Three County Unemployment Rate Falls
October 18, 2014
The latest job numbers released Friday show the unemployment level decreasing in the North Escambia area.
Escambia County’s unemployment fell from 6.6 percent in August to 6.0 percent in September. There were 8,517 people reported unemployed during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 7.0 percent.
Santa Rosa County unemployment also decreased, from 6.2 to 5.5 percent from August to September. Santa Rosa County had a total of 4,175 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 6.2 percent.
In Escambia County, Alabama, unemployment decreased from 8.7 percent in August to 7.6 percent in September. That represented 1,066 people unemployed in the county during the month. One year ago, the unemployment rate in Escambia County, Alabama, was 8.2 percent
Florida’s for September was at 6.1 percent, down from 6.3 percent in August; that’s the lowest since June 2008. The state’s jobless mark has fluctuated between 6.2 percent and 6.3 percent for most of the year. Florida’s two-point drop from August to September mirrors the federal dip in unemployment, with the national jobless mark currently at 5.9 percent.
Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, at 6.6 percent in September, was down from August’s rate of 6.9 percent and was above the year-ago rate of 6.4 percent
The jobless numbers released by Florida and Alabama do not include persons that have given up on finding a job and are no longer reported as unemployed.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Tate Gets District Win Over Crestview (With Photo Gallery)
October 18, 2014
The Tate Aggies beat the Crestview Bulldogs Friday night, 42-28
With 6:31 to go in the first quarter, the Bulldogs took an early lead that they held until the second. With 10:11 in the half, the Aggies tied it up 7-7 with a 34-yard touchdown on fourth and 11 from junior quarterback Sawyer Smith to Reginald Payne.
Alondo Thompkins propelled Tate into a 14-7 lead with a 55-yard touchdown run with 8:14 on the clock in the second. Then, with 4:12 in the half, Payne was in for his second touchdown of the night on a sneak play from 1-yard out, and Tate was up 21-7 with 4:12 in the second quarter.
Smith found Darren Lee for a 45-yarder with 50.3 second on the clock for a 28-7 Tate lead at the half.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Less than three minutes into the third quarter, Tate moved up to 35-7 with a 12-yard keeper from Smith. Crestview scored twice before Alonte Thompson made it 42-21 with a 1-yard touchdown dash. Crestview capitalized on an Aggie fumble with 8:09 in the fourth, 42-21.
Crestview recovered an onside kick for one more touchdown with 6:23 on the clock for the night’s 42-28 final.
The Tate Aggies improved to 6-2 overall, and an important 1-1 in the district.
“The district win is huge in a three team district,” Coach Ronnie Douglas said. “Our backs were against the wall because if we don’t win, we’re done.”
“We still have a real good chance. Crestview and Niceville still have to play, so we are still waiting on that.” Last season, Crestview beat Niceville, leading to a three-way tie and a district shootout.
Tate will host Fort Walton Beach next Friday night, 7:30 in Cantonment.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Keith Garrison, click to enlarge.
Suffering From Allergies? Don’t Blame The Goldenrods
October 18, 2014
The bright yellow flowers of the goldenrod are everywhere in the North Escambia area, taking the blame from allergy sufferers. But one of fall’s most colorful plants actually gets a bad rap, according to the University of Florida Extension Service.
The true culprit for all those sneezes and sniffles is ragweed, according to Environmental Horticulture Agent Alicia Lamborn.
Goldenrod plants are bright and showy, producing large, heavy pollen grains that are carried off by bees, butterflies and other pollinators rather than by the wind. Ragweed bares greenish yellow flowers in small heads which produce copious amounts of pollen, carried by the wind rather than insects.
Ragweed flowers are not showy which means these plants are often easier to recognize by their stems and leaves. Ragweed has branching purplish stems that are rough and hairy, and leaves which are smooth, but deeply divided into lobed portions.
Pictured: Goldenrods bloom alongside a dirt road in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
High School Football Finals
October 18, 2014
Here is a look at Friday night’s high school football finals score from around the area.
FLORIDA
- Northview 43, Freeport 9 [Read more...]
- Tate 42, Crestview 28 [Read more...]
- Baker 42, Jay 14
- West Florida 27, Gulf Breeze 7
- Washington 23, Pine Forest 14
- Escambia 44, Milton 34
- Pensacola 35, Pace 10
- Arnold 38, Catholic 36
ALABAMA
- Flomaton 38, St. Lukes 26
- W.S. Neal 47, Satsuma 21
- St. Pauls 49, Escambia County (Atmore) 12
- Escambia Academy 48, Pike Liberal Arts 14
- Open: T.R. Miller
Northview Pounds Freeport
October 18, 2014
The Northview Chiefs were ranked No. 5 in the state in Class 1A as they headed into a 43-9 pounding of the Freeport Bulldogs Friday night in Freeport.
Northview jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a touchdown from Lett.
Freeport worked their way to the red zone, but their endzone pass was picked off by Cameron Newsome for a return that set up a Chiefs 30-yard field goal, 10-0 Northview.
Tydraee Bradley added another touchdown for the Chiefs with 1:45 to go in the first quarter, 16-0. The Chiefs rolled on to a 31-0 halftime advantage before allowing a touchdown and field goal from Freeport in the second half.
Lett rushed for just 220 yards Friday night along with three touchdowns two weeks after setting a school single game record of a 313 total rushing yards. The senior is now well over 1,000 yards for the season — 523 of those yards in his last two games for those doing the math.
Newsome is at about 500 yards for the season after earning 137 yards along with a touchdown Friday night.
Chiefs are now 5-1 overall, 2-0 in the district. They will host 4A Walton Friday night before taking on the undefeated Baker Gators for the district championship October 31 in Baker.
Pictured top: The Northview Chiefs in action against Freeport Friday night in Freeport. Pictured inset: The Chiefs’ Cameron Newsome goes down after a long interception return, setting up a 30-yard Northview field goal. Images courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
NWS: Monday Night Storm Damage In Cottage Hill Was Not A Tornado
October 17, 2014
Damage to several homes and outbuilding in the Cottage Hill area Monday was not caused by a tornado — that’s the word from the National Weather Service in Mobile.
NWS forecasters said Thursday afternoon that there was no need for them assess the damage directly. Escambia County Emergency Management surveyed the damage and determined it was caused by straight line winds.
Four homes were damaged but were still liveable following the storms, plus the roofs of several barns and outbuildings were damaged. Several trees and power lines were also downed.
There were no injuries reported. There was a tornado watch, but no warnings, in effect as the storm hit.
For more daytime photos of the storm damage, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Century Correctional K-9 Unit Places 2nd, Escambia Road Prison 6th, In Southern States Manhunt Competition
October 17, 2014
The Century Correctional Institution K-9 Unit placed second in the multi-leash division in the recent Southern States Manhunt Competition, while the Escambia County Road Prison placed sixth overall. Less than five minutes separated the first six places.
The multi leash division consists of more than one K-9 being utilized to track a suspect with the teams ranked by the amount of time that it took to capture the suspect. A total of 29 K-9 teams from Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas participated in the event hosted by the Escambia County Road Prison.
The Florida Department of Corrections has 38 K-9 programs statewide which are used to support law enforcement agencies with felon apprehension, locating missing persons and locating and providing aid to persons in distress. In Fiscal Year 2013-2014, the Department’s K-9 tracking teams were deployed 710 times.
Pictured: From Century Correctional Institution – Major K. Carter, Officer J. Sanders, Officer K. Reaves, Officer D. Smith, Officer J. deGraaf, Sgt. B. Townson, Asst. Warden L. Marinin, Warden D. Sloan and Major D. Dunlap. Pictured below: Escambia County Road Prison officers during the competition. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Public Meeting To Address Roundabout At Mobile Highway, Beulah Road
October 17, 2014
The Florida Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting concerning the placement of a traffic roundabout at the intersection of Mobile Highway and Beulah Road in Escambia County. The meeting will be held Tuesday, October 21, 5:30 to 7 p.m., at the Beulah Senior Center, 7425 Woodside Road.
Roundabouts have been identified by the Federal Highway Administration as an effective means of reducing the frequency and severity of crashes at intersections. The proposed roundabout would provide a new, yield-only movement for local road users. Although this project is in a preliminary planning stage, design and construction are not currently funded.
This meeting will provide you an opportunity to preview the proposed design, ask questions and/or submit comments concerning upcoming projects. Maps, drawings and other information will be on display. There will not be a formal presentation, however FDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and discuss the proposed project.
Amendment 3 Could Determine Future Of Florida Supreme Court
October 17, 2014
A low-profile ballot proposal that supporters say would avert a constitutional crisis but opponents say is nothing more than thinly-veiled partisan power grab is headed to voters in November, possibly with the future of the Florida Supreme Court at stake.
Amendment 3 would essentially grant an outgoing governor the right to appoint replacements for Supreme Court justices and District Courts of Appeal judges who leave office at the same time as the governor does.
It comes after years of heated battles over the high court, which has served as one of the last barriers to the Republican agenda in Tallahassee. And it comes against the backdrop of an election between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist, his Democratic rival, that could decide which governor gets to make the appointments in 2019.
That has left critics suspicious of the motives of Republican lawmakers who approved it.
“We think that this is politicizing the way that the court works,” said former Republican Sen. Alex Villalobos, who has sometimes butted heads with his party since leaving office.
At the center of the issue are three justices — R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince — who are part of the court’s left-of-center majority. That voting bloc, which often decides controversial cases on a 5-2 margin, has frustrated GOP lawmakers and governors for years.
Lewis, Pariente and Quince will reach the mandatory retirement age for justices before their next retention election, meaning they will have to step aside in early 2019. That will happen at the same time that the governor elected in the November 2018 elections is taking office.
As it stands now, according to Senate Judiciary Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, it is unclear who would have to power to appoint replacement justices — the outgoing governor or the incoming governor. The proposed constitutional amendment, if approved, would give that power to the outgoing governor.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee thoroughly researched the Florida Constitution and case law surrounding the filling of court vacancies and concluded that, under the Florida Constitution and case law, either governor is arguably authorized to make these appointments,” Lee wrote in an op-ed distributed to media members.
Former Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead and others say that flies in the face of a 2006 advisory opinion from the Supreme Court that “a vacancy exists upon the expiration of the term of the judge or justice.” Anstead, who was a member of the court that unanimously approved the opinion, said that means the new governor gets to make the appointment.
“What’s wrong with that?” he asked. “We have lived with that at least 40 years, and nothing terrible has happened to us.”
But Lee pointed to a 1955 case involving county judges in which the Supreme Court ruled that the outgoing governor’s appointments were valid. That ruling occurred before the adoption of the merit-retention process for appeals court judges in Florida, though Lee said the current rules are “substantially the same” now.
“The stakes will be immeasurably higher in 2019 when the dispute involves three Supreme Court vacancies,” Lee wrote.
He also highlighted logistical issues in having the new governor make the appointments.
“Even if the appointments could be made on the incoming governor’s inauguration day in 2019, the Supreme Court would likely not be fully functional for weeks as the new appointees close existing law practices, relocate to Tallahassee and get up to speed with their new duties,” Lee wrote.
Anstead said existing justices or judges from the state’s district courts of appeal can be appointed by the chief justice to serve as acting justices — something that briefly happened, for instance, at the end of Anstead’s final term to allow him to wrap up some cases.
Lewis, Pariente and Quince have been in the middle of a political storm for several years now. In 2011, in the wake of several court decisions that went against the Legislature, then-House Speaker Dean Cannon proposed splitting the Supreme Court into two panels and putting those three justices on the court that would handle criminal cases — not challenges to the Legislature’s authority.
That plan was killed in the Senate.
In 2012, when the three justices faced their last merit-retention election — in which a candidate runs for re-election, but not against an opponent — the Republican Party of Florida formally opposed the justices. All three still easily won another term.
Coincidentally, Quince was appointed in 1998 during a change in administrations from outgoing Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles to incoming Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. After Bush argued that he had the right to name the next justice, he and Chiles agreed to jointly appoint Quince.
Business groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce, often closely allied with the Republican Party, and the Florida Council of 100 have supported the proposed constitutional amendment.
“Florida can’t afford to let its highest courts fall victim to uncertainty and doubt if it wants to continue to shine as a prime location for doing business,” Susan Pareigis, president and CEO of the council, said in a news release.
They have been countered in the low-level fight by interest groups that have traditionally opposed GOP efforts on the courts and elections, such as the League of Women Voters of Florida.
Anstead said he’s concerned that allowing an outgoing governor to appoint the justices to the court will remove the accountability that would face a governor who would later seek a second term. Anstead said he’s “not cynical, but … no dummy” when it comes to whether politics is at play.
“If there is partisanship here, it appears to be something of a gamble that Governor Scott will be re-elected,” he said.
But Lee said the uncertainty about the battle between Scott and Crist is the reason to change things now.
“Voting ‘yes’ on Amendment 3 avoids all these questions before we know which political party will be positively or negatively impacted,” he wrote.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Mosquito Borne Illness Alert Remains In Effect For Escambia County
October 17, 2014
An mosquito-borne illness alert for Escambia County is continuing, according to the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County said Thursday.
Back in August, the health department issued the alert after receiving notification of a confirmed case of West Nile virus (WNV) infection in a resident of Escambia County.
The Escambia County Mosquito Control Division and the health department continue surveillance and prevention efforts. FDOH-Escambia reminds residents and visitors to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and to take basic precautions to help limit exposure to mosquito-borne illnesses.
Some mosquito tips include:
- Remove standing water to stop mosquitoes from multiplying
- Drain water from garbage cans, house gutters, buckets, pool covers, coolers, toys, flower pots or any other containers where sprinkler or rain water has collected.
- Discard old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances and other items that aren’t being used.
- Empty and clean birdbaths and pet’s water bowls at least once or twice a week.
- Protect boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that don’t accumulate water.
- Maintain swimming pools in good condition and appropriately chlorinated. Empty plastic swimming pools when not in use.
- Cover skin with clothing or repellent—
- Stay indoors when mosquitoes are active
- Wear shoes, socks, and long pants and long-sleeves. This type of protection may be necessary for people who must work in areas where mosquitoes are present.
- Apply mosquito repellent to bare skin and clothing.
- Always use repellents according to the label. Repellents with DEET(N,N-diethyl-mtoluamide), picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, and IR3535 are effective.
- Use mosquito netting to protect children younger than 2 months old.
- Cover doors and windows with screens to keep mosquitoes out of your house
- Repair broken screens on windows, doors, porches, and patios.
- Keep doors and windows closed if screens are not present.
- Always read label directions carefully for the approved usage before you apply a repellent.
- Some repellents are not suitable for children.
- Products with concentrations of up to 30 percent DEET are generally recommended.
- Other US Environmental Protection Agency-approved repellents contain Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR3535. These products are generally available at local pharmacies. Look for active ingredients to be listed on the product label.
- Apply insect repellent to exposed skin, or onto clothing, but not under clothing.
- In protecting children, read label instructions to be sure the repellent is age-appropriate.
- According to the CDC, mosquito repellents containing oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under the age of three years. DEET is not recommended on children younger than two months old.
- Avoid applying repellents to the hands of children. Adults should apply repellent first to their own hands and then transfer it to the child’s skin and clothing.
- If additional protection is necessary, apply a permethrin repellent directly to your clothing.