Fire Destroys Beulah Bar
December 15, 2015
A fire that destroyed a bar in Beulah early this morning is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The Tavern in the 8600 block of Beulah Road had closed about 2 a.m., and by about 3:30 a.m. was fully involved in fire. The building was a complete loss.
There were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Man Charged With Video Voyeurism For Recording Female In Bathroom
December 15, 2015
An Atmore man has been charged with a sex offense after allegedly video recording a female in a bathroom in Escambia County, FL.
Jeffrey William Murph, 34, allegedly hid an iPod inside a shaving bag inside a bathroom to record a female as a she used the shower and toilet. The recordings were then transferred to a thumb drive for storage, according to an arrest report.
Murph was charged with video voyeurism, a second degree felony offense. He provided an address on Howard Page Lane in Atmore when booked into the Escambia County Jail. He was released on a $20,000 bond.
Authorities did not released the age of the victim.
Challenges Pile Up Over Pot Licenses
December 15, 2015
Nurseries have filed more than a dozen challenges to the medical-marijuana licenses granted by Florida health officials, with some asking that the licensing process be put on hold until their petitions are heard in court.
As of Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline to challenge the licenses, the Department of Health had received 13 petitions, according to agency spokeswoman Mara Gambineri.
Loop’s Nursery, Plants of Ruskin, Tornello Landscape, Redlands Nursery, Alpha Foliage, Dewar’s, and McCrory’s Sunny Hill Nursery on Monday joined three other nurseries that filed petitions late last week challenging the award of the five licenses. Some of the nurseries filed multiple challenges.
A three-member panel — comprised of the health department’s Office of Compassionate Use Executive Director Christian Bax; his predecessor, Patricia Nelson; and agency accountant Ellyn Hutson — late last month named the winners of the licenses, one in each of five regions of the state. The winners were chosen from more than two dozen applications.
But the challenges question the panel’s scoring and also accuse the department of failing to give due process by not allowing the competitors to defend their presentations before the licenses were awarded.
The challenges are likely to inject yet another delay into the drawn-out attempt to get non-euphoric marijuana products, authorized by lawmakers last year, to families of children with rare forms of epilepsy. Under the law, pushed by those families, doctors can order the treatment for individuals with severe muscle spasms or cancer.
Gambineri said the department “will review each challenge and determine the best path forward to get this product to children with intractable epilepsy and people with advanced cancer. We remain focused on moving forward.”
The law authorized five dispensing organizations to grow, process and distribute marijuana that is low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD. Nurseries that have been in business for at least 30 continuous years in Florida and grow a minimum of 400,000 plants were eligible to apply for one of the five coveted licenses.
The medical marijuana applications were developed by a rare “negotiated rulemaking” committee, selected by Nelson, in February after health officials’ first stab at a rule last year was tossed by Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins.
Four of the five applicants chosen to receive a “dispensing organization” license were represented on the committee, several of the challenges point out.
“It appears that the entities that were chosen to serve on the committee were disproportionately scored higher than other applicants based on non-objective, undisclosed and unsupported factors,” lawyers for Tornello, also known as Tornello/3 Boys Farm, argued.
Tornello is one of four growers — Perkins, Tropiflora and Plants of Ruskin — challenging Alpha Foliage’s license in the Southwest region of the state. Loop’s Nursery and San Felasco are challenging the selection of winner Chestnut Hill Tree Farm in the Northeast region.
Alpha Foliage, which also applied in the Northwest region, received a “significantly lower score” on that application than its winning application in the Southwest, noted lawyers for Tornello/3Boys Farm, which came in second.
The nursery also questioned changed scores on Alpha’s and Tornello’s applications.
“There is no indication on the score cards as to the reason why the scores were changed or whether the scores were changed prior to or after the time the score cards were combined for totaling,” lawyer J. Stephen Menton wrote.
Alpha and Redlands Nursery, owned by John and Carolyn DeMott, both applied in two separate regions. Alpha filed a challenge in the Northwest region, and Redlands filed challenges in the Central and Southeast regions on Monday.
Jacksonville-based Loop’s Nursery, affiliated with the Stanley family whose “Charlotte’s Web” cannabis has become synonymous with low-THC marijuana, accused the selection panel of failing to choose the best applicant for the job.
Loop’s was “the only applications in the Northeast region that satisfies all mandatory statutory and regulatory criteria for approval,” the nursery’s lawyer Jon Moyle argued.
“Loop’s is the most dependable and most qualified applicant, and is the only applicant with the current operational infrastructure to rapidly and consistently produce high quality low-THC derivative products and to make such products widely available and accessible to qualified patients within the Northeast region,” Moyle wrote.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Blue Bell Ice Cream Returns After Recall
December 15, 2015
Blue Bell Ice Cream returned to store freezers Monday in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida and across south and central Alabama.
Blue Bell has been absent from stores since a voluntary recall April 20 due to a listeria outbreak that was linked to 10 illnesses in four states, including three deaths.
For now Blue Bell is producing five flavors of ice cream in the half gallon and pint sizes: Buttered Pecan, Cookies ’n Cream, Dutch Chocolate, Homemade Vanilla and The Great Divide. More flavors will be added in the future. 12-pak Homemade Vanilla Cups and 12-pak Homemade Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate Cups are also available in stores.
Pictured: Blue Bell Ice Cream was back in the freezer at the Piggly Wiggly in Davisville on Monday. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Gambling Deal Could Be End Of The Road For Dog, Horse Racing
December 15, 2015
Once posh destinations drawing A-list socialites, celebrities and gangsters, Florida’s dog and horse tracks are now at the center of a dispute over whether they should be allowed to do away with live racing altogether.
The issue, known as “decoupling,” is one of several key items lawmakers and industry leaders are trying to work out as they cobble together gambling legislation for the session that begins next month.
Eliminating dog and horse racing at the state’s pari-mutuels would be allowed in a $3 billion, seven-year agreement, called a “compact,” signed by Gov. Rick Scott and the Seminole Tribe of Florida last week.
But the Legislature needs to sign off on the deal, almost certain to be modified in order to get the votes required for passage in the House and the Senate.
Decoupling remains a thorny issue for lawmakers and the industry. Under current law, live races — or offering jai alai games — are required for tracks to have more lucrative operations like poker rooms or, in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, slot machines. The number of racing days varies widely.
Doing away with money-losing greyhound racing has drawn repeated legislative debates in recent years, as dog tracks are widely viewed as a dying industry, kept afloat by tax breaks and poker rooms — or slots — that put the facilities in the black.
But across-the-board decoupling of dogs and horses, as permitted under the compact, is more complicated, according to House Regulatory Affairs Chairman Jose Felix Diaz, the chamber’s chief negotiator on the gambling deal with the Seminoles and the lead on gambling legislation.
“There’s some (legislators) that would be OK with decoupling all horses. There’s some that would be OK with decoupling most horses but not thoroughbreds. It does get a little stickier when it comes to horses,” Diaz, R-Miami, said.
Only three tracks — Gulfstream Park, Calder Race Course and Tampa Bay Downs — now run thoroughbreds.
Last year, The Stronach Group, the company that runs Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, took over racing operations at Calder, owned by Churchill Downs, in nearby Miami Gardens. Calder leases its racetrack to The Stronach Group, which operates racing under Calder’s permits.
But now, Calder wants to get out of the horse-racing business altogether, while keeping its slot machines and hoping to re-establish its card room.
Calder would continue to steer money from its slot machine earnings toward purses for horse races, pursuant to its contracts with the horsemen and breeders, according to Calder lobbyist Wilbur Brewton.
Attendance for the horse races is down dramatically at the Miami Gardens track, Brewton said.
“It’s just wrong to continue to require racing at facilities so they can lose a substantial sum of money doing it. It’s like you have two franchises for McDonald’s and one is losing money and the other isn’t, but they say you have to keep both of them open,” he said.
But the horse industry is dead set against the idea of letting tracks drop the races.
“This is just a money grab by the casinos. That’s all it is,” said Joe Pennacchio, executive director and president of the Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association. “Maybe if they traded horses for blackjack tables, they may make more money. But that’s not how they got their permit. They got their permit because they agreed to race horses. My point is if you don’t want to race horses, that’s fine. Just give the permit back.”
In Central Florida, the horse breeding and training industry provides thousands of jobs and injects billions of dollars into the state’s economy, Pennacchio said.
“There are some legislators who are emotionally invested in getting rid of the dog racing. I understand that. But to even think for a second that you would lump horses in with that is preposterous,” he said.
The economic and political heft of the horse industry is likely to doom across-the-board decoupling.
But Diaz said that any legislation would “take care” of Calder, if horse decoupling is not included in the bill.
“I look at it as a matter of equity. It’s difficult to decouple everybody except for one and not listen to the one that is being excluded. So if everybody gets decoupled except for thoroughbreds, then there needs to be some considerations for those tracks that are not being decoupled but would like to be,” he said. “I think it would be unjust to start picking winners and losers. So if that’s what ultimately happens because that’s where the votes are, then those losers would need to have something done that would alleviate some of their concerns if we want to pass an equitable deal.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Century To Consider Forming Community Redevelopment Agency
December 15, 2015
The Town of Century will early next year consider forming a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).
Upon declaration of an area as blighted, the CRA works to improve conditions. As property tax values rise, any increase is funneled back into the redevelopment area for further improvements. Additional tax incentive and redevelopment funds are available within a CRA.
There are currently eight other redevelopment districts in Escambia County — Barrancas, Brownsville, Cantonment, Englewood, Ensley, Oakfield, Palafox and Warrington — and three within the City of Pensacola.
The Century Town Council will hold a special meeting on January 14, 2016, at 5:30 p.m. to learn more about possibly forming a CRA.
Grinch Steals Salvation Army Red Kettle Cash
December 14, 2015
This is a true story about a Grinch who stole Christmas.
Around 5 p.m. on Saturday , a man tried to pick up a Salvation Army kettle filled with money near the entrance to Cordova Mall. The man told a volunteer he was collecting the kettle on behalf of the Salvation Army, but when the volunteer asked for identification, the man left and didn’t return.
But the suspect wasn’t done.
Around 5:20 p.m. Saturday he went to Sam’s Club and collected two kettles from volunteers. The suspect, who was wearing a red apron similar to one worn by Salvation Army volunteers, said he was early because the Army’s van had broken down.
According to Officer Amanda Woods, the suspect even joined in singing along with the volunteers in an effort to not raise their suspicions.
The suspect was described as a black male wearing a red apron. He was about 5 feet 8 inches tall and medium size in build.
The two kettles contained an undisclosed amount of cash.
Anyone having information on the incident is asked to contact the Pensacola Police Department at (850) 435-1900 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Suspect Arrested, Details Released In Cantonment Double Murder
December 14, 2015
Two people were shot and killed inside a Cantonment home Sunday night, and a suspect is now jailed for the double murder.
Chad Mark Fontenot, age 45 of Cantonment, was charged with two counts for first degree premeditated murder.
After receiving a 911 call about 8:15 p.m. reporting the shooting, deputies arrived at the home in the 900 block of Jacks Branch Road to find Fontenot standing the garage where he was taken into custody without incident.
Inside the home, deputies discovered the bodies of Wendell Dwayne Nichols, age 50 of Cantonment, on the living room couch and Kim M. Boswell, age 46 of Cantonment, in a bedroom. Both were pronounced deceased at the scene.
Fontenot was transported to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office to be interviewed after telling he deputies that he knew what he did and was willing to cooperate, according to an arrest report. He requested a lawyer once at the Sheriff’s Office, ending the interview.
Nichols’ girlfriend told deputies that she had been dating him for about two weeks and he was living with Boswell while he recuperating from a recent injury. The witness said Boswell and Fontenot were in a relationship, but they were constantly arguing and that Fontenot was very controlling and aggressive with Boswell. Nichols’ girlfriend said she received a text from him about 4 p.m. saying that he was sick of hearing Boswell and Fontenot argue and that he wished he had never moved in.
Nichols’ girlfriend called him at 8 p.m. and spoke for him for just under eight minutes. She told investigators that she heard a loud bang, a woman screaming and then the phone disconnected. She attempted to call Nichols and Boswell several times without success.
When investigators searched the home, they found a revolver sitting on top of freezer in the garage. The revolver contained four spent casings and five unspent casings, according to an arrest report.
Fontenot remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond.
For additional photos from the scene, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Molino Falls In Love With ‘KC The Library Cat’
December 14, 2015
Molino has fallen in love with KC MeowMeow the Library Cat…the resident cat at the Molino Branch Library.
He goes by the nickname “KC” and, well, basically rules his outdoor domain around the library. He’s quite the hit with library and Molino Community Complex visitors. During his NorthEscambia.com photo shoot, several children arrived at the library with their parents. The first stop was not the children’s book section, but around the outside of the library calling KC for a little love and attention. Once the children gained his approval for a petting well done, the kids were off for the library’s children’s section.
Library employees and patrons have raised the money for KC’s care and daily feedings. He has been to the vet where he was neutered and has had all of his shots. When we had our last cold weather, patrons became concerned that he was out in the cold, but a donor provided him with a small heated house.
KC provides outdoor security and mousing services for the library and can often be found at the side entrance serving as official greeter.
KC is also a hit with the children at the neighboring Head Start program.
Pictured above and below: KC The Library cat at the Molino Branch Library. Pictured bottom (submitted photo): A heated cat house was donated to keep KC warm on cold Molino nights. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
County Moving Forward Toward New Beulah Fire Station
December 14, 2015
Escambia County is moving forward toward new fire station for the Beulah community.
The Escambia County Commission has approved the purchase of the current 6,000 square foot fire station on six acres on West Nine Mile Road from the Beulah Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. for $300,000. The purchase price was the average of two appraisals for the county.
The county plans to replace the aging Beulah Fire Station with a modern facility, using Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds.
Unless most other county fire stations, the Beulah station has no showers, no bunk room or other facilities for firefighters to sleep as they man the station.
Current firefighters describe the station as a “big shed” that proved its inadequacies during the flooding last year and previous hurricanes. Many of Beulah’s 20 volunteer firefighters were crammed inside with no showers and no place to sleep.
Pictured top and inset: The current Beulah Fire Station on West Nine Mile Road. Picture below: Paint peels from the aging ceiling over trucks in the department’s bays. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
