Northview Chiefs Honor Football Best During Banquet
February 5, 2016
The Northview Chiefs honored the best of their 2015 season Thursday night during their annual football banquet.
Pictured top: The Chief Award was presented to Jared Aliff and Dustin Bethea.
(Scroll down for additional awards listed below photos.)
Offensive Awards were presented to Hunter Cofield, Luke Ward and Tony Harris.
Defensive Awards were presented to Zachary Hollad, Jacob Weaver and MJ Jones.
Pictured: Seniors were also honored. (L-R) Tyler Berry, Zach Steele, LaDarius Thames, I’siah Dunn, Jacob Dunsford and Zachary Holland. Photos by Melissa Ward for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Alimony Overhaul On The Move In Florida House
February 5, 2016
A House panel signed off Thursday on a proposal that would overhaul the state’s alimony laws by doing away with permanent alimony and creating a formula based on the length of marriage and the incomes of both spouses to determine payments.
Years in the making, the measure has the blessing of alimony reform advocates and the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar.
A nearly identical measure fell apart during the final days of last spring’s shortened legislative session after the two sides — once at odds over alimony reform — had reached a compromise.
The effort got enmeshed last year in an acrimonious battle between two powerful Republican lawmakers — Senate budget chief Tom Lee and House Rules Chairman Ritch Workman — over whether the proposal should also address time-sharing of children between divorcing parents, something Lee wanted. Workman said the time-sharing issue killed the deal, but Lee disputed that was the reason for the bill’s demise.
On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee approved its version of this year’s measure (HB 455) — which doesn’t include the time-sharing element — in a 14-3 vote after hearing emotional testimony from divorced spouses on both sides of the issue.
Rep. Colleen Burton, the bill’s sponsor, said the changes are needed to provide certainty when couples are divorcing.
“This is a bill that, across our state, provides a framework that provides wherever you live in the state, you walk in and can ensure you’ll receive equal treatment no matter where you are,” Burton, R-Lakeland, said.
Burton’s proposal would eliminate certain types of alimony, known as bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational and permanent alimony. It would also change what are now considered short-term, mid-term and long-term marriages. Under the new plan, the category of mid-term marriages would be eliminated and long-term marriages, now defined as 17 years or longer, would apply to unions of 20 years or more.
The formula for the duration of alimony payments would be based on the number of years of marriage, while the amount of the payments would rely on a couple’s gross income — the higher earner’s salary minus the earnings of the spouse seeking alimony — and would set the length of time for alimony payments.
Divorcing spouses who have been married for less than two years would not be eligible for alimony, unless a judge gives written findings for an exception.
The bill does not include a retroactivity provision that prompted Gov. Rick Scott to veto an alimony-reform measure three years ago.
Representing the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Tampa lawyer Joe Hunt said judges throughout the state, or even within the same county, make different alimony decisions even when given the same sets of facts.
The proposal “provides guidelines that are well overdue,” Hunt said.
But critics object that the changes would hurt older women, who stayed at home to raise children and then have a hard time finding jobs.
Shelly Moxon Lehman told the panel she was a domestic-abuse victim who was married for 18 years before getting divorced. Other women might stay in abusive relationships if they aren’t able to get financial support from ex-husbands, Lehman warned.
Lehman, 56, said she’s out of work, although she has a college degree.
“I was stuck raising our children by myself. … And now I am destitute. I’m on food stamps,” she said.
Family Law Reform founder Alan Frisher, who’s been fighting for eight years to get the law changed, said he was hopeful that lawmakers would pass this year’s proposed overhaul.
“Luckily, everybody’s playing nicely in the sandbox,” Frisher said after the meeting.
And the Bar’s family law section lobbyist, Nelson Diaz, said he believes the proposal will also get Scott’s blessing.
Three out of five Democrats on the committee supported the measure, Diaz noted.
“I haven’t gotten assurances from the governor, but I think he can be persuaded to sign it,” Diaz said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to give that chamber’s proposal (SB 668), which includes a modified version of the time-sharing component, an initial vetting on Tuesday.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Tate High’s Jones Signs With Alabama Southern Softball
February 5, 2016
Tate High School senior Meagan Jones has signed to play softball with Alabama Southern Community College in Monroeville, AL. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate High’s Payne Signs With Morehouse College
February 5, 2016
Tate High School senior Reginald Payne signed Thursday with Morehouse College in Atlanta, an affiliate of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). Photo courtesy Tate Football for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Getting Out Of A Tight Space: Confined Space Rescue Training
February 4, 2016
Escambia County Fire Rescue first responders learned about getting out of a tight spot — a really tight spot – during training held at Ascend Performance Materials in Cantonment.
Members of Escambia County Fire Rescue’s Special Operations team from Brent’s Station 3 and “Ladder 12″ from the Osceola Fire Station worked their way through the training, which included successfully getting into, and out of, a pipe that was barely shoulder-width. The training included setting up the necessary rope and rigging to enter the confined space, with am emphasis on safety.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lawmakers Look At Revamping Prison Vocational Programs
February 4, 2016
A House panel Wednesday approved a proposal that would make a major change in programs that provide job training to prison inmates.
The bill (HB 1229), filed by House Judiciary Chairman Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, would take the programs away from the non-profit Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc., and put them under the Department of Corrections.
The non-profit, commonly known as PRIDE, was created in the 1980s to manage the programs, which sell goods and services produced by inmates.
McBurney told the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee that he has received complaints from other lawmakers about PRIDE, which a House staff analysis said “has drawn mixed reviews for generating significant profits while failing to increase the number of inmates participating” in work programs.
“It’s time to do a change,” McBurney said. “The Department of Corrections could do it better.”
But Wilbur Brewton, a lobbyist for PRIDE, cited statistics about inmates who move into jobs when they are released from prison and said PRIDE does not rely on state funding. “It now costs the state zero to take care of this issue,” Brewton said. The Criminal Justice Subcommittee approved the bill, which still would need to clear two more House committees.
A Senate version (SB 1606), filed by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, has not been heard in committees.
by The News Service of Florida
Flood Warning For Escambia River
February 4, 2016
A flood warning for the Escambia River at Century has been extended until Sunday morning.
The river is expected to rise above flood stage of 17 feet Friday evening and continue to rise near 17.1 feet by early Saturday morning. The river will fall below flood stage by Sunday morning. At 17 feet, considerable flooding of lowlands will occur.
Pictured: The Escambia River floods the road approaching Fischer’s Landing. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Nurseries Seek To Block Pot Production
February 4, 2016
In the latest twist in a nearly two-year struggle to offer limited types of medical-marijuana in Florida, three nurseries filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to at least temporarily block competitors from starting to produce the cannabis.
The lawsuit, filed in Leon County circuit court, stems from a November decision by the Florida Department of Health to award highly prized licenses to five “dispensing organizations” in different regions of the state. The dispensing organizations would grow, process and distribute non-euphoric types of marijuana approved by the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.
But the selection of the dispensing organizations drew a series of legal challenges in the state Division of Administrative Hearings. Amid the pending challenges, the Department of Health and the chosen dispensing organizations told lawmakers last month they planned to move forward with starting production.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by San Felasco Nurseries Inc., 3 Boys Farm Company and McCrory’s Sunny Hill Nursery, LLC, seeks an injunction to prevent the process from moving forward until the administrative challenges are resolved. Along with the Department of Health, the lawsuit names as defendants Chestnut Hill Tree Farm, LLC, which was awarded a license in the Northeast part of the state; Alpha Foliage, Inc., which was awarded a license in Southwest Florida; and Knox Nursery, LLC, which was awarded a license in Central Florida.
The plaintiffs contend that Chestnut Hill, Alpha Foliage and Knox Nursery should not be able to operate as dispensing organizations while the administrative challenges remain unresolved. Also the lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent the department from moving forward with the process.
“To allow the prospective awardees to proceed with the cultivation and dispensing of a controlled substance prior to the resolution of the pending administrative challenges would defeat the intent and purpose of the APA (the Administrative Procedures Act, which governs administrative challenges) and potentially deny plaintiffs their administrative and due process rights,” the lawsuit said. “Moreover, organizations whose qualifications have not been finally determined, and whose representations on applications have in some instances been challenged, will be allowed to begin growing and dispensing a controlled substance, even though subsequent proceedings may lead to a determination they do not meet qualifications and they are not eligible for or entitled to serving as dispensing organizations.”
Lawmakers approved the limited types of marijuana in 2014 after high-profile lobbying by parents of children with severe forms of epilepsy. The approved substances, which are low in euphoria-causing THC, are different than other types of marijuana that get users high.
Lawmakers in recent months have grown increasingly frustrated with delays in getting the substances to patients who qualify. The process was delayed by other legal challenges before the licenses were awarded.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday came less than a week after Chestnut Hill filed a lawsuit in Leon County circuit court asking a judge to allow the process to move forward during the administrative challenges. In a prepared statement issued when the lawsuit was filed, Chestnut Hill attorney John Lockwood said it was seeking a declaration that would “eliminate the doubt and uncertainty that has been created by the losing applicants.”
“Chestnut Hill has done their due diligence and has aptly won the approval to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana in Northeast Florida,” Lockwood said. “There is no precedent or legal reason to stop this process from moving forward, and Chestnut Hill is more than ready and able to deliver this medicine in a timely manner and in accordance with the award.”
In a news release Tuesday, Jim McKee, an attorney for San Felasco Nurseries, said the new lawsuit would not prevent patients from getting the low-THC marijuana because Costa Farms, which was selected for a license in the Southeast region, does not face any pending challenges.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Four Tate Seniors Sign With Same Kansas College
February 4, 2016
Four Tate High School seniors signed their letters of intent Wednesday for full scholarships at the same Kansas school. Monty Brown, Dee Thompson, Alonte Thompson, Alondo Thompkins all signed with Independence Community College in Independence, KS. The ICC Pirates are members of the National Junior College Athletic Association and the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. Photos by Tina Decoux for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
House Backs Gun Bills, But ‘Trouble’ Is Ahead In Senate
February 4, 2016
After more than three hours of debate — with most Republicans in favor and nearly all Democrats opposed — the House approved a pair of controversial gun-related measures Wednesday that may never reach the Senate floor.
The House spent more than 80 minutes arguing the merits of a proposal (HB 4001) that would allow the more than 1.4 million Floridians with concealed-weapons licenses to pack heat while on state college and university campuses.
The measure passed 80-37 with Tallahassee Democrat Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, who co-sponsored the bill, joining all but two Republicans — Reps. Ray Pilon of Sarasota and Bill Hager of Delray Beach — in support. Two Democrats who were initially recorded as supporting the bill later changed their votes to oppose it.
Another 100 minutes was spent on a separate proposal (HB 163) that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to openly display their sidearms in public, something banned in Florida since the concealed-weapons law was established in 1987
“We have no constitutional basis to infringe upon the rights of a Floridian to openly carry,” said Rep Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach who sponsored the open-carry measure, which was approved 80-38. “We are for more rights for everyone. We are for more freedom for everyone. We are for more liberty for everyone.”
The proposal would require people who openly carry to maintain the guns in holsters, cases or bags. The bill would also acknowledge that private employers can display written notices stating that possession of firearms on their property is prohibited.
Rehwinkel Vasilinda again joined the GOP majority in support of the bill. Republicans Keith Perry of Gainesville and Chris Latvala of Clearwater voted against open-carry.
Opponent Ed Narain, a Tampa Democrat who recalled at age 12 having a gun put in his face while being robbed of bus money, said lawmakers shouldn’t let fear drive decision-making.
“We don’t need to resolve every dispute we have with a bullet, we’re better than that,” Narain said. “We can defend our communities without giving a gun to every Rambo or John Wayne to openly carry in public.”
An amendment added Tuesday to the open-carry bill also would let lawmakers with concealed-carry licenses hang on to their guns during legislative meetings and on the House and Senate floor. State law prohibits people from carrying guns during legislative committee meetings.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, said the proposal to allow lawmakers to carry guns during legislative meetings could lessen the chances of the overall open-carry bill succeeding in the Senate.
“Just a guess of mine, without talking to anyone in the Senate, this bill is already hostile to begin with over there, and now add to the fact that they can carry guns in the Senate chamber, I hoping that that turns out to be poison pill,” Moskowitz sad.
Before the House voted on the bills, Senate President Andy Gardiner reiterated his belief that both the open-carry and campus-carry measures “are in trouble.” Neither has made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Miami Republican Miguel Diaz de la Portilla.
“They’re in Judiciary, and I allow the chairs to make the decisions on what bills they want to hear,” Gardiner said. “Sen. Diaz de la Portilla has already decided not to hear the campus-carry bill. It was his decision. And now I think he has some concerns about open-carry.”
The Senate version of open-carry (SB 300) may be heard by the Judiciary Committee next week.
Diaz de la Portilla has said he’s open to considering amendments that could draw opposition from Second Amendment groups. That includes proposals by the Florida Sheriffs Association related to inadvertent or accidental displays of firearms. The sheriffs’ proposals wouldn’t allow open-carry and have been opposed by gun-rights groups.
The Florida Police Chiefs Association and some county sheriffs support have shown support for open-carry,
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said after Wednesday’s meeting the House doesn’t advance bills based upon what the Senate may or may not do.
“Our job is to focus on the priorities of the House, and this House has shown in history to be conservative on gun issues and very supportive of Second Amendment rights,” Crisafulli said. “We feel that we passed a couple of good bills to send over to the Senate, and we’ll see what happens from there.”
Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, said while discussing the campus-carry issue that there hasn’t been an increase in accidental discharges of guns or the “wild, wild west” scenarios that opponents have forecast, even as the number of people with concealed-weapons licenses has grown in Florida.
“This fear-mongering of allowing a mature adult to make an adult decision has to stop,” Smith said.
Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, said allowing concealed-weapons license holders, who must be at least 21 years old, to have guns on campus would allow women to defend themselves from assaults.
But Democrats pointed to the stress of college life, which also includes widespread use of alcohol. They argued lawmakers should instead increase funding for training of campus security and for mental-health services.
“We continue to inject more and more guns into our society,” said Rep. Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg. “This is a recipe for disaster.”
Rep. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat who passionately implored members to not “let this bullet leave this chamber,” worried that the bills will make it tough for police to differentiate good guys from bad guys, and that shootings on campuses will become “commonplace.”
“Will we become numb to guns on campus and fights that break out and lives that are taken?” Rouson said. “That’s what I fear.”
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida