriff’s investigators found that Depue had alleged sold the stolen wire for scrap.
Depue was previously arrested after he allegedly removed a wood covering over a window and broke the window to enter the Old Century High School. Inside the building he took about 28 pieces of heavy duty copper wiring about 6-8 feet in length valued at about $600. The wiring was then hid in bushes about 1,000 feet from the school.
When investigators contacted Depue at his Front Street home, he admitted to the theft and showed deputies where the wire was located, an arrest report states. The wire was returned to the demolition company that is removing the school.
Depue is also accused of stealing a $4,000 Evinrude boat motor from a home on North Century Boulevard. The motor was attached to a 16-foot aluminum boat and was parked in the rear area of a yard. Depue then allegedly sold the boat motor to a Flomaton man for $800. The stolen boat motor was recovered.
Escambia School Media Centers Honored For Makerspaces In Innovation Centers
May 25, 2016
As part of the Escambia County School Superintendent’s Vision 2020 plan, school district library media specialists were challenged last summer to transition their school’s libraries into Innovation Centers and to rethink floor plans and material usage to create Makerspaces.
“It was exciting to see so many schools’ Innovation Center Specialists look for ways to reinvent their space and shift their mind sets,” said Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. “Spaces that were previously used for storage or teacher workrooms were cleared out and cleaned to become student Makerspaces. Students had a place to be creative and keep their projects to finish on another day.”
A rubric was created to track each Innovation Center’s progress with implementing Makerspaces. Library media specialists and principals completed the rubrics and provided documentation of their efforts. The rubrics and documentation were reviewed by a committee and eleven schools are being honored as being “exemplary” in their design and implementation of the Makerspace opportunities in their Innovation Centers. The Innovation Specialists at these schools are being awarded $250 from the Superintendent’s Circle fund to support the Makerspaces in their schools and further develop ideas and creativity.
Exemplary schools honored for their Makerspaces and Innovation Centers were:
· Ensley Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Myra Palmer)
· Ferry Pass Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Valerie Kaye)
· Northview High (Library Media Specialist, Alison Robinson)
· Oakcrest Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Michelle Lingo)
· Pine Meadow Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Debby Dorough)
· Ransom Middle (Library Media Specialist, Crystal Roberts)
· Tate High (Library Media Specialist, Mitzi Allen)
· Washington High (Library Media Specialist, Alisha Wilson)
· Weis Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Jennifer Kemp)
· West Florida High (Library Media Specialist, Linda Quinn)
· Woodham Middle (Library Media Specialist, Hazel McCormack)
Innovation Center Specialists have also worked hard this year to find ways to fund specific ideas. Many received grants from the Escambia Public Schools Foundation. Twelve schools each received part of a $28,000 grant from the Panhandle Public Access Network that allowed them to purchase some big ticket items.
“Some used grant money to buy items like Minecraft, small robots, circuits, and even 3D printers,” added Sheila Brandt, ECSD’s Media Services Coordinator. “We also saw amazing examples of recycling. Even the packing material that came in the boxes with the new Chromebooks were repurposed in creative ways, such as a model of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater created with the material at Washington High School.”
“As librarians, none of us ever want to see kids stop checking out books. This transformation has not meant that, in fact some schools saw an increase in their checkout rate,” Brandt added. “Instead, we are excited to see increased levels of energy and excitement when students come in to be creative, and they find a book for inspiration, or vice versa.”
“One rubric contained a comment from a high school Innovation Center Specialist that said that at first this seemed overwhelming,” added Thomas. “But now, she said she knows this was the most positive thing she could have done in her library for their students. It is my pleasure to present funds to these schools to help keep the innovations coming.”
Spring Football: Northview Downs Jay (With Gallery)
May 25, 2016
The Northview Chiefs defeated the Jay Royals Tuesday night in spring football action.
In a junior varsity quarter, Northview topped Jay 7-0. In a full varsity scrimmage, Northview defeated Jay 34-0.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Sentenced On Drug, Money Laundering Charges
May 25, 2016
An Escambia County man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court on drug related offenses.
Kenneth Grandison, 42, was sentenced today to nine years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to utilize a telephone facility to further a drug trafficking offense. The sentence was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
In court, Grandison admitted that, between January 2012 and January 2016, he received illegal drugs from California, including marijuana and codeine, for further distribution in Florida. An investigation identified dozens of Bank of America and Wells Fargo accounts that Grandison used to launder the drug trafficking proceeds. In total, the Bank of America accounts received more than 200 cash deposits, and the Wells Fargo accounts received more than 600 cash deposits. This investigation involved the laundering of between $1.5 and $3.5 million.
The case resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Pensacola Police Department, and the Gulf Breeze Police Department.
Tate High School Orchestra Makes History At The State Level
May 25, 2016
The Tate High School Orchestra recently made history at the state level.
Tate High School’s orchestra performed The Odyssey by Soon Hee Newbold, Legends by Lorris Chobanian, and Odessa by David Bobrowitz.
“Our music selections really inspired our hard work. The story of Odysseus is musically portrayed in The Odyssey. I was thrilled to discover that a lot of our orchestra members are mythology buffs, who shared with us the details of Odysseus’s long and arduous journey,” said Catherine McConnell, Tate High’s orchestra instructor.
“This background knowledge made the technical details a lot more fun to master: the 16th note chromatic runs that portrayed stormy winds, the col legno bowing (striking the string with the stick of the bow) that built up ominous suspense, and muted sections that made his heartbreaking journey feel very personal.”
Tate musicians also performed three movements of Legends: “Mystic Breeze,” “Leprechauns,” and “The Wishing Well,” a unique piece with moments of intense sadness, contrasted sharply by the fast, amazing pizzicato movement in “Leprechauns,” that makes the fictitious creatures come alive.
Their final piece Odessa, portrayed the bustling port city in Ukraine on the Black Sea.
“Dr. Leonid Yanovskiy, the concert master of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra coached the first violins. He shared with all of us his first-hand knowledge that Odessa is a fast-paced, metropolitan city much like New York City,” added McConnell. “That helped us understand and communicate the lively, energetic music of this exciting piece.”
The months of hard work and the coaching paid off for the orchestra’s members. Fifty-one high school orchestras from across the state competed, and Tate High was one of only nine orchestras who received straight Superior ratings from the judges.
“We could not have done it alone! A lot of work goes into solidifying the musical details of these pieces. The Tate Orchestra has benefited from our partnership with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, which is an educational outreach program that the PSO established with my orchestra programs this year, both at Ransom Middle and Tate High,” McConnell said.
The musicians from the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra worked closely with McCaonnell to coach the students in each section of the orchestra, helped them fine tune their musicianship, and gave the students a greater appreciation for the professional musicians in our community.
“Our success at State truly reflects the culmination of time, talent, and financial support from our dedicated Tate High Orchestra students and families, our school district, and our community,” McConnell said.
Driver Flees Cottage Hill Wreck
May 25, 2016
A driver fled the scene of an accident Tuesday evening in Cottage Hill. Just before 6:30 p.m., the driver lost control on Williams Ditch Road at Wishbone Road and ran into a wooded area. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Learn About Container Gardening At The Molino Library
May 25, 2016
Area residents can learn to grow a container garden Friday with Escambia County Extension and the Master Gardener volunteers.
Adults and youth can learn about containers, soils and plants to make a small, but beautiful living display.
The program will be at 10:30 Friday morning at the Molino Branch Library in the Molino Community Complex, 6450-A Highway 95A. There will be a few plants, while they last, for participants to take home.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Walnut Hill Mobile Home Fire Under Investigation
May 24, 2016
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of a mobile home fire Monday night in Walnut Hill.
Smoke was pouring from the single wide mobile home in the 100 block of Juniper Street as the first firefighters arrived on scene about 11 p.m. They were able to quickly knock down the fire, which cause heavy damage.
The mobile home was apparently unoccupied and had no electric service.
There were no injuries reported.
The Walnut Hill, Century and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Atmore Fire Department responded to the blaze.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
State Regulators, State Farm Tangle Over Insurance Policy Information
May 24, 2016
Insurance regulators are preparing for an appeals-court battle with State Farm Florida after a circuit judge blocked the release of information about the company’s property-insurance policies.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation filed a notice of appeal last week after Leon County Circuit Judge James Hankinson issued an injunction against the release of the information, which State Farm argued was a “trade secret” protected from public disclosure.
The dispute involves quarterly reports that property insurers file with the state providing information, broken down by county, about issues such as the number of policies in place at the end of each month, the total number of policies canceled, the total number of policies that are not renewed and the number of new policies written.
Regulators have long collected the information and made it publicly available, but State Farm filed a lawsuit in 2014 contending that the information is a trade secret under state law. Hankinson held a trial in March and issued a written order May 2 that said the information, known as a “Quarterly Supplemental Report,” or QUASR, is exempt from disclosure.
Hankinson wrote that a disputed issue is “whether QUASR data has value. The court finds that there is value to the QUASR data. … Accordingly, plaintiff (State Farm) has shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the QUASR data meets the definition of trade secret.”
As is common, the notice of appeal filed Thursday in the 1st District Court of Appeal does not detail the arguments that the Office of Insurance Regulation will pursue in trying to overturn Hankinson’s ruling.
But in a memorandum filed March 4 in circuit court, the Office of Insurance Regulation said it uses the data to create a “comprehensive report” based on submissions from all insurers.
“The Office (of Insurance Regulation) provides this report to the executive and legislative branches of government to inform them of overall business volumes, as well as risk exposure (i.e. wind) on both a statewide and county basis,” the document said. “The identification of market share and concentration of risk is vital information for public and governmental use — particularly in the event of a hurricane or other storm event. This information is utilized by individual consumers, press, other states and governmental bodies.”
But State Farm, in a memorandum also filed March 4, said it does not dispute that regulators should have the data but that the Office of Insurance Regulation “should not publish the data on its website and give competitors unfettered access to State Farm’s QUASR data. Moreover, there is no legislation that requires OIR to publicly disclose this data.”
“State Farm’s QUASR data possess independent economic value which provides an advantage to those who do not have it,” the company document said. “Specifically, the QUASR data reflects certain detailed information about State Farm at the county level. If a competitor was looking to write or market business in a certain county, that competitor would want to capture information related to other companies that write business in that county based on policy count and premiums written. Such information may be gleaned from reviewing State Farm’s QUASR.”
In its memorandum, however, the Office of Insurance Regulation disputed State Farm’s arguments about other insurers using the data.
“Plaintiff’s (State Farm’s) criteria for writing its business and rating, like most, if not all insurers, is based not on counties, but instead on numerous factors that must be evaluated and assessed,” the document said. “Other insurers determine risks in a manner completely different than plaintiff’s.”
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.