Braves Take Series Over Wahoos
April 29, 2014
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (10-15) lost the rubber match, 9-6, to the Mississippi Braves (10-15) at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium on Monday night. Mississippi rallied for six runs in the eighth inning to overcome a 4-2 Wahoos lead. The Wahoos dropped three of five in the series to the Braves.
RHP Michael Lorenzen made his fifth start of the season for the Wahoos. Lorenzen gave up two runs in five innings of work and scattered seven hits from the Braves. Drew Hayes relieved Lorenzen and pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning. Hayes struck out two and worked out of a jam in the seventh to hold the Wahoos lead. Fabian Williamson (0-2) couldn’t record an out in the 8th inning and was tagged for four runs and the loss.
Juan Silverio continued his early season hot streak, going 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Recently added Beau Amaral had his first RBI with Pensacola on a single in the third inning that scored Ray Chang. Travis Mattair ripped the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning and went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Mattair had six RBI in the series against the Braves. The Wahoos scored at least five runs so use the promo code WAHOOS and receive 50% off your entire order Tuesday at PapaJohns.com.
Mississippi’s RHP J.R. Graham pitched well in 4.0 innings of work. Graham gave up four hits and two runs but struck out six Wahoo batters. James Hoyt (1-2) earned his first win of the season with three strikeouts in 1.1 innings pitched.
Left fielder Gustavo Nunez’s three-run triple in the top of the eighth proved to be the difference. First baseman Seth Loman hit his fourth home run of the season. Elmer Reyes went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and an RBI.
The Wahoos travel to Jackson to take on the Generals for a five-game set starting on Wednesday. The Wahoos will start RHP Daniel Corcino (2-2, 3.62), Jackson will counter with LHP James Gillheeney (0-0, 3.60).
by Tommy Thrall
Pictured: The Pensacola Blue Wahoos lose to the Mississippi Braves 9-6 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium Monday. Photos by Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Blue Wahoos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Grad Brandyn Clemmons Completes Navy Basic Training
April 29, 2014
Navy Seaman Recruit Brandyn W. Clemmons, son of B. Clemmons of Foley and Joanna C. Wilson of Cantonment recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill.
During the eight-week program, Clemmons completed a variety of training which included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety. An emphasis was also placed on physical fitness.
The capstone event of boot camp is “Battle Stations”. This exercise gives recruits the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the fleet. “Battle Stations” is designed to galvanize the basic warrior attributes of sacrifice, dedication, teamwork and endurance in each recruit through the practical application of basic Navy skills and the core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment. Its distinctly ”Navy” flavor was designed to take into account what it means to be a sailor.
Clemmons is a 2013 graduate of Tate High School.
ECUA: Our Recycling Program Is Still Alive And Well
April 29, 2014
ECUA reiterated Monday that the temporary closure of a local recycling processor does not impact their program at the consumer level.
The ECUA recycling program is ongoing and all recycling collections continue as scheduled, the utility said in a statement Monday. Despite the closure on April 18 of West Florida Recycling, ECUA’s processor of recyclables, the program has not been interrupted. ECUA said they prepared for this possibility, and they are transporting its collected recyclables to an alternate processing facility in Georgia.
“ECUA is committed to the viability of our recycling program– we know it’s as important to our customers as it is to us. We thank all those who have chosen to participate in our program for their dedication to recycling, and their deep concern for the environmental health of our community,” an ECUA statement said.
West Florida Recycling, which is in bankruptcy, notified clients last week that they were temporarily closed due to standing water. Santa Rosa County reacted by removing recycling bins from locations across the county, and the City of Pensacola was forced to haul recyclables to the landfill.
Pictured: Standing water at West Florida Recycling on April 16 in a photo provided by the company.
Florida Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Plan Without Scott Wish List
April 29, 2014
As an 11-year-old Panhandle girl who helped change the minds of leery lawmakers looked on, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a proposal Monday legalizing a strain on marijuana that could stop life-threatening seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy.
After the 36-3 vote, RayAnn Moseley, accompanied by her mother Holley, awarded the three Senate sponsors of the measure (SB 1030) hand-drawn pictures of a bright yellow sun against a blue background overarched by the words “Ray of Hope.”
RayAnn, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy as well as cerebral palsy, has become the Florida “poster child” for a strain of marijuana that is high in cannabidiol (CBD) and low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Parents whose children have taken the drug, which is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, say it dramatically reduces seizures that can be fatal.
Supporters of the effort estimate the strain of marijuana, known as “Charlotte’s Web,” could help about 150,000 Florida children like RayAnn who suffer up to hundreds of seizures per day.
The Senate debated the proposal for nearly an hour after bill sponsor Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican and former prosecutor, introduced RayAnn, who was sitting in the gallery.
“Let me be clear about something,” Bradley said. “I oppose the legalization of marijuana. My wife Jennifer and I have spoken to our three teenagers about the dangers of drug use. My kids understand the difference between the abuse of an illegal substance and the legitimate use of this plant to help suffering children. I’m confident that Floridians understand this difference as well.”
The Senate plan is backed by the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Sheriffs’ Association, but is missing some of the elements Gov. Rick Scott is seeking and which are included in the House version (HB 843).
Scott wants patients to enroll in clinical trials and wants the Department of Health to create an “Office of Compassionate Use” that would “enhance access to investigational new drugs for Florida patients through approved clinical treatment plans or studies.” Studies on “investigational new drugs” are the first step in the Food and Drug Administration approval process.
The Senate plan would decriminalize marijuana comprised of no more than 0.8 percent THC, the component that gets users high, and at least 10 percent of cannabidiol. The proposal would allow from one to four distribution centers — one in each part of the state — which would be operated by the same entities that grow the marijuana and manufacture the substance, usually delivered to users in the form of oil or paste.
Under the plan, physicians must undergo at least eight hours of FMA training to be allowed to order the marijuana for patients, who would be added to a statewide “compassionate use” registry maintained by the Department of Health. The Senate measure limits eligible patients to those suffering from seizures, while the House plan would give doctors discretion to order it for patients with other conditions.
Sen. Aaron Bean, another of the bill’s co-sponsors, told his colleagues that he was “scared to death of marijuana” prior to meeting RayAnn’s parents, Holley and Peyton Moseley, who have led the charge on legalizing the substance this session.
“I thought we were just going to politely disagree with them and then send them on their way,” said Bean, R-Fernandina Beach.
Bean said he changed his mind after imaging his own children having problems with seizures or other health issues.
“If it were your kid, what would you do?” Bean said. ” … You’d go to the ends of the world to make sure your kid could get a fighting chance.”
But Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, argued that “miracle drugs” have been developed “by relying on the scientific method and the scientific process” to ensure their safety.
“This particular bill turns that world on top of its head,” said Altman, joined by Republican Sens. Jack Latvala of Clearwater and Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange in voting against the bill.
By legalizing Charlotte’s Web, “rather than relying on scientists … pharmacists and testing, we allow the political process to decide what should be prescribed or not,” Altman said.
The Senate measure now heads to the House, where sponsor Matt Gaetz said he was waiting to see how much support the Senate showed for the plan.
“The strategy is to pass a good bill that helps as many people as we can possibly help. I would like to cover more ailments than just children with intractable epilepsy,” said Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach. “I have no doubt the governor will sign any non-euphoric cannabis bill we send him.”
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
Missing, Endangered Senior Adult Located
April 28, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has located a missing endangered senior adult.
Donald Eugene White, 83, was reported missing from the area of Dueling Oaks Drive, just south of East Kingsfield Road. He was later located at a restaurant at Highway 29 and Burgess Road.
Fire Damages Home Near Jay
April 28, 2014
A home west of Jay was damaged by smoke and fire this morning.
The fire was reported about just after a 10 a.m. at brick home in the 2800 block of Highway 4, just east of the Escambia River. Smoke was showing from the home when the first firefighters arrived on scene.
Responding units included the Jay Fire Department and the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue.
The exact cause of the fire is now being investigated by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Pictured: A home on Highway 4 west of Jay was damaged by fire and smoke Monday morning. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Molino Man Charged With Stealing Copper Wire, TV
April 28, 2014
A Molino man has been charged with selling copper wiring allegedly stolen from a private contractor working aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola and breaking into a Molino area home.
Calvin Antwane Smith, 28, was charged with felony fraud providing a false statement verifying ownership of regulated metals, and felony dealing in stolen property in connection with two spools of copper wire he allegedly sold to two recycling companies. An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigation determined that the wire had been stolen from his private contractor employer at NAS Pensacola.
Authorities said Smith could face additional charges from NAS Pensacola Police for the theft on federal property.
Smith was also charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and second degree petit theft for allegedly breaking into a home in the 5000 block of Cedartown Road and stealing a 26-inch television.
According to Sheriff’s Office report, Smith admitted to stealing the TV due to a drug problem.
Smith remained in the Escambia County Jail early Monday morning with bond set at $23,500.
Man Critically Injured In 10 Mile Road Crash
April 28, 2014
An Escambia County man was critically injured in an early Sunday morning wreck on West 10 Mile Road near Haley Street.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 20-year old Ka-Darius J. Broadnax was eastbound on West 10 Mile Road at a high rate of speed. His 2000 Nissan Maxima left the paved portion of the rodway, crossed the Haley Lane intersection, traveled across West 10 Mile and collided with a tree, according to the FHP.
Broadnax was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition.
Escambia Twin Sisters Share Many Things In Life, Including New Lungs
April 28, 2014
It’s often said that twins share similar traits and have unique bonds that other siblings simply don’t have. Sometimes those traits are things one would rather not share with their twin, especially when it comes to a potentially life-threatening medical condition.
Linda Foster and Brenda Santinelli, 60-year-old twin sisters from Escambia County are active women with a love of the outdoors. Hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and other activities were well-suited to both their lifestyles. Both sisters are in long-term marriages. Both have young grandchildren. They even both have 20-plus-year careers at Walmart in their hometown. Both were former smokers who quit several years ago.
So it was more than a coincidence that during separate hiking trips in 2011 both women found themselves experiencing shortness of breath and feeling more tired than usual. To their surprise, they were about to experience another commonality that neither ever imagined – both sisters were diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a potentially fatal lung disease that necessitated they receive lung transplants (or in Linda’s case, a double-lung transplant).
“This came as a complete surprise to both of us, as neither of us had really experienced obvious symptoms of this disease in the past,” says Linda. “But I guess we should have understood the possibility of an IPF diagnosis, since our mother died of the disease and our uncle succumbed to it as well.”
At the recommendation of their local doctors in Pensacola, Linda and Brenda initially sought an evaluation and diagnosis at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, since it was convenient to their home in the western Florida Panhandle. But because their employer-provided health insurance specified Mayo Clinic as their preferred provider for transplant cases, the sisters came to Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus for a full pulmonary evaluation. Both sisters’ conditions were deteriorating, although Linda’s seemed to be progressing more quickly, and they were both listed for lung transplants — Brenda in December 2012 and Linda in January 2013.
Linda was listed for a double-lung transplant as her condition worsened, requiring she receive continuous supplemental oxygen. Brenda was listed for a single lung, which she eventually received on Oct. 29, 2013. Linda received a double-lung transplant on Feb. 12, 2014. Another coincidence — both sisters’ new healthy lungs came from women in their 50s.
Linda and Brenda had virtually the same transplant team at Mayo Clinic in Florida managing their care. The team was led by Cesar Keller, M.D., and supported by Francisco Alvarez, M.D., David Erasmus, M.D., Jorge Mallea, M.D. and John O’Dell, M.D., as well as many of the same nurses, medical techs, transplant coordinators and even the social workers handling their cases.
“Our cases were almost identical, from when we first realized something was wrong through our diagnosis and care, up to and including our transplants,” says Linda. “Our team at Mayo Clinic was wonderful, and thanks to their care, we are both slowly getting back to normal.”
“I’m feeling great, walking an hour a day, shopping, exercising and stretching … living my life again,” says Brenda. “My sister and I are both grateful for this second opportunity at life thanks to the generous gift of our donors.”
Both sisters also say that their faith has played an important role in their recovery. “We’ve had quite a few prayers answered and have received support from all our church friends and people we don’t even know,” said Linda. “We’ve been truly blessed throughout this entire experience.”
April is National Donate Life Month. Sign up as an organ, eye and tissue donor. Visit www.organdonor.gov.
Published courtesy of the Mayo Clinic.
Pictured top: Linda Foster (left) and Brenda Santinelli (right), twin sisters from Escambia County who recently both received lung transplants. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Senior Wright Wins Pensacola Heritage Foundation Scholarship
April 28, 2014
Northview High School senior Victoria Wright has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Pensacola Heritage Foundation, Inc. Her essay on Pensacola’s local heritage was judged he best submitted by a group of Pensacola Heritage Foundation members.
Wright has been accepted to The United States Air Force Academy. Her winning essay is reprinted below.
The History of Pensacola
Victoria Wright
“If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you are.” -James Burke
Pensacola is commonly referred to as “The City of Five Flags;” however, it hasn’t always had this name. In the early 1500s Pensacola Bay was known as Polonza or Ochuse, to Ponce De Léon, Pánfilo de Narváez, Hernado de Soto and the other early explorers of the New World. People have been enjoying the white sandy beaches, and crystal clear blue waters of Pensacola, since Don Tristán de Luna y Areallno and more than 1,500 people from Vera Cruz, Mexico settled here on August 15, 1559.
The first citizens of Pensacola didn’t last long because of a hurricane on September 19, just a month and four days after they arrived. This hurricane brought death to hundreds, and destroyed most of the Spanish fleet, which were still holding the supplies needed to establish a colony. The majority of surviving settlers decided to relocate, leaving only 50 behind in Pensacola. This last group, which was a military detachment, decided to sail home to Mexico in 1561. It was then concluded that the northwest part of Florida was too dangerous to settle.
135 years later on February 2, 1686, Juan Enriques Barroto led an expedition that entered the Pensacola Bay. That expedition set way for Admiral Andres de Pez’s expedition of the bay in April of 1693. A little over a year later, the King of Spain gave them his permission to settle Pensacola. This settlement would fare a little better than the first, but not by much. In 1702 the newly Spanish settlers suffered what is now believed to be a yellow fever epidemic. Five years after this tragedy, with urging from the British, the Creek Indians attacked and burned down the Spanish Pensacola. After recapturing the city in 1719, the Spanish would lose it again, but this time to the French.
The French sailed from Mobile on May 13, 1719 in attempts to capture the town. Three days later under the command of Brothers Jean Baptiste Le Moyne and Sieur de Bienville, the French fired on Fort San Carlos and captured the town. France and Spain made peace with one another in 1720, but two short years later, the French burned Pensacola and the Spanish secured the return of Pensacola to Spain. The Spanish flag would fly over Pensacola for 22 years before a different country’s emblem would replace it.
In 1763 the signing of a treaty would transfer the control of Florida to the British. In August of that year, Augustine Prevost would arrive in Pensacola to accept the transfer and take command of the city. From the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775, until the British lost in 1783, the city of Pensacola and state of Florida as a whole, remained faithful to England. In the middle of that war however, Spain declared war on England in June of 1779. This would threaten the peace in the Florida and change the flag flown over the city of Pensacola.
Bernardo de Galvez from Spain sailed from New Orleans in 1781 to capture Pensacola. Galvez laid siege to one of the British’s forts, Fort George, just north of the city of Pensacola. On May 8, 1781, the day after the siege, General John Campbell and the British surrendered Pensacola to Galvez. After this, the British left their fort in Pensacola and ended their history here in the city. When the Revolutionary War was coming to an end in 1783, England gave Florida to Spain in exchange for the Bahamas and Gibraltar.
After the war of 1812, Spain and the United States signed the Adams-Onis Treaty, on February 22, 1819. This treaty would give the United States the state of Florida and set the boundary between the US and New Spain. It would be two years later on July 17, 1821, when Florida would officially became a part of the United States after a flag-exchanging ceremony in Pensacola. The flag of the United States of America would fly overhead until Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861 as a part of the Civil War. The Confederate flag would find a home in the state of Florida and the city of Pensacola until Florida was readmitted to the Union in 1868. Since then, the flag of the United States of America has flown overhead and has been the last flag to fly atop the City of Five Flags.