Bill Seeks Help For Combat Veterans
August 14, 2015
A Senate Republican on Thursday filed a proposal aimed at helping combat veterans and their families get mental-health and substance-abuse services. The bill (SB 128), filed by Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, would direct the Florida Department of Children and Families to help establish the “Florida Combat Veterans’ Care Coordination Program.”
The program would work with the Florida 211 Network, which provides referral services, to increase the use of community-based services and U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs services. Along with offering referral services, the program would provide care coordination to the combat veterans and their families. The bill, which will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, lists as one of its goals preventing suicides by combat veterans. It calls for the Legislature to spend about $2 million on the program during the 2016-17 fiscal year.
by The News Service of Florida
Assisted Living Facility Bosses Sentenced For Elderly Abuse And Neglect
August 14, 2015
Two former administrators at an Escambia County assisted living facility have been sentenced for crimes against the elderly.
Former Kipling Manor administrator and owner Belie Brock Williams is headed to prison for 33 months, and his daughter, assistant administrator Adrienne Taylor, was given two years on community control.
Williams was accused of refusing psychological nursing caregivers entrance into the Kipling Manor facility to assist mental health residents resulting in residents without care for two to three weeks. Taylor was accused of failing caregiver responsibilities to protect the residents from the abuse and not ensuring residents received prescribed nursing services. Investigators received information regarding the alleged abuse and neglect from the Northwest Florida Long Term Care Ombudsman Program Office.
Kipling Manor was shut down by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration last year.
Winker Homers Again, Wahoos Lose To Biloxi
August 14, 2015
Pensacola left fielder Jesse Winker hit a three-run homer in the third inning and now has smacked three homers in three games. The top prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization according to MLB Pipeline now tops the Blue Wahoos with 11 home runs on the year and 43 RBIs.
Right fielder Juan Duran also homered against the Biloxi Shuckers in the inning and Pensacola went up, 4-1, at MGM Park.
But Biloxi broke out with five runs in the fifth and pulled out its second straight victory, 6-5, against Pensacola.
Blue Wahoos centerfielder Bryson Smith singled in shortstop Zach Vincej in the top of the ninth with two-out to pull Pensacola within one but that’s as close as it would get.
Biloxi’s big five-run inning started off with shortstop Orlando Arcia, ranked the eighth best prospect in America by Baseball America, hitting his 32nd double of the year to score two runs. Arcia would then score on a passed ball to tie the game, 4-4. Shuckers third baseman Taylor Green singled in the final two runs of the rally that sent nine batters to the plate and put Biloxi up, 6-4.
Pensacola fell to 26-21 and third place in the second half of the South Division in the Southern League. Biloxi, the first half winner, improved to 23-23 and is in fourth place behind Pensacola.
Meanwhile, Winker is hitting hotter than the sweltering August temperatures at .308 in the second half with eight home runs and 26 RBIs. In August, he’s hitting .387. He went 2-4 against Biloxi, his fourth multi-hit game in his past six games, with a run scored and the three-run shot.
Man Rescued After Three Hours In Tree
August 13, 2015
A man was rescued from a tree this afternoon almost three hours after he climbed it and refused to come down.
Pensacola police officer Greg Gordon said the man was initially loitering around Five Sisters Blues Café, on Belmont Street. Gordon said employees called police because they were concerned for the man’s safety after he began climbing a nearby tree around 10:45 a.m.
The 32-year-old man, whose name is not being released, climbed about 25 to 30 feet up into the tree. Sgt. Jimmy Donohoe, who is a crisis negotiator, talked with the man for about one and a half hours trying to convince him to come down.
However, the man remained in the tree until about 1:30 p.m. when he became tired and agreed to allow SWAT officers, who were in training and responded to the scene, to rescue him using a bucket on a fire department truck, said Capt. Chuck Mallett.
As SWAT officers got close to him, the man changed his mind and said he’d climb down. But when it looked as though he might fall, the officers grabbed him to prevent him from falling and brought him down in the bucket, Mallett said.
No criminal charges will be filed on the man, who was taken to a medical facility for evaluation.
Home Destroyed By Fire
August 13, 2015
]Fire destroyed a house overnight in Escambia County.
The house on East Olive Road was heavily involved when firefighters arrived on scene about 2 a.m. The home was vacant and was under renovation. There were no injuries reported.
The exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Man Sentenced In Drugs, Weapons Case
August 13, 2015
A Century man has been sentenced to probation in a case in which a search warrant served at his home turned up a variety of drugs and firearms back in January.
Kinte Hassan Franklin, 37, was charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of methamphetamine, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Inside the home, deputies reported that they found crack cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, a .22 caliber handgun, a 20 gauge shotgun, two bags of shotgun shells and a variety of drug paraphernalia. Investigators reported Franklin was the only person inside the residence as the search was conducted.
Franklin pleaded no contest to the charges against him. He was sentenced to 36 months supervised probation and 100 hours community service by Judge Ross Goodman. He was also ordered to pay $783 in costs and fines.
A Blessed School Year: Prayer Walk Held At Molino Park Elementary
August 13, 2015
The annual back to school Prayer Walk was held Wednesday evening at Molino Park Elementary School. Students and adults from Highland Baptist Church prayed for the Lord’s blessings on the upcoming school year.
Prior to the prayer walk, volunteers worked to clean up the school grounds.
Pictured: A prayer walk Wednesday evening at Molino Park Elementary School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Register For Escambia School District After-School Care
August 13, 2015
The first day of school is Monday. As parents get ready to return to their children to school, it’s time to make arrangements for after-school child car. Some Escambia schools offer their own program on-site while many others work with local program..
“Our mission is to assist families by providing affordable, high quality child care on-site,” explained Aisha Adkison the ECSD School-Age child care coordinator. “Our schools’ points of contact, as well as the other agencies who work with us on our campuses, will be available to help families with the registration process starting next week. We all urge parents to make contact as early as possible, to help everyone plan for a smooth transition on the first day of school.”
Escambia County School District School-Age Child Care Registration Information
Locations and contacts (including both district programs and on-site community programs):
- Bellview Elementary School: School Phone: 941-6060, School-Age Child Care: 941-6064
- Bratt Elementary School: School Phone: 327-6137, School-Age Child Care: 327-4879
- Ensley Elementary School: School Phone: 494-5600, School-Age Child Care: 474-5336
- Global Learning Academy, School Phone: 430-7560, School-Age Child Care: 430-7561 ext. 7583
- McArthur Elementary School: School Phone: 494-5625, School-Age Child Care: 494-5628
CAMPFIRE BOYS AND GIRLS 476-1760 Longleaf Elementary School
CHILDHOOD DREAMS 572-1131 Navy Point Elementary School, Pleasant Grove Elementary School, and Myrtle Grove Elementary School.
CREATIVE LEARNING SCHOOL-AGE CHILD CARE 479-7814 Jim Allen Elementary School, Molino Park Elementary School, Cordova Park Elementary School. Beulah Elementary School, Lipscomb Elementary School, Blue Angels Elementary School, Pine Meadow Elementary School, Hellen Caro Elementary School, A.K. Suter Elementary School, and Scenic Heights Elementary School.
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (YMCA) 478-1222 Holm Elementary School, Sherwood Elementary School, West Pensacola, Ferry Pass Elementary School, N.B. Cook Elementary School, Brentwood Elementary School, Brown Barge Middle School, Bellview Middle School, Ferry Pass Middle School, Woodham Middle School, and Workman Middle School.
Wu Name NW Florida League Of Cities Municipal Officer Of The Year
August 13, 2015
Pensacola council member P.C. Wu has been named the Municipal Officer of the Year by the Northwest Florida League of Cities. Wu has served as the Pensacola director on for the NWFLC for 10 yeares. He served as the Legislative Chair beginning in 2007 and moved up the executive committee ranks to become president of the NWFLC in 2009. He also served on the Florida League of Cities, including a term as president in 2013. He also services on the National League of Cities board of directors. Photo courtesy City of Pensacola for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Citizens Policies Eyed For Private Market
August 13, 2015
Seven private insurers have been approved to pick up what would amount to nearly half the remaining policies held by the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Just don’t expect a mass exit from Citizens when the “takeout” period arrives in October.
The Office of Insurance Regulation announced Wednesday that up to 280,857 polices have been approved to move to the private insurance industry in late October.
“The number of policies that will ultimately leave Citizens will be substantially lower than the number of policies OIR has approved for takeout,” Citizen spokesman Michael Peltier noted in an email Wednesday. “That has always been the case but has become more noticeable over the past few takeouts.”
Citizens had 598,646 policies as of June 30.
The overall Citizens policy count is a considerable drop from a high of 1.5 million policies in 2012, when Gov. Rick Scott pushed to scale back the agency by putting more homeowners under private firms. The push was an attempt to reduce risk for policyholders across the state who could get with get hit with assessments to pay off Citizens claims after major hurricanes.
Citizens was created as the insurer of last resort, and President and Chief Executive Officer Barry Gilway has projected that “depopulation” steps by Citizens, which includes the takeout process, should eventually lower the agency’s policy count to about 450,000 of the least-insurable policies.
Before this week’s announcement, the state had made 713,336 policies available through the takeout process in 2015. So far, 128,133 policies have been removed from Citizens through the process.
A reason for the low turnover is that private insurers typically select the least-risky policies. Also, policyholders are allowed to reject takeout offers.
In October, a total of 279,357 personal-residential policies and 1,500 commercial-residential policies will be offered to Anchor Property & Casualty, Cypress Property & Casualty, Heritage Property & Casualty, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty, Olympus Insurance, Safepoint Insurance and United Property & Casualty Insurance.
Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty, a wholly-owned insurance subsidiary of HCI Group, Inc., was approved for up to 51,666 policies, but noted in a release Tuesday that it will target just about 17,500 wind-only policies.
“Based on the current opportunity within Citizens, we anticipate the focus of this takeout will be wind-only policies,” Paresh Patel, HCI Group’s chief executive officer, said in the release. “Selecting only those policies from Citizens that meet our strict underwriting criteria allows us to minimize our underwriting risk.”
Peltier also noted that the pace of the depopulation efforts may temporarily slow if Citizens rates proposed for 2016 are approved. That is because Citizens least-risky customers could see rate decreases, which might give them little incentive to move to the private market.
The Citizens Board of Governors has proposed a plan that would lead to an average 3.2 percent increase in rates next year for many homeowners. The rates would fluctuate depending on location, home and type of policy.
Under the plan, which will be heard by state regulators on Aug. 25, premiums would increase an average of 8.6 percent on coastal “multi-peril” policies, which provide full coverage to homeowners. Citizens’ customers who live in inland areas, however, would fare better under the rate plan. Homeowners in those areas would see average 1 percent rate decreases.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida