Vehicle Theft Suspect Found Sleeping, Snoring Like A ‘Wild Boar’
February 3, 2015
A Santa Rosa County vehicle theft suspect was found sleeping under a house, sounding like a wild boar, according to deputies.
Sunday night, a deputy with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was on routine patrol on Avalon Boulevard when he attempted a traffic stop on a Chevrolet pickup truck for a broken tag light. When the deputy activated his blue lights, the suspect vehicle turned around and abruptly came to a stop. Deputies said 37-year old Kevin Lee Barbour of Pensacola exited the vehicle and ran from the scene through a residential neighborhood.
A K-9 unit with the Sheriff’s Office responded to the area and began to track the Barbour. While on the track, deputies heard a noise which was described as a “snorting wild boar” coming from under a trailer. It was discovered the noise was coming from the Barbour who was sleeping heavily while concealed under the trailer.
After interrupting Barbour’s nap, deputies placed him under arrest. It was determined that the vehicle had been stolen in Escambia County.
Barbour was charged with driving with a suspended license third or subsequent offense, criminal mischief property damage, vehicle theft and resisting an officer without violence. He was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail with bond set at $16,500.
New Ernest Ward Middle School Now Open
February 3, 2015
Students moved into the new Ernest Ward Middle School Monday morning for the first day of classes in the new building.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The $20 million facility is not quite complete; there’s still minor work to be done throughout the building, and the school’s agricultural classroom and band room won’t be completed for several more weeks.
Students reported to their homerooms in the old EWMS building this morning before being escorted grade by grade into the new facility where they were given the grand tour. There will be changes to student drop-off and pick-up areas (click for a map, details).
The old Ernest Ward buildings will be demolished in the coming weeks The oldest buildings, including the main classroom wing, were constructed in 1945 to replace a campus ravaged by fire in 1943. That old school had been constructed to replace an Ernest Ward School that first opened in a log cabin in 1896.
OPEN HOUSE: An open house and tours for the public will be held on Monday, February 16 from noon until 4 p.m.
Pictured: Students moved into and toured the new Ernest Ward Middle School building in Walnut Hill this morning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Names January Students Of The Month
February 3, 2015
Northview High School has named Students of the Month for January. They are Desiree Elliard, 12th grade, and David Weber, 10th grade. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Prisons Chief Says Proposed Changes Already Underway
February 3, 2015
Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones told a Senate panel Monday that her agency is already implementing most of the changes included in a sweeping bill aimed at improving prison safety and ensuring that guards don’t mistreat inmates.
But codifying the department’s policies in law should help restore the public’s confidence in the beleaguered agency in the aftermath of stories about prisoner abuse and corruption, Jones told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
“We have very specific rules and regulations on use of force,” said Jones, a veteran law enforcement officer who came out of retirement at the request of Gov. Rick Scott to take over the corrections agency last month. “How you treat inmates humanely, the care you give that inmate and the care and consideration for training and anything else that inmate is due … but quite frankly … there is a perception that we’re not doing it. I’m fighting this negative perception.”
Committee Chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker, filed the bill (SB 7020) last week. The proposal would require periodic inspections and audits to look for safety problems in prisons, require specialized training for dealing with mentally ill inmates and allow staff members to make anonymous and confidential reports to the Department of Corrections’ inspector general if they witness abuse or neglect of inmates but fear retribution.
Jones said she has launched a “habitability” inspection of the state’s prisons, the first in decades. And, she said, corrections officials are working to install more video and audio equipment in the institutions.
“I’m saying it’s optics,” Jones said. The bill includes “much of what we are doing” but “it still helps back up the department to point to, these are the things we are holding our folks accountable to,” she said.
But later, Jones acknowledged that the prison system, rocked by reports of cover-ups of inmate deaths at the hands of guards, was in need of more than an image makeover.
“The perception that we don’t have policies to keep us accountable … by ramping it up in statute helps show that we do have those policies and procedures. It’s up to me that they’re followed. So no, I do not have a perception that we don’t have a problem,” she said.
Jones tried to dispel concerns about an 18 percent increase in “use of force” incidents by guards against inmates over the past year. Although there were 894 more reports of use of force, the number of incidents in which inmates acted inappropriately and force could have been used but wasn’t climbed by more than 2,800, Jones said.
“I think these numbers show that in the majority of … instances there is no use of force,” she said, crediting what she viewed as an improvement to a “zero tolerance” policy for abuse of inmates, additional training and other changes implemented last year by her predecessor Michael Crews.
Instances of improper use of force by guards declined from 40 in 2013 to 27 last year, Jones said.
But Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, was unconvinced.
“I don’t know if I would draw the same conclusions because I don’t know what conclusions to draw based on all I’m hearing,” Bradley, a former prosecutor, said.
As in her first appearance before the committee late last month, Jones insisted that $16.5 million she requested to fill staff vacancies would be instrumental in resolving issues involving inappropriate guard behavior. Scott included the $16.5 million in a budget proposal he released last week. She also stressed the need for additional training for guards to deal with a growing number of mentally ill inmates and $15 million, also included in Scott’s budget proposal, to repair the aging prison infrastructure.
Evers, whose Panhandle district includes Century Correctional Institution, two other prisons and several work camps, was sympathetic to the plight of guards, who, like most other state workers, have gone without a salary hike for at least five years. At a recent visit to a prison in Santa Rosa County, Evers said guards complained about not having batteries for radios used to call for back-up.
“It becomes a safety issue to me when officers get tired and inmates get unruly,” he said. “If there’s an emergency where an inmate is hanging himself, it takes three officers to breach the door. And if we have one, he’s standing there watching. If he gets on the radio and the battery’s dead, the inmate’s dead before we can get to him. I’m just very concerned about the equipment and the supplies.”
He blamed part of the problem on overtired guards who work 12-hour shifts and on staffing shortages in prisons caused by budget cuts during Florida’s economic downturn. The agency has more than 3,300 fewer guards than were working in the state’s prisons five years ago, Evers pointed out.
“At all of the institutions I’ve been to that are running 12-hour shifts, when you get there and you watch those guys on the last four hours of those shifts, they’re getting tired. And you can see exhaustion. At those particular times, under the right conditions, they may cross the line,” Evers told reporters after the meeting. “The use of force we’re seeing is because of exhaustion, underpay and stress.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Ordinary Monday For Century Town Council
February 3, 2015
It was a short night of ordinary business Monday for the Century Town Council.
After approving minutes from a previous meeting and paying bills, the five-member council heard a short report of mostly calendar items from Mayor Freddie McCall, and heard from one member of the public regarding pot hole repair and requested speed bumps for Jefferson Avenue.
The next meeting of the Century Town Council will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 15. Council meetings are scheduled for the first and third Mondays of each month.
Family, Sheriff’s Office Seek Teen’s Stolen 4-Wheeler
February 3, 2015
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information about a 4-wheeler stolen last week in Beulah.
The 4-wheeler belongs to a teenager that worked to save up the money in order to purchase it. It was stolen from under the carport of the family’s residence on Frank Reeder Road. It was later reported to been seen in the Wedgewood area.
The vehicle has large aftermarket tires as well as a loud aftermarket exhaust. Anyone with any information should call Gulf Coast Crimestoppers at (850) 433-7867, or call (850) 418-3052. The family is offering a reward.
Jim Allen Elementary Placed On Lockdown Monday
February 2, 2015
Jim Allen Elementary School in Cantonment was placed on a brief lockdown Monday after someone reported hearing a single gunshot near the school campus.
According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, a school resource officer from Tate High School was moved to Jim Allen after the report. No evidence of any gunfire was found.
“It was simply just a precaution to make sure the children were safe,” said Rhonda Ray, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Updated: Jay Pipeline Leak Locks Down School; DEP Completing On Site Assessment
February 2, 2015
Schools in Jay were placed in emergency mode and Highway 89 was shut down Monday afternoon for a brief period after a brine leak from a pipeline about a mile from Jay High School.
A resident of Watermill Road reported hearing an explosion just before 1:30 at or near an oil well on nearby Escambia Avenue. Responding Jay Volunteer firefighters, from a distant staging area, could see the leak flowing from the ground upon their arrival.
Quantum Resources was notified and the leak area was immediately shut down. The the situation was quickly resolved, according to Sarah Whitfield, a spokesperson for Santa Rosa County, and no threat remains.
The lockdown at the schools was lifted and Highway 89 reopened with a matter of minutes. There were no injuries reported.
Staff from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection responded to the site. Initial assessments indicate less than two barrels of brine was spilled. There have been no impacts to surface waters. There was no explosion, but due to high pressure flow lines, a loud noise may have been heard at the time of the leak, according to Dee Ann Miller, spokesperson for the Florida DEP.
The flow line has been depressurized until repairs can be made and DEP inspections are complete.
Pictured: A file photo aerial view of a Quantum Resources facility on Escambia Avenue near Watermill Avenue in Jay. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
No Injuries In Overturned School Bus Crash
February 2, 2015
A school bus driver that crashed into a guardrail before his bus overturned this morning in Escambia County said he was avoiding another vehicle.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 63-year old Leroy Jenkins was driving a 2001 school bus with no students on board eastbound on Burgess Road. he was he steered to avoid an oncoming unknown vehicle with one headlight that entered his travel lane. The front of the bus struck a guardrail and overturned onto its right side.
Jenkins suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment.
No charges were filed in the crash.
Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Six More Weeks Of Winter? North Escambia Weather Ducks See Shadow
February 2, 2015
On this Groundhog Day, Puxatony Phil, the world famous groundhog, and the NorthEscambia.com Weather Ducks have both predicted six more weeks of winter.
Forklore says that if the groundhog sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, it means six more weeks of winter. We did not have a groundhog handy for a photo, but we did have the NorthEscambia.com Weather Ducks. And just like their more famous Pennsylvania weather buddy, our weather ducks also saw their shadow this morning at our Walnut Hill office.
This was only the second time in the history of our weather ducks that they have predicted more winter. For those that might be a little unsure as the weather ducks’ ability, we offer the two photographs below showing the weather ducks predicting six more weeks of winter on Groundhog Day 2010 and 10 days later with their snowman in Atmore.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
