Northview Grad Ross Named SoCon Special Teams Player Of Week
September 29, 2015
Northview High School graduate Brian Ross of Century has been named the Southern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the Furman University Paladins’ 24-21 SoCon season opening victory over VMI on Saturday.
With Furman trailing 14-7 at halftime, Ross, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound junior, set the tone for the Paladins in the second half by blocking a VMI punt, which he scooped up and rambled five yards into the end zone to help Furman tie the game en route to the win.
In addition to his decisive special teams play, the defensive end registered a pair of tackles, including a sack for a six-yard loss, and forced fumble. His second tackle of the game also proved key, as the diving stop came on a fourth down play at the Furman 45 with 3:49 remaining, forcing the Keydets the turn the ball over on downs and effectively sealing the game’s outcome.
Winners of its last two games, Furman (2-2) plays host to South Carolina State this Saturday at Paladin Stadium in a 7:00 ESPN3 broadcast contest.
Ross is a 2012 graduate of Northview High School where he played defensive end and tight end. He totaled 54 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and two blocked punts as a senior in helping Northview to a 7-4 record, district, and regional championships. He was named first team all-area and all-district and second team all-state. He was also recipient of the Chiefs’ Challenger Award. Ross also played baseball for the Chiefs.
Ross is a earth and environmental science major at Furman University in Greenville, SC.
Traffic Watch: Creighton Road Bridge Work Begins Wednesday
September 29, 2015
Construction activities will begin Wednesday on a bridge repair and rehabilitation project on Creighton Road over I-110 in Pensacola. Drivers will encounter intermittent lane restrictions on I-110 at Creighton Road, however, there will be no southbound lane closures from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The project is anticipated to be complete within two weeks.
All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather. Motorists are reminded to travel with care through the work zone and to watch for equipment and workers entering and exiting the roadways, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Scott Takes On ‘Price Gouging’ At Hospitals; Wants Costs Posted Online
September 29, 2015
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday said he will push a series of proposals targeting “price gouging” in the hospital industry, including a proposal that would require hospitals to post online the prices and average payments for services they provide.
The proposals, which Scott said he will ask the Legislature to approve, are the latest in a series of moves by the governor — who made millions of dollars as a hospital-company CEO — to try to revamp the industry.
“The high cost of health care continues to hurt some of our most vulnerable families in Florida, and the best way to guard against unfairly high hospital costs being passed on to patients is to require hospitals to be fully transparent with their own costs and patient charges,” Scott said in a news release.
But Bruce Rueben, president of the Florida Hospital Association, said his group is working on proposed legislation that could help increase transparency in the health-care industry. Rueben said he was disappointed in Scott’s statements Monday and said the governor never talked with the association before releasing the proposals.
“It doesn’t help the discourse to make mean-spirited accusations that are completely unfounded,” Rueben said.
Rueben said “we all want to see” health care become less expensive and added it is understandable that people are concerned about a wide disparity of charges for services. But he took issue with Scott’s characterization of price gouging.
“The fact is, there’s a big difference between high prices and so-called price gouging,” Rueben said.
Scott in recent months has repeatedly taken aim at costs and regulations in the hospital industry. In part, he created the Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding, which has held hearings across the state to delve into the operations of hospitals. Scott’s news release Monday came as members of the commission met in Tampa.
The Scott administration this summer also requested information from hospitals about Medicaid managed-care contracts with health insurers and said it would audit hospitals that didn’t adequately comply with the request. In addition, Scott has raised the possibility of eliminating what is known as the “certificate of need” process for hospitals. That longstanding regulatory process requires state approval of new or expanded hospitals.
The proposals outlined Monday include requiring all hospitals to post on their websites the prices and average payments received for products and services that they offer. Also, Scott called for patients to be able to pursue complaints of hospital “price gouging” with law-enforcement and regulatory agencies. Another move would require non-profit hospitals to post on their websites Internal Revenue Service documents that include detailed financial information.
“With our proposed reforms, patients who believe their hospital bills are unconscionably high will have the ability to ask for a third-party review of their charges,” Scott said. “We must address the high costs hospitals pass on to patients if we are going to make health care more affordable and accessible in Florida.”
Out Of State Lawyer Proposal Not Likely To Fly In Florida
September 29, 2015
A proposal that would let out-of-state lawyers get licensed in Florida without taking the state’s Bar exam is likely dead, but that didn’t stop opponents from piling on during a Florida Bar meeting.
Reaction to the “admission by motion” proposal at the forum echoed the overwhelmingly negative response to the recommendation since it was first floated by the Bar’s Multi-jurisdictional Practice-State Focus Committee earlier this summer.
Also known as “reciprocity,” the proposal has spawned fear among lawyers in small or individual practices and divided the legal community. Not a single legal association in the state has supported it.
The plan is “ill-conceived and little more than an attempt to allow large firms to flood wherever they wish with lawyers,” said Charles Morehead, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer and president-elect of the Broward County Bar Association.
Several lawyers also complained about the $96,000 the Bar paid a public relations firm this summer, accusing the Bar of spending lawyers’ dues to push an agenda many don’t agree with.
Jay Cohen, a member of the Florida Bar’s Board of Governors who also opposes admission by motion, sat alone on a dais as the Bar’s designee for the forum. More than two dozen lawyers, nearly all of them opposed, railed against the plan.
About a dozen Bar governors sat in the audience, but missing from the session was Florida Bar President Ray Abadin. Abadin has remained publicly neutral on the plan but who has been pilloried by some for even pushing forward a debate on the issue, which arose as part of the Bar’s “Vision 2016″ program launched three years ago.
“I do wish Mr. Abadin was here,” Morehead told Cohen. “I’m sorry you have to take the bullet for him.”
About 40 other states allow some sort of entrance for lawyers without taking the exam, and to Abadin, reciprocity could be a way to modernize the legal profession in an increasingly mobile age.
“It’s clearly unnerving a lot of lawyers because it is now creating a dialogue over what we do and where we fit in the social scheme. As lawyers we have had the luxury of being the only game in town for a long time,” Abadin told The News Service of Florida in an interview. “Technology and modernization of knowledge management has changed that paradigm.”
Palm Beach Gardens lawyer Lloyd Schwed launched the campaign against the proposal and sent dozens of emails to thousands of lawyers urging them to speak out against it.
“I’m not the greatest lawyer in the world, but I find it very powerful that a man who has spent 43 years practicing law here, Florida Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis, just last week was asked about this and he said, ‘I think it’s absolutely he worst thing that could happen to the citizens of Florida,’” Schwed said.
Under the criteria suggested by the Bar committee, out-of-state lawyers who have been practicing for at least five of the past seven years before they apply would be eligible. Also, admission by motion would only be available to lawyers who are from states that allow Florida Bar members to practice without a written or oral exam.
In addition, admission by motion would only be available to lawyers who haven’t failed the Florida Bar exam within five years of applying. Applicants would have to have a law degree from law schools approved by the American Bar Association at the time they graduated.
The proposal created such an uproar that the Bar set up a special email account to take input on the issue, and Abadin last month issued a public statement trying to quell fears that the matter had already been decided.
About 500 lawyers showed up at a Hillsborough County Bar Association meeting this week to hear from Abadin on the issue.
Cohen predicted that the Board of Governors would vote next month to reject moving forward on the proposal.
“The many, many Board of Governor members that have talked with me because of my open opposition to this have confirmed that, in their own circuits, their constituents have been as vocal and have reflected as much opposition as we are hearing generally … and for that reason alone I don’t believe that I’ve heard any strong support for reciprocity,” Cohen said after the meeting.
Thomas Bopp, who represents the Hillsborough region, joined the Board of Governors in June. He said he has been inundated with emails objecting to reciprocity, and also predicted the board would reject it at a mid-October meeting.
“I have not seen any marginal support even for this motion. From what I’ve seen, the majority of my board of governors feel the same way,” Bopp said. “Whatever that member feels personally is one thing. But it’s not what I feel. If you listen to your constituents … if I’ve gotten seven or eight hundred emails, I think I’ve gotten one or two in favor.”
Charles Tiffany, a Kissimmee lawyer, made the sole pitch in favor of the plan.
Tiffany argued that making it easier for out-of-state lawyers to practice in Florida would “enlarge freedom,” but acknowledged lawyers’ concern about increasing competition.
“It’s this fear, this fear that’s just running over the profession that something is wrong,” Tiffany said. “We have to accept the fact that the law business is not as lucrative as it used to be and you’re not guaranteed a ticket to the upper-middle class when you graduate from law school.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Driver Overturns At Highway 99 Bridge
September 28, 2015
One person was injured in a single vehicle rollover accident Monday morning at a bridge.
The accident was reported just after 8 a.m. on County Road 99 about a mile north of Crabtree Church Road in a remote area outside Molino. The driver was apparently northbound on Highway 99 when he lost control just past a curve, ran off the roadway, struck a guardrail on a bridge approach and overturned into a ditch.
The 55-year old male was transported in stable condition by Escambia County EMS to Atmore Community Hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol; further details have not been released. The Molino and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Apply Saturday For Salvation Army Christmas Assistance
September 28, 2015
Christmas is just around the corner, and the Salvation Army is getting ready to help North Escambia residents in need with an application day set for Saturday in Century.
Applications for assistance will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 3 at the Century Ag Building on West Highway 4 at Industrial Boulevard.
For more information call (850) 432-1501 or email escarosa@uss.salvationarmy.org.
The following requirements for assistance were provided by The Salvation Army:
In order for The Salvation Army to process the application for Christmas assistance, applicants must bring the items listed below.
- Driver’s license or ID cards of all persons 18 years and older in houshold
- Social Security Card(s) for everyone in household
- Birth Certificates/Proof of legal custody of all children 17 years and younger
- Proof of all income for household
- TANF/Cash Assistance
- Social Security/SSI/SSDi statements
- Food Stamps statement from Department of Children and Families
- Child Support statement
- Pension statement
- Paystubs or print out for the last 30 days
- If no income, must have a notarized statement
- Proof of all expenses
- Rent/Mortgage (copy of lease or mortgage statement), no receipts accepted
- Homeowners insurance
- Gas/Sanitation bill
- Water/Sewer bill
- Electric bill
- Cable/Satellite bill
- Home telephone/Cell phone bill
- Car payment statement
- Car insurance bill
- Health insurance
- Credit card statements
- Proof of childcare expenses
Failure to have all required information will delay the ability for Christmas assistance. All information is need on the date of application.
Learn How To Do Business With ECUA
September 28, 2015
On Wednesday, September 30, the Florida Small Business Development Center and the University of West Florida’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Program, will offer a free workshop entitled, “How to do Business with the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority” (ECUA). The event will be held at the SBDC Office, 9999 University Parkway, Pensacola, FL., from 9 a.m. until noon.
The informational meeting will educate attendees about the potential of doing business with the ECUA, while increasing participation in obtaining future ECUA contracts. Participants will learn about the bidding process, qualification requirements, future business opportunities, and how the ECUA hiring process is conducted.
ECUA speakers will include; Stephen P. Holcomb, ECUA director of wastewater infrastructure, Amy Williamson, ECUA senior purchasing agent, and Frances Webb, ECUA HR generalist.
The workshop is free; however, pre-registration is recommended. For additional information contact Laura Subel, PTAC procurement specialist, via email at lsubel@uwf.edu, or by calling (850) 474-2549.
Ernest Ward Middle Seeks Veteran’s Stories For Program
September 28, 2015
Ernest Ward Middle School is seeking personal stories from veterans in the local community to use as part of their upcoming Veterans Day program.
Veterans with an inspirational or traumatic account of a military service event are asked to email their story to teacher Katie Roley at kroley@escambia.k12.fl.us or contact the school at (850) 327-4283 for information on submitted a handwritten or typed account.
The following information should be included with the submission: The veteran’s full name, dates of service (peace time or specific war), current community of residence and the detailed account of one specific event.
The submission deadline is Friday, October 9.
Pictured: A “MIA Table” presentation at last year’s Veterans Day Program at Ernest Ward Middle School. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Animal Rights, Environmental Groups Join Effort To Stop Bear Hunt
September 28, 2015
Eleven Florida and national animal-protection and environmental groups jointly filed a “friend of the court” brief Friday that sides with a Seminole County organization seeking to block the state’s upcoming bear-hunting season.
Leon County Circuit Judge George Reynolds III on October 1 will hear a legal challenge by Speak Up Wekiva to the hunt, which was approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The season is scheduled to begin October 24 and last two to seven days. It is the first bear hunt in the state in more than two decades. The state agency’s goal is to reduce the bear population in Florida by 320.
As of Friday morning, 2,279 bear hunting permits had been purchased.
The groups backing Speak Up Wekiva were the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Hero Kids, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida,the Animal Welfare Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, CompassionWorks International, Environmental Action, the Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary, Lobby for Animals, the South Florida Wildlands Association and Stop the Florida Bear Hunt.
by The News Service of Florida
Free Hunter Safety Class Offered In Molino
September 28, 2015
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is offering a free hunter safety courses in Molino next month.
The class will be held at the Molino Community Center, 6450 Hwy. 95A, Molino. Instruction is from 6 to 10 p.m. October 15. The range portion of the class will be October 17 from 7 to 10 a.m. Directions to the range will be handed out in class.
For the Internet-completion courses, students must complete the Internet course before coming to class and bring a copy of the final report from the online portion of the course. The final report form does not have to be notarized.
An adult must accompany children under the age of 16 at all times. Students should bring a pencil and paper with them to take notes.
Anyone born on or after June 1, 1975, must pass an approved hunter safety course and have a hunting license to hunt alone (unsupervised). The FWC course satisfies hunter-safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces.
People interested in attending these courses can register online and obtain information about future hunter safety classes at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or by calling Hunter Safety Coordinator Will Burnett at the FWC’s regional office in Panama City at (850) 265-3676.