Tate High Drama’s ‘The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy’ Opens Tonight
February 5, 2015
The Tate High School Drama Department will present “The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy” on the school cafetorium stage Friday and Saturday at 7:00 each evening.
The creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky and altogether “ooky” Addams Family story brings the characters of Gomez Addams, Morticia Addams, Uncle Fester, Wednesday Addams, Pugsley Addams, Grandma, Lurch and others onto the stage in an original story with Wednesday falling in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And if that weren’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s ‘normal’ boyfriend and his parents.
The Tate Drama Department will also be conducting a silent auction to help raise funds for the state competition. Tickets are $10 for the reserved section and $7 for general admission.
Pictured: The Tate Drama Department’s “The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy”. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Media, Open Government Groups Seek Answers On Bailey FDLE Ouster
February 5, 2015
Media organizations and open-government advocates are upping the pressure on Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet, filing a lawsuit that alleges the handling of the forced resignation of the state’s top law-enforcement officer violated the Sunshine Law and calling for an independent investigation.
The two separate moves came ahead of a Thursday meeting in Tampa, where Scott, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Attorney General Pam Bondi are set to discuss new steps for hiring and reviewing agency heads.
Filed by the Associated Press, the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, Citizens for Sunshine and St. Petersburg attorney Matthew Weidner, the lawsuit focuses on conversations between Scott’s staff and aides for other Cabinet members concerning the ouster in December of former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey. The staff discussions were a way for Scott to work around the state’s open-meetings laws, the suit contends.
“The governor violated the Sunshine Law by using conduits to engage in polling, discussions, communications and other exchanges with other members of the Cabinet regarding his unilateral decision to force the resignation of the FDLE commissioner and appoint a replacement without any notice to the public, without any opportunity for the public to attend, and without any minutes being taken,” says the lawsuit, filed late Tuesday.
In a “frequently asked questions” document sent to the news media and a series of follow-ups, the Scott administration has outlined some of the discussions between the governor’s staff and the offices of the other Cabinet members. Scott’s office has denied that the discussions about Bailey violated state law.
“It has been a longstanding convention for governor’s staff to provide information to Cabinet staff,” said one answer. “This was the same process the Cabinet staff followed in respect to Gerald Bailey.”
The groups suing Scott and the Cabinet say those kinds of statements show the need for the courts to also issue an injunction barring similar conversations in the future.
“Plaintiffs would suffer irreparable injury if defendants continue the longstanding practice of violating the Sunshine Law by allowing Cabinet aides to engage in polling, discussions and communications about appointments required to be made by the Cabinet and relaying the results of those exchanges back to Cabinet members prior to a Cabinet meeting,” the lawsuit says.
Meanwhile, the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation wrote a letter to Bondi asking for a special prosecutor to look into whether the Sunshine Law was violated. (The News Service of Florida is a member of the foundation.)
“Only a prosecutor with the authority to subpoena witnesses and documents can adequately investigate this matter,” wrote Barbara Petersen, the foundation’s president, in a letter dated Wednesday. “However, that prosecutor must be perceived as entirely objective. A prosecutor outside of Leon County — one who does not reside and work in the same town as those under investigation — should be appointed. Otherwise, public confidence in the investigation itself will be compromised.”
The decision to push out Bailey has sparked perhaps the most serious crisis Scott has faced in his four years as governor. He and the Republican Cabinet members have clashed about what the Cabinet members were led to believe about Bailey’s departure.
Scott initially said the commissioner resigned from the post. But Bailey, who has only publicly commented to the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee bureau, has said, “I did not voluntarily do anything.”
The governor has signaled that he would like to make other changes at agencies under Cabinet control, perhaps starting as soon as Thursday. Scott is calling for the Cabinet to begin the process of possibly removing at least three agency heads: Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner Drew Breakspear and Department of Revenue executive director Marshall Stranburg.
Putnam and Atwater have said that they will not discuss additional leadership changes until the hiring process is revamped.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
6,000 Gallon Sewage Spill On Quintette Road Cleaned Up
February 4, 2015
About 6,100 gallons of sewage leaked on Quintette Road Tuesday afternoon when a sewage line was ruptured by a contractor working in the area.
The 8-inch force main was damaged at 561 West Quintette Road. About 6,000 gallons was contained, collected and transported by vacuum truck to the Central Water Reclamation Facility for proper disposal and treatment. ECUA crews repaired the break, and the overflow area was then cleaned and disinfected with a biocide agent that abated any contamination concerns, per state protocol, according to an Emerald Coast Utilities Authorities press release.
The Escambia County Health Department and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection were notified.
Reports Of Shooter At Saufley Field Were False
February 4, 2015
Authorities responded to a report of an active shooter at the Navy’s Saufley Field Wednesday morning, but that report turned out to be false.
The 911 was call was reportedly received at a dispatch center in Alabama, with the caller reporting a possible shooter at Saufley Field. The military and local authorities were able to verify that the report was false after a search of the area.
The incident remains under investigation.
Driver Injured In Three Vehicle Crash
February 4, 2015
One person was injured in a three-vehicle crash Wednesday morning on Highway 95A at Tate School Road. The driver was transported by ambulance to West Florida Hospital with injuries that were not believed to be serious. The other drivers were not injured. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Child Dies Day After Wreck That Claimed His Mother
February 4, 2015
A six-year old child critically injured in a single vehicle crash Sunday afternoon on I-10 has died.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 44-year old Wendy Fisk of Milton was westbound in the outside line of I-10 near the 9th Avenue overpass when she drifted off the roadway, over-steered to the left and then the right. Her 2008 Nissan Titan then rotated, traveled across the paved shoulder and struck a guardrail. The vehicle then traveled through the guardrail and overturned off the roadway.
Fisk was pronounced deceased at the scene by Escambia County EMS. Passenger Brenden Fisk, 6, was taken off life support at Sacred Heart Hospital Monday night. Johnathon Fisk, 5, received minor injuries and has been released from the hospital.
Top photo by Kristi Price for NorthEscambia.com, and below courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Two Suspects Arrested For Burglary Of Molino Tax Collector’s Office
February 4, 2015
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the October 2014 burglary of the Escambia County Tax Collector’s Office in Molino.
Bruce Lovon Purifoy, 43, and Duriel Vidle Armour, 38, both of Pensacola, were charged with first degree felony burglary and felony criminal mischief with property damage for the October 4, 2014, burglary that was caught on surveillance video.
During the break-in, Purifoy, Armour and a third suspect not yet arrested, attempted to disable the alarm system and used long pry bars to break open the doors of the Tax Collector’s Office in the Molino Community Complex on North Highway 95A. according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. Both the building and ATM suffered extensive damage.
Purifoy and Armour are facing numerous additional charges for similar burglaries in Escambia County and Pensacola. Purifoy remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $260,000; Armour is jailed with bond set at $200,000.
Thomas, Other School Superintendents Push For New Florida Testing Rules
February 4, 2015
Escambia County School District Superintendent Malcolm Thomas joined eight of his counterparts to meet with Governor Rick Scott and Education Commissioner Pam Stewart last week in Tallahassee to share their concerns about challenges the districts are facing linked to this year’s state tests.
The Superintendents presented five recommendations:
- Support the administration of the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) this year and use the results as a baseline for measuring progress. The State’s accountability system relies on both learning gains as well as performance. In the first year of FSA administration, there will be no learning gains and therefore will compromise its ability to drive accountability.
- Freeze school grades through 2015-2016 to ensure two consecutive years of reliable and valid data.
- Eliminate the requirement for the 11th grade English and Language Arts Florida Standards Assessment (ELA FSA) and all new End of Course Exams (EOC’s).
- Allow for the determination of teacher evaluations based on local data.
- Ensure adequate technology readiness for the statewide computer-based testing.
“The state of Florida is over testing our students and it is too soon to use the new Florida Standards Assessment as an accountability tool,” said Thomas. “The state needs to use common sense and not use an assessment system that has so many unknown aspects in a way that could hurt our students, our teachers, or our schools.”
Thomas was joined by Santa Rosa County Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick, as well as Superintendents Kurt Browning, Alberto Carvalho, MaryEllen Elia, Mike Grego, Barbara Jenkins, Joe Joyner, and John Ruis.
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said that the Superintendents’ meeting with the governor was a step along the road to change. The real effort has to come on the legislative side of our state government.
“Parents and teachers who share our concerns should contact their State legislators and ask them to join us in asking for assessment decisions based on common sense,” Thomas concluded.
Northview Opens District Tourney With Win Over Freeport (With Gallery)
February 4, 2015
The Northview Chiefs beat Freeport Tuesday night 57-41 in the first round of the Class 1A District 3 basketball tournament.
Stats from the game were not immediately available due to a late finish. The game began almost two hours late when referees from the Tri-State Officials Association failed to show; they were replaced by officials from the Emerald Coast Association.
The Chiefs will advance to take on Holmes County Friday night at 6:00 with the district championship game set for Saturday at 7:00.
For more photos, click to enlarge.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Sheriffs Say No To Senator’s Pot Proposal
February 4, 2015
After helping defeat a November ballot measure that would have legalized medical marijuana, Florida’s sheriffs said Tuesday they also object to a Republican lawmaker’s attempt to make pot available to patients.
The Florida Sheriffs Association, meeting at Amelia Island, voted to oppose a bill (SB 528) filed by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, that would allow medical marijuana and set up a detailed regulatory structure involving patients, doctors, growers and retail stores.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who is the association’s legislative chairman, said Brandes’ proposal included “loose language” that the sheriffs worried could allow “de facto recreational use” of marijuana.
Among other things, Gualtieri said the sheriffs oppose any medical marijuana that could be smoked by patients. Cannabis can also be used in other ways, such as in oils.
“You don’t smoke medicine,” Gualtieri told reporters.
Brandes filed his bill last week, less than three months after voters narrowly turned down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have legalized medical marijuana. The sheriffs association and other opponents argued, in part, that the ballot measure included loopholes that would have made marijuana available to people who did not have debilitating medical conditions.
With the annual legislative session starting March 3, it is too early to know whether Brandes’ bill has a chance of passing — or what the effect of the sheriffs’ opposition might be. Brandes’ proposal would need approval from three committees before reaching the Senate floor, and a companion measure has not been filed in the House.
“It is critically important that we thoroughly vet any proposal related to medical cannabis, and I am confident that this legislation will be carefully reviewed through the legislative process,” Brandes said last week in a statement issued after he filed the bill. “Many groups have been working on this initiative for quite some time and my goal is to work openly with all of the interested parties on this issue so that we can pass responsible legislation that provides relief to those Floridians in need.”
If lawmakers do not approve a legalization bill, backers of the 2014 ballot measure have vowed to bring back another proposed constitutional amendment in 2016.
Under Brandes’ bill, patients who suffer from cancer, HIV, AIDS, epilepsy, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease or Parkinson’s disease could qualify to receive medical marijuana if they receive certification from their doctors. Also, patients could qualify if they have conditions that lead them to chronically suffer from symptoms such as wasting syndrome, severe and persistent pain, severe and persistent nausea, persistent seizures or severe and persistent muscle spasms, according to the bill.
St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar, president of the sheriffs association, said he likes parts of the bill, such as a provision that would give county commissions control about issues such as whether to allow medical-marijuana retail stores and where the stores could be located. Shoar and Gualtieri also expressed compassion for patients with serious conditions who might be helped by cannabis.
But the association issued a lengthy list of “core legislative principles” that included stances such as opposing medical marijuana that can be smoked. Also, the principles said medical marijuana should be limited to people who have cancer, epilepsy, HIV, AIDS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, paraplegia, and quadriplegia. Also, exceptions could be made for people who are terminally ill.
“A patient must not receive medical marijuana for general ‘pain’ because pain is not a disease,” one of the principles said. “Pain is one of five vital signs assessed by a medical professional, which also includes temperature, pulse, respirations, and blood pressure.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida