Firefighter’s Home Heavily Damaged By Fire
February 26, 2016
Fire heavily damaged the home of a Flomaton fireman late Thursday morning.
The mobile home fire in the 1700 block of Jordan Road just outside Flomaton possibly originated with a clothes dryer, according to Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton.
No one was home at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries.
The Flomaton, Friendship and Pineview fire departments from Alabama and the Century and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were all dispatched to the blaze.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Fracking Bill Stalls In Senate Committee But Could Return
February 26, 2016
A controversial bill about the regulation of “fracking” in Florida stalled Thursday in a key Senate committee but could return next week.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 10-9 against the measure (SB 318), filed by Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples. Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R- Fort Myers, then moved to reconsider the bill, a procedural move that kept it alive.
Committee Chairman Tom Lee, a Bandon Republican who voted for the measure, said he is inclined to put it on the agenda for a meeting Tuesday. A House version (HB 191), filed by Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, was approved in a 73-45 vote last month
“It probably would be my tendency to re-agenda the bill, unless Senator Richter does not want to do that,” Lee said after the meeting. “But we would only hear the bill if there was some kind of compromise worked out that would change the outcome.”
The bill would set up a state permitting process for fracking, a method of drilling that involves injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to create fractures in rock formations, allowing natural gas and oil to be released.
Among other things, the bill would require companies to inform the state Department of Environmental Protection of chemicals they inject into the ground, although with some restrictions. Also, the bill would set aside $1 million for a study on the impact of fracking, with a temporary moratorium until the study is completed and the Legislature can act.
“A study removes the emotion and permits science to drive the issue,” Richter said. “I want science driving the issue.”
The bill is backed by the Florida Petroleum Council, Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce. It is opposed by environmental groups and dozens of local governments that have approved fracking bans. Among the bill’s most-controversial provisions is that it would only allow the state to impose a ban.
“The citizens and local governments recognize … the bill’s intent is to pave the way for fracking in Florida in the future,” the group Floridians Against Fracking said in a statement after the vote.
Thursday’s discussion, which lasted more than two hours, included testimony from officials including Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jon Steverson and Deputy Secretary Paula Cobb, who oversees regulatory programs. That part of the meeting centered on whether the state already has the authority to regulate fracking without passing the bill.
For instance, Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, asked Cobb if the department had ever denied a permit to drill a well, and under what circumstances. Fracking is widespread in other parts of the country, with critics alleging that it has effects such as contaminating water.
“Now, I can’t imagine anything worse than what I’ve heard about fracking,” Montford said. “So if we can deny it for (another) reason, why can’t we deny that same permit for information and data and scientific research that’s already been done on fracking?”
Cobb said the department would have to base any denial on specific criteria in the law.
“We as an agency can’t just deny a permit because we feel like it,” she said. “We have to follow the law.” And specifically in the oil and gas statutes, she said, “There is a requirement in that law that says we have to have valid reasons, based on permitting criteria, to deny those permits. And so how I would distinguish that framework from what we have with hydraulic fracturing is I don’t have anything specific in law today which would provide me with criteria to deny a permit.”
Montford noted that other states have had difficulties with fracking. “Can’t we rely on that information, that scientific data … to make a decision in Florida that we can deny this well permit?” he asked. “You don’t have that legal authority to do that today?”
“We don’t currently have in the statute … the ability to require a separate permit for this activity,” Cobb replied.
In debate, Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said the department was “tap-dancing” on the question.
Lee said he had similar questions but would give Richter the benefit of the doubt.
“Everybody who spoke against this bill asked for a ban,” Richter said. “A ‘no’ vote does not get you a ban.”
After the meeting, Sen. Darren Soto, an Orlando Democrat who has sought to pass a fracking ban, said opponents will try to prevent the bill from getting out of the Appropriations Committee.
“There’s a small chance this could come back, but it’s all but dead,” Sierra Club Florida lobbyist Dave Cullen said. “I don’t think the legislators have the stomach for this bill. Voters will remember fracking at the polls.”
Wins For Tate, Northview
February 26, 2016
Thursday scores:
Tate 8, Crestview 0
The Tate Aggies beat Crestview Thursday night in Cantonment, 8-0. All eight of Tate’s points came in the second inning.
Jake Davis pitched five innings for Tate, allowing no runs and just three hits and striking out four.
Tate hitters were: josh Kea 1-2, 3 RBI, 2 R; Logan Blackmon 1-2, RBI, R; Hunter NeSmith 1-2, 2 RBI, R; Brandon Fryman 1-4; Mason Land 2-2, RBI, R.
The Tate Aggies will host Milton on Friday at 6 p.m.
Northview 5, Baker 3
Northview 10, Baker 3 (JV)
The Northview Chiefs took two from Baker Thursday, with the varsity winning 5-3 and the JV topping the Gators 10-3.
SOFTBALL
Northview 6, Catholic 1
The Northview Chiefs beat Catholic 6-1 Thursday night. Northview’s Tori Herrington struck out 14 Crusaders for the Northview win. Herrington pitched seven, allowing one hit, no walks and no earned runs. At bat, she was 1-4 with a triple and a run.
Daphne Young went 3-3 with a run. Aubree Love was 1-4 with 2 RBI’s. Laurie Purdy was 1-4 with an RBI. Kendall Enfinger went 1-4 and Lydia Smith was 1-3.
Northview will host Freeport Friday night with the JV playing at 4:00 and varsity at 6:00.
Pictured: Northview beats Baker Thursday night in Baker. NorthEscambia.com photos by Ramona Preston, click to enlarge.
Gov. Rick Scott Tours Tornado Damage In Century, Pensacola (With Photo Gallery)
February 25, 2016
After touring Tuesday night’s tornado damage in Pensacola, Gov. Rick Scott headed north to see the recovery efforts from last week’s EF-3 tornado in Century.
The governor walked through the hardest hit areas, stopping to talk with residents and recovery workers. He was accompanied by an entourage of officials, including Mayor Freddie McCall, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, Sheriff David Morgan, County Administrator Jack Brown, Commissioner Steven Barry, Century Council President Ben Boutwell and others.
“We have declared a state of emergency, and we are providing some emergency funds from the state. I know the county is doing their part….everybody is doing their part,” Scott told NorthEscambia.com. The amount of damage from the Century area tornado does not meet the threshold for FEMA funding, but state housing dollars may become available.
Scott spent about 45 minutes walking several streets in Century. Several residents met Scott outside their damaged homes. Some seemed surprised to see the governor and welcomed him, while others questioned why it took over a week, and a second disaster in Pensacola, for him to visit. Along the way, he asked residents about their well-being, and if they had the basics like food, power and water.
He asked about the age of the houses, particularly on Front Street, where he was told the homes date back about a hundred years when they were built by the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company. He stopped by the Century Pharmacy and met with Pharmacist Julie Booth, and made his away inside the Methodist church knocked off of its foundation by the tornado.
“You just feel sorry for each of these individuals, and we are blessed that nobody died. We want to do what we can to help them get their lives back in order. But you just feel so sorry for them, Scott said.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured above: Century Mayor Freddie McCall, Gov. Rick Scott and Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown look at tornado recovery efforts on Front Street in Century. NorthEscambia.com photo.
Pensacola Tornado Was EF-3 (With Photo Gallery)
February 25, 2016
The tornado that struck Pensacola Tuesday night has been rated as an EF-3 with maximum winds of 155 mph over an eight mile path that was up 300 yards wide, according to the National Weather Service in Mobile. It was the second EF-3 tornado in Escambia County in eight days, with a similar tornado hitting the Century area on February 15.
Only three other F-3 tornadoes have ever been recorded in Escambia County. Rated on the old F scale rather than EF, the F-3 tornadoes hit in 1956, 1967 and 1971.
For more photos, including aerial photos, click here.
For a photo gallery from the aftermath of Tuesday’s Pensacola EF-3 tornado, click here.
Photo courtesy: Escambia County, Escambia County Fire Rescue, City of Pensacola and Kristi Price for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photo Blown Away During Century Tornado Found 50 Miles Away
February 25, 2016
A picture ripped from a home in Century during last week’s EF-3 tornado has been found over 50 miles away in southern Alabama. Brian Jones of McKenzie, AL, told Montgomery TV station WSFA that he found the picture in a wooded area. He posted it on social media, and the connection was made to Ashley Brown of Century. Brown, her cousin and their children rode out the tornado in a closet as most of the home was destroyed.
Jones said he plans to frame the photo and deliver it one day back to Century.
Pictured below: Ashely Brown’s home in Century, 50 miles from where a photo from the home was found in Alabama. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
House Gambling Bill Could Get Overhaul
February 25, 2016
House Finance and Tax Chairman Matt Gaetz is pushing changes that would match up a House gambling proposal with an even more-expansive Senate bill, but aligning the two packages may not be enough to keep the measure rolling in the Senate.
Gaetz said Wednesday morning he plans to introduce a sweeping amendment to the House proposal at his committee’s meeting next week.
The House’s plan currently complements an agreement, called a “compact,” with the Seminole Tribe, struck by tribal leaders and Gov. Rick Scott. Under the compact signed in December, the tribe would be allowed to add craps and roulette to its casino operations in exchange for $3 billion in payments to the state over seven years.
Scott’s agreement with the tribe would also open the door for slots at the Palm Beach Kennel Club and at a new facility in Miami-Dade County, items included in the House plan.
Gaetz’s proposal will mirror one, approved by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee last week, that would allow slot machines in at least five counties where voters have approved them, with more on the horizon. Along with Palm Beach, those counties are Brevard, Gadsden, Lee and Washington.
Like the Senate plan, Gaetz also intends to add language that would require the compact to recognize that fantasy sports — which face allegations of illegal gambling — are legal in Florida. The plan would also allow dog and horse tracks, as well as jai alai operators, to discontinue live races or matches while keeping more lucrative cardrooms or slots, a process known as decoupling.
“It’s time for both chambers to start moving toward one another,” Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said in an interview Wednesday.
But Senate leaders remained skeptical about the future of their chamber’s plan, with time running out before the March 11 scheduled end of the legislative session.
“I don’t know how we unwind it. I think it ends up sitting in committee,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, told The News Service of Florida on Wednesday. Galvano was instrumental in hashing out a deal with the Seminoles in 2010.
The changes folded into the Senate bill last week would require new negotiations with the Seminoles and could negatively affect the $3 billion revenue share pledged by the tribe. Federal law requires that tribes have “exclusivity” regarding some aspect of gambling in order to justify revenue-sharing agreements with states.
“Because so much of the oxygen is being sucked up by (discussions about) the budget, I think that makes it more difficult for the Senate and the House to work through a complicated gaming bill,” Senate Regulated Industries Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said Wednesday. “It’s complicated as a stand-alone, but when you add into the fact that we still don’t have allocations and we still don’t have the dates for (budget) conference, I think that makes it a real challenge right now.”
Expanding the number of facilities that could have slots would impact the tribe’s “exclusivity” over the games, currently limited to pari-mutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties in addition to the Seminoles’ operations.
The tribe is suing the state in federal court, alleging that gambling regulators have approved pari-mutuel activities that violate a 2010 compact giving the tribe exclusive rights to operate blackjack at most of its casinos. The portion of the compact dealing with the card games expired last summer, but the tribe continues to operate the games.
While the Senate plan would allow the tribe to have exclusive rights to operate craps and roulette, it remains unclear how much the Seminoles would be willing to pay the state if slots are added at more pari-mutuels.
“I’m not interested in any erosion of the tribe’s revenue given to the state,” Gaetz said, adding that the tribe “badly needs” the compact.
“They’re building a national and global brand. They’re trying to demonstrate to other states around the country that they’re good corporate citizens and good partners. I believe that litigation and conflict with the state of Florida is not a good thing for the tribe,” he said.
Apart from the senators’ gloomy prospects for the gambling package, Gaetz said Wednesday he didn’t know yet whether he had the support to move it to the House floor for a full vote.
“I don’t even have a product, much less a vote count,” he said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
CSX Crossing Work In North Escambia Concludes
February 25, 2016
Work is now complete on over a dozen North Escambia railroad crossings, and they are all back open.
CSX closed the North Escambia crossings as part of its network-wide crossing maintenance program beginning last week. CSX engineering crews installed new rail ties, resurfaced crossings and repaved them with asphalt.
The crossings that were updated included:
- Highway 4
- Cottage Street
- McCurdy Road
- Hecker Road
- Front Street
- East Pond Street
- Jefferson Avenue
- Salters Lake Road
- Bluff Springs Road
- Courtney Road
- Mystic Springs Road
- East Bogia Road
- Cotton Lake Road
Pictured top: Repairs were made to the Hecker Road crossing in Century late last month. Pictured below: East Highway 4’s railroad crossing was also included in the upgrades. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Celebrates National FFA Week With Breakfast
February 25, 2016
FFA members at Northview High School are celebrating National FFA Week with a variety of events. Wednesday, the FFA officers and members prepared a homestyle breakfast for teachers, staff and invited guests that support the FFA program. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
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Driver Plows Into Building
February 25, 2016
An elderly Santa Rosa County resident was charged with careless driving after colliding with a building on McLemore Drive.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 84-year old Emile H. Luquet of Milton drove a 2010 Subaru Outback into the TestAmerica building. Luquet told the FHP the accelerator became stuck. Luquet was not injured, and there were no injuries reported in the building.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
