Television Show Highlights Northview High FFA Program (With Video)
March 12, 2014
A new Escambia County Television (ECTV) show features the Northview High School FFA.
In the latest edition of Community Crossroads, Commissioner Steven Barry turns his focus to the Northview FFA as the program teaches a variety of lessons from preparing the next generation of farmers to teaching students how to be effective leaders in a variety of areas.
The show will also be airing several times each day on ECTV, Channel 98 on Cox Cable and the Brighthouse Networks, Channel 99 on AT&T Uverse. Those without cable TV in Escambia County man watch the local access channel on the county’s web site.
To watch the 19 minute show, click here.
Pictured: Scenes from the Escambia County TV show “Community Crossroads” featuring the Northview High School FFA. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Bands Shine At District MPA Event
March 12, 2014
Tate High School’s bands performed in the Florida Bandmaster’s Association District Concert Music Performance Assessment this past weekend at Fort Walton Beach High School.
The Concert Band made its debut at the event, earning a split of Excellent and Good ratings. “They carried themselves in a professional manner and performed to the best of their ability,” said Band Director Mike Philley said. “This lays the groundwork for a bright future for this ensemble.”
The Symphonic Band earned an overall Superior rating for the third consecutive year and qualified to participate i n the Florida Bandmaster’s Association State Concert MPA in Tallahassee on April 24.
The Wind Ensemble earned straight Superior ratings for the 28th consecutive year. They also qualified to participate in the FBA State Concert MPA in Tallahassee on April 24th.
“Their performance was one of the best of the weekend and garnered all A’s from judges in every caption,” Philley said of the Wind Ensemble.
Log-A-Load Bass Tourney To Benefit Children’s Hospital
March 12, 2014
The 18th Annual Charity Log A Load for Kids Bass Tournament and Live Auction will be held Saturday, April 12 at Live Oak Landing in Stockton, Ala.
Well over $10,000 in guaranteed prize money will be awarded, including a $3,000 first place prize. The tournament and events will raise funds for Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. Log-A-Load is sponsored by the Florida Forestry Association and the Florida Loggers Council.
Preregister at A-1 Accessories at 700 South Highway 29 in Cantonment, at active.com or register day of the event.
For complete details, click here.
Deputies Seek Info On Burglary Suspects (With Video)
March 12, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information about a burglary that occurred February 27 at Sequel Electric Supply Company on Mason Lane, near Brentwood Elemenetary School.
The suspects cut a hole in a fence and where caught on video as they proceeded to destroy a light fixture and then back a white four door truck in toe the storage area.
To view the surveillance video, click here.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Scott To Sign GI Friendly Bill
March 12, 2014
A wide ranging measure that provides university tuition waivers for veterans, pays for military and National Guard base improvements and allocates $1 million a year to sell the state to veterans is headed to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk, where it is certain to get quick approval.
After awarding more than 50 service medals to veterans during a National Guard Day event in the Capitol courtyard on Tuesday, Scott, a Navy veteran, pledged to sign into law the “Florida GI Bill,” modeled after the World War II-era program.
“I’m excited that the House and Senate, they care to make sure that our military can continue their education at a price they can afford,” Scott said. “It’s a great bill and I look forward to signing it.”
The Senate unanimously approved the measure (HB 7015), a top priority of the combined 2014 “work plan” of Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford, on Tuesday. The House unanimously passed the bill on the first day of the legislative session a week ago, symbolic of its significance to the GOP leaders.
Gaetz, R-Niceville, said the “extraordinarily substantive bill” will make Florida, already home to several military bases and veterans, the “most military-friendly state in the nation.”
The package, expected to cost more than $30 million in its first year, is envisioned as a Florida version of the World War II-era GI Bill crafted to help veterans assimilate into civilian life. The costs include 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.
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, 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 and who died last year.
Since 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 vets from outside of the state to apply to Florida schools.
“We have heard from military communities across our state who let us know Florida can do more to celebrate the service and sacrifice of our military and veterans,” said Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, one of the bill sponsors. “The Florida GI Bill is a product of this input and shows our gratitude to those who have bravely served our country and our communities.”
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 vets to move to Florida and promote the hiring of vets.
The “Florida GI Bill” also expands state and local government hiring preference to veterans, members of the reserves and the Florida National Guard; exempts active duty service members’ spouses and dependents from having to obtain a Florida driver’s license if they work or are enrolled in a public school; and removes a one-year residency requirement for veterans for admission to state nursing homes.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: Gov. Rick Scott meets with members of the National Guard Tuesday in Tallahassee. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Marshals Nab Suspect Wanted Since 1999, Three Other Escambia Fugitives
March 12, 2014
On Tuesday, U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested a 1988 sexual offense suspect in Santa Rosa County and busted three other wanted felons in Escambia County.
A Milton man who was wanted on a 1999 warrant issued 11 years after the alleged crime took place in Michigan was among the arrests.
U.S. Marshals in Michigan were able to determine that James Curtis White, who is wanted by the Michigan State Police for criminal sexual conduct on a victim less than 13 years of age, was most likely living in Santa Rosa County. The Marshals Task Force in Pensacola confirmed that White, who just turned 54 this weekend, was living in a home on the 3200 Block of Electra Drive in the Avalon Beach area of Milton.
U.S. Marshals and task force officers from Santa Rosa and Walton County arrested White without incident at his home. Although the alleged misconduct took place over a period believed to be about 5 months sometime in 1988 in Lansing, MI, the warrant wasn’t issued until 1999. In addition, extradition was limited and only recently was it changed broadening the scope to include Florida. White will remain in custody in Santa Rosa until his extradition to Michigan.
In Escambia County, marshals and task force members from the Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton County Sheriff’s offices arrested 27-year old Reginald Tyrone Carter after he was found hiding in a closet under a pile of clothes in an apartment inside a complex located at the 800 block of Fletcher Drive. Carter was then taken into custody without incident. Carter was wanted by Escambia County for violating his probation which he was serving for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
The task force struck again arresting Mitchell Xavier Wills after they had to break his door down. When the task force entered the apartment, Wills was holding a baby in his arms at which time he was ordered to give the child over to officers then was handcuffed and arrested. Wills, 24, had a federal warrant for violating his probation.
And Tuesday afternoon, marshals finished their day when they captured Christopher Diego Baldwin in a house on the 1200 Block of Capital Boulevard in the Wedgewood community. Baldwin, 22, has been eluding authorities since January and was recently added to the task force’s top wanted Escambia County fugitives. Baldwin has warrants for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a felon in possession of a handgun and improper exhibition of a firearm. Baldwin was found hiding in the backroom of the duplex he was reportedly living in.
Competing Medical Marijuana Proposals In House, Senate
March 12, 2014
Lawmakers in both chambers are advancing proposals that would open the door for a non-euphoric strain of marijuana that backers believe can dramatically reduce seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy.
But the two proposals take very different approaches toward making the strain of cannabis known as “Charlotte’s Web” available to about 125,000 children in Florida who might benefit from the compound. The Senate plan, passed for the first time in a committee on Tuesday, would legalize the substance. In contrast, the House proposal would not decriminalize the product but would provide individuals arrested, investigated or charged with a crime an “affirmative defense” that they could use to prove their innocence in court.
Both proposals deal with Charlotte’s Web, a strain of marijuana low in tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component in marijuana, but high in the derivative cannabidiol, or CBD.
The Senate measure (SB 1030), unanimously approved by the Senate Health Policy Committee on Tuesday, would create a statewide “compassionate use” registry of individuals deemed by their physicians to be eligible for “low-THC” treatment. The Senate plan would also allow users to ingest the substance by vapor, something not expressly permitted in the House version. And it would allow up to four dispensaries to distribute the substance, which could contain no more than .5 percent of THC and at least 15 percent CBD.
Doctors could write the prescriptions for people who suffer from seizure disorders and who do not respond to other treatments, and keep records of how effective the treatment is. Doctors would have to submit quarterly reports about the efficacy of the treatment to the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, which would conduct research on the reports. The Senate plan would set aside $1 million to cover the research.
Under the House plan (HB 843), people who have strains of marijuana that contain .8 percent or less of THC and more than 10 percent of CBDs, along with the seeds of the plant, would have an “affirmative defense” available to them if they are caught with the substance or charged with a crime. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, the bill’s sponsor, said he hopes that law-enforcement officials and prosecutors won’t go after families, growers or doctors involved with Charlotte’s Web. The House version also allows for higher concentrations of THC and lower concentrations of CBD, which supporters say would treat more types of neurological diseases than the Senate’s more restrictive levels.
As in previous hearings on the hybrid, the Senate panel heard from parents who believe their children would benefit from the treatment — and fear they could die without it.
Peyton and Holley Moseley’s 11-year-old adopted daughter RayAnn is one of about 125,000 Florida children diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that can cause hundreds of seizures a day and does not respond to other treatments. The couple traveled to Colorado, where Charlotte’s Web is manufactured, and met with the child for whom the hybrid is named, who can now walk and talk.
“And that’s why I’m here today, to ask for that opportunity for RayAnn and other children in Florida,” Holley Moseley said.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley, a former prosecutor, said that lawmakers need to do something to help the “wonderful, inspirational parents” who are looking to the Legislature for help.
“Any law that would define them as criminals defies common sense and is a law that should be changed,” Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said.
GOP leaders in both the House and the Senate support the concept of making the non-euphoric pot available to parents whose children are wracked with hundreds of seizures a day and which can be fatal.
And many Republican lawmakers are galvanizing support around Charlotte’s Web — which doesn’t get users high and isn’t smoked — as a more acceptable alternative to the medical marijuana question that will go before voters in November. The proposed constitutional amendment — bankrolled by Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan, who is also Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist’s boss — would let doctors write prescriptions for severely ill patients. Republicans insist the amendment gives doctors too much discretion over who is eligible for the pot treatment and, if passed, would result in “pot shops on every corner.”
Some GOP holdouts are reluctant to legalize any form of pot for personal and political reasons. Some fear that voters will interpret authorization of Charlotte’s Web as tacit approval of traditional medical marijuana. Others are concerned that the House proposal lacks the details necessary to ensure that the product delivered to patients is controlled and regulated.
“I’m still cautiously optimistic that we can thread the needle so that we can help these families in some way and yet not abandon our whole understanding of drug safety and dosage and testing. It has its troubles. But it does protect consumers. We need to handle it very cautiously,” said House Judiciary Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
Flomaton Man Arrested For Drugs In Store Parking Lot
March 12, 2014
A 21-year old Flomaton man was busted for drugs in the parking lot of closed East Brewton Fred’s store.
Michael Dyeniel Knight of 1002 Titi Street was charged with first degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a concealed weapon without a permit.
East Brewton Police Officers reportedly found him in a vehicle after hours in the store parking lot along with a large quantity of marijuana and a loaded gun.
Lawmakers Roll Foward E-Cigarette Bans
March 12, 2014
Minors wouldn’t be able to buy electronic cigarettes under one proposal ready for a full Senate vote and another working its way through House committees. The Senate on Tuesday teed up its measure (SB 224), sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, for a full vote as early as March 20.
The bill would add nicotine dispensing devices, but not nicotine patches, to the list of tobacco products prohibited for sale to people under age 18. The bill also would make it illegal for minors to possess electronic cigarettes and associated products.
Hours later, the House Government Operations Appropriations Committee unanimously supported a similar proposal (HB 169) that would ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors and would also create statewide regulations that supersede local-government rules regarding the products.
“We cannot have 415 cities and 67 different counties having different types of e-cigarette laws,” said Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, one of the bill’s sponsors. Florida League of Cities lobbyist Casey Cook expressed concern that the bill would remove existing ordinances that in some cases control where products are placed.
“If you sell tobacco products, they have to be located behind the counter. This preemption would do away with that,” Cook said.
Artiles said the issue would be addressed before the bill reaches its next committee stop. The electronic cigarettes, which dispense nicotine through a vaporizer, are viewed by some as more acceptable than smoking. But critics, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, argue that e-cigarettes with flavors like bubble gum and banana are likely to appeal to youths and could get them addicted to nicotine or hooked on smoking at early ages.
District 5 Residents Express Concerns About Roads, Transportation At Town Hall
March 11, 2014
Roads and transportation were hot topics Monday evening as Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry held a town hall meeting in Barrineau Park.
Several residents told the commissioner about dirt roads that need paving, or existing paved roads that need widening or improvement.
Barry said an existing project was underway to widen Jacks Branch Road with pave shoulders, a much needed project, he said, “because everyone knows someone that has been hurt in an accident there”. Work is also progressing, he said, toward paving Barrineau Park Road to the Perdido River to join with Baldwin County’s paved road. On that project, a purchase order has been awarded for about $260,000. The project should begin in 30-45 days and complete within another 120 days, or towards the end of summer.
Escambia County Public Works Director Wes Moreno said other paving projects were underway or planned for Enon School Road, Brickyard Road, McKinnonville Road, Blake Street, Eastman Lane and Chalker Road, among others. He said the county does as much of the prep work as possible, contracting out the actual paving. When the county did the prep work a section of Bratt Road that was recently paved, taxpayer saved about $300,000, or about 40 percent, versus an all-contractor job.
Resident Bonnie Exner express her appreciation to the county for using old schools as community centers, while another resident expressed his displeasure in ECAT public transportation, saying that residents that ride the bus should pay a higher fare that covers the actual expense of their trip.
ECAT provides one route in District 5 — a three times per day mini bus with stops in Ensley, Cantonment, Molino and Century. District 5 residents with their own vehicles often face the longest commutes to work in the county, Barry said, adding that a four-cent gas tax for ECAT that was approved prior to him taking office was not necessarily fair for District 5 residents. The tax went into effect January 1. Barry said ECAT needs to increase ridership to help supplement their costs.
Resident Ted Brown suggest more “park and ride” lots to be used as central meeting points for commuters that take part in carpools.
Also at Monday’s town hall meeting at the Barrineau Park Community Center, Barry presented plaque to Ruth Gordon. She worked to have an unused classroom building at the Molino Community Complex re-purposed for Head Start, which will relocate there next school year from Cantonment. She also served as the District 5 member on the West Florida Regional Library Blue Ribbon Task Force Committee.
Pictured top: Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry addresses a town hall meeting Monday evening at the Barrineau Park Community Center. Pictured top inset: Escambia County Public Works Director Wes Moreno discusses dirt road paving. Pictured bottom inset: Barry presents an appreciation plaque to Ruth Gordon who served on a library task force. Pictured below: Numerous residents attended the meeting. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
