Health Alert Issued Following McDavid Train Derailment
January 30, 2014
The Florida Department of Health in Escambia County has issued a health alert following a train derailment Tuesday night in McDavid.
Twenty-three cars of a 69-car CSX train derailed about 6:20 p.m. on a north-south track almost behind the McDavid Sawmill . Reports from the scene indicated that a bridge and railroad tracks in the area were totally destroyed by the derailment.
Two tanker cars of phosphoric acid were submerged in Fletcher Creek with other cars landing on top of them. Officials said Wednesday that there was evidence of small leak from one of those cars.
The Florida Department of Health in Escambia County advises against contacting, consuming, or otherwise using, water from Fletcher Creek obtained from the immediate vicinity of the train derailment site.
A small number of homes on Cotton Lake Road were evacuated as a precaution, and an emergency shelter was opened by the America Red Cross at the Molino Community Complex. Just one family took advantage of the shelter before officials gave the all-clear for residents to return to the homes.
An Escambia County spokesman said a crash investigation would be conducted by CSX. He said it may take crews several weeks to make repairs to tracks at the bridge at that location.
Photos by Rebecca Brasch for NorthEscambia.com
Scott Outlines Nearly $74.2 Billion Budget
January 30, 2014
Unwrapping a couple of new highlights after a weeks-long rollout, Gov. Rick Scott released a nearly $74.2 billion budget Wednesday that would leave total state spending relatively flat, slash taxes and boost funding for education and child welfare.
Most of the major components of Scott’s proposal — which is expected to be reshaped by the Legislature — had already been revealed in previous events. But the blueprint released Wednesday included at least two notable items: an increase in the exemption from the corporate income tax that would cost the state $21.6 million, and up to $70 million for land conservation efforts.
During remarks to Florida reporters and editors, Scott touted the economic turnaround the state has seen during his tenure and the tax and fee cuts that he placed at the center of his budget plan. That plan includes about $400 million in savings for motorists by rolling back vehicle-registration fee increases approved in 2009.
“My message to the people of Florida is this: It’s your money,” Scott said during an annual Associated Press event at the Capitol. “We want you to keep it in your pockets. Invest in your hopes, invest in your dreams.”
According to Scott’s office, the budget would actually be reduced by 0.1 percent. The increases in spending would be bankrolled or offset by an increase in local property tax revenues; $287 million in savings; and $222 million in trust-fund sweeps.
The full budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 provides some details of Scott’s already-announced proposals. The governor had touted a $542 million increase to education funding earlier in the week, but the spending plan released Wednesday showed that $374.7 million of that money would come from rising local property taxes powered by an increase in property values.
Scott brushed aside criticisms that the increase in the education budget, which would boost per-pupil spending by $168.59, was too small. It would still fall about $177 short of high-water mark for education funding during the 2007-08 school year. Scott pointed to measures that show the state’s students doing better in the classroom.
“We’re heading in the right direction, and we’re investing the right amounts of money,” he said.
The Florida Forever conservation-program increase would include $30 million in funding and the ability to use up to $40 million from the sale of state property for land purchases. But a similar land-sale program approved last year has failed to raise much money, with Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, calling it “a disaster.”
The Florida Forever Coalition, a group of environmental organizations, said the new plan wasn’t adequate.
“Funds from the sale of non-conservation lands is an appropriate but uncertain source for Florida Forever,” the coalition said in a statement. “Florida’s identified conservation needs are much greater than the governor’s proposal.”
Scott would hold $1.7 billion in reserve and plow $1.1 billion into the state’s rainy-day fund. The Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund would sit at $600 million, while $1.7 billion would be held in other trust funds.
Legislative Republicans were largely receptive to the proposal, though they signaled they have ideas of their own. Appearing with House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said they would push for tax cuts that “target low-income and working Floridians.”
Asked if Scott’s proposals to lower a tax on commercial leases and to increase the corporate tax exemption from $50,000 to $75,000 would fit that definition, Gaetz said they would not.
“But what the speaker and I have said is that the one area we have agreed upon is the [reduction in] tag and title fees, which affect every working Floridian and every Floridian who has to drive to school, is going to be the centerpiece of our tax cut package,” Gaetz said. “These other areas, we’re certainly willing to look at, but we think that the centerpiece of the tax cut package has to be broad-based and affect working families.”
The two leaders, though, also threw their weight behind one of Scott’s long-time goals by promising not to increase tuition in the higher education system.
House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, rejected Scott’s characterization of the proposal as “historic,” particularly in terms of education funding.
“Historic disappointment — that’s what’s historic about this governor’s budget,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, suggested that Scott was politically motivated in some of the budget recommendations.
“Four years ago, Rick Scott spent $70 million of his own money to win the election,” Smith said. “This year, he’s preparing to spend $500 million of Floridians’ tax dollars to do the same thing.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Gulf Power: Over 46,000 Lost Power This Week
January 30, 2014
During this week’s winter storm, Gulf Power Company says 46,749 customers lost power at some point.
As of 10:00 Wednesday night, Gulf Power had restored electricity to all but about 430 customers as crews continued to work into the early morning hours. Gulf Power Company crews had help from reinforcements from sister companies Alabama Power and Mississippi Power to help restore electricity in the areas hardest hit by the winter storm.
Many of the remaining outages are scattered across the area, but Gulf Power said they should finish repair efforts on Thursday.
Photos: Hundreds Of Reader Ice, Snow Photos
January 30, 2014
NorthEscambia.com readers submitted literally hundreds of snow and ice storm pictures. We’ve included about 400 of those photos in the galleries below.
For a photo gallery of Wednesday snow/ice storm photos, click here.
For more photos, click here .
For a photo gallery of Tuesday night ice storm and snow photos, click here.
For photos from earlier Tuesday, click here
To submit your photos, visit our NorthEscambia.com Facebook page, or email news@northescambia.com
Pictured top: Welcome to Florida, looking closed for business and nothing like the Sunshine State. Pictured inset: Harley Tagert of Jay plays in the snow. Pictured below: A postcard like scene from Bluff Springs. Reader submitted photos for NorthEsambia.com, click to enlarge.
Deputies Seek Suspects In Burglary Of Nine Mile Target Store
January 30, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is looking for two suspects in the burglary of Target on Nine Mile Road.
The suspects were caught on video using a brick to destroy the glass front doors of the business during the early morning hours of January 26. Anyone having information on the identity of the suspects is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Jay Woman Critically Injured In Wreck Blamed On Winter Conditions
January 29, 2014
A Jay woman was critically injured in a wreck Tuesday afternoon that was blamed on winter road conditions.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 21-year old Kasey Jean Brown of Jay was traveling east on Highway 4 near Market Road about 4:58 p.m. when her 2000 Ford Focus lost traction and began to fishtail. The vehicle rotated across the center line and into the path of a westbound 2002 Jeep Cherokee. The driver of the Cherokee attempted to avoid an accident, but both vehicles collided just off the north side of the roadway.
Brown was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola in critical condition.
The driver of the Jeep Cherokee, 52-year old Larry M. Wiebel of Illinois received minor injuries. His passenger, 51-year old Sherry Lynn Hergert, also of Illinois, was seriously injured. Both were transported to Santa Rosa Medical Center.
The accident remains under investigation by the FHP.
Photo Gallery: Ice 2014
January 29, 2014
For a photo gallery of Tuesday night ice storm and snow photos, click here.
For photos from earlier in the day, click here
To submit your photos, visit our NorthEscambia.com Facebook page, or email news@northescambia.com
Frozen Cityscapes: Atmore, Flomaton
January 29, 2014
Here’s a look at a frozen downtown in Flomaton (above) and Atmore (below) Tuesday night. Reader submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos; Freezing Rain, Sleet, Icicles
January 29, 2014
Here are some ice, snow and freezing rain photos from across the North Escambia area. For more photos, click here.
To submit your photos, visit our NorthEscambia.com Facebook page, or email news@northescambia.com
Reader submitted and NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pot Amendment Puts Cloud Over Anti-Seizure Marijanua Debate
January 29, 2014
Backers of a non-euphoric strain of cannabis that helps reduce seizures in children aren’t giving up on a legislative fix, but the politics of pot could make their uphill battle even steeper.
A sharply divided Florida Supreme Court on Monday approved a ballot initiative that would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana, rejecting arguments from Attorney General Pam Bondi, Republican legislative leaders and others that the proposal was misleading and would give doctors broad discretion over who would qualify for the pot.
Opposition to the medical marijuana proposal, which will be on the November ballot, could jeopardize the passage of a legislative measure 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. Florida is one of a handful of states including Georgia where Republican-led legislatures are grappling with making the strain legal.
Charlotte’s Web is an extract of the marijuana derivative cannabidiol, or CBD, but is low in the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The strain is oil-based, can be taken orally and doesn’t get users high, unlike the medical marijuana that would be authorized under the constitutional proposal.
Backers of Charlotte’s Web are trying to draw clear lines between the two types of medical marijuana with the aim of legislative approval in Florida this spring.
Even if the medical marijuana amendment receives the 60 percent approval necessary for passage, it could be years before pot is available to patients in Florida.
That’s too long to wait, said Peyton Moseley, whose 10-year-old adopted daughter RayAnn is one of an estimated 125,000 children in Florida diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that can cause hundreds of seizures a day.
Legislative authorization “is still our daughter’s and 125,000 other Floridians’ best chance at getting this life-changing medicine quickly,” Moseley said after Monday’s court ruling. “Having the full-on legalization of medical marijuana on the ballot in November is fine and good, but if your child’s life depended on her gaining access to a certain kind of medicine, would you want to leave that decision in the hands of the voters?”
But the court’s decision to put the prescription pot question on the ballot could pose a conundrum for conservative lawmakers, already skeptical of the non-euphoric strain.
“I think after people analyze it they are going to kind of line up. They’ll either say there is a right way involving these derivatives and there’s a wrong way and contrast it with the amendment. Or they’ll say people are going to get this all mixed up and think I’m for (medical marijuana). … It depends how their district reads and how they want to be seen,” said House Judiciary Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
Baxley has thwarted an attempt by House Criminal Justice Chairman Matt Gaetz, who introduced the issue by holding a workshop on it last month, to include legalization of Charlotte’s Web in a larger committee bill. Baxley’s move means Charlotte’s Web would have to be approved in a stand-alone bill, which could be harder to pass. Gaetz said he intends to press ahead and that his colleagues should, too.
“I always think that politicians err when they try to start to treat the public like intellectual inferiors. It’s pretty condescending and patronizing to say that we’re not going to help 125,000 children with intractable epilepsy because we’re worried that the public is going to be confused,” Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said.
Another key distinction between the two types of medical marijuana is the potential universe of patients, said Gaetz. State economists estimated in October that about 1.5 million Floridians could be eligible for medical marijuana. Between 125,000 and 250,000 Floridians have disorders that could benefit from Charlotte’s Web, Gaetz said.
“The proposed constitutional amendment will put a dispensary in every neighborhood. My proposal wouldn’t. No one will be building marijuana dispensaries if CBD is legal,” he said.
While GOP leaders including Gov. Rick Scott have expressed empathy for families like the Moseleys, none have definitively said the Legislature should act.
“The governor feels for families struggling with terrible illness. The FDA (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is currently evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the medication and the governor is hopeful that families will get relief from the impacts of these serious illnesses in the safest possible way,” Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said in an e-mail on Tuesday.
But Moseley, who with his wife Holley started the non-profit organization “Caring 4 Florida” to lobby for the bill and provide support to other families, said Scott is confused. Clinical trials are being tested on a similar drug called Epidiolex, which also contains CBD but, unlike Charlotte’s Web, does not contain THC.
“With a person dying every 10 minutes from epilepsy related issues, the reality is that our kids don’t have three to five years to wait on clinical trials,” Moseley said.
And, Moseley said, his daughter RayAnn has been prescribed a variety of medications that never received FDA approval for children.
“There’s less THC in this than a lot of things on our shelves at Publix,” Moseley said. “I think there’s such a negative connotation with the word cannabis or marijuana. People just have that embedded in their brains. That’s really our job, to explain to people what’s going on.”
If Gaetz, the Moseleys and other families “are successful in getting that across,” Baxley said, “then they’ll have a success story here.”
But, he cautioned, “if it gets all wrapped up in (the initiative), it could be more problematic.”
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida