LOST Tax Removed From The August Primary Ballot
June 28, 2014
The renewal of the one-cent Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) in Escambia County won’t be on the August ballot.
Escambia County Commissioners voted to take the renewal off the ballot for now as they work through funding issues following the area’s historic floods in April.
The tax — which is used to fund infrastructure improvements like road paving, parks and construction of buildings like the new Ernest Ward Middle School — won’t expire until 2017. It’s not known when commissioners will put the tax, which must be approved by voters, back on the ballot. But it does not appear that it will make the ballot for November general election either.
Man Faces Life For Beach Sexual Battery
June 28, 2014
An area man is facing up to life in prison when he’s sentenced on sexually battery charges.
Bret Randall May, 43, was convicted by an Escambia County Jury of kidnapping and two counts of sexual battery. The charges stemmed from allegations that in the early morning hours of August 25, 2013, May forced an intoxicated woman into his car, transported her to a secluded area of Pensacola Beach and sexually battered her. Witnesses notified law enforcement who located the defendant’s vehicle and witnessed the attack.
May is a registered sexual predator having been convicted previously of three sexually related offenses in the state of Alabama.
Sentencing will be set at a later date.
Weekend Gardening: Blueberries Ripe For Picking
June 28, 2014
by Santa Rosa Extension
Blueberries are ripe for picking. So take the kids on an adventure and enjoy the freshness of local produce by visiting a u-pick farm. U-picks allow visitors to harvest their own fresh fruits and vegetables.
U-pick produce is grown in your own community and is crisp, sweet and loaded with flavor. With fewer than one million Americans now claiming farming as their primary occupation, farmers are a vanishing breed. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail price for their food – which means farm families can afford to stay on the farm, doing the work they love.
U-pick blueberry farms are scattered throughout the North Escambia area. Contact your local Extension Office for u-picks in your area.
Every farm is a bit different. Some have more relaxed rules, others more strict. But at all the farms, remind the kids that plants are living things to be cared for and respected, not abused. The farmer feeds his family and pays his bills from the well-being of these plants! So here are some general farm guidelines:
- Follow all rules posted by owners at their picking locations.
- Look for the check-in and check-out areas. Note whether you will be charged according to weight or volume.
- Health codes usually require no pets in the fields.
- Always call in advance to find out if the fruit/vegetables you want are available, to get directions, to check their opening and closing hours and to ask if children are allowed.
- Walk in the rows, don’t step on plants! Some farmers frown on stepping across rows, even if you do it carefully.
When you arrive at the farm, take some time to explain to your kids how to identify and pick ripe fruit. Select plump, full blueberries with a gray-blue color. A berry with any hint of red isn’t fully ripened. White and green colored blueberries will not ripen after they are picked. Unripe berries should be left on the bush because then they will turn into ripe berries for you to pick when you bring your friends back in a couple of weeks time.
The general rule when it comes to blueberries is “the bigger, the sweeter”. A fully ripe blueberry should easily come loose from the plant. If it takes any appreciable pressure to pick them, the berries aren’t fully ripe. It is best to pick blueberries by gently rolling each one from the cluster with the thumb into the palm of the hand. When picking is done this way, the berries that aren’t ripe will not come loose.
Once picked, don’t place the berries, still warm from the sun, in a closed bag or container. Leave the container open so moisture doesn’t form. Don’t wash the berries until just before using to prevent berries from becoming mushy. Chill berries soon after picking to increase shelf life. If refrigerated, fresh-picked blueberries will keep 10 to 14 days.
For more information, contact Santa Rosa County Extension at 850-623-3868.
Report Flood Damage Or Drainage Issues To Escambia County
June 28, 2014
If you would like to report a drainage problem in your neighborhood or report flood damage to your home, Escambia County wants to hear from you.
Residents are strongly urged to contact the Escambia County Engineering Department by Friday, July 11, to identify all damages eligible for FEMA reimbursement funds.
Additionally, the completion of this very brief survey will assist in the process of ensuring Escambia County is aware of all damages to accurately file for FEMA reimbursement funds to better our community.
For more information, please contact the Escambia County Engineering Division at (850) 595-3440.
Lookouts Lock Up Series With 7-3 Win Over The Blue Wahoos
June 28, 2014
The Blue Wahoos scored first with a run in the third, but the Lookouts delivered a three-run counter punch in the bottom of the inning and never looked back on their way to a 7-3 win Friday night at AT&T Field. The win assures a series win for Chattanooga.
Pensacola loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning and didn’t score and loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning and came up empty. The Blue Wahoos left a total of 13 runners on base for the game. Already leading 4-1, Chattanooga put the game away with a pair of run in the seventh inning with a passed ball and RBI double.
Robert Stephenson took the loss after allowing 4 R/ER over 5.0 innings. He struck out five and walked two. He allowed five hits, three went for extra bases.
Lookouts starter Andres Santiago picked up the win after allowing just 1 R/ER over 5.0 innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Blake Smith earned the save after recording the final four outs for the Lookouts.
Ryan Wright was one of the bright spots for the Blue Wahoos offensively. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI. It was his second multi-hit game of the series. Ross Perez (2-for-5) and Kyle Waldrop (2-for-4) both had multi-hit games as well for the Blue Wahoos.
Pensacola will try to salvage the final game of the series on Saturday night. RHP Ben Lively will make his second start for the Blue Wahoos (0-1, 7.36) against Lookouts RHP Rayden Sanchez (1-4, 5.97). First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m. (CT) before the team returns home to open a five-game homestand against the Jacksonville Suns on Sunday afternoon.
by Tommy Thrall
Deputies Seek Four For Questioning In Murder
June 27, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is seeking four people for questioning only in the homicide of Tabius Cardell Huff.
Investigators are looking for Deangelo Deon Bell, Powell Hale III, Randy Varner Moultrie and George Jerome Pugh. Anyone that has information on their whereabouts is asked to call Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Huff, 31, was shot about 10 p.m. outside a convenience store in the 5300 block of Jackson Street near Edgewood Circle earlier this week. Huff was pronounced deceased at the scene by Escambia County EMS.
Cantonment Burglar Arrested Thanks To Alert Neighbors
June 27, 2014
Thanks to alert neighbors, an alleged Cantonment burglar is behind bars.
Residents on Escambia Avenue reported a burglary in progress to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office early Tuesday morning after watching a male subject go through a couple of vehicles. One of the neighbors was able to identify the suspect as Darrell Mashburn, a known burglar, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
One victim told deputies that her vehicle was unlocked. She said nothing was missing from her car, but contents of the glove box had been gone through.
After being taken into custody, Mashburn pulled away from a deputy and fled on foot while in handcuffs, according to an arrest report. After a short foot pursuit, he was captured.
Mashburn was charged with burglary of a vehicle, petit theft, criminal mischief, resisting arrest without violence and escape. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail with bond set $23,000.
Vote By Mail: Make Your Mailbox Your Ballot Box
June 27, 2014
With just weeks to go before the August primary election, now is the time for voters to prepare. One way to get ready is to request a mail ballot, which allows voters to avoid the lines on Election Day and vote from the convenience of their home.
Escambia County voters have received a post card from Supervisor of Elections David H. Stafford with instructions on how to request to vote by mail for the August primary and November general elections.
Voters have several ways to make their request:
- Visit EscambiaVotes.com and click Vote By Mail in the upper right hand corner. Follow the instructions for completing the online request form.
- Send an email to absentee@escambiavotes.com. Voters must include their address and date of birth with their e-mail request.
- Contact the Supervisor of Elections office by phone (850-595-3900), or in person.
- Send a request through the mail or via fax (850-595-3914). Written requests must include the voter’s address, date of birth, and signature.
Absentee voters may track the status of their ballot by clicking Track My Ballot at EscambiaVotes.com. And by clicking Am I Registered? on the home page, a voter can verify their registration status, check their precinct number and location, party affiliation, and important future election information.
Absentee ballots can be requested through 2016. As Florida does not allow for a permanent absentee voter designation, voters must periodically renew their absentee request so be sure to verify your absentee ballot status. For further information on absentee ballots, early voting, or precincts and polling locations, call (850) 595-3900, email soe@escambiavotes.com or visit EscambiaVotes.com.
Escambia School District Receives High Credit Ratings
June 27, 2014
The Escambia County School Board was recently issued a “High Quality” credit rating of ‘Aa3’ and a “Very High Quality” credit rating of ‘AA-‘ by Moody’s Investor Services and Fitch Ratings, respectively, on its $20.3 million Refunding Certificates of Participation (COPs), Series 2014.
The refunding allows the district to save approximately $2.4 million in debt service interest payments over the remaining eight years of the current financing arrangement. School facilities included in the original debt issue include the entirety of N.B. Cook Elementary School and certain classrooms, cafeterias, and media centers constructed at five other schools.
Both rating agencies indicated that the strength of the School District’s sound financial condition is its
- healthy general fund liquidity and reserves
- very low debt burden
- ample capital outlay revenue for payment of debt service
- conservative budgeting practices
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas remarked, “The taxpayers of Escambia County can be proud of the School District’s conservative financial management practices throughout the years. The assignment of these excellent credit ratings by two national rating agencies is an indication of our careful and prudent use of the public funds to which we are entrusted.”
Study: Locking Up Juveniles Makes Them More Likely To Be Adult Criminals
June 27, 2014
A new report by a youth advocacy group argues against the widespread U.S. practice of locking up teen offenders — a practice that has been on the decline in Florida under the state’s outgoing juvenile justice chief.
Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters, whose last day on the job is Monday, said “Safely Home,” a study by the non-profit Youth Advocate Programs, Inc., is consistent with developments at DJJ during her three-and-a-half-year tenure.
“Safely Home,” which was released Tuesday, argues that the deeper kids go into the juvenile justice system — and the tighter the security in which they’re detained — the less likely it is that they will ever be rehabilitated.
“Institutions provide virtually none of the supports the community can,” wrote the Youth Advocate Programs’ Policy and Advocacy Center. “Youth need to learn how to function and make good decisions within the community, and having the support of caring, competent adults and access to safe and positive people, places and activities is what leads to good long-term outcomes. Kids can’t access these supports in isolation.”
Walters agrees. She has spent time and resources to help community programs provide family therapy, individualized mental health services, substance abuse treatment and anger management classes for young offenders— while keeping them where they’re most likely to find support.
“One of the most important ways of turning kids around that have been in trouble is not ostracizing them from the rest of the community, but allowing them to participate in sporting programs, Boys and Girls Clubs — the kind of programs that make them want to succeed,” she said.
According to DJJ, the number of beds in the most secure facilities in Florida’s juvenile-justice system dropped 42 percent from January 2011 and January 2014. Between fiscal year 2010-11 and fiscal year 2012-13, juvenile arrests declined 23 percent and felony juvenile arrests declined 17 percent, while transfers to adult court declined 36 percent.
Last week, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill (HB 7055) rewriting the laws that govern the Department of Juvenile Justice and placing some of Walters’ reform into state law.
And Walters’ successor, incoming Interim Secretary Kristy Daly, pledges to continue her emphasis on front-end and rehabilitative services.
The report by Youth Advocate Programs, Inc., whose purpose is keeping young people out of institutions, argues that removing kids from their communities may lessen “any perceived immediate risk to the public,” but that incarceration doesn’t change the trajectory of their lives.
“Risk factors that make youth vulnerable to incarceration cannot be eliminated through incarceration,” the report says. “In fact, many of the environmental and social factors that contribute to youth incarceration get worse, not better, with incarceration.”
Nell Bernstein, author of a new book called “Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison,” said incarceration should be the exception, not the rule.
“I saw kids get chewed up in institutions,” said Bernstein, who got her start as a six-dollar-an-hour staffer in a San Francisco group home and has interviewed hundreds of incarcerated youth.
Bernstein said that contrary to common perception, much of the violence that juveniles experience in lock-up is at the hands of the guards.
“According to federal research, 12 percent of juveniles behind bars will be sexually assaulted,” she said. “And on some level, we know that, right? … But what I think people don’t know is that out of that 12 percent, 10 percent are assaulted by guards, only 2 percent by other wards.”
While Bernstein and the Youth Advocate Programs argue for the lowest amount of juvenile detention, Walters said political reality dictates a certain amount.
“Many times, it is those communities that demand of those judges and those prosecutors that those children be removed from that community and sent somewhere,” she said. “Knowing that that is a reality that we live with, we have worked hard to change those numbers.”
There will always be a hard core of offenders who threaten public safety, she said, but most can be rehabilitated with the right services and interventions.
The Youth Advocate Programs report also touts community programs for their cost-effectiveness, maintaining that they can deliver the same services for a fraction of the cost, serving three to four times as many young offenders.
The report cites the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation Center, which found that of 3,523 high-risk youth living at home and supported by an intensive community-based program nationwide, 86 percent remained arrest-free while in the program.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida