Ho-Hum Legislative Session Not Just About Governor’s Race
April 16, 2014
Tax breaks are in. Gambling? No dice. Lower tuition is OK, but alimony is a no-no.
Blame the GOP-dominated Legislature’s attempt to give Gov. Rick Scott a helping hand for what people are calling one of the most boring sessions in recent history.
But, while they are doing all they can to keep the governor in office, Republicans also have their eyes on a bigger prize — the presidential race two years from now.
“Absolutely it’s important. We want the governor re-elected but it’s clearly important for 2016. No question,” said Sen. John Thrasher, a St. Augustine Republican and former head of the Republican Party of Florida who is also chairman of Scott’s re-election effort.
Lawmakers recently put the kibosh on gambling legislation that was sure to split the Republican faithful. And, after Scott vetoed a similar effort last year, they opted to not even consider a prickly overhaul of the alimony system, putting the issue on hold for at least another year.
But they are angling to land on the incumbent Republican’s desk a cornucopia of items that appeal to Hispanics, gun owners, drivers, families footing the bill for university educations and anyone disgusted by revelations that sexual offenders let loose by the state preyed again on children.
The Legislature quickly passed a package of measures aimed at cracking down on child molesters, even after critics complained that the legislation fails to fully address the problem.
And lawmakers swiftly handed Scott one of his top priorities, a nearly $400 million rollback of vehicle registration fees increased during economic tough times in 2009, when Charlie Crist — Scott’s leading Democratic opponent — was governor.
With the May 2 end of the session fast approaching, the House and Senate are now wrangling over how to parcel out the remaining $100 million of the $500 million in election-year tax and fee cuts Scott made a top priority.
No election year on GOP turf would be complete without some National Rifle Association-backed legislation to pump up base voters. So Florida lawmakers are approving a suite of bills aimed at firing up gun owners. One measure would let gun owners who don’t have concealed-carry training pack heat during states of emergency. A “warning shot” proposal awaiting Scott’s signature would let people show guns and fire warning shots in self-defense.
Another gift to Scott — lower tuition for university students — is wrapped in a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition, a priority of House Speaker Will Weatherford. The House has already passed the bill, and Senate sponsor Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, says he has the votes for Senate approval once it makes it to the floor. The measure is viewed as an olive branch to Hispanic voters whom Scott alienated in his first bid for governor when he campaigned on bringing an Arizona-style immigration law to Florida. Scott further angered Hispanics when he vetoed a nearly universally-supported measure that would have let children of undocumented immigrants get temporary driver’s licenses.
“I think we’ve got a nice smooth session going on and that always helps. Everyone’s working together, the House, the Senate, the governor. I think it’s as much harmony here as I’ve seen during any session and that obviously should help him,” Latvala said.
Keeping the governor’s mansion, as well as the Florida House and Senate, in GOP hands is part of a longer-term strategy.
Florida, a critical swing state, helped President Obama get into the White House and stay there in the past two elections.
A Republican governor would help turn that around, Thrasher said.
“It makes a difference,” he said. “We’ve lost the last two elections in Florida. We need to win the next one in order to elect a Republican president.”
Thrasher said the 2016 election doesn’t put more pressure on Republicans to re-elect Scott, who remains unpopular, but “it clearly gives us some incentives to do that.”
Getting Scott re-elected could also help the GOP maintain a stronghold on legislative and congressional seats in 2016, especially in the state House, where about a dozen seats could now be up for grabs after new maps were drawn in 2012.
“It’s not just about the presidential. It’s about legislative. It’s about congressional. Anytime you have the governor in the mansion, that changes the dynamic for that party,” said lobbyist Nick Iarossi. “Where the Republicans have drastically outraised Democrats for the past decade, that could turn on a dime if Charlie Crist wins the governor’s mansion. That’s why everyone’s being cautious.”
But House Minority Leader Perry Thurston said Republicans are ignoring issues such as an expansion of Medicaid to lay the groundwork for the presidential race.
“For sure it’s positioning for 2016. They want it to appear that there are no problems here in Tallahassee, that everything’s moving along smoothly and they’ve got this $1.3 billion in surplus to try to camouflage to that effect. But there are a number of issues we’re not addressing. We need to address the issue of health care, which we believe is a crisis in this state. We need to fully vet the issue with DCF. They’re talking about new investigators but they’re not addressing the issue of the services. If you have more investigators, clearly there are going to be more cases and they’re going to need to place more children. They’re not addressing those placements and the services,” Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, said. “The governor’s race clearly is being done to set up how Florida will be a Republican governor-led state at the time of the (2016) election.”
But Steve Schale, a Democratic consultant who led Obama’s 2008 campaign effort in Florida and is advising Crist, said that it’s wrong-headed of Republicans to pin their presidential hopes on the governor’s race.
“I think it’s a very myopic view of the Tallahassee-centric world which doesn’t exist in the five blocks outside of Adams Street,” Schale said.
Obama won the Sunshine State twice with a Republican governor at the helm, Schale pointed out. And, Schale said, presidential elections are now so expensive and require such a large organization that, although a governor can help his or her party’s fund-raising efforts, state parties are relied on less and less to aid candidates.
“In a previous era you would have had to depend on party apparatus …because nobody could raise a billion dollars. But in this new world we live in, you don’t need a political apparatus in a presidential election. You don’t need it at all,” he said.
Obama won Florida by 3 percentage points in 2008, “arguably at the point at which our party was most inept,” Schale said.
“It may be materially important for some political leaders and some political consultants but it’s not in terms of the outcome of the election,” he said.
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
Rep. Clay Ingram: Session Break
April 16, 2014
submitted by Rep. Clay Ingram
It’s great to be home this week for a much needed break from Session. We’ve accomplished a great deal of work so far for hard working Floridians.
Last week the House passed HB 697, a bill I sponsored that expands the list of Schedule 1 synthetic drugs. This bill will now go to the Senate for their approval. I will continue to work with Attorney General Pam Bondi on keeping these dangerous drugs away from our children.
Last week the House passed bills expanding educational choice in Florida and also forbidding the collection of certain personal student data that would have violated student privacy rights. The House also passed a bill that would create new penalties for people who harm an unborn baby while committing a crime. These common sense, conservative measures will make Florida an even better place to live.
The Legislature will be off this week as we celebrate Passover and Easter with our families. I look forward to this time to see family and friends before heading back to finish the final two weeks of Session.
Long Abandoned Jay Livestock Market Could See New Life
April 16, 2014
The long abandoned Jay Livestock Market could have a future purpose, but exactly what that purpose might be remains to be seen. The livestock market, located on Commerce Street and Coleman Avenue, open in Jay in 1940 and closed around the end of the century.
The West Florida Regional Planning Council held a community meeting Tuesday evening for the public to learn more about the site and participate in the visioning process for the potential revitalization of the market site.
Ideas for the old facility have ranged from tearing it down to reopening it, opening a farmer’s market, antique market and events space, and using the main barn as a space for the FFA and 4-H.
Work is underway to establish a non-profit to head up the revitalization process…with any work to be approved by the Town of Jay and the State of Florida
Pictured: They closed Jay Livestock Market. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Man Sentenced To 330 Years For Child Sex Abuse
April 16, 2014
A Santa Rosa County man was sentenced to 330 year is prison Tuesday for the sexual abuse of three young girls.
Circuit Judge John L. Miller handed down the 330 year sentence to Donzell Kevin Nuckles after his February conviction on 10 counts of sexual battery upon a child by a person in familial or custodial authority and two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation for crimes he committed against the girls when he and his family lived in Pace.
Between February 2011 and October 2012, Nuckles, 40, committed various sexual offenses against his three victims, who ranged in age from 12 to 17 years old at the time the crimes were committed. The abuse was reported to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office in November 2012 and was investigated by Dectective Larry Tynes.
All three victims testified during the trial about the abuse they suffered.
As a result of the sexual abuse, one of the girls became pregnant and gave birth to the defendant’s child. DNA evidence introduced at trial revealed that Nuckles was the father of that child.
Wahoos Beat Biscuits 7-4
April 16, 2014
On a chilly night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, the Wahoos defeated the Biscuits 7-4 in the second game of the series. The Wahoos (7-5) used a four-run inning in the third to break the game open. The Biscuits (6-6) mounted a comeback scoring three runs in the eighth inning, but eventually fell short.
RHP Daniel Corcino (1-2) started the contest for the Wahoos and went 6.0 innings, giving up just one R/ER and two hits. Corcino worked out of a first-inning bases loaded jam and gave up just one hit in his final 5.0 innings of work, at one point retiring 13 of 14 batters he faced. RHP Drew Hayes walked two, but shut down the Biscuits in the ninth on the way to earning his third save of the year.
The Wahoos exploded offensively; their four-run third inning was a season-high for runs scored in an inning. First baseman Steve Selsky led the way with a 3-for-5 game with two runs scored and an RBI. Bryan Anderson, Juan Silverio, Devin Lohman and Juan Duran all drove in runs Tuesday night for the Wahoos. Center fielder Bryson Smith had his second multi-hit game of the season going 3-for-5 with three singles.
RHP Dylan Floro (0-1) was chased from the mound after 4.1 innings; Floro gave up 11 hits and 7 R/ER while walking two and striking out four. LHP Braulio Lara had a successful night giving up no runs in 2.2 innings of work while striking out four.
Third baseman Richie Shaffer went 2-for-5 on the night with a triple and an RBI, but just missed out on a game-tying three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning. Designated hitter Curt Casali went 1-for-1 with a double and four walks.
The Wahoos scored at least five runs so use the promo code Wahoos and receive 50% off your entire order Wednesday at PapaJohns.com. The Wahoos will send RHP Robert Stephenson (1-0, 3.86) to the mound for the third game of the series on Wednesday where he’ll be opposed by RHP Jared Mortensen (1-0, 4.26).
by Tommy Thrall
Pictured: The Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Montgomery Biscuits 7-4 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium Tuesday. Photos by Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Blue Wahoos for NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
by Tommy Thrall
Century Couple Sentenced In Connection With Financial Exploitation Of Elderly Woman
April 15, 2014
A Century husband and wife have been sentenced on charges related the financial exploitation of an elderly woman.
Lashonda Marsha Johnson, 42, pleaded no contest to felony exploitation of an elderly person. Judge E.P. Nickinson withheld adjudication and sentenced Johnson to 18 months probation, ordered her to stay away from alcohol and controlled substances and ordered her to find a job. She was also ordered to pay $500 in fines.
Eric Russel Johnson, 44, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of second degree petit theft. Nickinson withheld adjudication and fined Johnson $500.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Lashonda Johnson worked for Granny Nannies as a certified nursing assistant for the victim at the time of the alleged crime in 2011.
After the Johnson’s were denied a loan in December 2011 to purchase a 2011 Buick Lacrosse, Eric Johnson returned to Pen Air Federal Credit Union with his wife’s elderly client and used the elderly woman’s good credit to obtain a $28,583 loan as a co-signer, deputies said. The elderly woman, according to an arrest report, lacked the physical and mental capacity to consent to the loan.
In March 2013, the elderly woman’s son discovered the loan and contact sheriff’s investigators. According to an arrest report, Eric Johnson returned to Pen Air in April 2012 to refinance the vehicle only in his name. The vehicle was later returned to the credit union after Eric Johnson filed bankruptcy.
Woman Sentenced To 24 Years In Prison For Toddler Drowning Death
April 15, 2014
An Escambia County woman was sentenced Monday to 24 years in prison in connection with the drowning death of her toddler in a neighbor’s small pond.
Jennifer Lynn Eiland, 32, was convicted last month by an Escambia County jury of negligent manslaughter and three counts of child neglect after her 14-month old, Alana Mae Eiland, was found unresponsive in her neighbor’s landscaping pond in August 2013 in the 10600 block of Betmark Road, just off 10 Mile Road.
The neighbor was alerted to the child by one of the child’s siblings. First responders attempted rescue efforts, but Alana Mae was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at a local hospital.
Neighbor Larry Kruger made the discovery in his front yard after one of Eiland’s children knocked on his door. The little girl’s body was under a small bridge the crosses the pond, which is less than two feet deep.
Investigators found “unsanitary living conditions” in the Betmark Road home where Eiland and her children were living at the time of the drowning, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The child’s father, a Merchant Marine, returned home from being at sea following the incident.
Eiland has had prior abuse allegations in Alabama. According to investigators, the children,whose ages range from three to eight,had been placed in foster care and were only returned to the care of their mother in the recent months before the drowning.
Pictured top and bottom: Larry Kruger (bottom photo) discovered the lifeless body of a nieghbor’s 14-month old girl in his landscaping pond in August 2013. File photos by Joe Douglass WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Name Released In Monday Fatal Shooting
April 15, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of the victim in a fatal shooting in the Mayfair area of Escambia County Monday afternoon.
The victim was identified as 23-year old Dequarius Frederick Durrant. He was found deceased inside a car that had crashed into a home in the 100 block Emerald Avenue about 2:30 p.m.
“The incident appears to have been drug related,” the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Investigators said “person of interest” was questioned and released Monday night. The investigation into the incident is continuing.
Pictured: The scene on Emerald Avenue in Mayfair Monday afternoon following a fatal shooting. Photos by Jenise Fernandez, WEAR, for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lightning Sparks Molino House Fire, One Injured
April 15, 2014
One person was injured and a home was destroyed by fire Monday night near Molino after a lightning struck an outdoor propane tank.
The fire was reported just before 8 p.m. in the 6900 block of Highway 99 near Blackberry Lane. A resident of the home reported lighting struck a their propane tank and their house was on fire.
One resident suffered from smoke-inhalation was treated by medics at the scene before later being transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital
Firefighters reported fire burning from the gas line between the propane tank and the house. The 4,400 square foot, two-story home was a total loss. The fire is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal.
Heavy storms were in the area at the time, with firefighters reporting a delay in response times due to heavy rainfall.
The Molino, Walnut Hill, McDavid, Cantonment and Century stations of Escambia County Fire Rescue, Atmore Ambulance and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the blaze.
Organ Donor Month: Father Describes His Darkest Hour
April 15, 2014
By Ensign Joshua Faulkner
Registered Nurse, Naval Hospital Pensacola
April is Donor Awareness Month and the following is my account of how a donor forever changed my family.
The minutes seemed like hours as my mind and body were finally succumbing to all that was happening. The reality that my son was closer to death than life had finally set in and the enormity of the moment seemed to sit directly on my chest like a heavy weight. How had this happened?
Just six days earlier, life was totally normal and the thought that my 14-year-old son Trenton would soon be fighting for his life had never crossed my mind. He had complained of a mild stomach ache that weekend, but by Monday morning he was up and ready for school. Halfway into the school day I received his text, “Dad my eyes are yellow.” Being a registered nurse, I immediately drove to the school knowing that if this was true, a trip to Naval Hospital Pensacola’s Emergency Room would be required. As he walked into the front office, the yellow hue of his eyes was obvious.
The lab work revealed that his liver was not working correctly. His liver enzymes were elevated and the many functions of the body sustained by the liver were reflecting its weakened state. Knowing the potential for complications, NHP immediately transferred him to one of the local hospitals to ensure that the potential services that may be required would be available. I didn’t know it then, but this was just one of many time critical decisions that allowed my son to have a chance to fight for his life.
After two days it became apparent that Trent’s condition was not improving. The medical team felt it was now necessary to airlift Trent to a children’s hospital in Atlanta. They informed us that he would be admitted into the transplant unit. I believe this was the first time the full severity of the situation truly dawned on us as a family.
For two more days we sat with Trent hoping for the best, but were helpless to watch as his condition continued to deteriorate. He slept more and more, his skin yellow and swollen from the toxins accumulating in his body. Finally, the doctors entered Trent’s hospital room and told us that the damage to his liver had reached a point of no return and that without an immediate transplant, he would die.
I looked at Trent as the doctors exited the room and for the first time I saw fear. I asked the obvious, “Are you scared?” That little acknowledgement of what he was feeling was all it took for him to finally release the tears that he was fighting so hard to hold back. My wife and I cried with him, and I struggled to mutter the words, “It’s going to be okay.” I wanted to do nothing more in that moment than to be able to take away his fear and ease his heart, but I could not think of the proper words to comfort my son.
About 12 hours later, the doctors came with the first good news we had heard all week. They informed us that they had been contacted with a potential donor match, and that a team of doctors was already in route to assess the donor liver to ensure that it would be a viable organ for Trent. I cannot describe the feelings that I felt in that moment. I felt a sense of relief and hope for sure knowing that my son would have a chance to survive, but I also felt a very real awareness that somewhere someone had lost their life. A family had made a difficult decision to donate life while grieving the loss of their loved one.
The minutes seemed like hours. Finally at 3 a.m., the ICU nurse came to tell us that the liver had arrived, and they would be wheeling Trent to the operating room.
After six hours from the beginning of the procedure, the surgeon walked into the waiting room still wearing his scrubs. He slowly pulled up a nearby chair and sat down in front of my family. My heart was in my throat as we waited for him to give us the news.
“It went great,” he explained. “Everything worked out perfectly.”
Sitting at home now, some five months post-transplant, the enormity of the gift given to my family by our donor family becomes more evident daily. Every memory made and cherished by each of us with Trent is a blessing, granted by someone’s decision to donate life. I have since watched Trent return to school, play with his sisters and begin playing baseball. I don’t know if I could ever express in words how much these moments mean to me, or how appreciative I will forever be to my son’s donor and their family.
Pictured top: Trenton Faulkner, 14, is surrounded by his family, including his father Ensign Joshua Faulkner, a registered nurse at Naval Hospital Pensacola, as he waits for a liver donor late in 2013. A donor match was found and Trenton made a full recovery. Joshua shared his son’s story to raise awareness on the impact donors can have. Pictured inset: Trenton Faulkner poses with his father Ensign Joshua Faulkner during Joshua’s commissioning ceremony May 19, 2012. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.