Man Caught On Video Rummaging Vehicle On Tate Road
April 7, 2015
Do you recognize this man? This car was left unlocked in the Tate Road area in Cantonment on March 9, and video surveillance caught him rummaging through the car. Anyone that recognizes the man is asked to call Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
The Escambia County Sheriffs Office is reminding residents not to leave anything of value in a vehicle overnight and lock vehicle doors.
Screen grabs from video released April 6 by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, click to enlarge.
Florida Targets October For Black Bear Hunt
April 7, 2015
The state this October would open its first black-bear hunting season in two decades, under a set of rules that will be reviewed next week.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has proposed that about 275 black bears be killed in mid-October as part of a two-pronged effort to control the woodland creatures and reduce the risk of dangerous interactions between bears and the state’s growing population.
Along with the proposal about reducing the bear population through a one-bear-per-hunter hunt, the commission during an April 14 meeting at Florida A&M University also will consider rules about the proper maintenance of garbage containers for businesses and homeowners. Bears are often attracted to populated areas by garbage.
The commission could vote on the changes during a June meeting.
Diane Eggeman, director of the commission’s Division of Hunting and Game Management, said the hunt is simply another step in managing the bear population.
“The bear population has grown for the last 15 years or 20 years, steadily and pretty rapidly, based upon all the information that we have,” Eggeman said. “So our job, of the agency, is to manage that growing population and the best tool to manage that population growth across the board is to use hunting.”
The feeding rules for bears are intended to clarify when people might be in violation for repeatedly failing to secure garbage cans or dumpsters.
The call to re-implement the hunt follows a number of bear attacks that occurred across Central Florida the past couple of years.
However, the proposal is opposed by the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida and the Humane Society of the United States.
Kate MacFall, the Humane Society’s Florida director, said the state is only listening to a handful of “trophy hunters” instead of doing more to make people aware of bears and to enforce codes regarding trash containment.
“We don’t think we need to decrease the bear population, we need to reduce the conflicts for everyone’s benefit,” MacFall said.
She also questioned how the hunt will reduce conflicts.
“The bears being hunted are the big bears deep in the woods, because you can’t go hunting in the neighborhoods. That’s not how it works,” MacFall said. “Those deep in the woods, those are not the problem bears. And the bears going into human trash are the problem. And those are the ones not being hunted.”
Eggeman responded that the hunt is needed to keep the bear population in check.
“The more the (bear) population grows, the more likely bears move out of the wildlife and into neighborhoods,” Eggeman said.
While the current number of black bears in Florida is an estimate, Eggeman noted that Florida is the only state that has more than 600 but doesn’t have a hunting season.
Florida has an estimated 2,500 black bears in the four regions of the state — the eastern Panhandle, Northeast Florida, east-central Florida and South Florida — where the hunts would be conducted. Each area had more than 200 bears by a 2002 estimate.
Black bears were placed on the state’s threatened list in 1974, when there were between 300 and 500 across Florida. At the time, hunting black bear was limited to three counties.
In 1994, the hunting season was closed statewide.
By 2002, the state black-bear population was estimated at 3,000. A decade later the bear was removed from the state’s list of threatened animals.
Meanwhile, the state has recorded a 400 percent increase in bear-related calls over the past decade.
This year, the hunt would begin Oct. 24 and continue for a week. However, the number of days could be shortened if the “harvest objective” is reached in fewer days.
“The season timing would coincide with high bear activity and before denning begins,” a commission staff presentation on bear hunting says. “Cubs would be old enough to be independent. This timing was chosen to avoid overlap with deer-dog hunting or training seasons.”
The cost for a bear permit is proposed at $100 for Floridians, $300 for non-Florida residents. The daytime hunts would be prohibited within 100 yards of any game-feeding station. Hunters would be allowed to use bows, crossbows, muzzle loading guns, rifles, pistols, revolvers and shotguns. Dogs would be prohibited from hunting bear, but leashed canines could be used to trail shot bears.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Pictured: A black bear at the Wild Oak Farms Apartments in Cantonment in 2012. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Scientist Named To Florida Inventors Hall Of Fame
April 7, 2015
Jerry Pratt, one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of robotics, has been named to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, joining a group of inventors which includes the likes of Thomas Edison.
Pratt, a senior research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Escambia County, holds four patents on robotics inventions and is considered a rising star in the field. He is one of seven people with Florida connections who will be inducted into the Hall at an October ceremony in Tampa. Others in this group, the second year of inductees, include famed automaker Henry Ford and scientist Robert Grubbs, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
Pratt said he was honored and humbled by the recognition.
“Sometimes I think what’s most fun about working in robotics is that we are practically inventing the field every day,” Pratt said. “There’s a long way to go before robotics is a mature field, and I am honored to join so many other people who are working to create the future.”
Pratt, 43, holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before joining IHMC in 2002, Pratt’s company developed a powered exoskeleton that allowed a person to carry large loads over rough terrain with little effort. His other patents cover technology that allows bipedal robots to know where to place their feet when walking, and to maintain their balance and prevent falls.
Pratt leads a team of researchers who also developed the HexRunner, which last year set a world speed record for legged robots, reaching speeds of more than 30 mph. Pratt’s work has been instrumental in changing the stereotype of robots as clunky machines with jerky movements to ones that maximize speed, agility and biological similarity, said IHMC founder and CEO Ken Ford.
“We’re really proud of Jerry; it’s a well-deserved honor,” Ford said. “Jerry’s work personifies the subtle and rather beautiful virtuous cycle between the acts of invention and of scientific discovery.”
In June, Pratt and the IHMC Robotics Team will compete in the final round of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) international robotics competition, which tests the ability of humanoid robot systems to respond to disasters. The team placed first in the Virtual Robotics Challenge, a computer simulation, and second in the DRC Trials at Homestead Miami Speedway using actual robots in a competition featuring 26 teams from around the globe.
Pictured top inset: Jerry Pratt, left, at DARPA Robotics Trials. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Senate Considers Gambling Deal With Seminoles, Leaving Out Poarch Creeks
April 6, 2015
The Florida Senate has showed its hand with a gambling proposal that would extend for another year a deal that gives the Seminole Tribe exclusive rights to banked card games such as blackjack at most of its casinos — and leaving out the Poarch Creek Indians of Atmore.
The Poarch Band of Creek Indians really want a small North Escambia parcel in the Nokomis community to be the home of their next gaming facility. A large metal building has been constructed that covers a majority of the acre, about five miles west of Highway 97 on Nokomis Road. They are officially calling the structure a “warehouse”, but its true future use remains to be seen.
About a year ago the tribe asked Gov. Rick Scott for Tribal-State gaming compact that would allow the tribe to operate casino-like gambling on the property. Such an agreement would allow the tribe “to conduct any Class III gaming activity which is played or may be played in the State of Florida, including, but not limited to, banked card games,” then-Tribal Chairman Buford Rolin wrote in a letter to Scott. Class III gaming in Florida includes table games and slot machines. They have also made it clear that they would like banked card games at other sites like Pensacola, Gretna and Tallahassee.
Scott has refused to negotiate a compact, saying more recognition is needed first from the federal government. Scott has also not been involved in talks with the Seminoles; he’s letting the Legislature play Florida’s hand in the high stakes gambling game.
Seminole Agreement In Balance
Senate Regulated Industries Chairman Rob Bradley, who released the proposal that would give exclusive rights to the Seminoles. said he plans this week to take up the extension of the agreement — which will expire July 31 unless the Legislature acts.
The Senate plan is a stark contrast to a sweeping gambling proposal floated by House Majority Leader Dana Young, R-Tampa. Young’s proposal would essentially do away with a broader 20-year agreement with the Seminoles, called a compact, by authorizing two Las Vegas-style casinos in Broward or Miami-Dade counties and allowing pari-mutuels in Lee and Palm Beach counties to add slot machines.
“It’s kind of unexpected, given that I know we both have been having conversations with the tribe,” Young said Friday of Bradley’s plan.
Talks between the Legislature and the Seminole tribe — which has expressed interest in obtaining the ability to offer craps and roulette — only began in earnest within the past few weeks, Bradley said.
“This decision is a reflection of a distance between where the parties want to be and would allow us to close that gap in a short period of time,” Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said. “I think this is the prudent thing to do for the people of Florida at this point in time. It allows us to continue with the status quo until we get a deal that makes sense for the state of Florida and makes sense for the tribe.
Bradley’s plan came four weeks before the legislative session is scheduled to end May 1. And, with the House and Senate deadlocked over a $5 billion health-care budget disagreement, the gambling-deal extension could provide lawmakers a far easier — and more palatable — option than Young’s massive overhaul.
After a House committee held a workshop on her proposal last week, Young said she was uncertain whether the traditionally gambling-leery House would even give her measure (HB 1233) a vote.
But on Friday, Young said she hoped her bill would be taken up by the House Regulatory Affairs Committee next week, creating another possible showdown between the two chambers over the competing gambling plans.
“This was an unexpected change of events. But I am certainly willing to keep an open mind and look forward to talking with Sen. Bradley and his Senate colleagues on why they believe this is in the best interest of Florida,” she said.
Under the current agreement, the Seminoles agreed to pay the state a minimum of $1 billion over five years in exchange for exclusive rights to banked card games at five of its seven facilities throughout the state. The tribe’s payments to the state, which also take into account revenue from games such as slot machines, have thus far exceeded the minimum and are expected to increase under a complicated revenue-sharing formula inked in 2010.
While the House and Senate remain at odds over Young’s approach, Bradley’s plan will “make sure the issue is not left on the cutting room floor,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, who played a major role in crafting the 2010 agreement with the tribe.
Gov. Rick Scott attempted to strike a deal with the tribe last year, but the talks blew up in the final days of the legislative session. This year, Scott has left negotiations up to lawmakers, who must authorize any agreement between the state and the tribe.
Unlike Scott’s failed plan that would have allowed the tribe to expand the types of games they offer, Bradley’s measure (SPB 7088) would simply extend the banked card games portion of the deal for another year. Because next year’s session begins earlier than usual, in January instead of March, the Legislature would be able to quickly address the issue without letting the state’s share of money from the card games — at least $116 million a year — evaporate.
The Seminoles, who have launched a major publicity campaign — including four statewide television ads — to urge the Legislature to re-up the banked card games, are aware of Bradley’s proposal but did not play a role in the Senate’s choice to consider a one-year extension, tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said.
“The tribe is just learning of the plan and is considering it,” Bitner said.
Extending the five-year agreement for another year also would avoid potentially costly and drawn-out litigation with the tribe, whose lawyers have raised questions about whether the Seminoles would have to discontinue the card games after July 31 if no deal is reached.
“The measure is a reminder to the tribe that their ability to maintain banked card games at their facilities exists at the pleasure of the Legislature,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, said.
Dara Kam, the News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Pictured above and below: A “warehouse” under construction on an acre of land owned by the Poarch Creek Indians in the North Escambia community of Nokomis. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Sheriff’s Office Warns Of Telephone Scam
April 6, 2015
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is warning area residents that a telephone con artist is posing as a deputy. The SRSO was alerted to numerous calls made late last week.
The con artist calls citizens and states that they are with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and tells they will arrested on an outstanding warrant if they do not make a payment over the telephone. The caller has been described as “very convincing” and “confident” during the conversation.
“These calls are not coming from your Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. These are considered telephone scams. If you receive a call from these individuals, you are requested to not make any payments over the phone to these individuals,” the agency said in a press release.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office does not make solicitation telephone calls for warrants. The only communications with wanted individuals is by a postcard type mailer.
For more information concerning an active warrant, call the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 981-2200.
Drivers Escape Injury In Highway 29 Crash
April 6, 2015
There were no injuries reported in a two vehicle crash late Sunday afternoon on Highway 29 at Barrineau Park Road. Occupants in both vehicles refused medical treatment. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Northview Volleyball Tryouts, Open Gym Dates Scheduled
April 6, 2015
Northview High School volleyball tryouts will be held later this month, and a series of “open gym” dates beginning this week will provide practice time.
Open Gym will be held April 8, 19, 14 and 17 from 3:30 until 4:30 p.m. Attendance is not required.
Tryouts will be held April 27 and 28 from 3:30 until 5:00 in the Northview gym.
A current sports physical is required before tryouts or open gym. For more information, contact Mrs. Luker at the school.
Car Show In Jay To Benefit Relay For Life
April 6, 2015
The “Show ‘n Shine” car and truck show will be held Saturday, April 11 in the Jay City Park.
The car show begins at noon, with judging at 3:00. The early entry fee is $20, and increases to $25 at the gate. Awards will be presented for best in show and best project.
All proceeds from the car show will go to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. For more info, call (850) 565-0504.
Escambia To Use Federal Funds To Rehabilitate Or Reconstruct Housing In Century
April 6, 2015
An interlocal agreement will allow Escambia County to pass $75,000 federal funding along to the Town of Century to rehabilitate or reconstruct at least one home.
Century is not an “entitlement community” and does not directly receive any U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME funds as Escambia County does. Though Century can apply for funding through the state’s Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grant, they are not guaranteed funding through that application. Funding through the state program was last received by Century in 2012.
Due to the needs in Century, Escambia County has sporadically funded HOME projects in Century since 1994.
Century will handle client applications and construction management for the homeowner(s) who will receive housing repair assistance through the agreement and will contribute some funds toward the project. Theproject will allow for substantial rehabilitation of at least one home or complete reconstruction. The assistance will be secured against the property in the form of a low interest loan, deferred payment loan and/or deferred payment grant based on the age and income of the homeowner. The Century project gives preference to a very low income homeowner.
The Escambia County Commission will vote on the agreement at their April 9 meeting.
Cantonment Meeting: Learn How To Protect Your Home Against Formosan Termites
April 6, 2015
Rep. Doug Broxson (R-Gulf Breeze) is hosting a free public workshop Tuesday in Cantonment for area residents to learn necessary steps to protect their greatest investment from costly Formosan termite damage.
Annually, Formosan termites cause $1 billion in damage in the United States, and our surrounding areas of Escambia, of Santa Rosa and Okaloosa countis are known hot spots for these aggressive pests. Florida’s temperate climate provides a perfect environment for termites, and immediate signs of structural damage to a home may go undetected for long periods of time. Springtime serves as the breeding season for most species of termites, and Formosan termites will be swarming in May, so it is important for residents to understand what they can do in advance to protect their homes.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is collaborating with the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Science’s Extension Offices in the Panhandle to educate homeowners about Formosan termites. Homeowners can learn methods for controlling this structural pest and protecting their homes by attending one of four educational meetings being held in the month of April. Homeowners are also encouraged to bring their pest control contract to one of these workshops for review.
Specific topics include:
- Formosan termite biology including simple ways to identify them
- Available Formosan termite pest control protection for your home
- Florida law and building code pertaining to termites
- What you can do to recognize and fix the weaknesses in and around your home
- Bring your pest control contract for review by FDACS experts
Registration is encourage, but not required, for meetings that will be held as follows:
Escambia County Meeting
Tuesday, April 7, 6 – 8 p.m. at Escambia County Extension, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment. Contact Beth Bolles to register: bbolles@ufl.edu or (850) 475-5230.
South Santa Rosa County Meeting
Thursday, April 9, 6- 8 p.m. at Tiger Point Community Center, 1370 Tiger Park Lane, Gulf Breeze, Contact Johanna Welch to register: Johanna.Welch@FreshFromFlorida.com or (850) 363-5845.
North Santa Rosa County Meeting
Tuesday, April 14, 2015, 6- 8 p.m. at Santa Rosa County Extension, 6263 Dogwood Drive, Milton. Contact Johanna Welch to register: Johanna.Welch@FreshFromFlorida.com or (850) 363-5845.
Photo courtesy UF/IFAS for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.