Tate Grad Gardipee Completes Basic Military Training
December 8, 2013
Air Force Airman Jonathan T. Gardipee graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Gardipee is the son of Rhonda Gardipee of Cantonment.
He is a 2012 graduate of Tate High School, Cantonment.
Photos: Molino Holds Annual Christmas Parade
December 8, 2013
The annual Molino Christmas Parade was held Saturday morning on Crabtree Church Road. After the parade, Santa Claus met with lots of good boys and girls at the Molino Ballpark.
Sponsored by the Molino Recreation Association, proceeds from the parade are used to benefit needy children in the Molino area during the Christmas season.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery, click here.
Pictured: The annual Molino Christmas Parade Saturday morning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wreck Cuts Power For Part of Cantonment
December 7, 2013
A single vehicle wreck cut power for a portion of Cantonment Saturday morning.
The accident happened on Highway 95A between Eden Lane and Morris Avenue about 9:15 p.m. Power lines were downed and a pole broken in the accident. One person was transported to a local hospital; their condition was not known.
Highway 95A was closed from Highway 29/Morris Avenue north to Neal Road as a result of the accident. Gulf Power estimated that over 200 customers lost power as a result of the accident.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Northview Beats Escambia
December 7, 2013
The Northview Chiefs beat the Escambia Gators 69-59 Friday night in varsity high school basketball.
Scoring for the Chiefs were: Neino Robinson 28; Tony McAroy 17; Cameron Newsome 11; Jeffery Taylor 1; Nick Lambert 5; Eric Williams 7.
The Chiefs will travel to Jay next Thursday. JV Girls play at 3:30, JV Boys at 4:45; Varsity Girls at 6:00 and Varsity Boys at 7:15.
Lottery Store Murder Suspect Enters Not Guilty Plea
December 7, 2013
The third suspect indicted for murder in connection with the November 2012 shooting death of a Davisville lottery store owner has entered a not guilty plea.
Michael Brad Orso, age 28 of Atmore, was arrested just last month and was due to make his first court appearance Friday. His attorney waived the arrangement and entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.
Orso, is charged with premeditated first-degree murder for allegedly assisting in planning the robbery and providing the gun used in the shooting death of store own Thomas “Tommy” Kroll during a robbery on November 6, 2012.
Malcolm Troy McGhee was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for the crime late last month. His codefendent, 21-year old Brent Lambeth, previously pleaded no contest to second degree murder. Under his plea deal, he will receive no more than 30 years in prison in exchange for his testimony against McGhee and Orso.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
$88,113 Lottery Ticket Set To Expire
December 7, 2013
A winning Fantasy 5 prize winning ticket worth $88,113.47 remains unclaimed, the Florida Lottery said Friday. The 180-day deadline to claim the top prize in Friday, December 20 at midnight.
The winning Fantasy 5 numbers for the June 23 drawing were 05-07-12-24-35.
The ticket was purchased at the Kangaroo Express lat 3225 West Nine Mile Road in Pensacola.
Evers Bill Would Add Utility Vehicles To ‘Move Over’ Law
December 7, 2013
Motorists would have to slow down or move over a lane when approaching a utility vehicle parked on the side of a road, under a proposal filed Friday by Sen. Greg Evers, who represents the North Escambia area.
The measure would require utility crews — working on electric, natural gas, water, wastewater, cable, telephone or communications services —- to be engaged in tasks related to the purposes of the vehicles.
Florida’s 11-year-old “Move Over” law requires motorists to slow down to a speed that is 20 mph less than the posted limit — when the limit is 25 mph or greater — or to move over a lane when they approach emergency vehicles parked along the sides of roads.
No House companion has been filed to Evers’ bill.
By The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: Electric linemen work on County Road 99A at Highway 97, adjacent to Ernest Ward Middle School. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Book Available Again About History Of Bratt And Surrounding Area
December 7, 2013
A local author now has more copies available of a new book about the Bratt and neighboring communities in the early part of the 20th century. “Bratt: Ramblings and Recollections on the Growth of a Florida Panhandle Farm Community” by Russell Brown contains about 150 pages of text and more than 100 photos.
Brown quickly sold out of his first printing of 100 books, but now has copies available. Books will be available while supplies last at Gilley’s Store in Bratt, Dixie’s Antiques in Ensley, and The Copper Possum Antiques in Milton. Books are $25. The paperback can also be ordered from Amazon.com.
Brown grew up in a rural area south of the Bratt community and often visited family and church there. All his great grandparents had come to Bratt near the turn of the century and both his parents were raised there. After completing his first small book about his great grandfather, “Traces of John M and Fannie M Brown”, he wanted to provide a continuation to the story of the families that came to this farm community in the early part of the 20th century.
The first part of the book recalls the history of the settlement of north Escambia County as it evolved around the logging industry. This is followed by the growth of Bratt after 1900 as the area evolved into a farming region. The book contains 18 separate sections that discuss some of the early families, the schools, early county roads, the churches, the community’s cemetery, followed by infrastructure improvements in the days of the depression, and those locally who fought in World War II. The ending is a general discussion of the changes in the community in the last part of the 20th century.
Brown will be signing and selling copies of the book in person this Saturday morning beginning at 8:00 a.m. at Gilley’s Country Store at the corner of West Highway 4 and North Highway 99 (at the Bratt Crossroads). This self-published book is limited to about 100 copies. Books are $25 each.
Pictured top: From the book “Bratt”, Over 165 students, including David Hanks and Grady “Gray Jay” Wiggins in a tree, in front of the new Bratt Wardville School in 1929. Students attended grades 1-6 here before transferring to the Oak Grove School. Pictured below: Oliver and Emma Wiggins (seated center) with their 11 mostly married children and their extended family in about 1911. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Christmas Parades Continue (With Mega List)
December 7, 2013
Christmas parades are continuing across the area. Here’s a list of area parades, followed by a complete mega list:
December 12 — Century Land To Lake Parade
Century will hold a Land to Lake Lighted Boat Parade on Thursday, December 12 at 5 p.m. The parade will begin on Front Street, travel to Jefferson, Pond Street and West Highway 4, ending at Lake Stone.
December 13 — Poarch Christmas Parade
The Poarch Creek Christmas Parade will be Friday, December 13 at 5:30 p.m. The parade will begin on the Poarch Creek Reservation at the Wellness Center (gym) and end at the PCI Health Department Building.
December 14 – Brewton Christmas Parade
The Brewton Christmas Parade will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 14. The parade will travel from Forrest Avenue in East Brewton, across the Mildred Street Bridge to St. Joseph Street to Belleville Avenue.
December 14 — Atmore Christmas Parade
The Atmore 2013 Twilight Christmas Parade will be held Saturday, December 14 beginning at 5:30 p.m. The parade will follow its traditional route from the Atmore City Hall, down Main Street, to Lindberg Avenue and ending at Escambia County High School. Over two dozen floats are entered, along with several bands and numerous other groups. Parade participants should be at the Atmore City Hall by 4 p.m.
December 14 — Chumuckla Redneck Parade
The Chumuckla Redneck Christmas Parade will be Saturday, December 14 at 1 p.m. The parade will begin at the Cotton Gin on Chumuckla Springs Road/Gin Road, cross Chumuckla Highway and end at Salter Road. More than 250 units are expected along the 1.5 mile parade route.
December 14 — Pensacola Christmas Parade
The Pensacola Christmas Parade will be held at 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 14 in downtown Pensacola. Featuring local bands. Parade begins at Spring and Garden and travels through downtown.
PARADE LIST
December 12th
5:00 pm – Century Land To Lake Lighted Christmas Parade
December 14th
10:00 am – Destin Christmas Parade
1:00 pm – Chumuckla Redneck Christmas Parade
1:30 pm – Bay Minette Christmas Parade
2:00 pm – Bewton Christmas Parade
5:30 pm – Atmore Twilight Christmas Parade
5:30 pm – Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Annual Christmas Lighted Boat Parade
5:30 pm – Downtown Pensacola Christmas Parade
6:00 pm – Harbor Destin Boat Parade
Pictured: The 2012 Molino Christmas Parade. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: A Week On The Battlefields
December 7, 2013
You could be forgiven for looking around and wondering whether you’ve stepped back in time a year or two — or even further.
The gambling discussions that have tied the Florida Legislature in knots over the last several years keep coming up. Gov. Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner are still tangling with elections supervisors over voting procedures.
And, at least in one corner of the state, Union soldiers are still the least popular people around.
On most of the issues, there at least appears to be some movement. Suggestions by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, on how to move gambling legislation forward might help prod his reluctant chamber to action. And Detzner and Pinellas County Superintendent Deborah Clark have defused their conflict over where absentee ballots can be returned in an upcoming congressional special election.
As for the Civil War? In some ways, it’s still raging 150 years after it was fought for the first time. Why would it end now?
PLUGGING THE ‘DRIP, DRIP, DRIP’ OF EXPANDED GAMBLING
With the Senate seeming to gear up for gambling legislation next session and some House members reluctant to expand gambling, Weatherford suggested a new idea this week that could provide cover to some lawmakers: a constitutional amendment.
In an interview Monday with The News Service of Florida, Weatherford said he wants to put a proposal on the 2014 ballot that would let voters decide if they should weigh in on future expansion of gambling.
While the details are still being crafted, the amendment would set in stone any changes lawmakers agree to during the 2014 session and require statewide approval of any future gambling expansion. Like other constitutional amendments, the proposal would require 60 percent approval by voters to pass.
Weatherford said it’s part of the “holistic look at gaming” the Legislature is undertaking that includes a swath of issues from casino-style resorts to blackjack at South Florida tracks to getting rid of greyhound racing altogether.
“I have become over the years very concerned with the drip, drip, drip expansion of gaming that’s taken place in the state of Florida. I am certainly warming up to the idea of having a constitutional amendment that would require all future expansion to go before the voters. I’m very, very intrigued by that concept,” Weatherford said.
Weatherford’s proposal would be linked in theory to a comprehensive gambling bill that could include a rewrite of the state’s gambling laws and regulations, the creation of a gambling commission and, possibly, a kitchen-sink of elements sought by existing race tracks and frontons as well as destination resorts coveted by out-of-state casino operators.
The idea could also spark a lobbying frenzy, given the increasing difficulty of getting any expansion of gambling through if the amendment passed.
“There’s no question that if everyone believed any future expansion after the 2014 session required a statewide vote, all the gaming interests would do whatever they could to try to include anything they could in the comprehensive legislation,” said lobbyist Nick Iarossi, who represents Las Vegas Sands, one of the casino operators pushing lawmakers to approve at least one convention-style hotel and casino in Broward or Miami-Dade counties.
But enshrining the new laws so quickly into the constitution could be problematic. Any mistakes would leave lawmakers scrambling to get a fix through the Legislature — and hoping that voters would approve it.
Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter, R-Naples, said he has heard of Weatherford’s constitutional amendment idea but not spoken with his House counterpart about it yet. Richter said the constitutional amendment should remain separate from the overall gambling package.
“I don’t think that initiative should draw the attention away from or to the objective to come up with something responsible for the state of Florida in the gaming arena,” he said.
DON’T CRITICIZE IT, LEGALIZE IT?
Of course, a constitutional amendment also has to gain the approval of the Supreme Court to get on the ballot — a bar that supporters of an initiative to legalize medical marijuana are trying to clear. Justices considered on Thursday whether the proposal would make it too easy to get one’s hands on weed.
“The way I read it, it would seem to be if a student’s just stressed over exams, and they go in and see a doctor, and they said, ‘I’m really stressed out.’ (The doctor says,) ‘Well, I’ve got something I can help you with,’ and prescribes marijuana. Wouldn’t that be included in this?” said Chief Justice Ricky Polston.
Supporters disagreed and said some open-ended language was meant to leave the ultimate decision of what could be treated with marijuana to doctors.
“The sponsors were focused on two things: the patient and how best to make that determination for a patient, which is very much focused on physician decision,” said Jon Mills, representing the amendment’s backers. “So a list (of conditions) alone would not be adequate.”
Whatever happens at the court, Orlando attorney John Morgan — who has shelled out more than $1 million so that his “army of angels” could bring pot to ill Floridians — said his side would eventually win the battle.
“Everybody here knows that one day medical marijuana is going to be legal in Florida,” he told reporters after the court heard oral arguments. “We all know that. … Is it going to be 2014 or ‘24? It’s going to happen.”
BALLOT BOX BATTLE
The relationship between Scott and local elections supervisors has been rocky at best ever since an election overhaul approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature and signed into law in 2011.
Detzner was ranking elections supervisors, but later dropped the idea after the independent-minded officials complained. There was the flawed attempt to purge suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls, abandoned last year after more outrage from supervisors but revived by Detzner this year.
And added to that list was a Nov. 25 directive by Detzner essentially ordering supervisors to stop providing secure boxes at early voting sites where voters could drop off completed absentee ballots.
“Supervisors should not solicit return of absentee ballots at any place other than a supervisor’s office, except for the purpose of having the absentee ballots cancelled if the voter wants to vote in person,” Detzner wrote in the directive.
One supervisor overseeing an important special election said, in so many words: No.
Clark, the Pinellas County supervisor, said this week she didn’t plan to follow Detzner’s order in the special election to choose a successor for the late Congressman C.W. Bill Young. The primary is scheduled Jan. 14, while the general election is set for March 11.
In a letter to Detzner, Clark laid out the security procedures that her office uses at the locations where voters can drop their ballots.
“They are specifically directed at ensuring the sanctity and integrity of both the ballots and the election,” Clark wrote. “Given my firm belief that my use of drop-off locations for absentee ballots as set forth herein is in full compliance with the law, I plan to continue using them, including in the impending special primary election.”
Eventually, Detzner agreed not to go to court in an effort to force Clark to follow the directive.
“Again, as we discussed earlier, we believe that your quick work to amend your voting security procedures is essential prior to a single-county Special Election for Congressional District 13,” Detzner wrote in a letter to Clark dated Tuesday. “I do not see the need for any further legal action at this time.”
OLD TIMES THERE ARE NOT FORGOTTEN
Meanwhile, the state parks system was taking fire over a proposal to add a Union monument to the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park near Lake City. A public meeting at the Columbia County School District Auditorium drew a rousing rendition of “Dixie,” the waving of a large Confederate flag by an African-American opponent of the monument and at least one call for the Legislature to intervene.
The chorus of the song about the land of cotton was led by H.K. Edgerton, the black man who called Union soldiers rapists and wielded the Stars and Bars like a conductor’s baton as the audience sang.
Speakers blasted the proposal as disturbing hallowed ground in a rural community where most families stay for generations.
“Men died there. Let their spirits rest in peace,” said Nansea Marham Miller, who is descended from a Confederate soldier who died at Olustee. “Let my grandfather rest in peace.”
The park — in the Osceola National Forest, 50 miles west of Jacksonville — was the site of a four-hour battle on Feb. 20, 1864, in which Union forces were routed by Confederate troops.
Last February, the Department of Environmental Protection received a proposal from the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to add a memorial specifically for Union officers and soldiers. The agency vetted the proposal and scheduled Monday’s public hearing to discuss possible locations at the park for the memorial.
Residents were not in a talking mood.
House Judiciary Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, suggested getting the matter “off the table” by means of a bill that he would sponsor.
“I can do a very simple proposal to the Legislature that we protect all monument sites,” Baxley said to cheers and applause.
But Mike Farrell, a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and a descendant of a soldier who died at Olustee, said he’s been a historical exhibitor at the park for years and proposed the new memorial as a result.
“I always have the visiting public approach me and ask me where the Union monument is on the battlefield, and I often tell them, ‘There isn’t any,’ ” Farrell said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments about whether voters should be able to cast ballots next year on a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Putting a Union monument at Olustee would be like placing a memorial to Jane Fonda at the entrance to the Vietnam memorial.”–Leon Duke, who spoke at a public hearing on a proposal to place a monument to Union soldiers at the site of the biggest Civil War battle fought in Florida.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida