Shoplifting Suspect Throws Infant At Pursuing Deputy
July 17, 2013
An Escambia County woman faces child abuse and other charges after she threw a three month old infant towards an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy who was trying to stop her for suspected shoplifting.
The baby, who was still in her infant carrier, was not injured.
The incident took place Monday around 7 p.m. in a parking lot at the Santa Rosa Mall in Mary Esther. Investigators say 23-year old Ashley Taylor Wright went into a fitting room at Dillards with clothing items. She came out without the merchandise and the items were not in the fitting room. She had hidden the two pairs of Miss Me Jeans and a pink Hurley shirt, valued at $261.00, in a baby stroller, deputies said.
As a deputy approached near her car in the parking lot, she began yelling at her husband to leave. Two small children were also in the car. When the deputy tried to get Wright out of the vehicle, she put the baby carrier in front of her saying “You will have to shoot through the baby to get me.”
Wright ran from the vehicle, then threw the 14-pound infant, still in the carrier, towards the deputy.
Wright fell and began fighting the deputy as he tried to take her into custody. She was transported to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center for treatment of a laceration to her head.
She has been charged with petty theft, child abuse without great bodily harm, and resisting an officer without violence.
Part 3: Inside Century Correctional – Food For The Body, Food For The Soul
July 17, 2013
Today, we continue our look inside the Century Correctional Institution with a look at food for the body and food for the soul. Our series will continue inside the medical unit, the prison’s most secure housing unit and more.
How about fresh summer tomato salad? Or a watermelon bowl with fresh cantaloupe? Or fresh from the field sweet corn or summer squash? Those are just a few of the items on recent menus at Century Correctional Institution.
Those fresh items are served to inmates for one simple reason — cost. The fresh fruits and vegetables are grown by prisoners at CCI, at the Berrydale Forestry Camp and at the University of Florida IFAS facility in Santa Rosa County. And they grow a lot. Already this year, CCI inmates have consumed 12,000 tons of corn.
Fresh inmate-produced produce keeps the cost per inmate down to about $1.45 per day. The food service department works twos shifts per day, providing over 4,000 trays per day. Almost all inmate food is baked or boiled — no frying.
The food service facility is a point of pride at Century Correctional.
The facility serves 1,400 inmates in about an hour and a half, including service for medical special diet prisoners at the beginning or end of a food shift. The noise at a meal is best described as a low murmur — inmates are allowed only to talk to one of the three others at their table. There’s no conversation or food sharing with neighboring tables.
Expectations of a cool, comfortable dining experience are out the window during the summer — there’s no air conditioning.
(story continues below)
The chapel is as nondescript as the other buildings in the compound. Unlike most churches when viewed from the outside, there’s nothing ornate and no religious symbols. Just a simple “Chapel” over the door and the number “10617032″ in one corner — the state’s building number.
The inside of the chapel appears a lot like any small country church — wooden pews, a mural of a river flowing from down from the hills. But still very little in the way of religious symbols — one simple cross on a table, no Star of David, no Menorah. That’s because the State of Florida recognizes over 100 different religions, any one of which can be practiced in the chapel. Christian, Jewish and Islamic services are common in the non-denominational chapel.
There’s a small room for a fellowship hall or meetings with a small kitchen. It’s used by faith based groups that may serve coffee or light food, or for the preparation of foods called for in specific religious practices.
Anywhere from 90 to 250 volunteers may enter the institution to help provide services on a monthly basis. During a one year period ending in April 2013, there were 5,170 total hours accrued by volunteers and a total of 1,390 program offered in the chapel for the inmate population.
Our series “Inside Century Correctional Institution” continues on NorthEscambia.com.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Appeals Court Confirms Sentence Of Man That Shot Deputies, Took Hostage
July 17, 2013
The First District Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction and sentence of Philip Martin Monier for his role in taking a woman hostage and a subsequent gun battle with law enforcement.
In January, Monier was convicted by an Escambia County Jury of four counts of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault, armed kidnapping and trespassing. Monier was sentenced by Judge John T. Brown to serve four life sentences in state prison.
Monier was convicted of shooting Deputy Jeremy Cassady and deputies Sam Parker and Chad Brown during a home invasion hostage incident October 29, 2011, at his girlfriend’s home near Scenic Highway in Pensacola. Monier was also charged in connection with shooting at a fourth deputy who was not wounded.
Cassady was severely wounded in the incident and spent 20 days in Sacred Heart Hospital. He later received a pancreas and kidney transplant in August 2011.
Monier’s girlfriend, Jackie Rosenbloom, called 911 as Monier forced his way into her home looking a ring that he demanded be returned. He took Rosenbloom hostage and ignored orders to drop his weapon as deputies entered the home. Monier used Rosenbloom as a human shield, but he was struck by at least one round in the hand. He was eventually talked out of the home by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and hostage negotiators.
Man Arrested On Child Porn Charges
July 17, 2013
An Escambia County man was arrested Tuesday on child pornography charges after investigators determined he had downloaded sexually explicit pictures and movies of children from the internet onto his computer hard drives and shared those files with others.
Charles David Turner, 51, was charged with 28 counts of possession of obscene material/child pornography and two counts of video voyeurism. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail with no bond, according to Detective Chris Wilkinson.
Agents with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force initiated a search warrant at Turner’s residence on June 20 after he was identified via the internet as downloading child pornography.
It was later determined that Turner had taken video of a family member while she was getting dressed after taking a shower. The video of the family member was recorded using a web camera without her knowledge or consent. A second video of an adolescent female taking a shower was found on his computer, and the investigation as to her identity is ongoing.
Additional charges are pending, and the investigation is continuing to determine if Turner transmitted files or downloaded additional child pornography, Wilkinson said.
Agencies from the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force assisted the Pensacola Police Department with this investigation. These agencies include Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Walton County Sheriff’s Office
Century To Clean Up After Contents Of Entire House Dumped Curbside
July 17, 2013
The Century Town Council has voted to clean up a large debris pile on East Pond Street after someone piled the entire contents of an unoccupied home onto the street.
The town normally picks up curbside debris as part of its residential trash service — on a much smaller scale. Since the town must pay a vendor to dump the debris, piles are normally limited to a smaller size. And the town won’t pick up the debris pile if it was placed on the curbside by a contractor or someone paid to place it there.
In the case of the East Pond Street property, officials don’t know if a contractor or a private individual cleaned out the house. They say the house has been unoccupied for some period of time after the resident died. The property is currently owned by an estate, which will receive a bill for the clean up.
Pictured: A debris pile on East Pond Street. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
BOE Votes To Prevent Major Drops In School Grades
July 17, 2013
After a debate that raised questions about the validity of Florida’s school grades, a divided state Board of Education on Tuesday approved a plan that will shield schools from steep drops this year in their closely watched grades.
The board, in a 4-3 vote, approved a recommendation by Education Commissioner Tony Bennett that will prevent drops of more than one letter grade. As an example, a school that received a B grade last year could only drop to a C when new grades are released later this month.
Bennett made the recommendation after school superintendents said they were concerned that grades could plummet this year for many schools. Superintendents pointed, at least in part, to repeated changes in the state’s school-accountability system — 13 this year alone — which they say have made it harder to meet standards and have created uncertainty.
Bennett, speaking to reporters before the board meeting, said his recommendation was part of an effort to prepare for a transition to what are known as the “Common Core Standards,” a major undertaking that will fully take effect during the 2014-15 school year. He said the recommendation to prevent steep drops in letter grades was only temporary and did not reflect a lessening of standards.
“I will hold fast that this should not be permanent and cannot be part of the permanent accountability landscape,” Bennett said.
But board member Sally Bradshaw, one of the dissenters, said limiting the drops in grades will disguise what is happening in schools and compromises the “rigor of our system.”
“Why are we going to mislead parents and the public on how their schools are doing?” asked Bradshaw, who served as a chief of staff for former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Other board members, including Chairman Gary Chartrand, who voted for Bennett’s recommendation, questioned whether the grading system remains statistically valid. Bennett said the system has become overly “nuanced” because of changes in calculations through the years.
“I don’t know that it’s a real measurement any more, I’m sorry to say,” said board member Kathleen Shanahan, who also is a former Bush chief of staff.
The A-through-F grading system was a high-profile part of Bush’s efforts to remake the public-school system after he took office in 1999. While critics have often questioned whether the grades give an accurate picture of what happens within schools, the grades have become an annual ritual and are watched by everyone from parents to real-estate salespeople.
Bush remains highly influential in state education policy, and the executive director of an organization Bush leads, the Foundation for Florida’s Future, urged the Board of Education to vote against Bennett’s school-grades recommendation.
In a letter to the board Monday, foundation Executive Director Patricia Levesque wrote that reading and math scores this year on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test “basically were stagnant” compared to last year.
“And when scores are stagnant, students are not making gains, schools will not earn credit for gains and school grades will drop,” Levesque wrote. “When this occurs it is not the fault of the grading scale, it is a result of low performance, not an encouraging sign as we prepare for Common Core. We have to do much better.”
But House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, issued a statement after the meeting that described the board’s vote as a “welcomed move away from the education policy dictates of conservative ideologues.”
“I am pleased that four out of the seven state board members followed the advice of superintendents and public school experts who sought much-needed changes to Florida’s school grading formula,” Thurston said.
Bennett said he expects school grades to be issued by the end of July. Voting in favor of Bennett’s recommendation were Chartrand and board members Ada Armas, John Colon and Barbara Feingold. Joining Bradshaw and Shanahan in dissent was John Padget.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Photos: Train Derailment
July 17, 2013
A train derailed Tuesday afternoon near “L” Street in Pensacola. The wheels of one hopper-type car came off the tracks about 5:00 p.m., temporarily blocking the roadway. There were no injuries.
The incident was at least the second minor derailment in Escambia County in the past month. On June 19, there was a minor derailment at the Louis Street Crossing in Cantonment.
Photos by Regina Barry for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Gaetz, Others Urge FWC To Back Deer Importation Ban
July 17, 2013
Senate President Don Gaetz and two other Panhandle lawmakers this week urged the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to approve a ban on importing deer from out of state, amid concerns about the spread of a disease that can be fatal to the animals.
Last month, Gaetz, his son, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Sen. Greg Evers asked the commission to wait for more evidence of the impact of Chronic Wasting Disease. The panel postponed a decision on a ban until its September meeting.
But now the lawmakers say the risk is too great.
“Please accept this letter as acknowledgement that the scientific case for closing the border is stronger than we had originally understood,” they wrote Monday to FWC Chairman Kenneth Wright. “We now believe that moving forward with (the ban) is the prudent course of action.”
Chronic Wasting Disease is similar to Mad Cow Disease and is fatal to deer. If a deer is found with the disease, the entire population — fee-ranging or farmed — must be eradicated to prevent it from spreading.
Marion Hammer of the National Rifle Association, which backs the ban, says the disease could wipe out all the state’s deer.
“Some folks say it’s manageable. It’s not manageable,” Hammer said. “Why should you wait to try to manage something when you can take action to prevent getting it in the first place?”
But opponents of the ban said the move is unnecessary.
“I think it’s a shame,” said Chris Winsey, president of the Southeast Trophy Deer Association. “We’re just being prejudiced toward the deer versus any other animal that’s being moved in our state.”
“They don’t have enough data to close the border,” said Mike Vizcaino, a deer farmer in the St. Augustine area. “If these guys were really afraid of CWD, they would be promoting a statewide testing requirement rather than closing the borders.”
Vizcaino said the ban had been pushed by importers who are stocking up on deer now “so they can set the prices” once the ban goes into effect. “This is all about money.”
Currently, to reduce chances of the disease entering Florida, the state bans deer from being imported from those states and Canadian provinces where infected deer have been found. The ban also prohibits deer killed in those areas from being brought into Florida unless they have first been deboned or treated and mounted by taxidermists outside the state.
The state also requires that imported deer come from herds that have been certified disease-free for five years. Opponents of the ban have recommended the state consider doubling that time frame.
At last month’s commission meeting, deer farmers and game ranchers said closing the border would increase the risk of the disease turning up in Florida. They predicted an increase in smuggling to keep up with the demand for deer available for hunting.
“I believe this decision is probably going to cripple the (deer) industry in Florida,” Winsey said. “It’s a shame how we continue to discriminate against people in agriculture.”
But Hammer said the disease is so deadly that if it spread to Florida, deer hunting would become too dangerous to continue.
“If we got Chronic Wasting Disease in the state of Florida, I’d never eat another piece of venison,” she said. “The risk is too great. So we need to take the steps that are best to prevent ever getting the disease to begin with.”
The disease is not known to affect people.
Backers of the ban include not only the NRA but the Florida Wildlife Federation, United Sportsmen of Florida, Florida Deer Association, Florida Zoo Association and the Humane Society.
Hammer wants the commission to schedule an emergency meeting to hasten the start of the ban, but FWC spokesman Tony Young said Tuesday that wasn’t necessary.
By The News Service of Florida
Students Sit In At Scott’s Office Calling For Special Session
July 17, 2013
About 40 students sat in Tuesday at the Governor’s Office, waiting for Gov. Rick Scott to return from a trip to New York and take up their demand for a special legislative session addressing laws they say unfairly affect minority youth.
As of shortly before 5 p.m., they were leaving Scott’s waiting area and making plans to spend the night in the Capitol rotunda.
The students, part of a group called the Dream Defenders, said they’re responding to the “not guilty” verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death last year of black teen Trayvon Martin in Seminole County.
They want Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” self-defense law changed. They asked for a meeting with Scott, and when told he was unavailable, vowed to wait for his return. They want Scott to call a special session to create a Trayvon Martin Civil Rights Acts and address “stand your ground vigilantism, racial profiling and a war on youth that paints us as criminals and funnels us out of schools and into jails.”
Scott’s office put out a statement suggesting the governor is unlikely to meet their demands.
“As the governor has said, as a father and a grandfather, his heart goes out to Trayvon Martin’s family and all those affected by his death,” said Communications Director Melissa Sellers in an email. “We are grateful that people across our great nation have the right to assemble and share their views. … Immediately following Trayvon Martin’s death, Gov. Scott called a bi-partisan special task force with 19 citizens to review Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. This task force listened to Floridians across the state and heard their viewpoints and expert opinions on this law. The task force recommended that the law should not be overturned, and Gov. Scott agrees.”
The governor’s task force did not include opponents of the controversial “stand your ground” law, although Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Ft. Lauderdale, had asked to be appointed. The panel recommended few changes, and the 2013 Legislature refused to hear any bills that would have changed “stand your ground.”
“Even the governor’s task force filed legislation that wasn’t heard,” Smith said. “There was a fear of even discussing it. But I think the more and more pressure that’s put on Florida to at least have the discussion, I think (it) will happen this year.”
The stand-your-ground law drew widespread publicity when Zimmerman was not arrested for 44 days after shooting the 17-year-old Martin. The law says people have a right to meet “force with force” if they reasonably believe such steps are necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm.
While Zimmerman ultimately was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, a six-member jury Saturday found him not guilty.
The students sat in the governor’s waiting room from 11 a.m. until shortly before close of business. As Capitol police looked on, they sang and chanted and took turns describing their own encounters with racism.
“So you’re telling me — again — that people who look like me, we don’t matter,” said Shamile Louis, 21, a student at the University of Florida who came from Gainesville to participate. “Our bodies don’t matter. We can lie in the street and be dead and it’s cool. I had a friend killed about a month ago in Orlando. Still no arrest. Still no nothing. Another black man gone. Another young black boy without a father. And so that’s why I’m here today.”
Dorothy Inman-Johnson, a retired poverty-agency administrator and former mayor of Tallahassee, said she she’ll keep protesting until “stand your ground” is abolished.
“If ’stand your ground’ was doing what these legislators said it was supposed to do, the presumption of self-defense should have been Trayvon’s, not George Zimmerman’s,” she said.
There were about 100 protestors when they first marched to Scott’s office, but their numbers dwindled as the day wore on. They ate pizza and played cards while waiting. Some said they expect buses to add to their numbers on Wednesday, with groups coming from Miami, Boca Raton, Orlando and Alabama.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Century Approves $55 Million Bond Issue For UWF Expansion
July 16, 2013
The Town of Century voted Monday night to approve bond issue up to $55 million to fund expansions at the University of West Florida.
Acting as a second signature for the Capital Trust Agency, a bond conduit partnership between Century and Gulf Breeze, Century approved the up to $55 million bond issue with a Provident Resources Group, a Georgia non-profit. The project must now be presented to Gulf Breeze on July 31 with a projected closing date of August 1.
Provident Resources is still considering the proposal and has not signed a formal contract, said Matt Dannheisser, attorney for both Gulf Breeze and Century, but going ahead and obtaining Century’s approval for the project will speed the process along.
If Provident backs out of the project, Century’s early approval will basically be “no harm, no foul”, Dannheisser said. If all $55 million is issued, Century will receive a fee of $19,250.
The up to $55 million UWF project will include 356 student housing beds plus 54 beds dedicated to guest housing, a conference and academic center and parking amenities — although Provident is said to be considering dropping the conference center from the plan. The 18 acres at the east entrance of the campus on Davis Highway will also include space for retail development. The expansion has a target opening date of August 2014.
$40 Million A No-Go
A previous $40 million bond issue for the project essentially collapsed late last month to due to unfavorable changes in the bond market.
The $40 million was to come from the Capital Trust Agency, a bond conduit partnership between Century and Gulf Breeze, for a hotel, conference center, new student housing and more at the Davis Highway entrance to UWF. The college’s development arm, University of West Florida Business Enterprises, Inc., had previously entered into an affiliation agreement with Vieste, LLC, for the project.
Dannheisser said he learned that project financing was failing the day after Century gave its seal of approval in a special meeting.
“I was very disturbed to learn that because it made me appear disingenuous to you when I cam the day before and said otherwise,” he said.
The increased financed amount — from $40 to $55 million — is due to a different planned relationship between the developer and the university. He said that while the project bottom line may come in at $48 million, $55 million was requested. Vieste was to have contributed about $7 million to the project and shared in the profits for the next 50 years, while Provident will not. The bond issued for Provident will be tax-free.
Capital Trust Agency
Century entered into the Capital Trust Agency with Gulf Breeze in 1999 with Century essentially serving as the “second signature” for CTA. Century has received over $650,000 in fees since the inception of CTA. The approval of a $40 million bond issue for UWF would have earned Century about $14,000 in fees upon closing.
The CTA is structured in such a way to indemnify Century from any financial risk, whether it be from a company that defaults on repayment or any other legal liabilities, according to Dannheisser. The funds used for the bonds are from the CTA’s coffers, not from Century or Gulf Breeze.
Picture below: Century’s attorney, Matt Dannheisser, explains a $55 million bond issue to Town Clerk Leslie Gonzalez and council member Gary Riley Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
