Century Extends Term Of Mayor, Council Members; Sets Election Dates
June 14, 2014
The Century Town Council voted Friday afternoon to extend the term of the mayor and two of five council members for an additional year as part of plan to align the town’s election cycles with the rest of the county and state.
With the previous election date cycle, the positions of Mayor Freddie McCall, Council President Ann Brooks and member Annie Savage would be on the ballot in 2015 — when there are no other local elections in the county. The town council voted extend their term expiration dates from January 2016 to January 2017 and put the three seats on the 2016 ballot, coinciding with other local, state, and national elections, including the presidential election.
The council also set 2014 election dates for the council seats currently held by Gary Riley, Jacke Johnston and Sandra McMurray Jackson. If a contest has three or more candidates, a primary election will held on Tuesday, August 26. A runoff, if needed, and the general election will be Tuesday, November 4. Candidate qualifying was set for June 16-June 20.
Pictured top: Century Town Council members (L-R) Ann Brooks, Sandra McMurray Jackson and Jacke Johnston review an elections ordinance during a special meeting Friday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Temporary Repairs Made After Highway 97 Shoulder Collapse Worsens
June 14, 2014
Crews from the Florida Department of Transportation made temporary repairs to a collapsed shoulder on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill.
Back on May 15, the shoulder of Highway 97 about a mile south of Ernest Ward Middle School collapsed in an existing 50-foot deep gully. Sometime Thursday or early Friday, the situation worsened, with a part of a paved shoulder falling into the hole.
“FDOT crews are monitoring the site and adding material to provide a safe environment until a permanent fix can be made,” FDOT spokesperson Tanya Branton said Friday morning.
A large drainage pipe travels under Highway 97 to the site of the collapse and then curved downward along the bank of the gully where it was designed to drain at the bottom. But the pipe apparently separated under the shoulder of the roadway, just beyond a guardrail, and blew out and undermined the shoulder of the road.
There’s no word yet on when a permanent repair will be made.
Pictured top: FDOT crews make temporary repairs to a collapsed shoulder on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill Friday morning. Pictured below: Contractor Transfield Services surveys the collapse after it was discovered in mid-May. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Scott Signs Abortion, Parasailing, E-Cigarette Bills
June 14, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott signed 95 bills into law Friday, including measures to further restrict abortions in Florida, keep electronic cigarettes out of the hands of minors and regulate the commercial parasailing industry.
The new laws, which mostly go into effect July 1, are also designed to draw more private insurers to write flood-insurance coverage in the state, crack down on questionable charity operations and move up the start of the 2016 legislative session from the usual March kickoff to January.
Meanwhile, Scott has not taken action on eight bills that were among 105 sent to him by the Legislature last week.
The bills still on Scott’s desk include proposals (HB 989 and HB 7141) to try to curb human-trafficking in the state and a measure (SB 1030) that would legalize a form of medical marijuana that purportedly does not get users high but which alleviates life-threatening seizures.
As with his other bill signings since the end of the spring session, Scott did the latest paperwork without public fanfare. His daily calendar has recently focused on campaign appearances.
Scott has now taken action on 184 of the 255 bills approved by the Legislature this year. Only one bill, which would have allowed speed limits to be increased on state highways (SB 392), has been vetoed.
Probably the most-controversial bill signed Friday was the abortion measure (HB 1047), which lawmakers approved along almost straight party lines.
The bill defines viability as the stage of development when the life of a fetus is sustainable outside the womb via standard medical measures. It would require physicians to conduct exams before performing abortions to determine if fetuses are viable, and if so, abortions generally wouldn’t be allowed.
Supporters say the measure could prevent abortions around the 20th week of pregnancy, while opponents called it a setback for women’s reproductive rights. Under current law, most abortions are banned during the third trimester of pregnancy.
Former Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich, running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, blasted Scott’s signing of the abortion bill in a fundraising email.
“This is an outrage, and we have to do something,” Rich emailed to supporters. “Florida needs a pro-choice governor, so I need your help.”
Meanwhile, sponsors of bills signed Friday quickly sent out emails touting the new laws.
As an example, Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, thanked Scott after he signed SB 224, which bans the sales of electronic cigarettes to minors, similar to bans on sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
“As a mom, I’m proud of our fight to keep e cigs out of kids’ hands,” Benacquisto, who championed the legislation, tweeted.
Electronic cigarettes have become increasingly popular as they allow users to inhale vaporized nicotine without all the health risks of smoking regular cigarettes. While supporters point to those health benefits, critics of “e-cigarettes” warn that the devices can hook people on nicotine, which could lead to use of other tobacco products.
Also pleased Friday was Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who backed the bill (HB 629) intended to crackdown on charities that may be misusing contributions. He said in a release that the measure “will weed out the bad actors who are defrauding generous givers and thus bring integrity back to Florida’s network of reputable charities.”
The bill is aimed at giving consumers more information about what charities are doing with their contributions — especially those that raise large amounts of money.
The bill would bar groups that broke laws in other states from soliciting money in Florida, ban felons from raising money for charity, increase reporting requirements for larger charities and require information from companies that solicit donations for charities by phone.
A long-sought effort to regulate Florida’s commercial parasailing industry, the White-Miskell Act (SB 320), will require operators to log weather conditions before embarking, forbid operations during severe weather conditions, require operators to be licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard and limit operations near airports.
The law is named after Kathleen Miskell, a 28-year-old Connecticut woman who died in August 2012 after she fell from a harness while parasailing over the ocean off Pompano Beach, and Amber May White, 15, of Belleview, who died in 2007 after a line snapped on a parasail, resulting in her hitting the roof of a hotel.
Parasail operators got on board with the legislation at the urging of Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, after two Indiana teens were videotaped last summer as they were seriously injured parasailing in Panama City Beach.
On another high-profile issue, St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes and Clearwater Republican Rep. Ed Hooper jointly issued a release after Scott signed the bill (SB 542) to expand flood insurance coverage while hopefully lowering costs in the state.
The law, effective immediately, isn’t as flexible as Brandes wanted during session, but he noted in the release “this bill allows Florida to control its own destiny. I look forward to continuing this discussion on flood insurance in future sessions to ensure that Floridians have options that are flexible and secure.”
Lawmakers began looking for ways to expand private coverage after it appeared that tens of thousands of Florida homeowners could get hit with massive increases under the National Flood Insurance Program. Congress has since temporarily alleviated those concerns.
As Scott signed the pile of bills Friday, lawmakers also forwarded 59 additional bills to him. Scott has until June 28 to sign, veto or let those bills become law without any action.
Included in the latest batch are a proposal (HB 89), known as the “warning shot” bill, that would allow people to show guns and fire warning shots if they feel threatened. Also the batch includes a proposed ranking system for funding proposals involving professional sports stadiums (HB 7095) and an expansion of eligibility for the state’s de facto school-voucher system (SB 850).
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Second Arrest In Baby Beating
June 14, 2014
Days after the arrest of a Santa Rosa County man that allegedly beat a baby with his hands and fists, a woman has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Angela Marie Morris, 27, was charged with a felony count of child neglect with great bodily harm and a misdemeanor count of perjury. She was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail Friday with bond set at $20,000.
Joseph Shawn Walker, 27, was arrested last week for felony cruelty toward a child and aggravated child abuse for allegedly striking the six-month old repeatedly because the baby would not stop crying at a baseball park. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that the incident occurred inside a vehicle, not around other people in the ballpark.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to call from the Santa Rosa Medical Center where the 6-month old baby had been taken. The baby suffered a skull fracture, extensive bruising to the head and face area, and bruising to the abdomen shoulders and back. The baby was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital and remains in intensive care.
Morris allegedly provided false information during the investigation. The Sheriff’s Office redacted information from her arrest report that specified what information she provided.
Byrneville’s Kilcrease Wins Retired Educators’ Essay Contest
June 14, 2014
Maille Kilcrease of Byrneville Elementary School was the 2014 winner of the Escambia Retired Educators Association’s annual Fifth Grade Essay Contest. In her essay, Kilcrease wrote about her grandpartents, Donald and Barbara Kilcrease. Maillie Kilcrease (center) is pictured with her teacher Jacke Johnston (left) and Byrneville Principal Dee Wolfe Sullivan during the EREA banquet at New World Landing. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Time To Hit Reset
June 14, 2014
It was a week of resets in Florida, whether in Gov. Rick Scott’s relationship with Hispanic voters or in Florida State University’s beleaguered and increasingly contentious presidential search.
Just a day before U.S. House Republican Leader Eric Cantor lost a Virginia congressional seat after seeming too open to a deal on immigration reform, Scott touched the third rail of GOP politics by signing a bill that would allow some undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Florida colleges and universities. Scott focused on other parts of the “affordability” law in an apparent effort to shield himself from conservative criticism.
Meanwhile, FSU completed a slow-motion reboot of its hunt for a new leader, after an effort to start the process with an exclusive interview of influential Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, turned into a public relations debacle. But segments of the university community still regarded the process warily.
And a bill meant to reset the timeline for Death Row inmates to be executed was upheld by the Florida Supreme Court.
SEE YOU AT BEEF’S
In some ways, a Beef ‘O’ Brady’s makes sense as a setting for a campaign event to tout the governor’s efforts to hold down college tuition. The eating establishment might be one of the few places where college students can afford to grab a sit-down meal.
Some of Scott’s later stops didn’t make quite as much sense; few financially-strapped undergraduates are staying at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.
But the Monday visit to a Beef ‘O’ Brady’s in Southwest Florida was where Scott went first to boast about signing HB 851. The bill dealt with the immigrant tuition issue and also rolled back a law signed by former Gov. Charlie Crist that allowed state universities to get tuition increases from the system’s Board of Governors instead of from the Legislature.
Scott zeroed in on the latter, in no small part because Crist has now become a Democrat and is the incumbent’s most likely challenger in the November election.
“I know what it’s like to work your way through school, but for many kids today, the rising cost of college tuition is making it hard to afford college,” Scott said in the campaign statement. “That’s why it was so important to reverse Charlie Crist’s 15 percent tuition hike and give every student who grows up in Florida the chance to pursue an affordable college education.”
Under the legislation, students who attend secondary school in Florida for at least three years prior to graduation will qualify for in-state tuition, regardless of their immigration status.
And the bill changes the so-called “differential tuition” law signed by Crist. Only the University of Florida and Florida State University now will qualify for such increases, which are capped at 6 percent a year, and only if they meet certain conditions.
On Monday, Democrats tried to use the signing of the bill to remind Latinos that Scott had opposed similar in-state tuition legislation in the past and that his rise to the GOP nomination in 2010 was fueled partly by his promises to crack down on illegal immigration. Scott also vetoed a measure last year that would have allowed some young undocumented Floridians, known as “Dreamers,” to receive driver’s licenses.
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant told The News Service of Florida that Democrats were happy that one of the party’s longstanding priorities was approved.
“But this governor has just signed into law something that he has been adamantly opposed to,” Tant said. ” … This time last year, he vetoed the rights for Dreamers to get a driver’s license so they could actually go to a community college or a university, go to a job so that they could get ahead and suddenly, deathbed conversion, he’s woken up and decided that, well, maybe we ought to allow for in-state tuition for these Dreamers anyway.”
Scott also highlighted a portion of the bill that could save parents money on prepaid tuition contracts that are meant to lock in the costs of a higher education for their children.
“This is a great victory for families who want to ensure their students can get a great education, start a successful career, and live the American dream right here in Florida,” Scott said in a statement issued Wednesday by his campaign.
BILLS GALORE
Scott has spent most of his time on the campaign trail lately. But that didn’t stop him from signing 95 more bills into law Friday, including measures to further restrict abortions in Florida, keep electronic cigarettes out of the hands of minors and regulate the commercial parasailing industry.
The new laws, which mostly go into effect July 1, are also designed to draw more private insurers to write flood-insurance coverage in the state, crack down on questionable charity operations and move up the start of the 2016 legislative session from the usual March kickoff to January.
That left a few bills still on Scott’s desk, including proposals to try to curb human-trafficking in the state and a measure that would legalize a form of medical marijuana that purportedly does not get users high but which alleviates life-threatening seizures.
And lawmakers sent him dozens more Friday.
FINDING A PROCESS FOR FINDING A PRESIDENT
While the tuition to go to Florida State might not be rising quite as quickly anymore, there’s another kind of uncertainty hanging over the Tallahassee campus: what’s going to become of a muddled process meant to find the university’s next president.
After the search became bogged down in negative publicity over the arrangement with Thrasher, and the Faculty Senate issued a vote of no confidence in the search process, William “Bill” Funk, a Dallas-based consultant brought in to help find FSU a new president, abruptly resigned from the job Monday.
Committee Chairman Ed Burr, in a release posted on the Presidential Search Advisory Committee’s website, expressed disappointment about Funk’s resignation.
“Mr. Funk felt he could no longer make the kind of contribution to the search that the university deserves,” Burr said in the release.
Funk’s action came less than a week after Burr reversed the committee’s May 21 decision to pause the process so the panel could first interview Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, for the job. Funk had advised the committee that Thrasher’s aspiration for the job was keeping other desired candidates from wanting to apply.
Burr, who is also an FSU trustee, noted he came to his decision to reopen the search process because additional applications for president had been submitted.
On Wednesday, the committee agreed to have Burr negotiate a contract with Monterey Park, Calif.-based Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates.
Thrasher, however, is still widely considered the front-runner for the job.
Committee member Eric Walker, chairman of the FSU English Department, said bringing in a new search firm and reopening the process should improve the public perception of the search. However, he indicated Thrasher’s desire for the job will continue to make potential applicants pause.
TIME TO PICK THOSE FINAL MEALS
There’s been plenty of political controversy over a 2013 law meant to reduce delays in carrying out the death penalty, but there was little judicial disagreement: The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of the so-called “Timely Justice Act” in a unanimous decision.
Challengers had argued the law would be an unconstitutional infringement on the court system’s authority and separation of powers and violate due-process and equal-protection rights.
With some convicted murderers on Death Row for 30 years or more, lawmakers in 2013 touted the proposed changes as helping more quickly carry out justice. After Scott signed the bill, for example, House Criminal Justice Chairman Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, posted a Twitter message that said, “Several on death row need to start picking out their last meals.”
A few justices, though, said the ruling wouldn’t prevent them from stepping in and safeguarding a defendant’s rights if necessary.
“(This) court is still constitutionally entrusted with the duty to issue a stay of execution if there is a meritorious post-conviction claim pending or, if at the time the warrant is signed, the defendant brings a successive post-conviction challenge that casts doubt on his or her guilt, the integrity of the judicial process, or the validity of the death sentence imposed. … In my view, that remains the essential fail-safe mechanism this court may utilize when necessary to ensure that the ultimate punishment of the death penalty is inflicted in a manner that fully comports with the constitution,” wrote Justice Barbara Pariente, who was joined in a concurring opinion by justices Jorge Labarga and James E.C. Perry.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott signs a bill that would allow some undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates and roll back the state’s “differential tuition” law, then embarks on a campaign tour to underscore his support for higher education affordability
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We are literally looking at an unleashing of a Wild, Wild West of potent marijuana products.”–Calvina Faye, executive director of Drug Free America and part of a new campaign to oppose a medical pot amendment set to be voted on in November.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Two Injured In Highway 97 Single Vehicle Crash
June 13, 2014
Two people were injured in a single vehicle accident on Highway 97 south of Walnut Hill Friday morning.
The driver of Chevrolet Colorado pickup was northbound on Highway 97 north of Tungoil Road when his pickup apparently ran off the road into a ditch, struck a culvert, went airborne, overturned, and came to rest upright in the ditch.
The driver and passenger, both adult males, were transported by Atmore Ambulance to West Florida Hospital in Pensacola. Their conditions were not available.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol; further details have not been released. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
No Injuries In Trash Truck, Pickup Crash
June 13, 2014
There were no serious injuries reported in an accident involving a trash truck Thursday afternoon.
The accident involving a pickup truck and a ECUA truck happened about 3:15 p.m. on Beulah Road at the Perdido Landfill. Both vehicles came to rest on a guardrail. Both drivers reportedly refused Escambia County EMS transport to the hospital.
The Beulah Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the crash. Further details have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Court Rules Against Cities, Red Light Cameras
June 13, 2014
Wading into the controversial issue of red-light cameras, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday sided with motorists who challenged local red-light camera ordinances in Orlando and Aventura.
The case focused on red-light camera programs that the cities began using before approval of a 2010 statewide law that authorized the traffic devices and set requirements.
In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court said the cities did not comply with the state’s traffic laws at the time because of the way they enforced red-light camera violations. The cities used municipal-code enforcement systems that were different than the way state laws said traffic offenders should be punished.
“Each of the ordinances creates a municipal code enforcement system for the disposition of red light violations that is entirely separate from the enforcement system established under (two parts of state law),” said the majority opinion, written by Justice Charles Canady and joined by Chief Justice Ricky Polston and justices R. Fred Lewis, Jorge Labarga and James E.C. Perry.
But Justice Barbara Pariente, in a dissent joined by Justice Peggy Quince, wrote that the majority opinion failed to “take into account the breadth of the home rule authority granted to municipalities by both the Florida Constitution and by statute.”
“Although this subject is of interest to many Floridians, the wisdom and public policy questions regarding the use of red light cameras are not before this court, nor are any potential constitutional issues that may be implicated through the use of these cameras,” Pariente wrote. “Instead, the only issue in this case is the purely legal question of whether municipalities were authorized to enact red light camera ordinances, which imposed municipal fines on drivers for conduct already covered by the Florida Uniform Traffic Control Law, prior to 2010, pursuant to their home rule authority.”
Red-light cameras have been heavily debated in recent years as they have been installed in cities across the state. While supporters say they help traffic safety, critics question, in part, whether the use of the devices is motivated by cities seeking more money from traffic fines.
The Supreme Court took the cases after conflicting rulings by lower courts. The 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld the Aventura ordinance, while the 5th District Court of Appeal struck down the Orlando measure.
The plaintiff in the Orlando case, Michael Udowychenko, challenged the ordinance after getting cited for running a red light in 2009. The Aventura ordinance was challenged by Richard Masone, who also was cited in 2009. The filed the cases, at least in part, to get fines set aside.
State lawmakers in 2010 approved what is known as the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act, the statewide red-light camera law.
But in a footnote in her dissent Thursday, Pariente wrote that the 2010 law had not made the issues in the local cases “moot, particularly given the significant amounts of money that were collected by the cities of Orlando and Aventura pursuant to their then-existing municipal ordinances — which the majority has decided must now be returned to the individuals who violated these ordinances.”
The majority opinion does not explicitly address returning money to motorists, but it upheld the decision by the 5th District Court of Appeal.
That decision said, in a footnote, that a proposed class action had been denied in the Orlando case. It also noted that only Udowychenko had challenged the ordinance and that “others who paid the fine most likely would be barred” by a legal doctrine that often prevents recoveries by people who voluntarily make payments.
by Jim Saunder, The News Service of Florida
Weaver Completes Navy Basic Training
June 13, 2014
Navy Seaman Cody J. Weaver, son of Ricky Weaver of Pensacola and Cassandra E. and stepson of Gene M. Craig of Cantonment recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, IL.
During the eight-week program, Weaver completed a variety of training which included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety. An emphasis was also placed on physical fitness.
The capstone event of boot camp is “Battle Stations”. This exercise gives recruits the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the fleet. “Battle Stations” is designed to galvanize the basic warrior attributes of sacrifice, dedication, teamwork and endurance in each recruit through the practical application of basic Navy skills and the core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment. Its distinctly ”Navy” flavor was designed to take into account what it means to be a Sailor.