Century Grants First Barnyard Animal Ban Exception
March 18, 2014
The Century town council voted Monday night to allow the first variance under a new animal control ordinance that prohibits non-conforming barnyard animals.
The council approved the variance for Tom and Darla Warta to keep two horses and one steer on their 2.5 acre low density residential parcel at 7911 Jefferson Avenue. The variance passed 4-0 with council member Annie Savage not present for the vote.
An inspection, according to Mayor Freddie McCall, found the Warta’s animals to be in good condition with adequate shelter and living conditions.
As of December 23, it became illegal to keep a horse, mule, donkey, goat, sheep, or cow within the town limits except in areas that are zoned agricultural or rural residential. Hogs were already prohibited in all areas of the town.
One horse or cow is now allowed for every two acres, one donkey or mule per acre and one goat or sheep per one-half acre. The animals and their pens must be 200 feet or greater from a dwelling or property line.
Anyone with the regulated animals in an area not zoned agricultural or rural residential within the town limits, was required to register their animals at the Century Town Hall within 60 days from the passage of the ordinance. Anyone with nonconforming animals must apply for and be granted a variance from the town council within six months or get rid of their animals.
Bridge Delays Or Detours: Fannie, Rockaway Creek, North Pineville And Devine Farm
March 18, 2014
Bridge work is causing delays and detours for drivers at four North Escambia area locations.
Three bridges will be limited to single lane closures on varying days from about 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m through March 20:
- Rockaway Creek Road bridge over Rocky Branch on the Alabama/Florida state line. The bridge was constructed in 1965.
- North Pineville Road over an unnamed branch between Tullis and Jakes roads. The bridge was constructed in 1965.
- Devine Farm Road bridge over a branch of 11 Mile Creek. The bridge was constructed in 1962.
The Fannie Road Bridge over Dead Lake closed last week. It is being replaced with a new concrete structure consisting of two 12-foot wide travel lanes and eight foot shoulders. Fannie Road is closed during construction and traffic detoured on to Highway 4 and Highway 29 in Florida and Highway 29 and Old Fannie Road in Alabama. Restrictions will remain in effect through the fall of 2015.
Picture top: The Fannie Road Bridge over Dead Lake near Century. Pictured below: Looking toward Alabama at the Rockaway Creek Road bridge on the state line. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Education Boss Selects New Test To Replace FCAT Next Year
March 18, 2014
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said Monday she has selected the non-profit group American Institutes for Research to design the state’s new tests for public schools, the final step in an effort to tamp down grassroots anger over learning standards.
The $220 million contract with AIR will run for six years and will be cheaper than it would have been to go forward with a test developed by a multi-state consortium that Gov. Rick Scott ordered Stewart to back away from last year, according to the Department of Education.
“I feel very confident that it is the best choice for Florida students,” Stewart said in a conference call with reporters.
Scott’s decision last year to distance the state from the consortium — the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC — was part of an executive order meant to assuage largely conservative activists worried about the Common Core State Standards.
The Common Core standards, adopted by about four dozen states, were tweaked by the State Board of Education last month. Officials have begun referring to the revised version as the “Florida Standards.”
But AIR and another company that will work with it on the Florida tests, Data Recognition Corporation, have also helped to develop the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Like PARCC, that test is being put together by a multi-state consortium that hopes to use it to measure student learning under Common Core.
Stewart said the two systems would be separate.
“This is a platform and assessment for Florida,” she said.
Items used on the Florida tests will be field-tested in Utah, Stewart said, giving AIR the information it needs to make sure that the assessment system is working.
Florida students would begin taking the tests, which will cover language arts and math, following the 2014-15 school year. In addition to seeing how well students are doing, the tests will be used to determine school grades and help evaluate teachers.
Activists who have fought Common Core’s implementation in Florida quickly dismissed the move as far too little to address concerns about PARCC. Randy Osborne, who has lobbied against Common Core in the Legislature on behalf of the Florida Eagle Forum, said other decisions following Scott’s executive order have been like putting lipstick on a pig.
“This one, I think we forgot to get the lipstick out,” he said. ” … This is one of the worst testing consortiums you can pick, other than PARCC.”
Representatives of the anti-Common Core movement say they’ve been underwhelmed by what followed Scott’s executive order, issued in September. A series of public hearings across the state led to changes to the standards that Stewart said Monday were “significant” but have been rejected by critics.
The opposition springs largely but not exclusively from the concerns of conservative activists that Common Core would give the federal government more influence over what children learn in school. While the standards were spearheaded by a group of state officials, they have been promoted by the Obama administration.
“After all of this time, after the executive order, nothing has changed … other than the name,” said John Hallman, who lobbies for conservative groups like the Florida Campaign for Liberty and Liberty First Network.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Unemployment Rate Jumps In Local Three-County Area
March 18, 2014
The latest job numbers released Monday show the unemployment level inching upwards in the North Escambia area — an increase blamed on the loss of December’s seasonal service jobs.
Escambia County’s unemployment rate jumped from 6.2 percent in December to 6.6 percent in January. There were 8,967 people reported unemployed during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 8.5 percent.
Santa Rosa County unemployment also increase, from 5.3 to 5.9 percent from December to January. Santa Rosa County had a total of 4,269 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 7.9 percent.
In Escambia County, Alabama, unemployment increased from7.1 percent in December to 8.5 percent in January. That represented 1,182 people unemployed in the county during the month.
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 6.1 percent in January from 6.3 percent in December. The drop comes despite the state losing an estimated 2,600 non-agricultural jobs between December and January, with some of the biggest hits taken in the fields of retail sales, education and health services, along with leisure and hospitality.
“We have come a long way in three years, but let’s keep working to make sure every person who wants a job can have one,” Scott said in a release that included his new “let’s keep working” campaign slogan.
Florida remains below the national jobless mark of 6.7 percent.
In terms of job creation, the U.S. Department of Labor noted Monday that Florida’s 192,800 job increase during the past year trailed only Texas and California, with each posting more than 300,000 new jobs.
The January seasonally adjusted monthly jobless mark — a statistical technique that eliminates recurring events such as weather, holidays, and the school calendar — is the lowest for Florida since June 2008.
Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, at 6.1percent in January, was unchanged from December’s rate and was below the year-ago rate of 6.7 percent.
The jobless numbers released by Florida and Alabama do not include persons that have given up on finding a job and are no longer reported as unemployed.
Aggie Classic Continues (With Monday Scores)
March 18, 2014
Monday was the first day of action in the Aggie Classic, a 24-team tournament hosted by the Tate Aggies.
Tickets for each game are $6 for adults and students and will be available at the gate at each location. Games will be played at all the five local fields Tuesday and Wednesday. The championship games on Thursday at 4 and 7 p.m. will be played at the University of West Florida.
Monday scores were as follows:
Davidson Academy Bears 5, Ft.Gibson Tigers 4
Second Baptist School 12, Sapulpa Chieftains 1
Navarre Raiders 2, Knoxville Catholic Irish 0
Brentwood Bruins 7, Edmond North Huskies 1
Christ Presbyterian Lions 4, Washington Hornets 0
Escambia Gators 5, Niceville Eagles 4
Sallisaw Black Diamonds 11, Tate Aggies 5
Milton Panthers 11, Jay Bulldogs 1
West Florida Jaguars 8, Brentwood Academy 3
Here is Tuesday’s Aggie Classic schedule:
1:00 — Edmond North Huskies vs. Navarre Raiders at ECHS
1:00 — Christ Presbyterian Lions vs. Jay Bulldogs at Tate
4:00 — Brentwwod Academy Eagles vs. Sallisaw Black Diamonds at ECHS
4:00 — Ft.Gibson Tigers vs. Second Baptist School at Tate
4:00 — Knoxville Catholic Irish vs. Tulsa Union Redskins at UWF
4:00 — Milton Panthers vs. Sapulpa Chieftains at Washington
4:00 — Niceville Eagles vs. Pryor Tigers at WFHS
7:00 — Claremore Zebras vs. Escambia Gators at ECHS
7:00 — Tate Aggies vs. Davidson Academy Bears at Tate
7:00 — Ponte Vedra Sharks vs. South-Doyle Cherokees at UWF
7:00 — Brentwwod Bruins vs. Washington Wildcats at Washington
7:00 — West Florida Jaguars vs. Washington Hornets at WFHS
Readers Respond: Donations To Fund Lift For Rescue Horses
March 18, 2014
Late last week, NorthEscambia.com reported on a fundraising effort by Panhandle Equine Rescue to purchase a large animal lift for rescued horses.
The lift is priced was at $2,145 and PER lacked $980 to make the purchase. After the report about the online fundraiser, another $1,450 was donated. That will allow PER to purchase the lift and a secure structure to which the lift will be attached.
“Because of…our community, we were able to raise more than enough to help horses in the future that are unable to rise on their own,” said PER President Diane Lowery. “Getting a horse on their feet gives them a chance to live; otherwise, they would most likely be euthanized; especially at crime scenes. We appreciate your support.”
The major need for a large animal lift was highlighted by the rescue of “Ebony” from Crowndale Court. For that story, click here.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Senate Panel Backs Bipartisan Tweak To ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law
March 18, 2014
A bipartisan bill that would tweak the controversial “stand your ground” self-defense law sailed through the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Monday, passing unanimously with the backing of both the National Rifle Association and Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown.
The measure (SB 130) by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, would make several changes recommended in 2012 by Gov. Rick Scott’s Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection, which Scott appointed amid a national uproar that followed the shooting death of teen Trayvon Martin.
When six weeks went by without charges being filed against Sanford neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman, the acknowledged shooter, protests spread across the country.
Many of the “stand your ground” law’s original backers said it was never intended to protect the aggressor in a deadly confrontation, and on Monday, the Senate panel spelled that out.
The bill represents the first significant compromise since Zimmerman was acquitted last year of second-degree murder charges in Martin’s death. Just a week ago, Brown helped civil-rights activist Al Sharpton lead 1,000 people to the Capitol to protest “stand your ground”‘ and to declare Florida “ground zero” in the fight to fix or repeal it.
“It’s incumbent upon this committee, it’s incumbent upon this Legislature, to say something about the law this year,” said Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat who also marched last week.
“People on this committee and those that were here to vote for (the original law) … are constantly saying, ‘It’s not what we intended, It’s not what we intended, It’s not what we intended.’ Well, we have about 50 days now to say what we intended,” Smith said.
Smith and Simmons, who helped pass the 2005 bill that became “stand your ground,” addressed the committee together. Simmons’ measure includes a bill by Smith (SB 122) that was folded into it last fall.
The bill would clarify that a law enforcement agency must fully investigate whether a person claiming self-defense has lawfully used force. It also would no longer preclude lawsuits from third parties who are injured by negligent conduct used in self-defense.
The measure would also require the Department of Law Enforcement to develop a training curriculum for participants in neighborhood crime-watch programs and require local law-enforcement agencies to apply the curriculum when training program participants.
Several members of the Scott task force were on hand to support the bill, including NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer, the Rev. R.B. Holmes, who co-chaired the task force, and Stacy Scott, who represented the Florida Public Defender Association.
Stacy Scott said the bill would also clarify the roles of law enforcement officers and neighborhood-watch volunteers. She said it also would clarify the role of immunity hearings that are used to determine if someone can invoke “stand your ground” in self-defense.
” ‘Stand your ground’ is not to be used for vigilantism, for revenge or as an excuse to confront people,” she said.
Brown brought her congressional colleague, U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, who told lawmakers that homicide has gone up in states with “stand your ground” laws.
The House companion to Simmons’ bill hasn’t moved forward, although it was filed in August.
Smith said he’d spoken with House Judiciary Chairman Dennis Baxley, who was the House sponsor of “stand your ground” in 2005, and that the House is waiting for the Senate to act before making its own move.
“You cannot fix everything the first time,” Hammer said. “When you try to do too much is when you create problems. We’re taking it one step at a time. … And if we didn’t get it right, we’ll fix it. But we’re comfortable with what we have today.”
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
One Injured In Highway 97 Rollover Accident
March 17, 2014
One person suffered minor injuries in a rollover accident at a Highway 97 bridge late Monday morning.
The driver of a southbound pickup truck apparently lost control just north of Wiggins Lake Road in Walnut Hill, struck a bridge guardrail and overturned. The pickup came to rest upside down on the center line of Highway 97 just off the bridge.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further information has not been released.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
FDOT, Escambia Continuing With Plans For Traffic Light, Hwy 29, Hwy 97 Redesign
March 17, 2014
Talks between Escambia County and the Florida Department of Transportation are continuing toward a goal of multiple changes at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 97 in Molino — including a red light and redesign of a portion of the intersection.
Escambia County Interim Administrator Larry Newsom met with FDOT officials last week in Chipley to discuss changes and improvements for the intersection to lower the number of traffic crashes.
A full FDOT study of the intersection concluded that a traffic signal should be installed. The study also found that intersection should be redesigned to eliminate the “5-leg intersection configuration” caused by a driveway connection to the Tom Thumb by a combination of strong access control at the driveway connection and a reduction of the existing median opening width.
Last October, the Escambia County Commission affirmed its support for improvements at the intersection and expressed a willingness for the county to pay for the red light at the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection.
Newsom said the state is currently in the design phase for the intersection, and that process is expected to continue for the next three months with input from both FDOT and the county.
“The much needed side street connection of Crabtree Church Road may be addressed on parallel basis with the intersection improvements, or as a secondary project. Escambia County intends to apply for a Community Traffic Safety Team Grant (CTST) to fund construction of this project. However, if we are unsuccessful in that attempt, funds from the voter-approved Local Option Sales Tax will be allocated to facilitate implementation as quickly as possible,” Newsom said.
FDOT will install a traffic signal at the intersection to address safety issues, with the design funded by the state and the constructed funded by Escambia County. A construction scheduled has not yet been established.
“I believe that, with the support of FDOT District III Secretary Tommy Barfield and coordination with the State Secretary Ananth Prasad, we can expect a significant amount of investment to be made in Escambia County in the near future,” Newsom added.
The plans to improve and add a signal at the intersection came after residents of the all residential northern stretch of Highway 95A from Highway 29 to Highway 97 unsuccessful pushed commissioners to enforce a truck ban on that portion of Highway 95A. Trucks currently turn south on Highway 95A at Highway 29 to avoid the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection altogether over safety concerns.
Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry, Sen. Greg Evers, Rep. Clay Ingram, Rep. Doug Broxson, Rep. Mike Hill, Rep. Matt Gaetz and Senate President Don Gaetz have also advocated for FDOT to make safety improvements at the intersection.
Pictured: Traffic crashes at the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection in Molino. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
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.
