Library To Uncover “The History Of Molino”
January 14, 2014
The West Florida Library will present “The History of Molino” in a special program later this month.
The event will be hosted by Lil King, president of the Molino Mid-County Historical Society at the Molino Branch Library, 6450 Highway 95A, on Saturday, January 25.
With its location just 25 miles north of Pensacola, the Molino area, including the old town of Molino, played a vital role in the area’s settlement and development. From its start as a Spanish mission in the 1700s, an important mill town during the Industrial Revolution and into the modern era, Molino’s history is the story of life in rural Florida and how it has changed over the years.
The event is a part of the Explore Pensacola History lecture series. For more information, call the Main Library at (850) 436-5060.
Pictured top: Work to uncover evidence of The Mission San Joseph De Escambe along the Escambia River in Molino by the University of West Florida Archaeological Field School. Pictured below: An unusual glass necklace bead found in Molino, believe to possibly be an 18th-century “melon bead” with a translucent cobalt blue color. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Faces Up To Life For Shooting Outside Store
January 14, 2014
An Escambia County man faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced for a shooting outside a convenience store.
James Nathaniel Marshall was convicted by an Escambia County jury of aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a firearm, shooting into an occupied vehicle and three counts of discharging a firearm in public.
The conviction stems from a shooting at the Beacon Foodmart on Barrancas Avenue in December 2012. Prosecutors said Marshall got into a verbal argument with two people. Once the argument ended, the other two individuals got in their vehicle to leave. As they began to drive out of the parking lot, Marshall fired shots at their vehicle. One of the individuals exited the vehicle and was struck in the shoulder with one shot. That person was treated at Baptist Hospital and survived.
Marshall will be sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Linda Nobles at a later date. He faces from 25 years to life in state prison under Florida’s 10-20-Life law.
Northview Beats Escambia Charter
January 14, 2014
The varsity Northview Chiefs continued their winning ways Monday night as they beat Escambia Charter 77-72.
Scoring for the Chiefs were Neino Robinson 23, Tony Mcaroy 18, Cameron Newsome 11, Eric Williams 10, Tydre Bradley 8, and Nick Lambert 6.
The Chiefs are now 11-0 overall , 3-0 in the district. Northview’s varsity boys will host Holmes County in a district game Thursday at 5:30. The varsity girls will begin play at 4:00.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
PNJ Names New Publisher
January 13, 2014
Gannett Co., Inc. announced today Terry Horne has been named president and publisher of the Pensacola News-Journal.
Horne had been publisher of the East Valley Tribune in Arizona and general manager of 1013 Communications, which offers digital services in Phoenix, Dallas and Houston. Previously, he was CEO and president of the Orange County Register from 2007 to 2011. He is returning to Gannett, where he served as vice president of community newspapers for The Arizona Republic from 2004-2007.
“Terry has a rich history as a media executive, is passionate about community journalism and understands the role digital plays in connecting with our customers,” said Robert Dickey, Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing president. “We’re excited to have him return to Gannett and engage in the vibrant Pensacola community.”
Horne has also worked with Swift Newspapers in Reno, Clarksburg Publishing in West Virginia, Thomson Newspapers, and Knight-Ridder, where he started as a staff writer for The Wichita Eagle in Kansas, having been inspired to pursue journalism by the Watergate scandal and coverage.
He received his BA in journalism from Wichita State University and an MS in mass communications from Oklahoma State University. He is married with six children.
Budget Chairman Promises Large Cut To Vehicle Fees
January 13, 2014
An unpopular 2009 vehicle-registration fee hike will be rolled back, the Senate’s budget chairman promised Thursday.
The size of the reduction is still a couple of months from being settled, as lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott have proposed different bottom-line numbers. But Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who is spearheading the issue in the Senate, assured his colleagues that the final total will be big.
“What we can promise people is that the fee decrease will be large and something that they’ll feel,” Negron told members of the Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee.
The panel unanimously supported the proposal (SB 156), which is projected to collectively save motorists $185 million during the upcoming budget year, growing to $236.7 million the following year.
The reductions would translate to about $12 per vehicle registration fee, or half the 2009 increase.
Scott, who was at a Brandon Honda dealership on Wednesday as he continues to promote his proposal to roll back the 2009 hike by $400 million, called the committee vote Thursday an “important first step.”
“We’re committed to undoing the 54 percent tax increase that families experienced in 2009, so we can give more back to families,” Scott said in a prepared statement.
Scott, who is up for re-election in November, has said his proposal will be part of a $500 million tax-and-fee-cut package for the upcoming legislative session.
After the committee meeting, Negron said the cut amount will ultimately depend on updated revenue projections from state economists after the legislative session begins in March.
In December, state economic forecasters pushed the state’s projected surplus toward $1.2 billion for the coming year.
“The good news is that our economy is recovering and we will have some additional revenue this session, and some of that we’ll save for the future,” Negron said. “I hope to keep our reserves at a good level and we’ll address some infrastructure needs. But I think there is a good piece in there to return some of that money to the taxpayers that sent it to us in the first place.”
The vehicle registration fee will be in competition with a number of other proposed cuts, from a three-day back-to-school sales tax holiday to reductions in corporate-income taxes, communications-services taxes and commercial rental taxes.
“Every budget proposal is in competition with every other budget proposal, I don’t mind that there is competition, that is part of the process,” Negron said.
The vote Thursday was the second Senate panel to back Negron’s vehicle-registration fee proposal. The Transportation Committee endorsed the measure on Oct. 9.
The final stop before being sent to the Senate floor is Negron’s Appropriations Committee.
The House version (HB 61), which is sponsored by freshmen Rep. Mike Hill, R-Pensacola, has yet to be scheduled.
Hill’s office hopes the proposal will get its first hearing next Thursday before the House Finance and Tax Subcommittee.
by The News Service of Florida
Escambia To Interview Administrator Finalists On January 30
January 13, 2014
The Escambia County Commission is set to schedule one-on-one job interviews with each of the five finalists for the county administrator position.
The interviews will be held the morning of January 30 with each finalists meeting separately with individual commissioners in their office prior to public interviews with the full board at 1:00 that afternoon.
A second special board meeting will be scheduled for 9 a.m. on January 31; the meeting will be canceled if the BOCC makes a final decision on an administrator on January 30.
The five finalists for Escambia County administrator, as recommended by a citizens advisory committee, are:
- Jack Brown — Perry, FL. County Administrator, Taylor County BOCC.
- Ted Lakey — Graceville, FL. County Administrator, Jackson County BOCC.
- Albert Penska — Gettysburg, PA. County Manager, Adams County.
- William Reynolds — Pensacola. Former City Administrator, City of Pensacola.
- John Weaver — Murrells Inlet, SC. Attorney, Thomas & Brittain
The original pool of candidates was compiled by the Waters Consulting Group before being cut to five by the citizens committee.
Scott Wants $100 Million To Promote Florida For 100 Million Visitors
January 13, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott will seek $100 million to help bring 100 million visitors a year to the Sunshine State.
Scott announced Friday that he intends to ask the Legislature for the record amount of funding for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism-promotion arm, in the 2014 budget.
Legislative budget leaders are taking a cautious approach to the proposal.
The proposal is a jump of $25 million from what Scott sought last year and more than $35 million above what the Legislature eventually gave the agency for the current 2013-14 budget year.
The boost in funding would allow Visit Florida to expand its seasonal, city-specific targeted advertising to a year-round national campaign and would allow it to further target areas such as the United Kingdom and Brazil that already send large numbers of tourists to Florida.
During a morning appearance on an Orlando television station, Scott said marketing is “how we grow our economy.”
“All we have to do now is basically call up north and ask what the temperature is,” Scott said. “Other times, the more you put yourself in front of people, talk about our beaches, our weather, our attractions, our parks … so we just market ourselves more. We can get a lot more tourists in our state.”
And, of course, Scott said that with more tourists would come the creation of more jobs.
The funding request will be included in his annual budget request, which will be sent to the Legislature before the 2014 session starts in March.
Scott’s office released a series of supportive quotes from lawmakers, including Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and Rep. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, who will help oversee the economic-development budget process in their respective chambers. However, that doesn’t mean the funding request will have an easy journey through the Legislature.
Sen. Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who heads the powerful Appropriations Committee, called the proposal “bold” and said the Senate will give it great consideration. But he added that lawmakers will have to determine if the recent funding increases to Visit Florida are why the state has seen tourism numbers increase.
“While tourism has increased, is this a correlation or causation?” Negron said. “That’s something we’ll have to analyze as part of the committee process.”
Rep. Seth McKeel, a Lakeland Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said in a release that the proposal will be “thoughtfully considered.”
“Tourism is certainly an important industry in our state,” McKeel said. “However, each year during the legislative budget process we must look at all of the state’s priorities and determine how to best allocate our available funds statewide.”
The Legislature approved $63.5 million for Visit Florida during the 2013 session, a $9.5 million increase from the prior year.
Meanwhile, the state is expected to be close to 94 million visitors for 2013, which would easily break the 2012 record of 91.4 million visitors.
Through the first three-quarters of 2013, the state had attracted an estimated 72.5 million tourists.
With the $100 million proposal, Visit Florida President and CEO Will Seccombe said the governor is further challenging Visit Florida and the tourism industry to reach 100 million visitors.
“We’re on pace for a third consecutive record year of tourism,” Seccombe said. “If you’re on that kind of a pace, there are two things you can do: You can sit back and enjoy the ride or you can double down and redouble your efforts to build on that momentum. There is no question that is what the governor has done.”
The state has already started to market itself as a year-round destination rather than just a warm-weather winter playground. Also, while focusing on attracting more people from traditional locales — New York, Boston, Atlanta and Chicago — ads have increased in markets west of the Mississippi and overseas.
The additional money would expand on both domestic and international advertising and include efforts to encourage passenger air carriers to increase international flights to the Sunshine State, Seccombe said.
Of Florida’s 2012 visitors, 13.8 million were international travelers.
The state money is in addition to $110.9 million in private contributions to Visit Florida.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
It’s Celebrate Literacy Week At Area Elementary Schools
January 13, 2014
It’s “Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida!”, and North Escambia elementary schools will celebrate a variety of activities this week.
The goal of the week is to promote literacy by raising awareness of programs and projects offered by the Florida Department of Education and partner groups, and to promote the enjoyment of reading for adults and children of all ages.
The following events are planned at North Escambia elementary schools this week:
- Bratt Elementary — An AR test, “Reading Rocks” with funny socks, student designed bookmarks, wear a hat and wear favorite team gear.
- Byrneville Elementary — Teacher swap day, buddy reading, community guest readers, family literacy night and vocabulary day.
- Molino Park Elementary — Used book sale, human bookwork, camo day, buddy read, guest readers, poster contest.
- Jim Allen Elementary — Guest readers, buddy readers and author studies.
- Lipscomb Elementary — guest readers, buddy reading, teacher swap, door contest.
- McArthur Elementary – 20 minutes reading period, awesome author’s day, cold hard facts day, fantastic fiction and pajama and poetry day.
- Pine Meadow Elementary — door decorating, buddy reading, sunglasses, pajama day to cuddle up and read.
Pictured top: Jacke Johnston’s fifth grade class at Byrneville Elementary School celebrated literacy with a guest reader last January. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Scott Looks To Calm Nerves Over Common Core
January 12, 2014
Looking to calm a rising furor in the grass roots of his party, Gov. Rick Scott said Saturday that a state set of revisions to nationwide education standards will be unveiled next week.
One day after a caucus of the Republican Party of Florida’s state committeemen and committeewomen backed a resolution opposing the Common Core standards, Scott also said he would support legislation specifying that curriculum is a local responsibility and limiting what information can be gathered about students.
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said earlier this week that her department would propose about 40 changes to the voluminous education benchmarks. Scott’s remarks Saturday, to the annual meeting of the state GOP, signaled that he hopes the changes will soothe conservative fears about the standards.
“Here’s what we’re going to ensure: These are Florida standards,” he said. “They’re not some national standards; they’re going to be Florida standards. This is our state. We’re not going to have the federal government telling us how to do our education system.”
The overwhelming majority of the changes Stewart is set to propose would add material to the state’s version of the standards, officials say.
Common Core started out as a joint project by officials in about four dozen states, but some conservatives have grown worried that the standards will instead lead to unprecedented federal intrusion in local schools. The opposition to the guidelines has opened a rift on the right between those arguing against the benchmarks and members of the school accountability movement, like former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, who backs the standards.
On Saturday, Scott spoke about legislative proposals only in vague terms. He did not stop to answer questions despite shouted requests from reporters who jogged toward him as he left the Rosen Centre Hotel.
But any measure spelling out the role of local school boards in curriculum might affect Common Core only at the margins, if at all. Supporters insist that the new standards only outline what students are expected to learn, while curriculum is still controlled at the local level.
The governor has tried before to get rid of concerns about Common Core, issuing an executive order in September that began distancing the state from a separate multi-state consortium building tests based on the standards. Scott also ordered the review of the benchmarks that led to Stewart’s proposed changes.
Rep. Debbie Mayfield, a Vero Beach Republican who has sponsored anti-Common Core legislation, said after Scott’s remarks Saturday that she was “perfectly happy with the direction the governor’s going in.” But she suggested that simply adding more material to the Common Core standards might not satisfy critics.
Mayfield has filed legislation (HB 25) intended to stop the standards from fully taking effect in Florida.
“If we have our own standards and if we have our own assessment, then what is the purpose of being in Common Core?” she asked Saturday.
Meanwhile, Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry told the party’s executive board Saturday that he would refer Friday’s Common Core resolution to the RPOF’s legislative affairs committee. The executive board is not expected to vote on the measure.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Molino Community Center Heating, Cooling Systems Back In Business
January 12, 2014
The heating and cooling system at the Molino Community Complex was back in working order by 5 p.m. Friday.
Thursday, an Escambia County maintenance employee discovered that all of the heating and cooling system related copper tubing from underneath one side of the building had been stolen. The tubing, valued at $500-$600, was estimated to cost the county about $4,000 for repairs.
About two-thirds of the building — the community center and library — were not impacted by the crime, while the yet to be opened museum area was left without heating or cooling by the theft.
For more details on the theft, click here for an earlier story.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is continuing their search for a suspect in the case. Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
