Molino’s Gilmore Girls Featured On Magazine Cover
December 3, 2015
The cover of this month’s FloridAgriculture magazine from the Florida Farm Bureau Federation features two local children know as the Gilmore Girls. They are the daughters of Carla Gilmore and Jacob Gilmore, granddaughters of Ronnie and Debbie Debra Gilmore. The picture was taken by Abbie Seales Rolph at Gizmo Angus Farm in Molino. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Authorities Searching For Wanted Sexual Predator
December 3, 2015
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a sexual predator on the run.
Roy Allen Stokes, 38, is wanted for two counts of sexual assault on a minor less than 18. He is described as a white male, 170 pounds, 5-feet 11-inches tall, with blond hair and blue eyes.
Stokes is a designated sexual predator due to a 1998 conviction for the sexual battery of a victim under 12.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact Santa Rosa Crime Stoppers at (850) 437-STOP or call their local law enforcement agency.
Highway 29 Traffic Stop Leads To Recovery Of Gun, Marijuana
December 3, 2015
A traffic stop on Highway 29 led to the arrest of a man with drugs and a firearm, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies stopped 27-year old Treneipher Demetrius Kirkland for speeding. During the traffic stop, the deputy found a .45 caliber handgun and about 67 grams of marijuana in the vehicle. Kirkland was charged with felony possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana over 20 grams.
He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $15,000 bond.
Schools Evacuated Due To Reported Gas Leaks
December 2, 2015
Reported gas leaks led to the evacuation of two Escambia County Schools this morning.
A gas leak at West Florida High School just after 9 a.m. led to an evacuation. The leak was traced to a heating system boiler in the Cosmetology Building.
About 10:45 a.m., Brown Barge Middle School in Pensacola was evacuated due to reported gas smell outside near a portable building close to the school cafeteria. The leak was traced to a service line on a roof.
Bomb Threats Received Against Two Greyhound Buses
December 2, 2015
Bomb threats were received against two Greyhound buses that departed Mobile this morning, but no explosive devices were found when the buses were searched.
One bus was searched at the Greyhound Bus Station on Burgess Road at Highway 29 in Pensacola. A bomb sniffing dog checked out the bus after passengers were evacuated and cleared.
The second bus was stopped in Conecuh County, AL, and moved to the Evergreen, AL, airport to await the arrival of a bomb team from Montgomery. No explosives were found.
The incidents remain under investigation by numerous agencies.
Getting Healthier: New Paved Walking Path Planned For Walnut Hill
December 2, 2015
Residents of the Walnut Hill area will soon have a new paved walking path to help them stay healthy.
The Escambia County Commission and the Escambia County School Board have reached a 25-year agreement to allow the construction of the path near the Walnut Hill Community Center (also known as the Ruritan Building) on Highway 97, just north of Ernest Ward Middle School.
The asphalt walking path will be exactly one-quarter mile in length and will be a eight feet wide. The path will be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Benches and picnic tables will also be installed along walking path.
The property belongs to the Escambia County School Board, while the community walking path will be constructed by Escambia County Parks and Recreation under the agreement. At last report, the path could be completed by spring.
NorthEscambia.com photo/graphic.
Trial Postponed For Century Double Shooting Suspect
December 2, 2015
An Escambia County Judge on Tuesday approved a continuance in the trial of a Century shooting suspect.
Brian Keith Sanders is charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, firing a weapon into a vehicle and criminal mischief. Tuesday, Judge Terry Terrell granted a motion for a continuance in the case, with Sanders now due back in court in early February.
Sanders allegedly fired into a vehicle at Jefferson Avenue and Mayes Street in Century on March 26. The vehicle was found with the driver’s side window apparently shot out.
Two victims were transported by private vehicle to Jay Hospital with gunshot wounds to their shoulder or upper-arm areas. They were treated and released.
Sanders was taken into custody about a month later in the parking lot of the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore and extradited back to Florida to face trial. Sanders, who is also facing numerous drug charges from an unrelated case, remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $141,000.
NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Boil Water Notice: Bristol Park, Devine Farms Subdivision
December 2, 2015
UPDATE 12/4/15 — The Precautionary Boil Water Notice (PBWN) issued by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) on Tuesday for the Bristol Park and Devine Farms Subdivisions has been lifted.
A Precautionary Boil Water Notice (PBWN) has been issued by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) for the Bristol Park and Devine Farms subdivisions following utility construction work in the area.
Residents located in the specified PBWN area are advised to boil water for one minute at a rolling boil or to use 8 drops of regular unscented household bleach per gallon of water, for water to be used for drinking of cooking purposes.
Two independent bacteriological samples have been initiated and the advisory will be lifted as soon as possible. This process routinely takes 48 hours. Precautionary Boil Water Notices are issued as a part of the standard protocol following any loss of water pressure, whether as a result of planned maintenance activities or unscheduled repairs. Precautionary boil water notice guidelines are available on the ECUA website at www.ecua.fl.gov.
Poarch Creek Indians Open Revamped, Expanded Montgomery Casino
December 2, 2015
Wind Creek Montgomery, a dramatically revamped expansion of the former Creek Casino Montgomery, opened Tuesday.
“I cannot adequately express how proud I feel today, when big plans and big dreams have finally come to fruition,” said Stephanie Bryan, Tribal chair/CEO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which owns Wind Creek Montgomery, Wind Creek Wetumpka and Wind Creek Atmore. “The brick and mortar before us is certainly a milestone for the Poarch Creek Indians, but it also represents a team of people – both Tribal and non-Tribal – who worked together hand-in-hand to reach a common goal.”
The property represents a $65 million investment and includes a new 65,000-foot gaming floor, three restaurants with 10,000 feet of dining space, a deluxe swimming pool, a salon and barbershop, and a soon-to-be opened hotel with 123 luxury rooms on 5 floors.
“Wind Creek Casino and Hotel Montgomery is another win for our tribe and our state,” said Tim Martin, president and CEO of Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority, that oversaw development of the property. “It brings to the Montgomery market family-friendly entertainment that features the best of the South and celebrates our past while embracing the future.”
“Wind Creek Casino and Hotel Montgomery is another win for our Tribe and our State,” said Tim Martin, President and CEO of Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority, that oversaw development of the property. “It brings to the Montgomery market family-friendly entertainment that features the best of the South and celebrates our past while embracing the future,” Martin noted.
Pictured: The Poarch Creek Indians opened the revamped Wind Creek Montgomery on Tuesday. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Prison Health Firm’s Exit Leaves State Looking For Answers
December 2, 2015
Florida prisons chief Julie Jones is considering hiring temp agencies to fill in the gap after Corizon Health officials decided to walk away from the largest prison health-care contract in the country.
Officials from Tennessee-based Corizon put Jones on notice Monday they intend to leave Florida — and a five year, $1.2 billion contract — as of May 31 because the agreement is “too constraining.”
And, even though the company is fleeing the state years ahead of schedule, Corizon hasn’t done anything that would keep it from participating in the forthcoming invitation to negotiate, or ITN, for a new contract, Jones told The News Service of Florida on Tuesday.
“What they have done in exercising a legal element in their existing contract, that does not preclude them from trying to re-bid on parts of the new ITN. It just depends on how they score out against other vendors,” she said.
The possibility that the private provider — which cares for about three-fourths of the state’s 100,000 inmates — could be in the running for another deal left top Republican lawmakers who oversee prisons incredulous.
“If you drop out on a contract, and you’re telling me that you’re not man enough to honor the contract that you entered into and now you want the state of Florida to turn around and allow you to bid again? No. Personally, for me, that dog don’t run,” said Senate Criminal Justice Chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker.
Corizon, which hasn’t ruled out responding to the ITN, should be barred from participating, said House Criminal Justice Chairman Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami.
“Absolutely. We had a contractual agreement with them and they chose to opt out and move in a different direction. Given their quality outcomes, I just don’t think they’re a good partner for the state,” Trujillo, R-Miami, said.
The ITN, which is a relatively common contracting method in state government, is expected to be released before the end of the month, but new contracts won’t go into effect until mid-2017, according to Jones. That will leave the Department of Corrections with a gap in providing health services after Corizon leaves.
Jones intends to use health-care companies that provide temporary services for hospitals and other parts of the health-care industry to bridge the gap. The department will “have a third party gather up as many of the current Corizon employees as possible,” she said.
“So it’s important, not only for me to get a seamless supply of adequate health care for these inmates, but it’s also important to me to make sure that we keep all of these folks employed,” Jones said. “Because they used to be our employees prior to Corizon coming.”
Corizon has been under fire from lawmakers and attorneys representing inmates who accuse the company of routinely providing inadequate care since taking over services in most of the prisons in the central and northern portions of the state two years ago.
Lawyers for Florida inmates in September filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections and Corizon, alleging that the state agency and the company were denying hernia operations to save money.
Less than four months before Gov. Rick Scott was re-elected in 2014, former Corrections Secretary Michael Crews quietly agreed to pay Corizon and another prison health-care firm, Wexford Health Sources, an additional $3.2 million to stay on the job for another year. Scott had pushed for privatization of the prison health-care services.
Two months after he inked the contract amendments, Crews threatened to stop payments to Corizon, saying the company failed to follow through after audits revealed shortcomings in multiple areas, including medical care, nursing and staffing.
The corrections department has fined Corizon nearly $70,000 in liquidated damages so far this year, according to agency spokesman McKinley Lewis.
What could have ultimately been the final straw for Corizon was whether the company’s payments should be adjusted annually according to changes in the Consumer Price Index. While its contract made allowances for such hikes, any increases would have to be approved by the Legislature, which has been inconsistent in authorizing partial increases for Corizon and never approved a full Consumer Price Index hike — as much as 4 percent — since the contract went into effect.
The failure to get the increase was “distressing” to Corizon, Jones said.
“Their concern was that their escalating costs for personnel and for drugs was increasing and they were not being compensated for it,” she said. “Now, that’s on them. I told them from day one that you agreed to this and there was no agreement that you were going to get CPI. But a significant driving force in terminating the contract with Florida was no CPI.”
Jones said Corizon executives initially told her they were losing at least $1 million per month on the contract.
“I told them weeks ago that going forward, if they were going to continue with us, that I would go and ask (the Legislature) for the money to cover their costs, basically,” she said. “I asked them how much are you losing. The original figure they gave me was $1 million. But in the meeting yesterday afternoon, they said it was much more than that a month and that’s why they finally just threw in the towel. They didn’t want to wait to see if the Legislature was going to give them the extra funding. It was a business decision, pure and simple.”
Jones described her relationship with Corizon executives, who met with her on a weekly basis, as “collegial,” and spoke of the company’s decision to exit the state without animosity.
Jones said she met in her office on Monday with Corizon executives, who told her of their intent to terminate the contract early. The company’s board of directors made the decision to pull out of Florida during a meeting less than two weeks ago.
She acknowledged that its contract with Florida may not have reaped the benefits Corizon anticipated.
“I do believe that they were losing money. Now, how much money, I have no way of knowing. And level of profit … I don’t know how much profit they’ve made on this contract and I don’t know what their expectations were,” she said. “But a private company like this, they have investors. I think those were the people that were making those decisions.”
A spokeswoman for Corizon would not respond directly to questions about the company’s finances or if it was losing money on the deal.
“We just made a decision to exercise the 180 days clause that’s allowed in the contract,” spokeswoman Martha Harbin said Tuesday.
Critics of the current system say that it is time for the state to resume providing health care for inmates.
“I think privatization in this particular area has just been a disaster. I think it will continue to be a disaster as long as they attempt to contract with private companies like Corizon,” said Florida Justice Institute Executive Director Randall Berg, who is representing inmates on the class-action lawsuit related to hernia care.
It’s not the first time Florida has been left holding the bag.
In 2006, Prison Health Services — which later merged with a company that became Corizon — gave the state 90 days notice that it was quitting a contract for inmate health care less than eight month after the job started. The company said it was terminating the contract because of unexpected costs after the state refused to increase its payments, according to a legislative analysis written in 2010.
Florida lawmakers outsourced health care for inmates throughout the state in 2011 as part of the language in the state budget. Lawsuits kept the privatization switch on hold until 2013, when Corizon took over health care for the majority of the state’s prisoners. Wexford is being paid about $240 million to handle the rest of the inmates.
A month after taking over the helm of the Department of Corrections in January, Jones announced that she would re-bid prison health contracts with Wexford and Corizon through the procurement process known as an invitation to negotiate. Through that process, the department indicated it wanted to address issues such as staffing, mental-health services and the use of electronic health records.
Jones said Tuesday she is uncertain whether she will grant a contract to a single provider or parcel out the services.
“We are going to allow vendors to bid on a part of the state or a service or the entire state. That’s the beauty of the ITN process. It really puts the vendor in the driver’s seat as to what their specialty is, rather than having a company come in and try to backfill on something that is so big and then not be able to accommodate all of the services, which is pretty much what happened with Corizon,” Jones said. “We’re going to look very carefully at these vendors and see what their capabilities are and make sure that they don’t stretch beyond their capabilities.”
Pictured: Inmate medical facilities inside the Century Correctional Institution. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.