Tate Blows Away Fort Walton Beach 56-20 (With Photo Gallery)
October 25, 2014
The Tate High Aggies blew past the Fort Walton Beach Vikings Friday night, 56-20.
Tate quarterback Sawyer Smith recorded 273 yards, including three touchdown passes. Reggie Payne caught nine passes for 100 yards plus a 46-yard touchdown pass. Smith also found Darren Lee and Bradley Trombly for second half TDS’s.
Smith put the Aggies on the board with a one yard dive, plus Corey Moorer scored with a 25-yard run to give Tate a 14-0 lead in the fist quarter.
The Aggies (7-2, 1-1) will sit out next week before hosting the Escambia Gators for Tate Senior Night on November 7.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Keith Garrison, click to enlarge.
Friday Night Football Finals
October 25, 2014
Here’s a look at high school final schools from around the area tonight:
FLORIDA
- Northview 35, Walton 28 [Read more...]
- Tate 56, Fort Walton Beach 20 [Read more...]
- Jay 64, Cottondale 36
- West Florida 33, Arnold 7
- Escambia 43, Pace 7
- Milton 28, Pine Forest 26 OT
- Baker 35, Franklin Co. 7
- PHS 40, Washington 10
- Catholic 56, Gulf Breeze 35
ALABAMA
- Sweetwater 38, Flomaton 12
- T.R. Miller 44, Excel 0
- W.S. Neal 55, Southside Selma 8
- Escambia County (Atmore) 42, Monroe County 30
- Escambia Academy 41, Glenwood 0
Possible Live Military Explosive Found At Business Near Ensley Walmart
October 24, 2014
A possible live military ordnance was discovered at a business on Hood Drive Friday afternoon. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office responded and a military explosive ordinance disposal team was called to dispose of the item. The item was removed and taken to the Sheriff’s Office shooting range to be destroyed.
There’s no word yet on exactly what the device was.
The area was evacuated. leading to traffic delays in the area of Hood Drive and North Palafox (near the Ensley Walmart).
Pictured top: Deputies block an exit from the Ensley Walmart onto Hood Drive due to a possible live military ordnance found at a nearby business near the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office precinct on Hood Drive. Pictured below: The object was taken into this flea market business. Photos by Jason Isbell for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Alabama Kicks Off Statewide ‘Food Day’ In Atmore; Florida Celebrating Today Too (With Video)
October 24, 2014
Today is “Food Day”and officials in Florida and Alabama are encouraging residents and visitors to make positive changes toward healthy eating and active living. Food Day events are being held statewide in both states, championed by local county health departments and community partners, to support residents in attaining and maintaining a healthy weight.
For a video news story, click here.
Alabama kicked off statewide Food Day events Friday morning at the Atmore Farmer’s Market with a state proclamation from Gov. Robert Bentley and Atmore Mayor Jim Staff. Events followed across Alabama.
Food Day events were also planned across Florida.
“Food Day reminds us all to make healthy choices in what we eat,” said Florida State Surgeon General and Florida Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong. “By choosing nutritious foods and beverages, every Floridian can achieve a healthy weight that lowers the risk of future diabetes and heart disease.”
Food Day was created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and is held annually on October 24. The observance is a national celebration of healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food that promotes healthier diets and food education.
For a video news story, click here.
Pictured top: (L-R) Farmer Eddie Mathis; Atmore council members Webb Nall, Chris Walker and Susan Smith; Rigsby-McGhee Farm Foundation founder Amy McGhee; Atmore Mayor Jim Staff; Atmore Chamber President Anne Hetzel; farmer Jimmy Mason; Atmore Chamber Executive Director Sheryl Vickery; and farmer Edward Adams. Pictured inset: Staff reads a proclamation from Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley. Pictured below: The event was held at the Atmore Farmer’s Market. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Veterinarian Gets State Prison For Multiple Drug Convictions
October 24, 2014
A Cantonment veterinarian is headed to prison after being convicted on drug charges that resulted from an investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the DEA.
Michael Bishop Windley, age 67 of Highway 196 Molino, was sentenced Thursday to 20 months in state prison to be followed by 10 years probation after being convicted on four counts of possession, delivery, and manufacture of a controlled substance and four counts of fraud in obtaining prescriptions.
Judge E.P. Nickinson gave Windley until November 19 to turn himself in to begin the prison sentence. Windley was a veterinarian at the Companion Animal Clinic at 470 South Highway 29 (the former Winn Dixie shopping center).
The DEA received a call in August 2013 from a Winn Dixie pharmacist regarding the suspicious prescribing activities of Windley, according to the DEA. During the investigation, the DEA learned that Windley was fraudulently obtaining methadone by writing prescriptions in the name of his ex-wife’s dog and filling the prescriptions at various pharmacies in the Cantonment and Pensacola areas and then providing the drugs to his ex-daughter in law.
According to the DEA, Windley filled 30 prescriptions (for a total of 5,400 tablets) for methadone between December 11, 2012 and February 7, 2014. Two of the prescriptions for methadone were filled at two different pharmacies on the same date.
Windley presented multiple controlled substance prescriptions for 180 methadone tablets each for a dog named Banner under the owner’s name Barbara Ard of the 4600 block of Highway 196 in Molino. Ard, according to the DEA, is Windley’s ex-wife.
During a DEA inspection of the Companion Animal Clinic, Windley first told an investigator that he had researched several medical journals and attended a conference where methadone was used as a pain medication with no side effects in animals. Windley, according to an arrest affidavit, also said he had six dogs, five of which were deceased, that were prescribed methadone. He was unable to produce the medical files of the dogs, telling investigators that the files had been destroyed. The veterinarian then said he wrote the prescriptions for all the dogs under one dog’s name, filled them at area pharmacies and then dispensed it out to the animals’ owners — a wrongful practice, according to the DEA.
Later, Windley voluntarily surrendered his DEA license, the report states, and admitted the pills were for his daughter-in-law.
The daughter-in-law, a Gulf Breeze resident, told investigators that she would clean Windley’s home and take care of his pets. He would leave a bottle of methadone on a table at his home. She told investigators that she was taking up to 20 methadone pills per day, and investigators witnessed her make a call to her primary physicians to make an appointment to receive help.
Local Schools Receive State Five Star School Awards
October 24, 2014
Several local schools have received “Five Star School Award” from the Florida Department of Education.
Escambia County schools honored were Jim Allen, Molino Park, Beulah, Lipscomb, McArthur, Pine Meadow, Bellview, Blue Angels, Hellen Caro, N.B. Cook, Cordova Park, , Longleaf, Pleasant Grove, Scenic Heights and A.K. Suter elementary schools; and Brown Barge Middle School.
The Five Star School Award was created by the Florida Department of Education’s Commissioner’s Community Involvement Council and is presented annually to those schools that have shown evidence of exemplary community involvement.
In order to earn Five Star School recognition, a school must show documentation that it has achieved one hundred percent of the established criteria in the categories of business partnerships, family involvement, volunteerism, student community service and school advisory councils.
Early Voting Continues, About 6,000 Vote So Far
October 24, 2014
Another 1,213 early votes were cast Thursday in Escambia County, for a three-day total of 5,956.
In the North Escambia area, there have been 365 ballots cast at the Molino Community Center, 933 at the Escambia County Extension Service in Cantonment.
Early voting continues at seven locations until Saturday November 1:
- Molino Community Center, 6450 Highway 95A North, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Escambia County Extension Service, 3740 Stefani Road, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Genealogy Branch Library, 5740 N. 9th Avenue, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Main Library, 239 N. Spring Street, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Bellview/Saufley Early Vote Site, 4607 Saufley Field Road, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Supervisor of Elections Main Office, 213 Palafox Place, Second Floor, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Escambia Extension To Hold Certified Arborist Training
October 24, 2014
On December 12 a workshop will be held at the Escambia County Extension Office for those desiring to become certified arborists. The workshop will cover about 60 percent of the material that is covered on the certification exam. Attendees will also have the opportunity to take the exam on Saturday, December 13.
Becoming a certified arborist shows that the tree care worker or arborist has a basic knowledge of tree care. To maintain certification, arborists must continue their learning by earning continuing education credits (CEU). This helps them keep up to date with the latest information on tree care as well as broadening their knowledge base. This training is recommended for private and public arborists, foresters, professional landscapers, nursery professionals and tree surgeons.
The workshop will be taught by Sam Hand, ISA certified arborist and forestry agent with FAMU Extension; Stan Rosenthal, Leon County Extension forestry agent; Beth Bolles, Escambia County Extension horticulture agent and Cathy Hardin, Escambia County forester with the Florida Forest Service.
Preregistration for this training is required by December 8 by clicking here. The cost is $125.00.
The Friday workshop and the Saturday exam will take place 8:30-5:00 at the Escambia County Extension Office, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment. To register for the exam, click here. Contact Beth Bolles at (850) 475-5230 or bbolles@ufl.edu for more information.
Wards Named Outstanding Farm Family
October 24, 2014
The Ward family, including husband and wife Jimmy and Angela, have been named the Outstanding Farm Family of the Year in Santa Rosa County.
The Wards have a rich agricultural heritage and have been a part of the Allentown community for almost 100 years. In 1917, James B. Ward settled his family and began farming along what is now Hwy. 89. By the late 1950s four of his six sons; Joel, James, Lamar, and Charles were expanding the family farming tradition and grew corn, cotton, peanuts, soybeans, various grains, abundant vegetables, and raised cattle until the early 1990s. The Ward brothers passed on a legacy of hard work, integrity, and generosity to the next generation of family farmers. Jimmy Ward, son of Lamar Ward, is the third generation of Wards farming in Allentown.
Jimmy learned a lot about farming while working with his dad and uncles and continues to farm most of the family’s land. Jimmy and his wife Angela have established their home and raised their three sons on the same land his father and grandfather farmed and raised their families. Family and community have always been important at Ward Farms. Jimmy’s three sons, Jamie, Justin, and Dustin as well as other family and friends in the community are still part of Ward Farms today. It is a great honor to have the Ward family represent Santa Rosa County agriculture in 2014.
The Wards were honored during the recent 48th Annual Santa Rosa County Farm Tour, where Angela Ward accepted the award from County Commissioners Don Salter and Bob Cole. In addition, Tiffany Bates, district representative for Congressman Jeff Miller, presented the family with a Congressional Record proclamation honoring them for their accomplishments. Mary Beth Barrows, special assistant for Senator Marco Rubio, also presented commendations to the family.
Around 200 local officials and area citizens participated in the 48th Annual Santa Rosa County Farm Tour. During the daylong tour they learned firsthand about agriculture and its importance to the local economy. This year’s tour highlighted our county’s important peanut industry where participants saw how peanuts are grown, harvested and delivered for processing. Stops on the tour included the Roy Ward Farm, the UF/IFAS Jay Research Farm, Chumuckla’s Living Truth Church for lunch and presentations, the Mickey Diamond Farm, Golden Peanut Company and Holland Farms.
Pictured top: The Ward family. Pictured below: Farm Tour visitors. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott Opening Up His Wallet To Fund Campaign
October 24, 2014
Governor Rick Scott, who reportedly spent about $73 million of his own money to get elected in 2010, will soon dip into his personal wealth in an effort to retain the Governor’s Mansion. Scott will write a check to the Republican Party of Florida to assist his re-election effort against Democratic challenger Charlie Crist, Jackie Schutz, a spokeswoman for Scott’s campaign, confirmed.
The Miami Herald reported earlier that Scott told CBS4 News reporter Jim DeFede that he “will be investing” in the campaign. DeFede’s report is scheduled to air Sunday. Schutz wouldn’t say how much the check would total. But Schutz added in an email that the governor told DeFede that the money is “a small fraction of our total campaign” and will be used to “counteract the smear campaign from Charlie’s radical left-wing guy from California.”
NextGen Climate Action Committee-Florida, founded by California billionaire Tom Steyer, has spent at least $9.44 million on such things as advertising, mail pieces and grassroots efforts that target Scott because of the governor’s views on climate change.
Scott was worth $132.7 million as of Dececember 13, 2013, according to his annual financial disclosure filed with the Department of State. The amount of Scott’s check may not be known until October 31, when the Republican Party is next required to file a finance report.
The Crowley Political Report last week posted that Republican Party sources claimed Scott would put about $20 million into the campaign.
by The News Service of Florida