Four-Wheeler Accident Claims Life Of Flomaton Man
November 11, 2013
A four-wheeler accident has claimed the life of a Flomaton man.
Jimmie Elicah Dixon, 62, was pronounced deceased at the scene by Escambia County (FL) EMS. He was discovered early Monday morning under his wrecked four-wheeler in a secluded location near Beasley-Dixon Road, just north of Highway 31.
Officials said Dixon was last seen leaving on his four-wheeler late Sunday afternoon. After he did not return, the family began looking for Dixon early Monday morning. It was not known exactly when the accident occurred.
Congressman Tasked With Looking Out For Veterans
November 11, 2013
It’s not just Veterans Day that Congressman Jeff Miller thinks about those who have served. Veterans are always on his mind, one of his top priorities.
The Chumuckla Republican represents the 1st Congressional District which is home to more veterans than any other district in the entire United States. He’s also chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which is responsible for authorization and oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA is the second largest department in the federal government with over 300,000 employees and a budget of over $150 billion.
And right now, he’s not pleased with the answers his committee is getting — or, more importantly, not getting – from the VA.
“It’s unbelievable. In an agency and an administration that touts their transparency, there is very little transparency. It’s unbelievable,” Miller told NorthEscambia.com in an exclusive interview. “We have been trying since I became the chairman to get information out of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and they have stonewalled us at every turn.”
The VA has not provided answered over 100 separate requests for information made by the Veterans Affairs Committee, with four of those requests dating back to 2012. Due to the unanswered requests, the committee created the Trials and Transparency website to highlight the problem.
Miller said he does believe the problem is partisan; many of the requests have been made by the committee’s ranking Democratic member Rep. Michael H. Michaud of Maine.
“We are not doing it from a partisan standpoint; we are doing it because our veterans deserve answers and, unfortunately, they are not getting them,” Miller said.
Regardless of problems getting answers from the VA, Miller’s office still works to get action for local veterans. One of his staff members in Pensacola is devoted solely to working for veterans.
“We will help them in any way that we can worth through the bureaucracy, and our success rate is usually pretty good,” the congressman said.
Politics and VA oversight problems aside, Miller said Veterans Day is an extremely important holiday.
“Veterans Day is important to all of us to say thank you and remembering those that have served and worn the uniform of this country,” he said. “It’s a day where Americans can stop and pay tribute to those who have answered the call and have run to the sound of the guns…We are the country we are today because there have been men and women throughout our history that have never wavered in their patriotic duty to this country.”
Pictured top: Congress Jeff Miller poses with veterans in Century. With Miller are (L-R) Herbert Boutwell III, a two-tour Vietnam veteran; his father, World War II veteran Herbert Boutwell, Jr.; and Benjamin Boutwell, Desert Storm, Global War on Terrorism and U.S. Air Force Retiree. Pictured inset: Rep. Jeff Miller addresses a Veterans Day event in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century Employees Get Veterans Day Off For The First Time
November 11, 2013
Monday marked the first Veterans Day that Town of Century employees had the day off.
While virtually every other governmental agency in the area has always been closed on the Veterans Day holiday, the Town of Century was always open. Back in August, the Century Town Council voted to close up shop on Veterans Day and grant town employees the day off.
At that August meeting, the town council also voted to hold a Veterans Day celebration which took place last Friday.
Pictured top: The Town of Century’s Veterans Day Celebration held last Friday. Pictured inset: Century council member Jacke Johnston was spearheaded the Veterans Day event. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Northview High Honors Veterans
November 11, 2013
Northview High School held their annual Veterans Day program, honoring veterans in the North Escambia area.
The guest speaker for the program was Gary Welch, an Army Veteran who served in Vietnam and a retired Northview teacher. The program also included a special “Old Glory” presentation by the Northview High School NJROTC, and a White Table Ceremony that represents the never-ending hope for the return of MIA soldiers.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
State Senate Gaming Committee Meets This Week In Escambia County
November 11, 2013
The Florida Senate Gaming Committee will meet this week in Escambia County.
During the 2014 Legislative Session, the Senate will seek to replace Florida’s current makeshift gaming structure with an overall comprehensive approach to gambling related policy. The face of gambling has dramatically transformed over the last 25 years with casinos, the state lottery and “Internet cafes” emerging. However, officials say Florida’s approach to taxation and regulation of the industry has not kept up.
In preparation, the Gaming Committee will conduct its next workshop in Pensacola on November 14 to listen to the views of citizens in the Panhandle. In particular, the committee is interested in the public’s reaction to the “Florida Gambling Impact Study,” which was commissioned by the legislature earlier in the year. Understanding the local views and perspective is paramount to making sound public policy decisions that will impact our communities for generations. [Download study copy here.]
The Florida Senate Gaming Committee, chaired by Senator Garrett Richter (R-Naples), will meet in Pensacola on Thursday, November 14, from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at the WSRE-TV Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio, 1000 College Boulevard.
Camp Fire Kids Honor Veterans
November 11, 2013
Children from the Camp Fire USA Century Youth Learning Center took part in a special Veterans Day Ceremony at the Century Care Center. The children took part in the Pledge of Allegiance, made the veterans a big card, sang patriotic songs and made individual cards for each veteran.
Santa Rosa Man Dies In Single Vehicle Traffic Crash
November 11, 2013
A Santa Rosa County man died in a single vehicle traffic crash over the weekend.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 39-year old Shawn Edward Nava of Milton failed to properly negotiate a curve on Twilight Drive, struck a guy-wire and overturned. His 1995 Toyota Camry came to rest on its roof following the crash at 11:50 p.m. Friday.
Milwaukee Brewers’ Gindl Inspires Young Baseball Players
November 10, 2013
There’s nothing like the crack of a wooden bat on a sunny North Escambia afternoon. Not just any old wooden bat, but a good Louisville Slugger. A custom made Genuine Made C271 Pro Stock, American made from Carolina ash.
One after another, after another, the baseballs sailed to the outfield fence in Bratt for Northview High School Chief outfielders to catch. And sometimes they were over the fence, the bases loaded, bottom of the ninth home run feeling with every one.
Baseball, wooden bats and home runs…the all American stuff that young boys dream of…young boys like Caleb Gindl as he grew up around Molino and went on to play high school ball for the Pace Patriots.
In 2007, Milwaukee selected Gindl in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball draft. He paid his dues year after year in the minors, until he was called up to the Brewers on June 15. A week later, he made history for the Milwaukee Brewers as he became the first in franchise history to hit a walk-off for his first MLB homer. It was his very first major league home run.
“It was awesome; it was nice to know that all the hard work finally paid off,” Gindl said Saturday. “After seven years in the minors and to finally catch a break, it was really nice.”
Saturday, the Milwaukee Brewer’s Gindl was the star attraction — and instructor — at a Northview High School baseball clinic for players ages 9-17. As the clinic wrapped up, he stepped up to home plate and pounded hit after hit to the outfield fence.
“Wow, did you see that?”, a young boy said as a homer topped the fence.
Then it happened. The traditional crack of the bat was replaced with a much more powerful sound, echoing off the nearby Northview football stadium bleachers, as the Louisville Slugger splintered in two.
“I want it, I want it,” the boys cried out. “I want him to sign it!”
Without a doubt, Major League homers and his career are important Gindl. But coming back home and working with the boys and teens and the Northview Chiefs were also a highlight for Gindl.
“It’s always nice to come back where you are from and work with these guys,” he said. “There are some good players out here and hopefully this will help to get them better.”
For 125 NHS Baseball Clinic photos, click here.
And as spring approaches, Gindl will turn his attention to the upcoming season with hopes of returning to the Brewers.
“It is what it is. I have no control over that,” he said. “I’ve just got to go into spring training, be ready to go and try to win a job.”
Pictured: The Milwaukee Brewer’s Caleb Gindl hits during a baseball clinic Saturday at Northview High School in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
State Looks For Health System Cures
November 10, 2013
Baby boomers are getting older. So are primary-care doctors and nurses. And Florida’s population continues to grow.
That combination could create a prescription for problems in Florida’s health-care system during the next two decades.
A House committee Wednesday began studying the complex set of issues, as it looks for ways to make sure the state has enough doctors and other health-care workers to meet its needs. It’s too early to know what the committee will recommend, but ideas range from taking steps to train — and keep — more doctors in Florida to using new technology such as telemedicine.
State economist Amy Baker presented information to the committee that pointed toward problems as the state moves toward 2030, the year when the first batch of baby boomers will hit their mid-80s. By that time, Florida’s population is projected to grow to 23.6 million from the 2012 total of roughly 19 million, and nearly a quarter of the residents are expected to be ages 65 or older.
Baker said baby boomers will be relatively healthy and have financial assets when they first retire, but they will need more health-care services and their bank accounts will shrink as 2030 gets closer. The baby boom generally includes people born from 1946 to 1964.
“We’re at the very front end of this demographic shift,” Baker said.
The health-care system’s needs, however, involve far more factors than just a growing and aging population. As an example, the federal Affordable Care Act is designed to help uninsured people get coverage, which likely means they will go more often to doctors.
Also, information presented to the committee showed that, overall, primary-care doctors and nurses are aging. That points to many younger physicians choosing specialties instead of primary care.
“What I see there is our younger physicians are increasingly moving away from primary care,” Rep. Cary Pigman, an Avon Park Republican who is a physician, said about some of the data presented to the committee.
House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, created the Select Committee on Health Care Workforce Innovation in July, with his office saying the panel “will study and pursue solutions for ensuring access to the right care in the right setting, including methods for increasing the number of practitioners educated in Florida, allowing practitioners to practice to the full extent of their education and training, and attracting a world-class health care workforce to Florida.”
It remains unclear, however, how lawmakers will carry out that mission, and health-care lobbyists fanned out across a committee room to listen Wednesday. Ideas such as shifting responsibilities from doctors to other types of medical professionals — a possible way the state could try to meet some of the needs — often touch off lobbying battles in Tallahassee.
The Florida Medical Association, a politically powerful physicians group, has started circulating a list of proposals to help address the shortage of primary-care doctors and nurses. Among them: Increase funding for medical residency programs so that more primary-care doctors would be able to finish their training in the state, with the hope they would then stay in Florida to practice.
Another FMA proposal would involve expanding the use of telemedicine, with doctors being able to use new technology to care for patients online. A major shift into telemedicine, however, would require addressing a series of sticky issues such as ensuring patient privacy and determining whether insurance companies would pay for telemedicine like they do for face-to-face treatment.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Weekend Gardening: What To Do During November
November 10, 2013
Here is your November gardening calendar from the University of Florida/IFAS Extension:
What to Plant
- Bedding Plants: Create a display of fall colors with cool season plants. Some to try are pansy, viola, and chrysanthemum.
- Bulbs: Bulbs to plant this month include amaryllis, crinum, and daylily. Plant Lycoris (spider lily) in partial shade. Plants will produce foliage in winter and beautiful red flowers emerge in late summer.
- Herbs: Continue planting herbs from seeds or plants. A wide variety of herbs like cooler, dryer weather, including cilantro, dill, fennel, parsley, sage, and thyme.
- Vegetables: Continue planting cool season crops such as beet, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, kale, and lettuce.
What to Do
- Citrus: If freezing temperatures are predicted, protect small citrus trees by watering well at least a day before the freeze. You may also use covers that extend to the
- ground for protection.
- Scale on ornamental plants: Now that temperatures are lower, use dormant oil sprays to control scale insects on trees and shrubs.
- Irrigation: Plants need less supplemental watering in cooler weather. Turn off systems and water only if needed.
- Flowering Trees: Taiwan cherry is an ornamental cherry suitable for north Florida. Late winter will bring pink buds so consider planting one now.
- Birds: As you prune your plants during the cooler months, make a small brush pile in the back of the yard for birds.
- Camellias: Add some of the new cultivars for bright spots of color in winter. Disbudding, or removing some buds now, will insure larger blooms later.
What to Do Every Month
- Adjust irrigation based on rainfall.
- Deadhead flowers to encourage new blooms.
- Monitor the garden for insects and disease.
- Plant trees, shrubs, and perennials and water until established.