Final O’Yes Lotto Store Murder Suspect Sentenced To Prison
July 12, 2014
The last defendant in the 2012 murder of a Davisville lottery store owner has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Brent Dewayne Lambeth, age 21 of Atmore, was one of three people charged in the shooting death of 74-year old Thomas “Tommy” Kroll during a robbery on November 6, 2012, at the State Line O’ Yes Lotto on Highway 97.
Under a plea agreement to testify against his co-defendants, Lambeth received a reduced sentence of 15 years with credit for 610 days already served in jail to be followed by 10 years probation.
Malcolm McGhee and Michael Brad Orso were both previously sentenced to life in prison for the murder. The trio planned to steal synthetic drugs, lottery tickets and cash from the store just a few yards south of the Florida-Alabama state line.
McGhee and Kroll exchanged gunfire during the robbery, with Kroll fatally wounded. McGhee was struck on large cross pendant around his neck which left him with a non-penetrating wound.
Orso and Lambeth were not directly involved in the shooting, but they were also charged with murder because Kroll’s death came during the commission of a felony. According to testimony, Lambeth was to be the getaway driver for McGhee following the robbery. Orso provided the gun and was to drive away with the stolen goods.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, the synthetic drugs, or Spice, for sale at the store were not illegal at the time of the shooting.
Pictured top, inset and below: The scene outside the O’Yes Lotto store in Davisville shortly after store own Thomas Kroll was shot and killed in November 2012. Pictured bottom: Lambeth and McGhee and were arrested at or near this trailer home on Sandy Hollow Lane near Walnut Hill two days after the shooting. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
School Grades Good News For Most North Escambia Schools
July 12, 2014
Preliminary school grades were release Friday by the Florida Department of Education, and they were good news for most North Escambia Schools.
Most notably, Ernest Ward Middle School and Molino Park both jumped from “C” schools in 2013 to “A” schools for 2014, and charter school Byrneville Elementary improved from a “B” last year to an “A” in 2014. Ernest Ward would have been a “D” school in 2013 if it were not for a provision that limited grade drops to one letter.
“Thank you to everyone that made EWMS not only an ‘A’ school but a place where children learn, enjoy going to school, and a place parents want to send their children,” Ernest Ward Middle School Principal Nancy Perry said, as she offered thanks to everyone involved from the school from teachers to students.
Ernest Ward earned the second highest total points among middle schools in the county, while Byrneville Elementary was third among elementary schools.
“Students who believe they can be the best, teachers and staff who believe in their students, and parents and guardians who believe in us are what Byrneville is all about. I am very proud to be their principal,” Byrneville Elementary School Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan said.
Among other North Escambia schools in District 5, Ransom Middle and McArthur Elementary improved from a “C” to a “B” in 2014, while Pine Meadow and Jim Allen elementary schools earned conservative “B” grades. Bratt Elementary earned a “C” grade for the second year, and Lipscomb Elementary dropped from a “B” to a “C”.
High school grades will be released at a later date.
Escambia County School Grades:
Panel Hears Florida Still Has Long Way To Go To Stop Child Deaths
July 12, 2014
Despite a new law revamping Florida’s child welfare system, the state still has far to go to stop child deaths from abuse and neglect, a federal panel heard.
The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities held a meeting in Tampa to review Florida’s policies and practices, as the panel is doing in other states, with an eye to making recommendations to President Obama and Congress.
Hundreds of state officials, social workers, law enforcement officers and children’s advocates listened as their peers described which policies and practices are working in Florida — and which ones aren’t.
For instance, the state is making better use of data to understand trends in child deaths, said Maj. Connie Shingledecker, who oversees child-protective investigations for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Shingledecker pointed to the discovery that within a group of deaths, all the children had been killed by male perpetrators while the mothers were out. “We found they were working, they were in school … and perhaps day care might have saved the lives of some of these children,” she said. “So drilling down into that data can be extremely helpful.”
Department of Children and Families Interim Secretary Mike Carroll touted what is known as “Rapid Safety Feedback,” which the department rolled out last year with Eckerd Community Alternatives to quickly identify cases with issues that pose the greatest risks to children.
Eckerd became Hillsborough’s community-based care lead agency in 2012, after nine child killings in two years under the previous provider.
“Fortunately, we have had no new abuse-related child tragedies since that time,” Carroll said.
“This should be funded not only in the state of Florida, but on a national level,” said Lorita Shirley, who heads Eckerd Community Alternatives. “The outcomes speak for themselves: zero child deaths.”
Rep. Gayle Harrell, a Stuart Republican who chairs the House Healthy Families Subcommittee, told commissioners about Senate Bill 1666, the sweeping child-welfare reform law that went into effect July 1.
Harrell praised the bill’s establishment of a Department of Children and Families website that posts data on all child deaths reported to the state abuse hotline. She said she hoped to add more data requirements to it next year, such as the community-based care lead agencies responsible for the areas where deaths occurred.
Other speakers said a statewide push to prevent children from dying because of drowning and what is known as “co-sleeping” — the two biggest causes of child deaths in Florida — had been effective. Maj. Rob Bullara of the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office said his agency had given away more than 100 portable bassinets to prevent co-sleeping deaths, which occur when young children sleep with their parents and get suffocated.
But other reports were more troubling. Several speakers said Florida’s policies on reporting child fatalities made it impossible to accurately assess whether they had been caused by abuse or neglect or not. Drowning and co-sleeping deaths often occur when a parent is intoxicated — but they aren’t always reported that way.
Shingledecker urged the commission to recommend a uniform set of standards for reporting child abuse and neglect, the same way other crime statistics are compiled. She also said Florida should review all its child fatalities, not only those reported to the state child-abuse hotline.
“We’re one of the few states that don’t look at all child deaths,” she said. “The children are still dying. The medical examiners know it.”
After the daylong meeting, Harrell said she’s “starting a list of glitches already” with an eye toward making more improvements to the child-welfare system during the next legislative session.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
The Blues Are Back! (With Friday Photo Gallery)
July 12, 2014
The Blue Angels were back in the skies over Pensacola Beach Friday in a full dress rehearsal in front of tens of thousands of people for the annual Pensacola Beach Air Show on Saturday.
Pictured: The Blue Angels dress rehearsal Friday afternoon over Pensacola Beach. Photos by Raja Atallah for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Looking For Answers
July 12, 2014
Everyone in Tallahassee seemed to be looking for solutions this week.
After Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis threw out two of the state’s congressional districts, lawyers and politicos were left trying to find out what the ruling meant and how to repair the damage.
Meanwhile, the state’s prison system was looking for a fix to a spate of bad stories about suspicious deaths of prisoners in the agency’s custody. By the end of the week, the head of one prison had been suspended and the secretary of the Department of Corrections was promising to do more if necessary.
Even the question of how to grow marijuana was getting stuck in the regulatory thicket, as the Department of Health and the nascent pot industry argued over the regulations that will guide the farming of a version of the plant meant to help with some health problems.
BATTLE LINES REDRAWN?
Candidates are already out on the trail and making their cases for re-election. But at least some of them might face a new group of voters — if not this November, then in two years. In a highly anticipated ruling, or at least a ruling closely watched in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., a Leon County judge struck down a map of the state’s congressional districts drawn by the Legislature in 2012.
The decision marked the first time a judge had considered whether the state’s congressional map was valid under the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts constitutional amendments, approved by voters in 2010. The answer, according to Lewis, was that a district held by Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown and one represented by Republican Congressman Daniel Webster fell short.
According to Lewis, lawmakers and the staff members charged with the once-a-decade redistricting process tried to shield the map drawers from political influence, even as Republican political consultants tried to find a way to manipulate the process.
“That being said, the circumstantial evidence introduced at trial convinces me that the political operatives managed to find other avenues, other ways to infiltrate and influence the Legislature, to obtain the necessary cooperation and collaboration to ensure that their plan was realized, at least in part,” Lewis wrote. “They managed to taint the redistricting process and the resulting map with improper partisan intent. There is just too much circumstantial evidence of it, too many coincidences, for me to conclude otherwise.”
Those most directly affected by the ruling were grappling with the fallout. Twice, Brown lashed out at Lewis, saying that her district needed to retain its largely African-American population base.
“Overturning the current District 5 map ignores the essential redistricting principle of maintaining communities of interest or minority access districts,” she said. “Certainly, minority communities do not live in compact, cookie-cutter like neighborhoods, and excessive adherence to district ‘compactness,’ while ignoring the maintenance of minority access districts, fragments minority communities across the state.”
While he declared unconstitutional the map that was approved by the Legislature, Lewis did not specifically say what would need to be done to fix it. He could redraw the lines himself or order lawmakers to do it.
Brown is considered relatively safe no matter what happens to the lines. But Webster and GOP Congressman John Mica could see Democratic-leaning voters shifted into their Central Florida districts — giving Democrats some of the gains they wanted when they pushed the Fair Districts amendments four years ago.
“It’s not like a four- or five-seat change in the process,” said Steve Schale, a Democratic political strategist. “But you take two seats that were out of play, and you put them in play, that’s going to have an impact.”
CORRECTIONS UNDER FIRE
While Lewis was ruling on the future of the state’s political system, the past of one state agency could soon be headed to the court system as well. And the issues there were matters of life and death.
The Florida Department of Corrections continued to take fire this week over the deaths of prisoners, with the agency’s secretary placing Dade Correctional Institution Warden Jerry Cummings on administrative leave.
Secretary Mike Crews took the action during a visit to the Florida City prison, where an inmate died in 2012 under questionable circumstances. Miami-Dade police are already investigating the death of Darren Rainey, an inmate who died after guards allegedly forced him to shower in scalding hot water as punishment.
“I am troubled by the allegations surrounding Dade Correctional Institution and feel a change at the facility is necessary for restoring accountability across the department,” Crews said in a release Thursday. “This morning I also met with correctional officers in the facility and underscored that the integrity of the department will not be compromised by any bad actions.”
DOC has been under fire for weeks following media reports, largely those in The Miami Herald, about the suspicious deaths of inmates.
Crews’ trip came after four investigators for the department filed a lawsuit against the agency, saying they were essentially punished for calling attention to an inaccurate report about an inmate’s death.
The suit, filed this week, also names as defendants Gov. Rick Scott’s Office of the Inspector General, Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel and an assistant, and two high-ranking officials at the Department of Corrections.
It alleges that the four employees bringing the claim — Aubrey Land, David Clark, Doug Glisson and John Ulm — have faced retaliation for raising questions about the investigation into the death of an inmate. The punishment includes two of the four facing their own internal-affairs investigation.
“The plaintiffs have alleged that as a result of the exercise of their rights under the First Amendment, they have been subject to ongoing retaliation in the form of false and unwarranted internal affairs complaints which, in all likelihood, will continue unless injunctive relief is granted by this court,” the suit says.
BUZZ KILLS
Of all the groups that seem least likely to get upset over the actions of state government, those involved with the marijuana industry would seem to top the list. After all, the leafy green substance is supposed to help people relax, right?
Instead, regulators heard an earful early this week from growers, lawyers and lobbyists seeking to rake in some green from Florida’s new pot industry during a standing-room-only, rule-making workshop.
At the top of the complaint list: concerns about a proposed lottery system to award five organizations the chance to grow, manufacture and dispense a type of medical marijuana approved by Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature this spring.
But complaints touched on other issues such as the number of dispensaries. Department of Health General Counsel Jennifer Tschetter said the agency’s preliminary plan was to limit the number of dispensaries to five as outlined in the law and to bar dispensaries from shipping or transporting the final product.
The state needs “way more than five” dispensaries, and the nursery locations are “very inconvenient for the patient populations,” said Kerry Herndon, owner of Apopka-based Kerry’s Nursery.
Florida’s new law makes legal in Florida certain strains of marijuana that are low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD. The law specifically limits the composition of the seeds, plants and final product, usually an oil or paste, to no more than .8 percent THC and at least 10 percent CBD.
The combination is purported to eliminate or dramatically reduce life-threatening seizures in children with severe epilepsy. The law also allows patients who suffer from severe muscle spasms or cancer to be put on a “compassionate use registry” for the low-THC product as long as their doctors approve.
DOH planned to use a lottery to select single dispensing organizations in regions where more than one application was submitted, but lobbyists and growers complained that the state would be putting epileptic children and other patients at risk by failing to ensure that the most capable organizations would be responsible for crafting the substance they ingest.
“This process … seems to reward the promise to perform better than the ability to perform,” said lobbyist Louis Rotundo, who represents the Florida Medical Cannabis Association.
Department spokesman Nathan Dunn told reporters after the meeting that the agency would consider revising the rule to do away with the lottery and that the agency has fast-tracked regulations regarding the law, signed by Scott last month.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis strikes down the state’s new congressional districts as unconstitutional, potentially throwing the state’s political future into turmoil.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Very quietly.”— Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, when asked how marijuana plants will get into the state to help establish a type of medical marijuana approved by the Legislature this spring.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Earn Second Straight Win Over Montgomery
July 12, 2014
Pensacolians had plenty to cheer about Friday. The Blue Angels returned to the skies over Pensacola Beach and the Blue Wahoos won their second straight game in thrilling fashion.
Pitching and defense helped the Wahoos hold on to a 3-1 win against the Montgomery Biscuits Friday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Starter Jon Moscot threw six strong innings, giving up just one run while striking out six and then four pitchers from the Wahoos bullpen shutout the Biscuits over the final three innings. They did it by getting inning-ending double plays in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
Coming into the game Wahoos’ relievers had a 2-2 record and 1.93 ERA in July. That despite the loss of Carlos Conteras to the Cincinnati Reds, and Fabio Castillo and Fabian Williamson were promoted Friday to Triple-A Louisville, following Elvin Ramirez who joined the Bats June 30.
Moscot said everyone is grateful for the relievers stepping up. Shane Dyer earned his second straight save for a team-leading ninth this season.
“I’m happy with them, (Manager) Delino (DeShields) is happy with them, I think the whole team is,” said Moscot, who now has struck out 87 batters on the year. “We got some arms here, so it should be exciting.”
DeShields said part of ensuring the bullpen closes out close games, is the new way they’re being handled. However, he pointed out Wahoos pitchers combined for seven walks against Montgomery.
“I would have to say they are on a shorter leash,” he said. “Early in the season, we left them in there to see if they could finish the inning. Now, we just go to the next guy.”
The Wahoos improved to 24-10 when they score first and 11-1 when they do it at home. They are now 9-13 in the second half of the season and 40-52 overall.
The Wahoos jumped out front in the first inning when leadoff hitter Josh Fellhauer singled and then stole second base. He was knocked in by Ross Perez who ripped a line drive to right field.
In the second inning, the Wahoos got all the runs they would need when first baseman Travis Mattair, on an 0-2 count, hit a deep fly ball over the left field fence for his eighth home run of the season, which extended his on-base streak to 10 games.
The third game of the five-game series with Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate the Montgomery Biscuits gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. RHP Tim Adleman (2-3, 3.26) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the Biscuits LHP Albert Grayson Garvin (0-4, 4.32).
by Tommy Thrall
Pictured: Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Montgomery Biscuits 3-1 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium Friday. Photos by Michael Spooneybarger/ Pensacola Blue Wahoos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos: Watermelons For Sale
July 12, 2014
It’s watermelon season, with roadside vendors in Walnut Hill selling fresh melons by the dozens on Friday. Local farmer James Earl Hall’s melons are for sale on Highway 97 at Pine Forest Road (just south of Highway 4) for $6 each. Friday, they were being sold with the help of Maddox Hall, Dawson Brown and Alex Davis (pictured). NorthEscambia.com photos by BethanyReynolds, click to enlarge.
Police: Over 2,800 Child Porn Files On Escambia Man’s Computer
July 11, 2014
Child pornography charges were filed on an Escambia County man Thursday after an investigation determined he downloaded child pornography from the internet.
Ronald G. Pickering Jr., 25, of 9885 North Loop Road, was charged with 10 counts each of possession of obscene material and obscene communication. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
Pensacola Police Detective Chris Wilkinson began the investigation June 17 after identifying Pickering’s computer as being used to download sexually explicit pictures and movies of children from the internet.
Agents with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes agents with the Pensacola Police Department, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Crestview Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Department of Homeland Security initiated a search warrant at Pickering’s this morning.
Wilkinson determined at least 2,809 child pornography files were downloaded onto Pickering’s computer. Additional forensic examination will continue on Pickering’s computer, according to police.
Man Faces Up To 10 Years For Series Of Century Business Burglaries
July 11, 2014
A man charged with series of business burglaries in Century has entered a plea to the charges against him and now faces up to a decade in prison.
Jason Allen Bodiford, 35, entered a no contest plea to multiple charges, included burglary, larceny, criminal mischief property damage and illegal use of a credit card. Bodiford, who told officials he is homeless, remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $43,750 as he awaits sentencing next month before Judge Ross Goodman. Bodiford faces a maximum of 10 years in state prison.
He reportedly admitted to investigators that he burglarized Century Marine, Rhonda’s Hair Salon, the Happy Star Chinese Restaurant and the Century Flower Shop. Business owners reported that Bodiford had visited their places of business prior to the burglaries asking for money.
He also allegedly burglarized a car on Hecker Road in Century and stole a credit card that was later used to purchase food at Burger King in Century.
Bodiford was originally arrested December 30 at a motel in Atmore and booked into the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton on a failure to appear charge on traffic tickets in Alabama. He was extradited to Florida to face the burglary related charges.
200 New Jobs Announced
July 11, 2014
A new manufacturing facility will be built at the city-owned Port of Pensacola, creating up to 200 new jobs, according to an announcement Thursday by Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward.
Offshore Inland, a leader in topside and riding crew repair services, is joining forces with DeepFlex, the world’s only manufacturer of unbonded non-metallic pipe for deepwater applications, to establish a new manufacturing and qualification testing facility at the Port of Pensacola. The facility is expected to be fully operational second half of 2015, producing up to 62 miles of the specialized pipe per year.
A lease agreement approved by the city council in March and executed in May between the city and port customer Offshore Inland Marine & Oilfield Services (OIMO) paved the way for the project.
The OIMO/DeepFlex complex will be comprised of a heavily-renovated existing port warehouse plus new buildings and infrastructure built on up to 31⁄2 acres of undeveloped port land. It will be capable of producing DeepFlex’s complete flexible pipe product range.
The pipe produced at the facility will leave the port as cargo either by truck, rail, barge, cargo ship or direct load to subsea pipe-laying vessels docked at the port.