Man Wanted On Attempted Murder Charges
August 4, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has named a suspect in shooting early last Friday moring at the Moreno Court Apartmenets.
Anthony Tyrone Brock, 23, is wanted on multiple charges for the shooting of 34-year old Lesean Washington who told deputies he was shot during a drug transaction. Washington was transported to a local hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Brock is wanted on charges of attempted homicide, robbery, possession of a firearm with intent to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Florida Forest Service Sends Crews To Battle California Wildfires
August 4, 2015
The Florida Forest Service is sending a crew of 20 wildland firefighters to assist wildfire suppression efforts in northern California., state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Monday. Wildland firefighters are currently battling more than a dozen large wildfires in northern California, including the quickly-growing 60,000 acre Rocky Fire, west of Sacramento.
“Throughout the years, many out-of-state wildland firefighters have aided our efforts in Florida when our state has been overwhelmed by many large uncontrolled wildfires. Today’s brave Florida Forest Service wildland firefighters are proud to return the favor to help protect life, property and natural resources in California,” Putname said.
The Florida Forest Service’s initial-attack hand crew will join other crews in northern California, where they will receive assignment to the highest priority wildfire. The crews will battle mountainous wildfires in northern California using hand tools like shovels, axes and rakes to manually create a fire break or fire line around the wildfire perimeter.
“Due to the extreme terrain out West, wildfires can be extremely intense and often erratic. Wildland firefighting is an inherently dangerous career, so we have equipped our firefighters with the best training possible to help them fight wildfires aggressively and safely at home and abroad.” said State Forester Jim Karels.
Twenty-nine additional Florida Forest Service fire personnel are currently deployed and assisting in various wildland firefighting and management positions throughout the western United States.
Over 1,000 Florida Hunters Bag Permits For Bear Hunt
August 4, 2015
More than 1,00 permits to hunt bears this fall were sold by Tuesday morning, the first time in more than two decades that such licenses have been available in Florida.
The sale of the special-use permits — available throughout the state at tax collectors’ offices, online and at sporting-goods stores that sell hunting and fishing supplies — began despite a lawsuit that was filed Friday against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to try to halt the hunt.
“I do know the permits are being sold and being sold successfully,” Diane Eggeman, director of the commission’s Division of Hunting and Game Management, said Monday morning.
The state hasn’t estimated how many permits — which cost $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents — will be bought by Oct. 23, the day before the hunt begins.
The hunt is slated to last from two to seven days, depending on the number of bears killed.
Laura Bevan, southern regional director for the Humane Society of the United States, said people seeking permits are only doing so to get trophies, and she doesn’t believe the state is doing enough to limit the number of bears that will be killed.
“All the hunters will go into the woods at the same time. We’re really worried that it’s going to be a slaughterhouse,” Bevan said. “This is a (bear) population that only came off the threatened list 2 1/2 years ago. This is a population that’s under pressure from development, from poaching, from all kinds of things, and now we’re going to open up a hunt.”
The Humane Society supports but isn’t a party to the lawsuit seeking to stop the bear hunt. The lawsuit was filed in Leon County circuit court by the Seminole County-based environmental group Speak Up Wekiva.
“Even if we feel that the hunt is unethical and unscientific there may not be a legal way to stop it,” Bevan said.
The permits went on sale at 5 a.m. Monday. All but six of the first bear permits sold were to Florida hunters.
The state is seeking a 20 percent reduction in the bear population, which is estimated around 3,000. That percentage reduction includes bears dying naturally or getting killed by vehicles, as well as those killed in the hunt.
“We want to reach that minimum number, that harvest objective, so we can reach the stabilization of the populations,” Eggeman said.
The state hasn’t put a limit on the number of special-use bear permits that will be sold, but each hunter will be limited to killing a single bear during the week.
Eggeman said officials don’t expect the hunt to exceed bear-hunting quotas that will be set for each of the four regions of the state where hunting will be allowed — the eastern Panhandle, Northeast Florida, east-central Florida and South Florida.
The commission will set the final quota numbers for each region in September.
Other than to say they are confident a judge will support the commission’s approval of the bear hunt, state officials aren’t discussing the merits of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit contends the rules for the hunt go against a 1998 voter-approved constitutional amendment that created the commission as an independent body “to conduct management, preservation and conservation decision-making based upon sound science.” The complaint also claims the bear hunt is not based upon sound science and won’t reduce growing conflicts between bears and humans.
The lawsuit didn’t ask a judge to halt the commission from offering the permits.
But supporters of the lawsuit contend the permitting should wait until the courts rule on the lawsuit to reduce the risk of having to refund money to people who have paid.
Opponents of the hunt have argued that Florida’s increased human population is expanding into wildlife habitat and that the state should further implement non-lethal rules, such as bear-proofing trash containers, prohibiting people from feeding wild bears and cracking down on the illegal harvesting of saw palmetto berries, which is a staple of a bear’s diet.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos And Suns Suspended
August 4, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (20-16, 45-59) and the Jacksonville Suns (13-23, 42-63) were suspended due to rain in the third inning Monday night at Bragan Field. Pensacola holds a 3-0 lead and the game will be resumed Tuesday at 4:35 p.m. CT. The third game of the series will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener.
The Blue Wahoos got on board in the first inning as Alex Blandino doubled in his first Double-A at bat and then scored on a double by Seth Mejias-Brean. Mejias-Brean’s double also scored Jesse Winker who got on base after being walked by Ivan Pineyro.
Also making his Double-A debut was starting pitcher Sal Romano. Romano, the Reds No. 17 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, struck out his first two batters. In two innings of work, he did not give up a hit or walk.
In the second inning, Romano had a RBI sacrifice fly to score Sean Buckley and make the game 3-0.
RHP Jacob Johnson will resume the game for the Blue Wahoos while RHP Casey McCarthy will come in for the Suns. The game will be nine innings while the second game will be seven.
LHP Wandy Peralta (6-7, 5.71) will take the mound for the Blue Wahoos while the Suns will send out Matt Tomshaw (5-8, 4.25) for the final game of the night.
The Blue Wahoos are taking on the Jacksonville Suns through Thursday.
Man Injured In Crash With Deputy; ECSO Says It Was Intentional
August 3, 2015
Two people were injured when a driver collided with an Escambia County deputy Monday morning in what the Sheriff’s Office said was an intentional act.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol 22-year old Richard A. Holsendorff of Niceville was traveling south on Scenic Highway when his 2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo crossed the center line and traveled into the path of Deputy Terry Hammock. Hammock who was northbound in a fully-marked Escambia County Sheriff’s Office 2013 Chevrolet Impala. Holsendorff’s Monte Carlo overturned as a result of the collision. Both drivers received minor injuries in the crash.
In a separate news release, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said. “Holsendorff stated that he intentionally collided head-on with Deputy Hammock in an attempt to commit suicide.”
The ESCO said Hammock was involved in a vehicle escort at the time of the crash.
Charges against Holsendorff are pending, according to the FHP.
Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Too Hot For Watermelon: Festival Moved To November
August 3, 2015
The towns of Century and Flomaton held the Twin Cities First Annual Watermelon Festival last summer with hundreds of people in attendance. The event was successful, according to organizers, but the heat and humidity were just too much to bear for an outdoor arts, crafts and musical festival.
The watermelon festival was not held this summer due to the summer weather; it’s been replaced by an upcoming Twin Cities Fall Craft Festival from on November 7 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Showalter Park in Century. The festival will include family fun, craft booths, food, entertainment and more (but no watermelon).
Vendors and entertainers are needed; click here for an application.
Interested entertainers or anyone needing more information should call Kim Godwin at Century Town Hall at (850) 256-3208 or email kgodwin@centuryflorida.us.
The Twin Cities Fall Craft Festival is sponsored in party by NorthEscambia.com.
Pictured: Last year’s Twin Cities First Annual Watermelon Festival. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Greathouse Retires From Sheriff’s Office After 31 Years
August 3, 2015
Sgt. Jay Greathouse retired Friday from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office after 31 years of service to the citizens of Escambia County. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
July Was A Record Setting Kind Of Hot
August 3, 2015
The average daily temperature of 84.5 degrees in Pensacola during the month of July made it the fourth warmest July on record, according to the National Weather Service. During the month, seven inches of rain fell, .41 inches below normal. Th hottest official temperature was 98 on July 29, and the lowest official temp was 69 on July 5. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Barrel Racers Challenge Proposed Gambling Rules
August 3, 2015
Three newly filed leal challenges accuse gambling regulators of overstepping their authority with proposed rules that would prohibit obstacles on horse tracks, force jockeys to wear white pants and protective equipment like helmets and require jai alai frontons to be covered.
The challenges, filed with the state Division of Administrative Hearings on Thursday, are the latest twist in a prolonged effort by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to create new rules — many of them focused on controversial barrel racing — for the pari-mutuel industry.
The challenges came two days after the department’s Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering published changes to the proposed rules that included a number of concessions to the industry. The rules have been two years in the making and were the subject of a hearing two weeks ago.
“The Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering values any input received from the industry during the rulemaking process; the division is reviewing the filed challenges to the proposed rules at this time,” department spokeswoman Chelsea Eagle said in an email.
Thursday’s complaints came from jai alai operators in Ocala and Miami and from the North Florida Horsemen’s Association, which represents about 200 owners, trainers and riders in the barrel racing industry linked with Gretna Racing in Gadsden County. The Gretna facility is operated by the Poarch Creek Indians of Atmore.
The horsemen are challenging several of the proposed rules, including those that would prohibit obstacles on race courses, require jockeys to wear white pants and “racing colors” and require jockeys to wear protective garb, such as helmets and boots, specifically designed for horse racing.
The association’s lawyer, Donna Blanton, also questioned a proposed rule that would require all races to begin from a starting box or gate, which would put an end to “flag drop” races previously endorsed by gambling regulators.
Regulators in 2011 granted a pari-mutuel license to Gretna Racing for the rodeo-style barrel racing, which, in turn, allowed the facility to open a more-lucrative card room. An appeals court later ruled that the state erred in granting the barrel-racing license — the first of its kind in the nation. After the ruling, the state and Gretna Racing entered an agreement authorizing “flag drop” races in which two riders compete against each other but without any obstacles in the arena.
But the latest version of the rules would bar both the barrel races and the “flag drops” and would impose a “significant adverse economic impact” on the riders, owners and breeders, Blanton wrote in a 44-page complaint.
The agency not only lacks the statutory authority to promulgate the rules but failed to provide a rationale for the prohibition, Blanton wrote. And banning obstacles conflicts with the department’s previous authorization of other races like steeplechases, according to Blanton.
“It is illogical for the division to allow the use of obstacles in some horse races and prohibit them in others,” she wrote.
The rule is designed to “appease industry participants who seek to have quarter horse racing defined in such a way that supports their form of quarter horse racing to the exclusion of all others,” Blanton wrote. “The satisfaction of special interests cannot serve as a logical basis for the track rule.”
Quarter horse breeders, owners and trainers affiliated with other tracks have complained about the barrel-racing and flag-drop races, which have also set the stage for the tiny Northwest Florida track to potentially begin operating slot machines.
The challenges to the proposed jai alai rules, filed by lawyer John Lockwood, also question whether the department overstepped its authority.
In a complaint filed on behalf of Ocala-based Second Chance Jai Alai, Lockwood pointed to proposed rules that would require jai alai operators to have minimum rosters of at least eight players and mandatory rotational systems of playing in matches. The new regulations would have a “dire impact” on the facility, Lockwood wrote.
The Ocala facility is currently using only two jai alai players to fulfill its performance requirements, which allows the pari-mutuel to run a card room.
Gambling regulators had never created rules related to jai alai until now, and lawmakers have never given them the authority to do so, Lockwood wrote. Nothing in Florida law addresses a minimum roster of players and a mandatory rotational system requirement, he wrote.
“The Legislature could have imposed such a restriction if they chose to do so. However, the Legislature did not impose this kind of restriction and allowing the division to promulgate rules related to this would enlarge, modify and contravene the specific provisions of law implemented by the Legislature,” Lockwood wrote.
All three challenges also say the proposed rules are invalid because the agency failed to prepare a statement of regulatory costs, or “SERC,” required by state law for rules that would have a cumulative cost on an industry of more than $200,000 in the first year. Adding at least six players to its roster would cost Second Chance at least $400,000 a year more than what it currently spends.
Lockwood also filed a challenge on behalf of West Flagler Associates, which owns the Magic City Casino in Miami and which holds a summer jai alai permit but has not yet constructed a fronton.
West Flagler objected to proposed rules that would require frontons to be a certain size and be covered, if outdoors.
The department also lacks the authority to promulgate those rules, wrote Lockwood, adding that “the petitioner is unaware of any standardized size for jai alai courts.”
Thursday’s challenges shouldn’t be a surprise to those in the industry or to regulators, Lockwood said Friday.
“Rule challenges are very common when you have an administrative agency that’s going through rulemaking on such a broad subject. It was complicated. There were a lot of varied positions that were put out there,” Lockwood said. “It was to be expected. We’ll just see how this thing shakes out.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Lawsuit Aims To Halt Return Of Bear Hunting
August 3, 2015
Conservation groups want a judge to shoot down the return of bear hunting in Florida and to halt the pending sale of bear-hunting permits.
With permits for this fall’s hunt going on sale Monday, the Seminole County-based group Speak Up Wekiva filed a lawsuit in Leon County circuit court Friday challenging the constitutionality of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-approved bear hunt.
“There is no evidence to support the supposition that hunting bears in remote wildlife management areas will reduce conflicts in suburbia,” the lawsuit contends.
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Susan Smith defended the commission’s ability to approve rule changes. However, she said the agency had yet to receive a copy of the lawsuit and doesn’t discuss the merits of pending litigation.
“I can say the commission validly adopted rules allowing for a limited bear hunt based on sound reasoning and with careful consideration of the issues involved,” Smith said.
The lawsuit doesn’t ask for a judge to halt the commission from offering the permits. However, Speak Up Wekiva and groups supporting the lawsuit — the Sierra Club, the Massachusetts-based Environmental Action, the League of Women Voters of Florida and the Center for Biological Diversity — want the state agency to suspend permitting until the lawsuit is settled.
“If they do sell the permits, and the hunt is ruled unconstitutional, they’ll have to pay everyone back, and that could be very time-consuming,” said Chuck O’Neal, a Longwood resident and member of Speak Up Wekiva whose name also appears on the lawsuit.
Smith said permitting remains on schedule to begin Monday.
Supporters of bear hunting derided the lawsuit as hindering efforts to reduce human-bear conflicts.
“The FWC is a constitutional body charged with ‘managing fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people,’ “National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer said in an email Friday. “Political organizations that try to second guess the professionalism of the commission and the agency are interlopers who obviously put bears before the safety and lives of children.”
Opponents of the hunt have argued that Florida’s increased human population is expanding into wildlife habitat and that the state should further implement non-lethal rules, such as bear-proofing trash containers, prohibiting people from feeding wild bears and cracking down on the illegal harvesting of saw palmetto berries, which is a staple of a bear’s diet.
On Friday, those opponents pointed to ongoing efforts by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to get a better count of black bears in areas where the hunt will occur and said that opposition to the hunt stood around 75 percent during the public debate on the proposal.
“We welcome today’s lawsuit challenging the wildlife commission’s unconstitutional, unnecessary, and immoral black bear hunt,” the Sierra Club’s Florida Staff Director Frank Jackalone said in a release. “The commission must suspend the hunt immediately and work with scientists to protect Florida’s black bears, not kill them.”
The lawsuit contends the rules for the hunt go against the 1998 voter-approved constitutional amendment that created the commission as an independent body “to conduct management, preservation and conservation decision-making based upon sound science.” The complaint also claims the bear hunt is not based upon sound science and won’t reduce growing conflicts between bears and humans.
“The FWC is acting against the interests of Floridians, science, and Florida black bears,” said lawsuit supporter Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “It is not too late for it to hit the brakes on this ill-conceived plan.”
The hunt is scheduled to begin Oct. 24 and will last from two to seven days, depending upon the number of bears killed.
The commission approved the hunt in June as a step in managing the growing bear population in Florida.
The state agency expects about 300 bears to be killed in the four regions of the state where hunting will be allowed. The state isn’t putting a limit on the number of special-use bear permits being sold, but hunters will be limited to killing a single bear during the week.
The cost for a permit is $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents. The permits will be available through 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 23. People who purchased a Lifetime License prior to July 1, 1998 — when those licenses still covered bear hunting — must still obtain one of the new permits, but are exempt from the cost.
Black bears were placed on the state’s threatened list in 1974, when there were between 300 and 500 across Florida. At the time, hunting black bears was limited to three counties. In 1994, the hunting season was closed statewide.
The bears were taken off the list in 2012.
Florida now has an estimated 3,150 black bears in four regions — the eastern Panhandle, Northeast Florida, east-central Florida and South Florida — where the hunts are planned. The numbers are based on 2002 estimates for the eastern Panhandle and South Florida and a 2014 count in the Northeast Florida and east-central Florida regions.
The hunt will be halted in each region — the FWC intends to communicate daily with hunters via text and email — once quotas for the areas are reached.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida