Fire Heavily Damages Jacks Branch Road Home
June 30, 2014
A Cantonment home received heavy fire and smoke damage Sunday night.
The fire was reported just after 9 p.m. in single story residence in the 400 block of Jacks Branch Road, near Green Tree Circle. The first firefighters on scene reported heavy smoke coming from the house.
There were no injuries reported, and there was no immediate word in the cause of the blaze.
Pictured: Fire heavily damaged a home on Jacks Branch Road Sunday. NorthEscambia.com reader submitted photos by iHeather Murphy, click to enlarge.
Schedule Change For ECUA July Household Hazardous Waste Collection
June 30, 2014
Taking advantage of the ECUA’s Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program is a great way to dispose of unwanted household hazardous materials in an environmentally responsible way.
HHW in landfills can leak or, if disposed of on the ground, can contaminate our drinking water supply or other water resources. And HHW disposed of in garbage containers can leak or react with other substances, possibly starting fires that may injure drivers and others nearby.
ECUA’s HHW Program is a monthly service that is free to all ECUA residential sanitation customers.
Normally, ECUA’s HHW collection is on the first Saturday of the month. For this July, the HHW pick-up will instead be scheduled on the second Saturday, July 12, because of the Independence Day holiday the previous week.
Some of the items accepted in the HHW Program pick-up list include swimming pool and household chemicals, paints, used cooking grease, lawn and garden chemicals, and used motor oils. These materials are collected by ECUA crews at the customer’s doorstep, making it as easy and convenient as possible.
For more information, or to request a pick-up, ECUA sanitation customers may call the ECUA Customer Service line at 476-0480, or email customer.service@ecua.fl.gov.
Schools: Pick Up Individual Student FCAT Scores
June 30, 2014
Individual student FCAT scores are available for pick up at your child’s school. For schools not listed below, call the school office for summer hours.
- Jim Allen Elementary: June 30, 7 a.m. – noon; July 21-24, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.,; July 28-31, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Bratt Elementary: June 30 – July 3, July 7 – July 10, from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Byrneville Elementary: Everyday except Fridays July 1-24 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.; everyday beginning July 28, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- Molino Park Elementary: June 30 – July 3, or July 7 from 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. and July 8-10 from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
- Ernest Ward Middle: June 30 – July 2 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. and again from July 7 from 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., or July 8-10 from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Parents should be prepared to show and identification and sign that they have received the report. Those not picked up during the summer will be sent home with the student in the fall.
- Northview High School: July 1 – 3 from 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the administrative office. Those not picked up during that period will be given to the student during orientation – August 13, 9 a.m. – noon for grades 10-12, or August 14, 8 – 9:30 a.m. for ninth grade.
Two Injured In Crash With Utility Pole
June 30, 2014
Two people were injured in a single vehicle rollover accident Sunday night near the intersection of Highway 196 and Highway 95A near Molino.
The driver apparently lost control, ran off the road and hit a utility pole just before 10 p.m. Both were transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola; neither injury was considered severe or life threatening.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
New Speciality Tags Will Soon Hit Florida’s Roads
June 30, 2014
As they did a year ago, Florida lawmakers this spring approved four new specialty license tags, also extending a self-imposed barrier that hasn’t slowed the program.
Starting October 1, sales will start on the four plates — Fallen Law Enforcement Officers, the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Keiser University, and the Moffitt Cancer Center — signed into law this year by Gov. Rick Scott.
Each plate raises money for the sponsoring organization. The fallen hero tag, which will feature the motto “A Hero Remembered Never Dies” across the bottom, will assist the Police and Kids Foundation, Inc.
The latest tags come despite a “moratorium” lawmakers imposed on new license plates in 2008. The moratorium was set to expire this year, but lawmakers extended it through mid-2016.
Since the moratorium was passed, the number of tags on the road has grown from 113 to 122. Also, lawmakers have since established a 1,000-plate pre-order requirement before actual production of the plate begins.
The new plates also come despite warnings from Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which oversees license plates, officials that the program may have reached a tipping point in terms of sales.
In November, Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Deputy Director Stephen Fielder told a House subcommittee that the market for specialty plates has become saturated.
The base of motorists spending extra for the specialty plates has remained stagnant over the past few years, Fielder said.
“When I had 30 plates, I had 30 organizations competing for 1 million (motorists),” Fielder told the panel. “I now have 120 plates competing for 1 million customers.” But a lobbyist for specialty plates said the state needs to make it easier for motorists to purchase them.
“There is a reason that many people aren’t able to buy them. The Department of Motor Vehicles will not put an option on the renewal form to go to the specialty plates,” said Susan Goldstein, who represents several associations with specialty plates as well as the Florida Association of Specialty License Plates. “You actually have to physically go to the tax collector or DMV to switch to a new plate.”
Asked about expanding the offerings for specialty tags online, department spokesman John Lucas responded in an email, “It’s strictly a technical reason due to additional fees that (are) involved in such a switch.”
The state sold and renewed 1.35 million specialty tags in 2013, up nearly 14,000 from 2012, but still noticeably off from 1.62 million purchased in 2009. Nearly half of the plates have attracted fewer than 5,000 buyers, including 18 with fewer than 1,000 in sales.
Private colleges are among the lowest sellers. Clearwater Christian College has ranked at the bottom of the sales with just 57 plates sold over the past two years.
Top sellers continue to be the University of Florida, Florida State University, Helping Sea Turtles Survive, Protect Wild Dolphins and Protect the Panther.
Goldstein noted that the number of specialty plates dropped after the fees for first time and renewals of specialty license plates were increased in 2009, when lawmakers were also hiking the cost of vehicle registration and other driver fees to close a budget shortfall.
“The person that wants to buy a new specialty plate has to pay $38 in fees to the state to make a $25 donation to the organization,” Goldstein said. “And we still did over $30 million last year.”
According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the $15 to $25 fee on specialty tags generates about $30 million a year, with about $8.6 million going to state revenue for processing fees and the rest divided among different sponsor organizations. Lawmaker support doesn’t guarantee the tag will hit the road, however.
Of the four tags approved for pre-sale starting July 1, 2013, Florida Freemasons and Lauren’s Kids — a non-profit group that helps survivors of childhood sexual abuse — surpassed the 1,000 mark and went on the road earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the American Legion and Big Brothers Big Sisters continue to struggle in the pre-sale world, with each organization selling about 100 plates as of June 2.
In addition to the new plates, production will begin this year on a new special use plate to recognize field medics who accompanied infantry into battle with a Combat Medical Badge plate. The state already offers Combat Action Badge and Combat Infantry Badge plates.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Jacksonville Takes Opener 12-6 Over The Blue Wahoos
June 30, 2014
On Sunday at the Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball game, fans had lots of fun for the first five innings.
Ryan Wright hit his first Double-A home run, which cleared the left field fence and put Pensacola ahead, 6-5, in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was also the second baseman’s first hit at home, after going hitless during his first five-game homestand at Pensacola. However, he’s hitting .300 (6-20) since then.
However, in Jacksonville’s very next at bat the Suns scored six runs off three Blue Wahoos pitchers to go ahead, 11-6, on their way to a 12-6 victory in the opener of a five-game series at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. Alfredo Silverio led off the big inning for the Suns with a home run.
The big hitter Sunday, though, for Pensacola was first baseman Marquez Smith. Smith hit a two-run home run, doubled in another run and walked in four at bats. It was Smith’s first home run this season, too, in a Blue Wahoos uniform after getting called up from High-A Bakersfield.
Smith said the homer to deep right center felt good after starting his stint with two hits in his first 18 at bats.
“It’s definitely good to get on the right track,” Smith said. “I was glad today to get some hits.”
Delino DeShields said that he would like to get the same production from Smith that Bakersfield got in the first half of the season. There Smith hit .298 with 15 homers and 67 RBI in 68 games.
“I’m hoping he will produce for us while he’s here,” DeShields said. “He is an older player. It gets tougher when you get older.”
The 29-year-old Smith was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2007 out of Clemson University and has played 737 games in the minors, including 2,615 at bats. He also has played 14 games in the Major Leagues, including 13 with the Cubs in 2011.
“I’ve been doing it for a long time and been lucky enough to still have a jersey on my back,” said Smith, who was born in Panama City down the coast from Pensacola. “I’m still having fun playing the game, so you can’t beat that.”
The second game of the five-game series with Miami Marlins Double-A affiliate the Jacksonville Suns gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Monday. RHP Jon Moscot (4-6, 2.83) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the Suns RHP Jay Rogers (2-2, 4.81).
by Tommy Thrall
Identity Released Of Driver In Barrineau Park Crash
June 29, 2014
A female was trapped in her upside-down vehicle for over an hour Saturday afternoon in Barrineau Park.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 21-year old Kiatlin Renee Whitfield of Cantonment was westbound on the dirt portion of Barrineau Park Road toward the intersection with North Highway 99 when she lost control and over corrected. Her vehicle then overturned off the roadway. First responders worked feverishly to free the Whitfield and stabilize the vehicle.
She was airlifted by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola in seriousl condition.
Charges in the accident are pending, according to the FHP.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
June 29, 2014
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekend ending June 26.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Investigator Goley was conducting marine resource and boating safety checks at Big Lagoon State Park when he noticed the operator of a vessel showing signs of impairment. After the initial contact, Investigator Goley asked the operator to submit to field sobriety tasks and he agreed. During the tasks, the operator exhibited signs of impairment to the extent that he was impaired. The subject was placed under arrest for BUI. After arriving at the jail nearly two hours later, the subject provided two breath samples of 0.089 and 0.088 BrAC.
Investigator Shafer responded to a complaint of a business being in possession of a venomous reptile without the proper permit. Investigator Shafer contacted the business owner and interviewed him about the matter. The owner admitted to capturing an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake and placing it in captivity. Investigator Shafer issued the subject a citation for not having the proper permit.
Officer Cushing was conducting Joint Enforcement Agreement (JEA) patrol near the shore when he conducted a fisheries inspection on a vessel with three individuals on board. When asked how many fish they caught, they responded two. He asked them what kind and they said they had two red snapper. The fisheries inspection revealed two red snapper, an undersized and out of season greater amberjack and an undersized cobia. Citations were issued to the individuals.
The crew of the offshore vessel, FinCat, worked offshore on several occasions in the last week. After several vessel inspections, a citation was issued for no charter license. Also issued were several warnings for undersized red snapper, undersized king mackerel, and possession of greater amberjack during closed season.
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.
Hundreds Turn Out For Twin Cities Watermelon Festival (With Gallery)
June 29, 2014
Hundreds of people turned out despite the heat and humidity Saturday for the first annual Twin Cities Volunteers Watermelon Festival in Century.
The family fun event included craft booths and food from dozens of vendors, local entertainment, and there was also plenty of ice cold watermelon.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The first annual Twin Cities Volunteers Watermelon Festival was sponsored in part by NorthEscambia.com.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Storytime Offered At Local Library Branches Each Week
June 29, 2014
Storytime is offered each week at your local West Florida Public Library Branch for children ages 0-5 as follows:
- Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Southwest Branch
- Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Main Library
- Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Molino Branch
- Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. – Tryon Branch
- Thursdays, 4 p.m. – Century Branch
- Saturdays, 2 p.m. – Westside Branch
Library locations are as follows:
- Main Library: 239 N. Spring St., Pensacola, (850) 436-5060
- Century Branch: 7991 N. Century Blvd., Century, (850) 256-6217
- Molino Branch: 6450-A Highway 95A, Molino, (850) 435-1760
- Southwest Branch: 12248 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola, (850) 453-7780
- Tryon Branch: 1200 Langley Ave., Pensacola, (850) 471-6980
- Westside Branch: 1580 W. Cervantes St., Pensacola, (850) 595-1047