An Early Spring? North Escambia Weather Ducks Miss Shadow
February 2, 2014
On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil, the world famous groundhog, saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter. But our local weather guys, the NorthEscambia.com Weather Ducks, missed their shadow Sunday morning and predicted an early spring.
Forklore says that if the groundhog sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, it means six more weeks of winter. We did not have a groundhog handy for a photo, but we did have the NorthEscambia.com Weather Ducks (pictured above).
And unlike like their more famous Pennsylvania weather buddy, our weather ducks also did not see their shadow Sunday morning here in North Escambia.
For those that might be a little unsure as the weather ducks’ ability, we offer the two photographs below showing the weather ducks predicting six more weeks of winter on Groundhog Day 2010 and 10 days later with their snowman in Atmore.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Rogue FDLE Chemist In Escambia County May Have Compromised Hundreds Of Drug Cases
February 2, 2014
A chemist at a Pensacola crime lab could have compromised hundreds of state drug cases, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said Saturday.
As a result, FDLE has begun a criminal investigation and a statewide review of all crime-laboratory drug evidence.
The investigation was triggered by the discovery that prescription pain pills had gone missing from the evidence room at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The missing drugs had been replaced with over-the-counter medications, prompting Escambia Sheriff David Morgan and State Attorney Bill Eddins of the 1st Judicial Circuit to call in FDLE.
On Thursday, Bailey said, investigators determined that each case involving missing drugs had been analyzed by the same chemist.
The chemist, who has been relieved of his duties but not charged, processed 2,600 cases for 80 law-enforcement agencies spanning 12 judicial circuits and 35 Florida counties since 2006. The cases mostly affect counties in North and West Florida, but extend as far south as Monroe County.
Bailey said the motive was unclear. “It could be personal use. It could be trafficking,” he said. “We don’t know.”
He said there was no indication the motive was to compromise any criminal cases, but that could be the effect.
Beginning Monday, FDLE teams will be deployed to inspect all evidence handled by the chemist. Each regional special agent in charge is contacting local law-enforcement leaders and state attorneys regarding pending cases.
“We’re going to start from zero,” Bailey said.
In addition to the investigation, FDLE will review its laboratory protocols to prevent a recurrence. Bailey said FDLE currently administers a drug test upon hiring and, after that, “for cause.”
“We’re going to look at the rules and regs governing drug testing,” he said. “But again, we don’t know that this chemist was actually ingesting drugs.”
Bailey also said he had spoken with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who offered the services of the Office of Statewide Prosecution.
The commissioner said he’d been advised not to release the name of the chemist, who is being compelled to use paid annual leave until his status is resolved.
“As soon as the state attorney sees that what is there is what we think is there, we are going to hurdle the bureaucratic obstacles and he will be terminated,” Bailey said.
Bailey said he was shocked by the discovery and wouldn’t have suspected the employee, who isn’t cooperating with the investigation.
“The chemist has lawyered up,” Bailey said.
Heating Bill Assistance Offered To Low Income Residents
February 2, 2014
The Community Action Program Committee is offering assistance with heating bills for low income Escambia County (FL) residents.
Application packets will be accepted as follows:
- Cantonment – Monday, February 3 at 7 a.m. at the Greater First Baptist Church at 591 Booker Street
- Century - Monday, February 3 at noon at the Century Ag Building, Highway 4 West at Industrial Boulevard
- Pensacola – Tuesday, February 4 at 8 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Warrington at 18 South Merritt Street
Anyone requesting assistance must be income eligible and on time to receive services. For additional questions please contact the Community Action office at (850)438-4021.
Weekend Gardening: February Tips
February 2, 2014
Here are gardening tips for the month of February from the Santa Rosa Extension Service:
Flowers
- Re-fertilize cool season flowerbeds, using a liquid or granular form of fertilizer. Be careful not to apply excessive amounts and keep granules away from the base of stems.
- Prepare flowerbeds for spring planting by adding and incorporating soil amendments like mushroom compost, manure or homemade compost. Till or spade the bed to incorporate the amendments with the existing soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Allow the prepared bed to lie undisturbed for 3 to 4 weeks before planting. This provides time for some important biological activity to take place, and new plants are less likely to suffer from stem and root rots as a result. Have a soil test done. Sometimes lime is needed. However, a lime application should be made only if the need is revealed by the test.
- Replenish mulch in flowerbeds.
- Prune rose bushes.
Trees and Shrubs
- February is possible the best month for rejuvenation of old, overgrown shrubs. When pruned now, plants have an entire growing season to recover.
- Prune summer flowering deciduous shrubs such as Althea and Hibiscus. Since they flower on current season’s growth, flowering can actually be enhanced by proper pruning
- Do NOT prune the spring flowering shrubs yet. Azaleas, Spiraeas and Forsythia flower during early spring because buds were formed last summer and fall. Pruning in February would therefore remove most of the flower buds.
- Cold damaged trees and shrubs should NOT be pruned until new growth appears. You want to preserve as much healthy plant material as possible.
- Replenish mulch in shrub beds
- Finish planting ornamental and fruit trees.
Fruits and Nuts
- Fertilize established pecan trees. Use a “special pecan fertilizer” that contains zinc. Use 2 lbs. for every year of age of the tree up to a maximum of 55 lbs. Broadcast the fertilizer evenly beneath the tree.
- Fertilize established peach, plum, pear, persimmon, apple and fig. Apply about 1 ½ lbs of a 10-10-10 (or similar) fertilizer for each year of age of the tree until a maximum of 10 to 15 lbs. per tree is reached.
- Blueberries are very sensitive to nitrogen and can be killed easily, particularly when they are young. Fertilize only if your goal is to increase yield or berry size. An annual application of 2 ounces of a special “azalea/camellia” or “special blueberry” type fertilizer per plant in February is ample fertilizer on 2-year-old plants.
- Prune muscadine grapes between mid-February to mid-March. A standard method is to allow 2 to 4 node spurs spaced every 6 inches of cordon. You may notice that pruning cuts bleed, but there is no evidence that this is injurious to the vine.
- Grapes (bunch and muscadine) should be fertilized at the rate of 1 ½ lbs of 10-10-10 for each year of age with a maximum of 5 lbs per plant applied in late February.
- Last call for planting fruit trees! Most fruit trees such as pecans, plums, persimmons, figs, peaches and nectarines are shipped bare roots and should be planted during the dormant season.
- Apply a spray containing horticultural oils emulsion to dormant fruit trees and ornamental shrubs. Follow label directions carefully.
Vegetable Garden
- Several winter vegetables can still be successfully grown by starting them this month. Plant beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, collards, endive/escarole, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, parsley, English peas, radish and turnips.
- Plant Irish potatoes. Purchase certified seed potatoes rather than using the grocery store kinds. Use 2-ounce seed pieces with eyes and plant them 3 to 4 inches deep.
- Prepare spring vegetable and herb beds for planting by adding and incorporating soil amendments like mushroom compost, manure or homemade compost. Wait 3 to 4 weeks before planting.
Lawns
- Hold off on fertilizing the lawn. It is still too early for an application of nitrogen containing product. Cold temperatures and lack of plant response would likely result in wasted fertilizer. However, your winter weeds would benefit greatly.
Eat Out Tuesday Night, Help The NHS Band
February 2, 2014
Mark your calendar to eat out Tuesday night and help the Northview High School Tribal Beat Band.
Whataburger in Century will donate 20 percent of their sales from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday to the band. There will also be games and a drawing for a free Whataburger each week for an entire year.
Plus, some Northview High School band members have been invited to help serve food.
(Due to the winter storm, this event was postponed from last Thursday.)
Northview Chiefs Win Washington Preseason Tourney
February 2, 2014
The Northview Chiefs won the Washington High School Preseason Tournament this weekend.
The Lady Chief beat Washington Friday night 16-8 to earn a spot in the championship game. The Chiefs then went on to beat the Pensacola High School Tigers 9-3 for the tourney title.
Saturday, Penny Banda had an in the park home run for the Lady Chiefs. Mallory Ryan earned the win for the Lady Chiefs allowing eight hits, striking out eight and walking two.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Gloves Come Off In Governor’s Race
February 2, 2014
Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democrats Charlie Crist and Nan Rich came out swinging on Wednesday at the first event where all three gubernatorial candidates appeared in advance of the November election.
Scott used the release of his election-year budget proposal to take aim at his predecessor without calling out Crist by name, accusing his opponent of “raiding” state reserves while hiking taxes during Crist’s four years as Republican governor.
“Over the last three years, we have cut taxes 24 times and now we are going to give another $500 million back to Florida families,” Scott told editors and reporters at The Associated Press’s annual legislative planning session. “Our tax record in these four budgets represents a sharp contrast to the four budgets before we took office. We have cut taxes dozens of times. But the previous four budgets raised taxes by over $2 billion.”
Crist, who became a Democrat in late 2012, questioned Scott’s ethics and slammed Scott for slashing education spending in his first two years on the job.
“Now he’s trying to fool the people of Florida with an election-year transformation. I don’t believe Florida’s going to get fooled a second time,” Crist said.
Rich, a former Senate minority leader, lumped both governors together and said that Scott’s “bad” policies were rooted in those of his GOP predecessors Crist and Jeb Bush.
“While you will hear a lot of new promises…nothing tells you what a politician will do quite like what he or she has done. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist have had their chance to lead. I believe they have failed,” Rich said.
But Crist largely ignored Rich and instead slammed the incumbent, beginning with Scott’s tenure as CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA. After Scott left the firm, it paid a record $1.7 billion in fines, fees and damages in a settlement for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. The fraud occurred while Scott was CEO but he left the firm days after the feds raided company offices.
“Floridians need to be reminded who I’m running against. This is a guy who headed a company that ended up having to pay the largest fine for fraud in the history of the United States of America at the time. To me that is stunning…and unconscionable,” Crist said. “I’m going to talk about it every day.”
Crist said he would focus his campaign on “ethics, education, the environment and the economy,” the same platform as his first bid for office when he ran for the state Senate in 1992.
Scott, meanwhile, contrasted his budget with repeated digs about what took place before he took office in 2011.
“Florida shed more than 800,000 jobs in the four years before I took office. Taxes increased, debt increased and the unemployment rate rose to 11.4 percent, all while hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost. Florida was in a hole and for four years, there was just more digging,” he said.
When Scott took office in 2011, economic development experts told him that “not only was Florida not competitive for big jobs projects, but we were often not even considered,” he said. “Today — that has all changed.”
But Crist countered that he wants to “create good jobs” for Floridians.
“You do that by thinking big, not thinking small,” he said.
Crist also appealed to his audience, editors and reporters often frustrated by Scott’s unavailability or the governor’s habit of staying on message when answering questions from the media.
“Four years ago you had a governor that liked to talk to you and liked to answer your questions. … I’ll go to all your editorial boards. Now there’s a difference,” he said, referring to Scott’s snubbing of editorial boards when he campaigned for governor in 2010.
Scott also boasted that his budget pays back money into state reserves Crist “raided,” something Crist and the GOP-dominated Legislature used to plug billion-dollar gaps in the state budget during Florida’s economic downturn.
“He raided the taxpayers. His company … had to pay a $1.7 billion fine for fraud. That’s a raid,” Crist told reporters before leaving the Capitol.
Rich portrayed herself as the lone candidate with a history of supporting abortion rights, gay marriage, gay adoption, an increase in the minimum wage and stronger gun regulations.
“It’s pretty clear that Rick Scott doesn’t share these values and frankly there aren’t any other candidates that have the track record that I have … and yes, I’m referring to Charlie Crist,” she said. “I stand on my record. I think he has rewritten his.”
Crist shrugged off criticism from Rich for refusing to debate her, saying he is concentrating on defeating Scott.
“I don’t know. I have all the respect in the world for Sen. Rich. She’s a wonderful person. She’s a great Democrat. And she’s a dear friend. I am focused on defeating Rick Scott. I’ve got to spend the energy doing what I need to do. It’s a Herculean task. It’s like David and Goliath financially, to tell you the truth. So I’m working every day to defeat Rick Scott because I want Floridians to be back in that mansion because if I win, they win. And if he wins, I think they lose,” he said.
by The News Service of Florida
Habitual Traffic Offender That Hit Deputy’s Cruiser Is Sentenced
February 1, 2014
A convicted habitual traffic offender has been sentenced to 12 months probation after hitting an Escambia County deputy’s cruiser during an April traffic stop near Bratt.
The deputy stopped 31-year old Willie Wade Steverson of Atmore for speeding on West Highway 4 at Canoe Creek, about 2.5 miles east of Northview High School, about 8:20 a.m. on April 18. Steverson stopped his Mitsubishi Galant on a moderate incline, several feet in front of the deputy, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. At some point, Steverson removed his foot from his brake, and his vehicle rolled backwards into the deputy’s cruiser.
Steverson was arrested for driving with a suspended license as a habitual traffic offender, a felony charge. After a no contest plea, Judge Joel W. Boles withheld adjudication in sentencing Steverson to 12 months probation and ordering him to pay $568 in costs and fees.
A short time after being sentenced to probation, Steverson was arrested again on third degree petit theft charges. Now he’s facing a violation of probation hearing next month in the traffic accident case in addition to the theft charge.
There were no injuries in the accident. Damage to the deputy’s cruiser was unnoticeable, while Steverson’s vehicle suffered only very minor damage.
Pictured: A convicted habitual traffic offender was jailed in April after his vehicle rolled backwards into an Escambia County deputy’s cruiser on West Highway 4 at Canoe Creek. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Emergency Rooms See Numerous Ice-Related Injuries
February 1, 2014
Our winter ice storm sent a lot of people to the emergency room for falls.
Over a two-day period, Sacred Heart’s ER treated nearly 70 people for slip and fall related injures. They ranged in age from children to senior citizens. Many of the injuries occurred as the patients walked in their own yards.
Sacred Heart also said they had expected to see numerous car accident victims. But those numbers were down, probably because most people heeded the warnings and stayed off the roads.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Scott Proposes Hurricane Holiday; Tops $500 Million In Tax, Fee Cuts
February 1, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott reached his proposed $500 million in election-year tax and fee cuts as he rolled out his support for a 15-day hurricane sales-tax holiday projected to save taxpayers $20 million.
If approved, it would be the first sales-tax holiday on hurricane supplies since 2007.
“This tax holiday will allow families to better protect and safeguard their homes during a storm,” Scott said in a prepared statement.
The recommended discount pushes Scott’s tax- and fee-cut proposals to an estimated $514 million for the upcoming legislative session.
The bulk of the savings would come through a $401 million proposal to cut a controversial 2009 hike in vehicle registration fees. That hike was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Scott’s potential November gubernatorial challenger Charlie Crist, who is running this year as a Democrat.
Scott will also ask lawmakers — as they craft the fiscal plan for the next year — to extend a popular three-day back-to-school sales tax holiday on clothes, supplies and electronics to 10 days, and to shave about $33 million in state revenue by cutting approximately 50 different corporate filing fees.
The school sales tax has been estimated as being a $60 million hit to state and local revenue.
The hurricane season holiday was enacted from 2005 through 2007, following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons in which seven named storms made landfall in Florida. But as the housing market went bust, and state coffers were no longer flush, the idea of the storm season tax break was set adrift.
The governor’s hurricane-tax holiday proposal tops a 12-day tax break period included in a measure (SB 362) filed by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island.
In November, state economists, sitting as the Revenue Estimating Conference, projected that Bradley’s proposal would save taxpayers about $3.8 million.
At the time, economists said the calculation was difficult as many Floridians already have the storm-preparation items around the house as standard parts of hurricane kits.
Items that would be free of the sales tax during the period would include flash lights and other self-powered lights selling for $20 or less; portable self-powered radios, two-way radios, or weather band radios that sell for $50 or less; tarps or other flexible waterproof sheeting that sells for less than $50; first-aid kits that cost under $30; packets of AA, C, D, 6-volt, and 9-volt batteries that sell for under $30; and portable generators worth less than $750.
Bradley’s proposal has its first legislative hearing Feb. 3 before the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee.
The House companion bill (HB 567) by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, has yet to be scheduled for a committee appearance.
A big factor in how much of the tax and fee cuts make it into the next budget depends on projections that economists will update as the legislative session gets underway. The current projection is the state will enter the budget process with a roughly $1 billion surplus.
Scott challenged lawmakers in September to reduce taxes and fees by $500 million. Meanwhile, he also has proposed spending increases in areas such as education, tourism promotion and protection and improvements for the state’s natural springs and the Everglades.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida