Suspected Pipe Bomb Destroyed By Bomb Squad (With Photos)
November 14, 2013
An item suspected to be a possible pipe bomb found alongside Highway 29 in Cantonment Wednesday morning turned out to be harmless.
“It looked like pipe with caps at both ends and a wick or something coming out of it,” George Guntner of Guntner Custom Pools in the 800 block of South Highway 29 said. He said he saw the device laying alongside Highway 29 and became suspicious because it looked like a pipe bomb.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Bomb Squad responded just after 10 a.m., and Highway 29 was closed as a precaution from about Chemstrand Road to Muscogee Road.
A member of the bomb squad could been seen carrying the device attached a to a tripod-like stand (pictured left) to an open area of a parking lot. At 11:43 a.m. cries of “Fire in the hole” could be heard from the scene followed by the sound of a controlled explosion by the bomb squad to neutralize the object.
“The possible device was destroyed by the Fire Marshal’s bomb tech,” Sgt Andrew Hobbs, a spokesman for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, said at the scene. “It was determined that it was not an explosive device.”
After the object was neutralized, Highway 29 was reopened after being closed for about two hours.
Multiple units from Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded to the incident.
To watch the sequence of events, scroll down and read the description below each NorthEscambia.com photo.
Pictured above: A member of the Florida State Fire Marshal Bomb Squad, in protective gear, carries the suspected pipe bomb.
Pictured above: The bomb squad member sets up the device for destruction.
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Pictured above: Authorities examine the remnants of the device after it was purposefully exploded.
Pictured above: The bomb squad device used in the destruction of the suspicious item.
Pictured above: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Mobile Command Unit arrives on scene.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Bill Would Prohibit Smoking On Playgrounds
November 14, 2013
Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, on Wednesday filed the House version of a measure that would give local governments the ability to prohibit smoking on playgrounds. The proposal would allow municipalities and counties to restrict smoking in local government-owned playground areas as an expansion of the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act.
The act, approved by voters in 2002, prohibits smoking in most enclosed indoor workplaces.
The Senate version (SB 342) was filed last week by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island. Bradley tried to pass a broader bill (SB 258) during the 2013 legislative session that would have allowed restrictions on smoking on municipal or county properties, but it died in the Community Affairs Committee.
Pictured: The playground at the Molino Community Complex. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Have Extra Fruit On Your Trees? Donate It To The Needy
November 14, 2013
Have a fruit tree on your property with way too much fruit for you? The volunteer group Yes We Can Pensacola wants your donations as the group prepares to begin its annual fruit picking.
For the past six years, the independent group has harvested over 36 thousand of pounds of fruit in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties to be donated to area food banks and soup kitchens, including Manna Foods and Favor House in Pensacola.
The group has picked a wide variety of citrus fruits, including oranges, lemons, grapefruits, limes and tangerines from local residents. Yes We Can Pensacola volunteers will continue to pick fruit into February.
If you are interested in donating fruit or volunteering, contact group coordinator Anna Houghton at (850) 748-0616 or email annabhoughton@gmail.com.
Pictured: Tangerines growing in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Bill Aimed At Gun Regulations on Government Property
November 14, 2013
A South Florida lawmaker filed a bill this week that would give cities and counties more power to regulate guns on property they own. Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, filed the proposal (HB 305) on Tuesday.
It would change a law that has left regulation of firearms and ammunition to the Legislature.
The bill says there are “municipalities and counties that seek to exercise their home rule powers in the field of regulation of firearms and ammunition upon property owned by such municipality or county with the same freedom that they have in other fields to consider and account for local conditions and sensibilities.”
It appears highly unlikely, however, that the bill will pass during the 2014 legislative session. Both chambers of the Republican-controlled Legislature have been staunch supporters of gun rights.
by The News Service of Florida
Escambia SWAT Team Activated For Hostage Situation
November 13, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team responded to hostage situation late Tuesday night at a home near Saufley Field.
SWAT was activated after deputies responded to a home in the 6000 block of Champion Oaks Drive for an aggravated assault and suicide threat call.
The suspect, 34-year old Garren Shawndale Smith, was contacted via cell phone. Smith stated that he had a handgun held to his girlfriend’s head, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
SWAT was activated when he refused to exit the home. Negotiations between the suspect and the hostage negotiation team lasted several hours until finally the suspect and victim walked out the front door.
The suspect was taken into custody without incident and transported to the jail.
Smith was charged with aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
Two Brand New Ambulances Delivered To North Escambia Post
November 13, 2013
Two new ambulances were delivered to the Escambia County’s northern most EMS post on Tuesday.
The new ambulances are stationed at Escambia County EMS Post 50 in Century, were they will regularly serve the northwestern part of Escambia County from Century to Molino in Florida , the Flomaton area in Escambia County, AL, and surrounding areas as needed.
Both new ambulances are built on a Ford 450 chassis — most of the other ambulances in the county are on a slightly larger International chassis. The slightly smaller ambulance allows it to fit on smaller rural roads and driveways found in North Escambia.
The price tag for each vehicle was $189,000, paid for using Local Option Sales Tax funds.
Pictured: Two new ambulances were delivered and placed into service Tuesday afternoon in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Taco Bell Coming To Atmore
November 13, 2013
A Taco Bell restaurant will be constructed in Atmore in the coming months.
The restaurant will be located in the Rivercane development at Highway 21 and I-65. Tacala, LLC is purchasing the land from the City of Atmore for $337,000. The restaurant, expected to open early next year, will employ about 30 people.
Based in Vestavia Hills, AL, Tacala operates 164 Taco Bell locations in six Southeastern States, making the company one of the largest franchise operations of Taco Bell restaurants in the nation.
Jury Selection Begins Monday In Lottery Store Murder
November 13, 2013
Jury selection begins Monday for Malcolm Troy McGhee, one of the two men accused in the robbery and shooting death of a Davisville lottery store owner just over a year ago.
McGhee’s trial is expected to last about two days 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.
His co-defendant, 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 McGhee.
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: 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.
In Hot Pursuit 5K This Weekend On Pensacola Beach
November 13, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office’s Sixth Annual In Hot Pursuit 5K is scheduled for this Saturday on Pensacola Beach. There will be a fun beach course, great door prizes, and medals for the winners. All proceeds from the race will go to support the Florida Sheriff’s Association Youth Ranches.
The race will start at 8:00 a.m. near the Pensacola Beach Pavilion. Registration is $20 for adults. Day of the race registration is $25. Register online at www.active.com or download a printable race form at escambiaso.com. Packet pick up will take place Thursday, November 14 and Friday November 15 from 4-7 p.m. at Running Wild, 312 East Cervantes Street in Pensacola.
The In Hot Pursuit 5K is sponsored in part by NorthEscambia.com, along with Century Link, Allen Turner Hyundai, Berney Office Solutions, Marianna Airmotive, The Grand Marlin, John Peacock/Edward Jones, The Fraternal Order of Police, Gulf Winds Credit Union, Walmart, Navy Federal Credit Union, May’s Construction, The Sandshaker and News Talk 1370 WCOA.
Florida’s Highway Speed Limit May Increase To 75 MPH
November 13, 2013
A bipartisan measure filed Tuesday could shorten the more than 800-mile drive from Pensacola to Key West to less than half a day of travel.
Sens. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, proposed a bill (SB 392) that would allow a 75 mph speed limit on some highways and also boost speeds on other roads. Brandes said the idea is to adjust speed limits on interstates and certain rural highway to accurately reflect what most motorists are already driving.
“If people are driving within rates they’re comfortable with, we need to adjust the minimum and maximums speeds to what 85 percent of people are already driving,” Brandes said. “That’s what this bill would allow.”
The proposal would direct the state Department of Transportation to determine the safe minimum and maximum speed limits on all divided highways that have least four lanes.
The DOT would then be able to increase travel on the state’s “limited access highways” to 75 mph and raise the maximum posted limit on divided four-lane highways in sparsely populated rural areas from 65 mph to 70 mph. The DOT could also hike speeds by 5 mph, to 65 mph, on other roads they deem safe.
Florida’s highways have had a 70 mph maximum since 1996, the last time the speed limit was reviewed.
In a news release from the senators, they pointed to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration numbers that indicate the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled has consistently declined since 1996.
However, the proposal will face safety questions.
Raising speed limits above 70 mph, as 16 states have done for select roads since the national speed limit was lifted in 1995, has led to more deaths from speeding accidents as reaction times are reduced and the severity of injuries is made greater, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Va.
“Higher speeds make crashes more likely because it takes longer to stop or slow down, and the crashes that happen are more likely to be deadly. It’s physics 101,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute.
A 2009 study by the American Journal of Public Health found a 3 percent increase in road fatalities attributed to higher speeds after the 1995 repeal of the national speed limit, with the increase growing to 9 percent on rural interstates with higher limits, Rader said.
More importantly for those questioning the increases, motorists have continued to go above the posted limits as other states have raised the minimum and maximum limits.
In the decade after the speed limit was raised in Nevada and New Mexico from 65 mph to 75 mph on rural interstates, the proportion of passenger vehicles exceeding 80 mph tripled in Nevada and nearly tripled in New Mexico, according to the Insurance Institute.
The Journal of Public Health study was conducted before Maine increased the speed limit to 75 mph for the northern end of Interstate 95 in 2011. The increase made that section of road — between Old Town and Houlton — the first to top 70 mph east of the Mississippi River.
Louisiana allows 75 mph on sections of Interstate 49, which is west of the Mississippi River.
Brandes admitted he had some early reservations about adjusting the limits, but the senators said they are comfortable allowing state engineers to determine if any increase is warranted.
“Allowing professionals to determine safe speeds based on the engineering standards of individual highways is simply common sense,” Clemens said in the news release. “A five mile per hour increase is unlikely to have an impact on road safety, but we’ll let the experts do their job.”
The proposal will be considered during the 2014 legislative session. Currently, there is no House sponsor for the proposal.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida