Two Injured In Crash With Utility Pole
June 30, 2014
Two people were injured in a single vehicle rollover accident Sunday night near the intersection of Highway 196 and Highway 95A near Molino.
The driver apparently lost control, ran off the road and hit a utility pole just before 10 p.m. Both were transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola; neither injury was considered severe or life threatening.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
New Speciality Tags Will Soon Hit Florida’s Roads
June 30, 2014
As they did a year ago, Florida lawmakers this spring approved four new specialty license tags, also extending a self-imposed barrier that hasn’t slowed the program.
Starting October 1, sales will start on the four plates — Fallen Law Enforcement Officers, the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Keiser University, and the Moffitt Cancer Center — signed into law this year by Gov. Rick Scott.
Each plate raises money for the sponsoring organization. The fallen hero tag, which will feature the motto “A Hero Remembered Never Dies” across the bottom, will assist the Police and Kids Foundation, Inc.
The latest tags come despite a “moratorium” lawmakers imposed on new license plates in 2008. The moratorium was set to expire this year, but lawmakers extended it through mid-2016.
Since the moratorium was passed, the number of tags on the road has grown from 113 to 122. Also, lawmakers have since established a 1,000-plate pre-order requirement before actual production of the plate begins.
The new plates also come despite warnings from Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which oversees license plates, officials that the program may have reached a tipping point in terms of sales.
In November, Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Deputy Director Stephen Fielder told a House subcommittee that the market for specialty plates has become saturated.
The base of motorists spending extra for the specialty plates has remained stagnant over the past few years, Fielder said.
“When I had 30 plates, I had 30 organizations competing for 1 million (motorists),” Fielder told the panel. “I now have 120 plates competing for 1 million customers.” But a lobbyist for specialty plates said the state needs to make it easier for motorists to purchase them.
“There is a reason that many people aren’t able to buy them. The Department of Motor Vehicles will not put an option on the renewal form to go to the specialty plates,” said Susan Goldstein, who represents several associations with specialty plates as well as the Florida Association of Specialty License Plates. “You actually have to physically go to the tax collector or DMV to switch to a new plate.”
Asked about expanding the offerings for specialty tags online, department spokesman John Lucas responded in an email, “It’s strictly a technical reason due to additional fees that (are) involved in such a switch.”
The state sold and renewed 1.35 million specialty tags in 2013, up nearly 14,000 from 2012, but still noticeably off from 1.62 million purchased in 2009. Nearly half of the plates have attracted fewer than 5,000 buyers, including 18 with fewer than 1,000 in sales.
Private colleges are among the lowest sellers. Clearwater Christian College has ranked at the bottom of the sales with just 57 plates sold over the past two years.
Top sellers continue to be the University of Florida, Florida State University, Helping Sea Turtles Survive, Protect Wild Dolphins and Protect the Panther.
Goldstein noted that the number of specialty plates dropped after the fees for first time and renewals of specialty license plates were increased in 2009, when lawmakers were also hiking the cost of vehicle registration and other driver fees to close a budget shortfall.
“The person that wants to buy a new specialty plate has to pay $38 in fees to the state to make a $25 donation to the organization,” Goldstein said. “And we still did over $30 million last year.”
According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the $15 to $25 fee on specialty tags generates about $30 million a year, with about $8.6 million going to state revenue for processing fees and the rest divided among different sponsor organizations. Lawmaker support doesn’t guarantee the tag will hit the road, however.
Of the four tags approved for pre-sale starting July 1, 2013, Florida Freemasons and Lauren’s Kids — a non-profit group that helps survivors of childhood sexual abuse — surpassed the 1,000 mark and went on the road earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the American Legion and Big Brothers Big Sisters continue to struggle in the pre-sale world, with each organization selling about 100 plates as of June 2.
In addition to the new plates, production will begin this year on a new special use plate to recognize field medics who accompanied infantry into battle with a Combat Medical Badge plate. The state already offers Combat Action Badge and Combat Infantry Badge plates.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Jacksonville Takes Opener 12-6 Over The Blue Wahoos
June 30, 2014
On Sunday at the Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball game, fans had lots of fun for the first five innings.
Ryan Wright hit his first Double-A home run, which cleared the left field fence and put Pensacola ahead, 6-5, in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was also the second baseman’s first hit at home, after going hitless during his first five-game homestand at Pensacola. However, he’s hitting .300 (6-20) since then.
However, in Jacksonville’s very next at bat the Suns scored six runs off three Blue Wahoos pitchers to go ahead, 11-6, on their way to a 12-6 victory in the opener of a five-game series at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. Alfredo Silverio led off the big inning for the Suns with a home run.
The big hitter Sunday, though, for Pensacola was first baseman Marquez Smith. Smith hit a two-run home run, doubled in another run and walked in four at bats. It was Smith’s first home run this season, too, in a Blue Wahoos uniform after getting called up from High-A Bakersfield.
Smith said the homer to deep right center felt good after starting his stint with two hits in his first 18 at bats.
“It’s definitely good to get on the right track,” Smith said. “I was glad today to get some hits.”
Delino DeShields said that he would like to get the same production from Smith that Bakersfield got in the first half of the season. There Smith hit .298 with 15 homers and 67 RBI in 68 games.
“I’m hoping he will produce for us while he’s here,” DeShields said. “He is an older player. It gets tougher when you get older.”
The 29-year-old Smith was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2007 out of Clemson University and has played 737 games in the minors, including 2,615 at bats. He also has played 14 games in the Major Leagues, including 13 with the Cubs in 2011.
“I’ve been doing it for a long time and been lucky enough to still have a jersey on my back,” said Smith, who was born in Panama City down the coast from Pensacola. “I’m still having fun playing the game, so you can’t beat that.”
The second game of the five-game series with Miami Marlins Double-A affiliate the Jacksonville Suns gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Monday. RHP Jon Moscot (4-6, 2.83) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the Suns RHP Jay Rogers (2-2, 4.81).
by Tommy Thrall
Identity Released Of Driver In Barrineau Park Crash
June 29, 2014
A female was trapped in her upside-down vehicle for over an hour Saturday afternoon in Barrineau Park.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 21-year old Kiatlin Renee Whitfield of Cantonment was westbound on the dirt portion of Barrineau Park Road toward the intersection with North Highway 99 when she lost control and over corrected. Her vehicle then overturned off the roadway. First responders worked feverishly to free the Whitfield and stabilize the vehicle.
She was airlifted by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola in seriousl condition.
Charges in the accident are pending, according to the FHP.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
June 29, 2014
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekend ending June 26.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Investigator Goley was conducting marine resource and boating safety checks at Big Lagoon State Park when he noticed the operator of a vessel showing signs of impairment. After the initial contact, Investigator Goley asked the operator to submit to field sobriety tasks and he agreed. During the tasks, the operator exhibited signs of impairment to the extent that he was impaired. The subject was placed under arrest for BUI. After arriving at the jail nearly two hours later, the subject provided two breath samples of 0.089 and 0.088 BrAC.
Investigator Shafer responded to a complaint of a business being in possession of a venomous reptile without the proper permit. Investigator Shafer contacted the business owner and interviewed him about the matter. The owner admitted to capturing an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake and placing it in captivity. Investigator Shafer issued the subject a citation for not having the proper permit.
Officer Cushing was conducting Joint Enforcement Agreement (JEA) patrol near the shore when he conducted a fisheries inspection on a vessel with three individuals on board. When asked how many fish they caught, they responded two. He asked them what kind and they said they had two red snapper. The fisheries inspection revealed two red snapper, an undersized and out of season greater amberjack and an undersized cobia. Citations were issued to the individuals.
The crew of the offshore vessel, FinCat, worked offshore on several occasions in the last week. After several vessel inspections, a citation was issued for no charter license. Also issued were several warnings for undersized red snapper, undersized king mackerel, and possession of greater amberjack during closed season.
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.
Hundreds Turn Out For Twin Cities Watermelon Festival (With Gallery)
June 29, 2014
Hundreds of people turned out despite the heat and humidity Saturday for the first annual Twin Cities Volunteers Watermelon Festival in Century.
The family fun event included craft booths and food from dozens of vendors, local entertainment, and there was also plenty of ice cold watermelon.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The first annual Twin Cities Volunteers Watermelon Festival was sponsored in part by NorthEscambia.com.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Storytime Offered At Local Library Branches Each Week
June 29, 2014
Storytime is offered each week at your local West Florida Public Library Branch for children ages 0-5 as follows:
- Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Southwest Branch
- Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Main Library
- Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Molino Branch
- Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. – Tryon Branch
- Thursdays, 4 p.m. – Century Branch
- Saturdays, 2 p.m. – Westside Branch
Library locations are as follows:
- Main Library: 239 N. Spring St., Pensacola, (850) 436-5060
- Century Branch: 7991 N. Century Blvd., Century, (850) 256-6217
- Molino Branch: 6450-A Highway 95A, Molino, (850) 435-1760
- Southwest Branch: 12248 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola, (850) 453-7780
- Tryon Branch: 1200 Langley Ave., Pensacola, (850) 471-6980
- Westside Branch: 1580 W. Cervantes St., Pensacola, (850) 595-1047
Molino Volunteer Fire Department Holds Open House
June 29, 2014
The Molino Volunteer Fire Department held their annual Open House event Saturday at the their firehouse on Molino Road. The event included food, safety and equipment demonstrations and more.
The fire department is also looking for volunteers. Volunteers must be 16 to train and 18 or older with high school diploma to run calls on a fire truck. Call (850) 503-6754 for more information.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: All In The Family
June 29, 2014
There’s been plenty of talk in Florida lately about families.
One of the major issues in the governor’s race has become which family members should be required to divulge their income tax returns. Gov. Rick Scott embarked on the “Caring for Florida’s Families,” offering one of the first substantive agendas in what has thus far largely been a contest to see who can sling the most mud.
Meanwhile, the Department of Children and Families showed off a new website that it hoped would highlight its efforts to turn the corner after several months of bad headlines — only to see a reminder of the past once again enter the public eye. And the Florida State University family feud dragged on over who should be the institution’s next president.
PAPERS, PLEASE
When he ran for office in 2010, Scott’s rise to the Republican nomination was fueled in no small part by his support for an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration — legislation that critics in the Copper State called the “papers, please” law. The proposal never got traction in Florida, but Scott is once again asking to see someone’s papers.
This time, he and his campaign are calling on former Gov. Charlie Crist to release his wife’s tax returns. In response, Crist released more of his own tax returns, but not his wife’s. And Scott’s campaign pointed out that Crist had already divulged most of the records he released this week in his previous campaigns for office.
“Charlie releasing tax returns he has already released instead of making public the returns for him and his spouse is a joke,” said Jackie Schutz, a spokesman for the Scott campaign. “What’s he hiding? His desperation to distract is just making us more curious.”
Crist’s campaign brushed the Scott attacks off as a personal affront to his spouse, Carole. Unlike the Scotts, the Crists don’t file jointly. Kevin Cate, a spokesman for Crist’s campaign, blasted Scott for raising the issue.
“He should immediately apologize,” Cate said. “Spouses and children are off limits.”
While his campaign pushed for more records from Crist, Scott himself was touring the state to call attention to his plans for the state’s foster care and early learning programs.
Scott’s plan — which was released as he tries to soften his image and broaden his platform beyond economic issues — calls for more support for foster and adoptive parents by establishing an ombudsman program and pushing for more support groups and counselors.
On early learning, Scott says the state should set up “a system of incentives and assessments” for preschool instructors and cut the waiting lists for preschool programs.
And the governor’s plan would expand the number of state-backed “personal learning accounts,” which provide up to $9,000 for parents to help pay for education services for children with disabilities.
Scott’s tour came shortly after he signed a bill (SB 1666) meant to overhaul the state’s child-welfare system in response to increased scrutiny caused by child deaths and media reports.
The new law creates rapid-response teams to conduct immediate investigations of child deaths, establishes the Florida Institute for Child Welfare to conduct policy research and creates the position of assistant secretary for child welfare at the Department of Children and Families.
It will also use tuition waivers and loan-forgiveness programs to help child-protection staffers earn social-work degrees. The new law also aims to keep siblings together and medically fragile children in their homes and communities as much as possible.
AGENCY TAKES STEP FORWARD, HEARS BACK
DCF also made other efforts to patch up its reputation after the Miami Herald’s Innocents Lost series, published in March, which found that at least 477 children known to the department had died of abuse and neglect over a six-year period.
Interim Secretary Mike Carroll, who took the job in early May, rolled out a website this week that will track child deaths and make them public.
Within 72 hours of a death, the child’s name, age, date of death and a narrative of how he or she died will be posted at www.dcf.state.fl.us/childfatality. Users will be able to sort the data in multiple ways, such as determining the causes of local deaths. The department hopes communities will use the data to guide prevention efforts.
“It will be the preeminent website in the country in terms of the amount of information and the user-friendliness of that information for the general public around child deaths,” Carroll said.
But the agency still couldn’t seem to shake the past. Even as Carroll was touting the new database, one the sponsors of the child-welfare bill Scott signed was calling for an independent investigation into whether the department has been open about some recent fatalities.
“Sweeping child deaths under the rug will only serve to perpetuate a culture of cover-up and corruption,” warned state Sen. Eleanor Sobel, the Hollywood Democrat who chairs the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee, in a statement Tuesday. “Hiding the deaths should never be a solution.”
Sobel, who hosted a town-hall meeting on last year’s wave of media reports about child deaths, zeroed in on new Herald reports that DCF was less than forthcoming about some deaths in 2013.
Added into the mix was the release of a report by a Miami-Dade grand jury on reforms implemented by Florida’s child welfare system after the gruesome death of Nubia Barahona, whose adoptive parents are awaiting trial for her 2011 death.
The report praised the Department of Children and Families for improvements to the state abuse hotline, the practices of child protective investigators and the information systems and databases used by department workers.
But the grand jury also excoriated DCF for its reporting of child deaths, noting, for instance, that the department in 2010 changed its definition of “neglect” in a way that made it apply to fewer children.
Carroll responded to the critics.
As for Sobel’s statement, Carroll denied that a cover-up took place on child deaths, but said a regional manager hadn’t followed DCF requirements that incident reports be entered into the department’s system within one business day and failed to follow a directive to correct the matter for another two months. The manager was suspended for two days.
And DCF tried to emphasize the positive statements by the grand jury, which wrote that jurors “believe DCF and the Florida Legislature responded very well to many of the recommendations” from the an earlier grand jury that looked into Barahona’s death.
RACES, SPECIAL AND NOT
Florida State University is another respected institution that’s gotten a black eye from recent headlines — those about its search for a president and what role influential Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, will play as the school moves forward.
A new consultant for the search — the old one exited amid an uproar about how Thrasher’s interest in the job was being handled — said this week that the hunt for president won’t be sidetracked again for any individual.
Alberto Pimentel, a managing partner from the California office of Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, said during informal meetings with students and faculty that he won’t repeat the recommendation of the prior consultant to have the search committee interview just Thrasher.
“There will be one process and one process only,” Pimentel said. “We’re not going to create a special process for some candidates and not for others. I think that you get in trouble when you do that.”
At least one politician, however, did get a position through a special process, though one that was shared by all candidates. Curt Clawson, a Republican businessman, won a special election to fill the seat of disgraced former Congressman Trey Radel.
Clawson overwhelmingly won the race in the Republican-leaning Southwest Florida district, beating Cape Coral Democrat April Freeman and Marco Island Libertarian Ray Netherwood with 67 percent of the vote.
Radel, a Republican from Fort Myers, resigned in late January after being arrested on a cocaine-possession charge.
Republican Party of Florida Chairman Leslie Dougher congratulated Clawson for his “well-earned” victory.
“Congressman-elect Clawson will undoubtedly serve his district with distinction, bringing true conservative values to our nation’s capital,” Dougher said in a release.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott finished sifting through the 255 bills sent to him by the Legislature, 254 of which he signed. The lone bill to fall victim to Scott’s pen this year was a measure (SB 392) that would have allowed the Florida Department of Transportation to raise highway speed limits by 5 mph, including going from 70 mph to 75 mph on some roads.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I was meant to serve as cautionary tale to other state workers, that if you want to speak up, try to do the right thing, and take action, here is what’s going to happen to you.”—Former state worker Dianne Parcell, whom a jury this spring concluded that the state fired in retaliation for raising questions about nearly 100 cases where DEO had improperly reported overpayments to Floridians receiving unemployment benefits. The state later settled with Parcell for $250,000.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Finish Road Trip With 3-1 Win Over The Lookouts
June 29, 2014
The Blue Wahoos score two in the 9th, defeat Lookouts 3-1 in series finale
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos won the final game of the their five-game road trip, 3-1, over the Chattanooga Lookouts. Kyle Waldrop’s two-RBI double in the top of the ninth inning gave the Wahoos their second victory of the series.
RHP Ben Lively pitched well in his second start for the Wahoos; he went 5.2 innings, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out five batters. Lively did walk three batters, but he left the contest with a 1-0 lead. RHP Carlos Gonzalez allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on an Alberto Rosario pinch-hit single, which tied the game for the Lookouts.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, Brodie Greene reached base on a throwing error by Lookouts third baseman Daniel Mayora, which opened the door for the Wahoos. Yorman Rodriguez walked and Waldrop cleared the bases with his double to right field. Waldrop finished the day 2-for-5 with all three of the Wahoos’ RBI.
Gonzalez earned the win for Pensacola after Shane Dyer pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to earn his seventh save of the season. RHP Juan Ramon Noriega took the loss for the Lookouts despite giving not giving up an earned run.
The Wahoos return home on Sunday to open a five-game homestand against the Jacksonville Suns.
by Joey Truncale