Photo: 10 Mile Water Line Break
April 1, 2014
ECUA had a water line break to deal with Tuesday morning on West 10 Mile Road between Highway 29 and Stefani Road. Reader submitted photo by Robert Grafton for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Burglar Shot In The Act Arrested On The Run In Louisiana
April 1, 2014
A Century man on the run from the law since he failed to show up for a sentencing hearing in February has been arrested in Louisiana.
Ricky DeWayne Taylor, 34, was arrested by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office in on a misdemeanor charge of possession of stolen things. He is being held without bond in the Lafayette County (LA) Jail awaiting extradition back to the Escambia County Jail in Pensacola.
On January 21, Taylor pleaded no contest to the charges against him, including burglary and grand theft. Judge Michael Allen allowed Taylor to stay free on bond until his February 20 sentencing hearing.
On May 17, 2013, Taylor broke into the victim’s home on Rockaway Creek Road and began removing items. The victim unexpectedly returned and caught Taylor and co-defendant Teresa Sunday in the act. Sunday, who was acquainted with the victim, had called him earlier that day to lure him away from the home to meet her at a local pool hall.
The victim held them at gunpoint with a .38 caliber revolver and contacted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. As the victim was speaking with dispatchers, Taylor lunged toward him. The homeowner fired a .38 caliber revolver, striking Taylor in the leg and grazing Sunday on the left cheek. Taylor was alert and conscious when he was transferred to LifeFlight to be airlifted to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola. He was charged with burglary, larceny, criminal mischief property damage and battery.
Sunday, age 35 of Century, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft of a dwelling. In January, she was sentenced by Judge Michael Allen to five years in state prison.
Taylor was also charged with burglary and grand theft on Klondike Road on May 10, 2013. Deputies say he parked his Lincoln Town Car with Alabama plates near a home in the 8000 block of Klondike. He then allegedly took a duffel bag, five extension cords and a five gallon gas can from a barn and placed them outside, according to an arrest report.
The resident walked outside and confronted Taylor near the duffle bag outside of his barn. Taylor ran and the victim gave chase but was unable to keep up. The victim noticed the out of place Lincoln Town Car in the neighborhood and photographed the tag. After the victim returned home, he drove around in an attempt to located the suspect and passed the Lincoln, being driven by the man he chased from his yard.
Deputies were able to trace the Lincoln to Taylor from the tag photo, and the victim positively identified Taylor from a photo lineup.
Pictured: The scene on May1 7, 2013, on Rockaway Creek Road in Walnut Hill after burglary suspect Ricky Taylor was shot. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Tate Team Finishes Second In County Academic Championship
April 1, 2014
Recently, the Pensacola High School Academic Team defeated Tate High School to win its 12th consecutive County Academic Championship.
WSRE Studio on the Pensacola State College campus hosted the event, known as the “Academic Challenge.” All the matches between the competing county high schools were taped by WSRE. The air dates for these matches have yet to be determined; however, it is anticipated that it should begin sometime in early April.
Following are the overall results:
- Pensacola 3-0 970 pts
- Tate 2-1 695 pts
- Washington 1-2 375 pts
- Pine Forest 0-3 240 pts
ECSO: Woman Throws Brick Into Vehicle With Estranged Husband, His Girlfriend
April 1, 2014
A Century woman is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly chasing down her estranged husband and his new girlfriend and tossing a brick though his car windows.
Tasia Valenta McCall was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill, two deadly missiles weapons offenses and criminal mischief property damage.
The victim told deputies he and his girlfriend were driving along Highway 29 south of Century when McCall began to follow them and attempted to maintain contact. When they arrived at their destination on Hilltop Road, McCall followed them down a long driveway. Before they could exit the vehicle, McCall began cussing and yelling at them before tossing a brick though the rear window of the occupied vehicle, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. There were no injuries.
McCall was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $5,000 bond.
Jim Allen Elementary Students ‘Sponge’ Teachers For Relay For Life
April 1, 2014
Jim Allen Elementary School recently completed a fundraiser for Relay for Life. Each class collected money, with the top three classes getting to “sponge” the teacher of their choice….like a pie in the face, just with a wet sponge.
Pictured: Kindergarten students “sponge” Jim Allen Elementary School music teacher Greg Sexton. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Last Hopes Of Florida Online Voter Registration Fade
April 1, 2014
Florida voters hoping to register online will have to wait another year after the sponsor of a Senate bill that would have allowed Internet sign-ups essentially dropped the measure Monday.
With two prominent Republicans saying they would vote against the bill, and the possibility that the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee would defeat it, Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, asked for the proposal to be shelved.
The chances that the measure (SB 784) would become law were already incredibly small. The House has not taken up any major elections legislation this session, leaving a wider Senate bill that included online voter registration (SB 1660) stalled. And a companion bill to Clemens’ measure has gone nowhere in the House.
But passing the proposal through at least one committee would have opened up the possibility for it to be added to another bill as an amendment.
Critics of the measure said the bill was premature, given that the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections expects to develop recommendations about online registration for the Legislature and the secretary of state’s office by the end of the year. Clemens’ proposal would not call for online voter registration to begin until July 2015.
“This bill is not going to go very far this session,” said Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine. “I think we all know that. … I’d be more inclined to hopefully look at it next year.”
Sen. Andy Gardiner, an Orlando Republican set to become Senate president after the November elections, also said he was hesitant to take up the bill this year.
Clemens countered that the state would need time to set up a system to handle online registration; delaying the bill until the 2015 session means it could take even longer until citizens could sign up.
“With 19 other states already doing this, we’re really behind the ball,” Clemens said. “I’d hoped that this wouldn’t become a partisan issue, because I don’t see it as partisan. I think Republicans use the Internet just as much as Democrats do.”
Senate Ethics and Elections Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, suggested that he could support the bill. Latvala successfully pushed Clemens to include language in the bill that would require voters who registered online to vote in person the first time after registering.
“I concur with you, personally, that this is an idea that’s time has come,” Latvala said. “I think that next year, we should have some serious conversation, serious debate and seriously look at this issue.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Pictured: The polling place at the First Baptist Church of Bratt. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Scott Signs Florida GI Bill
April 1, 2014
Flanked by military veterans, members of the Florida National Guard and lawmakers, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law on Monday the “Florida GI Bill,” modeled after the World War II-era program and intended to make Florida the most military-friendly state in the nation.
The wide-ranging measure (HB 7015), rushed through the Legislature the first week of session as a priority of House and Senate leadership, provides university tuition waivers for veterans, pays for military and guard base improvements, is expected to help increase employment opportunities for veterans and allocates $1 million a year to sell the state to veterans.
Andrew Sloan, a Georgia native who spent six years in the U.S. Air Force and has been lobbying lawmakers since September on behalf of student veterans, said the bill will draw other veterans to Florida’s universities.
“We served our nation and we only ask for that which we earned, by virtue of our service, (to) be there when we get home,” said Sloan, who is now a political science and German double-major attending Florida State University.
Scott tied his own experiences when leaving the U.S. Navy to wanting to support veterans and active duty service members.
“I remember when I got out of the Navy back in the early ’70s, it was not a good time to get out of the service in this country,” Scott said after the signing ceremony at the National Guard Armory in Panama City. “Our veterans were not respected; it was a tough time. We’re going to make sure that is this is the most military-friendly state for active-duty members, but also for all the veterans.”
According to the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the state currently houses 1.5 million veterans, of which nearly one-third are from the Vietnam era and 231,000 served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Florida’s nursing home population includes nearly 114,000 World War II-era veterans and more than 178,000 veterans of the Korean conflict.
House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz crafted the package during a statewide “listening” tour last summer.
Weatherford called the legislation “the most important bill that we’ll pass this legislative session.”
The package, expected to cost more than $30 million in its first year, includes an anticipated $12.5 million for ongoing upgrades of the state’s National Guard facilities and $7.5 million to purchase a total of 45 acres of buffer lands around MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville and Naval Support Activity Panama City.
The proposal also requires Visit Florida to spend $1 million a year on marketing aimed at veterans, and allocate another $300,000 to a new nonprofit corporation, Florida Is For Veterans, Inc. The nonprofit, to be housed within the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs, would be used to encourage veterans to move to Florida, and promote the hiring of veterans.
Meanwhile, state universities and colleges are expected to take an $11.7 million hit in waivers for out-of-state tuition charges for all honorably discharged veterans, a proposal named the “Congressman C.W. Bill Young Veteran Tuition Waiver Act” after the late Pinellas County lawmaker who served more than four decades in Congress before his death last year.
Because in-state tuition, covered by the federal GI Bill, is thousands of dollars cheaper than out-of-state rates, lawmakers hope the new waivers encourage veterans from outside of the state to apply to Florida schools.
To assist families of active-duty service members, the bill also waives the requirement for spouses and dependents to get a Florida driver license if they get a job or enroll in a public school.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: Monday, Gov. Rick Scott was joined by Senate President Don Gaetz, Speaker of the House Will Weatherford, Rep. Marti Coley, Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. Jimmie Smith, Rep. Jimmy Patronis and Rep. Doc Renuart to sign House Bill 7015 which creates the “Congressman C.W. Bill Young Tuition Waiver Program,” that waives out-of-state tuition fees for honorably discharged veterans. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Electric Line Workers Recognized On National Lineman Appreciation Day
April 1, 2014
Monday was National Lineman Appreciation Day with Gulf Power Company and Escambia River Electric Cooperative joining utility companies across the nation in recognizing the efforts of the men and women who work in all sorts of weather at all times of the day and night to keep electricity flowing.
“Whether it’s going on storm duty, restoring a customer’s power or just turning on someone’s power for the first time, the work Gulf Power crews do every day is to keep our customers at the center of everything we do,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power Corporate Communications manager. “These men and women are truly heroes and this day is to honor them.”
Gulf Power has approximately 175 employees who work on the company’s transmission and distribution lines.
While the state Legislature has made August 26 Lineworker Appreciation Day in Florida, a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives set aside March 31 as National Lineman Appreciation Day.
“Our line workers are committed to getting customers’ power back on, whether here in Northwest Florida or across the country,” Rogers said. “That’s what they do and we’re proud they are being recognized for their efforts.”
Pictured top: EREC linemen work on Tungoil Road just off Highway 97 the morning on February 21 to rebuild a section of power lines destroyed by strong straight line winds. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Downtown Pensacola Goes Blue For Child Abuse Prevention Month
April 1, 2014
Blue bows are up along Palafox Street in downtown to raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention month.
“The ‘From Blue to Better’ campaign takes place every April to raise awareness about child abuse prevention and to promote the fact that we all have a role to play in protecting children,” said Stacey Kostevicki, executive director of Gulf Coast Kid’s House. “Our hope is that these bows serve as a daily reminder of our obligation to children in our community.”
“From Blue to Better” is a month-long series of events for Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. Launched by local child and family service agencies, the campaign uses the color to highlight child abuse awareness and prevention during the month of April.
The campaign also emphasizes that it is everyone’s job to keep children safe.
Local residents and visitors will see blue events popping up around town throughout April, including the painting of the 17th Avenue “Graffiti Bridge”.
Firefighters Battle Pasture Fire
March 31, 2014
Firefighters from several departments battled a pasture fire north of McDavid Monday afternoon.
The fire on Dawson Road, just east of Highway 29, was reported just after 4 p.m. The fire burned about 15 acres of mostly pasture land. The first fire units on scene did work to keep the blaze away from a mobile home and six to seven vehicles that were threatened.
The cause of the fire was not immediately available.
The McDavid and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Flomaton Fire Department responded to the fire. There were no injuries reported.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.