Wahoos Lose Third Straight
May 18, 2014
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (18-25) fell for the third game in a row to the Jacksonville Suns (20-22), 4-2, in front of a sellout crowd at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The Wahoos have now dropped seven of their first eight games against the Suns this season.
RHP Jon Moscot made his ninth start for the Wahoos and took the loss for the third time this season. Moscot gave up 2 R/ER on four hits and struck out five batters through 5.0 innings. Brooks Pinckard came on in relief of Moscot and pitched two scoreless innings.
Devin Lohman hit his third home run of the year in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Suns lead to one. The shortstop had a big night for the Wahoos; he went 3-for-4 adding two singles to his ledger. Travis Mattair had a hit for the third straight game, this one a double down the third baseline. Chris Berset got his first base knock with the Wahoos this season, an RBI single in the eighth inning. Juan Duran had a big night at the plate; he went 2-for-3 with a single and a double.
Marlins top prospect Andrew Heaney started for the Suns and twirled a gem before running into a bit of trouble in the eighth inning. Heaney gave up 2 R/ER on seven hits and his 7.2 innings were a season-high. Heaney struck out eight and walked just one batter. James Nygren gave up a hit, but earned the save for the Suns.
The Suns took the lead in the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Danny Black, which scored leadoff hitter Brent Keys. J.T. Realmuto’s RBI gave the Suns a two-run lead. Third baseman Alfredo Lopez went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored. Austin Nola’s two-run triple in the eighth inning sealed the win for the Suns.
The Wahoos will give the ball to RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-2, 2.51) in the fourth game of the series on Sunday afternoon. RHP Angel Sanchez (0-6, 5.80) will start for the Suns.
by Tommy Thrall
Registration Underway For Library Summer Reading Program
May 18, 2014
Registration is now underway at your local library branch in Escambia County for the Fizz, Boom, Read: Summer Reading Program. The program beings June 3 and continues through August 9.
Children and teens up to age 17 are invited to participate in the West Florida Public Library’s 2014 Fizz, Boom, Read program, which focuses on experimenting with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
The interactive program is a fun way for students to keep their minds sharp throughout the summer months. Join the library for the summer reading game and interactive enrichment programs where there will be prizes for reading books, a chance to take part in science experiments and meet new people.
Sherrill, Walston Wed
May 18, 2014
Mr. and Mrs. Kent Sherrill of Walnut Hill announce the marriage of their daughter Margaret to Logan Walston, son of Mr. Alan Walston of Atmore and Mrs. Kellie Hammond of Flomaton .
Meg and Logan were married in an outdoor ceremony on Sunday, May 4, at the home of the brides’ parents. Brother Ted Bridges officiated at the 7:00 service. Family members enjoyed a reception afterward on the lawn of the family’s home.
Grandparents of the bride are Dean Graham and the late Sam Graham and Hunk and Senie Sherrill, all of Atmore. The newlyweds are at home in Birmingham.
Unemployment Rate Drops In Three County Area
May 17, 2014
The latest job numbers released Monday show the unemployment level dropping in the North Escambia area.
Escambia County’s unemployment rate dropped from 6.7 percent in March to 5.9 percent in April. There were 8,149 people reported unemployed during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 7.0 percent.
Santa Rosa County unemployment also decreased, from 5.7 to 5.0 percent from March to Apriil. Santa Rosa County had a total of 3,690 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 6.4 percent.
In Escambia County, Alabama, unemployment increased fell from 8.7 percent in March to 7.9 percent in April. That represented 1,087 people unemployed in the county during the month.
Florida’s unemployment rate ticked down slightly in April.
The jobless rate was 6.2 percent last month, down from 6.3 percent in March. The rate has been relatively flat in recent months — it also was 6.2 percent in February — but it is significantly lower than the 7.6 percent rate in April 2013.
Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign focuses heavily on arguments that he has added jobs and improved the economy since taking office in January 2011. He also uses that message to attack Democratic front-runner Charlie Crist, a former governor who was in office as Florida struggled through the national economic recession.
Scott issued a statement Friday touting the new numbers, which he said included creating more than 33,000 private-sector jobs.
Despite Scott’s focus on private-sector jobs, a detailed release from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity pointed to large concentrations of government workers as helping hold down jobless rates in some areas.
“Many of the counties with the lowest unemployment rates were those with relatively high proportions of government employment,” the department said in the release.
Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, at 6.9percent in April, was up from March’s rate of 6.7 percent and was above the year-ago rate of 6.5 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.
Escambia Special Olympics Held At Tate (With Gallery)
May 17, 2014
The track and field portion of the Escambia County Specials Olympics was held Friday at Tate High School.
Hundreds of athletes from over a dozen schools took part in Friday’s event. Hundreds of Tate High students also took part, running events and serving as volunteer “buddies” for the athletes.
The day included track and field events, softball and tennis ball tosses, and other competitive events — plus fun events like fishing games, a petting zoo, face painting and more.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Friday’s event had been rained out three previous times this year.
Pictured: Friday’s track and field events Special Olympics held Friday at Tate High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Scott Appoints Two To Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County
May 17, 2014
Friday, Gov. Rick Scott announced the appointment of Richard Dodd and the reappointment of Kermit “Skip” Housh to the Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County.
Dodd, 48, of Pensacola, is a regulatory supervisor at Gulf Power Company. He succeeds Leona Bailey and is appointed for a term beginning May 16, 2014, and ending April 30, 2016.
Housh, 66, of Gulf Breeze, is a retired management consultant. He is reappointed as chair for a term beginning May 16, 2014, and ending April 30, 2017.
Escambia County Curbside Debris Removal Completed
May 17, 2014
Escambia County’s debris collector has completed its curbside collection efforts in the most heavily storm damaged areas.
Now, residents with storm-related debris will need to contact their regular waste provider:
- Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) at (850) 476-0480
- City of Pensacola Sanitation Services at (850) 435-1890
- Town of Century – Regular bulk pickups are the first and third Tuesday of each month (no phone call required)
Escambia County will continue to offer a free debris drop off site at John R. Jones athletic park located at 555 E. Nine Mile Road. Citizens looking to drop of material at this site will need to access the park from the Airway Drive entrance.
This site is for residential use only. Commercial haulers, contractors or commercial companies are prohibited. This drop off site will remain open until further notice.
For more information, contact Escambia County Solid Waste Management at (850) 937-2160.
Weekend Gardening: Tips For The Month Of May
May 17, 2014
The Escambia County Master Gardeners offer the following May lawn and garden tips:
- Continue planting summer annuals. Try one or two that you’ve never grown and/or one that is not available in stores as transplants.
- Plant heat-resistant summer flowering annuals such as begonias, impatiens, coleus, salvia, marigolds, torenia, verbena, ornamental peppers and gaillardia.
- Bulbs: Caladium, gladiolus.
- Vegetables: Continue planting warm weather seeds and transplants (Shade those transplants!). Use transplants for cherry tomatoes, eggplant and sweet potatoes. Plant seeds of lima beans, okra, southern peas: purple hull, crowder, etc.
- Prune and shape spring flowering shrubs and trees now. Later pruning may destroy next year’s blooms.
- Good cultural practices help maintain a healthy lawn and discourage insects and disease. Mow with a sharp blade. Centipedegrass should be cut to a height of 1½ to 2 inches. St. Augustinegrass normal growth habit cultivars should be cut to a height of 3 to 4 inches.
- Climbing roses are pruned after they finish blooming. Blooms form on one-year-old canes, so any older ones may be removed to make them more tidy. Cut each flowering stem back to the first five leaflet stem to encourage them to bloom again.Spray with horticultural oil or malathion for mites, scale and white flies, if insects are present, before it gets too hot (85 degrees).
- Yellow leaves on azaleas may mean they need iron. Apply iron sulphate or chelated iron.
- Feed citrus plants using special citrus fertilizer. Broadcast under the tree canopy and water in.
- Begin planting palms while the weather is warm and rainy.
- Make cuttings of azaleas, hollies, camellias, and other choice shrubs as new growth becomes half hardened.
- Take soft wood cuttings to root: alyssum, begonia, chrysanthemum, shrimp plant, dianthus, geranium, hibiscus, hydrangea, etc.
- Dig bulbs after foliage turns brown if they need to be divided or the space is needed for other plants. If the space isn’t needed, braid the foliage.
- Cut back the vines of Irish potatoes when they begin to die but leave the tubers in the ground for about two weeks longer to toughen the skin. Handle the potatoes carefully during digging, as skinned or bruised potatoes decay quickly when stored.
- Divide crowded and vigorously growing perennials.
- Promote continued flowering of bedding plants by removing faded blooms.
- Encourage coleus to branch and produce more colorful leaves by pinching off the flower stalks as they form.
- Prune poinsettias when new growth is 10-12 inches high (back to the last four leaves). Prune new growth at the base throughout the summer.
- Stop pruning after Labor Day.
- Keep roses watered, cut out weak spots, feed every six to eight weeks or at every new flush of growth, dust.
- For insect or disease problems in your garden, use the least toxic control possible.
Northview, Ernest Ward Hold Annual FFA Banquet
May 17, 2014
The Northview High School FFA held their 17th annual banquet Friday night.
The event includes a somber retirement ceremony for the chapter’s graduating senior officer…Courtney Solari slowly removed her signature blue FFA jackets and hung it up for the last time on a coat rack.
The night also included many awards for Northview and Ernest Ward Middle school FFA members and supporters.
Awards and honors presented included:
- FFA Creed: Mitchell Singleton
- Extemporaneous Speaking: Tiffani Cruce
- Prepared Public Speaking: Courtney Solari
- Parliamentary Procedure: Courtney Solari, Courtney Weekley, Hunter Kite, Haylee Weaver, Bethany Reynolds, Moriah McGahan, Mitchell Singleton, Kaitlyn Kleinatland, Ciara Campbell, Caleb Harigel, and Matthew Smith.
- Safe Tractor Operations: Hunter Kite
- Agricultural Mechanics: Tiffani Cruce, Courtney Solari, Hunter Kite, and Tabitha Chavers.
- Livestock Evaluation and Selection: Courtney Weekley, Haylee Weaver, Grady Rigby, Mitchell Singleton, Tabitha Chavers, and Cheyenne Redditt.
- Horse Evaluation and Selection: Courtney Solari, Bethany Reynolds, Tamara Barrows, Kaitlyn Kleinatland, Ciara Campbell, Caleb Harigel, and Jacob Johnson.
- Production and Showmanship: Haylee Weaver, Austin Cunningham, and Levi Soloman.
- GCA/NRA Livestock show: Tabitha Chavers and Matthew Smith.
- Forestry: Courtney Solari, Kaitlyn Kleinatland, Tiffani Cruce, Ciara Campbell, Hunter Kite, Caleb Harigel, Tamara Barrows, Grady Rigby, Carson Bailey, Matthew Smith, Jacob Johnson, and Ricky Jones.
- Ryan Rimmer Outstanding District Officer Award: Courtney Solari will be a finalist
- FFA Alumni Essay Contest: Courtney Weekley and Mitchell Singleton wrote about what “FFA Means to Me”
- Job Interview CDE: Courtney Solari competed in the preliminary round
- 2013 State FFA Convention: Courtney Solari, Karissa Strickland, Jessica Baldwin Jeremy Stacey, Dillian Crutchfield, Haylee Weaver, Kaitlyn Kleinatland, Courtney Weekley, Bethany Reynolds, and Lydia Weaver.
- Golden Members of the Chapter: Ben Preston, Brandon Korinchak, Ciara Campbell, and Laurie Purdy.
- Honorary Members Inducted: Mark Solari and Aimee Solari, Stephanie Solari, Sue Hopkins, and Escambia River Electric Cooperative
- Greenhand Degree: Tamara Barrows, Tabitha Chavers, Brandon Korinchak, Alyssa Lewis, Mitchell Singleton, Jessica Stacey, Christopher Stevens, and Brittanee Thomas.
- Chapter FFA Degree: Hannah Edmonson, Kaitlyn Kleinatland, Moriah McGahan, Bethany Reynolds, Grady Rigby, Haylee Weaver, and Courtney Weekley.
- Blue/Gold Awards: Gene Hassebrock, Grady Rigby, Zachary Sims,
- Star Greenhand: Mitchell Singleton
- Outstanding Sophomore: Haylee Weaver
- Outstanding Junior: Tiffani Cruce
- Outstanding Senior: Courtney Solari
- FFA High Point Award: Courtney Solari
- 2014 Dekalb Agricultural Accomplishment Award: Courtney Solari
- Gylnn Key Outstanding Student Award: Courtney Solari
- Jamie Hall Memorial Scholarship: Jessica Baldwin
- Northview FFA Alumni and Friends Scholarship: Courtney Solari and Jeremey Stacey
- Tommy Weaver Memorial Scholarship: Courtney Solari
- Outstanding Member Award: Courtney Weekley, Bethany Reynolds, Hunter Kite
- Retiring President: Courtney Solari
The new Northview FFA officers named for the 2014-2015 school year were: Haylee Weaver, president; Bethany Reynolds, vice president; Courtney Weekley, secretary; Moriah McGahan, treasurer; Tiffani Cruce, reporter; Tabitha Chavers, sentinel; Mitchell Singleton, public relations; Hunter Kite, parliamentarian; Kaitlyn Klinatland; historian; Cody Kite, chaplain; and Tamara Barrows, photographer.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pictured top: Northview FFA honorary members inducted Friday night were Kim Lambert, representing honorary member EREC, Stephanie Solari, Sue Hopkins, Aimee Solari and Mark Solari. Pictured inset: Outgoing and graduating FFA President Courtney Solari retires her blue jacket. Pictured below: FFA members and their awards. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
May 17, 2014
Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekend ending May 15.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Investigators Schafer and Hughes worked a case regarding a group, known as the Gulf Coast Jeep Club, damaging public lands and driving off designated roads in jeeps within the Blackwater State Forest and Eglin Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The investigators were able to identify several of the vehicles, drivers, and locations of the violations from surveillance videos obtained through several different sources. Six citations were issued to five individuals for operating a vehicle off of designated roads within the Blackwater State Forest and the Eglin Wildlife Management Area.
Officer Lewis was patrolling the Blackwater State Forest when he observed a large group of people on a sandbar. While approaching them, he observed one man pass something to a woman. Officer Lewis approached her and asked what she was holding. The woman stated that it was a joint. She further admitted that she had rolled several marijuana cigarettes for her canoe trip and had given several out to friends. Officer Lewis located a Ziploc bag containing 12 cannabis cigarettes along with two hydrocodone pills. The drugs were seized and the woman was issued a notice to appear for possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a prescription drug without a valid prescription.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY — No information reported.
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.