High School Football Preview
September 29, 2013
Here’s a look at the football schedule for next Friday night, October 4, in the North Escambia area:
FLORIDA
- *Northview at Jay, 7 p.m.
- *Bay at West Florida, 7 p.m.
- *Niceville at Tate, 7:30 p.m.
- *Pace at Pine Forest, 7:30 p.m.
- *Mosley at Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
- *PHS at Escambia, 7:30 p.m.
- *Washington at Milton, 7:30 p.m.
- *Navarre at Fort Walton Beach, 7 p.m.
- *Rutherford at Gulf Breeze, 7 p.m.
ALABAMA
- Flomaton at Sweet Water
- Thomasville at Escambia Co. (Atmore)
- Escambia Academy at Pike Liberal
- T.R. Miller at Cottage Hill Christian
- Excel at W.S. Neal
Flomaton Celebrates Heritage With Railroad Juction Day
September 29, 2013
Flomaton celebrated the town’s heritage Saturday with Railroad Junction Day.
There was entertainment, various food and craft vendors in the Flomaton Lions Park all-day, and a model train display in the community center. The Turtle Point Environmental Center was open with a “Birds of Prey” demonstration and antique car show in the parking lot. The Flomaton Public Library hosted several speakers and the Flomaton Area Railroad Museum, log cabin and caboose were open.
Pictured top: The Railroad Junction Day Saturday in Flomaton, Ala. Pictured inset: Aaliyah Bedsole of the Brewton Dance Studio performs. Pictured below: Madison Lambeth performs Saturday. Pictured middle below: Emcee Bo Brantley. Pictured bottom: A model train display. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: A Busy First Week Of Committee Meetings
September 29, 2013
Who said nothing ever gets done during the first week of legislative committee meetings?
There was plenty of action this week at the Capitol, even if very little of it happened during votes by the panels that held their first get-togethers in anticipation of the 2014 legislative session. The Democrats deposed one future leader and elected another in about 48 hours. Gov. Rick Scott jettisoned the state’s commitment to a new set of standardized tests, upending several assumptions about the future of education reform efforts in the state.
And lawmakers continued to struggle with how to enforce the novel idea that legislators live in the districts they represent.
‘IRON SHARPENS IRON’
For House Democrats, the week began with a meeting at the Florida Education Association to decide the fate of Rep. Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg, the caucus’ first choice to lead it after the 2014 elections.
As reporters sat around a table in a downstairs conference room Monday night, all but three of the 44 Democratic members of the House gathered upstairs and behind closed doors to discuss whether Rouson should remain as leader.
Rouson’s perceived wrongdoing included setting up a campaign account for House efforts without telling the Florida Democratic Party or his caucus members, alienating core Democratic constituents like the FEA, and choosing the wrong strategists to help with House campaigns.
After a couple of hours of discussion and debate, current House Minority Leader Perry Thurston of Fort Lauderdale announced the results: By a 24-17 count, Rouson was out.
“I asked for the opportunity to appear in front of the caucus and explain why I did what I did and the purpose for doing it,” Rouson said after the vote. “The caucus afforded me that opportunity tonight, and I’m very grateful.”
The next election was relatively quick. By Wednesday night, House Democrats were gathering — this time back at the Capitol and back in the open — to choose between Rep. Mark Pafford of West Palm Beach and Rep. Alan Williams of Tallahassee as Rouson’s replacement.
Pafford is an unapologetic progressive who had the backing of most of the party’s leadership; Williams made the case that he had a better fund-raising track record. In the end, Pafford won on a 29-12 vote.
Both sides tried to stress the party’s unity and a lack of enmity between the two candidates. Williams several times said “iron sharpens iron,” an apparent reference to Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Pafford seemed to make the same point in his post-election remarks to the caucus, albeit in different words.
“Our differences are actually what make this minority caucus stronger,” said Pafford, 47. “And we need to take a moment to embrace our differences and make those differences our strength.”
TESTING RICK SCOTT
The FCAT has long been a flashpoint in Florida’s education system, with Democrats pointing to the testing system as an example of what’s wrong with the state’s approach to reforming schools. But the FCAT is on its way out, and the only question remaining is what the state will use to replace it.
That decision got a little more mysterious this week, when Scott announced that he was beginning a process that seems designed to extract the state from its involvement in the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC.
Scott, who had previously praised the tests being developed by a multistate consortium, now saw them less as a valid way to measure student learning under the new “Common Core Standards” being adopted by almost every state in the country and more as the vanguard of federal interference in schools. Even if he couldn’t articulate what that federal interference would look like when pressed by reporters.
“If you look at it, it’s their entry point into having more involvement in our education system. … I want to continue that focus on high standards, but we don’t need the federal government intruding in our lives,” Scott told reporters.
That seemed to directly contradict assurances that had come out of Scott’s own education department.
“The federal government does not have a hand in development of the aligned assessments pertaining to CCSS (Common Core),” according to an undated document on the agency’s website. “There are two state consortia responsible for developing Common Core aligned assessments as well as some states that have developed their own assessment programs, such as Kentucky and New York.”
That left the state Department of Education to come up with a new test in time for the 2014-15 school year, set to begin in less than a year. Some Democrats were already skeptical, encouraging the state to take a breather instead of scrambling to set up a testing system that might not work.
“There are other options,” said Rep. Karen Castor Dentel, D-Maitland. “We don’t have to test that year with a standardized test.”
‘YOU CAN’T GO (TO THAT) HOME AGAIN’
Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, were trying to come up with their own kind of test: a way to determine whether legislators live in the districts they’re supposed to represent. And that would have to clear a “straight-face test,” said Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.
The issue has been around for years, with reporters and other insiders frequently joking about which lawmakers call Tallahassee or other parts of the state home while claiming residency somewhere else. But it has been brought to the forefront in recent months by press reports and by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, who has been crusading on the issue in part because Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, defeated a supporter of Latvala’s 2016 bid for the Senate presidency.
Sachs has faced allegations that she doesn’t live in her South Florida district, but in another home nearby. Sachs at one time claimed to live in a Fort Lauderdale condo owned by a friend but recently changed her voter registration to a condominium in Delray Beach.
Latvala, who chairs the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee, seemed unconcerned this week about the possibility that the move could ruffle feathers among House Republicans who might also not hew to the letter of the law.
“I don’t care. The constitution says people need to live in their districts, and they need to live in their districts. If we elected officials can’t abide by the constitution, what kind of example are we?” Latvala said.
Gaetz floated the idea of a joint House-Senate rule, though it’s not precisely clear what making such a rule might entail or exactly what the requirements would be.
“People ought to live among those they represent,” he said. “This is not the British parliament where you get to sort of move to wherever there’s an open seat. You ought to be going to the grocery store, going to synagogue and church and school among the people you represent.”
STOPPING SEX OFFENDERS
One thing that does seem clear is that the 2014 legislative session will include new laws dealing with sex offenders.
The push for new legislation comes in the wake of last month’s investigative series by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, which found that the commitment of sexually violent predators under the state’s Jimmy Ryce Act had slowed to a crawl, with nearly 600 offenders released only to be convicted of new sex offenses — including more than 460 child molestations, 121 rapes and 14 murders.
Outraged by the reports, Florida lawmakers promised action during hearings this week that covered plea deals, sentencing guidelines, risk assessment, state contracting, treatment evaluations and the monitoring of offenders after release.
“This will not be one bill,” said House Criminal Justice Chairman Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican whose subcommittee held one of the hearings. “This will be many, many bills.”
On Monday, DCF released a series of recommendations intended to lessen the number of sexually violent predators who fall through the cracks of the Jimmy Ryce Act, which requires the state Department of Children and Families to evaluate sex offenders before their releases from prison, confining the most dangerous at the 720-bed Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia.
“I think that the entire Legislature is on board,” said Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Hollywood Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee.
By Friday, one idea had already taken the form of legislation: Members of the House and Senate filed bills that would bar sexual offenders from viewing or possessing pornography, saying the move could help prevent offenders from committing future sex crimes.
“I believe there is a way that we can strike a balance between keeping civil liberties safe and also keeping the public safe from the risk of re-offenders of sexual violence,” said Rep. Katie Edwards, a Plantation Democrat who filed the House version this week.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott announced that the state would withdraw from a multistate consortium developing tests to measure student learning under the new “Common Core State Standards.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Sometimes when you ride by it looks like Fred Sanford’s house. We actually hang the clothes out to dry.”– Corrections Secretary Michael Crews, on the fact that inmates are doing things like sewing and washing dishes to help close the Department of Corrections’ budget deficit.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Photos: NHS Cheerleaders, Dance Team, Band, NJROTC
September 29, 2013
For a photo gallery with the Northview High School cheerleaders, dance team, band and NJROTC from Friday night’s Choctawhatchee at Northview game, click here.
For a game summary and action photos, click here.
Cantonment Power Substation Getting $4.5 Million Upgrade
September 28, 2013
As part of the largest construction project in its history, Gulf Power Gulf Power Company is spending $4.5 million to upgrade its Cantonment substation to help maintain grid reliability in North Escambia.
New aluminum structures and equipment are replacing timeworn steel equipment inside the substation, which serves to control the voltage and the distribution of electricity in the Cantonment area.
“Substations are part of the backbone of our power grid,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power corporate communications manager. “They take the power from our generation plants and step down the voltage to be distributed to homes and businesses. It’s critical we monitor and maintain these carefully.”
The original equipment at the substation, which has been in service for 50 years, has reached the end of its service life. The work is part of Gulf Power’s construction plan that will overhaul, maintain and build new equipment over the next several years across the utility’s system in Northwest Florida.
“This is part of our pre-planned maintenance schedule,” said Rogers. “We continuously monitor our equipment and look way into the future to make sure we keep our power grid reliable. Our customers count on it.”
While the work is set to be completed in December, 47 inches of rain and an abundance of snakes have made the construction challenging.
“Our crews and contractors have had to navigate around some very muddy terrain because of the rain,” Rogers said, “not to mention poisonous snakes. But despite the challenges, everyone’s working safely and the project remains on schedule.”
Pictured: New structures and equipment can be seen on the left side of the photo at the Cantonment substation compared to the old equipment that is still in the process of being replaced on the right. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
One Shot At Escambia Nightclub
September 28, 2013
One person was reported shot early Saturday morning at an Escambia County nightclub.
The shooting was reported about 12:40 a.m. at Ray’s Soul City at 501 E Baars Street, not far from the U.S. Post Office on North Davis Highway. The victim was transported by Escambia County EMS as a “trauma alert” to Baptist Hospital. The victim’s name, age and condition were not available early Saturday morning.
Further details have not yet been released by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The Aggies Do It Again: Four In A Row With Pine Forest Shutout
September 28, 2013
The Tate Aggies cruised to a 35-0 win over the Pine Forest Eagles Friday night at Pete Gindl Stadium in Cantonment.
The Tate Aggies came into Friday night’s game riding high on a three game winning streak. Tate had not beat Pine Forest in a decade. Tate make it four wins in a row for this season, their best start since the early 90’s. Crosstown rivals Pine Forest, however, were looking to put a stop to that winning streak.
The first quarter ended with the score still 0-0. It wasn’t until late in the second quarter before Tate scored on three-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sawyer Smith to De-Vekyo Lewis to make the score 7-0 Tate with 3:34 remaining in the half.
Pine Forest was threatening with time running out, but the Eagles drew a penalty as they snapped the ball with 0.9 seconds remaining. The clock started on the snap, but the play was whistled dead for the penalty but not before time expired for the half with Pine Forest standing behind on Tate’s three-yard line.
In the second half, Tate punted the football, but Pine Forest fumbled the catch and Tate recovered the ball on Pine Forest 11. On what would have been fourth down, a roughing the quarterback penalty against the Eagles gave the Aggies a first down and they capitalized on a three-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Stephen Pederson, making the score 14-0 Tate.
Quarterback Sawyer Smith found Pederson again on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Tate lead 21-0 with 3:18 remaining in the third. Then, with just 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Tate’s Rashan Johnson intercepted an Eagles’ pass and returned the ball 77 yards for another Tate touchdown, 28-0.
Tate wasn’t done yet. Smith found Reginald Payne in the end zone for another touchdown pass for Tate’s last score. Tate made it two shutouts in a row holding the Eagles scoreless.
Tate’s Coach Ronny Douglas stated the he was “very pleased with the way the team played. The players played well, the coaches did their jobs and the defense played excellent to get two shutouts in a row. No one expected to stop the split back for 48 minutes. We preached to the players all week to do your job and do your assignment. It is a big, big win for us and any time you can get a shutout that is great.”
Tate moves to 4-1 for the season. Tate starts district play next week at 7:30 when they host Niceville for their final home game of the regular season.
by Darryl Singleton
Pictured: The Tate Aggies beat the Pine Forest Eagles 35-0 Friday night in Cantonment. Photos by Kaleigh Blackmon for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lawmaker: Exempt Warning Shots From 10-20-Life Sentences
September 28, 2013
A bill filed this week by a Florida lawmaker is intended to address what he called “the negative, unintended consequences” of Florida’s 10-20-Life sentencing law by granting immunity to people who fire warning shots to protect themselves and others.
It’s the second time Rep. Neil Combee, R-Polk City, has filed the measure (HB 89), which he calls the “Defense of Life, Home, and Property Act,” and which died in committee during the 2013 legislative session.
The new bill was filed on the same day that the 1st District Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman sentenced to a mandatory 20 years in prison for a shot fired during a domestic dispute in her home.
Under the 10-20-Life law, possession of a firearm while committing certain felonies is punishable by at least 10 years in prison, while discharging a firearm while committing those felonies is punishable by at least a 20-year sentence. Hurting or killing someone in those circumstances requires 25 years to life in prison.
Combee said his measure was inspired by Alexander’s case.
“Nobody was hurt, yet she’s facing 20 years behind bars,” he said. “There’s other people that do all kinds of damage to others and don’t get sentences like that.”
The bill is backed by House Judiciary Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who was a co-sponsor last year and said Friday he’d probably do so again.
“I’m very hesitant to change anything in 10-20-Life,” Baxley said. “Except that I’ve run into this more than once, where constituents have gotten into this narrow space where they were trying truly to avoid a conflict by a warning shot, and instead, wound up charged and having to plead to a felony of lesser degree to avoid a prison sentence because they just were afraid to face a jury.”
The bill also is backed by the National Rifle Association, according to NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer, who said that if Alexander had shot her husband, she probably would have been immune from prosecution under Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law.
“In firing a warning shot — that didn’t harm anyone — you should not end up in jail for 20 years,” Hammer said. “That is not what self-defense is all about, and that is not what our criminal justice system should be about. That’s not justice.”
Alexander turned down a three-year plea deal offered by State Attorney Angela Corey’s office. When a jury found her guilty, Circuit Judge James Daniel said he had no choice under state law but to give her 20 years.
The appeals court ruled Thursday that Daniel’s jury instructions were wrong, and it ordered a new trial for Alexander.
Combee said that since filing the original bill, he’d learned of other cases where Floridians received 20-year sentences for firing warning shots.
For instance, Ronald Thompson, a disabled veteran, was sentenced in 2010 to serve 20 years for firing a gun in a dispute with four young men the year before. The case involved an elderly neighbor who tried to bar her grandson and three friends from her home — whereupon, Thompson claimed, he fired two shots in the ground to scare them off.
No one was injured, but Thompson was charged with four counts of aggravated assault, and Corey’s office offered a three-year plea bargain, which Thompson refused. He was found guilty, but Judge John Skinner refused to impose the 20-year sentence, opting instead for three years. Corey’s office appealed, and an appellate court imposed the 20-year mandatory minimum. Thompson served nearly three years, then sought a new trial because he alleged his original defense attorney made mistakes.
According to Greg Newburn, Florida project director of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Thompson is out of prison and awaiting a new trial.
“I was thrilled to see Rep. Combee take the lead on filing that bill,” Newburn said. “Citing Marissa Alexander and Ron Thompson as cautionary tales is exactly right…No one ever thought that 10-20-Life would be used to put law-abiding citizens who act in self-defense behind bars for 20 years.”
Despite the bill’s support, however, it could face a major obstacle. Last session it was opposed by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a friend of Combee’s, on the grounds that 10-20-Life was too effective to be altered.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Sheriffs Association, Nanette Schimpf, said the group had not yet taken a position on the new bill. Judd is the president of the sheriffs association.
“10-20-Life has done so many wonderful things to help us lower the crime rate,” Baxley said. “So we have to be cautious, cautious, cautious with 10-20-Life. But there is this tiny niche, that in a self-defense situation it shouldn’t be better that you shot the person in self-defense than that you shot a warning shot and tried to avoid the conflict.”
Indians Beat Chiefs (With Photo Gallery)
September 28, 2013
The 1A Northview Chiefs were shut out by the 6A Choctawhatchee Indians Friday night in Bratt, 35-0.
The scoreboard, according to Northview Coach Sid Wheatley did not tell the whole story of the game against Choctawhatchee, a 1,500 student school from Fort Walton Beach that has defeated Pace, Crestview and Gulf Breeze so far this year.
“I thought our kids played hard, and we tried to compete,” he said. The Chiefs’ defense held the Indians to just seven throughout most of the first half, with the Indians scoring on a 32-yard touchdown run shortly before the half.
“The touchdown they got right before halftime was big…it was a back breaker, Wheatley said. “If we could have held there, it could have still been a 7-0 game or 7-7 at halftime. It gave them momentum. It kind of sucked a little life, a little wind out of ourselves.”
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
Northview quarterback Daulton Tullis had about 140 yards passing on the night. Senior Neino Robinson completed six for 90 yards. Keondrae Lett had 10 carries with about 50 yards, and Ladarius Thomas contributed a dozen carries for 40 yards.
“Our defense did a good job tonight of getting them in third-and-long, we just didn’t finish the job and allowed some conversions, Wheatley said.
Things are about to get serious defending 1A station champion Chiefs. Their 1-3 season record is irrelevant as they look toward Orlando in December…a district championship takes wins against just three teams — Baker, Freeport and Jay. And all of them are 0-0 in district play this season….a clean slate.
And next Friday night, the Chiefs will travel across the river to take on the Jay Royals (3-1).
“I’ve really got to get on this film and I got to see what guys, like I told them, are hungry and really want to get playing time and want to really go hard into this district schedule,” Wheatley said.
And, by the way, Wheatley says he’s got a few trick up his sleeve that he’s been saving for district play. “We have a little different look, a couple of things we have yet to get into,” he said.
For a game action photo gallery, click here. (Cheerleader and band photos will be posted Sunday morning.)
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Close Battle: Flomaton Defeats Jay
September 28, 2013
The Flomaton Hurricanes, with just 33 seconds on the clock, pulled ahead to defeat the Jay Royals Friday night in Flomaton.
Jay (3-1) will host the Northview Chiefs (1-3) next Friday night, while the Flomaton Hurricanes (3-2) will be at Sweet Water (3-2).
Photos by Michele Gibbs for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
