Escambia House Fire Claims One Life
March 19, 2014
One person was killed in a residential fire Tuesday night in Escambia County.
The fire was reported just after 9 p.m. on Wilson Avenue, of Barrancas Avenue. A family member discovered the body of a 50-year old woman near the home’s living room, according to a county spokesman. The fire, which took only about 12 minutes to contain, was centered in the living room. Damage to the home is considered moderate.
The victim’s name has not yet been released.
The fire is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Commission Approves New 4-H Building, Moves Forward On Land Purchase
March 19, 2014
The Escambia County Commission voted Tuesday to move forward toward the purchase of two parcels of property for Escambia County 4-H and construct a $1.65 million 4-H Center.
4-H Center Construction
The commission awarded a $1,427,600 bid to A.E. New, Jr., Inc. for the construction of an Escambia County 4-H Center to be located at the Escambia County Extension Office on Stefani Road. The total cost for the facility will be $1.65 million from the Local Option Sales Tax.
In 2012, the children and teens on the 4-H County Council voted to sell their 240 acre Langley Bell 4-H Center to Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal paid $3.6 million for the property next to the credit union’s campus in Beulah, and the Escambia County Commission agreed to construct a new 4-H Center on Stefani Road.
The new facility, as designed by Hernandez Calhoun Design International using input from 4-H leadership, has a final price tag $165,000 higher than originally planned. That amount was originally set to be covered by the 4-H Foundation, but the county will use additional LOST funds to pick up the difference.
The new 4-H Center will be a single story building just under 10,000 square feet that will include a multi-purpose room/auditorium with stage, kitchen, offices, reception area, life skills room, science room with wet lab, volunteer room with technology lab, county council,club meeting room and storage.
The 4-H Center and funds to build it are separate from the $3.6 million the 4-H Foundation received from their land sale and any additional facility or land the foundation may purchase.
4-H Land Purchase
The commission also Tuesday directed county staff to obtain appraisals, environmental site assessments, surveys, title insurance commitments, and complete all other requirements required to create a final sale contract for the approval by the commission.
In 2012, the children and teens on the 4-H County Council voted to sell their 240 acre Langley Bell 4-H Center to Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal paid $3.6 million for the property next to the credit union’s campus in Beulah, and the Escambia County Commission agreed to construct a new 4-H Center on Stefani Road with $1.5 million in local option sales tax (LOST) funds.
$2 million of the sale proceeds were placed in an endowment fund for 4-H, and $1.6 million was reserved for 4-H to use under the guidance of UF/IFAS for a property including livestock facilities.
But after reviewing the findings of a task force, University of Florida/IFAS Extension Dean Nick Place recommended 4-H keep the $1.6 million and use the Cottage Hill State Forest, Escambia County Equestrian Center and private lands for outdoor activities and livestock education. The Escambia County Commission in July refused to accept the plan, with some commissioners saying that land deal was in no way equitable to the former 240 acres at Langley Bell.
And in January, the commission put the brakes on approval of a $1.65 million 4-H facility to be located at the Escambia County Extension Office on Stefani Road.
As the impasse continued between Place and the commission — including very public letters chastising each other — Place reached out to Lamar Christenberry, retired Escambia County IFAS director, as in intermediary.
Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry researched local available properties on the internet and found the two properties which he toured with Christenberry and 4-H supporters Brett Ward and Jimmy Cunningham, who is also president of Escambia County Farm Bureau.
One parcel is 79.5 acres in the 5600 block of Chalker Road and currently belongs to Scott and Denise MacMurray of Pensacola. The property includes about 20 wooded acres, a pond and a 5722 square foot barn. The property was listed at $425,000 with a $390,000 offer accepted on behalf of 4-H.
The second property, located at South Highway 99 and Chalker Road, is about 28.7 acres and allows the main property to have road frontage on South Highway 99. An offer of $5,000 per acre was accepted.
A few residential lots border east side of the proposed 4-H site along Chalker Road, while the north side is bordered by a 50 acre improved agricultural lot. The southern and western sides of the site are surrounded by hundreds of acres of timber belonging to La Floresta Perdida, Inc.
After the land deal is approved by the Escambia County Commission, which acts at trustee for the 4-H Foundation, commissioners are expected to consider moving forward with the 4-H Center on Stefani Road. The 4-H Center will be used indoor classroom type activities, while the 198 acres will be used for outdoor activities and livestock education.
Pictured top and bottom: An existing 5,722 square foot barn on one of two parcels that may soon be home to Escambia County 4-H. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge. Pictured inset: Two parcels will provide 4-H about 108 acres near Barrineau Park. NorthEscambia.com graphic, click to enlarge.
Head Start To Move From Cantonment To Molino
March 19, 2014
The Escambia County Commission voted Tuesday to negotiate a lease with the Community Action Program Committee for a 3,755 square foot building at the Molino Community Center.
The space will be refurbished by CAPC to house a Head Start program next school year. The program will move from it’s current home in the old Ransom Middle School on Muscogee Road in Cantonment to the Molino location, according to Commissioner Steven Barry.
The building was originally slated to be razed when the rest of the community center was refurbished, Barry said, but the county did not have the funds for the renovation.
Alcohol To Be Allowed At Some Community Centers Including Molino, Barrineau Park
March 19, 2014
Escambia County has approved the serving and consumption of alcohol at seven community centers, including those in Molino and Barrineau Park. The consumption of alcohol was previously strictly prohibited at all county community centers.
The new rules allow for the serving and consumption of alcoholic beverages during special events held on the premises, if the alcoholic beverages are not sold and any required permits and/or licenses are obtained by the organization. The change does not allow for alcohol to be served outside of special events nor does it allow for alcohol to be sold under any circumstances
For six community centers managed by non-profits for the county, the alcohol change means a required increase in the amount and type of liability insurance coverage now required to be maintained by the organization.
The six community centers and managing non-profits that will be able to allow alcohol to be served at special events are:
- Barrineau Park Historical Society, Inc. (Barrineau Park Community Center & Historical Society)
- Molino Mid-County Historical Society, Inc. (Molino Community Center & Historical Museum)
- Collaboration of Community Organizations, Inc. (Lexington Terrace Community Center)
- Ebonwood Homeowner & Neighborhood Watch Community, Inc. (Ebonwood Community Center)
- Wedgewood Community Center Group, Inc. (Marie K. Young/Wedgewood Community Center & Park)
- West Escambia Senior Citizens Organization Inc. (Felix Miga Senior Citizen [Community] Center)
Alcohol will also be allowed for special events at the Perdido Community center, which is managed directly by the county.
K-9 Regional Trials Going On This Week, Public Demo Planned
March 19, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Pensacola Police Department and the United States Police Canine Association are hosting the 2014 Region I K-9 Trials through Thursday.
K-9 competitors from across the region are competing in a variety of events, including competitions in obedience, agility and criminal apprehension. As part of the competition, the public is invited to a free demonstration at 7 p.m. Thursday at Woodham Middle School, 150 East Burgess Road, to showcase the skills of the dogs and their handlers.
Pictured: Escambia County Deputy Deputy Jason Land and his K-9 Edo. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Senate Snuffs Out E-Cigarettes To Minors
March 19, 2014
Amid concerns about youths getting hooked on nicotine or tobacco, the Florida Senate on Tuesday voted 40-0 to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors. The proposal (SB 224), sponsored by Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, quickly moved through the Senate, and a similar measure (HB 169) has been approved by two House subcommittees. The increasingly popular electronic cigarettes are seen by some people as more acceptable than smoking, with the process involving a vaporizer to inhale nicotine that is often enhanced with flavors. But critics have raised questions about whether the devices could serve as a gateway to nicotine addiction.
Chiefs Down Rocky Bayou
March 19, 2014
The Northview Chiefs beat Rocky Bayou on the road Tuesday 6-1.
Chasen Freeman 2-3, 2B, 2 Runs, 1 RBI, 1 SB; R.J. Pritchett 2-4, 4 RBI, 2 run HR, run scored; Thomas Moore 2-4; Roman Manning 2-4, run scored; Daulton Tullis 1-3, 1 RBI, run scored; Kevin Barrow 1-3, SB and Aaron McDonald – 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, none earned, 2 BB, 5 K’s.
The Chiefs are scheduled to take on Escambia Academy (Canoe, AL) Thursday in Poarch, AL, at 7:00.
NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Aggie Classic Continues (With Tuesday Scores)
March 19, 2014
The Aggie Classic, a 24-team tournament hosted by the Tate Aggies, is continuing.
Tickets for each game are $6 for adults and students and will be available at the gate at each location. Games will be played at all the five local fields Tuesday and Wednesday. The championship games on Thursday at 4 and 7 p.m. will be played at the University of West Florida.
Tuesday scores were as follows:
Navarre Raiders 2, Edmond North Huskies 1
Christ Presbyterian Lions 10, Jay Bulldogs 0
Brentwood Academy Eagles 14, Sallisaw Black Diamonds 8
Second Baptist School 11, Ft.Gibson Tigers 9
Knoxville Catholic Irish 9, Tulsa Union Redskins 5
Milton Panthers 5, Sapulpa Chieftains 1
Niceville Eagles 15m Pryor Tigers 4
Escambia Gators 4, Claremore Zebras 2
Tate Aggies 13, Davidson Academy Bears 1
South-Doyle Cherokees 9, Ponte Vedra Sharks 3
Washington Wildcats 5, Brentwood Bruins 4
Washington Hornets 2, West Florida Jaguars 1
Here is Wednesday’s Aggie Classic schedule:
1:00 – Brentwood Academy Eagles vs. Washington Hornets at Tate
1:00 – Pryor Tigers vs. Knoxville Catholic Irish at Washington
4:00 – Davidson Academy Bears vs. Jay Bulldogs at ECHS
4:00 – Ponte Vedra Sharks vs. Niceville Eagles at Tate
4:00 – Milton Panthers vs. Sallisaw Black Diamonds at UWF
4:00 – Second Baptist School vs. Christ Presbyterian Lions at Washington
4:00 – Brentwwod Bruins vs. Claremore Zebras at WFHS
7:00 – Escambia Gators vs. South-Doyle Cherokees at ECHS
7:00 – Tate Aggies vs. Sapulpa Chieftains at Tate
7:00 – Navarre Raiders vs. Tulsa Union Redskins at UWF
7:00 – Edmond North Huskies vs. Washington Wildcats at Washington
7:00 – Ft.Gibson Tigers vs. West Florida Jaguars at WFHS
Florida (Yes, Florida) DOT Purchases Snow Plows, Salt, Spreaders
March 19, 2014
The Florida Department of Transportation has purchased snow plows, salt and spreaders for use in Northwest Florida. The purchases come on the heels of a freak ice storm in January that paralyzed the area.
The DOT spent $22,000 for five snow plows that will attach to the front of current DOT vehicles, $12,400 for 42 tons of salt, $26,400 for 10 salt spreaders to attach to dump trucks and $26,400 for 4,400 gallons of the ice-melting chemical potassium acetate.
The equipment can be used in mutual aid effort in other areas, and the snow plows can be used to remove beach sand from the roads after strong storms and hurricanes.
Pictured above: One of FDOT’s snow plows. Pictured inset: Two jack-knifed 18-wheelers on an icy Highway 29 south of Century and (below) an impassable Highway 97 near Davisville last January. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
A ‘Final Tribute From A Grateful State’ For Askew
March 19, 2014
In a flag-draped casket topped by a single white rose, former Gov. Reubin Askew lay in state on Tuesday in the historic Old Capitol, the building where the “man of courage” was inaugurated and served as a state legislator more than four decades ago.
A military honor guard carried the body of Askew, who died Thursday at age 85, past a gantlet of dignitaries including three former governors, Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet, the House speaker and the Senate president.
Inside the building, dozens of other high-ranking officials who served beside, beneath or around the Democrat, as well as those whose lives were influenced by him either directly or indirectly, paid their respects to Askew’s family, headed by his widow, onetime First Lady Donna Lou Askew. The couple’s children Kevin Askew and Angela White and several grandchildren were among those in a reception line near Askew’s official portrait, placed at the head of his coffin.
“The final tribute from a grateful state,” read cards commemorating the 37th governor’s lying in state.
Askew was a seminal figure in Florida’s modern history whose policies shaped nearly every facet of the state. Education, the environment, civil rights, the judiciary and “government in the sunshine” were among the legacies the former governor, who served from 1971 to 1979, left behind.
“Gov. Askew would be on the Mount Rushmore of Florida,” said Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican. “He ushered Florida into the modern era, kicking and screaming at times. But he had the vision and boldness to do it.”
Askew, a prim, devout Presbyterian with a deep Southern drawl, was born in Muskogee, Okla., and grew up in the Pensacola area. He represented the region in the state House and Senate for 12 years before running for governor in 1970 and defeating incumbent Gov. Claude Kirk, a Republican. Kirk, who died in 2011, was the last governor to lie in state. His son Erik represented the late governor at Tuesday’s memorial.
Former governors Bob Martinez, Wayne Mixson and Bob Graham, who also served in the U.S. Senate, were all in attendance, as well as former aides Jim Apthorp, Jim Bacchus, Doug Sessions and Guy Spearman; former state Treasurer Bill Gunter; former FDLE Commissioner Jim York; and former Secretary of State Bruce Smathers.
Bacchus, who went to work for Askew at age 24 after covering him as a reporter, said the last promise the man he considered a second father made of him was to deliver the eulogy at his memorial service, which the former congressman will do on Wednesday.
“This will be a challenge. I know what to say. I just don’t know that I’ll be able to say it. But he coupled that request with another request: Keep it short. There is an irony in that. … All of us through the years tried and failed many, many times to get him to keep it short,” Bacchus, who was also Askew’s speechwriter, including during Askew’s brief presidential bid in 1984.
Bacchus recounted how Askew would approve 20-minute speeches, many of which he wrote himself, then veer from them and instead “transform the 20 minutes of the speech into 30 or 40 and then digress for another 30 or 40 minutes before concluding.” Askew grew even more loquacious before he dropped out of the presidential race, Bacchus said.
“He believed that if he could just talk long enough to any one person they would vote for him,” he said. “If I keep it short tomorrow, it will be because I simply won’t be able to get the words out.”
Martinez said he first met Askew in the 1960s and got to know him as “Reubin Who?” — the relatively unknown Askew’s campaign slogan during his run for governor. Martinez, who lost a bid for mayor of Tampa in 1974, said he had given up on politics after leaving the Hillsborough teachers’ union a year later and buying the family business, a large restaurant.
“A month after I bought it, he calls me in the middle of lunch. It was a large restaurant, jammed with people. He said, ‘Bobby, I need for you to sit on the Southwest Florida Water Management District board,’” Martinez told reporters Tuesday, adding that he argued with Askew but the late governor, a lawyer, persuaded him to take the post.
“Had he not done that, I suspect being mayor and governor and drug czar would not have followed, frankly,” said Martinez, who served as Tampa mayor from 1979 until his election as governor in 1986 and was tapped by President George H.W. Bush as drug czar in 1991.
Askew was a “man of courage,” said Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, whose great-grandfather Napoleon Bonaparte Broward served as governor in the early 20th century.
“He did not wait for the issues of his time to be right by anyone else’s standards but his own. He was not going to tolerate racism. He was not going to tolerate any injustice or unfairness. And he was willing to put people in very uncomfortable positions to see if they would be fully committed to their call to public service,” Atwater said Tuesday.
The Florida Senate also honored Askew with a resolution during floor action on Tuesday.
Senators remembered Askew as a calming influence during the turbulent civil rights era who led efforts to institute a corporate-income tax. As governor, Askew shepherded Florida from a sleepy state into a booming, modern tourism hub. He also appointed the first black Supreme Court justice and pushed through a voter-approved open government “Sunshine Amendment” in part to clean up a state government mired in corruption and scandal.
Sen. Gwen Margolis, a Miami Democrat who was elected to the state House during Askew’s first term in office, said Askew integrated the Florida Highway Patrol and increased the homestead exemption to benefit homeowners.
“He was probably the most progressive leader,” she said, adding later, “I was really awed by Reubin Askew. He was an incredible guy.”
Describing Askew as a “consummate Southern gentleman,” Margolis concluded by saying, “He was a progressive good old boy from Pensacola.”
Bacchus, Askew’s son Kevin and Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte will deliver the eulogies at a 2 p.m. memorial service Wednesday at Faith Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee. On Thursday, Askew will lie in repose at his former home church, First Presbyterian Church Pensacola and will be buried with full military honors Friday in Pensacola.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida