Not A Tornado: Winds Destroy Businesses, Damage Homes In Atmore
March 17, 2014
There were no injuries as businesses were destroyed and numerous structures were damaged in storms Sunday morning as they rolled through, leaving a trail of damage from Nokomis, FL, through Atmore and to Canoe, AL.
While a tornado warning was in effect at the time, a National Weather Service survey team determined the damage was not caused by a twister. According to the NWS, the team found evidence consistent with downburst straight-line winds, with the strongest winds blowing from the south-southwest to north-northeast.
The weather service said wind speeds were estimated to range from 86 to 110 mph.
The former Kmart building that housed Burke’s Outlet and Fred’s store in Atmore collapsed. The majority of the damage was on the Burke’s end of the structure, while the windows and doors blew in and the roof was lifted at Fred’s. Both businesses were closed at the time.
The building housing the Burke’s Outlet and Fred’s store in Atmore collapsed this morning. The majority of the damage was on the Burke’s end of the structure, while the windows and doors blew in and the roof was lifted at Fred’s. Both businesses were closed at the time.
“It started raining hard and getting loud,” said Charlene Johnson, who was at worked at a gas station very near the Burke’s store. “I locked the door and seen a dark black mass pass by right in front of me..it shook the store.”
Numerous other structures were damaged in Atmore, many from falling trees. The wind also twisted metal barns, caused other structural damage and downed power lines across the southern part of the city.
In Nokomis, FL, on the state line, several trees were downed — several blocking Rockaway Creek Road and Circle Road until they were removed. A large highway warning sign just north of the state line was toppled, and trees were snapped as the storm moved in a definite line toward Atmore.
After passing through southern Atmore, the storm continued toward the Atmore Aiport east of town, downing trees, destroying barns and causing other damage. Further east, the Canoe Baptist Church was damaged with large pieces of wood driven into the ground like spears.
For damage photos, click here for a photo gallery.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Resident Meeting To Provide Input For Century Economic Development Plan
March 17, 2014
Century is once again turning to its residents for input into the town’s future economic development plan. Town residents are invited to a meeting Monday, March 31, at 6:00 p.m. at the Ag Building on West Highway 4 to offer their input into the plan.
When Century updated its Comprehensive Plan in March 2012, the need for an economic development strategy was identified as one of the critical issues facing the Town.
Last July, Century was awarded a $25,000 a Community Planning Technical Assistance Grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The grant provided the town the opportunity to contract with the University of West Florida’s Haas Center to develop the plan.
Meetings with the public, businesses and economic stakeholders were previously held. At the March 31 meeting, residents will have one more opportunity to discuss the plan’s vision, mission, objectives and goals.
Century’s Economic Development Strategic Plan must be submitted to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity by May 30.
Pictured top: Lomonica Shoemo and Dorothy Newton listen during a late January public meeting on Century’s Economic Development Strategic Plan. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
No Alimony Reform This Year In Florida
March 17, 2014
Backers of an alimony overhaul vetoed last year by Gov. Rick Scott have scrapped their efforts to revive the measure.
Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, told The News Service of Florida on Tuesday she and her House counterpart Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, have given up on their plan to reform the state’s alimony laws.
Last year, the two sponsored a measure that did away with permanent alimony and would have created new legal standards based on the length of marriages. Scott, who is seeking re-election this year, vetoed the measure in part because of concerns that it would have applied retroactively.
The group Family Law Reform, which has been pushing the alimony changes, issued a press release in October saying it was working with Scott and the sponsors to come up with a new plan that would have removed the retroactivity provision. But there won’t be any election-year measure.
“We tried to get a deal,” Stargel said. “We got some language we thought people liked and started vetting it. … I just didn’t want to have a food fight this year so we just said scrap it. We’ll push it another year.”
by The News Service of Florida
ECUA Curbside Recycling: The Proper Way
March 17, 2014
Recycling is one of the best ways to have a positive impact on the community, and recycling is important to the natural environment, according to ECUA.
The ECUA Curbside Recycling Program was launched in January 2009, as part of the regular ECUA residential sanitation service. This simple, voluntary and cost-effective program is being utilized by 65 percent of ECUA customers and continues to grow. A voluntary program assures all participants are willing partners in the recycling process and serves to minimize the contamination of the collected materials, ECUA said.
ECUA’s program uses a convenient single stream recycling system, which means no sorting is required, and commingled recyclables are sorted at a processing facility. Although sorting is not required, it is very important that only recyclable items be placed in the ECUA-provided recycling container to avoid contamination of the recyclables. In some cases, customers will unknowingly introduce unaccepted and/or tainted items into the recycling process. This reduces the value and potential usability of recyclable materials, and jeopardizes the effectiveness of the ECUA Recycling Program.
ECUA Recycling Coordinator Amanda Handrahan offers these tips to successful recycling: “Make sure all items placed in the recycling container are safe, clean and ready for the recycling process. We don’t accept plastic grocery bags, but we do appreciate when you use them to bag small, lightweight items, to keep them contained within the can. Also, it’s important to remove liquids that can damage paper products, and remove leftover food from take-out containers before placing them in the recycling can.” She adds, “This seems basic but in our busy, everyday lives, it’s always good to have a quick reminder of how to best avoid the possibility of contamination.”
Here’s a list of items accepted in the ECUA’s program, and those that are not:
- Glass; any color
- Newspaper & Inserts
- Magazines & Catalogs
- Junk Mail & Envelopes
- Cardboard
- Phone Books
- Office and School Papers (colored paper)
- Brown Paper Bags (grocery)
- Boxboard (cereal, cake & cracker boxes, etc.)
- Pizza Boxes
- Plastic Produce Clamshells
- Plastics No. 1 through 7
- Plastic Milk Jugs; 2-Liters; bottles and containers
- Plastic & Metal Hangers
- Juice Boxes / Bags
- Plastic Cups, Plates, Utensil
- Aluminum Cans & Lids
- Pet Food Cans and Dry Pet Food Bags
- Aluminum Foil Baking Pans
- Balls of Tin Foil; Foil Pie Tins
- Tin and Steel Cans & Lids
- Metal Pots, Pans & Cookie Sheets
- Bubble Wrap
- Cardboard Egg Cartons
Items Not Recyclable Include:
- No Empty Plastic Bags
- No Ice Cream Cartons
- No Waxy/Paper Milk Cartons
- No Styrofoam products
- No Aerosol Cans
- No Garbage or Yard Waste
- No Garden Hoses
- No Window Blinds
Escambia Westgate Holding Run, Walk, Wheel 5K On April 5
March 17, 2014
Escambia Westgate School will host their 2nd Annual Run, Walk, Wheel 5K Fun Run on April 5 at 9 a.m. at the school.
Escambia Westgate School is seeking to raise funds to support the school’s needs, including the goal of building a fully adaptive gymnasium to be used by all of Westgate’s students with severe cognitive and/or physical disabilities. Registration forms are available on the school’s website. To register, please print a form and mail it along with your check to the school.
Registration is $25; $30 the day of race. Breakfast will be provided to all participants. For additional information, please contact Ashley McCombs, (850) 494-5700, extension 231.
Spring Break Gas Prices Cheaper Than Last Year
March 16, 2014
Spring Break travel will be a little easier on the pocketbook this year for those hitting the highway.
The average cost for a gallon of regular unleaded in the Pensacola area is $3.39, down from $3.62 a year ago. Gas prices in the North Escambia area Saturday ranged from $3.36 in Cantonment to $3.44 in Davisville.
The lowest price in the Pensacola area Saturday night was $3.29 at a Circle K on Mobile Highway.
The national average price at the pump is $3.42 per gallon. This price is six cents more expensive than one week ago and 13 cents more than one month ago; however national prices remain 36 cents per gallon less than the same date last year.
Pictured: A gas delivery in Century. Pictured inset: A gallon of regular unleaded was $3.36 Saturday in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Ransom Bands, Orchestra Earn Superior Ratings
March 16, 2014
The Ransom Middle School music program has recently earned several superior ratings.
The Ransom Middle School Symphonic and Concert bands received superiors at a band competition last week at Pensacola High School. And the Ransom Middle Orchestra III recently earned an overall superior rating in the annual Music Performance Assessment at Lawton Chiles High School in Tallahassee.
Wearing Gold: The Blue Angels Return To The Skies
March 16, 2014
The Blue Angels — wearing “throwback” gold flight suits — commence their pre-flight walkdown at the first Blue Angel flight demonstration of the 2014 air show season Saturday at Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif. Throughout the Blue Angels’ history, the gold flight suit has been worn to commemorate special milestones for the Navy and Marine Corps’ premiere flight demonstration squadron. Today, the Blue Angels pilots and officers are wearing the commemorative gold flight suit to celebrate the team’s return to America’s skies. Photo by MC2 Andrea Perez for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Weather For the Ducks: Showers And Thunderstorms Continue
March 16, 2014
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 55. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
- Monday Showers likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 62. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Monday Night Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 39. North wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
- Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 44. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
- Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind.
- Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 47. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph after midnight.
- Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
- Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 50.
- Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.
- Friday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.
- Saturday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75.
Weekend Gardening: Daffodils Signal Spring
March 16, 2014
Few plants seem to signify the freshness of spring quite as well as daffodils. The name “daffodils” is derived from “addodell” a variant of Asphodel (a plant of the Asphodelus genus.) In historical documents and the common language of 16th century Europe, the term “daffodil” referred specifically to the wild daffodil, Narcissus pseudonarcissus.
The derivation of the Latin narcissus is unknown. It is frequently linked to the Greek myth of Narcissus, who was rumored to be so obsessed with his own reflection that he died while gazing at himself in a pool of water. From the location of his death sprang the narcissus plant. Another Greek myth finds Persephone, daughter of the goddess Demeter, lured to her doom by the God Hades while picking a narcissus. Therefore the plant is perceived as a symbol of vanity in some Western culture.
Others attribute the plants’ name to its narcotic properties. One translation of the Greek name is “I grow numb!” All narcissus species contain the alkaloid poison lycorine, mostly in the bulb but also in the leaves. Members of the Amaryllidaceae family contain unique types of alkaloids. They are responsible for the poisonous properties of a number of the species. Of the 200 different chemical compounds found in this plant family, at least 79 of them can be found in narcissus.
Daffodils are a popular potted plant for cut flowers, but also make attractive naturalized ground covers in gardens and around trees, providing color from the end of winter through late spring. If the narcissus blooms on Chinese New Year, it is said to bring wealth and good fortune throughout the year. The flower color varies from white through pinks and yellows to deep reddish-orange with multiple petal forms. Hundreds of cultivars are available.
Planting dates vary according to geographical location, but bulbs are usually planted in the fall when the soil is cool. Daffodils grow well in full sun or light shade, with the blooms lasting longer when protected from the noon day sun. When selecting a location for planting, it should be noted that the individual flowers will face the sun.
Pre-chilled bulbs should be planted in 6-8” deep holes with a tablespoon of slow release fertilizer added to the soil directly under the bulb and with 4-5” of soil covering the bulb. Watering throughout the winter will be necessary if rains are infrequent. After flowering, the daffodils need to be fertilized and watering should continue. The foliage will naturally turn yellow and die as stored food is restored to the bulb.
Division, transplanting and collection for forcing potted plants can be done after all the foliage has declined. To force Daffodils to bloom at varied times in a container the dried bulbs will need to be stored at a 45° F temperature for 4-6 weeks prior to being placed in the sun to grow.
The bright, cheery Daffodil flowers are beginning to bloom now and will continue as Easter approaches, reminding us that spring really is coming.
Email Sheila Dunning at sdunning@ufl.edu.
Photos by Matthew Orwat for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.