Animal Shelter Aims To Find Pet Homes For The Holidays
December 4, 2014
The Escambia County Animal Shelter will host a public animal adoption event “Clear the Kennels” Friday and Saturday from noon until 6 p.m. at the shelter at 200 West Fairfield Drive.
The event aims to find homes for shelter animals before Christmas with manager’s special adoption pricing:
- Dogs, three years and older, $35
- Dogs, under three years, $55
- Cats, three years and older, $20
- Cats, under three years $30
Pricing includes spay or neuter, rabies vaccination and microchipping.
For more information, call (850) 595-3075.
Florida Appeals Court: Welfare Drug Testing Unconstitutional
December 4, 2014
Less than two weeks after hearing arguments in the case, a federal appeals court Wednesday again rejected a Florida law pushed by Gov. Rick Scott requiring welfare applicants to submit to drug tests before they can receive benefits.
The 2011 law “offends the Fourth Amendment” protections from unreasonable searches by the government, a three-judge panel ruled in a 54-page opinion authored by Judge Stanley Marcus.
“We respect the state’s overarching and laudable desire to promote work, protect families, and conserve resources. But, above all else, we must enforce the Constitution and the limits it places on government. If we are to give meaning to the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on blanket government searches, we must — and we do — hold that (the Florida law) crosses the constitutional line,” Marcus wrote.
The ruling, which upheld a final judgment late last year by U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven, is the fourth time courts have sided with the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the Florida Justice Institute, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Luis Lebron, a Navy veteran and single father. The lawsuit was filed shortly after the law went into effect in mid-2011. Scott used mandatory drug tests as an issue in his 2010 campaign.
“This is a resounding affirmation of the values that the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects – that none of us can be forced to submit to invasive and humiliating searches at the whim of the government, and that the Constitution protects the poor and the wealthy alike. The court has once again confirmed what we argued all along: that the state of Florida cannot treat an entire class of people like suspected criminals simply because they’ve asked the state for temporary assistance,” ACLU of Florida associate legal director Maria Kayanan, who argued the case before the court Nov. 20, said in a statement.
Scott can either ask the 11th Circuit for an “en banc” review by the entire court or pursue an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. The Scott administration did not comment Wednesday afternoon on the ruling. Despite repeated court decisions finding that the welfare drug testing law is unconstitutional, Scott and his lawyers have refused to back down from their position that the urine tests are needed to make sure poor children don’t grow up in drug-riddled households.
But the appeals-court judges again rejected the Scott administration’s arguments, saying that the state failed to make its case.
In effect from July 1, 2011, until Oct. 24, 2011, when Scriven issued a preliminary injunction putting it on hold, the law required applicants seeking benefits in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program — emergency cash benefits for “the poorest of the poor,” available to expectant mothers and families with children — to submit to and pay for urine tests, which range from $24 to $45. The money would be reimbursed if the tests were negative, and parents who failed the tests could designate someone else to receive cash benefits on behalf of their children.
During the period in which the law was in effect, 4,406 applicants submitted to drug testing. Only 108 — less than 3 percent — tested positive for drugs. Another 2,306 applicants failed to complete the applications or receive the drug screens.
“Viewing all of the facts in the light most favorable to the state, we agree with the district court that the state has failed to establish a demonstrable or peculiar drug-use problem among TANF applicants. If anything, the evidence extant suggests quite the opposite: that rates of drug use in the TANF population are no greater than for those who receive other government benefits, or even for the general public,” Marcus wrote.
The U.S. Supreme Court has made exceptions for the “closely guarded category” of government searches, Marcus wrote, including for U.S. Customs drug-interdiction agents, government workers whose jobs require that they carry guns and student athletes. But the nation’s highest court refused to sign off on a Georgia law that would have required mandatory drug testing of candidates for statewide office.
Scott is also involved in a separate drawn-out court battle over an executive order demanding that state workers submit to suspicion-less drug tests. The U.S. Supreme Court last year refused to take up that case, but Scott is expected to seek the high court’s review again if lower courts continue to rule against him.
So far, the state, at Scott’s bidding, has spent more than $400,000 on legal battles related to his attempts to require drug testing for state employees and welfare applicants.
Scott’s lawyers argued that the state had a “special need” for an exception to the constitutional protections against government searches and seizures to ensure that TANF participants were prepared to enter the work force, ensure that the TANF program met its child-welfare and family-stability goals and guarantee that public funds are used for their intended purposes.
But Scott did not convince the judges that the “special need” exists.
“Of course, citizens do not abandon all hope of privacy by applying for government assistance. By virtue of poverty, TANF applicants are not stripped of their legitimate expectations of privacy — they are not employees in dangerous vocations or students subject to the (power) of the state,” Marcus wrote.
He added: “Encouraging employability, protecting children, and conserving public funds are general — and unquestionably legitimate — public concerns. But empirical evidence indicates these needs are not specific to or special for TANF applicants, nor is drug testing essential to ensuring the success of the TANF program as a whole.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Sheriff’s Office: Pace High School Bomb Threat Not Credible
December 3, 2014
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was contacted yesterday in reference to a bomb threat at Pace High School.
A note was discovered inside a text book at Pace High School that generally directed students to not attend school on Thursday, December 4 due to a bomb. After this note was discovered, the school was thoroughly searched with negative results.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office has established a plan in coordination with school officials to continue searching the building as well as investigating the source of the note.
“The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office will continue to maintain a proactive presence at our schools,” a press release stated. “We have allocated additional resources and will continue to do so until this investigation is completed. School will continue as normal. At this time, we have not found any indications that this note is credible.”
Car Crashes Into Cantonment Home
December 3, 2014
A driver lost control and crashed into a Cantonment home early this morning.
The vehicle came to rest complete inside the home on Petty Drive, off of Tate Road, about 4:15 a.m. The occupants of the home and the driver of the car were not injured.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol; further details including the name of the driver have not yet been released. Escambia County EMS and Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Rep. Clay Ingram Name Chair Of Transportation & Economic Development Subcommittee
December 3, 2014
Rep. Clay Ingram (R-Pensacola) has been named chairman of the House Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee for the 2014-2016 legislative term.
“Rep. Ingram has distinguished himself as a thoughtful and deliberative leader in the Florida House. I have full confidence that Representative Ingram will manage the budget for transportation and economic development projects in a fair manner that addresses the needs of Floridians in every corner of our state,” said House Speaker Steve Crisafulli (R-Merritt Island).
“I am excited to get to work on Florida’s transportation infrastructure and continuing to make this the best place in the world to start or grow a business,” Ingram said.
The Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee’s scope includes the Department of Transportation, the Department of State, the Department of Economic Opportunity, the Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, and the Department of Military Affairs.
Escambia Man Passes Away Following Crash
December 3, 2014
An Escambia County man has passed away following a traffic crash last week.
Ngo Vo, 69, passed away at Baptist Hospital days after the crash at Valle Escondido Drive at West Michigan Avenue, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. About 10:10 a.m. on November 25, Vo was northbound on Valle Escondido Drive when he lost control of his 2013 Hyundai Tucson and struck a tree.
A passenger in the vehicle, 39-year old Johnny Vo, received minor injuries.
Evers Files Bill To Unbuckle Seat Belts For Rural Letter Carriers
December 3, 2014
A Northwest Florida senator filed a bill Tuesday that would allow rural letter carriers to deliver mail without wearing seat belts.
The bill, filed by Sen. Greg Evers (R-Baker), will be considered during the 2015 legislative session.
The state’s law requiring motorists to wear seat belts includes limited exemptions, such as for workers collecting garbage or recyclable goods. Evers’ bill (SB 160) would add an exemption for rural letter carriers “performing duties in the course of his or her employment on a designated postal route.”
Cantonment Man Charged With Stealing From Father, Fleeing From Deputies
December 3, 2014
A Cantonment man that fled from Escambia County deputies has been arrested for violating probation and allegedly stealing from his father.
An Escambia County deputy reported positively identifying24-year old Thomas Blain Arnold as the driver of a Nissan Frontier on Muscogee Road and attempting a traffic stop due to Arnold having two outstanding no-bond violation of probation warrants. After deputies activated their emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop, Arnold reportedly took evasive action by passing another vehicle in a no passing zone on Muscogee Road. That action prompted the deputies to terminate the attempted traffic stop due to the department’s pursuit policy.
Arnold is accused of stealing three deep sea fishing reels valued at about $2,800 from his father’s locked shed on Jacks Branch Road. He later sold one of the reels on Facebook for $150, but the purchaser became suspicious after locating the initials of the original owner on the reel, according to an arrest report.
Arnold was charged with felonies including burglary of an unoccupied structure, grand theft, dealing in stolen property and fleeing or eluding law enforcement. He was also arrested for violation of probation on previous convictions for aggravated assault and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond.
Report Clears Dept. Of Corrections Whistleblowers
December 3, 2014
Corrections investigators did nothing wrong when they took nude photographs of a prison guard suspected of having sex with an inmate at a Panhandle prison, a report released by Gov. Rick Scott’s inspector general found.
Scott Inspector General Melinda Miguel quietly released the 76-page report Wednesday, clearing five investigators and two prison guards of any wrongdoing regarding a search warrant that allowed the investigators to take nude pictures of Franklin Correctional Institution officer Kassidy Hill, who later threatened to sue the department and filed a discrimination complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations. The commission found no cause for the complaint.
Four of 
the investigators, who work for Department of Corrections Inspector General Jeff Beasley, accused Beasley of launching the probe after they alleged Miguel’s office was aware of a cover-up involving the death of Randall Jordan-Aparo. The inmate died at the Franklin County institution in 2010 after being gassed with noxious chemicals.
The investigators — Doug Glisson, Aubrey P. Land, James Padgett and John Ulm — later sued Beasley, who answers to Miguel, Scott and others for retaliation against them after Miguel refused to grant them whistleblower status last year. Former corrections worker Christina Bullins, also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, contends she was fired after she raised questions about the circumstances surrounding Jordan-Aparo’s death. Bullins’ brother was an inmate at the prison in a cell adjacent to Jordan-Aparo in the solitary confinement unit at the Carrabelle institution.
Their lawyer, Steven Andrews, contends that the new report proves that the investigators were targeted by the inspector general.
The report “fully exonerates my clients and raises a lot of questions as to why it was filed,” Andrews said. “It was clearly retaliatory for their disclosures concerning Randall Jordan-Aparo.”
The Hill case was part of a larger investigation into wrongdoing at the prison, now under scrutiny by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and led the inspectors to raise flags about the handling of Jordan-Aparo’s death.
The new report was authored by Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission inspector general investigator Amy Schmidt, who was brought on in November to look into Hill’s allegations. Schmidt wrote that the inspectors followed protocol in obtaining the search warrant, signed by a judge, which allowed them to photograph “the full body” of Hill.
The investigators first discovered they were part of an internal probe at a Christmas party a year ago, when Beasley told Ulm, Glisson, Williams, Padgett and Beasley’s deputy, Ken Sumpter, that “we f—- up” by taking pictures of Hill, according to an interview with Ulm included in the report.
Ulm told investigators that “Beasley also said that DOC GC (General Counsel) Jennifer Parker ‘had come down and told him the agency was going to have to ‘write a big ole fat check’ ” to settle Hill’s complaint.
The report also showed that former Secretary of Corrections Michael Crews, who retired last week, met with Beasley and Miguel in February three days after the prisons chief met with Ulm, Glisson, Land and David Clark, another IG investigator who is part of the lawsuit.
“After meeting with Secretary Crews and Beasley, CIG Miguel contacted Beasley and advised him to cease any activity on the ongoing investigations of (the cases) until the CIG’s Office could obtain a full briefing regarding these open investigations,” Schmidt wrote.
The Scott administration issued a brief statement Tuesday about the report and the whistleblowers’ allegations. “The whistleblower lawsuit is a matter for the Courts to decide,” Scott spokesman John Tupps said in the statement. “The Chief Inspector General’s report was completed on Nov. 26, 2014. A female correctional officer complained of mistreatment. Melinda Miguel wanted to ensure objectivity in the investigation and requested investigative assistance from FWC.”
The report also highlighted internal problems within the corrections inspector general’s office. The agency was relying on an outdated policy manual, written in 2006 but updated frequently through internal e-mails or memos issued by Beasley.
“When asked about the policies and procedures in place during June 2013 and his understanding of the policies and memorandums included in this investigation, Padgett stated, ‘I’m going to sum it up for you the best way that I can. Total confusion. Just chaotic as far as procedures and this directive and that directive and just like I stated, I came into the office, there is no FTO (Field Training Officer) manual … no FTO training policy, there is no check off list … it’s learn as you go.’ Padgett added that until very recently there had been one directive after another pushed out to the field,” Schmidt wrote.
Beasley has since implemented some improvements, including a tracking system to ensure that all directives issued to staff have been received, something that did not exist in 2013, the report noted.
The report also “recommended that guidelines be adopted to specifically address the taking of photographs during an investigation and to enhance the guidance surrounding the search of an employee’s person that involves the visual inspection of the employee’s unclothed body.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Escambia Investigators Seek Info In August Murder
December 3, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is turning to the public for help in solving an August murder.
The body of 25-year old Tyler Evans was found off of Weller near Gulf Beach Highway. He was last seen driving a 2000 gold Toyota Tacoma which was later recovered in the Ensley area.
Anyone with information related to the homicide is asked to call Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP. Callers do not have to provide their name and may be eligible for an award.