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
Wahoos Fall Late To Suns
August 3, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (20-16, 45-59) fell to the Jacksonville Suns (13-23, 42-63) 5-4 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville Sunday evening. After the Wahoos jumped out to a 3-0 lead, the Suns tied the game 4-4 in the seventh inning and took a 5-4 lead in the eighth.
Pensacola starter Daniel Wright went 5.2 innings while allowing three runs on five hits. Reliever Kyle McMyne (1-4) earned the loss in 1.1 innings of work, as he would allow Jacksonville to take the late lead on a sacrifice fly.
Jacksonville starter Jarlin Garcia pitched 5.0 innings and allowed three early runs on six hits. The win went to Juancito Martinez (1-2), who did not allow a hit or a run through 1.2 innings of work. Kyle Barraclough earned his second save as he struck out the side in the ninth.
The Wahoos were led at the plate by Yovan Gonzalez and Juan Perez. Gonzalez went 2-4 with two doubles and a walk, while Perez went 2-3 with a double and a stolen base.
The Wahoos got off to a strong start as Zach Vincej and Jesse Winker both singled to open the first inning. Marquez Smith would bring Vincej home from third on an RBI groundout to make it 1-0 in favor of Pensacola.
Pensacola struck again in the top of the fourth to score a pair of runs in the frame. A single by Perez and a Gonzalez double would set things up for Beau Amaral, who would single to shallow center and make it 2-0. Vincej would later bring Gonzalez home on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
The Blue Wahoos faced danger in the bottom half of the fourth as a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases for Eudy Pina. However, Wright was able to force him to pop out, ending the threat for Jacksonville.
The Suns were able to get on the board in the bottom of the fifth as pinch-hitter Ryan Rieger would bring Zack Cox home on an RBI single, making the score 3-1.
The Wahoos would score again in the sixth, as Perez would reach home as a bad pickoff attempt resulted in a throwing error. Perez had doubled and stolen third on the previous two at-bats.
Jacksonville would lead off the bottom half with a J.T. Riddle single. Matt Juengel would then bring him home on a double to left, making it 4-2. Juengel would then come home on a sacrifice fly from Pina.
The Suns would tie the game in the seventh on an RBI single form Riddle to score David Adams. McMyne was then able to force a double play with the bases loaded to avoid further damage.
Jacksonville would take the lead for good in the eighth on a sacrifice fly to right off the bat of Adams, bringing Pina home to make it 5-4 in favor of the Suns.
The Blue Wahoos are taking on the Jacksonville Suns through Thursday.
Bacteria Death Confirmed In Escambia County
August 2, 2015
State health officials have confirmed a death in Escambia County due to the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus. That brings to the total deaths in Florida to 10 this year, with a total of 19 cases.
Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that normally lives in warm, brackish seawater. Since it is naturally found in warm marine waters, people with open wounds can be exposed through direct contact with seawater and can cause disease in those who eat raw shellfish, according to the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County.
Symptoms of vibrio vulnificus can include vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Wound infection can lead to skin breakdown and blistering. In persons who have weakened immune systems, particularly those with chronic liver disease, vibrio vulnificus can invade the bloodstream, causing a severe and life-threatening illness with symptoms like fever, chills, decreased blood pressure (septic shock) and blistering skin lesions. Individuals experiencing these symptoms should contact a physician immediately for diagnosis and treatment. Individuals with wound infections should also seek care promptly.
Last year, 32 cases were confirmed with seven deaths across the state.
Tips to stay healthy and safe
Thoroughly cook oysters, either by frying, stewing, or roasting to eliminate harmful bacteria and viruses in the meat. Consuming raw oysters that have undergone a post-harvest treatment process to eliminate the bacteria can also reduce the risk of illness. Avoiding exposure of open wounds to seawater and estuarine water reduces the risk of wound infections.
For more information, please contact the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County at (850) 595-6683 or visit www.EscambiaHealth.com.
Molino ‘Day Of Hope’ Provides Hundreds With School Supplies And More
August 2, 2015
A free “Day of Hope” provided free school supplies, food and an encouraging word Saturday in Molino.
Hundreds of people lined up outside Victory Assembly of God Church on Highway 29 to wait for a backpack, groceries and free haircuts. Church members met with each attendee and offered prayer and words of encouragement for the upcoming school year.
Pictured top: A young man picks out that perfect backpack full of school supplies Saturday morning at Victory Assembly of God in Molino. Pictured below: A back to school haircut. Pictured below: Hundreds of people waited for free school supplies and groceries in a line that stretched around the front of the church to back. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Deidra’s Gift: Free School Supplies Distributed In Century
August 2, 2015
Free school supplies were available Saturday in Century for hundreds of children in need, thanks to a family honoring the memory of one of their own, in a program called “Deidra’s Gift”.
The book bags full of supplies were distributed in memory of Dedria Robinson, who was killed in 2005 in an automobile accident at age 11.
‘We wanted to help as many children as we could in her memory,” Deidra’s mother Rita Robinson said. “It’s good to see them get the supplies they need.”
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Sheriff’s Office Continues Investigation Into Lincoln Park Death
August 2, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is continuing their investigation into a shooting death Tuesday night.
About 7:30 p.m., deputies responded to an armed disturbance in the 7000 block of Kershaw Street, near Lincoln Park Elementary School, where they found 46-year old Edward Vincent Harris dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators said the gunshot wounds were received during a physical altercation.
Further details have not been released.
Anyone with information on the homicide is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
August 2, 2015
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending July 30 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling in the Perdido River Wildlife Management Area when he observed a man and woman, along with three juveniles, preparing to leave the recreation area known as Fillingim Landing. He observed both persons drinking alcoholic beverages and both appeared to be very intoxicated. After returning to his truck, he observed the woman driving out and stopped her just out of the parking lot. He observed strong signs of impairment and the woman refused to do any sobriety tasks. Lieutenant Hahr asked her for a driver license and she told him that she did not have one. Meanwhile, the other subject, despite seeing Lieutenant Hahr talking to his girlfriend, got into his truck and prepared to leave the area. Lieutenant Hahr stopped him and determined that he was also impaired. Both subjects were arrested for DUI and the woman was also charged with driving without a driver license. The woman provided a breath sample of .165 and the man provided a breath sample of .205.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
FWC officers received a report of two paddle boarders who were being harassed by two individuals on a vessel in the area of Navarre Beach, Santa Rosa Sound. It was reported that the operator of the vessel intentionally circled the victims, knocking them off of their paddle boards. While the victims were in the water, the vessel struck one of the paddle boards causing damage to the board. Officers Livesay, Tolbert, Jones, Miller, and Investigator Schafer responded to the area of the hit and run. After a brief search of the area, officers located a vessel and two subjects onboard who matched the description. The victims were interviewed along with eyewitnesses and it was confirmed that the officers had the correct suspects. One of the victims received minor injuries and was treated by EMS and released. The operator of the vessel was arrested and booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail for aggravated battery. The passenger on the vessel was interviewed and released.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.