ECSO Questions Two About Lakeview Murder
August 10, 2015
UPDATE: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said both individuals have been located and talked to investigators.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is looking for two people in connection with a Saturday murder.
About 5:45 a.m., deputies found Eugenio Acosta Lopez found inside a home in the 220 block of Lakeview Avenue suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Investigators said that they would like to speak with 18-year old D’Erica Keondrasha Goldsmith and 28-year old Aaron Simmons for questioning only. Anyone with information about their whereabouts or the death is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Available For Review
August 10, 2015
The 2015 draft annual update of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is now available for public review and comment.
The CEDS is a working document, used by private and public sectors, aimed at helping expand private-public partnerships.
Because the northwest Florida region was designated an Economic Development District (EDD), WFRPC is required to conduct a major update of the CEDS every five years and provide minor annual updates on all other years. The 2015 update is conducted by the CEDS Committee, which reviews the CEDS, provides status updates for strategic projects, programs, and activities, and revision to the Goals and Objectives as needed.
The CEDS Committee, comprised of diverse public and private sector representatives, brings representatives together to develop an economic roadmap to diversify and strengthen regional economies. A CEDS analyzes the regional economy and serves as a guide for establishing regional goals and objectives, developing and implementing a regional plan of action, and identifying investment priorities and funding sources. This year, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) required the document to address economic resilience, which was incorporated throughout the CEDS by establishing goals and objectives for emergency preparedness and action steps for industry diversification.
A hard copy of the draft is available at West Florida Regional Planning Council, 4081 E. Olive Rd., Suite A, in Pensacola or online at www.wfrpc.org. Public comments may be submitted to Caitlin Cerame or call (850) 332-7976 ext. 203, until September 3, 2015.
Jerry Davis Named Northwest Florida Agriculture Innovator of the Year
August 9, 2015
Jerry Davis of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties has been selected as the Northwest Florida Agriculture Innovator of the Year.
Davis has been at the forefront of agricultural success in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties for many years. He has been a very progressive leader in many movements to improve farming techniques throughout the state. He comes from a farming family, growing soybeans and wheat in his youth.
The family tradition of farming continues to this day as his wife Patty, and daughter Caitlynn have been very active in the farming operation that has included cotton, peanuts, wheat, corn, soybeans, vegetables, livestock and other crops. Early on, Davis designed a seed conditioning plant (to clean and bag seed for planting) at age 20 for the family farm, and after that, he began farming in 1984.
Davis has been on the cutting edge in adopting new technology for agriculture. In 1987, he became involved with the Extension service in testing a cotton crop simulation model and expert system developed by scientists in USDA-ARS and Mississippi State and Clemson Universities.
Davis attended several training sessions with the agent at Mississippi State University, and tested the model for many years on his farm. The computer model benefited program participants by allowing them to optimize inputs in relation to weather, nitrogen, moisture stress, crop maturity, growth resultants, and harvest aid materials. Data collected was provided to researchers for model improvement, and data showed that growers participating in the project increased net profits on test fields by more than $30 per acre.
The Davis Farm adopted no-till in 1985, ahead of the trend. In no-till farming, farmers plant and fertilize directly into the soil without tilling it first. Undisturbed topsoil and organic matter, including the remains of the previous crop, composts naturally, acting as a built-in natural fertilizer. The organic matter also serves to hold moisture in the soil.
Over the years, he’s diversified into other row crops as well as livestock and vegetables, but his mainstay has always been row crops.
Davis is widely considered an early adopter of innovations and is ready and willing to try new concepts on his farm. He has partnered with UF/IFAS on variety trials and projects over the years, but most recently, he has tried his hand at growing carinata, which can be processed into a ready-to-use biofuel.
Researchers are working to determine if carinata can be successfully grown in the Panhandle for use as oilseeds. The seeds would be crushed, and the resulting product would be refined for use as a renewable source of jet fuel.
Though Davis and his crew are busy farming multiple thousands of acres, he has always had time to work with Extension through committee work, as the leader of a tour, or as a sounding board. For the past several years, he has played a major role in the West Florida Research and Education Center’s Farm-City Week Celebration. His farm purchases and donates the sweet potatoes that are included in the box of Thanksgiving food that is given to pre-qualified needy recipients in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Much of the produce in the box is grown at the WFREC, but the sweet potatoes come from Baldwin County, courtesy of the Davis Family.
Davis is very civic minded and has worked diligently to advance the interests of the farming community. For many years he has been a spokesman for farmers at the local, state, and national levels. He has worked with policy makers to ensure disaster legislation and positive Federal Farm Bills.
by Libby Johnson, Escambia County Extension, and NorthEscambia.com
Pictured top: Jerry Davis harvests wheat. Pictured top inset: Northwest Florida Agriculture Innovator of the Year Jerry Davis. Pictured lower inset: Davis and his wife Patty. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Schools Need Correct Student Addresses, Phone Numbers
August 9, 2015
The Escambia County School District is asking parents to ensure that their child’s school has current home addresses and phone numbers on file. If any of the information has changed, even if the child lives in the same school zone, information should be updated now.
Correct information ensures that school bus routes are planned effectively and used to make sure automated School Messengers calls are correctly delivered.
For more information or to update records, parents should contact their child’s school.
Sales Tax Holiday Continues On Clothing, School Supplies, Computers
August 9, 2015
Florida’s 2015 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday will continue until August 16.
During this period, no Florida sales tax will be collected on sales of clothing, footwear, and certain accessories with a selling price of $100 or less per item, on certain school supplies selling for $15 or less per item, and on the first $750 of the sales price for computers and certain computer-related accessories when purchased for noncommercial home or personal use.
To view a complete list of exempted items for this year’s Tax-Free Holiday, click here.
Bill Would Restrict Trying On ‘Intimate Apparel’
August 9, 2015
A Senate Democrat is renewing an attempt to place restrictions on people who try on underwear and swimsuit bottoms in retail stores. Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, filed a bill (SB 104) this week that would prevent retailers from allowing customers to try on “intimate apparel” unless the items are tried on over clothing or disposable shields are used.
If customers fail to comply, tried-on items would be considered defective and could not be sold by the stores.
The bill, which will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, defines intimate apparel as including “lower undergarments and swimsuit bottoms.”
Thompson proposed a nearly identical bill during the 2015 legislative session but it died in a Senate committee.
County Commission Workshop Rescheduled; Special Meeting Added
August 9, 2015
The Committee of the Whole (COW) Workshop on Thursday, August 13 has been rescheduled from 9 a.m. to 9:02 a.m. In addition, a Special Board of County Commissioners’ (BCC) Meeting has been scheduled for 9:01 a.m. that day.
The purpose of the Special Meeting is to hold a Public Hearing for consideration of adopting an amendment to Chapter 82 of the Escambia County Code of Ordinances amending definitions, regulations, and permitting requirements for Construction and Demolition Debris (C&DD) facilities and Land Clearing Debris (LCD) facilities.
The meetings will be held in the Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, Board Chambers, Room 100, 221 Palafox Place.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: On The Edge
August 9, 2015
It’s been a tense year in Tallahassee.
Even before the regular legislative session began in March, Gov. Rick Scott’s administration was consumed in one of the most-serious controversies it has faced, when questions were raised about the governor’s attempts to push out some state agency heads.
Then came the botched rollout of the state’s new standardized school test and the health-care fight that blew up the regular session. That was followed by a special session to finalize the state budget. And then along came a 5-2 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court that ordered lawmakers back to Tallahassee — yet again to redraw the state’s congressional districts.
So perhaps it’s not a surprise that everyone seemed a bit on edge this week. Members of Congress were waiting for a new map to emerge from a legislative redistricting staff that was essentially sequestered. Rep. Matt Gaetz was ill from something, though reports could have led one to believe it was anything from allergies to bubonic plague.
But some progress was made on a couple of longstanding issues, including the brouhaha over agency heads. Maybe autumn will calm things down in the capital city.
After a special session on state Senate redistricting, of course.
ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS
Everyone expected the new congressional map — the third one the Legislature will have drawn — to be somewhat controversial after it was released. But the plan was already generating waves before it was crafted, as the very voting-rights organizations that got the current districts struck down were complaining about the process for drawing the new ones.
The League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause Florida released a letter to Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, taking issue with the top lawmakers’ announcement that legislative staff and lawyers would be secluded as they drew a map intended to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision rejecting current districts.
That map will serve as a “base” for lawmakers as they consider amendments and give ultimate approval to a congressional redistricting plan during a special legislative session that starts Monday.
“We believe that the ‘base map’ should be discussed and drawn in public, as that map will play a central role in the legislative process of drawing the congressional redistricting plan,” wrote League of Women Voters President Pamela Goodman and Peter Butzin, chairman of Common Cause Florida. “We hope and expect that the Legislature will provide a mechanism for the public to view the drawing of the ‘base map’ and any associated discussions.”
The legislative leaders, who have been battling the two groups in court for more than three years, did not seem overly concerned.
“As with similar politically motivated letters that have been received regarding the redistricting process, the speaker has no comment,” Crisafulli spokesman Michael Williams wrote in an email.
The anticipated disputes also cropped up when the base map itself was released. The plan would re-jigger lines across the state — particularly in Northeast Florida, the Orlando area and Southeast Florida — and likely tilt the playing field slightly more in the direction of Democrats, allowing them to chip away at the GOP’s 17-10 edge in the U.S. House delegation.
But the biggest and most-charged change came with Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown’s district, which has for years run from Jacksonville to Orlando and gives African-Americans a chance to elect candidates of their choice. The new version of the district would still do that, supporters say, as it runs from Jacksonville in the east to Gadsden County in the west.
Brown is not among those who think the district will work out as well for black voters, and she promptly headed to court to try a convoluted legal move to block the new orientation.
“It’s about drawing districts that put communities of interest together. Period,” Brown said during a press conference in Orlando. “Jacksonville, Florida has nothing in common with North Florida.”
(Left unexplained was what Jacksonville has in common with Orlando.)
There could be changes to the base map, but those who want to file amendments will face a daunting list of requirements. House members, for example, will have to disclose everyone who helped them draw maps and give detailed, non-political explanations for why the districts are shaped certain ways.
EDGING AWAY FROM QUARANTINE
Everyone knows that Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, likes to tell tales and that some of them might have a North Dakota-sized dollop of exaggeration in them. But when Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, missed a father-son speaking engagement Wednesday, the elder Gaetz told reporters that Matt had come down with highly contagious whooping cough.
“The bad news is, Matt has whooping cough,” the senator told students from the FSU master’s program in Applied American Politics and Policy. “The good news is, Matt is quarantined.”
Don Gaetz went on to explain that his son was not waylaid — Matt was “doing lots of legal work for his clients, because he can still bill, even though he can’t cough on you.” He also said his son apparently caught the disease from Florida Congressman Carlos Curbelo, who confirmed this week that he had been diagnosed with whooping cough, also known as pertussis or “the 100-day cough.”
But the thing is, Papa Gaetz was getting ahead of the story.
Matt Gaetz tweeted Friday that test results showed he does not have the disease.
“Whooping Cough tests are negative. Special thx 2 Okaloosa Health Dept. Many apologies @RepCurbelo. Quarantine lifted!” the younger Gaetz tweeted.
EDGING TO RESOLUTION
The good news for the taxpayers of Florida: Two lingering legal cases facing the state have been resolved. The bad news: Those settlements will result in $1.3 million being shelled out to lawyers.
One case brought an end to a saga that toppled a House speaker and put just a little bit more of the budget process into the sunlight. But corruption charges against former House Speaker Ray Sansom that started the entire affair in 2009 were eventually dropped, and the state has now agreed to pay most of his legal bills.
Indeed, the state has paid $600,000 to settle a case about whether Sansom was entitled to more than $800,000 in legal fees for his successful defense against charges linked to a budget item approved while he chaired the House budget-writing committee.
“I respect the court’s ruling and am pleased that we could reach a settlement that is significantly less than the judgment and will end all further litigation on this matter,” House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said in a statement released Tuesday by his office.
Meanwhile, the state was preparing to shell out $700,000 to settle a public-records dispute brought by Tallahassee attorney Steven Andrews, who has tangled with the governor several times over the years.
In the course of a property battle with Scott and the Cabinet, Andrews made public-records requests. Ultimately, a California judge ordered Internet giant Google in April to turn over correspondence through computer IP addresses from the Gmail accounts of Scott and two former staff members. Andrews argued that Scott used Gmail to sidestep the state’s public-records laws.
The agreement to pay Andrews in the public-records dispute was signed Wednesday, the same day that Scott and Cabinet members approved a settlement that ended the property battle.
The Cabinet on Wednesday also made permanent the appointments of Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jon Steverson and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen to their $150,000-a-year jobs.
Both were initially recommended by Scott in December and appointed a month later. But Steverson and Swearingen had to go through a new Cabinet-level agency head application process as they were among 16 Scott appointees who failed to land Senate confirmation during the 2015 legislative session.
That process itself was an outgrowth of the controversial ouster of former FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey, something that dogged Scott for weeks, long ago, when things were perhaps less stressful in the Capitol.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The Legislature released a “base map” that would recast congressional districts across the state and could shake up the future of Florida’s U.S. House delegation.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I would feel awful if I became Okaloosa County’s Typhoid Mary.”—Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, on staying home while he waited for test results about whether he had whooping cough.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Win Second Straight Over Birmingham Barons
August 9, 2015
Three Pensacola Blue Wahoos smacked home runs and the club won its second straight game over the Birmingham Barons Saturday.
Blue Wahoos center fielder Bryson Smith doubled with two outs in the eighth inning to score Pensacola speedster Beau Amaral from third with the winning run, 8-7, in front of its 20th sellout of the year at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
It was Pensacola’s seventh win in the last nine games and the Blue Wahoos remained a half-game back of Southern League South Division second half leader the Mobile BayBears at 25-17 (49-60). Mobile is 25-16 in the second half.
Pensacola came back to defeat the Barons after trailing, 5-1, in the third inning. Blue Wahoos shortstop Alex Blandino smashed a three-run homer to left field in the bottom of the third inning to bring Pensacola within one run, 5-4. Both catcher Yovan Gonzalez and Bryson Smith scored on Blandino’s second homer for the Blue Wahoos since joining the club Aug. 3.
Pensacola also got a monstrous solo blast from third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean in the second inning, which was his sixth of the year to have a team-leading 42 RBIs. Gonzalez, who now has a four-game hit streak, hit his third homer of the year when he smashed a two-run blast in the fourth inning.
The Blue Wahoos have led the Southern League since July 1 with 117 extra base hits.
Coming back from four runs down is something the Blue Wahoos have rarely done this season, said Pensacola manager Pat Kelly. Kelly credits the addition of right fielder Juan Duran’s bat to the lineup July 1 after he completed injury rehab.
“He really lengthens our lineup,” Kelly said. “Everyone is in a position now where they are very comfortable.”
Kelly said he was most impressed with Blandino’s homer to left. “That was a big blow right there,” he said.
He also complimented Gonzalez, the backup catcher for the Wahoos, who was 1-2 with two walks Saturday and scored two runs.
“He’s swinging a great bat the last four or five games,” Kelly said. “He’s done it in limited play. He’s in a tough role. It’s nice to see that production.”
Gonzalez’s two-run homer in the fourth brought the Blue Wahoos within, 7-6. Buckley then scored on a Ryan Wright sacrifice fly to right to tie the game, 7-7, in the sixth inning.
Birmingham went up 7-4 when third baseman Nicky Delmonico, who had a home run and three RBIs, singled in shortstop Tim Anderson, who hit a leadoff double in the fourth inning. Delmonico then scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by designated hitter Danny Hayes.
Anderson, the Chicago White Sox top prospect, went 2-4 with a double, scored three times and stole three bases for a Southern League-leading 44 steals on the year.
“He is such a threat,” Kelly said. “Plus, he plays great at shortstop.”
Heat Advisory All Weekend
August 8, 2015
There is a heat advisory in effect through Monday night. Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Heat index values as high as 112. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Heat index values as high as 110. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. West wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 92.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 71.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Sunny, with a high near 93.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91.