Alabama Man Killed In Collision With Bridge On I-65
May 2, 2015
An Alabama man was killed and two people were seriously injured when their vehicle struck a bridge on I-65 north of Atmore late Friday afternoon.
The driver was identified as Reginald LaBarron Chambers, age 27 of Chickasaw, by Alabama State Troopers. Troopers said he was the driver of a 2005 Hummer that drifted off the roadway and struck the piling of the Butler Street bridge over I–65. Chambers was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The accident remains under investigation by Alabama State Troopers. Further details have not been released.
Submitted and NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Regular Session Quietly Reaches Irregular Close
May 2, 2015
There was no hanky drop to mark “sine die” on Friday.
The House and Senate sergeants at arms didn’t carry out the tradition of meeting in the fourth-floor rotunda, between the two chambers, to hold a brief ceremonial handkerchief drop to signal the end of the annual legislative session. Also absent were the cheering lawmakers, staff members and lobbyists — and the red plastic cups of adult beverages that seem to find their way into the rotunda.
The lights of the Senate chamber were quickly turned off at 5:08 p.m. Friday, as there was no lawmaking on either end of the Capitol on the final scheduled day of the 60-day session.
“My colleagues and I look forward to returning to Tallahassee in short order to complete the work we were elected to do,” Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, said in a release just before 5 p.m.
Gardiner’s statement came shortly after a majority of the Florida Supreme Court said an abrupt adjournment Tuesday by the House was unconstitutional, but that there wouldn’t be an accompanying order for lawmakers to return to Tallahassee, as Senate Democrats had hoped.
The House adjournment came amid a bitter impasse with the Senate about budget and health-care issues. Lawmakers will have to return to the Capitol in May or June for a special session to negotiate and pass a budget.
In all, the most-untypical regular session included the House and Senate passing 232 bills from among a total of 1,752 that were filed. The number of bills approved by both chambers was the lowest in the past 15 years.
Throughout the Capitol complex, few doors were open Friday.
Students on end-of-year school outings to the Capitol replaced the well-dressed lobbyists who typically would have congregated outside the House and Senate chambers in the final hours of the session.
Earlier in the day, Senate pages, with little work to perform for lawmakers, took the chamber floor to briefly hold their own mock session.
And with few customers, the 10th floor snack bar reverted to its non-session 1 p.m. Friday closing time.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, emailed House members that taking a few weeks off will better position the House to pass a budget.
“With the lawsuits over and a little time to reflect, I trust that we can return with a new level of civility on both sides,” Crisafulli said in the email. “We will make up for these three days, and then some.”
Senators met Tuesday after the House adjourned and also passed bills Wednesday before calling a halt. On Friday, a Senate staffer tweeted a photo of senators lunching on Chick-fil-A in the president’s office.
Several House Democrats, meanwhile, attended an Agency for Health Care Administration hearing on the Low Income Pool program, a health program at the heart of the budget impasse between the House and Senate.
“We have been on this road for a long time, now is the time for us as a state to stand proudly to say we’re not only addressing the needs of hospitals, but all Floridians,” said Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Tate To State After Regional Final Win
May 2, 2015
For the second year in a row, the Tate Lady Aggies are headed to the State Final Four.
The Lady Aggies beat Atlantic Coast High School in Jacksonville 2-1 Friday night to claim the Region 1-7A championship.
Tate was led by pitcher Tori Perkins on the mound. In seven innings, she allowed five hits while striking out five. Hitting for Tate were Lauren Brennan 1-2, 2 RBI; Casey McCrackin 1-3, 2 R; Elizabeth Werdann 1-3; Hayden Lindsay 1-3; Savannah Rowell 1-2.
The Aggies will travel to Vero Beach to take on the Bartow Yellow Jackets Wednesday at Historic Dogertown in the Class 7A state semifinals.
Pictured: The Tate Lady Aggies celebrate their regional championship win Friday night in Jacksonville. Photo by Mike Brennan for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Jackson Generals Beat Wahoos
May 2, 2015
The Jackson Generals wasted little time in jumping on Pensacola Blue Wahoos pitcher Robert Stephenson at The Ballpark at Jackson.
Jackson defeated Pensacola, 8-3, by scoring six runs in the first inning off of Stephenson, who has been rated as the Cincinnati Reds top prospect the past two seasons.
Stephenson loaded the bases in the first inning by walking the first two batters and then allowing a single. Jackson’s D.J. Peterson then doubled in two runs on a sharp line drive to left field for a, 2-0, General lead.
With men on second and third with none out, Pensacola pitching coach Jeff Fassero visited the mound to calm his young flamethrower.
Stephenson got the first out of the inning on a long fly ball by Gabby Guerrero, but it scored Darrio Pizzano to put Jackson up, 3-0. Stephenson then walked Jordy Lara before giving up his third home run in three games, this one to Daniel Paolini, who smashed a three-run homer to left center field to put Jackson ahead, 6-0.
Stephenson then struck out the next batter before walking the No. 9 hitter and being replaced by reliever Tim Adleman. In all, Jackson sent 10 batters to the plate in the first.
In 0.2 innings, one of Stephenson’s shortest outings in his minor league career, he gave up six earned runs on three hits, four walks and one strikeout. He saw his ERA jump from 5.40 to 8.31.
Marquez Smith is 4-7 against Jackson in two games including his first RBI of the season Friday, when he knocked in Ryan Wright on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Last year, he led the Reds organization with 131 RBIs between High-A Bakersfield and Double-A Pensacola.
Waldrop, the Reds No. 14 prospect, singled in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to six games and is now 8-24 (.333).
Jay Wins Regional Title; Headed To State
May 2, 2015
The Jay Lady Royals won the Region 2-1A championship Friday night with a 2-1 win over the Chipley Tigers. It will be the third trip to state in the last four years for the Lady Royals
Destiny Herring pitched seven innings for Jay, allowing just two hits and striking out six. At the plate, Herring as 1-3 with a run, while Samantha Steadham wen 1-3 with a double. It was Coach Brian Watson’s 200th win.
The Jay Lady Royals will travel to Vero Beach for a Wednesday morning game against Sneads at Historic Dodgertown in the state semifinals.
Pictured: The Jay Lady Royals after their regional win Friday night. Photo By Diann Tagert for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Two West Florida Seniors Sign
May 2, 2015
Two West Florida High School seniors signed letters of intent Friday. Keandre Prim signed to play football with Faulkner University, while Teandre Jones signed a basketball scholarship with Shelton State. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bond Revoked For Century Man Accused Of Threatening To Kill Deputies
May 1, 2015
An Escambia County judge has revoked the bond of a Century man allegedly threatened to kill multiple Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies along with every officer he saw.
Aaron Tyrone Madison, Jr., 31, was taken into custody this week after Judge Joyce Williams ordered him held without bond until his trial for the August 2014 incident. He is charged with possession of a concealed weapon by a convicted felon, criminal mischief with property damage, fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest without violence. A charge of assaulting an officer was dropped.
On August 27, 2014, an Escambia County Sheriff’s deputy observed a four wheeler traveling north on Highway 29 carrying a passenger. The driver cut across Highway 29 onto Highway 4A. The deputy caught up with the four wheeler after it stalled in the 4000 block of Highway 4A.
The driver of the four wheeler, identified as Madison, immediately took “an aggressive posture by balling his fists and taking a fighting stance, then started cursing, and threatened to shoot me and every cop he sees,” an arrest report states.
Madison told the deputy that he was upset because “the police were shooting [expletive] in the street,” according to the arrest report. The deputy reported that Madison continued to be aggressive, verbally abusive and continued to threaten to kill him while holding an aggressive stance with his fists balled up. Madison was detained after he pleaded with the deputy to shoot him.
A loaded .22 caliber semi-automatic Ruger pistol was found concealed under the driver’s seat of the four wheeler, with one bullet in the chamber and the weapon ready to fire, according to the report. Madison claimed ownership of the gun, saying “he wanted to shoot some police”.
The passenger on the four wheeler was released and not charged.
While being transported to the jail, Madison slipped his handcuffs to the front and attempted to break the plexiglass partition in the deputy’s vehicle as he yelled for the deputy to stop the vehicle or he would climb up front and kill him. The deputy stopped his vehicle near the Camp O’ The Pines in McDavid where additional deputies arrived and assisted in placing Madison in leg restraints and reposition his handcuffs. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at less than $200.
Madison made several more death threats to each deputy and stated several times that he wanted deputies to shoot him, the arrest report states.
Several corrections officers were needed to removed Madison from the deputy’s vehicle.
The deputy’s in-car video and audio were active during the incident.
Errors Lead Citizens Insurance To Offer Credit Monitoring
May 1, 2015
Nearly 20,000 policyholders of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will be offered a year of free credit monitoring because some of their information was sent to a wrong address.
The Citizens Board of Governors, in a teleconference Thursday, approved up to $640,000 in emergency funding to cover the cost of providing credit oversight from the information-services company Experian.
The final cost will depend on how many policyholders take advantage of the offer.
The data release does not meet the definition of a security breach under Florida law. However, Citizens Chief Legal Officer Dan Sumner told the board the offer is “prudent.”
From December through March, some policyholder “declaration” pages were mailed to incorrect addresses. Most went to an incorrect mortgage company, while others were mailed to a pair of policyholders.
Citizens spokesman Michael Peltier said the two policyholders “returned the declaration packages unopened,” but the documents received by a mortgage company have yet to be retrieved and some may have already been destroyed.
Declaration pages contain policyholders’ names, addresses, telephone numbers, policy numbers, premium amounts, coverage limits and property mortgage loan numbers.
The pages do not include Social Security numbers, credit-card or payment information or passwords and usernames for online accounts.
Kelly Booten, Citizens chief systems and operations officer, said as a security precaution the company has reduced the number of people who can access the data-entry changes that were tied to the errors.
Impacted policyholders have until July 31 to sign up for the service, according to information Citizens President and Chief Executive Officer Barry Gilway provided to the board.
However, Peltier said the deadline will vary depending upon when customers receive the notification letter, which will be sent in several bulk mailings.
The state-backed insurer will only have to pay the credit-monitoring service for each policyholder who takes advantage of the offer.
The emergency funding request comes to $32.02 per affected policyholder, according to Citizens records.
The agenda item for the emergency funding noted that historically the redemption rate for such offers is 12 percent, which would put a final price tag around $77,000.
During the teleconference, the board also approved a $3.9 billion risk-transfer package for the 2015 hurricane season. The package is expected to bolster Citizens’ surplus and eliminate the risk of potential assessments on Florida policyholders if a “1-in-100 year storm” hits Florida.
The package includes $1.855 billion for traditional reinsurance — insurance for insurers — and $2.05 billion in capital-market catastrophe bonds.
The total is a $636.5 million increase from the coverage Citizens secured for the 2014 hurricane season.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Chiefs’ Lambert, Newsome Sign Letters Of Intent
May 1, 2015
Two Northview High School seniors signed football letters of intent Thursday. Cameron Newsome (right) signed with Waldorf College in Iowa, and Nick Lambert signed with Faulkner University in Montgomery. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Corrections Officer Wanted For Armed Robbery
May 1, 2015
Police are searching for a man identified as an Escambia County Corrections officer in connection with the armed robbery of a pharmacy.
A warrant has been issued for Cameron Tristan Perkins, 29 who is wanted for armed robbery, kidnapping, grand theft of a controlled substance, using a firearm during a felony, trafficking in opium or derivative, and committing a second degree felony wearing a mask or hood.
The incident occurred around 3:35 a.m. on April 19, at CVS, 6888 N. 9th Ave. Two masked suspects forced an employee to give them narcotics at gunpoint. The employees were then forced at gunpoint into a bathroom before the suspects fled.
Derick Cannon, 31, of 1724 Dauphin Road, Pensacola, and Shawn Cannon, 29, of 4301 Creighton Road, Pensacola, were both arrested Wednesday in connection with that incident. The brothers face the same charges as Perkins and have also been charged with an additional robbery of the same CVS that occurred July 22, 2014. Narcotics were also stolen at gunpoint in that incident.
The on-going investigation is a concentrated effort involving numerous Pensacola Police officers and law enforcement officers from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and Gun Crime Response Team. Detective Pat Bradley is heading up the investigation from the Pensacola Police Department.
The suspects also are being investigated by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Milton Police Department for similar incidents.
Detectives have contacted Perkins’ employer and family members asking their assistance in persuading him to turn himself in. Perkins is considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone having information on Perkins is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.