Ernest Ward Eagles End Undefeated Season With Win Over Atmore
October 16, 2015
The Ernest Ward Middle School Eagles ended a perfect season with a win over Escambia County Middle School of Atmore.
The Eagles of Ernest Ward beat the Eagles of Escambia County 42-8 in Atmore.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Reimagine Flomaton Planning Begins
October 16, 2015
The organizational volunteer meeting for Reimagine Flomaton was held Thursday night at the Flomaton Fire Department.
Reimagine Flomaton will be held Saturday, February 20, 2016. Reimagine has held similar events in Century, Brownsville, Warrrington, Thomaston, GA, Santa Rosa County and Peru. Events have included clothing giveaways, free haircuts, free food, free health checks and displays from community organizations.
The next meeting for the group will be Thursday, November 19 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting location will be announced at a later date on NorthEscambia.com. For more information, contact Linda at (850) 454-5280.
Pictured: Volunteers discuss Reimagine Flomaton Thursday night at the Flomaton Fire Department. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Restore Advisory Committee To Meet Next Week
October 16, 2015
The Escambia County RESTORE Advisory Committee will meet Tuesday, October 20, at 4 p.m. in the County Commission Chambers at 221 Palafox Place to discuss submitted projects and the next step in the process. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
The County’s RESTORE project submission portal website launched on July 1 and closed on October 2, 2015. More than 120 projects were submitted for entry, with initiatives ranging from bayou restoration to coastal sediment management, a native path boardwalk, workforce development, stormwater projects, habitat restoration, community centers and more.
For more information or general questions about the RESTORE process, upcoming meetings or related topics, visit myescambia.com/restore
West Florida Downs Northview
October 16, 2015
The West Florida Lady Jaguars defeated the Northview Chiefs Thursday night 3-1 in varsity action, and 2-1 in junior varsity play.
West Florida def. Northview varsity 25-, 25-13, 21-25, 26-24.
West Florida def Northview junior varsity 25-9, 25-15.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Gary Amerson, click to enlarge.
Molino Woman Charged With Exploitation Of Elderly Man
October 15, 2015
A Molino woman has been charged with stealing from an elderly man.
Heather Nicole Gulsby, 27, was charge with felony grand theft, crimes against the elderly and six felony check offenses.
Gulsby was caretaker for a 65-year old man unable to adequately take care of himself, according to an arrest report. Without proper permission, Gulsby allegedly wrote six checks totaling $1,084.72 on the elderly man’s account for her own personal benefit.
According to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report, Gulsby wrote checks for her benefit on the victim’s account as follows:
- Three checks for $200 each cashed at a local bank on different dates.
- A $290.37 check to Walmart for merchandise.
- A $144.35 check to Molino Utilities, of which $92.22 was applied to her personal account. The remaining$52.13 was applied to the victim’s account; however, the check was written without his permission, the report states.
- A $50 check cashed at a local bank.
Northview Chiefs Baseball Coach Lister No Longer With The Team
October 15, 2015
Northview High School head baseball coach Martin “Marty” Lister is no longer in charge of the school’s baseball program.
“He has been removed as baseball coach,” Northview Principal Gayle Weaver said Wednesday. She declined to provide any specific reasons for the decision. Lister remains a member of the Northview faculty teaching drafting and construction technology.
Last season, Lister led the Chiefs to their first appearance in the 1A state final four in school history. They lost to Blountstown 7-4 in the Class 1A state semifinal game at Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers.
Lister joined the Chiefs as head baseball coach in October 2012.
He was drafted in the seventh round by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1992 MLB June Amateur Draft from Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton. He has pitched for the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks organizations.
Lister taught at Escambia High School in Pensacola for five years before coming to Northview to teach drafting and construction technology. He coached varsity baseball for four years at Escambia, along with freshmen football, running back coach for varsity football and boys weightlifting. He also was an assistant baseball and pitching coach at Pensacola State College.
Fields Of Faith: Community Worship Service Held
October 15, 2015
The Northview High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) sponsored a student led worship event “Fields of Faith” Wednesday night in the Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium.
The service included music, student testimonies and a message from guest speaker Jody Levins, a youth leader at Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church in Bogia.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
U.S. Senate Candidates Take Aim At Washington Dysfunction
October 15, 2015
Facing low name recognition and a largely unshaped race, the five front-runners for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat introduced themselves to reporters and editors in Tallahassee on Wednesday by arguing that they could actually get things done in a dysfunctional Washington, D.C.
Speaking at an annual Associated Press media gathering at the Florida Capitol, four sitting congressman and the state’s lieutenant governor began distinguishing themselves even as much of the political world’s focus remains on presidential primaries in both parties.
Some of the sharpest contrasts came between Democratic Congressmen Alan Grayson and Patrick Murphy, who are vying for their party’s nomination to the Senate seat being vacated by Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio.
“I would say the biggest difference between us is style, first and foremost,” said Murphy, who was elected to Congress in 2012 by knocking off Republican firebrand Allen West. “I think Congressman Grayson prides himself on being the bomb-throwing, name-calling, finger-pointing person. … If you ask me, that’s no way to get something done with people.”
But Grayson defended his style of saying “interesting” things and claimed that he has passed more amendments in the House of Representatives than any other member of Congress.
“I don’t try to bore people with the usual drivel. And I’ll plead guilty to that,” he said.
A few minutes later, he proved his point in a soliloquy on the GOP caucus.
“There’s a fundamental problem, which is that Republicanism in the House of Representatives is cannibalizing itself,” he said. “They keep eating each other. Oh, there I go again, saying something interesting.”
Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera hammered home the point that he was the only one of the five without Washington experience.
Lopez-Cantera also distanced himself from right-wing demands that the GOP threaten to shut down the government in order to try to defund Planned Parenthood clinics. He said he would support such a move if it were “not just for a talking point,” but that previous spending showdowns haven’t worked.
“This whole shutdown strategy; I don’t understand it, because it has not accomplished what they have sought to accomplish,” Lopez-Cantera said. “The endgame is still going to be same.”
Republican Congressman David Jolly underscored the fact that he didn’t vote for a congressional committee to investigate Planned Parenthood’s handling of fetal tissue. He noted that three committee were already looking into the matter.
While describing himself as a conservative, Jolly touted a maverick streak that he said came from his desire to get things done rather than dodge issues.
“What is true is that I voted against the intransigence and dishonesty of our own side of the aisle. Look, I am in a space right now in this Senate race where I’m calling it like I see it, with great political risk,” he said.
But Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis demurred when asked about the shutdown strategy, saying he believed Congress should instead get back to the regular budget process instead of a process that causes last-minute showdowns. He noted that because of the procedures, the current Congress has not passed a full package of spending bills.
He also suggested that it was the inability of Congress to at least work for change that was causing some of the discontent among voters.
“I think voters understand, we have a complicated system,” he said. “There are checks and balances. … But if they don’t see the effort, then I think they say, ‘You know what, these guys just say what they want, just to get in there and once they’re there, all they care about is maintaining their positions rather than actually doing things on behalf of the American people.’”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Scott, Lawmakers Likely To Debate Tax Cuts, Incentives
October 15, 2015
Gov. Rick Scott might clash with state senators in 2016 over the size of his tax-cut plans and how business recruitment dollars are banked.
Scott, addressing reporters Wednesday at an annual Associated Press media event in the Capitol, said he intends to ask lawmakers for a larger tax-cut package in 2016 than the $673 million he sought this year and also maintained support for placing business-relocation and expansion dollars into escrow.
The governor is particularly focusing on the permanent elimination of a sales tax on manufacturing equipment.
“We should be able to do it,” Scott said of creating a tax-cut package that features eliminating the manufacturing tax. “We’re growing revenue. We are paying down debts. We have budget surpluses every year going forward, so we should be able to do that year in and year out.”
Scott added that despite Florida having “the lowest state taxes per capita in the country,” taxes should be going down as there are “more people moving to our state.”
Lawmakers in 2013 approved a three-year moratorium on the manufacturing tax, but the tax is scheduled to be revived in 2017. Scott last year projected that companies will have to pay $142.5 million annually if the tax returns.
“If we do this this year we’re going to see so much growth in manufacturing, it will be a dramatic diversification of our economy,” Scott said.
In addition to Scott’s focus on the manufacturing tax, lawmakers have also submitted proposals for the 2016 legislative session that would cut taxes through a 10-day back-to-school sales tax holiday and reduce a commercial real-estate lease tax and the corporate income tax.
Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, appearing separately after Scott, professed support for cutting taxes in the 2016 session.
However, Gardiner, an Orlando Republican who considers $250 million a starting point for the tax-cut discussions, said the return on each cut must be clearly identified.
“We want measurable goals and examples of where we can see that, yes, this tax is going to work,” Gardiner said.
He also expressed some apprehension about using all of the state’s projected $635.4 million budget surplus for tax cuts. The majority of the projected surplus is one-time revenue, which is not expected to recur year after year.
Crisafulli, a Merritt Island Republican, said a House tax-cut package will again come out of the Finance & Tax Committee but added that any cuts will help Florida’s economy.
“We all benefit when taxpayers are able to keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets,” Crisafulli said. “Showing there is no better proof of that, Florida’s economy has continued to grow.”
Scott, who during his 2014 re-election campaign pledged $1 billion in cuts over two years, didn’t place a dollar figure on his tax-cut proposal other than to say it will be larger than what he wanted out of the 2015 session.
Lawmakers, who had to complete the budget in a June special session, ultimately sent $428.9 million in cuts to Scott’s desk.
Democrats said Wednesday the focus on using the surplus for tax cuts is misplaced.
House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, said that eliminating the manufacturing tax cut is “laughable” with the state facing issues such as shortfalls in health-care funding. Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, D- Tampa, added, “It’s my position that this surplus is not really a surplus, because we have not taken care of the needs of all of the people of the state of Florida.”
As for business incentives, Scott said a program known as the Quick Action Closing Fund, used by Enterprise Florida, needs to be reformed if the state wants to lure major corporate headquarters. But he also defended the state’s continued use of placing business-incentive money into escrow accounts.
“We can either give them the money upfront or we can do it the other way of doing it, say, ‘We’ll put the money in escrow (and) as you create the jobs we’ll give you the money,’ ” Scott said. “That is a way smarter way of doing it.”
Scott has been pushing business leaders across the state to lobby lawmakers to increase funding for corporate recruitment incentives, an action that hasn’t been well received by a number of lawmakers.
Earlier this year, Scott asked lawmakers to set aside $85 million for business incentives. The final budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 included $53 million for Enterprise Florida, of which $43 million was for incentives and $10 million was for marketing.
Gardiner has proposed that instead of putting the money into escrow, the state set aside $50 million to cover future economic incentive payments, which he has noted have never topped $20 million in a single year.
The capped funding, set up in a system similar to the state Department of Transportation’s 5-year work program, would be available for already-approved contractually obligated business incentives and in the future for performance payments.
Scott said he’d be “receptive” to any proposal that could produce a better return than the commercial escrow accounts.
Crisafulli, when asked if he supported the governor or Gardiner on budgeting incentive money, said the state needs to guarantee that cash will be readily available to get businesses to move to Florida and to create new jobs.
“I think the governor is in a situation where he has to have that money to show that we’re serious about what we’re doing,” Crisafulli said. “It’s important that people recognize that nothing takes place until those jobs are created.”
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Cop Impersonator Arrested After Trying To Pull Over Unmarked Deputy Vehicle
October 14, 2015
An alleged cop impersonator has been arrested after trying to conduct a traffic stop on an unmarked police car.
Joshua Dwayne Lynam, 24, was charged with impersonating a police officer after he performed a traffic stop on an Escambia County deputy on I-110 at Airport Boulevard. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $1,000 bond.
Lynam was driving a gold Chevrolet 1500 king cab pickup equipped with red and white emergency flashing lights with Florida tag 869 UBN. Deputies said he is suspected of impersonating a police officer by stopping vehicles on state roadways from Santa Rosa County to Baldwin County.
Anyone that believes they may have been a victim of Lynam during a suspicious traffic stop is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
