Pine Meadow, Ransom Receive Statewide Drug Abuse, Underage Drinking Prevention Awards
June 9, 2015
Three Escambia County Schools were among 18 across the state to earn bragging rights for their outstanding efforts to help prevent students from underage drinking and substance abuse. The All Star Schools were selected and recognized by Informed Families/The Florida Family Partnership, a 33-year-old Florida-based non-profit organization with a mission of helping kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.
Winning schools from Escambia County included:
- Pine Meadows Elementary School, Escambia County – Gina Burke/Principal Terri Fina
- Montclair Elementary School, Escambia County – Stacey Ladner/Principal Jennifer Sewell
- Ransom Middle School, Escambia County – Gail O’Neal/Principal Brent Brummet
The schools were chosen from hundreds that demonstrated their dedication to year-round substance abuse and underage drinking prevention activities and for their success in actively engaging students, parents and faculty in prevention.
Budget Talks May Impact Scott’s Paris Air Show Plans
June 9, 2015
The governor may alter his plans to lead an economic-development trip next week to the Paris Air Show, as state lawmakers struggle to hammer out a budget, a spokeswoman said Monday.
“It will be a game-time decision,” Jackie Schutz, a Scott spokeswoman, said in an email. “We are continuing to monitor.”
Scott announced earlier this year he planned to return to the air show he attended with Enterprise Florida in 2013. Scott led a nearly 80-member delegation to the International Paris-Le Bourget Air Show, which Enterprise Florida says resulted in more than $170 million in export sales for the Florida exhibitors on the trip. S
chutz’ comment came after Scott told reporters Monday that he had shortened his flight plans. The comments came while Scott toured Sunera LLC, a cybersecurity and risk management company in Tampa.
“I will be going to the air show in Paris, I’ll go Friday night, and I’ll come back Monday, so I’ve shortened my trip, It’s an important trip,” Scott said, according to the Tampa Tribune. Paris would mark Scott’s first international trip since he went to Japan with Enterprise Florida in November 2013. He put such ventures on hold while he ran for re-election last year.
by The News Service of Florida
Take Stock In Children Awards $300K In Escambia Scholarships
June 9, 2015
Take Stock in Children and the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation awarded $300,000 in scholarships, with 18 graduating seniors receiving four-year scholarships, six of which also received two-year university housing scholarships.
The 2015 Take Stock in Children graduates were:
- Escambia High: Karina Mendez-Rostro, Airamis Perez, Calvin Stallworth
- Northview High: Teamber Moorer, Cara Thompson
- Pensacola High: Jaimee Durbin, Andrew Huynh
- Pine Forest High: Jammie Yeldon
- PSC Collegiate High: Alexandra Campbell
- Tate High: (Jonathan) Alex Richards, Hangnga Suon
- Washington High: Doveline Delouis, Linorche Delouis, Ailene Goldsby, Keanan Williams
- West Florida High: Jillian Fillingim, Margaret McCaskill, Alexis Kennedy.
Take Stock in Children was established in 1995 as a non-profit organization in Florida that provides a unique opportunity for deserving low-income youth/students to escape the cycle of poverty through education. Students receive college scholarships, caring volunteer mentors, and hope for a better life. Students are selected through a need-based application process in middle school and comprehensive services continue through high school and include the students’ transition into college. Scholarships and student services are funded through a unique public-private fundraising model in which local scholarship donations are matched by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation when scholarships are purchased each year. Each student is matched with a volunteer mentor who meets with the student weekly at school.
Pictured: The 2015 Escambia County Take Stock in Children graduates (front, L-R) Alex Richards, Keanan Williams, Calvin Stallworth, Linorche Delouis, Doveline Delouis, Ailene Goldsby, Alex Campbell, Cara Thompson, (back) Karina Mendez-Rostro, Andrew Huynh, Airamis Perez, Jammie Yeldon, Jaimee Durbin, Alexis Kennedy, Jill Fillingim, Margaret McCaskill, Teamber Moorer and Hangnga Suon. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Jacksonville Wins Third In A Row Over The Blue Wahoos
June 9, 2015
Jesse Winker isn’t used to going so long between hitting the long ball. However, he hit his first home run in 163 plate appearances Monday.
The left-handed hitting Winker drove the ball deep to the opposite field in left for a solo dinger, which was his first since April 23. It ended one of his longest power outages in his four years in pro ball.
However, in-state rival Jacksonville Suns came back for the second night in a row after trailing in the sixth by scoring six runs in the seventh inning against Pensacola to pull out a 6-4 victory in front of 3,532 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
The Cincinnati Reds’ No. 2 prospect according to MLB.Pipeline is now batting .315 since May 23. On the season, he has three homers and 15 RBIs and is batting .255. Winker said except at the beginning of the season, he has hit the ball hard—just right at people.
He said Jacksonville’s Austin Brice throws hard and he was just trying to work him into a hitter’s count, so he could jump on a fastball.
“He’s a big guy and I feel he’s right on top of me,” said Winker, who changed his walk up song Saturday to one by Waka Flocka. “I put a good swing on the ball and got it up and got it out. It has been a little bit of a dry spell but it’s Pensacola. The breeze can work against you.”
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said there were plenty of positives to take away from the loss, which was Pensacola’s fourth straight. It dropped the Blue Wahoos to 22-34 and last place in the Southern League South Division. Jacksonville improved to 25-32 to take over fourth place in the division.
Kelly said Winker’s solo shot in the waterfront ballpark and Adleman’s six scoreless innings of two-hit ball were highlights of the game for Pensacola.
“We had the lead going into the seventh, which sounds like a broken record,” Kelly said. “Then their big inning got us. (Adleman) had done a nice job. I thought he was in a good spot.”
Adleman finished his first six innings by retiring 11 Jacksonville batters in a row and led the game, 3-0. He then walked Suns second baseman Austin Nola to lead off the seventh inning, which opened the flood gates to a six-run inning with Adleman getting tagged with four of those runs. Adleman fell to 2-6 on the year with a 2.33 ERA.
Both the Suns third baseman David Adams and pinch hitter Carlos Lopez hit two-run shots to lead the inning for Jacksonville.
Brice, Baseball America’s No. 29 Miami Marlins prospect, won his first start against Pensacola on May 11. In two games against Pensacola this season, Brice has now given up three runs in 10 innings on six hits and nine walks with six strikeouts. He entered Monday’s game with a 2-4 record and 7.09 ERA.
Firefighters Battle Midday Trash And Truck Fire In Cantonment
June 8, 2015
Firefighters were called just before noon to battle a trash and truck fire in Cantonment.
The driver of a sanitation truck dumped his burning load near Muscogee Road and Nowak Road. Dumping the load appeared to have saved the truck, which was quickly extinguished. A large amount of smoke was created by the burning trash pile, creating visibility problems for drivers in the area.
There were no injuries reported.
The Cantonment and Ensley stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to the fire, while the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to assist with traffic control due to smoke.
Reader submitted photos by Josh Black for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
5-Year Old Dies After Jeep Hits Bicyclist In Beulah
June 8, 2015
A 5-year old girl has passed away from injuries she received when she fell off her bicycle and was hit by a Jeep.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Harleigh Lynn Cheyenne Crenshaw pedaled her Lil Gem bicycle toward a Jeep Wrangler driven by 37-year old Ruby Louise Shelby on a private dirt roadway just off Beulah Road Saturday night. As the bicycle began began to travel along the side of the Jeep, Crenshaw fell off the bicycle and into the path of the left rear tire of the vehicle.
At 12:41 Sunday Morning, Crenshaw was pronounced deceased at Sacred Heart Hospital, according to information released Monday afternoon by the FHP.
Any charges are pending the outcome of a traffic homicide investigation, according to FHP.
Elderly Driver Killed After Drifting Into Oncoming Traffic
June 8, 2015
An 80-year old Pensacola man died after his vehicle drifted into oncoming traffic on Mobile Highway Saturday afternoon.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 80-year old Sam Rutledge was eastbound on Mobile Highway at New Warrington Road about 3:48 p.m. when he drifted into the path of an oncoming Ford van occupied by 10 people, causing a head-on collision. Rutledge was transported to Baptist Hospital where he later died.
The driver of the van, 24-year old Jasmin Jordan, and one passenger, 22-year old Denmarieuis Simmons, were transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in stable conditon.
Escambia River’s Gator Grand Slam
June 8, 2015
This Escambia River gator grand slam from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute is not for the faint of heart.
FWC freshwater fisheries researchers and herpetologists recently caught an alligator gar, alligator snapping turtle and an American alligator while conducting different studies at the same time on the Escambia River. American alligators are found in all 67 counties in Florida, but alligator gar and alligator snapping turtles are far less common.
Fnding alligator gar can be a challenge, but it’s one biologists with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute are taking on to learn more about the population of the fish in Florida.
Alligator gar have historically resided in rivers and brackish waters throughout the southeastern U.S. from the Florida Panhandle – from the Apalachicola River west to the Perdido River – to Texas and Mexico. Since the mid-1900s, alligator gar numbers have declined, leaving populations in only half of the 14 states they once inhabited. The FWC acknowledged this in 2006, prohibiting harvest of alligator gar for all but scientific purposes.
Since 2010, FWRI researchers have been tagging alligator gar in the Escambia River to learn more about their movement and habitat use. Using large-mesh gill nets, researchers collect adult alligator gar and fit them with telemetry tags before releasing them back into the river. These tags transmit information through radio and sound signals, allowing researchers to track each individual’s location for about two years.
Three years into the study, researchers have tagged 22 alligator gar ranging from 11 pounds to a state record 132 pounds; tagged fish average 60 pounds. Researchers are trying to identify what habitats these fish prefer, how far they travel and whether they return to the same location over time. Preliminary tracking data indicate alligator gar are highly mobile and can travel more than 40 miles in a single week.
The data also reveal their movement and habitat use varies by season. In winter, the tagged fish tend to reside in a slough – a cove off the main river with no current – and move very little. As the season changes to spring, they begin traveling the river’s main channel but return repeatedly to the slough. Only in late spring did the gar venture from their home-base slough and begin cruising. Biologists recorded alligator gar moving as far north as Century and the Alabama state line and as far south as Escambia Bay during this time.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Woman Abucted In Pensacola Found In Texas, One Arrested
June 8, 2015
A woman who was abducted Sunday night in Pensacola has been located in Texas, and the man who allegedly abducted her has been arrested.
Eric Ray Ramos, age unavailable, was arrested late this morning in Harrison County, TX, after law enforcement officers spotted the vehicle they were traveling in headed 0westbound on I-20. He has been charged with battery and kidnapping.
The female victim, whose age also is not available, was in the vehicle. Her name is not being released because she is believed to be in a relationship with Ramos. Ramos and the female were last known to live in Grand Prairie, TX.
The investigation began Sunday night after Pensacola Police were notified at 7:56 p.m. that a man and woman were arguing at the Day’s Inn, 710 North Palafox Street. As officers were responding to the scene, dispatchers received multiple calls that a Hispanic male was pushing a Hispanic female into a vehicle.
The vehicle left the scene before officers arrived, but was spotted being driven at a high rate of speed toward Tarragona Street and on I-110. The vehicle was last seen westbound on I-1000 at a high rate of speed around 8:11 p.m. near the Highway 29 overpass.
The Pensacola Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Harrison (TX) Sheriff’s Office are working together on the investigation.
Pictured: Abduction suspect Eric Ray Ramos as seen in a photograph provided by the Pensacola Police Department.
Movie Night For Grown Ups At The Library Tuesday
June 8, 2015
In celebration of heroes, the West Florida Public Libraries will hold a movie night Tuesday at the Molino and Tryon branch libraries.
Pay It Forward - starring Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment and Kevin Spacey – will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Molino Branch Library in the auditorium. Rated PG-13, 126 minutes.
Iron Man - starring Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow – will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Tryon Branch Libary in Meeting Room A. Rated PG-13, 125 minutes
Admission is free.