Triple Murder May Have Been Related To Witchcraft
August 5, 2015
The murders of three people on Deerfield Drive last week were ritualistic and may have been related to witchcraft, according to Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan.
“Initial research had led us to believe that there is potential it was a ritualistic killing,” Morgan said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The bodies of 77-year old Voncile Smith and her sons, 49-year old Department of Homeland Security employee Richard Thomas Smith and 47-year old Walmart employee John William Smith were discovered inside her home on Deerfield Drive last Friday morning about 9:30 when deputies responded for a welfare check. The medical examiner believes they were actually killed on Tuesday, July 28.
All three were beaten with a claw hammer and their throats slit, Morgan said, and Richard Thomas was also shot in the head. Their bodies were positioned in a ritualistic fashion.
“The method of the murder — blunt force trauma, slit throats, positions of the bodies — and then our person of interest has some ties to a faith and/or religion that is indicative of that,” Morgan said. “The time of death we believe on Tuesday also coincides with what’s referred to as a blue moon, which occurs every three years.”
A blue moon is defined as the second full moon within a calendar month. Last month, a full moon occurred on July 2 and a second, or blue moon, occurred on July 31.
The investigation revealed that there were no signs of forced entry. Robbery did not appear to be a motive; a home safe containing cash was not touched.
Morgan said Escambia County Sheriff’s investigators have spoken with a person of interest, described as a white male tied to an alternative religion that practices witchcraft.
“It’s witchcraft, I’ll say that right now,” the sheriff stated. “There are different factions of that…we most assuredly do not want to defame or demean any practice.”
The investigation into the triple murder is continuing by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Pictured: Three people were found dead inside a home Deerfield Drive Friday by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office as they responded for a welfare check. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Need A Birth Certificate To Get A Driver’s License Or ID Card?
August 5, 2015
The Marcus Pointe Office of Escambia County Tax Collector Janet Holley is now issuing Florida certified birth certificates to customers who are in need of the documentation to complete their driver license and identification card transactions.
Requests not related to a tax collector transaction are not accepted at this time. Birth certificates can only be issued to the registrant (the child named on the record) if of legal age (18) or the parent(s) listed on the birth record.
The applicant (self or parent) will complete an application and provide valid photo identification. Acceptable forms of identification include: driver license, identification card, passport, and/or military identification card.
Birth record purchases are non-refundable. The cost for the certified Florida birth certificate is $17.25; additional copies of the same record purchased at the same time cost $10 each. These fees are separate from any driver license or identification fees that are charged.
For more information, contact the tax collector’s office at (850) 438-6500, ext. 3252.
Century Reschedules Council Meeting, Sets Budget Public Hearings
August 5, 2015
Monday night, the Century Town Council rescheduled their first meeting on September and set a couple of special hearings as part of the processes needed to pass a 2015-16 budget.
The council’s first meeting of the month has been rescheduled from September 7, the Labor Day holiday, to September 14. It will begin with a 6:50 p.m. public hearing on the proposed budget.
The proposed budget is set for a final public hearing at 6:50 p.m. on September 21, just before the council’s regular meeting at 7 p.m.
Pine Meadow Making Space For Makerspaces
August 5, 2015
Makerspaces are coming to Escambia County Public Schools this year according to Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. This is just one part of his Vision 2020 plan that he is rolling out to administrators and teachers this week as the district prepares for the start of the 2015-2016 school year.
Makerspaces are creative, DIY spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn.
“Schools and education are improving, but the world is changing at a pace faster than our improvement trajectory,” Thomas told a group of administrators and teachers who attended the district’s Administrator’s Conference last Friday. “We have to be able to prepare the workforce of the future. We cannot sit and wait for the future, we must lead and prepare for the future.”
Makerspaces are one of the ways schools will be helping children of today prepare to be the life-long learners and creative leaders of our future is by going back to an old fashioned concept of letting kids explore, experiment and learn through trial and error in a safe environment. One school that is already onboard with this idea is Pine Elementary School where the school’s media specialist, Debby Dorough, found out about Makerspaces on Pinterest and decided to try it.
“I started small with Legos and tinker toys. I set up a space with materials and no directions – just build something, take a picture of your creation and then take it apart for the next person,” Dorough explained.
This summer, Dorough continued to develop this plan with special events in their library every Wednesday in July. Different groups of students met at different times throughout the day. One group was learning how to be this year’s library helpers while others were learning how to be Pine Meadow’s Techspurts (technology helpers). She also had an hour for teachers, so they could learn new technology tricks and techniques over the summer, such as how to use a green screen or how to use an Apple TV in their classrooms.
Then at 2:00 the Minecraft Club met. Once they helped each other learn the program, they agreed upon a rubric for designing a virtual school.
“They decided what to include, like classrooms, a bus ramp, a cafeteria, etc. Then they put their own spin on it, like having a lava pit in the principal’s office,” Dorough added with a laugh. “They designed on iPad minis and presented using an AppleTV which allowed everyone to see their design as they took everyone on a virtual tour.”
“I tried to make the cafeteria look like a replica of the Crusty Crab,” explained incoming fifth grader, Michael Bui to his friends. Why the Crusty Crab? “I like Sponge Bob.”
Meanwhile, Griffin Lavallee a third grader this year, explored how the marble run worked in another Makerspace. His goal was to get the marble to run a course from the top to the bottom without jumping the track. When he finally got all of the pieces to cooperate, he was able to drop a series of marbles into the top and have them end up in a reservoir piece at the bottom. He was quite triumphant and explained that he figured out that he had to “move things to make them workout and you have to figure the timing out (between the marbles) not from the top but, from where your marble got stuck.”
He presented his marble course to Mrs. Dorough and proudly told her he had named the marble run, the Spinner McWinga!
Trial and error in a safe environment. Encouragement to try something with no right answer – to instead find YOUR best answer. These ideas are just a start of what can come from time in Makerspaces.
“Escambia County school teachers will be asked this year to try this and then to share their ideas on Pinterest,” said Thomas. “Our district Fine Arts coordinator, Angela Barberi has set up iVision2020 on Pinterest for us, so everyone will have somewhere to post their ideas and photos of their examples. In addition, even I have pinned sites I hope our teachers will find inspiring.”
Another key element of Makerspaces success is “plussing.” Teachers are “plussing” when they borrow what’s good about an idea and make it better. Ideally, there is no limit to the number of times an idea can be plussed.
Creating Makerspaces in libraries, technology labs and classrooms will take thinking out-of-the-box and it will take sometime to select an idea and acquire materials needed to match that idea. All sorts of items can be used in a Makerspace. They are only limited by imagination, space and materials – so really, the sky’s the limit.
“Librarians this year will love donations of fun materials. They can be new or gently used,” added Dorough. “If your kids loved it, our kids will love it as well.”
Some suggestions are Legos, Duplos, K’nex, Imaginex and other building toys; puppets for story creation; dolls with clothes for kids interested in fashion design; magnets and art supplies. Another item schools can use are board games, dice and pieces for students to repurpose and create their own games.
Other items can help schools set up the stations, for example, oil drip pans or large cookie sheets help create a station like the marble run while large dry marker boards can be mounted or even turned into table tops. Another idea is to use flat green Lego building foundation flats and put them side by side on a board that can be safely mounted vertically, so kids can use Legos to build something that will come out from the board allowing them to work in 3D in a new way.
Those interested in helping accomplish this, can contact their favorite school or those interested in helping on a larger scale, can contact the Community Involvement Office by calling 850-469-5676, or by emailing Jo McArthur, ECSD Community Involvement Coordinator, at jmcarthur@escambia.k12.fl.us.
Pictured top: Michael Bui, 5th grader at Pine Meadow Elementary School designed his perfect school using Minecraft on an iPad mini during July meetings of Pine Meadow’s Minecraft Club. At their final meeting on July 29th, club members took turns leading club members on virtual tours of their schools on an AppleTV. The cafeteria in Hui’s school was designed to resemble Sponge Bob’s Crusty Crab. Pictured inset: Griffin Lavallee, a third grader this year at Pine Meadow Elementary School, makes adjustments to the pieces of the marble run. Pictured below: Pine Meadow Elementary School librarian and Makerspace coordinator, Debby Dorough and the Minecraft Club presenters after the virtual tours of their perfect schools designed using Minecraft and presented wirelessly over the AppleTV. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Increased Chances Of Rain
August 5, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 77. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 105. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 78. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94. West wind around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. West wind around 5 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. South wind around 5 mph.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 96.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 95.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 77.
Wednesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94.
Back To School Tax Holiday Begins Friday, Retailers Already Pushing For Next Year
August 5, 2015
A longer than usual back-to-school tax holiday gets underway Friday, and a lobbying arm for retailers is already making plans to sell lawmakers on keeping the extended discount period next year.
The Florida Retail Federation also is eyeing a number of other proposed sales-tax breaks that failed to win legislative support this year — breaks that would apply to the purchase of hurricane supplies, energy-saving appliances and for guns and fishing gear to use while camping.
“We’re eager to explore more options for sales-tax holidays,” Florida Retail Federation spokesman James Miller said.
Retailers see the tax holidays as moneymakers. The back-to-school holiday starts at 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through 11:59 p.m. Aug. 16.
“We’re excited this year’s Legislature and Gov. Scott came around and saw the importance of having it 10 days,” Miller said. “I think it’s going to be important for families. Depending upon when a family may get a paycheck, this first of the month or 15th, or both, by having it from the 7th to the 16th it gives families multiple weekends.”
Since the first sales-tax holiday was offered in 1998, the discount period has only stretched to 10 days once before, in 2007.
State economists project that this year’s back-to-school holiday period, which had been offered at three days each year since 2011, will reduce state and local revenue by $67.8 million.
Retailers anticipate the discount period will bring in shoppers who may be tempted to pick up additional items while in the stores.
And while the tax-break period is based on the premise of helping families with students returning to classes, the sales are open to all shoppers with discounts ranging from simple school supplies to clothing under $100. Also, the break applies to the sales tax on the first $750 of the price of laptop computers and certain other electronics for personal use.
House Finance & Tax Chairman Matt Gaetz, who helped author a tax-cut package that included the holiday, said he’s already getting feedback from people that the 10-day tax break period gives families more time to plan for the discounts.
Lawmakers put together the wide-ranging tax cut package (HB 33A) in June during a special session on the budget.
The package also includes cuts to the communications-services tax on cell-phone and cable-TV bills and eliminates for one year sales taxes on college textbooks. The package is projected by state economists to cut revenue by $372.4 million in the fiscal year that began July 1.
The House initially proposed a $673 million package that included a small-business tax holiday two days after Thanksgiving and a one-day sales-tax holiday on July 4 for outdoor equipment including guns, spear-guns and bows, ammunition, camping tents and fishing gear.
But that package died as lawmakers ended the regular session without a budget.
Gov. Rick Scott touted the back-to-school tax break Monday while handing out school supplies in West Palm Beach during the Office Depot Foundation’s “National Backpack Program.”
Scott is expected to call for more than $500 million in tax cuts for the 2016 legislative session.
In 2014 Scott campaigned on a promise of $1 billion in tax cuts over a two-year period.
Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said the 2016 tax-cut package will depend on state revenue projections, which lawmakers will get before the session begins in January.
“We’ll have to look at the revenue forecasts and our cost models to determine what our appetite is as a legislature for tax cuts,” Gaetz said.
He expects the back-to-school tax holiday to be on the table, along with his own proposal to establish an Independence Day discount on camping equipment.
But when calculating the cuts, Gaetz said priority is expected to be given to prior Scott proposals to make a manufacturing tax cut permanent and to reduce a commercial real-estate rent tax.
“Those will probably be near the top of the list for me,” Gaetz added.
Gaetz’s counterpart, Senate Finance and Tax Chairwoman Dorothy Hukill, who has pushed in the past to reduce the commercial rent tax, on Monday reintroduced another of Scott’ past tax-cut priorities.
Hukill, R-Port Orange, filed a bill (SB 76) that would increase the corporate income-tax exemption from $50,000 to $75,000. Increasing the exemption would reduce — or even potentially eliminate — tax bills for businesses. Hukill also proposed the change during the 2015 legislative session, but it did not pass.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Blue Wahoos Take The Golden Skillet
August 5, 2015
The Jacksonville Suns managed just one run and four hits in 14 innings Tuesday, and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos clinched the Golden Skillet for the first time in the club’s four years of franchise history.
Pensacola won both games, 1-0, and, 12-1, and the Blue Wahoos clinched the trophy with an 11-7 edge in the series with two more games against Jacksonville to play at Bragan Field.
In the second game, Yovan Gonzalez lined a solo home run to left center field in the third inning to give Pensacola the win. It was his second homer of the season.
Meanwhile, Blue Wahoos starter Wandy Peralta allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out five in five innings. He improved to 7-7 with a 5.42 ERA for Pensacola. Closer Zack Weiss struck out one and allowed one hit to earn his Blue Wahoos-leading 14th save.
The Blue Wahoos won the first game of the doubleheader Tuesday, 12-1, when Pensacola used four pitchers to keep the Suns hitless until center fielder Kenny Wilson singled off Miguel Celestino to lead off the ninth inning. The game was suspended due to rain in the third inning Monday night at Bragan Field.
Until Celestino entered the game, Sal Romano, Jacob Johnson and Joel Bender put together eight innings of hitless ball against Jacksonville. Johnson gave up one unearned run, four walks and struck out four in five innings to improve his record to 4-2.
Romano struck out two in his two innings of work Monday in his Double-A debut, while Bender struck out one in his inning of work.
Jacksonville scored its only run in the fifth inning of the first game when third baseman David Adams walked and scored on a passed ball by Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth.
Pensacola benefitted from a solo home run in the third inning by right fielder Jesse Winker, his eighth homer of the season. In addition, second baseman Alex Blandino hit his first Double-A home run when he hit a two-run blast in the fourth inning. Blue Wahoos third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean also went 3-5 with a double, run scored and three RBIs and now has 40 RBIs for Pensacola this season.
Pensacola (22-16, 47-59) is in second place in the second half of the Southern League South Division, while the Jacksonville Suns dropped to last place (13-25, 42-65).
Sheriffs Cautious About Expanding Juvenile Citations
August 4, 2015
The use of civil citations to divert juvenile offenders from the justice system has spread to nearly all Florida counties. A new law goes into effect Oct .1, giving teens who are apprehended by law enforcement second or third chances to avoid arrest. And supporters want the state to spend $2 million next year to expand the programs.
But while most law-enforcement agencies have grown to respect civil citations, they have their own ideas about how to make the programs work.
“To me, it’s all about making the good decision,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said. “It’s less important the number of civil citations a kid gets — it’s the circumstances surrounding it.”
That’s why — although Gualtieri supports civil citations, and Pinellas has had them for 10 years — he’s cautious about expanding their use.
The use of civil citations has grown quickly in Florida over the past four years, going from seven to 60 of the state’s 67 counties. The citations offer the option of diverting young offenders into mandatory community service for some offenses, such as getting in fights or smoking pot. Offenders are also required to write letters of apology to their victims and assessed to see if they’re likely to re-offend.
For some children’s advocates, though, a newly passed law (SB 378) granting more than one civil citation per offender didn’t go far enough. For instance, Father Chris Hoffman, a Catholic priest in Daytona Beach, had pushed for the law to include the so-called “shall provision,” which would have required officers to issue civil citations for certain offenses. It was dropped from the bill, however.
“That would be ideal,” Hoffman said. “But at this point there’s a lot of resistance to it.”
Much of the resistance comes from the Florida Sheriffs Association and the state Department of Juvenile Justice, which agree that law-enforcement officers should have full discretion to decide whether to make arrests or issue civil citations.
“They know these kids,” Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Christy Daly said.
The department and the sheriffs also want decisions to be made based on all the data, including the nature of the offenses and any previous offenses.
“Another barrier to complete, widespread, full implementation all the time — which is not appropriate — is the law,” Gualtieri said, pointing to a pro-arrest policy in state law dealing with domestic violence. “There’s a problem there. You get 15-year-old Joey, who’s not so small, who smacks Mom in the face. …What are you going to do, leave Joey there at the house with Mom and give him a civil citation?”
That’s why the department and the sheriffs association are exploring ways to increase officers’ access to the most current data — so that a deputy at the side of the road can find out if a youth has already received a civil citation in another county and what type of incident caused the citation.
“Right now the cops on the street don’t have access to any information that’ll help them make a good decision about whether to charge the kid, arrest the kid or divert the kid,” Gualtieri said.
Meanwhile, Daly said her agency is “looking internally” to see how its system can be tweaked to meet the needs of law enforcement.
“I do feel very strongly, though, that anything that we do needs to be a single database,” she added. “We need to be able to incorporate, make changes to our system so we don’t have competing data systems in the state. It also allows us to ensure that what’s in there is kept confidential, and we can work with law enforcement to ensure that their needs are met through that system.”
That’s likely to require some negotiations with the sheriffs, who are interested in using one of their own systems. Matt Dunagan, deputy director of the Florida Sheriffs Association, said the group hopes to bring the Department of Juvenile Justice, local law enforcement and providers of juvenile-justice programs together “and see if we can’t work this out so we can have this information shared across county lines in a timely fashion.”
Daly also said that while she backs the new law allowing second and third civil citations, the answer to expanding the programs is local control.
“I think what gets us there is working with local communities to ensure that there is a quality protocol process in place … a process that everyone is comfortable with,” she said. “I think the more comfort that all of the stakeholders can feel with civil citation is when civil citation is utilized to the best of its ability.”
Last month, a number of advocacy groups released a study that found a 25 percent increase in the use of civil citations would save taxpayers as much as $61 million. Touting the study, the Children’s Campaign, the Center for Accountable Justice at Florida State University, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the James Madison Institute urged lawmakers to invest $2 million to expand the programs through officer training, a statewide information network and seed money for poorer counties.
But Roy Miller of the Children’s Campaign said his coalition hasn’t taken a position on the “shall provision.
“We just think it would be very divisive,” he said. “And we’re trying to focus on the other side of the coin: keeping the records confidential and expunging them at an earlier age.”
Councilman: $25,000 Century Business Challenge To Return In 2016
August 4, 2015
The $25,000 Century Business Challenge is set to return for another round in 2016, according to an announcement made Monday night by a Century councilman.
Century council member Ben Boutwell told the council during regular session that he had met with Pensacola businessman Quint Studer who said he was bringing the business challenge back next yet.
During the 2015 Century Business Challenge, judges decided to split the $25,000 prize — with $20,000 going to East Hill Academy to be used toward a special needs school in Century and $5,000 to the Abundant Life Children of Hope Center childcare center.
In addition to the operating funds from the Studer Institute, the winners were offered space inside the Century Business Center at $1 per year, with the possibility of an extension of that rate for two more years based on the group’s performance. Both groups decline the space.
The 2014 Century Business Challenge was part of an economic development partnership of the Haas Center, the Town of Century and the Studer Institute. The Studer Institute provided the $25,000 prize money.
Pictured top: Representative of the future Century Academy discuss the 2014 Century Business Challenge prize with judge Mollye Barrows of the Studer Institute. Pictured inset: Barbara Barber of East Hill and Century academies reacts to winning $20,000 in the business competition. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Former Sheriff Ron McNesby Seeks Office Again
August 4, 2015
Former Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby pre-filed Monday to run for Escambia County Sheriff as a Republican in 2016.
McNesby served as Escambia County Sheriff from 2000 to 2008.
He issued the following statement:
“Today I am announcing my candidacy for Sheriff of Escambia County, FL. For the past 6 and a half years, I have been approached by hundreds of people who are concerned about their safety and lack leadership by the current administration. Those folks include Deputies from the Escambia County Sheriff’s office, Pensacola Police Department and State law enforcement. My biggest concern is for every family, who had hoped for a better, safer community.
“We must have a new feeling of responsibility and discipline to fight our growing crime problem. It’s much too early to discuss all the issues that an ego driven administration has created.
“Over the next few months we will continue seeking input from everyone who is looking for solutions and how we can reach those goals. We will also be working to continue building and establishing our political team in order to lead our county back to where we can once again live without fear and have a future we all deserve.”