Northview Mini Cheerleader Camp Begins Monday
November 29, 2015
The Northview High School Cheerleaders will hold a mini-cheerleader camp this Monday and Tuesday from 3:30-5:30 in the school gym.
The camp is $15. Girls may wear the mini-cheerleader shirts from football season or any white shirt. They will cheer with the Northview cheerleaders during the December 3 “white out” basketball games as Northview hosts Jay.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Forest Service Does Battle With Invasive Cogongrass
November 29, 2015
Listed as one of the world’s worst weeds, cogongrass is throughout Escambia County and the Gulf Coast. County, state and private landowners are attempting to stop its spread. Information and programs are available to those who are willing to join in the fight.
Cogongrass is not the only invasive plant in our area, but it is arguably one of the worst. For instance, cogongrass can easily choke out native plants and grasses and prevent the establishment of trees. It also changes fire behavior making prescribed burning more difficult and wildfires burn much hotter. It reduces habitat for native wildlife and is not normally used as a food source by wildlife or livestock.
Many private landowners are treating cogongrass using herbicides, disking and planting other vegetation. Some of these landowners have received treatment recommendations from a Florida Forest Service’s County Forester or other professional. Additionally, approximately 130 acres of cogongrass on private land was treated through state or federal cost sharing programs. Escambia County’s Division of Natural Resource Conservation recently received a grant to begin treating county rights of way. Florida Department of Transportation treats cogongrass on state rights of way.
Because of its aggressive, invasive nature, it is illegal to sell, transport or plant cogongrass. It is spread by seed or rhizomes and readily invades disturbed sites, such as construction sites, timber harvests, crop fields or road edges. In addition to natural means of dispersal, seeds and rhizomes are often unwittingly spread by equipment working in or driving through cogongrass.
Help prevent the spread of cogongrass by cleaning equipment before moving it to another location if it has been used in an infested area. Do not use cogongrass in landscaping and be careful about the source of fill dirt and mulch. Plant disturbed areas in native vegetation as soon as possible. More information about cogongrass can be found at http://bit.ly/1GLFXy4 .
If you have cogongrass and need help fighting, the Florida Forest Service is taking applications for the Cogongrass Treatment Cost Share program. For more information on that program, call the Escambia County Forester at (850) 587-5237.
Cathy Hardin works for the Florida Forest Service as the Escambia County Forester. She has 11 years of experience with the state and a degree in Forest Resource Conservation from the University of Florida. This article is part of a quarterly series highlighting forestry practices and programs focused on our area.
Despite Gains, Florida Still Has High Rate Of Uninsured Kids
November 29, 2015
The number of uninsured children in the U.S. has dropped to a “historic low” under the federal Affordable Care Act — but Florida, while showing improvement, still has one of the highest rates of children without coverage.
A report released by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families found that in 2014 — the first year for which numbers were available on the impact of the law known as Obamacare — 6 percent of U.S. children were uninsured, down from 7.1 percent in 2013.
In Florida, 9.3 percent of children were uninsured, down from 11.1 percent in 2013, said the report, which was based on U.S. Census data. Roughly 378,000 Floridians under age 18 lacked health care coverage in 2014, down from more than 445,000 the year before.
Florida went from being ranked 49th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2013 to 46th in 2014 for its overall percentage of uninsured children.
“It (the rate) is the lowest in the six years’ worth of data that I have,” said Laura Brennaman, policy and research director for the advocacy group Florida CHAIN.
The number of uninsured children in Florida declined from 667,758 in 2008 to 377,987 in 2014. Approximately 4.4 million children remain uninsured in the U.S.
According to the report, the states that saw the greatest gains were those that had expanded Medicaid under Obamacare.
The findings show that expansion states saw a decline in the number of uninsured children of 21.7 percent, while the rate for states that didn’t expand Medicaid was 11.6 percent.
“Children ride on the coattails of their parents,” Brennaman said. “Children whose parents have insurance are much more likely to have insurance, too.”
In a conference call with reporters, Joan Alker of the Georgetown Health Policy Institute said Obamacare had spread among families as some members gained coverage.
“Even states that didn’t expand Medicaid saw what we like to call a ‘welcome-mat effect’ from the ACA generally, that you get from covering the whole family,” Alker said. “But in our report we did find that states that expanded Medicaid saw a larger welcome-mat effect.”
Key Florida Republican leaders have opposed Medicaid expansion, arguing that the federal program is “broken” and unlikely to keep its financial commitments to Florida.
During the 2015 session, the Florida Senate fought to use Obamacare dollars to extend coverage through private insurers, but Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida House strongly opposed the effort, and they prevailed.
A quarter of the Florida children who remain uninsured are under age 6, Brennaman said — “and that’s that critical age when screening and preventive services can really have major implications for them, in terms of warding off big problems and allowing those children to reach their full potential.”
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Shots Fired Disturbance Leads To Fiery Crash On Highway 29
November 28, 2015
[Updated] A shots fired disturbance and a burglary in McDavid ended with a fiery two vehicle crash that injured five people on Highway 29 near Molino early Saturday morning.
Witnesses said two or three males were breaking into vehicles on Highway 164 off of Highway 29 in McDavid. They were spotted by residents of one home who reportedly gave chase southbound on Highway 29. Witnesses said as they followed the vehicle down Highway 29, they were on the phone with 911 emergency operators as someone in the suspects’ vehicle fired multiple shots at their pickup. By the time the vehicles reached Molino, the distance between the car and the following pickup had reportedly increased substantially, with the pickup following at a long distance behind.
As the suspects’ southbound vehicle reached Barth Road, they reportedly pulled across the Highway 29 median into the direct path of another pickup truck.
Following the 5 a.m. collision, the suspects’ vehicle burst into flames with at least two people still inside. Bystanders said they used a bucket to retrieve water from a ditch and attempted to douse the flames. The three vehicle occupants were able to escape. One was airlifted to a Pensacola hospital in critical condition; the conditions of the other two people in the vehicle were not available.
The pickup truck involved in the crash left the roadway and overturned down an embankment, coming to rest on its side at the edge of a wooded area. The two occupants of the pickup truck were trapped until extricated by firefighters. They were transported to area hospitals by Escambia County EMS with injuries that were not considered immediately life threatening.
The pickup truck that originally gave chase from McDavid had at least three obvious bullet holes — one in the driver’s door, on in the side panel of the bed, and one in a taillight.
The vehicle occupied by the suspects had reportedly been stolen earlier in the morning from a home on Barth Road. A gun was recovered at the scene of the accident.
The investigation into the incident and the crash are being conducted by the Florida Highway Patrol and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
UPDATES: Story updated at 2:30 p.m. to reflect the vehicle occupied by the suspects was stolen. And updated to reflect that the pickup following the car was at a distance away at the time of the crash. Updated 3:30 p.m. to reflect a gun was recovered from the scene.
Pictured top and inset: Three people were injured when this vehicle crash and burst into flames on Highway 29 at Barth Road early Saturday morning. Pictured below: The vehicle collided with this pickup, in which two people were trapped. Pictured bottom two photos: Bullet holes in a pickup that was reportedly following the car down Highway 29 after an attempted burglar in McDavid. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
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#AGGIENATION: Graffiti Bridge Proclaims ‘Tate To State’
November 28, 2015
Pensacola’s iconic Graffiti Bridge was painted in support of the Tate High School Aggies early Saturday morning, following Tate’s 21-20 win over Niceville to claim the 6A Regional 1 championship.
We are told that a few Tate Showband of the South Color Guard painted the bridge to show their love and support for the Aggie football team as they are just two games away from a state championship.
The bridge was painted with the hashtag #AGGIENATION, “Tate to State” and “Love, Your Showband”, along with numerous football player numbers.
(Editor’s note: If you are unfamiliar, it is an acceptable practice to paint the 17th Avenue Trestle, better known as Graffiti Bridge. Every day, there’s a new coat of paint and a new message. It’s been happening for years, and it’s considered a local landmark. It’s led to art exhibits and even a book project. It is Pensacola’s public canvas.)
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
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Tate High School Aggies Beat Niceville To Advance To State Semi-Final Game
November 28, 2015
Every Aggie fan knew in their heart Friday that Tate was going on to state, but the win was not without a few chest pains in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Tate High School Aggies defeated the Niceville Eagles 21-20 for the 6A Regional 1 championship.
The Aggies took an early lead, just 14 seconds into the game, on the first play from scrimmage as Alondo Thompkins scored on an 80-yard touchdown run.
Quarterback Sawyer Smith found Reginald Payne for a 58 yard gain, setting up a two-yard touchdown run by Smith with 10:17 to go in the second quarter. And also in the second quarter, Smith hit Jake Henry for a 66-yard touchdown. The Aggies were up a comfortable 21-0 over a Niceville team that has outscored Tate 140-48 in their past five outings.
Heading into the third quarter the Aggies were up 21-0. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Aggies were up 21-0. But it’s not over until it’s over, as Niceville closed the score to within three points. at 21-18.
With 10 second left on the clock, the Aggies took the unusual move of purposely scoring a safety for the Eagles after Tate was unable to advance beyond their own 10 yard line. That move ran the clock down to five seconds…just enough time for a kickoff.
But after a bunch of Niceville laterals, and a sea of flags, the Aggies were forced to kick off again for an un-timed down. Aggie fans could breathe again…and start making travel plans.
The Tate Aggies (10-2) advance to play the Armwood Hawks in Seffner, near Tampa, next Friday night in the state semi-finals, just one game away from a state championship game in Orlando.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Keith Garrison, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Soldier Among Four Killed In Texas Black Hawk Crash
November 28, 2015
A local soldier was among four U.S. service members killed in a helicopter accident earlier this week on Fort Hood in Texas.
Their Black Hawk helicopter crashed Monday about 6 p.m. in the northeast portion of the base about 60 miles north of Austin. The Army said late Saturday that the crash killed Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen B. Cooley, 40, a Cantonment native; Sgt. 1st Class Toby A. Childers, 40, a Hays, KS, native; Sgt.1st Class Jason M. Smith, 35, a Destrehan, LA, native; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael F. Tharp, 40, a Katy, TX, native.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Army Combat Readiness Center based in Fort Rucker, AL.
Pictured: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen B. Cooley of Cantonment was killed in a Black Hawh helicopter crash Monday, the Army announced late Friday. Reader submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lawmakers Poised To Dig Into Scott Budget Plan
November 28, 2015
With Gov. Rick Scott proposing a $79.3 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, House and Senate committees next week will start looking at details of the plan.
Numerous legislative panels will receive presentations about Scott’s proposal, which is an initial step as lawmakers prepare to draw up a budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to receive a presentation at noon Tuesday from Scott’s budget chief, Cynthia Kelly, and the Senate Appropriations Committee will receive a presentation at 10 a.m. next Wednesday, according to calendars posted online.
Also, subcommittees will receive a series of presentations, starting Tuesday with the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee and the House Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee.
Meanwhile, the House Finance & Tax Committee on Tuesday is expected to hear about Scott’s proposed $1 billion tax-cut package.
Five Senate budget subcommittees are slated to receive presentations next Thursday.
Escambia Parks And Rec Takes Over Davisville Community Center
November 28, 2015
Escambia County Parks and Recreation has now taken over the rental responsibilities of the county-owned Davisville Community Center.
The rentals were previously handled by a small community association; however, county officials say that organization became very inactive the past few years.
The facility rents for $35 per day plus tax ($37.63 total) for the dining room using kitchen appliances, $35 per day plus tax ($37.63 total) for the front multi-purpose room, plus a $25 cleaning and damage deposit. For more information, contact Escambia County Parks and Recreation at (850) 475-5220.
Pictured above: The Davisville Community Center on Highway 97. Pictured below: The smaller room next to the kitchen inside the facility. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pot Back In Political Spotlight In Florida
November 28, 2015
Voters next November will almost certainly have the chance to again decide whether Florida should legalize medical marijuana, after narrowly rejecting an almost-identical proposal a year ago.
A Quinnipiac University poll last month found that nearly 90 percent of Florida voters support allowing adults to use medical marijuana. Numerous other surveys in Florida and across the country consistently show that a majority of voters endorse medical marijuana for sick and dying patients.
And voters aren’t the only ones who’ve warmed up to the once-sticky issue.
The state’s Republican-dominated Legislature also appears to have evolved, perhaps more because of politics than pot.
With such broad public support, “there’s very few people that are going to die on that hill anymore,” Florida-based GOP strategist Rick Wilson told The News Service of Florida.
“They’ve just basically decided this isn’t a threat at the level that justifies having a massive political ground war over,” he said.
Florida lawmakers last year legalized types of cannabis that purportedly don’t get users high but are believed to reduce life-threatening seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy.
But before the seeds of the state’s new marijuana industry have sprouted, legislators began moving forward with an effort to legalize full-strength marijuana for terminally ill patients. A measure sponsored by Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who was instrumental in the passage of the 2014 low-THC law, would expand another law — known as the “Right to Try” law — to include marijuana for dying patients. The bill is slated for a second committee vetting next week, and a House version also is filed for the 2016 legislative session.
A separate proposal, backed by Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg, would legalize medical marijuana for a broad swath of patients and set up a regulatory system different from the one now in place for the non-euphoric cannabis.
The Legislature’s focus on medical marijuana comes after lawmakers for years ignored the issue, brought to the forefront with the 2014 ballot initiative bankrolled by Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan.
“There’ve been some minds that have been changed. More than anything else, people are kind of sick of it,” said Ben Pollara, campaign manager for a political committee, commonly known as United for Care, backing the “Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions” ballot initiative.
Whatever the Legislature does — or doesn’t do — likely won’t have much impact on voters anyway, according to some experts.
Next year’s legislative session wraps up in March, two months earlier than usual and nearly eight months before the 2016 elections.
By then, voters may have forgotten whatever steps lawmakers have taken, if any, to help sick patients. And, even if they haven’t, it won’t affect their attitudes towards the ballot item, said Tallahassee-based political consultant Steve Vancore.
One of legislators’ primary arguments against the ballot initiative is that complicated matters like medical marijuana are best handled through state statutes rather than in more permanent constitutional changes.
“Voters don’t think like that. They don’t think, ‘I really like this, but I’d rather have it as a law, not in the constitution,’ ” Vancore said. “Very, very ,very, very few voters view the process in that way. They read the language and they think, ‘Is this a good idea or a bad idea,’ and vote for it accordingly.”
Unlike last year’s midterm elections, the 2016 political scene in Florida will be dominated by a slew of legislative races, an open U.S. Senate seat and a presidential election in a swing state considered a necessary win for Republicans if they want to recapture the White House.
“Anybody who has a dollar to spend and says where am I going to put my dollar, I think opposing medical marijuana is the last place I’m going to put my money. There are so many other places to put it,” Vancore said.
Next year’s election is a long way off, but — so far at least — some of the proposal’s loudest detractors have remained on the sidelines while the Florida Supreme Court weighs whether the initiative meets the requirements to make it onto the November 2016 ballot.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was one of the leading voices against it last year, opted not to oppose the wording of the revised ballot measure, prompting the court to scrap oral arguments on the initiative. If the court signs off, the Morgan-backed group will need to submit a total of 683,149 valid petition signatures to the state; it had submitted 365,577 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Florida sheriffs, who vigorously campaigned against the 2014 initiative, haven’t taken a position on the proposal yet, according to Florida Sheriffs Association spokeswoman Nanette Schimpf.
“We plan to review all the various legislation at our winter conference that takes place in early January,” Schimpf said.
A political committee funded largely last year by Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and affiliated with St. Petersburg-based Drug Free America Foundation will likely continue its effort to kill the proposal, however.
“We do have great concern about a constitutional amendment that would not only make it easier to get marijuana but would also commercialize it and promote it in our communities,” said Calvina Fay, the foundation’s executive director.
After the amendment failed last year, Adelson — who contributed at least $5.5 million to the political committee — pledged to continue the crusade if the proposal made it onto the ballot again.
On the other side, proponents of the initiative are likely to take a different approach leading up to the election.
Morgan, the brash trial lawyer, became a flashpoint in the debate over the measure. Morgan, former Gov. Charlie Crist’s boss, was accused of maneuvering the amendment onto the ballot to propel then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Crist’s chances for victory.
Morgan insists that he threw his support behind the measure because of his father, who suffered from cancer and emphysema, and his brother Tim, who was partially paralyzed due to injuries sustained as a teenage lifeguard when he dove into concrete pylons while trying to rescue a swimmer. Joining his brother in promoting the proposal, the wheelchair-bound Tim Morgan openly spoke about his use of marijuana to curb the pain and muscle spasms caused by his injuries.
In one of many appearances across the state, John Morgan was caught on tape delivering a boozy, expletive-laced monologue to what appears to be a crowd of young supporters at a bar after a rally in the Lakeland area. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd was one of the law enforcement officials who led the charge against the amendment.
Morgan has already dumped at least $1.8 million of his own money into the 2016 effort, but he may not play as high a profile this time around.
“Are we going to do the John Morgan bus tour again, this time around? Probably not,” Pollara said. “I don’t think John did anything to harm the campaign. He’s the only reason the campaign existed and exists, but could he have done more to help it by presenting himself less or in a different way? Maybe.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida