Jim Allen Elementary Students Take Part In 4-H Speech Contest
April 25, 2015
Fourth graders at Jim Allen Elementary School took participated in the Tropicana 4-H Speech Contest on Friday.
First place was awarded to Destiny Williams, second to Joshua Jones and third to Savannah Guilford.
Fifth graders will also take part in the contest later this school year.
Pictured top: Jim Allen Elementary Tropicana 4-H Speech Contest winners (L-R) Savannah Guilford, third place; Joshua Jones, second; and Destiny Williams, first. Below: Fourth grade participants. Submitted photos for NorthEcambia.com, click to enlarge.
‘Growlers’ Going To The Governor
April 25, 2015
Half-gallon “growlers” are closer to going under brewery taps across Florida.
The House on Friday joined the Senate in supporting the end of the state’s prohibition on brewers being able to fill 64-ounce containers known as “growlers” for off-site consumption. Currently, brewers can only fill containers of other sizes.
“Let’s all just push the button and free the growler here in the state of Florida,” Majority Leader Rep. Dana Young, R-Tampa, said before the House voted unanimously to approve the bill.
A heavily lobbied issue in the Capitol, the measure (SB 186) now will go to Gov. Rick Scott. A spokeswoman said Friday the governor will review the bill once it reaches his desk.
Rep. Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican who sponsored the bill in the House, said the legislation allows “entrepreneurs, artists, people who care about innovation and business, to continue to prosper in our state.”
But Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, said that while he supports letting small businesses grow, the state needs to be mindful of the proliferation of alcohol.
“And yes … 64 ounces is not enough for a true professional drinker, but it’s a crack in the door,” said Rouson, who has been both homeless and a drug addict.
Craft brewers sought the growler change in recent years, but the proposal was scuttled amid objections from large beer distributors. The distributors pointed to a need to protect the state’s Depression-era three-tier regulation system, which requires the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages to be separated.
The bill was filed this year as a straightforward attempt to repeal the ban on the containers, which are considered the most popular size among “growler” aficionados.
But as expected, the final bill took on additional issues while going through the committee process.
The final product that will be served to Scott includes regulations that would limit cup sizes to 3.5 ounces for beer tastings, ban the use of electronic-benefits transfer cards — formerly known as food stamps — to buy alcoholic beverages and cap at eight the number of tap-room licenses a single brewer can hold.
Byron Burroughs, a founder of Proof Brewing Co. in Tallahassee and a Florida Brewers Guild board member, said some brewers may be upset at the cap, but he has a more optimistic view of the bill.
“The distributor lobbyists have been doing everything they can to stop the number of licenses we can hold, the amount of beer we can transfer between locations,” Burroughs said. “The most important aspect of this bill defines what we can and can’t do. I think it puts us in a much stronger position to reinvest and grow.”
Breweries have been operating since 1963 under a tourism exemption intended to allow on-site alcohol sales. While there is a cap on how many locations each brewer can have as part of the bill, they may no longer have to rely on the tourism exemption to exist.
The bill would allow the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to issue vendor licenses to businesses located within a single complex that includes a brewery.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Molino 16U Lady Jags Win Mid Season Tournament
April 25, 2015
Both of the Molino 16U Molino softball teams won championships in their mid-season tournaments.
The Lady Jaguars coached by Donnie Nicholson and Mike King advanced to the championship game undefeated. After concluding the day after a five-hour rain delay, the Jags lost the first game of the championship series 5-4 before coming back strong in the second game with an 8-5 win over the East Milton Buckshots.
Pictured: (front, L-R) Sky Gorum and Kaelyn Coffee, (middle) Ashley Ragsdale, Jasmine Crabtree, Trista Loranza, Mika King, Rena Banks, Jamia Newton, Abi Mansoso, (back) Coach Donnie Nicholson, Catherine Jerigene, Meredith Morgan and Coach Mike King. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Barons Take Series Over Wahoos
April 25, 2015
Joey DeMichele clinched the series for the Birmingham Barons (7-7) with a line drive to right field in a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (4-9) at Regions Field.
RHP Raul Fernandez (1-1) got the win for the Barons while RHP Chad Rogers (0-1) got his first loss of the season after the run, one walk and two hits in the ninth.
In the third inning, the Barons’ Jeremy Farrell reached base on a fielding error by second baseman Juan Perez and then advanced to second. With a wild pitch by LHP Wandy Peralta, Farrell advanced to third and then scored off of a single by Jacob May.
The Blue Wahoos tied up the game in the seventh inning. Smith led off the inning with a single and scored after Yovan Gonzalez grounded into a double play.
Juan Perez singled in the ninth inning to extend his hit streak to six games.
Peralta made his third start of the season and pitched for six innings registering six strikeouts, five hits and an unearned run. RHP Drew Hayes posted two scoreless innings of work with two hits. He has now thrown 5.2 innings allowing no runs this season.
For the Barons, RHP Tyler Danish gave up only three hits in six innings of work while recording seven strikeouts. RHP Nolan Sanburn gave up the lone Pensacola run. Fernandez threw four strikeouts in his two innings as Birmingham struck out 12 Blue Wahoos.
The Blue Wahoos return to Pensacola April 25th-29th against the Biloxi Shuckers.
Escambia Looks To Increase Volunteer Response, Staff Some Stations With Career Firefighters
April 24, 2015
Change is coming to fire services in Escambia County, but exactly what those charges are remain to be seen.
For the past few weeks, the firefighter’s union, the volunteers and county administration have held a series of meetings working to solve a few undeniable facts– some emergency calls for help are not being answered, the number of volunteers is decreasing, volunteers say the county has made the process to becoming a volunteer firefighter too difficult, and the county can simply can’t afford to do without volunteers and replace them with all-paid fighters. The estimated cost to staff one fire station with 24/7 paid firefighters has been estimated to be $750,000.
The county has already taken steps to remove some of the barriers to becoming a certified volunteer firefighter, according to Administrator Jack Brown. The county is now starting to accept state-approved online firefighter courses, allowing volunteers to complete the classes on their own schedule. They will still be required to received hands-on type experience. He said required classes will be conducted at times that volunteers can attend, and make-up classes will be available.
Commission Chairman Steven Barry said that changes are coming to the physical agility tests for volunteers. It won’t be made any easier to pass the demanding exam, there will just be additional opportunities to complete the physical agility tests after technique is learned.
“The intent is never to get rid of the volunteers,” Brown said. “We need volunteers. We need full-time firefighters both working together.”
“One team, one fight, one mission – that’s the theme ” Commissioner Doug Underhill said. “I would hope to think that I’ve heard for the last time a volunteer firefighter saying something about the professionals, and that I have seen and read for the last time a statement from the professional firefighters negative about their reserve brethren. We’ve got to move beyond that.”
Underhill said he would not be against a possible MSBU raise if that’s what it take to improve fire services.
“It’s definitely not from the lack of trying or disregard for the public. There simply just aren’t not enough volunteers to handle the call volume in the county, Nick Gradia, president of the firefighter’s union said Thursday. “There are many reasons that volunteer numbers have dropped over the years. And, unfortunately, there does not seem to be a massive increase on the horizon. Our goal is to ensure the stations in the south end of the county have qualified personnel that can respond with a fire truck when called.”
“There never has been and never will be a guarantee that your closest neighborhood station will be the one coming to you every single time,” Gradia said. “However, we should guarantee that your neighborhood station has a qualified crew available to respond at all times, providing the greatest level of service possible. Volunteerism in this county is a longstanding tradition and it will never be the goal of my organization to replace or tarnish those traditions.”
Placing the qualified career personnel in the remainder of the south-end stations is necessary to meet public safety needs,” Gradia concluded.
The county commission also heard from the volunteer side.
“If you’re willing as a commission to change the way we’ve done business for the last eight years, where we can all come together and work toward a common solution, I think that we can achieve what we all want which is a greater public safety arena for the people of this county. That’s all we’ve ever wanted; that’s all we’ve every pushed for…We don’t wish to be career firemen,” Beau Rodrique, spokesman for the volunteer’s association told the commission. “If you simplify the system, you will see a stronger service. But you have to let volunteers take care of volunteers.”
“Our one common goal needs to be public safety,” Rodrique said. “If we can do it without raising taxes I think we owe, y’all owe to the county taxpayers, to exhaust all options of how we can do that without raising taxes. And we can do it.”
“My goal is what I heard today, let’s make sure we do everything we can do, as even the career firefighters have stated,” Commissioner Wilson Robertson said. “We need volunteers…one working unit that works together and both sides are treated fairly, and with all respect, and that our administration needs to make sure we do everything we can do to promote, recruit and retain the volunteers.”
“This county cannot afford a fully paid fire department throughout the entire county, ” Robertson said. “We’ve got to have volunteers.”
“We are going to make sure that we are safe, that our neighborhoods are safe, and that we have people that can respond,” Commissioner Grover Robinson said. “We are going to have to look at changes in the way we do business to make it easier for recruitment.”
The Escambia County Commission is expected to consider a written fire services plan at their May 7 meeting.
Pictured: Volunteer firefighters battle a full-involved house fire on Highway 97 in Davisville last November. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Santa Rosa Drops Plans To Rezone Nine Schools
April 24, 2015
After a public outcry against the idea, the Santa Rosa County School Board voted late Thursday night to kill a plan that would have rezoned nine schools. The measure failed on a 3-2 vote after numerous residents, mostly from the Ashley Plantation subdivision, spoke out against the plan.
The rezoning proposal would have changed the attendance boundaries for Avalon Middle, Bennett Russell Elementary, Chumuckla Elementary, Central School, Dixon Primary and Intermediate, Pace High, Pea Ridge Elementary and Sims Middle.
Northview Chiefs Win District 1A Championship (With Photo Gallery)
April 24, 2015
The Northview Chiefs captured their first District 1A title as they destroyed Chipley 11-1 Thursday night in Bonifay.
Brett Weeks pitched six innings for the Chiefs, allowing just one run and striking out seven. Hitting for Northview were: Chasen Freeman 3-4, 2 runs, double; Thomas Moore 2-4, 5 RBIs, 2 doubles; Roman Manning 2-4, run, RBI, double; Bryan Cantrell 1-3, run, 2 SBs; Brodie Amos 1-1, run; Aaron McDonald 1-4.
Northview will next host the winner of Friday’s Bozeman vs. Liberty County game.
The Chiefs won a 2A district title in 2004.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Photos by Ramona Preston for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bratt First Graders Present ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’ (With Gallery)
April 24, 2015
First grade students at Bratt Elementary School presented the program “How Does Your Garden Grow” Thursday morning for the student body and an encore performance Thursday night for parents and friends. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FHP Still Seeking Highway 97 Hit And Run Driver, Reward Offered
April 24, 2015
The Florida Highway Patrol is still seeking a hit and run driver after a crash last week on Highway 97 near Dogwood Park, and a reward is now available.
According to the FHP, 56-year old Patricia M. Bruner of Bruck, FL, was southbound in a 2012 Land Rover on Highway 97 approaching White Ash Road when she was rear-ended by a purple or maroon 2002-2005 model Dodge Ram traveling at a high rate of a speed. The pickup continued south following the 3:15 p.m. crash on April 15.
The force of the impact caused the Land Rover to leave the roadway and come to rest in a field. Burner and her passenger, 83-year old Thelma J. Bullard of Defuniak Springs, were transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital with minor injuries.
The pickup truck will have front end damage, according to the FHP. Anyone with information on the truck is asked to email joshuatucker@flhsmv.gov or dial *FHP from their cell phone. A reward is also available and callers can remain anonymous by calling CrimeStoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Submitted photos for NorthEcambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pot Challenge Rolls Ahead
April 24, 2015
The fight over the state’s attempt to get a non-euphoric pot industry off the ground continued Thursday during a day-long hearing in a challenge filed by a Florida nurseryman who complains that health officials’ proposed regulations are unfair and vague.
The hearing over the rule challenge, filed by Baywood Nurseries of Apopka, comes as legislators said this week they have abandoned an effort to revamp Florida’s first-in-the-nation law, passed last year, legalizing cannabis that purportedly does not get users high. The cannabis is low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD.
Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins kept open the possibility of dismissing the challenge prior to hearing more than five hours of testimony from nursery owner Raymond Hogshead, his partner, Heather Zabinofsky, and others. The challenge is filed against the state Department of Health, which is in charge of carrying out the law.
Watkins is the same judge who tossed out the Department of Health’s first attempt at a rule last year. That prompted the agency’s Office of Compassionate Use to hold a rare “negotiated rulemaking” workshop earlier this year in which a 12-member panel, handpicked by the office’s executive director Patricia Nelson, spent 27 hours over two days hashing out the proposed regulations.
Watkins earlier dismissed a challenge to the new rule filed by Zabinofsky, sole proprietor of Sanford-based Master Growers, P.A. The decision came because she is not a nursery that meets criteria to compete for selection as one of five “dispensing organization” that will grow, process and distribute the medical marijuana ordered by doctors for patients with severe muscle spasms or cancer.
But the testimony of Zabinofsky, who claims she is an expert in growing marijuana and has appeared at several rule-making workshops held by health officials since Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law last year, was the highlight of the dry administrative hearing.
Eduardo Lombard — a private lawyer who, along with his partner William Robert Vezina, is representing the Department of Health — shredded Zabinofsky for admitting to growing cannabis, a Schedule 1 drug that is illegal under state and federal law. The department is paying $400 an hour, up to $150,000, for the legal representation.
Although Zabinofsky admitted in her deposition that she grows marijuana, she hedged when grilled by Lombard on Thursday about growing the illegal substance in Florida.
“I assist medical marijuana patients with their marijuana needs,” she repeatedly told Lombard.
Charles Moure, a Seattle lawyer representing Hogshead, argued that the members of the negotiated rulemaking committee — which included representatives of large nurseries, marijuana growers from other states and Holley Moseley, the mother of a child with epilepsy who was the figurehead of the push for the low-THC law — were selected because of extensive “lobbying” on their behalf.
But Lombard disputed that, saying that the negotiated rulemaking process — which makes it more difficult to challenge regulations —”was a thoughtful, rational, deliberate process” that resulted in “rules that make sense.”
He conceded that the nurseries who participated in the process had an interest in the rule.
“That is the point of negotiated rulemaking. You’re supposed to bring people who have different perspectives … and get them in a room and hash it out,” Lombard said.
Under the law, nurseries that have been in business for at least 30 years in Florida and grow a minimum of 400,000 plants are eligible for the licenses. About 100 nurseries meet the criteria, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Moure complained about how the rule deals with a $5 million bond required in the law.
“We contend that it creates a situation that not the entire 98 applicants but maybe less than 10 percent of them, 20 percent of them, can truly apply,” Moure said.
Part of the scoring mechanism used to select the five dispensing organizations is also tilted toward large nurseries, Moure said.
The health department’s lawyers spent much of the day trying to lay the groundwork for Watkins to dismiss the suit by painting Hogshead’s nursery as lacking the financial wherewithal to get a license. Under the proposed rule, dispensing organizations would have to prove that they would be able to stay in business for at least two years and be able to cover not only the bond but what could be expensive start-up costs.
Lombard challenged Hogshead, who said in a deposition last week that he would not be able to afford the “certified financials” required as part of the application. But on Wednesday, Baywood Nurseries filed a letter from Hogshead’s accountant saying the grower would be able to provide the audited financial statements, but that they would be expensive.
“Based on what I know right now, it will be difficult, expensive, but I think I can do it,” Hogshead said.
Baywood Nurseries, which specializes in gardenias, saw net sales drop 30 percent, from $650,000 in 2009 to $440,000 in 2013, Vezina noted. But Hogshead said that about half of the state’s nurseries went under during the recession, and that he believes he will have the backing to participate in the pot business.
“I will have a financial partner at that point that will show that we’re good to go,” he said.
Vezina also pressed Hogshead on whether he was concerned that Zabinofsky, the vice president of his nursery, is currently growing marijuana illegally.
“Yes, I have a little concern of that,” Hogshead said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida