Century Receives $50,000 Grant For New Playground Equipment
June 8, 2014
The Town of Century has received a $50,000 state grant to renovate the existing playground area at Showalter Park.
Last fall, the town followed a recommendation from the Century Recreation Advisory Committee a submitted two Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program applications. In addition to the Showalter renovation grant, the town also applied for a $125,000 grant to install a splash pad at the Anthony Pleasant Sportsplex, but that grant was not approved.
FRDAP is a competitive program which provides grants to local governments for outdoor recreational projects. The grants are administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Pictured: The existing wood playground equipment at Showalter Park in Century. The town has received a $50,000 state grant to purchase new playground equipment. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Grad Baldwin Completes Basic Military Training
June 8, 2014
Air Force Airman Henry J. Baldwin graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Baldwin earned distinction as an honor graduate.
He is the grandson of Joy and Henry Baldwin of Pensacola.
The airman is a 2012 graduate of Northview High School.
Monday Is Deadline For Escambia Applications For Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance
June 8, 2014
Residents of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties who were unemployed as a result of the severe storms and flooding have until Monday to apply for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits.
Recovery officials advise storm survivors that these deadlines apply to disaster unemployment only. Other forms of disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency still may be available until July 7. To be eligible for disaster aid, however, storm survivors must register with FEMA by going online to DisasterAssistance.gov, via smartphone at m.fema.gov or by phone at 800-621-3362 on Monday. Survivors who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability can call TTY 800-462-7585.
The disaster unemployment assistance program, which is administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, extends coverage to self-employed individuals, part-time workers, farm workers and others who have lost employment as a direct result of the disaster and do not qualify for regular re-employment assistance benefits.
To be eligible for either regular state re-employment assistance or federal disaster unemployment assistance, the applicant must be a legal resident. An individual must not be entitled to regular state re-employment assistance, must have been working in or residing in a county, for which the disaster has been officially designated, or the individual was scheduled to start work and the job no longer exists, or the job became inaccessible as a direct result of the disaster.
State Appeals Court Backs Teen In Abortion Notification Case
June 8, 2014
A state appeals court has approved a request by a 17-year-old high-school honors student to receive an abortion without her parents being notified, overturning a decision of a Hillsborough County circuit judge.
The ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal was the second case in a week stemming from a 2004 constitutional amendment that requires parents to be notified before their minor daughters can have abortions.
The voter-approved amendment and subsequent laws created a process for minors to go to court to seek to prevent notification, a process known as receiving a “waiver.” In Tuesday’s decision, the appeals court found that the teen, identified only as Jane Doe, had met her legal burden for receiving a waiver. It said a circuit judge disregarded the teen’s testimony that she had researched the abortion procedure and risks and also apparently discounted her testimony that she had considered alternatives.
“Jane Doe is almost 18-years old and a high school honors student,” said the appeals-court opinion, written by Judge Edward LaRose and joined by Judge Douglas Wallace. “She plans to attend college in the fall. She testified that her current condition would impact adversely her future plans. She also testified that her parents were strict, controlling, and demanding. At times they acted out of spite toward her. She feared that they would disown her if notified of her pregnancy.”
But Judge Anthony Black dissented, arguing that the case should be sent back to another circuit judge. A different panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal last week upheld a circuit judge’s decision to deny a waiver for another pregnant teen.
by The News Service of Florida
Vendors, Entertainers Needed For Twin Cities Watermelon Festival
June 8, 2014
Flomaton and Century are planning the Twin Cities First Annual Watermelon Festival. The event is planned for Saturday, June 28 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Showalter Park in Century.
The festival will include family fun, craft booths, food, entertainment and more.
Vendors and entertainers are needed. Vendors should click here for a booth application. Interested entertainers should call Kim at Century Town Hall at (850) 256-3208 or email kgodwin@centuryflorida.us.
The Twin Cities First Annual Watermelon Festival is sponsored in part by NorthEscambia.com.
Weekend Gardening: Expert Tips For The Month Of June
June 8, 2014
Here are gardening tips for the month of June from the Florida Extension Service:
Flowers
- Annuals to plant include celosia, coleus, crossandra, hollyhock, impatiens (pictured above), kalanchoe, nicotiana, ornamental pepper, portulaca, salvia, torenia, vinca and zinnia.
- Sow seeds of sunflowers. They are easy to grow if you have a sunny spot. Look for some of the new, dwarf varieties that can also be used as cut flowers.
- Remove old blooms (deadheading) to make flowers bloom longer.
- Allow the foliage on spring bulbs to grow. Do not cut it off until it turns yellow and falls over.
Trees and Shrubs
- Mature palms should receive an application of granular fertilizer. Use a special palm fertilizer that has an 8-2-12 +4Mg (magnesium) with micronutrients formulation. Apply one pound of fertilizer per 100 sq ft of canopy area or landscape area.
- Do any necessary pruning of junipers this month.
- Finish pruning the spring flowering shrubs such as azaleas, camellias, spiraeas, wisteria and forsythia by early June.
- This is the month to reproduce plants by budding.
- Check mulch around ornamental plants to be sure it’s two inches thick. Add mulch as needed to help keep weeds down and conserve water. Keep mulch one to two inches away from trunk or stem.
- Inspect maple trees, especially silver maple for infestations of maple soft scale. Look for a white substance with some black on one end. Individual maple scales are about 1/4 inch in diameter and resemble bird droppings. They occur mostly on leaves and can cause defoliation unless controlled.
- Inspect the undersides of azalea leaves for spider mites and lace bugs. If dry weather conditions exist, these insects can do some serious damage if not controlled.
- Check conifers for signs of bagworms. Call your local Extension Service for control measures.
Fruits and Nuts
- Harvest peaches, nectarines and plums as soon as they mature, before the squirrels and birds get to them
Vegetable Garden
- Side dress vegetable gardens with fertilizer containing nitrogen and potassium. A fertilizer such as a 15-0-15 can be used. Use approximately 2-3 cupfuls (1 to 1 ½ pounds) per 100 feet of row.
- Increase watering frequency and amount as tomatoes load up with fruit.
- Vegetables that can be planted outdoors include eggplant, lima beans, okra, southern peas, peppers and sweet potatoes.
- Sweet potatoes are started from plants or “draws”. Be sure to purchase only certified weevil free sweet potato plants.
- Check for the following pests and control them if necessary: tomato fruitworm, stinkbugs on vegetables and aphids on all new growth
Lawns
- Check for the lawn pests and control them if necessary: Spittlebugs in centipedegrass. They are more attracted to especially lush areas of the yard such as along septic drain fields and in areas where excessive nitrogen fertilizer has been used. Chinch bugs in St. Augustinegrass Sod webworm in all turf
- Start monitoring for mole cricket infestations and prepare for treatment.
Bacon And Eggs: Food Prices Up Slightly In Survey
June 8, 2014
Higher retail prices for several food items used to prepare breakfast, including bacon, eggs and bread, among other foods, resulted in a slight increase in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s latest Semi-Annual Marketbasket Survey.
The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $53.27, up $1.73 or about 3.5 percent compared to a survey conducted a year ago. Of the 16 items surveyed, 10 increased, five decreased and one remained the same in average price.
“Several typical breakfast items increased in price, accounting for much of the modest increase in the marketbasket,” said John Anderson, AFBF’s deputy chief economist. “The 3.5 percent increase shown by our survey tracks closely with Agriculture Department’s forecast of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent food inflation for 2014,” he said.
Items showing retail price increases from a year ago included bacon, up 12 percent to $4.80 per pound; ground chuck, up 10 percent to $4.10 per pound; white bread, up 10 percent to $1.81 for a 20-ounce loaf; sirloin tip roast, up 9 percent to $5.03 per pound; eggs, up 8 percent to $1.98 per dozen; whole milk, up 6 percent to $3.68 per gallon; chicken breasts, up 6 percent to $3.51 per pound; flour, up 5 percent to $2.76 for a 5-pound bag; toasted oat cereal, up less than 1 percent to $2.93 for a 9-ounce box; and Russet potatoes, up less than one-half of 1 percent to $2.70 for a 5-pound bag.
These items showed modest retail price decreases: bagged salad, down 4 percent to $2.61 per pound; deli ham, down 3 percent to $5.21 per pound; apples, down 3 percent to $1.59 per pound;
vegetable oil, down 2 percent to $2.85 for a 32-ounce bottle; and orange juice, down 1 percent to $3.24 per half-gallon.
Shredded cheddar cheese remained the same in price compared to a year ago, at $4.47 per pound.
Price checks of alternative milk and egg choices not included in the overall marketbasket survey average revealed the following: 1/2 gallon regular milk, $2.46; 1/2 gallon rBST-free milk, $3.87; 1/2 gallon organic milk, $3.97; and 1 dozen “cage-free” eggs, $3.33.
The year-to-year direction of the marketbasket survey tracks closely with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index report for food at home. As retail grocery prices have increased gradually over time, the share of the average food dollar that America’s farm and ranch families receive has dropped.
“Through the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures for food eaten at home and away from home, on average. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now about 16 percent, according to the Agriculture Department’s revised Food Dollar Series,” Anderson said.
Using the “food at home and away from home” percentage across-the-board, the farmer’s share of this $53.27 marketbasket would be $8.52.
According to USDA, Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food, the lowest average of any country in the world.
Wahoos, Biscuits Split Doubleheader
June 8, 2014
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos split their doubleheader with the Montgomery Biscuits on Saturday night at Riverwalk stadium in Montgomery. The Wahoos overcame a late 3-1 deficit to win the first game 4-3, before falling short behind a tremendous start from Jon Mostcot, 1-0, in the second game.
Brodie Greene led the Wahoos offense in game one by going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Greene provided an RBI single in the top of the seventh to pull the Blue Wahoos within one, before Rey Navarro doubled home two, giving Pensacola a 4-3 lead. Justin Freeman (S, 1) slammed the door shut in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.
Robert Stephenson (W, 3-5) started for Pensacola, he allowed 3 R/ER over 6.0 innings and walked three and struck out three to earn his third win of the year. Andrew Bellatti (L, 1-4) was charged with two of the three ninth inning runs out of the bullpen. He suffered his fourth loss of the year and his first blown save of the season.
In the second game both starting pitchers matched each other all game long. Moscot (L, 4-4) had just one blemish, despite allowing just two hits and facing only one batter over the minimum. He surrendered a solo home run to Taylor Motter, just actived before the game from the disabled list, in the fifth inning. The homer snapped string of 11 straight batters retired by the Blue Wahoos starter. He retired 17-of-19 he faced for the game.
Offensively, Pensacola was unable to mount a threat against Dylan Floro (W, 6-5). The Blue Wahoos scattered their three hits and never got a runner past second base. Floro earned his sixth win of the year. Moscot was the hard-luck loser despite allowing just two baserunners all game to go with four strikeouts.
The series continues with the fourth of five games Sunday evening. The Blue Wahoos send RHP Mikey O’Brien (2-3, 4.43) to the mound against Biscuits RHP Roberto Gomez (1-3, 6.00). First pitch is set for 5:35 from Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery.
by Tommy Thrall
One Injured In Highway 29, Bluff Springs Road Accident
June 7, 2014
One person was injured in a two-vehicle crash Saturday morning on Highway 29 at Bluff Springs Road.
Their injuries were not considered serious, and they were transported to Jay Hospital by Escambia EMS. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the call.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
McDonald’s Robbery Under Investigation
June 7, 2014
A robbery last night at a Pensacola Boulevard McDonald’s is under investigation.
Two men reportedly held up the restaurant at gunpoint just before 10 p.m. Friday. A witness said the two male suspects were wearing bandanas when they entered business and demanded cash before fleeing the restaurant.
A manhunt by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office followed in the area around the restaurant, which is located at Pensacola Boulevard and West Burgess Road, . There’s was no word from the Sheriff’s Office of any suspect descriptions.
Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call Crimestoppers at (850) 433-STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.