Mississippi Ends The Blue Wahoos’ Win Streak
May 17, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos looked good in its special jerseys by marine artist Guy Harvey with the big game fish seemingly swimming off of the front.
When they loaded the bases with none out on three straight singles in the bottom of the ninth inning, they felt even better. With a four-game win streak on the line, the fans and players just knew, just knew the team would win a fifth in the row.
Up to the plate came Pensacola catcher Kyle Skipworth, who reached base in his first three plate appearances. However, after fouling four straight pitches off with two strikes, Skipworth struck out on the ninth pitch from Mississippi Braves reliever Ryan Kelly.
A pop out to shortstop and strike out later and Mississippi stole a, 1-0, victory from the jaws of the Blue Wahoos in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The Braves lone run came in the first inning on a homer—his first of the season—that was crushed by 6-4, 230-pound right fielder David Rohm that appeared to fly about four feet over a leaping Jesse Winker’s glove at the wall.
Pensacola starter Keyvius Sampson, who picked up the loss (1-2), threw six innings, gave up three hits, walked three and struck out five. He lowered his ERA to 2.05.
No one was rooting harder than Sampson in the locker room, where he was icing his arm, for Pensacola to score in the ninth.
“You never want one pitch to decide the game,” Sampson said afterward. “I was inside rooting for them. Our team could have easily gave in and gone 1-2-3 and called it a day but they kept fighting.”
The Braves looked like they would score again in the fourth inning but catcher Matt Kennelly was gunned down by a perfect throw at the plate by Blue Wahoos center fielder Beau Amaral.
Mississippi pitcher Jason Hursh, the Braves No. 6 prospect, matched Sampson inning for inning. After allowing five or more runs in four of his last five outings, Hursh threw six scoreless innings against Pensacola, giving up three hits, one walk and striking out four.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Whose Special Session Is It Anyway?
May 17, 2015
There was a time, as recently as the meltdown of the regular legislative session, when Gov. Rick Scott was accused of taking a hands-off approach to running the state.
House and Senate lawmakers were in a standoff about expanding health-care coverage. Scott, meanwhile, was flying to California to promote Florida and making appearances to tout the opening of a Wawa convenience store in Fort Myers and the Orlando Eye, a giant Ferris wheel.
Now, some people in the Capitol might be looking back at those times fondly.
SCOTT WINS THE HEADLINES
Legislative budget chiefs quietly sat down this week to start working out the details of an upcoming special session and, more important, to determine if detente is possible in the state’s cold war over health-care funding.
But it is Scott who has been trying to set the tone for the special session. And he’s been doing so in a manner that warms the hearts of headline writers.
After earlier calling for hospitals to share profits like Major League Baseball teams, Scott, a well-heeled former hospital executive, kicked off this week by cobbling together a commission — made up mostly by people with limited medical experience — to examine the economics of health care and hospitals in Florida.
Scott would later give hospitals and health insurers less than a week to provide a wide range of data, including information about local tax revenues and average costs per patient per day, to help the commission in its research.
Scott also went to Washington, D.C., where he got U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., to agree to have the House Energy & Commerce Committee look into the governor’s allegations that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is trying to illegally coerce Florida into accepting Medicaid expansion.
“They want us to take on more of Obamacare,” Scott said in a release. “They want us to adopt their policy the way they want us to — or else. This is the Sopranos.”
Scott also stopped by FOX News while in Washington, where he said that a massive tax-cut package and his push for a “historic” increase in education funding could be in jeopardy due to the Legislature’s health care-fueled budget impasse.
“We’ll just do what we’ve done this last year,” Scott said during an interview with Greta Van Susteren. “We won’t put more money into schools, which I wanted to do. We won’t cut taxes, which I wanted to do. We’ll just leave the money there and deal with it in our next session, which starts in January.”
Once back in the Sunshine State, Scott raised the possibility that state government could shut down July 1 because of the impasse. He also called on state agency leaders to outline essential services that would need to be funded through what he calls a “continuation budget” if lawmakers fail to craft a fiscal plan, and he took an apparent preemptive shot at the Senate for the budget problems.
“While we have asked the federal government for guidance on what health-care access proposals they would approve at no cost to Florida taxpayers, it is possible that Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner and the Florida Senate will not agree to any budget without the specific expansion of Medicaid (at a cost to state taxpayers of $5 billion over 10 years),” Scott wrote in his letter to agency heads.
Scott has sided with the House in opposing a Senate plan that would use federal Medicaid money to offer private health insurance to hundreds of thousands of low-income residents. The Senate plan stems, at least in part, from the scheduled June 30 expiration of the $2.2 billion Low Income Pool program, which sends money to hospitals and other medical providers that care for large numbers of low-income patients.
Earlier this month, the governor filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration to attempt to block federal officials from factoring whether the state has expanded Medicaid into their decision about extending the so-called LIP program. Federal officials say that they don’t want LIP to pay for the medical expenses of Floridians who could otherwise be covered by Medicaid.
But there has been a lot of head-scratching in Tallahassee as to Scott’s ultimate endgame.
“Florida’s constitution assigns the role of developing a state budget to the Legislature,” Katie Betta, a spokesman for Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, wrote in an email.
Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, told the Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau that Scott’s approach is “unfortunate.”
“Raising the specter of a government shutdown is not necessary at this point, and it’s meant to put political pressure on the Senate. … It’s hard for the governor to be a broker for a solution when he takes one side like this,” Latvala told the Times/Herald.
WATER OFFICIALS DOUSE CHARLIE’S SWEET DEAL
For months, legislative leaders have voiced opposition to moving forward with a deal worked out by former Gov. Charlie Crist to buy U.S. Sugar Corp. land in the Everglades.
Still, the door never appeared completely closed to environmentalists and South Florida residents, who continued to press to use money from the voter-approved constitutional initiative known as Amendment 1 to buy the land — with an estimated cost of $500 million — south of Lake Okeechobee before an October deadline.
That was until Thursday.
The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board unanimously voted to terminate an option for the U.S. Sugar land that was part of Crist’s $1 billion Everglades restoration proposal.
Board member James Moran, a Wellington attorney appointed by Scott, called the deal “a boondoggle from the day it was signed.”
“The initial purchase that was exercised in 2010 was for almost $200 million — most of which we took from our reserves here — and we ended up with land which we couldn’t even use for the purpose for which it was purchased,” Moran said.
Everglades Foundation Chief Executive Officer Eric Eikenberg said efforts will continue to restore the Everglades, to find land to serve as reservoirs and flow ways and to move more water south from the lake. But he added that the district’s action would have better served the state back in January.
“I think we would have had more time to come up with an alternative plan,” Eikenberg said. “Now what happens is this puts more of a spotlight on the upcoming special session and what steps we’re going to take with this important project.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We’re clearly not going to see anything in regards to reforming the program in the special session. But I’m hopeful that, while we continue to work on updating and reforming the program, that we won’t allow it to die on the vine in the first place.” — Gus Corbella, chairman of the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council, holding out hope that lawmakers will improve incentives for film and television production in the state.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Escambia Shuts Down Rolling Hills Landfill
May 16, 2015
Escambia County is enforcing a special magistrate special order stopping the flow of trucks and the disposal of debris at the Rolling Hills Construction and Demolition Debris Landfill on Rolling Hills Road.
The company “has addressed at least some of the concerns outlined in the Magistrate’s order, Escambia County finds that Rolling Hills is not in full compliance with the Special Magistrate’s March 13, 2015 Final Order. Based on that finding, the County has asked for the Sheriff’s assistance in enforcing the Magistrate’s order,” according to a county statement.
Work will still be allowed to occur at the facility in order to mitigate odor issues, reduce the mound and to complete screening to shield the landfill from the neighborhood.
The special magistrate’s order found that Rolling Hills violated numerous county code provisions during the past year, including:
- Discharging a nuisance odor beyond its property
- Failing to properly cover landfill to deprive debris of oxygen to prevent emission of offensive odors and reduce the threat of fire inside the landfill
- Exceeding the height restriction of the facility’s permit
- Allowing the landfill mound to become visible from beyond the property line
- Accepting land-clearing debris in unpermitted areas
In the ruling, the special magistrate gave Rolling Hills specific instructions to address and correct the violations, including an order to immediately stop certain violations, instructions to address other violations and a timeline in which the corrective actions must be completed.
On Thursday, May 14, inspection of the site and the surrounding area by code enforcement officers and Community and Environment Department scientists observed nuisance odors above acceptable levels. The nuisance odor was not only observed by members of County staff, it was detected with the of hydrogen sulfide meter – which registered a maximum level of 35 parts per billion.
Also during Thursday’s inspection, Rolling Hills’ staff confirmed that the height of the mound was still above the permitted height of 130 feet.
Additionally, Code Enforcement and Community and Environment staff noted three areas where the mound was still visible from beyond the property line.
Escambia County Code Enforcement and the County’s Department of Community and Environment will continue to monitor the situation at Rolling Hills and initiate any action it deems necessary to ensure compliance with the Special Magistrate’s ruling, the county said.
Scott Signs Online Voter Registration Law ‘With Some Hesitation’
May 16, 2015
In a couple of years, Floridians will be able to register online to vote, as residents can already do in 20 other states.
Gov. Rick Scott expressed concerns Friday as he signed into law a measure (SB 228) that requires the state Division of Elections to develop an online voter-registration application by Oct. 1, 2017.
The governor’s office released a signing letter Scott sent to Secretary of State Ken Detzner, who opposed the proposal as it moved through the Legislature.
Scott wrote that he signed the bill “with some hesitation,” expressing apprehension about implementing the new system while modernizing the Florida Voter Registration System. Scott, who has signaled possible interest in running for the U.S. Senate in 2018, also repeated the need to ensure cybersecurity, an issue that Detzner raised with lawmakers.
“Cyberattacks are on the front pages almost every day, and fraud and identification-theft issues arise whenever a new avenue for information transmittal is created,” Scott wrote.
But Rep. Alan Williams, a Tallahassee Democrat who helped sponsor the House version of the bill, said he was proud lawmakers and Scott approved the measure “that makes voter registration more accessible to Floridians and moves the state from the equivalent of the typewriter age into the iPad age. Anytime we increase voter access, it is a positive step toward greater civic engagement.”
Ron Labasky, general counsel of the State Association of Supervisors of Elections, said Florida should be ahead of the cyber-technology curve as voter-registration data is already electronically transmitted between the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and county supervisors.
“I think there are procedures that are directed in the bill that will be employed to ensure there are satisfactory security measures in place before the online system goes into implementation,” Labasky said.
The House tacked on a measure before the final vote that requires a risk-assessment study before the system goes live and additional studies every two years.
The bill was approved 109-9 in the House and 37-3 in the Senate.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 20 states offer online voter registration, three others offer a limited form of online registration, and four have passed legislation to create online-registration systems.
Florida lawmakers also included in the bill a $1.8 million allocation, which must still be approved as part of the budget, to pay for setting up the system. Lawmakers noted the amount is higher than what other states have spent to implement similar systems.
Labasky estimated the system will require about $200,000 to $300,000 to set up, with the money already in a state trust from a federal government program.
Meredith Beatrice, Detzner’s spokeswoman, said in an email Friday that the secretary respects Scott’s decision.
“Per the secretary’s earlier statements, the Department of State will commit 110 percent of its effort to ensure it is implemented correctly and safeguarded against security risks,” Beatrice wrote in the email.
Detzner told legislators during committee appearances that his agency will be busy next year overseeing what is expected to be the largest election in state history and is already undertaking a two-year rewrite of the statewide voter-registration system. Detzner added that his office would also be under deadline pressure to coordinate the required online-registration changes with 67 county election supervisors and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
More important, Detzner warned, the system would have to be built to ward off cyberattacks from “forces of evil.”
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
FWC Law Enforcement Report
May 16, 2015
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending May 14 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Jones was conducting fishery inspections near Fort Pickens at the Pensacola Pass. He contacted three fishermen on a vessel who were in possession of a cobia that measured 31 inches in length. The minimum length by Florida law is 33 inches measured to the fork of the tail. The fishermen said that they were sure it was long enough, but they had no measuring device. Officer Jones issued a notice to appear to the operator of the boat who accepted responsibility for the illegal catch.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson and Investigator Hughes were patrolling the Escambia River Wildlife Management Area when they observed a vessel with two occupants pull up to a bush hook tied to a tree limb on the edge of the river. They observed the passenger in the front of the vessel pull the bush hook out of the water and hand it to the vessel operator. The operator then baited the line and placed it back into the water. The officers made contact with the occupants and discovered that the operator did not have a valid freshwater fishing license. After further investigation, they discovered the bush hook was not properly tagged and it was baited with parts of a game fish. The subjects were issued citations for using game fish for bait on a bush hook and fishing without a license.
The Fincat crew was on patrol over the weekend in both state and federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A state citation was issued to a fisherman returning from an overnight fishing trip early in the morning. When asked if he had any fish, he stated he had one “big eye.” He quickly offered to show the officers the fish from afar. A closer inspection revealed a 33‑inch red snapper. Later that day, while waiting near a dive boat, a diver surfaced unaware of the officers’ presence. The officers overheard the diver stating he had two amberjack, one of which he thought was too small. The fish was five inches too short. The diver was issued a citation for undersized greater amberjack. While initiating another vessel inspection in federal waters, one of the fishermen stated to the officers that they had a king mackerel and a few other fish. During the inspection, Officer Land located a bag of 14 gray triggerfish fillets, four red snapper fillets, two gag grouper fillets and two pompano fillets. Federal citations were issued to all four subjects for multiple violations.
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.
Court Says Trailer Hitch Reason To Stop Motorist
May 16, 2015
A state appeals court ruled Friday that police officers can pull over motorists if trailer hitches obscure portions of vehicles’ license plates.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal refused to toss out evidence against , who was stopped by an Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy because of an unreadable license plate. The car Baker was driving was stolen, and a search uncovered drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to Friday’s ruling. Baker, who was charged with a number of offenses, challenged the validity of the traffic stop because it was based on a trailer hitch obscuring the license plate.
But the appeals court, in a 14-page ruling, pointed to a state law that says license plates must be legible from 100 feet away.
“Appellant (Baker) asserts that the notion that a license tag obscured by a trailer hitch could violate the statute is absurd, as the Legislature could not have intended that every vehicle with a trailer hitch attached to it would be subject to a stop by law enforcement officers,” said the ruling, written by Judge Brad Thomas and joined by Chief Judge Joseph Lewis and Judge Robert Benton. “We disagree, and hold that this plain reading is reasonable, as the Legislature has a legitimate public-safety interest in ensuring that license tags remain unobstructed. The Legislature has an interest in ensuring that law enforcement officers can readily identify license tag numbers. In addition, the Legislature could have intended that the general public has the ability to identify license tags, if necessary, to report criminal activity or other important information. As such, we do not think such a plain reading of the statute leads to an absurd conclusion.”
The ruling, however, also suggested the Florida Supreme Court take up the issue.
Missing Special Needs Woman Located
May 16, 2015
UPDATE: A missing special needs woman that police may have been in the North Escambia area was located Friday night in Panama City. The person she was with, Manaleto Fitzgerald Truett, was arrested for interference of custody.
EARLIER STORY:
Authorities are looking for a missing special needs woman that they believe may be in the Atmore to Pensacola area.
According to the Dothan (AL) Police Department, Robbie Nicole Wilson was last seen on April 29 in the company of black male Manaleto Fitzgerald Truett. They were encountered by law enforcement in Chipley and indicated they were possibly headed to Panama City. They have no transportation and were last seen walking.
Police said Wilson is a 25-year old special needs person who has been diagnosed with several mental disorders and has the mind of a young juvenile. She has not had her medication since she left and is not capable of making rational decisions on her own.
Dothan Police said she may be in the area of Skipperville, AL; Atmore, AL, Pensacola or Panama City. Truett is known to do small odd jobs and also known to stay in low budget motels.
“It is very important for her health and safety that she be located and returned to her family,” according to a statement from Dothan Police.
Anyone with information about Robbie Nicole Wilson is asked to call their local law enforcement agency or contact the Dothan Police Department at (334) 615-3000.
May Lawn, Gardening Tips
May 16, 2015
The Escambia County Master Gardeners offer the following May lawn and garden tips:
- Continue planting summer annuals. Try one or two that you’ve never grown and/or one that is not available in stores as transplants.
- Plant heat-resistant summer flowering annuals such as begonias, impatiens, coleus, salvia, marigolds, torenia, verbena, ornamental peppers and gaillardia.
- Bulbs: Caladium, gladiolus.
- Vegetables: Continue planting warm weather seeds and transplants (Shade those transplants!). Use transplants for cherry tomatoes, eggplant and sweet potatoes. Plant seeds of lima beans, okra, southern peas: purple hull, crowder, etc.
- Prune and shape spring flowering shrubs and trees now. Later pruning may destroy next year’s blooms.
- Good cultural practices help maintain a healthy lawn and discourage insects and disease. Mow with a sharp blade. Centipedegrass should be cut to a height of 1½ to 2 inches. St. Augustinegrass normal growth habit cultivars should be cut to a height of 3 to 4 inches.
- Climbing roses are pruned after they finish blooming. Blooms form on one-year-old canes, so any older ones may be removed to make them more tidy. Cut each flowering stem back to the first five leaflet stem to encourage them to bloom again.Spray with horticultural oil or malathion for mites, scale and white flies, if insects are present, before it gets too hot (85 degrees).
- Yellow leaves on azaleas may mean they need iron. Apply iron sulphate or chelated iron.
- Feed citrus plants using special citrus fertilizer. Broadcast under the tree canopy and water in.
- Begin planting palms while the weather is warm and rainy.
- Make cuttings of azaleas, hollies, camellias, and other choice shrubs as new growth becomes halfhardened.
- Take soft wood cuttings to root: alyssum, begonia, chrysanthemum, shrimp plant, dianthus, geranium, hibiscus, hydrangea, etc.
- Dig bulbs after foliage turns brown if they need to be divided or the space is needed for other plants. If the space isn’t needed, braid the foliage.
- Cut back the vines of Irish potatoes when they begin to die but leave the tubers in the ground for about two weeks longer to toughen the skin. Handle the potatoes carefully during digging, as skinned or bruised potatoes decay quickly when stored.
- Divide crowded and vigorously growing perennials.
- Promote continued flowering of bedding plants by removing faded blooms.
- Encourage coleus to branch and produce more colorful leaves by pinching off the flower stalks as they form.
- Prune poinsettias when new growth is 10-12 inches high (back to the last four leaves). Prune new growth at the base throughout the summer.
- Stop pruning after Labor Day.
- Keep roses watered, cut out weak spots, feed every six to eight weeks or at every new flush of growth, dust.
- For insect or disease problems in your garden, use the least toxic control possible.
Home Off Nine Mile Burns
May 16, 2015
A home just off Nine Mile Road was completely destroyed by fire Friday night.
The first callert reported a brush fire about 9:30 p.m. on Ashland Avenue, but additional callers reported a house fire. The home, which was believed to be abandoned, was a total loss. There were no injuries reported.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshals Office.
Four In A Row: Pensacola Blue Wahoos Beat Jacksonsville
May 16, 2015
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Jacksonville Suns for the fourth straight game and now have won seven of its last eight games—the club’s best streak in two seasons since Aug. 18-24, 2013.
You could call it the Barry Larkin Effect.
The Blue Wahoos have won its last two series since the Hall of Fame shortstop and new minor league roving infield instructor for the Cincinnati Reds coached the team during its last series May 5-9 against the Tennessee Smokies.
The, 3-1, Pensacola victory at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville also lifted the Blue Wahoos out of last place into fourth in the Southern League South Division. Pensacola is 15-20, while Jacksonville dropped to last at 14-20.
Blue Wahoos Manager Pat Kelly and many of the Blue Wahoos credited Larkin for getting them out of their early season slump, when they fell 11 games below .500.
Right fielder Kyle Waldrop, who spoke to Larkin about hitting mechanics, extended his hitting streak to eight games in the eighth inning with an RBI single that drove in left fielder Jesse Winker to put Pensacola out front, 1-0. Third baseman, Seth Mejias-Brean then doubled to clear the bases, plating both first baseman Marquez Smith and Waldrop.
Waldrop is on fire. In the Jacksonville series, he had two homers and 10 RBIs, along with two triples and a double. During his hitting streak, he is batting .419 with 13 hits in 31 at-bats. He leads the team with a .298 batting average, five home runs and 24 RBIs this season.
Both starting pitchers matched each other inning for inning. Blue Wahoos starter Wandy Peralta threw six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and two walks, and striking out six. He threw 90 pitches, including 59 for strikes.
Meanwhile, Jacksonville’s Kendry Flores went seven scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 2.06.