Burglar Gets 10 Years In Prison
December 19, 2013
An Escambia County burglar will spend the next 10 years in prison.
Overton Dixon was sentenced as a habitual felony offender by Judge Scott Duncan for multiple burglaries. On November 15, 2013, Dixon was set for trial for burglarizing Lincoln Park Elementary when he entered a plea of no contest straight up.
On October 11, 2012, Lincoln Park Elementary was broken into and a microwave was taken. Blood was located on the floor at the point of entry. DNA from the blood matched that of Dixon, according to prosecutors.
Dixon was also sentenced for two other burglaries occurring on November 25 and 27, 2012 and was sentenced to 10 years state prison concurrent.
Girls Weightlifting: Northview Over Washington, Jay
December 19, 2013
The Northview Girls Weightlifting team defeated Washington and Jay high schools in a recent meet held at Northview.
Attending Northview, Washington and Jay
Placement: 1st Northview 60 Points, 2nd Washington 27 points, & Jay 24 points
Northview’s Weight class point winners with combined scores:
101
1st – Jadlyn Agerton (NHS)-175
2nd – Lindsey Gafford (NHS)-145
3rd –Megan Mulford (JHS)-135
4th –Carly Livingston (WHS)-120
110
1st – Tiffani Pritchett (NHS)-155
2nd – Mariah Albritton (NHS)-155
3rd –Abbie Huff (WHS)-145
4th –Kambri Davis (WHS)-140
119
1st –Haylee Watson (JHS)-185
2nd-Kaylie Hudson (NHS)-160
3rd –Mikyla Cunningham (WHS)-155
4th -Moriah McGahan (NHS)-150
129
1st- Jordan Defranco (WHS)-245
2nd-Shelby Edwards (JHS)-190
3rd – Courtney Weaver (NHS)-180
4th –Jamia Newton (NHS)-145
139
1st- Samantha Cerqueira (WHS)-215
2nd-Brittanie McLemore (NHS)-200
3rd –Takeya Williams (NHS)-190
4th –Raquel Diaz (WHS)-180
154
1st- Kelsie Hudson (NHS)-205
2nd- Madalyn Coon (NHS)-200
3rd –Autumn Ates (JHS)-190
4th –Mikayla Nettles (WHS)-175
169
1st – Olivia Neal (NHS)-235
2nd- Morgan Packer (NHS)-195
3rd –Rachael Barnes (WHS)-190
4th – Laketra Bland (WHS)-185
183
1st –Samantha (JHS)-210
2nd-Haylee Weaver (NHS)-195
3rd –Kim (JHS) -190
4th –Addie Lee (NHS)-180
199
1st – Sydney Lowery (JHS)-185
2nd – Brianna Weaden (NHS)-180
3rd –A’Kevia Carpenter (WHS)-170
Unlimited
1st – Breanna Campbell (NHS)-290
2nd – Tameika Dennis (WHS)-265
3rd –Madison McGhee (NHS)-200
4th – Tristan Nichols (WHS)-180
Pictured: Northview Girls’ Weightlifting takes on Washington and Jay high schools. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
ST Aerospace Could Bring 300 Jobs To Escambia County
December 18, 2013
Tuesday night, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward announced that he has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ST Aerospace, Mobile, Inc. that could bring up to 300 jobs. The non-binding MOU is the culmination of 18 months of joint efforts to build the aerospace industry in Pensacola.
“We have aggressively been courting this company and the aerospace industry. It has been a pleasure to work with Joseph Ng and his team. We look forward to the next steps in lease negotiations,” Hayward said in an after-hours press release.
ST Aerospace’s primary business activity is the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft. The company employs 1500 people at Brookley Field in Mobile. Plans include locating a satellite operation inside Pensacola International Airport Commerce Park that would bring a minimum of 300 new jobs to Pensacola.
The deal has been in the negotiation stage for nearly two years under the code name “Project Stallion”. Originally, the project would rely on about $10 million in incentives from Escambia County, but so far the county commission hasn’t approved the deal. It was not known Tuesday night if the county’s incentive money was included in the mayor’s announced memorandum of understanding.
“I support economic growth and job creation in Escambia County. I have not been party to the City’s negotiations nor am I familiar with the details of the MOU. I look forward to working with the Mayor and the Chamber as this project evolves. And to discussing this issue with my colleagues on the Commission when we meet in January,” Escambia County Commission Chairman Lumon May said Tuesday night.
Senate: Make Florida “Scorched Earth” For Violent Sex Offenders
December 18, 2013
Florida senators Tuesday filed a package of bills that Senate President Don Gaetz said would make the state “scorched earth” for sexually violent predators and become a centerpiece of the 2014 legislative session. One of the bills was filed by Sen. Greg Evers, who represents the local area.
His language echoed lawmakers’ outrage after the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported in August that nearly 600 sexual predators had been released only to be convicted of new sex offenses — including more than 460 child molestations, 121 rapes and 14 murders.
“Over the last several months, we watched in disbelief and disgust as news accounts detailed stories of sexually violent predators slipping through the cracks of our criminal justice and civil commitment system and committing unthinkable repeat offenses against Florida’s most vulnerable children,” Gaetz, R-Niceville, wrote to senators as the four bills were filed.
The bills would “widen the net” to apprehend, punish and monitor sexually violent predators, in the words of Sen. Denise Grimsley, one of the Senate committee leaders from both parties sponsoring the measures.
“It really is a bipartisan effort,” said Duval County Sheriff John Rutherford, whose jurisdiction was rocked in June by the high-profile murder of eight-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle.
And by all accounts, the Senate and House are speeding toward a comprehensive effort in both chambers.
“If we have the strongest laws in place in the country to identify the worst of the worst, I think we can reduce the number of these offenses,” said House Criminal Justice Chairman Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican who is the son of the Senate president. “And most importantly, we won’t have to go and say to the parents of a child victim that we had the person in our custody, but we let them go and they harmed again.”
The measures follow a series of legislative hearings after the Sun Sentinel reported that the commitment of sexually violent predators under the state’s Jimmy Ryce Act had slowed to a crawl.
By the terms of the Jimmy Ryce Act — named for a 9-year-old Miami-Dade County boy who was raped and murdered in 1995 — the Department of Children and Families evaluates sex offenders before their releases from prison. Those considered most likely to attack again aren’t necessarily released after completing their prison sentences, but may be screened, evaluated and confined at the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia until they aren’t considered dangers to the community.
Lawmakers heard from an array of experts that those precautions weren’t enough.
“We have said for many years that leopards don’t change their spots and tigers don’t change their stripes,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, president of the Florida Sheriffs Association. “These sexual predators — these deviants — will continue to offend and target our children whenever they’re not incarcerated.”
For instance, Rutherford told lawmakers his officers had spoken with Donald Smith — now charged with kidnapping, raping and strangling Perrywinkle — on the very day of her murder. Smith was released from jail as a sex offender 21 days before Perrywinkle’s death.
One of the bills, by a Jacksonville-area lawmaker, would close several of the loopholes in that case.
SB 526 by Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican and chairman of the Senate Civil and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, would increase the length of sentences for certain adult-on-minor sexual offenses formerly classified as lewd and lascivious. It would ban gain-time for people who commit certain sexual offenses and require courts to order community supervision after release from prison for those convicted of certain offenses.
Rutherford pointed to another portion of Bradley’s bill, which deals with the post-release supervision of sexual predators in DCF custody as part of the civil commitment process. Currently, those offenders participate in civil commitment and community supervision simultaneously. But the bill would require them to be under community supervision after their release from civil commitment.
“When they get out under supervision, that actually allows us more oversight of this individual’s life when they first get out because they’re still under probation at that time,” Rutherford said. “Now, they may do all of their probation time under civil commitment where they’re not in the community being tempted. And when they get out, their community supervision has already expired, and so there’s no community oversight during the most vulnerable time for them to re-offend, which is when they first get out.”
The other measures include:
— SB 528 by Sen. Greg Evers, a Baker Republican and chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. It would require registered sexual predators to report their vehicle information, Internet identifiers, palm prints, passports, professional licenses, immigration status and volunteer work at higher-education institutions.
Rutherford pointed out that Smith didn’t own a vehicle, but had access to his mother’s van, “which he used in the commission of that heinous crime,” but Evers’ bill would close that loophole as well.
— SB 522 by Grimsley, a Sebring Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee. It would require sheriffs to refer prisoners serving sentences in county jails for civil commitment if they are registered sexual offenders or predators and have committed sexually violent offenses. It also would add a state attorney, law enforcement officer and victim’s advocate as advisory members to the multidisciplinary team that evaluates offenders considered for civil confinement.
“Her bill is going to allow us to be part of that decision-making process,” Rutherford said.
— SB 524 by Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Hollywood Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee. It would require that offenders be defined as sexually violent predators and be subject to civil confinement after a finding by two or more members of a multidisciplinary team. It would require higher-education institutions to tell students about a sexual predator’s presence on campus.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
At Least Two Winners In $636 Million Lottery Drawing
December 18, 2013
At least two winning tickets were sold in California and Georgia for Tuesday night’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing worth an estimated $636 million, the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.
In Florida, there were two tickets sold with five of five numbers worth $1 million each. Other winning amounts in Florida are in the table below.
The winning numbers were: 8, 14, 17, 20, 39; Mega Ball: 7. The cash option was estimated at $341 million before taxes. The jackpot had rolled over since it was last hit for $190 million in Maryland back on October 1.
The next Mega Millions drawing Friday night is worth $15 million.
Legislation Aimed At Expanding Private Flood Coverage In Florida
December 18, 2013
Two lawmakers released a proposal Tuesday intended to make it easier for private insurers to offer flood coverage in Florida and to potentially make coverage more affordable for homeowners.
The measure (SB 542) by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, is designed to increase competition by expanding the number of insurers offering flood insurance coverage in the Florida market.
The proposal comes as up to 13 percent of Florida’s property owners now covered through the National Flood Insurance Program are in line for rate hikes of up to 25 percent a year. Some properties have been projected to face increases that reach 900 percent, and efforts to hold back the rising costs have floundered in Congress. The increases stem from a measure known as the 2012 Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act.
“Floridians deserve an alternative to the drastic rate increases of Biggert-Waters,” Brandes said in a prepared statement. “This legislation builds a framework for a Florida-based solution that gives flexibility to homeowners. This will put Florida at the forefront of addressing this issue nationwide.”
Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, is expected to file the House companion bill in a couple of weeks.
The two held a press conference Tuesday at the Pinellas Realtor Organization in Clearwater to announce the legislation.
John Sebree, senior vice president of public policy for Florida Realtors, supported the proposal, saying the state can’t wait for Congress to act on requests to delay the increase.
“First of all, we can’t wait around for Congress to act — they didn’t in 2013 and what if we wait and wait and they don’t do anything in 2014,” Sebree said in an email. “Even if Congress were to delay implementation of Biggert-Waters there would be uncertainty about premium increases and it is a win-win to promote the private sector jumping into this business in a big way.”
Sebree added that getting more insurers in Florida would both reduce the size of the federal program and expand the private market.
Sam Miller, executive vice president of the Florida Insurance Council, was supportive of the effort but said he was still reviewing Brandes’ proposal.
“We know there is some appetite on the part of private insurers, but just how much remains to be seen,” Miller said in an email. “Whether the private market — which has been unable to write this peril in the past can suddenly do it in a significant manner is an unanswered question.”
Brandes has been working with the state Office of Insurance Regulation, bankers and insurers on the legislation since early November, as a bipartisan group in Congress has struggled in efforts to delay the implementation of the Biggert-Waters act.
The 2012 act requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to make a number of changes to the way the National Flood Insurance Program is run, including raising rates to reflect true flood risk and to make the program more financially stable.
The federal program was created by Congress in 1968 to provide coverage where it was unavailable from the private market and to reduce the amount of financial aid the federal government would have to pay after a flood-related disaster.
In September, Florida Realtors outlined nightmare scenarios in which some properties in Pinellas County could see a jump in premiums from $3,000 a year to more than $30,000, eventually impacting “Florida’s economic rebound.” The Florida Bankers Association has warned that the higher costs could eventually impact lending.
The proposal by Brandes and Ahern would require adding projected flood losses to the factors that must be considered by OIR when reviewing rate filings.
A key part of the proposed legislation would allow policyholders the choice of covering the outstanding balances of their mortgages, the replacement costs of their properties or the actual cash values of their properties.
Brandes’ proposal declares that because Biggert-Waters will prevent many property owners from obtaining affordable coverage the state “has a compelling public purpose and interest” to protect the economy by “promoting the availability of flood insurance from private market insurers at potentially lower premium rates.”
Brandes’ proposal is expected to first be heard by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee in January.
The legislation comes as Tampa-based Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Inc., was approved Dec. 5 by OIR to offer flood insurance coverage to its Florida policyholders.
The company announced last Thursday the coverage is expected to be priced similarly to what Florida residents were paying before the Biggert-Waters Act.
“We will enter the market cautiously and focus on our strict underwriting guidelines and calculated risk management,” Scott Wallace, Homeowners Choice’s president said in a release.
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Escambia Search And Rescue Fundraiser Underway
December 18, 2013
Escambia Search and Rescue wants Escambia County residents to know that the group is currently soliciting funds door-to-door.
Several months ago, the group said they received reports of someone fraudulently going door-to-door for the group. But Skip Bollens, ESAR director, said this week that their annual door-to-door fundraiser is now underway.
“ESAR is supported by these donations,” Bollens said. “We are non-profit, all volunteer organization…serving the community since 1961.”
Escambia Search and Rescue trains for and responds to many different types of incidents, including lost children, missing hunters, drowning victims, overdue boats, natural disasters, and missing persons with Alzheimer’s, autism or other forms of dementia.
Donations can be made on the group’s website, www.EscambiaSearchAndRescue.com.
Pictured: ESAR begins a successful search for a missing 8-year old boy lost in a wooded area near Century. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Deputy Ticketed After Crash
December 18, 2013
A Escambia County deputy was ticketed after a two vehicle accident on Lillian Highway.
The Florida Patrol said 24-year old Danna Sirouis slowed her 1997 Nissan Altima to a stop on Lillian Highway due to an approaching emergency vehicle. Deputy Ken Holyfield, 31, failed to stop his marked Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Crown Victoria and hit the rear of the Altima.
Sirois was taken to West Florida Hospital win minor injuries.
Holeyfield, the FHP said, was cited for careless driving.
Your Christmas Photos: Molino Lights
December 18, 2013
This house on Highway 29 near Cross Faith Church is decorated for Christmas. Submitted photo by Charles Crumpton for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Share your Christmas lights or other Christmas photos. Email the photos to news@northescambia.com.
Donations Make For Merry Christmas At Century Care Center
December 18, 2013
Residents at the Century Care Center recently held their annual Christmas party. The event included gifts for the residents that were made possible by donations from local groups, families and staff.
“Thanks to all,” said Mae Hildreth, the facility’s activities director. “You help make Christmas wonderful, magical for our residents.”
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
