Paris Attacks Overshadow Second Day Of Florida GOP Event
November 15, 2015
Speaking to Florida Republicans in the wake of a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, GOP candidates for the White House largely stuck Saturday to foreign policy on the second day of the state party’s “Sunshine Summit” event.
It was a striking change from Friday’s first day of the gathering when most of the high-profile contenders for the Republican presidential nomination used standard stump speeches and emphasized their ties to Florida. Instead, the candidates who spoke Saturday included some whose poll numbers have been lower, and they focused on the fallout from the assaults on Paris.
Those attacks overnight Friday — or late in the first day of the summit — left 129 people dead, according to media reports. The Islamic State militant group, which is also known as ISIS, has claimed responsibility.
That put the spotlight Saturday on issues of terrorism and how the United States should handle the Islamic State’s growth in Iraq and Syria. Many of the candidates either spoke extensively about the attacks or scrapped their standard speeches to focus entirely on the events in Paris and whether the United States should expand its current air campaign against ISIS.
Several also used the events to try to distinguish themselves from other contenders on the issue of national security experience.
Carly Fiorina, a businesswoman who had surged to the top tier of GOP candidates but has lately seen her numbers fade, laid at least part of the blame for the attacks on President Barack Obama.
“Mostly, I am outraged because the murder, the mayhem, the danger, the tragedy that we see unfolding in Paris, in the Middle East, around the world and, too often, in our own homeland, are the direct consequences of this administration’s policies,” Fiorina told a cheering crowd of party activists and officials at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort. “You cannot lead from behind.”
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said the attacks highlighted the need for someone who has dealt with foreign policy over a long timeframe, particularly in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
He suggested that he and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina fit that bill, along with perhaps Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a former congressman. But Santorum also cast doubt on the relevance of Kasich’s experience.
“I think if you’re interested in national security, you’re looking at frankly two people who have had national security experience in the post-9/11 world,” Santorum said. “That would actually be Sen. Graham and myself. Congressman Kasich was long gone, and I think if you look at some of the policies he’s advocating, I don’t think he clearly understands the threat that radical Islam is. He wasn’t in Congress and wasn’t dealing with it.”
For his part, Kasich called for NATO to invoke the mutual defense clause of the organization’s founding treaty.
Kasich called for no-fly zones to be enforced over Syria, where the government of Bashar al-Assad has sought to hold onto power by brutally crushing a rebellion in a war blamed for killing tens of thousands of people, leaving millions homeless and providing a breeding ground for radical groups like ISIS.
“Last night, it was not just one isolated, small group and not just an attack that we have seen of just a lone wolf,” Kasich said. “Ladies and gentlemen, we need to understand that these attacks really represent an attack on Western civilization.”
But not everyone agreed. Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, who pointed to his experience as the state’s chief executive during the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon, said a no-fly zone would be dangerous now that Russia has begun a military intervention in Syria.
“And frankly, we should have had a no-fly zone, which was imposed and put the burden on the Russians to try to intervene and to overturn that, which they probably would not have tried to do,” Gilmore said. “But by delaying so long, and really leaving a lot of our allies out there swinging, now the Russians have intervened and put us in a position where we could end up in a war with Russia.”
Some candidates also used the attacks to highlight divides on how Obama and social conservatives view the conflict between the West and groups like ISIS. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was among those calling for blunt declarations about the involvement of Muslims in terrorist groups.
“We need a president who will say this: Islam has a problem. That problem is radical Islam,” Jindal said. “We need a president who will say this to the Muslim clerics and leaders: It’s not enough to condemn generic acts of violence. They must make it clear, they must go after these individuals by name, and say that they are not martyrs. If you kill in the name of Islam, you are not a martyr. You are not going to enjoy a reward in the afterlife, but rather, you are going straight to hell where you belong.”
Many of the candidates also criticized Obama’s willingness to accept thousands of Syrian refugees in response to the suffering. They said the nation wouldn’t be able to adequately screen potential refugees to make sure that terrorists don’t blend in with other Syrians.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky called for regional powers to absorb some of those flowing out of Syria.
“I would like to see Saudi Arabia take them. I’d also like to see Iran take them,” Paul said. “The two arsonists in that region throwing gasoline on the fire — Saudi Arabia, Iran — they’re not taking any refugees. I think the refugees need to go to some of the local countries.”
At least one candidate seemed to use the dangers of the world to remind Republican voters about the risks of nominating a flamboyant outsider like real-estate tycoon Donald Trump. Without naming Trump, who has vaulted to the top of the polls, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he understands the anger that many GOP voters feel.
“And then you take that anger and you want to use your vote as a chance to send a message about that anger,” Christie said. “These times are too dire for that luxury, and the threats we are facing are too great for that act of vanity.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Pictured: Donald Trump (top) and Rand Paul (inset) at the Sunshine Summit. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Medical Marijuana Initiative Won’t Need Hearing
November 15, 2015
With Attorney General Pam Bondi declining to launch a challenge, the Florida Supreme Court on Friday called off a hearing scheduled for next month on a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize medical marijuana.
Justices still need to sign off on the wording of the ballot initiative before it could go to voters in November 2016.
But without opposition to the wording, backers of the amendment appear likely to clear a key hurdle in the initiative process.
Bondi fought a similar 2014 initiative at the Supreme Court, but justices allowed the measure to go before voters. Ultimately, the 2014 initiative failed to pass. People United for Medical Marijuana, a political committee backing the legalization effort, tweaked the proposed 2016 ballot language to address concerns raised about the 2014 measure.
In a statement released by her office, Bondi pointed to the 2014 ruling by the Supreme Court and indicated she would not challenge the revised initiative.
“Voters reviewed the language and at the polls made their decision that the (2014) amendment was bad for Florida,” Bondi said. “Based on the court’s decision in 2014, I have not filed a legal challenge to the current amendment, but my concerns with it are the same.”
The Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments Dec. 8 but issued an order Friday scrapping them. If the Supreme Court approves the amendment’s wording, supporters of the initiative will need to submit 683,149 valid petition signatures to reach the ballot. They had submitted 345,925 as of Friday afternoon, according to the state Division of Elections website.
by The News Service of Florida
Small Farms Field Day Set For Thursday
November 15, 2015
UF/IFAS Extension Fall Small Farms Field Day will be held Thursday, November 19 from 2-4 p.m. as the West Florida Research and Education Center in Jay. Topics will include high tunnel tomatoes, from cultivar selection to economics, and cover crops.
To register, contact UF/IFAS Extension Santa Rosa County at (850) 623-3868 or bthaxton@ufl.edu.
State Calls Bear Hunt A Success, Opponents Call It A Slaughter
November 15, 2015
Florida wildlife officials Thursday called last month’s bear hunt a success, with 304 bears killed in two days and few hunters cited for violations — but critics called it a slaughter, saying most of the bears were killed on private land, where state regulations could be more easily skirted.
In a report released Thursday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said 304 bears were killed — 16 short of the so-called “harvest objective” of 320 that was set for the state’s first bear hunt in 21 years.
“We had a safe, sustainable, highly successful bear hunt,” Thomas Eason, the commission’s director of Habitat and Species Conservation, told reporters in a conference call.
Officials said the goal of the hunt was to control the state’s growing black bear population. The hunt had been expected to last up to seven days, starting on Oct. 24, but was halted on Oct. 25, as it quickly became clear that the quota of bears to be killed would be reached sooner than predicted.
According to the report, 59 percent of the bears killed statewide were females, while 21 percent were lactating females, meaning they were caring for cubs. The state allowed hunting in four areas of the state dubbed “bear management units.”
“To stabilize large and growing bear populations in four of the state’s seven bear management units, bears of either sex were allowed to be taken during the hunt,” the report said. “Regulations stipulated that the bear must weigh at least 100 pounds … and cubs must not be present.”
The question of orphaned cubs has been one of the most controversial aspects of the hunt, but Eason said the commission hasn’t seen an increase in the number of cubs it normally encounters. He also said the cubs were big enough to survive on their own.
Laura Bevan of the Humane Society of the United States, which opposed the hunt, acknowledged that cubs “have a chance to survive” without their mothers, but she said the odds are worse. And she noted that during the hunt, a cub that weighed 40 pounds had been killed.
“I have dogs bigger than that,” she said.
But what most troubled Bevan was the gap between the 78 percent of bears killed on private land and the 22 percent killed on public land.
By the terms of the hunt, “baiting” the bears — luring them with food — wasn’t allowed. But Bevan said that restriction is much harder to enforce on private property, and she alleged that the bears had been trained to visit feeders on private land. She pointed to the eastern Panhandle bear management unit, where 111 bears were killed on private land and three on public land.
“On private land they were just blasting away at bears that came, probably, to those feeders for God knows how long,” Bevan said. “They were slaughtered There was no skill involved.”
She also said the hunt took place at the time of year when bears are preparing to hibernate and are especially intent on gathering food.
But Eason said the gap between kills on public and private land was due to greater opportunity, since there is much more private land in the bear management units. He also said private owners have more natural interest in their property.
Additionally, Eason said, the commission has a strong law enforcement presence to guard against breaking the hunt regulations.
“They are out there looking, so I wouldn’t say that it is easier or harder anywhere,” he said. “I would say I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone out there.”
Overall, he said, hunter compliance with regulations was high.
One hunter in the eastern Panhandle region was issued a citation for killing the cub that weighed just over 40 pounds. Another citation went to a hunter in the state’s Central region for using bait to lure a bear. And a hunter in the Central region got a warning for killing an 88-pound bear.
Four more investigations are underway in other cases pertaining to the hunt, said commission Maj. Craig Duval, but he said he couldn’t give details.
A total of 3,778 bear-hunt permits were issued in the months leading to the hunt. They cost Florida residents $100 and out-of-state hunters $300 for the right to each kill one bear. Eason said the sales brought the agency roughly $377,000.
He also said it was too soon to tell if the state will have another bear hunt next year.
“We are taking a holistic approach,” he said. “Hunting is one mortality factor of many, and we need to see where we end up for the whole year across all of that before we can make any definitive idea on whether we are definitely hunting or not hunting.”
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Panhandle Equine Rescue Receives Grant
November 14, 2015
Panhandle Equine Rescue in Cantonment has received a $4,200 grant to use towards a barn for additional hay storage.
The building was delivered a few weeks ago, and Thursday it was loaded with hay to provide for the rescue’s horses through the winter.
The grant was awarded by 400 Paws, a group with a mission to raise funds for qualified non-profit animal organizations; to educate the community regarding animal welfare; and to emphasize the need for financial assistance within local animal shelters and rescue groups.
The only horse rescue in Escambia County, Panhandle Equine Rescue was founded by a small group of concerned citizens with a mission to rescue, rehabilitate and provide adoption services for abused, neglected and abandoned equines.
Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
November 14, 2015
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending November 12 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
K-9 Officer Pineda and Officer Clark were in Yellow River Management Area looking for baited areas. They came upon an area where a vehicle had been parked recently and deployed the K-9. The K-9 located two stands that were baited with corn, one had a climber stand and the other a ground blind. The officers checked the area several times and two days later observed a vehicle parked in the area. They split up and found two subjects hunting over the bait. The subjects stated that they had baited the area to attract deer. Both subjects were charged accordingly.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson received information about a male subject who had trespassed onto a hunting lease. While the subject was walking thru a food plot, a trail camera took several pictures of him. The subject returned to the food plot approximately 20 minutes later and began removing the camera from the tree. He was unaware that his actions was still being captured on camera. The subject then took the camera to his residence and placed it inside of his shed. The owner of the camera contacted Officer Hutchinson and showed him the pictures of the male subject. Officer Hutchinson identified the subject and located his residence. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the subject, Officer Hutchinson waited in a concealed location until he observed the subject arriving home. Officer Hutchinson made contact with the subject and began interviewing him. The subject first denied any wrongdoing, but after further questioning, the subject admitted to trespassing on the property and taking the camera. The subject offered to return the camera to the owner but was unable to locate it. Charges for trespassing on private property and theft are being filed through the State Attorney’s Office.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
Double OT: Tate Aggies Advance In Playoffs With Win Over Navarre
November 14, 2015
The Tate High School Aggies earned a thrilling playoff win over Navarre Friday night, 23-22 in double overtime.
Navarre was first on the board with 4:01 to go in the first half on a 43-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.
After quarterback Sawyer Smith hit Jake Henry with a 35-yard pass at the Navarre 29, Smith found Madison Lockman deep in the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown. That tied it up 7-7 in Navarre.
Navaree added a touchdown in the fourth and missed the extra point for a 13-7 Raiders lead. Then the Aggies tied it up on a 27 yard touchdown run from Alondo Thompkins. The game was locked at 13-13 as regulation time expired.
After exchanging field goals in the first overtime, Smith found Thompkins for a 23-16 Tate advantage in the second overtime period. Then Navarre scored a touchdown from two yards out, 23-22. But Navarre’s perfect 10-0 season ended with an extra point kick off to the side.
“I’m so proud of these team, just the adversity we fought,” Tate head coach Jay Lindsey said.
Tate moves on to round two of the playoffs at Pine Forest (8-3) next Friday. The Eagles are coming off a strong 37-3 win over Gulf Breeze. Pine Forest claimed the District 1-6A championship 47-28 over Tate in the last meeting on October 30.
Photos by Jennifer Repine for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Gets 25 Years For Molesting Child
November 14, 2015
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to 25 years for molesting a minor.
Ricky Russell, 62, was convicted by an Escambia County jury of lewd or lascivious molestation on a victim under 12. Following the verdict, Russell was sentenced to 25 years in state prison to be followed by probation for the rest of his life. He was also designated as a sexual predator.
The ongoing molestation occurred between 2008 and 2014, according to prosecutors.
Vernon Ends Northview’s Playoff Hopes (With Photo Gallery)
November 14, 2015
For the second time in three years, the Vernon Yellow Jackets spoiled the playoff hopes of the Northview Chiefs. Friday night in Vernon, the Yellow Jacks got past the Chiefs 8-7 for a Region 1-1A semifinal win.
The Northview defense started early with two strong plays. Neikel Robinson picked off a Vernon pass in the end zone and returned it to near mid-field before turning it over on downs. Vernon was back in possession only to find a Chief picking off a Yellow Jacket pass — this time Michael Jones at the goal line.
The Chiefs were the first on the board with a pitch from quarterback Gavin Grant to Luke Ward who found Toney Harrison for a 12-yard touchdown. Northview topped Vernon 7-0, 6:32 to go in the half.
With 10:19 left to play in the game Vernon was down to the Northview 2. Vernon was in from 2 yards out. With a good two point attempt, Vernon took the lead 9-7 with 9:04 to go in the game.
On their final drive of the game, the Chiefs reached their own 49, but could not convert on a 4th and 12 as Vernon held on for an 8-7 win over the Chiefs.
Vernon (9-2) will travel to Baker next Friday night in the regional championship game. Baker blanked Graceville 26-0 Friday night.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: Northview’s Neikel Robinson picks of a Vernon pass in the end zone early in the Chiefs battle against Vernon. Pictured inset: Senior Jacob Dunsford gains yardage for the Chiefs. Pictured below: Robinson with the ball for the Chiefs. Pictured bottom: Luke Ward breaks free for Northview. NorthEscambia.com photos by Gary Amerson, click to enlarge.
GOP Race Still Wide Open As Candidates Come To Florida
November 14, 2015
As the candidates in a crowded Republican presidential field began making their pitches to party activists Friday at the Florida GOP’s “Sunshine Summit,” it was as much a reminder of what hasn’t happened in the state’s primary campaign as what has.
Even with two prominent Florida politicians in the race — former Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio — the campaign appears to be wide open. Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump and neurosurgeon Ben Carson have polled well in the state, even ahead of Bush and Rubio, four months before voters choose which candidate will get all of Florida’s 99 delegates to the Republican National Convention.
“I think most everybody, even the candidates, thought that this was going to be kind of a contest between Rubio and Bush,” former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a fellow candidate, told reporters Friday after making his pitch. “And Florida being a winner-take-all state probably meant that most of the candidates wouldn’t feel even a need to invest a lot and campaign in Florida … if they couldn’t poll well and couldn’t beat the native sons. But I don’t know that that’s the case anymore.”
Given that dynamic and a party rule that makes it tedious to qualify for the ballot without showing up to the event, 14 of the 15 major Republican candidates agreed to appear at the summit Friday and Saturday at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort. Only former New York Gov. George Pataki passed up a chance to address hundreds of party activists and officials in Orlando.
The party is hoping to capitalize on the fact that the winner of the state’s March 15 vote will get a healthy boost toward the 1,236 delegates needed to clinch the GOP presidential nomination.
The famously on-message Rubio mixed some state-specific notes into his speech to the Republicans at the event.
Rubio stressed that his own tale of being the child of immigrants who came to America to build a better life was not just his story, but the nation’s.
“It’s especially the story of Florida, a state where people have come from all over the place in search of a better life,” Rubio said. “Some came here fleeing socialism in Venezuela, some fleeing socialism in New York.”
The Florida Gators fan also couldn’t help a “Go Gators” when talking about the campaign in the critical early state of South Carolina — Florida faces the Gamecocks this weekend — and joked that how well he does in the “SEC primary,” a collection of Southern states voting March 1, might be tied to how the Gators do in a surprisingly good season.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas — who like Rubio is of Cuban descent — noted that Florida and his home state are both growing states that draw immigrants and “share a similar dislike for snow.”
“There is a reason people are fleeing high-tax, high-regulation states all over the country and coming to states like Florida and Texas, because jobs and opportunity and growth and the future (are) in states like Florida and Texas,” Cruz said. “Florida’s primary is a critical time and Florida can play a decisive role in ensuring that the next Republican nominee for president is a strong conservative.”
In a possible sign of the upheaval in the race, Cruz got one of the warmer welcomes of the first day. His speech ended to a standing ovation, as the candidate leapt off the front of the stage and began shaking hands in the crowd.
Cruz also unveiled his Florida campaign’s leadership, including state Chairman Neil Combee, a state lawmaker from Polk County, and stopped at an Orlando church to unveil his “Stop Illegal Immigration” policy.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, lagging far behind the rest of the field in the polls, simply nodded in Bush and Rubio’s direction.
“You have two wonderful candidates from Florida running for the presidency of the United States; you should be proud,” he said.
And despite the current state of the race, Bush and Rubio could still prove to be formidable opponents here. Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia, who is neutral in the presidential race, cautioned against reading too much into where candidates stand right now. Ingoglia, a Spring Hill Republican who also serves in the state House, said things would tighten in the weeks ahead.
“As we get closer to the date, people are going to start paying more attention, (a), and then, (b), they’re going to start solidifying their decisions,” he said.
Even Huckabee noted that things could change.
“Historically, at this stage of the race, what it looks like right now is nowhere near what it will look like by the time we get to Feb. 1,” he said.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida