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.
Woman Charged With Hiding Manslaughter Suspect, Child Neglect
September 28, 2013
A Jay woman has been charged with hiding a felony fugitive.
Sarah Krick, 26, was charged with obstruction of justice, child neglect, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, she hid 32-year old Travis Kelly, who was charged with vehicular manslaughter in connection with the traffic death of a Milton woman. She allegedly told authorities that Kelly was not inside her home when authorities knocked on the door, saying he had left earlier in the day. As authorities entered the home, Kelly walked out a bedroom and surrendered.
Deputies reporting finding a plastic tub containing marijuana inside the home, along with a drug paraphernalia. According to an arrest report, Krick created an “extremely dangerous situation by attempting to hide a wanted fugitive and allegedly smoking marijuana with a child present”.
Krick was released from the Santa Rosa County Jail on a $2,000 bond.
For more on Kelly and his arrest, click here for a previous story.
15 Years Ago: Hurricane Georges
September 28, 2013
Hurricane Georges made landfall near Biloxi 15 years ago on the morning on September 28, 1998, with maximum winds of 110 mph. Georges moved very slowly across southern Mississippi and weakened to a tropical depression by the morning of the 29th when the center was about 30 miles north northeast of Mobile. The storm dissipated near the northeast Florida/southeast Georgia coast by the morning of October 1, 1998.
Georges brought torrential rainfall to the Gulf Coast, with Pensacola receiving 26.83 inches of rain, Bay Minette 29.66 inches and Munson 38.46 inches. Numerous other locations received between one and two feet of rain.
Surface observations indicate sustained hurricane force winds were confined to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The highest sustained winds recorded in Mobile were between 50-55 mph with gusts near 65 mph. The Pensacola area also saw similar sustained winds. However, peak gusts of 79 and 91 mph were recorded at Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field. These higher gusts likely occurred in a strong convective outer band of the hurricane.
Prep Football Finals
September 28, 2013
Here are high school football final scores from around the area Friday night.
FLORIDA
- Tate 35, Pine Forest 0 [Read more...]
- Choctawhatchee 35, Northview 0 [Read more...]
- West Florida 42, Alma Bryant (AL) 21
- Flomaton 25, Jay 22 [Read more...]
- Jesuit (LA) 28, PHS 7
- Catholic 28, Rutherford 7
- Madison County 27, Pace 20
- Navarre 19, Milton 0
- Gulf Breeze 28, Bay 0
- Graceville 48, Freeport 14
OPEN: Escambia, Washington
ALABAMA
- Flomaton 25, Jay 22 [Read more...]
- T.R. Miller 47, Clarke County 19
- Hillcrest Evergreen 21, W.S. Neal 12
- Faith Academy 48, ECHS (Atmore) 34
- Escambia Academy 35, Morgan Academy 14
Pictured: The Northview Chiefs gain yardage against the Indians of Choctawhatchee Friday night in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
DNA Evidence On Cigarette Butt Lands Duo In Jail
September 27, 2013
DNA evidence from a cigarette butt has landed two local residents behind bars on burglary and other charges.
Fred Carlton Ward, age 45 of Hanks Road in Century, and Phyllis Ann Ward, age 49 of Rigby Road in Walnut Hill, were both charged with felony grand theft, burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and criminal mischief with property damage after they were implicated in an August 2012 business burglary.
An employee of Green Tree Services at 2461 West Highway 4 reported a burglary from business property, which was vacant and in foreclosure. The employee reported the front door of the building had been kicked in and the central heating and air unit and air handler worth $8,000 had been stolen. Investigators determined that the exterior air unit had been dismantled, and a cigarette butt was found next to the remains of the unit.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office submitted the cigarette butt to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a DNA profile test. A laboratory report from FDLE matched DNA profiles on the cigarette butt to both Phyllis and Fred Ward.
The business employee told deputies neither Ward had even been employed by Green Tree Services and had never had a reason to be on the property. Both Wards were also reported to have sold air conditioning parts to Advanced Environmental Recycling in Flomaton in August 2012, just days after the reported burglary. And both Wards, according to an arrest report, have prior histories involving burglaries and recycling stolen air conditioning parts and copper.
Phyllis Ward was arrested for the crime in early July. She was released from jail on a $17,500 bond, pleaded not guilty on August 8 and is awaiting an October trial date. Fred Ward was arrested Wednesday and remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $22,500.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office did not specify the relationship, if any, between Fred Ward and Phyllis Ward.
ECUA Sanitation Rate Hike Slashed; Increase Now Just 14 Cents
September 27, 2013
The rate for residential sanitation service from ECUA will still increase next week, but not at much as originally anticipated.
ECUA had previously approved a 3.7 percent increase to cover a tipping fee increase at the Perdido Landfill and anticipated increases in costs related to the recycling program. But Thursday, the ECUA board slashed the increase amount to just 1.2 percent. That equates to a 14 cent increase per month for a residential customer.
The rate increase is to offset a 3.5 percent disposal rate increase ECUA will pay effective October 1 at the Escambia County owned and operated Perdido Landfill.
An additional 2.5 percent increase had been approved in August to offset anticipated costs of hauling and processing of recyclables, should West Florida Recycling , the regions sole processor of recyclables, not be able to provide the service.
In recent months, West Florida Recycling has experienced operational challenges and the ECUA Board was preparing for possible problems with the company. Recent improvements in West Florida Recycling’s operations have significantly changed the ECUA Board’s outlook, ECUA said.
“It seems that WFR is taking their issues in hand quite well, with the acquisition of their stormwater permit and the ongoing clean-up operation of their facility,” said ECUA Board Chairman, Dr. Larry N. Walker. “We are happy to see that progress and to see our recycling program continue to thrive.”
ECUA water and sewer rates will also increase on October 1 as follows:
Water:
- Current residential rate is $10.48 for the base rate; this goes up to $10.68. Volume charge (per 1000 gals. Consumption) goes from $2.14 to $2.18.
- Current Lifeline rate (low income senior): Current base rate is $9.03; goes up to $9.20 (includes 6,000 gals. Consumption).
Wastewater:
- Current residential rate: $11.93 for the base rate (includes 2,000 gals. Consumption); goes up to $12.16; volume charge is currently $6.50, goes to $6.63.
- Current Lifeline Rate: $11.62 base, goes to $11.84 (includes 6,000 gals. Consumption).
The increased water and sewer revenues would go toward infrastructure improvements.