School District Calls For Inspection Of Dump Truck Co. After Bus Wreck
August 28, 2015
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas is issuing a letter to the Compliance Investigation Unit of the Florida Highway Patrol requesting a thorough safety inspection of the fleet of trucks owned and operated by G. B. Green Construction Management, LLC, the owners of the truck involved in the accident with an Escambia County school s Thursday afternoon at Pace and Jordan street. Sixteen students were injured in that crash.
“While there is complete confidence in the investigation into yesterday’s accident, I would like to request the Compliance Investigation Unit of the Florida Highway Patrol thoroughly inspect Green Construction’s entire fleet before they are allowed on our roads,” stated Thomas. “Hopefully, this company will cooperate with the state in the interest of preventing future accidents.”
Thomas contacted each Escambia County School Board member today to make them aware of the letter requesting the inspections.
Thomas has also been in communication with Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan who also supports this preventative effort.
“We are grateful that no one on the bus was seriously hurt. When our driver proceeded through the intersection she was operating in accordance with the law, but when she saw that truck headed her way and not slowing down, all she could do was try to get out of the way. The truck hit the rear left side of her bus, flipping the bus on its side and driving it into a power pole,” Thomas said. “Thanks to the bus driver’s quick reaction, as well as the design of the bus, the students and adults inside were able to safely walk away.”
“From the images of the tires we have all seen in the media, that truck should not have been on the road,” Thomas continued. “No motorist should have to worry that a truck coming up the road toward them is unsafe.”
Superintendent Thomas’ letter requests a complete and thorough investigation by the Compliance Investigation Unit, of the Florida Highway Patrol of the G.B. Green Construction Management, LLC company, its fleet of vehicles, its fleet maintenance program and practices, and it commercial motor vehicle operator hiring practices.
“The school bus was damaged but, it did its job,” added Thomas. “It protected everyone on board. The students are to be commended as well. They reacted in a calm and orderly way as they helped each other off of the bus. The district is proud of each and every one of them, their driver, the bus aide and thankful for the many people who came to their assistance.”
The school district is issuing this request to the Florida Highway Patrol with the sincere hope that the owners of this fleet of dump trucks will comply with the request, take the trucks off the road, inspect each one to ensure they are safe, and make any necessary repairs before they put any of their trucks back on the road, the district said in a news release.
Tire photos courtesy Andrew McKay, NewsRadio 1620 for NorthEscambia.com. Other photos are NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Hundreds Turn Out For Free Food Giveaway (With Photo Gallery)
August 28, 2015
Tons of free food were given away to hundreds in need Friday morning in Century.
Between 12,000 and 15,000 pounds of food were distributed in cooperation with Pensacola Caring Hearts and the Bay Area Food Bankey at the Abundant Life Assembly of God Church.
The line for the began forming nearly three hours before the giveaway was set to start, church members said. When the first boxes of food were given out around 9 a.m., the line stretched out of sight and all the way around the church to the back of their property.
“It’s an amazing turnout. There are an awful lot of people here,” Joseph Berman of the Bay Area Food Bank said. “In one way, that’s good, but in another it’s really bad that there that many people here in need.”
For more photos, click to enlarge.
Pictured: A free food giveaway Friday morning in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos.
Century Man Sentenced For Battery On Mentally Disabled Woman
August 28, 2015
A Century man has been sentenced for placing a gun to forehead of a mentally disabled woman and threatening to kill her.
John Andrew McClain, 45, was originally charged with aggravated battery using a deadly weapon but was sentenced on a lesser charge of battery with prior convictions. He was sentenced to 36 months supervised probation.
The 44-year woman met deputies at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Century Precinct to report the incident. She told deputies that she is mentally disabled, unable to read or write, and had been involved in a “dating relationship” for several years with McClain.
She told deputies that on January 2 she was riding in a vehicle with McClain when a man called her cellphone. Later that night, she said McClain pressed the barrel of a handgun against her forehead and told her that he would kill her. According to an arrest report, the victim had a small wound on her forehead, apparently from the gun barrel.
He also allegedly grabbed her and held her in a “bear hug”. Over the next few days, she said McClain continued to drive past her house to make sure that she was home, but she was so afraid that she did not immediately report the gun incident.
A few days later, she said McClain drove her to the grocery store in Century and left her there, taking her vehicle back to her residence and sabotaging it so that it would not crank. McClain later allegedly grabbed her flip-style phone and broke it in half.
When deputies arrested McClain, spontaneously said he does not own any guns and that the victim is crazy, according to an arrest report.
Ernest Ward Middle Topples Jay, 22-20
August 28, 2015
Ernest Ward Middle School opened their football season with a 22-20 win over the Jay Royals Thursday night in Walnut Hill. The EWMS Eagles will travel to T.R. Miller on September 3.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Multiple Injuries In School Bus Wreck In Pensacola; Dump Truck Ran Red Light
August 28, 2015
Multiple students were injured when a school bus loaded with students from Pensacola High School was hit by a dump truck and overturned in Pensacola Thursday afternoon.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 16 students were transported to area hospitals, two as “trauma alerts”. The FHP said bus driver Harriet Collins, 27, along with 22 students and a driver’s assistant were westbound on Jordan Street attempting to cross Pace Boulevard.
A Mack Dump truck being driven by Abraham Larry, Jr., age 33 of Pensacola, was traveling north on Pace Boulevard. The dump truck driven by Larry ran the red light at the intersection of Jordan Street on collided with the left rear side of the school bus. The collision caused the school bus to overturn and strike a utility pole, coming to final rest on its right side.
The FHP is continuing their investigation. Any charges in the crash are pending.
NorthEscambia.com photos.
Extension Farm Field Day Held
August 28, 2015
An Extension Farm Filed Day was held Thursday at the University of Florida, West Florida Research & Education Center in Jay. Farmers from across Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and surrounding areas learned about numerous topics, including weed control for row crops, peanuts, cotton, soybeans and even sesame. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Fans ‘Meet The Chiefs’ (With Gallery)
August 28, 2015
Northview High School’s Quarterback Club held a “Meet the Chiefs” event Thursday evening, giving fans a chance to get to know the team prior to the start of the regular season Friday night. Fans also had a chance to meet the cheerleaders and dance team. The Chiefs will travel to Crestview Friday night to take on the Bulldogs in a non-district game.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Central, Northview Split Volleyball Games
August 28, 2015
In high school volleyball Thursday evening, Central defeated the Northview Chiefs in varsity action, 19-25, 20-25, 15-25.
In junior varsity play, the Northview Chiefs beat Central, 25-19, 21-25, 15-5.
Northview will travel to W.S. Neal on Tuesday with the JV playing at 4:30 and the varsity at 5:30.
Wahoos Rally, Up 1.5 Games In South Division
August 28, 2015
All second half of the Southern League season, left fielder Jesse Winker came through with a big hit when Pensacola needed it.
Winker’s last one — a double in the right field corner in the eighth inning — was the biggest and came under the most pressure.
It not only cleared the loaded bases by driving in three runs to catapult the Blue Wahoos back into the lead, 9-8, over the Mississippi Braves, it put Pensacola 1.5 games up on the Braves in the race for the playoffs in the second half of the Southern League’s South Division.
By the end of the eighth inning, Pensacola had scored five runs and beat Mississippi, 11-8, and received a standing ovation from its 23rd sellout of 5,038 Thursday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Pensacola improved to 34-26 in the second half and remained in sole possession of first place, while Mississippi fell to 32-27.
With 10 games left in the season, this is the latest Pensacola has been in first place since July 22, 2012 in its first season.
Winker said he was looking for a fastball to hit deep and at least get a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. Instead, he ripped a line drive to reach base all five times he came to bat. Winker was 2-2 with a double, four RBIs, three runs and walked three times. The last time he got on base five times was on June 11, 2014 for the Bakersfield Blaze.
“How sweet,” said Winker, who was drenched with water by his teammates after the game. “It was unbelievable with the playoff atmosphere, plus PK’s (manager Pat Kelly) birthday. It was real cool. It was a real fun game to be a part of.”
Winker has hit in 18 of his 23 games this month. He is hitting .367 (29-79) in August and .312 in the second half. The Cincinnati Reds top prospect currently holds the Pensacola Triple Crown, leading the team with 13 home runs, 53 RBIs and a .278 batting average.
In top of the fifth inning with Pensacola leading, 4-1, the video board flashed birthday wishes to Pensacola manager Pat Kelly, who turned 60 Thursday. One photo was him with a mustache during his minor league playing days and the other a shot from this season. He tipped his cap to the crowd and smiled.
However, Mississippi scored five runs after that in the fifth. Braves right fielder KD Kang came through with a three-run homer to left to knot the game, 4-4. Kang has reached base in 29 straight road games this year, the longest streak in the Southern League this season.
Then, the Braves second baseman Levi Hyams drove in two more runs on a line drive over the head of Pensacola center fielder Phillip Ervin to put Mississippi ahead, 6-4.
Mississippi added two more runs to go ahead, 8-4, in the seventh inning when Pensacola shortstop Alex Blandino threw wide of first base trying to turn a double play that allowed the Braves third baseman Rio Ruiz and catcher Matt Kennelly to score.
Pensacola entered the game 3-56 when trailing in the seventh inning.
“It was fantastic,” Kelly said of Pensacola’s rally in the eighth inning to win the game. “We were dead in the water. I thought, ‘Man, we are really in trouble.’”
But right fielder Juan Duran laced a low line drive single to centerfield with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning to bring home Blandino and Winker and pull the Blue Wahoos within, 8-6. He ended up going 2-4 with a three-run home run for five RBIs on the night.
Duran’s homer in the third inning was Pensacola’s 16th dinger in 24 games. After hitting just 25 home runs in the first half, the Blue Wahoos have clobbered 76 home runs on the season, which is third best in the Southern League.
Winker and Kelly both expressed optimism about making the playoffs with a series against the Jackson Generals in Tennessee and then its final homestand against Mobile at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
“We are all locked in on what we can do to win,” Winker said. “It’s something special to be a part of. I hope we go there (to Jackson) and take five.”
Kelly said beating Mississippi in a five-game series for the first time this season is huge.
“This puts us in a great position by winning it,” Kelly said. “It takes us to the Jackson series with some momentum. We’re going into that series in good spirits.”
Pensacola Soldier Among Two Casualties In Afghanistan
August 27, 2015
An Air Force officer from Pensacola was among two casualties in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley, 31, of Pensacola, and Capt. Matthew D. Roland, 27, of Lexington, KY, died of wounds suffered August 26 when the vehicle they were traveling in was attacked near Camp Antonik, Afghanistan.
They were at a vehicle checkpoint when two individuals wearing Afghan National Defense and Security Forces uniforms opened fire on them. NATO service members returned fire and killed the shooters.
“The losses of Matt and Forrest are a terrible blow to everyone who knew them,” said Col. Wolfe Davidson, 24th Special Operations Wing commander. “These two combat controllers were incredible warriors who not only volunteered to join our nation’s Special Operations Forces, but earned their way to the tip of the spear in defense of our nation.”
Roland was a special tactics officer at the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron here. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2010. Upon completing the rigorous STO training program in 2012, he was a team leader who supervised real-world combat preparedness training of a 35-member team. He deployed three times in his five years of service to multiple locations globally. He is survived by his parents.
Sibley was a combat controller at the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Army Airfield, N.C. He was a four-time Bronze Star medal recipient, once with the valor device, and he deployed four times to sensitive locations around the world in his nearly seven years of service. He is survived by his parents.
Due to their extensive special operations training, both were military qualified static line jumpers, free fall jumpers, combat scuba divers, and qualified in joint terminal attack control.
Special Tactics Airmen integrate, synchronize, control air and space power to enable global access, precision strike and personnel recovery for special operations.
“The risks that these men and their teammates endured in combat and in training are all too well known to the Special Tactics community, but it does not make this great loss any easier to bear,” Davidson said. “We will honor Matt and Forrest for the legacy they left behind, embrace their families as our own, and thank them eternally for their ultimate sacrifice for American freedom.”
Both the 21st STS and 23rd STS fall under the 720th Special Tactics Group, 24th SOW, the only wing solely dedicated to Special Tactics in the Air Force.
Pictured: Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley.