Blackwater Forest Home To First-Ever XTERRA Triathlon This Weekend
August 1, 2015
XTERRA, the global sport of off-road triathlon that has been contested world-wide for over 20 years, comes to the area this weekend. One Sunday, a sold out field of 150 athletes will swim, bike, and run in and around Bear Lake in hopes of claiming the first ever XTERRA Blackwater title.
Staged in the beautiful Blackwater River State Forest at the Bear Lake Recreation Area, the race consists of an 800 yard swim, a 13 mile mountain bike and a 3.75 mile trail run.
Nine states will be represented once the start gun fires. Included in the field is accomplished pro triathlete Sara McLarty. The Clermont, FL, resident was the 2005 USA Triathlon Rookie of the Year, a member of Team USA in the 2007 and 2011 Pan-Am Games, and has numerous top 10 and top 5 finishes at premier triathlons around the world.
Hosted by SOML Racing (So Others May Live), a non-profit organization consisting of Naval Aviation Rescue Swimmers, families, and friends, it’s an organization that strives to be a formidable force in the lives of those whose seek to better themselves mentally and physically, as every Navy rescue swimmer knows, “So Others May Live!”
Confederate Monument Vandalized
August 1, 2015
Police are investigating after Pensacola’s Confederate monument in Lee Square was damaged by graffiti The words “Confed Lives Don’t Matter” were spray painted on the structure.
Lee Square is located at 602 North Palafox St., between the north- and southbound lanes of Palafox Street. Damage to the statute was estimated at around $1,000.
“We are investigating this as possible felony criminal mischief because of the extent of damage,” said Chief David Alexander III.
Anyone having information on the incident is asked to contact the Pensacola Police Department at (850) 435-1900 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Photo courtesy NewsRadio 1620 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Even Series With Win Over Chattanooga
August 1, 2015
Cody Reed (W, 1-0) was stellar in his organizational debut Friday night at AT&T Field in Chattanooga, leading the Blue Wahoos to a 4-1 win to even the series. Reed earned the win while matching his season-high with seven strong innings allowing just a first-inning run. He walked only one and struck out six.
The Lookouts took advantage of a leadoff double in the first inning by Shannon Wilkerson to take a 1-0 lead. The game stayed that way until Pensacola rallied in the seventh. With Juan Duran at second after a one-out double, Seth Mejias-Brean ripped a groundball right between the legs of the first baseman D.J. Hicks. Duran scored on the error to tie the game and snap Pensacola’s scoreless streak at 15 innings. Mejias-Brean scored the go-ahead run when Sean Buckley singled him home later in the inning.
The Wahoos added to their lead with a couple more runs in the eighth. Duran came through again with a two-run single scoring Ryan Wright and Jesse Winker to make it a 4-1 game. Duran led the offense with a 3-for-4 night including the two RBI and a run scored.
The bullpen finished strong for the Blue Wahoos. Kevin Shackelford pitched a scoreless eighth inning in his third outing since returning from the disabled list. Zack Weiss picked up his 13th save by striking out the side in order in the ninth.
Chattanooga’s Greg Peavey (6-3) took the loss after allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits over 6.1 innings.
Pensacola will look for their third series win of the second half tomorrow night. RHP Barrett Astin (2-2, 3.96) is expected to be activated prior to the game going up against LHP David Hurlbut (7-4, 3.77). First pitch is set for 6:15 CT from AT&T Field in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Blue Wahoos are on a 10-day road trip against the Chattanooga Lookouts and Jacksonville Suns.
No Injuries In Century Crash
July 31, 2015
There were no injuries in a two vehicle crash Friday afternoon in Century. The accident happened about 4:10 p.m. in the 8400 block of North Century Boulevard. Both drivers refused medical treatment. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Bethany Reynolds, click to enlarge.
Editor’s note: The car had been moved from the accident location at the time of these photos.
Deputies Investigate Overnight Shooting
July 31, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an early morning shooting.
About 1:15 a.m., deputies responded to a Shell gas station at Old Corry Field Road and Navy Boulevard for a reported shooting victim.
The victim, described by authorities only as a 34-year old black male, told deputies that he was shot during a drug transaction at the Moreno Court apartments on Old Corry Field Road.
He was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. There were no arrests reported.
US Supreme Court Targets Death Penalty Case From 1998 Nine Mile Popeye’s Murder
July 31, 2015
The U.S. Supreme Court this fall will hear arguments in a challenge to the way Florida sentences people to death — a challenge backed by three former Florida Supreme Court justices and the American Bar Association.
The case, which stems from the 1998 murder of a Nine Mile Road Escambia County fast-food worker, focuses on the role that juries play in recommending death sentences, which ultimately are imposed by judges.
Hurst, now 36, was convicted in the 1998 murder of Cynthia Lee Harrison, who was an assistant manager at a Popeye’s Fried Chicken restaurant where Hurst worked. Harrison’s body was discovered bound in a freezer, and money was missing from a safe, according to a brief in the case.
Attorneys representing Death Row inmate Timothy Lee Hurst, including former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman, contend that Florida’s unique sentencing system is unconstitutional. Supporting that position in friend-of-the-court briefs are former Florida Supreme Court justices Harry Lee Anstead, Rosemary Barkett and Gerald Kogan, along with the American Bar Association and seven former Florida circuit judges.
Part of the argument centers on what are known as “aggravating” circumstances that must be found before defendants can be sentenced to death. Hurst’s attorneys argue, in part, that a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling requires that determination of such aggravating circumstances be “entrusted” to juries, not to judges.
Also, they take issue with Florida not requiring unanimous jury recommendations in death-penalty cases. A judge sentenced Hurst to death after receiving a 7-5 jury recommendation.
“Florida juries play only an advisory role,” Hurst’s attorneys wrote in a May brief. “The jury recommends a sentence of life or death based on its assessment of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, but that recommendation has no binding effect. Moreover, the jury renders its advisory verdict under procedures that degrade the integrity of the jury’s function. Unanimity, and the deliberation often needed to achieve it, is not necessary; only a bare majority vote is required to recommend a death sentence.”
But in an earlier brief, attorneys for the state argued that the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court have repeatedly denied challenges to the sentencing process, including the Florida Supreme Court rejecting Hurst’s challenge. The state attorneys argued that a jury, in recommending the death penalty, has found facts that support at least one aggravating factor — which can be the basis for sentencing a defendant to death.
“Therefore, because the jury returned a recommendation of death, this court may infer the jury did find at least one aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt,” state attorneys wrote in a January brief in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court this week scheduled oral arguments in the case for Oct. 13, according to an online docket. The court agreed in March to take up the case.
In sentencing Hurst to death, a judge found two aggravating circumstances — that the murder was committed during a robbery and that it was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel,” according to the brief filed by Hurst’s attorneys. That brief, along with others in the case, were posted on an American Bar Association website and on SCOTUSblog, which closely tracks U.S. Supreme Court proceedings.
Much of the October hearing could focus on how to apply the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision — a major case known as Ring v. Arizona — to the Florida law. Hurst’s attorneys contend that the 2002 decision held that “findings of fact necessary to authorize a death sentence may not be entrusted to the judge.” They said Florida’s system undermines the juries’ constitutional “functions as responsible fact-finder and voice of the community’s moral judgment.”
The brief filed on behalf of Anstead, Barkett and Kogan raised similar arguments and said there is “no assurance that
Florida death sentences are premised on a particular aggravating circumstance found by the jury.”
“And because jury unanimity is not mandated during the sentencing process, there is no assurance that a Florida jury’s death recommendation represents a reliable consensus of the community,” the brief said. “As a consequence, (the former justices) believe that the jury’s role is impermissibly denigrated and that there is an unacceptable risk that Florida death sentences are erroneously imposed, in violation of the Sixth and the Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Servic of Florida
Free School Supplies Available Saturday In Century
July 31, 2015
Free school supplies will be available to those in need this Saturday in Century.
The supplies will be distributed in memory of Dedria Robinson, who was killed in 2005 in an automobile accident at age 11. Organizers of the “Dedria’s Gift” program said the school supplies are available to children from Escambia County in both Florida and Alabama.
The giveaway begins at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Nadine McCaw Park (Roadside Park) on North Century Boulevard and continues until the school supplies are gone.
Langley Bell 4-H Center Earns Environmental, Energy Efficiency Award
July 31, 2015
The new Langley Bell 4-H Center on Stefani Road in Cantonment has received an environmental and energy efficiency award.
The center was awarded a Three Green Globes certificate. Green Globes is an online green building rating and certification tool that can be used for a wide range of commercial, institutional and multi-residential building types including offices, school, hospitals, hotels, academic and industrial facilities, warehouses, laboratories, sports facilities and multi-residential buildings.
The building accomplished an overall rating of 70% demonstrating leadership in applying best practices regarding energy, water and environmental efficiency. Originally, this project was specified to receive only two Green Globes. However, the architect of record, Hernandez Calhoun, and the contractor, A. E. New, Jr., worked together with Escambia County to secure a higher level of certification with the guidance and support of the Green Globes assessor.
Other county buildings with environmental certifications include:
LEED Certified buildings (Levels: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum)
- Central Office Complex (LEED Gold, March 2011)
- Perdido Key Fire Station (LEED Certified, November 2014)
Green Globes (Levels: 1-4 Globes)
- Marie K. Young Wedgwood Community Center (Three-Globes Certified, 2012)
- Molino Tax Collector (Two-Globes Certified, 2012)
- 4-H Center (Three-Globes Certified, 2015)
Energy Star
- Sheriff’s Warrington Precinct (2012)
- Englewood Community Center (2014)
- Perdido Firing Range (2013)
.Pictured: The new Langley Bell 4-H Center on Stefani Road. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Overturned Vehicle Found In Century Later Reported Stolen From Alabama
July 31, 2015
A vehicle found overturned in Century during the early morning hours of Wednesday was reported stolen a few hours later in Alabama.
The overturned SUV was reported in the 8400 block of North Century Boulevard, near Burger King, about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday. First responders and law enforcement were unable to locate the driver of the vehicle following the crash.
Several hours later, the vehicle’s owner awoke to find it gone and reported it stolen to the Flomaton Police Department, according to Flomaton Police Chief Bryan Davis.
Anyone with information on the stolen vehicle is asked to contact the Flomaton Police Department at (251) 296-5811 or the Florida Highway Patrol at (850) 484-5000.
Blood Centers Announce Merger
July 31, 2015
OneBlood, Inc. which includes the local area blood bank, is merging effective July 31 with The Blood Alliance, Inc.
The newly formed organization will distribute more than one million blood products annually, serve over 210 hospitals throughout most of Florida, parts of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina and employ more than 2,400 people.
“The landscape of the blood industry is rapidly changing and it demands that we continue to evolve and diversify to meet the needs of our hospital partners and their patients,” said Don Doddridge, President and Chief Executive Officer of OneBlood. “We are confident that the merger will have a positive impact in further defining the new template for the future of our industry and ensuring our communities have a progressive, forward-thinking local blood center that is here to serve for years to come,” said Doddridge.
More stringent transfusion protocols, health care reform and advances in medical science are all helping shape a new era of blood banking.
“Bringing the two organizations together is the right thing to do for our communities,” said Dr. Marsha Bertholf, Medical Director of The Blood Alliance. “We can no longer rely on the business models of the past to take us where we need to go in the future. Hospitals want larger scale blood centers to serve their multiple locations and the merger will allow us to accommodate their needs and still keep the hometown connection,” said Bertholf.
In addition to mitigating cost to hospitals and patients, the merger is expected to bring additional operational efficiencies and further stabilize the blood supply, especially in times of natural disasters such as hurricanes and enhance donor outreach initiatives.
OneBlood CEO, Don Doddridge, who began his blood banking career in Jacksonville, will lead the newly merged organization and an 11 member board of directors will provide oversight, governance and guidance.
Integration of the two organizations will begin immediately. In addition, The Blood Alliance will undergo a rebranding phase in the coming months and transition to the OneBlood brand.
OneBlood is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) community asset responsible for providing safe, available and affordable blood to more than 200 hospital partners and their patients throughout most of Florida and into parts of southern Georgia and Alabama.
OneBlood was established on January 27, 2012 when three of Florida’s independent, not-for-profit blood centers merged, including the Northwest Florida Blood Center. Together, OneBlood brings more than 100 years of lifesaving experience to the community. OneBlood distributes nearly one million blood products annually, employs more than 2,000 people, operates more than 70 donor centers and deploys nearly 200 of its signature Big Red Buses throughout its service area for blood drives. T
Pictured: The OneBlood “Big Red Bus” at the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.