Bratt Elementary Showcases Technology
February 7, 2014
Bratt Elementary School held a Technology Night Thursday to showcase some of the latest tech items used in the school. From computers, to software to iPads, students and teachers showed parents just how fun — and tech filled — elementary school can be. Many of the technology items were purchased with a Poarch Creek Indian Education Endowment Grant.
Pictured top and inset: Students show off iPads used at Bratt Elementary. Pictured below: Parents learn about software and website options during presentations in a school computer lab and the media center Thursday night. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Police: Suspect Learns To Look For The Cops Before Robbing A Business
February 7, 2014
Police say a drugstore robbery suspect learned a valuable lesson early Thursday morning — look around for the cops before you try to rob a business.
Pensacola Police said 21-year old Scott Eldon Donaldson entered the CVS on North Ninth Avenue about 7:30 a.m. and handed a note to employees that demanded narcotics and indicated that he had a firearm.
Then Donaldson noticed the drive-up window — and Officer Mike Cyr in a marked police cruiser. Cyr was on his way to work and had stopped to pick up a prescription.
After spotting the officer, Donaldson fled the business and got into a vehicle parked nearby.
Cyr was the drive-up window when the call was dispatched to officers, and Detective Jeff Brown responded from an off duty post at Wal-mart on Creighton Road. Within about two minutes, Cyr and Brown stopped Donaldson on Creighton Road just east of the CVS.
He was taken into custody and charged with armed robbery. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $1 million.
Escambia County Declares Feb. 15-22 As ‘National FFA Week’
February 7, 2014
The Escambia County Commission issued proclamation Thursday designating February 15-22 as “National FFA Week” in Escambia County.
As members of the Northview, Tate and West Florida FFA chapters looked on, the commission also recognized local FFA chapters along with their members, advisors, parents and supporters.
Pictured top: Members of the Northview, Tate and West Florida high school FFA chapters Thursday morning with Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry (far right). Pictured below: Barry reads the proclamation as Northview FFA Vice President Haylee Weaver (left) and Commissioner Lumon May (seated in background) look on. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward Registration Next Week
February 7, 2014
Ernest Ward Middle School is hosting registration night Thursday, February 13 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Students and parents will have the opportunity to meet teachers, explore course offerings for next school year, and complete their registration card.
Cat Country 98.7 Nominated For ACM Station Of The Year
February 7, 2014
Country 98.7 has been nominated as small market radio station of the year from the Academy of Country Music.
The winner will be named during the the annual award show on CBS on Sunday, April 6 from Las Vegas. This was Cat Country 98.7’s six nomination in the past 10 years for the prestigious award, which the station won in 2006, 2009 and 2011.
“Our entire team strives to super serve our community every single day,” said station owner Dave Huxeng.
Cat Country 98.7 received their third Academy of Country Music Radio Station of the Year award in 2011. Accepting the trophies from Sony recording star Sara Evans in Las Vegas were Mary and Dave Hoxeng, owners of Cat Country 98.7. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Supreme Court Orders Review Of Lethal Injection
February 7, 2014
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a review of the new drug used in the state’s lethal injection cocktail in the case of Paul Augustus Howell, a Death Row inmate scheduled for execution Feb. 26.
Justices ordered a circuit court to hold an evidentiary hearing on whether substitution of the drug midazolam violates the constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment by the government.
Howell’s lawyers argued in briefs filed Tuesday that midazolam, the first of the three drug-cocktail that induces unconsciousness, paralysis and cardiac arrest, is problematic because it will not anesthetize him and would leave him “unable to communicate his agony” when the other drugs are administered.
The justices rejected an appeal about the new drug in a previous case, but in a four-page order issued Thursday said that an expert’s report submitted by Howell “has raised a factual dispute, not conclusively refuted, as to whether the use of midazolam, in conjunction with his medical history and mental conditions, will subject him to a ’substantial risk of serious harm.’ ”
The court also ordered the Department of Corrections to produce correspondence and documents from the manufacturer of midazolam concerning the drug’s use in executions, “including those addressing any safety and efficacy issues.”
The high court ordered the 2nd Judicial Circuit in Jefferson County, where Howell was originally tried and convicted of the murder of a highway patrol trooper in 1992, to hold a hearing and enter an order on the issue by 2 p.m. Wednesday.
In September, the Florida Department of Corrections substituted midazolam for the barbiturate pentobarbital as the first of the three-drug lethal injection “protocol.” Florida and other states switched to the new drug because the manufacturer of pentobarbital stopped selling it for use in executions.
The second drug, vecuronium bromide, renders muscle, including the diaphragm, unable to contract, making it impossible to breathe.
If not completely anesthetized when that drug is administered, the condemned would “experience the physical and psychological agony of suffocation,” Howell’s lawyers argued in briefs filed Tuesday.
The new drug protocol has been used four times since its adoption in September, but Howell’s lawyers argued that three of those executed were not fully anesthetized before the other drugs were administered.
The Supreme Court on Thursday also ordered the court to consider testimony from University of Miami anesthesiologist David Lubarsky regarding problems with the state’s protocol for making sure that inmates are unconscious. According to Lubarsky, the state is not waiting long enough between injections for the anesthetic to take effect. Lubarsky also testified the drug poses a significant risk for “paradoxical reactions” for Howell because he has mental health disorders and possible brain injuries.
Howell was scheduled to be executed last year but a federal appeals court issued a stay the day before he was slated to die. The stay was lifted in November, and Gov. Rick Scott rescheduled his execution for Feb. 26.
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
Expansion Of Private Flood Insurance May Get Extra Review
February 7, 2014
As thousands of coastal residents worry about higher flood-insurance rates, an effort to attract more private insurers to offer flood coverage in Florida may go back to the start of the Senate review process.
After concerns were expressed by several senators on Thursday about technical changes in the Senate proposal (SB 542), sponsor Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said he will meet with Senate Banking and Insurance Chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, to discuss whether the revisions need another review from Simmons’ committee.
“This is an attempt to open this market, there’s obviously going to be to be a lot of questions … we’re going to make sure all of our senators understand this policy going forward,” Brandes said after the hearing. “The upside for us is that (the legislative) session doesn’t start for another two weeks.”
The Banking and Insurance Committee on Jan. 8 supported the proposal, which is the state’s reaction to increased rates under the National Flood Insurance Program.
On Thursday, the Senate General Government Appropriations Subcommittee agreed not to oppose the changes to Brandes’ measure.
But the nature of the changes drew subcommittee members Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, and Nancy Detert, R-Venice, to say that such “dramatic” alternations should be made in a committee where staff has a better understanding of the proposed changes.
“I’m a little concerned about basically a strike-everything amendment being made in a committee not expert on the subject matter,” Latvala said. “I’m not sure this is the way we want to do business.”
Brandes’ proposal is intended to provide “flexibility” to homeowners now covered through the National Flood Insurance Program and to open the Florida market to companies offering flood coverage.
Among the changes added or redefined on Thursday: Homeowners would be able to negotiate rates without private carriers needing the state Office of Insurance Regulation’s consent; commercial coverage would be excluded; and flood coverage could be limited to the principal building or the amount of a property owner’s outstanding mortgage.
Also, rules would be eased for surplus-line carriers, which offer higher risk alternative types of coverage to people who can’t get standard coverage and whose claims are not guaranteed by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association if a company goes bankrupt.
The changes to Brandes’ proposal came two days after the U.S. House rejected the latest attempt to delay most of the rate hikes in the National Flood Insurance Program for four years.
Gov. Rick Scott issued a statement Wednesday saying he was disappointed with the Republican-dominated U.S. House and saying that “President Obama needs to act immediately to undo these outrageous flood insurance hikes he forced on Floridians.”
Real-estate and business leaders have claimed there could be a potentially cataclysmic hit to the state’s real-estate market as rates go up because of changes approved in the federal 2012 Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act.
Florida accounts for about 2 million policies in the federal program, with state staff estimating that about 268,500 policies receive subsidized rates.
Some properties, primarily in the Tampa-St. Petersburg and Southeast Florida markets, have been projected to face the biggest hikes as the rates in the federal program are made actuarially sound.
While there have been examples of some homeowners seeing rates go from $4,000 to $40,000, Detert questioned if the Senate proposal will actually bring affordable rates for those homeowners.
“If you open this to more agents to sell flood, it may reduce the cost from $40,000 to $38,000,” Detert said, “but that original buyer was still used to $4,000.”
Latvala said Biggert-Waters is an example of how laws and regulations get approved without the proper reviews, as he emphasized a desire for further analysis of the state proposal.
“Biggert-Waters is an example of how a major piece of legislation, that is impacting hundreds of thousands of lives, was passed that dramatically impacts our state,” Latvala said. “All but one member of our congressional delegation voted for it, because they didn’t know what was in there.”
Former U.S. Rep. Connie Mack cast the only vote in the House from Florida against the 2012 bill, which eventually made it through the Senate as part of a larger negotiated measure that included student-loan interest rates and BP oil spill money.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Gaetz Files Bill To Legalize Non-Euphoric Pot
February 7, 2014
After a month of discussions, House Criminal Justice Chairman Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, filed a measure Thursday that would legalize a marijuana extract known as “Charlotte’s Web” that proponents believe can dramatically reduce seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy.
The measure would legalize all forms of cannabis that contain .5 percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol and more than 15 percent of cannabidiol, along with the resin extracted from the plant.
Gaetz’s proposal would also make it legal to manufacture the compound.
The federal Food and Drug Administration has not approved the product but supporters say it reduces seizures in children and adults diagnosed with a form of epilepsy that does not respond to other treatments.
Some Republican lawmakers are concerned that support for Charlotte’s Web could be confused with support for a medical marijuana proposal on the ballot in November. Because it has such a small amount of THC, the psychoactive compound in pot, Charlotte’s Web does not get users high, unlike the marijuana that patients with severe illnesses could get with a prescription from doctors under the proposed constitutional amendment.
Slight Chance Of Sleet, Snow For Tonight
February 6, 2014
Here is your official North Escambia forecast:
- Tonight: A slight chance of rain and snow before 9pm. Cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low around 29. North wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Little or no accumulation expected.
- Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. Wind chill values between 25 and 35 early. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 36. North wind around 5 mph.
- Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 63. North wind around 5 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
- Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. North wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: Sunny, with a high near 58. North wind around 5 mph.
- Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38.
- Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 60.
- Tuesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 45.
- Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 64.
- Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35.
- Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 60.
National Weather Service graphic, click to enlarge.
County Tables Extension Of Century Gas Franchise For Walnut Hill, McDavid, Bratt
February 6, 2014
Thursday night, the Escambia County Commission tabled a public hearing and action on a new natural gas franchise ordinance for the Town of Century. The request will be considered at a later meeting.
Pensacola Energy Director Don Suarez appeared at the commission’s Agenda Review meeting Thursday morning requesting the action be tabled because he was unaware the issue was up for a vote until a phone call Wednesday afternoon.
Century currently holds franchise rights from the county to provide natural gas service from the Escambia River westward to almost the Perdido River and from the Alabama state line southward to near Bogia. The franchise area includes Century, Byrneville, Bratt, Oak Grove, Walnut Hill and McDavid.
The franchise was granted by the county in 1968 to the Town of Century (then known as the Town of South Flomaton) to provide natural gas services to the northernmost part of the county.
Century is now considering significantly upgrading its capacity for servicing residents and businesses located in this franchise area, but the present franchise expires in five years. Rather than extending the current franchise agreement, the town is requesting that the BOCC adopt a new franchise ordinance that provides it with the same rights and responsibilities, including payment of franchise fees, as those franchises that the commission recently approved with Gulf Breeze and Pensacola.
This new franchise will expire in 2045 would not extend beyond the geographical franchise area previously designated in 1968. Century currently provides gas service only in a portion of their franchise area — near the town limits, south along Highway 29 to and including a portion of Highway 164, and west into Byrneville.
Century Mayor Freddie McCall said the town is first looking to expand natural gas service to an area of the Gandyville community near State Line Road.
“We just wanted this new franchise agreement in place before we starting investing in expansions and then the county take it away from us when the franchise agreement now expires in five years,” he said.
Pensacola Energy, formerly known as Energy Services of Pensacola, currently provides natural gas service to commercial customers in Bratt and Walnut Hill — within the Town of Century’s gas franchise area. Pensacola Energy provides natural gas to Ernest Ward Middle School and at least one more large commercial customer in Walnut Hill, and Bratt Elementary and Northview High School in Bratt. They also provide natural gas service to an unknown number of residential customers near Kansas Road, Green Village Road and North Highway 99 in Bratt.
McCall said he did not know what effect, if any, an extension of the town’s gas franchise agreement would have on Pensacola Energy’s service in the area.
Don Suarez, Pensacola Energy director, referred our questions Wednesday to Tamara Fountain, communications administrator for the City of Pensacola. Fountain requested our questions be presented in an email. Our email to Fountain had not been answered or acknowledged by Thursday evening.
In the afternoon email to Fountain, NorthEscambia.com asked if an extension of Century’s gas franchise might “impact Pensacola Energy’s service that is currently provided within the Town of Century’s franchise area?”. We also requested information about commercial customers within the area and the number of residential customers served by Pensacola Energy within Century’s franchise area.
Pictured top: A Pensacola Energy meter in front of Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill, inside the Town of Century gas franchise area. Pictured below: The Town of Century’s gas franchise map (click to enlarge). NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
