Baseball Wins For Tate, Northview; Softball Wins For Tate, WFHS
February 27, 2015
BASEBALL
Tate 2, West Florida 1 (9 innings)
The Tate Aggies beat the West Florida Jaguars 2-1 in nine-innings. It was the first varsity win for Tate pitcher Michael Sherrill. Tate’s junior varsity and freshmen teams also beat West Florida Thursday. The Aggies (2-) will play junior varsity and varsity Friday at 4:00 and 6:30.
Northview 4, Washington 1
Washington 11, Northview 1 (JV)
Northview defeated Washington High School 4-1 in Pensacola Thursday night., while the NHS JV lost to Washington 11-1. Northview will host Freeport in a district game at 7:00 Friday, following a JV matchup at 4:30.
SOFTBALL
Tate 7, Pace 1
Tori Perkins pitched a no-hitter and struck out 11on the road as the Tate Lady Aggies beat Pace 7-1. The Lady Aggies remain undefeated at 8-0. Rachel Wright hit a homer for Tate, Sam Burks had a couple of doubles, Tori Perkins hit a double and Casey McCrakin was 2-4.
West Florida 11, Washington 1
The West Florida Lady Jaguars defeated Washington Thursday night 11-1. Farrah Nichols pitched four for the Jaguars, striking out six while allowing three hits. Kristen Gunter was 3-4 for West Florida, while Emily Loring at 2-4.
Pictured: Northview at Washington. NorthEscambia.com photos by Ramona Preston, click to enlarge.
Winning $57K Fantasy Five Ticket Sold In North Escambia
February 27, 2015
Someone is over $57,000 richer this morning after purchasing a winning Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 ticket in Cantonment.
The ticket sold at the CMP Food Mart, 400 North Highway 29, was one of four winning tickets sold for Thursday night’s drawing worth $57,384.10. Other winning tickets matching all five numbers were sold in Aventura, West Palm Beach and Parrish.
The 354 tickets matching four numbers won $104.50 each. Another 10,610 tickets matching three numbers are worth $9.50 each, and 103,236 ticket holders won a free Quick Pick ticket for picking two numbers.
Thursday’s winning numbers were 7-11-15-18-35.
Northwest Escambia Fooball, Cheer Names New Directors
February 27, 2015
Northwest Escambia Football and Cheer has announced new board members and officers for the upcoming 2015 season.
They are:
Greg Gibson – President
Jarrod Peebles – Vice-President
Vickie Grant – Treasurer
Harmony Thomas – Secretary
Kim Lambert – Cheer Coordinator
Mike Weaver – Concessions Manager
Matt Olson – Equipment Manager
Ted Bridges – Football Operations
Eric Jefferson – Football Operations
Joel Broadhead – Board Member
Carl Ward – Board Member
Patrick Boone – Board Member
Josh Edwards – Board Member
Kevin Bryan – Board Member
Arlo Smith – Board Member
Jason Stabler – Board Member
Gordon Godwin – Board Member
Stafford Announces Supervisor Of Elections College Scholarship Opportunity
February 27, 2015
Ecambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford has announced the 2015 Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections (FSASE) college scholarship. Three $1,200 scholarships will be awarded this summer by FSASE for the 2015 school year.
The scholarship is available to juniors or seniors attending an accredited Florida university or college, with a major in: political science, public or business administration, or journalism/mass communications. Among the requirements, students must have maintained a “C” average or above the previous year, demonstrate financial need and be registered to vote.
Copies of the application and full eligibility requirements may be downloaded from the Supervisor of Elections website at EscambiaVotes.com or may be picked up at the Elections Office, 213 Palafox Place, Second Floor. Completed applications must reach the Supervisor’s office by close of business on March 16.
Stafford will forward one application with a written recommendation to the FSASE Scholarship Committee, which will review the submissions from all 67 Florida counties. The scholarships will be awarded by the Association and the winner will be announced at the 2015 FSASE Summer Conference in June.
Students from Escambia County were scholarship winners in 2006, 2009 and 2010.
Know Before You Burn: Burn Authorizations Often Needed
February 27, 2015
Many times, area residents need permits for outdoor burns, according to the Florida Forest Service.
One of the primary roles of the Florida Forest Service is management of the state’s burn programs. Whether burning acres of forestlands or piles for land clearing operations, residents who plan to burn often need an authorization from their local FFS office.
“One of the goals of the Forest Service is to promote the benefits of fire and forest management,” said David Smith, Operations Administrator for the Blackwater District. “These authorizations are not meant to discourage people from burning, they’re simply a way to measure and track how much burning is occurring, where it’s happening and help ensure that people are doing it safely.”
The “where” part of that equation can be essential if a FFS firefighter has to respond to a fire. Through the Service’s internal Fire Management Information System, districts can map out all the burns in their area on any given day and if the need arises, direct responding crews.
If we don’t know where the burns are happening, that task becomes much more difficult.
“Firefighters responding to the correct location is crucial,” Smith said. “If a wildfire is threatening someone’s property, we certainly do not want critical firefighting resources delayed or diverted to a burn that someone is watching.”
Recently, the Blackwater District’s fixed wing aircraft pilot has discovered numerous unauthorized burns while on routine patrol. Mostly pile burns, the pilot has been able to mark the area on GPS and radio dispatch who then sends a Forest Ranger to inspect. Many of these inspections have results in a Notice of Violation for the landowner or person conducting the unauthorized burns.
In 2014, unauthorized debris burns made up more than 7% of the wildfires in district. So far in 2015, there have been 4 escaped unauthorized debris burns which is almost 15% of our fires. Landowners or burners can be charged for the cost suppression if their fire escapes regardless of whether it is authorized or not.
It’s important to note that not all pile burns require an authorization, however, and sometimes it can get confusing. Sometimes residents simply are unaware that they need to get authorizations before lighting the pile.
What type of burning requires authorization from the Florida Forest Service?
- Acreage burns. If you’re planning to burn woodlands, grass pastures, home lawn or any other large area, you need an authorization.
- Pile burns. Whether you’re burning multiple piles of land clearing debris generated on site or simple yard debris you generated while trimming trees and shrubs, if the pile is greater than 8 feet in diameter, you need an authorization.
There is no fee for a burn authorization.
Information required to obtain an authorization:
- Location of the burn – street address or Section, Township and Range
- Acreage to be burned – if appropriate
- Number of piles to be burned, height, length (i.e. three piles, 9 by 12 feet in size) – if appropriate
- Landowner’s name
No authorization needed if you are burning a pile of yard debris generated on your own property but it must meet the following requirements:
- 8 feet or less in diameter or in a non-combustible container (burn barrel).
- 150 feet or more from other homes.
- 50 feet or more from paved public roads.
- 25 feet or more away from your home.
- 25 feet or more away from wildlands, brush or other combustible structures.
If residents are unsure if their planned burns needs to be authorized, they can call (850) 957-6140 for more information or visit www.FloridaForestService.com and click on the “Quick Link” for prescribed fire.
NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Two County Bridges Set For Replacement By FDOT
February 26, 2015
The Florida Department of Transportation is set to replace two North Escambia bridges. The bridges have reached deterioration to warrant replacement by the state as part of FDOT’s Five-Year Work Plan.
The bridges are the Dortch Road bridge over Beaver Dam Creek, and the County Road 97A bridge over Boggy Creek.
The Dortch Road Bridge, near Bratt, is a 61.4 foot long wood piling support bridge that was constructed in 1965. The County Road 97A bridge over Boggy Creek, near Enon, is a 121.4 foot long wood piling support bridge that was constructed in 1969.
The replacement funding and construction work will be provided by FDOT. Once the bridges are complete, Escambia County will be responsible for their maintenance. There timetable for the project is not yet available.
Pictured top: The Dortch Road Bridge over Beaver Dam Creek near Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Lighting Up The Night In Ensley Area
February 26, 2015
Escambia County is working to light up the night in portions of the Ensley area.
The Operation Night Light Project is underway in the Ensley Redevelopment District. Outdoor lights are being installed to help lower crime rates, increase property values and deter activities that can negatively affect the quality of life of neighborhood residents.
This stage of the project, funded by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), consists of 94 LED Cobrahead fixtures to be installed within the Ensley Redevelopment District. Currently 24 of the 94 LED lights have been installed on the west side of the railroad tracks along Johnson Avenue and Chemstrand Road. Installation is expected to be completed around mid-March.
Click the map to enlarge to see the location of each light to installed as part of the project.
Tate High Drama To Host Dessert Theater Saturday Night
February 26, 2015
The Tate High School Drama department will host an entertaining dessert buffet Saturday night at 7:30 in the school cafetorium.
The performances will include all of the individual events that went to a recent district drama festival, followed by this year’s one-act entry, “High School Reunion”. While guests are being entertained, they can enjoy the goodies from buffet of fine desserts.
The show and all-you-can-eat desserts are just one price – $8.
Pictured: Tate Drama students. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Annual Walnut Hill Ruritan Farm Auction Is Saturday
February 26, 2015
The 41st Annual Walnut Hill Ruritan Club Farm Equipment Auction will be held this Saturday, February 28 beginning at 9:30 a.m.
The auction includes not only farm equipment, but also household items like tools and small equipment, lawn and garden items, antiques and more. Items can be received Thursday or Friday. A $5 lot fee will be charged. Must be present to “no sale” items.
Settlement must be made the day of the sale; unknown buyers must have cash, cashier’s check, major credit card, or a letter of credit from their bank. Items must within 24 hours.
Concessions will be available all day from the Ruritan Club.
The sale will be located at the Walnut Hill Community Center on Highway 97 just north of Ernest Ward Middle School.
For more information or consignments, call (850) 327-4479 or (850) 327-4318.
Pictured: Hundreds attended a previous Walnut Hill Ruritan Club farm equipment auction in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
As Poarch Creeks Push For North Escambia Gaming, Florida Focus Is On Seminoles
February 26, 2015
As the Poarch Band of Creek Indians push Gov. Rick Scott for a gaming compact and a possible casino in North Escambia [read more], most of the attention on gaming in Florida is focused on a gaming compact with the Seminoles. Dara Kam reports….
A high-stakes deal with the Seminole Tribe set to expire this summer has lawmakers, pari-mutuel operators and out-of-state casinos wrangling over who gets what as the Legislature is once again poised to consider thorny gambling issues during the session that begins Tuesday.
A lucrative portion of an agreement inked by the state and the tribe five years ago — and $116 million a year that goes with it — giving the Seminoles exclusive rights to offer banked card games such as blackjack will expire in mid-July. That is putting pressure on lawmakers, who’ve been leery until now to pass any gaming legislation despite intense pressure from in-state and out-of-state gambling operators.
But the deadline also gives the Legislature the upper hand when negotiating with the tribe, at least according to Republican leaders who have pointedly omitted the Seminole’s cash from early budget plans for next year.
Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, has repeatedly said he would be more than fine if the card games went away. Gardiner’s district lies in the shadow of gambling expansion-loathing Disney World, and he is closely linked with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, another gambling foe.
Gardiner has tapped Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, the Legislature’s chief negotiator on the Seminole deal five years ago, to oversee the process again.
Any other gambling legislation is inextricably tied to the future of the banked card games portion of the agreement, known as a compact, according to the Senate leaders.
“Until that issue gets resolved it’s hard to know if the Senate or the House is interested in even doing anything,” Gardiner, R-Orlando, told The News Service of Florida.
Under the existing agreement with the state, the Seminoles agreed to pay a minimum of $1 billion over five years in exchange for exclusive rights to table games at seven of its nine facilities. The deal allows the Seminoles to halt the payments if slot machines exist anywhere outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, excluding those operated by other tribes. The tribe can also reduce its payments if South Florida pari-mutuels are allowed to have banked card games, or if slots are authorized at any facilities that weren’t already operating in Broward or Miami-Dade, except for Hialeah Race Track, when the deal was signed in 2010.
“The banked card game component of the compact is the cornerstone of any gaming discussion going forward. But the compact itself does not need to be amended in any way. It will exist for the next 15 years. And there’s a very real possibility that the component containing card games will just self-execute and the tribe will have to remove the cards at the end of 90 days after July,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, said. “I’m not pulling your leg. We thought about that going in.”
When asked about the compact, Gov. Rick Scott’s office offered little insight.
“We will take the time that’s needed to get the best deal for the state,” Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said.
As in the past, the elements of any new pact hinge on the tribe’s exclusive rights to have certain games, even if only in specific geographic areas, and revenue paid to the state. Federal law requires any revenue-sharing agreement with the state to include something of value for the tribe, and the feds have to sign off on any compact struck between Florida and the Seminoles.
But, as Galvano pointed out, the state is now in a very different position than when the original deal was crafted.
Lawmakers at the time were at a slight negotiating disadvantage, in part because then-Gov. Charlie Crist had already signed a deal with the Seminoles, who had already begun offering the card games. The Legislature sued Crist, and the Florida Supreme Court agreed with lawmakers who argued that they should have the final word on any agreement with the tribe.
Faced with the possibility of a drawn-out lawsuit, the Legislature instead reworked the deal.
And, at Florida’s economic nadir, the money pledged by the Seminoles was impossible to ignore.
“The tribe’s position was that we would become very accustomed to the dollars — they are significant, there’s no question about that — and there would be an automatic relationship going forward. The difference is, five years ago, the budget situation was drastic. Our budget was very austere. The negotiating position between the state and the tribe was quite dubious given where the governor had been, given that the cards were already being operated,” Galvano said.
Galvano says the newly installed Senate president isn’t bluffing.
“I don’t think there’s any question that President Gardiner is serious when he says he doesn’t feel compelled to act. I myself don’t feel compelled to act. The provision was inserted as part of a 20-year deal, not as the deal itself,” Galvano said.
Timing may also be on the Legislature’s side.
The deal gives the Seminoles 90 days to wrap up the card games, meaning they would have until mid-October to discontinue the lucrative hands. Because the legislative session begins in January next year, committees will meet in October, giving lawmakers time to quickly approve a new agreement if necessary.
Scott, whose talks with the tribe blew up last year, appears to be looking for the Legislature to re-up or craft a new deal — or let the old one die off.
“I think the governor is prepared to defer to us to the extent necessary to make sure we approach it as a unified front,” Galvano said.
Scott last year considered allowing the Seminoles to open more casinos — including one on a 50-acre property owned by the tribe in Fort Pierce — and add roulette and craps to some of their existing facilities. The scuttled deal would also have allowed the tribe to expand its Broward County operations as well as its facility in Brighton. In return, the Seminoles had agreed to a hefty price tag of $2.5 billion over seven years, which is higher than the Seminoles’ current $250 million minimum annual obligation that includes a share of revenues from both slots and cards.
But the proposal was dead on arrival in the Legislature when the potential deal leaked out in the waning days of last year’s session.
Galvano is taking a simpler approach.
“It’s not a time for the tribe to reopen the compact. That’s not what this provision is about. It’s cards or no cards. Once we become comfortable with where that is, that gives us something to gauge a game equity for the existing pari-mutuels against, or resort destination casinos. I’m not saying that any of those are off the table. But you build from there,” he said.
The Seminoles are playing their cards close to the vest. A spokesman would say only that the tribe hopes to seal a new portion of the compact that would benefit both the state and the tribe.
In previous years, the typically more-moderate Senate has signaled willingness to pass gambling legislation, but conservative Republicans have stymied the possibility of getting a measure through the House.
That may change this year, however, under the auspices of new House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, a Merritt Island Republican who said he is “agnostic” on the issue.
Crisafulli appears open to the idea of “destination resorts” — casinos coupled with hotels and/or retail space — that have failed to gain even Senate support in the past.
And, as before, any gambling measure runs the risk of being overloaded with wish lists from industry operators, including pari-mutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties that already have slots but want a lower tax rate and card games to better compete with the nearby Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.
“To me, destination resorts are no different than what Seminoles currently have. I mean, they’re hotels with casinos in them. So I think destination resorts are something that have been labeled, but at the end of the day for Florida it’s about deciding do we want more of a presence of one or two or whatever the conversation is being had on those. Or do you want to just let the Seminoles continue to do what they’re doing and renegotiate a compact with them, clean up some of the pari-mutuel stuff, make it so they have a more competitive environment to operate in and move on,” Crisafulli said in an interview.
In contrast to previous sessions, South Florida pari-mutuels appear to be in agreement regarding a gambling proposal.
With the exception of Gulfstream Park, the seven Broward and Miami-Dade operators are lobbying jointly to lower taxes they pay on slots from 35 percent to 20 percent; the Seminoles’ revenue-sharing agreement amounts to about a 12 percent “tax” rate on earnings. Apart from the card games, the pari-mutuels are also angling for other changes they claim would put them on equal footing with the tribe.
“It goes beyond parity of tax rate and games. We have limited hours. We have limited alcohol. We want a business parity solution,” said Dan Adkins, vice president of Hartman & Tyner, which owns Mardi Gras Casino Florida in Hallandale Beach. “We want the same type of table games and we want all the other conditions.”
Operators outside of South Florida — where voters opened the door for slot machines in 2004, thereby allowing the Seminoles, who, like all Indian tribes, are entitled to the same types of gambling permitted elsewhere in the state — also want “parity,” but with their Miami-Dade and Broward counterparts.
“Currently, there are three licensed thoroughbred horse tracks in Florida, two in South Florida and one in Tampa. Tampa Bay Downs believes we are all part of the same industry and should be treated equally. Tampa Bay Downs respectfully requests parity with South Florida horse tracks. Parity would benefit horsemen with increased purses, patrons with better racing and provide Tampa Bay Downs the opportunity to be competitive both locally and nationally,” Tampa Bay Downs Vice President and General Manager Peter Berube said in an e-mail.
But allowing slot machines outside of Broward and Miami-Dade would stop all of the payments from the Seminoles, something that has kept the Legislature from approving similar proposals despite passage of local referendums supporting slot machines in several counties, including Palm Beach.
Also on the table: the possibility of creating a gambling oversight commission, an idea that appeals to Crisafulli but which, in the past, Scott has opposed.
“The biggest component to me that interests me the most is the regulatory side of it. I believe that Florida being what we know is the third largest gaming state in the country should be focused first and foremost on the regulatory component of gaming by having some sort of commission in place that regulates this industry versus (regulation by) the Department of Business and Professional Regulation,” he said.
Getting the support of the industry and enough legislators to pass a gambling bill will be “an enormous, gargantuan lift,” said House Majority Leader Dana Young, a Tampa Republican in charge of the issue in the House.
“People talk about three-dimensional chess. This is a Rubik’s cube. Will we be able to come up with something that addresses the wants of everyone? That’s highly unlikely. Can we come up with something that’s in the best interest of Florida that can pass? Maybe. But that’s a tall order,” she said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida