Tate Looking To Continue Winning Streak Against Pine Forest
September 26, 2013
When the Tate Aggies faced Pensacola High earlier in the season, not many people gave Tate a chance to win. History was not on their side, with no Aggie defeating PHS in the past 20 years. A first year coach was not on the Aggies’ side. Truth be told, perhaps not many fans were on their side after several losing seasons. The Aggies have faced many challenges through the season so far, but no one told the players. Tate went on to a historic win against PHS.
Now Tate faces the same historic challenge as earlier in the year with a game against Pine Forest High School. Coach Ronnie Douglas said “none of the (Tate’s) coaches could remember when the last time Tate won a game against them (Pine Forest)”. (We checked the record books back to 2004, and Tate has lost nine of their last nine games against Pine Forest, including painful 39-0 and 63-0 shutouts the past couple of years.)
Pine Forest’s 0-4 record headed into Friday night’s game against Tate is not typical of the Eagles’ records of years past. Douglas said he warned his team to “not to pay any attention to their record”.
“We know that they are going to be well coached, they have a lot of talent and they are going to be tough,” Douglas said.
Players To Watch
Douglas named Shadow Singleton and Brian Davis as players to watch this week.
Junior Shadow Singleton (#55), 7A – District 1 leading defensive lineman, said he was “glad that the defense was able to get a shutout in last weeks game We have worked really hard during the off season and now the results are showing it.”
Senior receiver Brian Davis (#4), who had three catches for 25 yards last week, stated that this season “is a big change” from the past three years he has played for Tate. The Aggies, he said, “been working hard, putting in a lot of work and playing hard” to get results.
Tate High (3-1) faces Pine Forest High Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Tate’s Pete Gindl Stadium in Cantonment.
by Darryl Singleton
Escambia School Teachers, Support Personnel Receive Raises
September 26, 2013
The Escambia County School District, the Escambia Education Association and Union of Escambia Education Staff Professionals have reached an agreement on pay raises for the current 2013-2014 school year.
The Escambia Education Association and the district agreed to a possible 4.92 percent raise for teachers, depending on how the teacher scored on their performance evaluation during the 2012-2013 school year. All teachers will receive a minimum salary increase of two percent.
Salaries for educational support personnel will increase by 4.2 percent. In addition, the parties agreed to a new evaluation system that is evidence-based for educational support personnel.
All raises will be effective retroactively to July 1, 2013.
State Funds To Provide New Sidewalks For Flomaton
September 26, 2013
The Town of Flomaton will receive new sidewalks under a state transportation funding program just announced.
The Alabama Department of Transportation has approved $137,822 in funding for the sidewalks along Highway 29, Palafox Street, Church Street, Houston Street and Poplar Street in Flomaton, as part of the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).
Also in Escambia County, Brewton will receive $166,934 in funding for sidewalks along Tiger Drive, adjacent to T.R. Miller High School.
Authorized by the Federal Highway Administration’s Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act TAP provides funding for projects defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation.
Cantonment Man Arrested On Child Porn Charges
September 25, 2013
A Cantonment man has been arrested on child pornography charges investigators after determined he had downloaded sexually explicit pictures and movies of children from the internet onto his home computer.
Jason Scott Bergen, 40, of 806 Chesapeake Trail was charged with six counts of possession of obscene material/child pornography. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail on a $12,000 bond, according to Pensacola Police Detective Chris Wilkinson.
Agents with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force initiated a search warrant at Bergen’s residence on Tuesday after he was identified via the internet as downloading child pornography.
Additional charges are pending, and the investigation is continuing to determine if he transmitted files or downloaded additional child pornography, Wilkinson said.
Task force members from the Office of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Walton County Sheriff’s Department assisted the Pensacola Police Department with the investigation.
Pictured top and bottom: Law enforcement executes a search warrant in Cantonment Tuesday. The suspect’s address, 806 Chesapeake Trail, is the house to the far right (foreground) of the bottom picture. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Hundreds Of Students Gather To Pray At The Pole (With Photo Gallery)
September 25, 2013
Hundreds of students gathered at their schools across the area Wednesday morning during the annual See You at the Pole event.
Students gathered as school began to pray in the non-denominational event. See You at the Pole is a student-initiated, student organized, and student-led event. Students prayed for their school, friends, teachers, government and the nation.
For photos from Northview High, West Florida High, Jay High, Ransom Middle, Ernest Ward Middle and Molino Park Elementary, click here for a photo gallery.
Have See You at the Pole photos? Email them to news@northescambia.com.
Pictured top: See You at the Pole Wednesday morning at Ernest Ward Middle School. Pictured inset: SYATP at Northview High School. Pictured below Molino Park Elementary, West Florida High School, Ransom Middle School, Jay High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Lottery Store Murder Suspect Enters Plea, Faces Up To 30 Years
September 25, 2013
One of the two men involved in the robbery and shooting death of a Davisville lottery store owner last November has entered a plea.
Brent Dewayne Lambeth, 21, has pleaded no contest to second degree murder. Under his plea deal, he will receive no more than 30 years in prison, provided he testifies against his co-defendant and alleged triggerman, 25-year old Malcolm McGhee Jr.
McGhee’s trial in set to begin in November on charges of premeditated first degree murder and robbery with a firearm for the shooting death of 74-year old Thomas “Tommy” Kroll during a robbery on November 6, 2012, at the State Line O’ Yes Lotto on Highway 97.
Investigators said McGhee and Lambeth targeted Kroll’s business because they had previous purchased “Spice” there and the duo intended on robbing the store of more of the synthetic marijuana.
Pictured top and bottom: The scene outside the State Line O’ Yes Lotto on Highway 97 following the murder of store owner Thomas Kroll on November 6, 2012. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Approves $354.5 Million Budget, Pay Raises
September 25, 2013
The Escambia County Commission has approved a balanced $364.5 million budget for fiscal year 2013-14, which begins October 1.
The new budget includes a three percent cost of living raise for all county employees, including constitutional offices and the Sheriff’s Office. The raises are the first for all county employees since 2007 and will cost about $2.6 million.
The $364,520,055 budget is 2.36 percent more than last fiscal year’s budget of $356,102,136.
The tax millage rates approved are 6.6165 for the County-wide millage rate, .3590 for the Library Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) and .6850 for the Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU).
The total millage rate proposed for Fiscal Year 2013-14 is 0.12 percent below the “Rolled Back Rate” certified by the property appraiser. This represents the percentage decrease in property taxes tentatively adopted by the county commission. The “Rolled Back Rate” is a computed millage rate that would generate the same amount of ad valorem tax dollars as the prior fiscal year, based on the proposed year’s tax roll, excluding new construction.
Murder Charges Dropped Against Escambia Man; Child Died Of Natural Causes
September 25, 2013
Charges have been dropped against an Escambia County man accused of murdering his child earlier this year after an autopsy determined the child died from meningitis.
Jeffrey Antwan Simmons, 30, was arrested in February, charged with second degree murder and aggravated child abuse for allegedly causing the death of a 22-month old.
The child was in Simmons’ care at the time of the incident. The child was discovered suffering seizures and was unresponsive; the mother attempted to perform CPR prior to the arrival of EMS.
When the victim arrived at the hospital, her symptoms were consistent with non-accidental traumatic brain injury. It was believed at the time that Simmons caused the injuries. The child was hospitalized for 10 days before being declared dead. Throughout this time, it was believed that the child died as the result of a traumatic brain injury.
Following the child’s death, an autopsy determined that the child was suffering from meningitis and that the cause of death was an infection of the central nervous system. The autopsy confirmed the child died of natural causes, the State Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Pickup Plummets Into Rain Swollen Creek Near Bratt
September 25, 2013
A driver received only minor injuries after his pickup truck plummeted into a rain-swollen creek in Bratt Tuesday evening.
The man was westbound on West Highway 4 near Dortch Road in heavy rain about 6:30 p.m. when he hit standing water in the roadway and hydroplaned, he said. The pickup left the road and struck a guardrail and sign, sheering off a tire. The Dodge 1500 then dropped several feet into a concrete culvert at the Beaver Dam Bridge. The pickup came to rest on its side in several feet of water.
After crawling out of the truck, the man said he was unable to crawl up the culvert wall, so he was forced to swim across the rushing creek to the opposite band before crawling out.
His injuries were not severe, and he refused medical treatment.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details have not yet been released.
NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
AG Bondi Apologies For Delaying Killer’s Execution
September 25, 2013
Attorney General Pam Bondi repeatedly apologized Tuesday for asking Gov. Rick Scott to reschedule an execution from the night of her waterfront “campaign kickoff” fundraiser, as she addressed the Tallahassee media for the first time since the reason for the delay became public.
Bondi said her request to move the execution of convicted murder Marshall Lee Gore from Sept. 10 to Oct. 1 was a “mistake” that “won’t happen again.”
Scott has said he was simply complying with a request from a state Cabinet member when he rescheduled the execution. Bondi, who has yet to receive a challenger in her 2014 re-election campaign, said her staff was aware of the reason for the request.
Attorneys for Gore, whose sanity has been the focus of two prior successful efforts to block the execution, have again filed a challenge to the planned execution.
“We are fighting that,” Bondi said.
Gore was convicted of killing two women in 1988 in Miami-Dade and Columbia counties. Gore’s death warrant is for the murder of Robyn Novick, whose nude body was found in March 1988 in a rural area of Miami-Dade.
Asked if she was concerned the incident could hinder the perception of her as a crime fighter, Bondi replied: “I asked that a killer’s date be changed and he was given 20 more days, and it won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”