Cantonment Cold Case: 1981 Murder Remains Unsolved
January 11, 2015
It was 34 years ago on the afternoon of January 2, 1981, that 9-year old Kenneth Deshun Underwood and three companions went bird hunting in the woods near their Cantonment home. Everyone returned home that afternoon except for Underwood.
When Underwood was still not home around 6 p.m., Escambia County Search and Rescue personnel were called. The area were Underwood was last seen alive was canvassed. His body was discovered about 5:45 the next morning –apparently murdered — in an area near Booker Street.
The case remains unsolved, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help because they believe someone in our area still has information about Underwood’s death.
If you know anything about the death of Kenneth Deshun Underwood, 9, you are asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (850) 436-9580 or Crime Stopper at (850) 433-STOP (7867).
Pictured above: The fourth grade photo of murder victim Kenneth Deshun Underwood of Cantonment. Pictured below: The highlighted area in this map shows were the body was found. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
No Brotherly Love: Scott To Pitch Florida In Philadelphia
January 11, 2015
Gov. Rick Scott is going on a “business development mission” to Philadelphia, after pitching Florida to residents of New York, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania during his inaugural speech Tuesday.
Scott on Friday announced plans to meet in late February with business leaders in the City of Brotherly Love in an attempt to sway them to relocate to the Sunshine State. Additional trips are being planned to the other states mentioned in the inaugural address.
“Tom Wolf’s proposed tax increases and mandates on businesses will no doubt be heavy blows to Pennsylvania families,” Scott said in a release, referring to Pennsylvania’s newly elected Democratic governor. “In contrast, Florida is working to become even more business friendly.”
Wolf will be sworn into office January 20, replacing Republican Tom Corbett. Wolf’s office was not immediately available for comment on Scott’s travel plans.
Scott will be joined on the trip to Philadelphia by leaders from Enterprise Florida, Visit Florida, the Department of Economic Opportunity and the Department of Education.
During his inauguration speech, Scott said he would be traveling to “New York, Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and others” over the next four years “to recruit you here.” New York and California have Democratic governors. In Illinois, Republican Bruce Rauner will replace Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday.
Forest Service Conducts 100 Acre Control Burn At Ransom Middle
January 11, 2015
The Florida Forest Service conducted a 100 acre prescribed burn at Ransom Middle School Saturday.
After a recent wildfire caused smoke issues near the Cantonment school, the burn was conducted on county-owned property in order to reduce the risk of future wildfires, eliminate potential smoke issues and allow the school board to better utilize the field adjacent to the school.
“We’ve had two fires there in the past year,” said Adam Parden, the FFS’s Forest Area supervisor for Escambia County. “This will help eliminate future fires and let the school be able to put their field back in working order.”
The field was overgrown with weeds and grass and Forest Service crews had already established fire breaks around the perimeter.
The operation was part of the Forest Service’s wildfire mitigation program and will help protect more than $30 million in structures including Ransom Middle School’s facilities.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Rain And Warmer
January 11, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Sunday Night Rain likely, mainly after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 50. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Monday A 50 percent chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 69. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
- Monday Night A 30 percent chance of rain. Cloudy, with a low around 51. North wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday A 20 percent chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 59. North wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday Night A 20 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. North wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 58. North wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday Night A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 42. North wind around 5 mph.
- Thursday A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53.
- Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.
- Friday Sunny, with a high near 56.
- Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 34.
- Saturday Sunny, with a high near 59.
Weekend Gardening: Tips for January
January 11, 2015
Here are gardening tips for the month of January from the IFAS Extension Service:
Flowers
- Refrigerated bulbs such as tulip, daffodil and hyacinth should be planted in prepared beds.
- Start seeds of warm season flowers late this month in order to have transplants in March.
- There’s still time to transplant some cool season annuals such as carnations, foxglove, pansies, petunias and snapdragons.
- Re-fertilize cool season flowerbeds, using a liquid or dry form of fertilizer. Be careful not to apply excessive amounts and keep granules away from the base of stems.
- Finish dividing crowded perennials. Don’t wait until spring for this job.
- Plant bare root roses immediately after they are purchased.
Trees and Shrubs
- Plant trees and shrubs. This is an ideal time of year for transplanting larger specimens.
- Plant bare root plants such as deciduous ornamental shrubs and trees.
- Prune dormant shade trees, if needed.
- Stick hardwood cuttings of fig, grape, honeysuckle, Althea, Catalpa, Forsythia and Wisteria.
Fruits and Nuts
- Apply dormant oil spray to peach, plum, nectarine and other deciduous fruit trees. This practice is necessary when growing the stone fruits in locations along the Gulf Coast. Note: This applies to the flowering peaches and cherries since they are susceptible to the same pests as their fruiting cousins.
- Plant bare root deciduous fruit trees
- Prune dormant fruit trees if needed
Vegetable Garden
- Start seeds of warm season vegetables late this month in order to have transplants in March.
- Lime (if needed), and begin preparing vegetable gardens for the spring planting.
- Cool season vegetables that can still be planted in the garden are: beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mustard, bunching onions, parsley, English peas, Irish potatoes, radishes and turnips.
- Irish potatoes can be started from January through March by planting seed pieces 3 to 4 inches deep in rows. Always purchase certified seed potatoes.
Lawns
- Check soil moisture during winter and water as needed.
Pot Coming Back To The Florida Ballot?
January 11, 2015
Proponents of a medical-marijuana ballot initiative that fell short of passing in November are making a second attempt to legalize weed in Florida.
Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan, who pumped at least $2 million of his own money into the effort last year, said he filed proposed language Thursday with the Department of State for a 2016 constitutional amendment.
“We lost the battle. We plan to win the war,” Morgan said.
The measure clarifies some of the issues opponents, including Florida sheriffs, used to dissuade voters from approving the measure in November, according to Jon Mills, a constitutional law professor and former House speaker who drafted the proposal.
“There is nothing that’s different in the intent and the actual impact,” Mills told The News Service of Florida on Thursday.
Mills said he included in the revised proposal some of the statements the Florida Supreme Court made about last year’s initiative when justices ruled that the proposal met the requirements to go on the November ballot.
“What this will do is to clarify things that will make it really impossible to misinterpret,” he said.
The revamped measure clarifies that doctors cannot order medical marijuana for children without their parents’ approval, Mills said. Mills and other supporters have insisted all along that, as with other medical conditions, minors could not get medical pot without their parents’ or guardians’ permission. But the sheriffs railed about the issue last year, raising the specter of “a joint in every backpack” in discussions about the proposal.
The proposal also clears up ambiguity about what diseases would make patients eligible for medical-marijuana treatment, another major point of contention for the law-enforcement opponents of last year’s measure.
The revised measure defines “Debilitating Medical Condition” as cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated.”
The old proposal would have allowed physicians to order the pot for “other conditions” in which a physician believed the use of medical marijuana would outweigh the potential risks for a patient. Opponents argued that “other conditions” would lead to a California-like parade of horribles in which patients could get pot for something as minor as a hangnail.
“The court said that it has to be the same type of disease, in other words, it can’t be a nosebleed. That was what was always intended, so that is reemphasized,” Mills said.
The language about a physician determining that the benefits of the treatment outweigh the risks is the same in both proposals, Mills pointed out.
People United for Medical Marijuana campaign manager Ben Pollara and other supporters hope the Legislature will broaden a law approved last year that authorized non-euphoric strains of pot for patients suffering from seizures or cancer.
Pollara said he hopes to have 100,000 signatures — enough to prompt a Supreme Court review of the new ballot language — in hand by the time the Legislature convenes in March.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that there’s the potential to pass a much more comprehensive medical-marijuana law” than the measure approved by the Legislature last year, Pollara said. “If we can do something like that, then we don’t need to go back on the ballot.”
But, he admitted, “I’ve gotten a very bipolar read” on what the Republican-dominated Legislature may do.
Proponents of the measure now have to work on gathering nearly 700,000 signatures to get the initiative onto the 2016 ballot. Morgan’s pollsters predict that between 60 and 62 percent of voters would support the measure if placed on the ballot during a presidential election. Reaching that threshold might be easier in 2016 because more voters, especially Democrats who may be friendlier toward legalizing marijuana, show up for presidential elections. The 2014 proposal fell just two percentage points shy of the 60 percent mark.
Getting the proposal on the 2016 ballot will cost considerably less than the $4.5 million it cost to put the issue before voters last year, Pollara said. What remains unknown is how much the opposition, which spent $7 million to defeat the measure last year, will drop to kill it this time around.
“We learned a lot last time. I hope to take those lessons and help me win in 2016,” Morgan said.
by Dara Kam and Brandon Larrabbee, The News Service of Florida
Century Awarded Grant To Find Water Leaks In 60 Miles Of Pipes
January 10, 2015
The Town of Century has been awarded a grant to help their water department locate leaks in the town’s system, Mayor Freddie McCall announced this week.
The Northwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board approved the $44,500 grant that will allow the Town of Century to conduct a water leak survey of the town’s entire distribution system, which includes 60 miles of water main.
The project will also identify and prioritize leak repair efforts to reduce water loss from approximately 22 percent to a target of 10 percent – helping to protect the area’s water supply.
Smoke Prompts Evacuation Of Popeye’s Restaurant
January 10, 2015
The Popeye’s restaurant on Nine Mile Road was temporarily evacuated due to light smoke in the building Friday night.
Multiple Escambia Fire Rescue stations were dispatched to the restaurant after the smoke was reported. The source of the smoke was eventually traced to a burned out motor in the heating and cooling system.
Other than the motor, there was no damage reported.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
January 10, 2015
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending January 8 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson was patrolling the Blackwater State Forest when he observed a truck with two occupants wearing hunter orange vests traveling towards him. As he approached the vehicle to conduct a resource inspection, he observed the driver reach down and place something in the floorboard. After making contact with both occupants, they admitted to trying to conceal two open containers of alcoholic beverages. During the inspection, the passenger of the vehicle admitted that he was hunting deer and that he did not have a valid hunting license or the required permits. Officer Hutchinson observed the passenger of the vehicle to be in possession of a high powered rifle. After further investigation, Officer Hutchinson discovered that the passenger was a convicted felon and was not supposed to be in possession of a firearm or ammunition. Officer Hutchinson seized the firearm and the appropriate arrests were made.
Officer Ramos was on patrol in Blackwater WMA responding to a complaint of hunting dogs in a still-hunt area when he came across three men and a dog on a forest road. Upon seeing the patrol truck, all three suspects suddenly fled into the woods after given lawful commands to stop. Officer Ramos pursued the suspects on foot into the woods but terminated the foot chase after he caught the suspect’s hunting dog. Using information on the dog’s collar, Officer Ramos drove towards the dog owner’s private property just south of his location and conducted a traffic stop on one of the suspects who was now trying to leave the area in a vehicle. The suspect was placed under arrest for interference with an FWC officer. Officers Hutchinson and Molnar and Investigators Hughes and Goley arrived to assist. The officers went to the suspects hunting camp and began an investigation to determine the whereabouts of the other two suspects. Both suspects were still hiding in the woods. The officers were able to convince the father of one the suspects to have them come into the camp. When they walked into the camp, one immediately became defensive and non-compliant. After admitting he ran because he did not possess a hunting license, he was placed under arrest for interference. The third suspect was somewhat cooperative. The officers determined that all three suspects had been hunting unlawfully, after piecing together information from the suspects and the physical evidence at the scene. Investigator Goley and Officer Molnar located two shotguns and illegal narcotics that the suspects had ditched while running. And later, Officer Hutchinson located a third shotgun hidden in the woods that the oldest suspect, a convicted felon, possessed when he fled from the officer. The appropriate citations were issued and two of the suspects were booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail.
Officer Johnson and Reserve Officer Wise assisted the Milton Police Department and other agencies with a search and rescue of a male subject at Pond Creek in Milton. Once on scene, the officers learned from a witness that the subject had entered the water and tried to walk across the Pond Creek but was swept away by the current. A short time later, the Santa Rosa Search and Rescue sent a dive team and recovered the victim’s body in close proximity to where he was last seen before being swept away. Officers Johnson and Wise assisted with the recovery of the victim and securing the scene.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
(No report submitted for Escambia County.)
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week;however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
Escambia BOCC Honors First Responders
January 10, 2015
The Escambia County Commission recognized last week as First Responder Appreciation Week and issued a proclamation thanking area first responders and their families. Accepting the proclamation on behalf of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office were four of the six deputies shot in the line of duty in the last six years. Pictured are: Deputy 1st Class Ryan Robinson, Sergeant Shedrick Johnson, Deputy Chad Brown and Deputy Jason Ates. (The two deputies shot in the line of duty not shown are Deputy Jeremy Cassidy and Deputy 1st Class Sam Parker.) Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.