Blue Angels Change NAS Pensacola Practice Times
March 11, 2014
The Blue Angels are changing their Tuesday and Wednesday weekly practice demonstration times onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) for the 2014 air show season. The scheduled practice demonstrations will now begin at 11:30 a.m. onboard the air station.
This change more closely matches the time the Blue Angels typically perform at air shows. The later practice time will also help alleviate some of the traffic arriving onboard the base during the busy morning commute.
The Blue Angel pilots will be at the National Naval Aviation Museum Wednesdays immediately following the practice demonstration to meet the public and sign autographs.
Public viewing of the Blue Angel practice demonstrations is available at the designated seating area behind the museum.
Pictured: The Blue Angels practice at NAS Pensacola last year. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Senate Backs Tax Holiday Smaller Than Scott Wants
March 11, 2014
Senators started moving forward Monday with a sales-tax holiday for back-to-school shoppers, but the proposal is a week shorter than requested by Gov. Rick Scott.
The sponsor of the bill, however, hasn’t closed the book on extending the proposed discount timeframe from three days to 10 days.
The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Monday unanimously supported the measure (SB 792) by Sen. Anitere Flores that would lift sales taxes on clothes, school supplies and electronics for three days at the start of August.
The Miami Republican said a big factor in the eventual length of the sales-tax holiday period will be updated revenue estimates Wednesday from state economists.
“I’m hopeful that there is going to be some more money for us to be able to invest in this,” Flores said after the committee meeting. “To me, the 10 days (for a sales-tax holiday) is more important because the 10 days encompasses two weekends.”
In December, the state economists, formally known as the Revenue Estimating Conference, projected lawmakers would have a surplus of about $1 billion to play with as they craft a spending plan for the next budget year.
Scott later proposed a 10-day holiday period that his office estimated would save taxpayers about $60 million.
The Revenue Estimating Conference projected a 3-day school sales-tax holiday would reduce state and local government revenue by $39 million.
The economic estimate factored in individual pieces of clothing worth up to $100 being sales-tax free.
Scott in his sales-tax holiday request asked for the clothing discount to be $100 or less.
Under Flores’ bill, during the discount period, no sales tax would be collected on purchases of clothing that costs $75 or less, school supplies that cost $15 or less, and personal computers and related accessories for non-commercial use that costs $750 or less.
Flores said the clothing total will also depend upon the revenue projection.
The House version (HB 1015) sponsored by Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, includes a 10-day tax-free period starting Aug. 1. It would give a tax break on clothes that cost $75 or less.
Flores’ proposal must still get through the Senate Finance and Tax Subcommittee and the Appropriations Committee.
Macy’s, Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Retail Federation expressed their support for the Senate bill on Monday. Retailers are expected to offer additional deals to highlight the discount period and draw people to buy items that will continue to be taxed.
The back-to-school tax holiday has ranged from three to nine days since lawmakers introduced it in 1998. The discount wasn’t provided during the recession in 2008 and 2009 and has been set at three-days the past four years.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Jay Upends Northview’s Varsity; Northview’s JV Downs Jay
March 11, 2014
The Northview Chiefs and the Jay Royals split a couple of games Monday in Bratt.
The junior varsity Chiefs defeated the JV Royals 7-2, while the varsity Chiefs lost to Jay 2-1.
In varsity action, Aaron McDonald was 1-2, Branon Freeman was 1-3 and RJ Pritchett was 1-3 with a double and an RBI for Northview. For Jay, Dalton Edwards was 3-3 with 2 RBIs, A.J. Nash was 1-3 and Steven Archer 1-3. Dalton Edwards pitched seven for the Jay win, allowing one run, four hits, one error and striking out 10. Brannon Freeman took the loss for the Chiefs, pitching five while allowing two runs an five hits.
Northview will travel to Holmes County Tuesday with the JV playing at 4:00 and the varsity at 6:00. The varsity Jay Royals will host T.R. Miller at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Ramona Preston, click to enlarge
Controversy Emerges Over Allowing Guns In Schools
March 11, 2014
Military veterans or retired law-enforcement officers with concealed weapons permits and special training could be designated to bring guns into elementary, middle and high schools under a proposal moving through the Florida Legislature.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee approved the controversial proposal (SB 968) by a 5-2 vote on Monday over the objections of the Florida School Boards Association and members of the public, many of whom had participated in a march earlier in the day led by civil-rights leader Al Sharpton. The group was protesting the state’s “stand your ground” law. Florida parent groups and the state teachers’ union also oppose the measure.
The measure is similar to one pushed by the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 students and six school staff.
Under the bill, principals and school superintendents could appoint staff members or volunteers who are military veterans with honorable discharges, active military or retired law enforcement officials as gun-toting “designees.” They would be required to carry concealed weapons with them at all times on school property. The designees would have to undergo 40 hours of school-safety training and an additional 12 hours of special training annually, comprised of eight hours of active shooter training and four hours of firearm-proficiency training.
The measure is intended to prevent another Sandy Hook or Columbine in Florida and would be optional, said bill sponsor Alan Hays, R-Umatilla.
“Part of our tactics here is to not let those perpetrators of evil, for them to think there’s no weapons at a school so I can go in there and not have any resistance. They don’t know that there are going to be weapons there but neither do they know that there are not,” Hays said.
But Florida School Boards Association Executive Director Wayne Blanton said that many schools already have school resource officers, who are active law-enforcement officers, and that the goal is to have such an officer in each school.
“Uniformed, trained, police officers in every school… That’s what we really need,” Blanton said. “We do not need teachers, or in this case, volunteers, in our schools, carrying weapons.”
The proposal now leaves decisions about whether to have an armed “designee” up to school principals. Hays said he would amend the measure to allow school boards to decide whether they want such a program, instead of leaving it up to principals.
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
Sherri Carter Named Bratt Elementary Teacher Of The Year
March 11, 2014
Third grade teacher Sherri Mooney Carter was named Teacher of the Year at Bratt Elementary School.
Carter has been teaching for 18 years – her first eight years as a kindergarten teacher at Century Elementary and her last 10 years at Bratt. She received her bachelor degree from the University of West Florida and earned a master’s degree from Troy State University.
Carter said she loves teaching and working with students and parents.
She was honored at the Golden Apple Awards reception recently at New World Landing in Pensacola.
Softball Wins For Tate, Northview
March 11, 2014
The Tate Lady Aggies (10-1 , 5-0) continued their winning ways Monday with an 11-1 win over Fort Walton Beach. Tori Perkins hit a home run for the Lady Aggies. Tate Hitters: Casey McCrackin 2-3, R, 2 RBIs, 2 2B; Kaylen Rowell 1-2, 2B; Rachel Dunsford 2-4, R, 2B; Tori Perkins 1-3, R, 3 RBIs, HR; Bridget Dall 1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B; Brooke Howe 1-3, R, 4 RBIs, 2B.
The Aggies will host Crestview Thursday at 6:30.
The Northview High School Chief’s varsity softball team defeated Freeport Monday, 9-1. A junior varsity game was scheduled, but Freeport does not currently have enough JV players for a team due to injuries.
Going Up: Construction Continues On New Ernest Ward Middle
March 10, 2014
Construction is making visible progress for a new $17 million Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill. The new building, expected to open to students as early as January 2015, following Christmas Break 2014, will be an ultra modern, energy efficient building.
Escambia County voters played a big part in making the $17 million facility a reality, thanks to the voter-approved half cent sales tax. Escambia is one of 16 of Florida’s 67 counties where voters have approved the half cent sales tax, which can be used for construction projects.
“If it were not for the half cent sales tax, we could not do things like build the new Ernest Ward,” Escambia County Schools Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said.
For more photos showing the construction progress as of about two weeks ago, click here. NorthEscambia.com will continue to provide construction updates and photos periodically over the next year.
The oldest buildings on the current Ernest Ward campus, including the main classroom wing, were constructed in 1945 to replace a campus ravaged by fire in 1943. That old school had been constructed to replace an Ernest Ward School that first opened in a log cabin in 1896.
Pictured top and inset: Recent aerial photos of construction at Ernest Ward Middle School show the footprint of the new building, directly behind the current school. (courtesy FastAerial.com). Pictured below: Class construction. Pictured bottom: The foundation. Pictured bottom: Lunchroom foundation. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Fannie Road Closes This Week For Bridge Replacemet
March 10, 2014
Crews will begin construction activities on Fannie Road just outside Century next week.
The $1.8 million project will replace the bridge on Fannie Road over Dead Lake with a new concrete structure consisting of two 12-foot wide travel lanes and eight foot shoulders. Fannie Road will be closed during construction and traffic detoured on to Highway 4 and Highway 29 in Florida and Highway 29 and Old Fannie Road in Alabama. Restrictions will remain in effect through fall 2015.
All activities are weather dependent and may be rescheduled in the event of inclement weather.
Robot Of The Future: IMHC’S Atlas Featured On CNN
March 10, 2014
The work of the IHMC Robotics team from Escambia County with the Atlas humanoid robot is featured in an episode of a new monthly CNN program, “The Art of Movement.”
To see the video, click here, or look at the bottom of this story.
The segment features interviews with IHMC scientists and extensive video shot both in the IHMC Robotics Lab in Pensacola and at the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) trials at Homestead Miami Speedway in December 2013. IHMC’s own video team shot some of the footage used by CNN, especially from the DARPA trials. The episode focuses on IHMC’s work with the two-legged Atlas robot, built by Boston Dynamics and used in the DRC competition.
The teams participating in the DRC represent some of the most advanced robotics research and development organizations in the world. They are collaborating and innovating on a very short timeline to develop the hardware, software, sensors and human-machine control interfaces that will enable their robots to complete a series of challenge tasks selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for their relevance to disaster response.
IHMC finished first in the initial stage of the DRC in June 2013, a computer simulation competition dubbed the Virtual Robotics Challenge. The robotics team followed that up with an overall second-place finish among 16 robotics development teams at the trials at Homestead Miami Speedway, featuring the actual robots. IHMC finished first among the seven teams using Atlas.
The concluding phase of the DRC is tentatively scheduled for spring 2015.
According to CNN’s website, “The Art of Movement is a new monthly show that highlights the most significant innovations in art, culture, science and technology that are helping shape our modern world. From the visually beautiful to the technically awe inspiring, from ocean tides to animal migration, from bionic limbs to ballet, The Art of Movement will showcase the latest cultural currents and scientific new waves redefining how we engage with the world.”
The Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC) is one of the nation’s premier research organizations with world-class scientists and engineers investigating a broad range of topics related to building technological systems aimed at amplifying and extending human cognitive, perceptual, and physical capacities. IHMC headquarters are in Pensacola with a branch research facility in Ocala.
Escambia County To Try Again This Week To Name Adminstrator
March 10, 2014
Escambia County will try again this week to hold interviews and name a county administrator.
The Escambia County Commission was set to hold one-on-one job interviews with each of the five finalists for the county administrator position the last week of January, but a freak winter storm literally iced those plans.
On Thursday, March 13 each finalist will meet separately with individual commissioners in their offices prior to public interviews with the full board at 1:00 in the afternoon. A second special board meeting will be held on March 14 at 9 a.m. to pick a new top boss for the county if one is not named on March 13.
The five finalists for Escambia County administrator, as recommended by a citizens advisory committee, are:
- Jack Brown — Perry, FL. County Administrator, Taylor County BOCC.
- Ted Lakey — Graceville, FL. County Administrator, Jackson County BOCC.
- Albert Penska — Gettysburg, PA. County Manager, Adams County.
- William Reynolds — Pensacola. Former City Administrator, City of Pensacola.
- John Weaver — Murrells Inlet, SC. Attorney, Thomas & Brittain
Due to the administrator interviews, a Committee of the Whole Workshop scheduled for Thursday, March 13, has been canceled.