Man Charged With Animal Cruelty For Malnourished Horses
September 20, 2013
An Escambia County man has been arrested in connection with two malnourished horses recently rescued by the Cantonment-based Panhandle Equine Rescue. We first reported about the horses last Friday.
And now 41-year old Marcus James McCreary is facing two animal cruelty charges. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail Thursday afternoon and later released on a $7,500 bond.
PER received a report that a very thin horse was down in McCreary’s yard on Bowman Avenue, just off Nine Mile Road. PER and Escambia County Animal Control responded and found two Tennessee Walking Horses in poor condition. One was unable to get up on her own.
The owner voluntarily signed ownership of the horses over to PER. The horses, mares named Capona and Sweet Mary, are mother and daughter, according to PER President Diane Lowery. PER reports both horses are continuing to improve, gaining over 20 pounds each. They are expected to be back to full health in about three months.
Pictured: Sweet Mary and Capona shortly after they were rescued from a home on Bowman Avenue. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Impact 100 Announces 2013 Finalists For Eight $104,500 Grants
September 20, 2013
IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area, a local women’s philanthropy group, announced the 15 grant finalists selected for 2013 Thursday morning. Eight of these 15 finalists will be selected to receive a grant of $104,500 at the IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 20.
The 15 finalists selected by IMPACT 100’s Focus Area Committees are:
ARTS & CULTURE
- Ballet Pensacola, Inc. – Project: A New Nutcracker
- The Santa Rosa County Creek Indian Tribe, Inc.- Project: Infrastructure Development of Tribal Grounds to Host Tribal Public Functions
- Santa Rosa Historical Society, Inc. Project: Light Up The Imogene
EDUCATION
- The Arc Santa Rosa, Inc. – Project: The Arc Santa Rosa ADT Transportation Proposal-2013
- Independence for the Blind of West Florida, Inc. – Project: IMPACT 100 Windows to the World for the Blind Technology Center
- Lutheran Services Florida, Inc. – Project: Teen Time…a place for you to be you!
ENVIRONMENT, RECREATION & PRESERVATION
- Friends of St. John’s Foundation, Inc. – Project: Conservation and Preservation of Historic Grave Sites at St. John’s Cemetery
- Humane Society of Pensacola, Inc. – Project: Humane Society of Pensacola Spay and Neuter Clinic
- Pensacola Museum of Art, Inc. – Project: Jail for Art
FAMILY
- Community Organizations Active in Disaster, Inc. dba Be Ready Alliance - Coordinating for Emergencies (Brace) & Brace, L.L.C. – Project: Center of IMPACT
- Council on Aging of West Florida, Inc. - Project: Moving Safely
- Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, Inc. – Project: Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative
HEALTH & WELLNESS
- FavorHouse of Northwest Florida, Inc.- Project: Safe haven for People and Paws
- Gulf Coast Kid’s House- Project: Expanding the Foundation of Care
- Holley Navarre Seniors Association, Inc.- Project 2013 Improvements to HNSA Facilities
This is the 10th year IMPACT 100 has awarded grants to local non-profits. The total amount awarded to date is $4,315,000 since 2004. This year’s awards will bring the total funds awarded in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties to $5,151,000.
Teenage Girl Shot And Killed
September 20, 2013
A teenage girl was shot and killed in Escambia County Thursday night.
The shooting was reported about 9 p.m. on West Maxwell Street at North E Street, about a block from Pensacola High School.
Kenteyonna Anderson, 14, was outside with friends when a fight erupted nearby and shot rang out, according family members. She was reportedly struck multiple times in the chest. She was transported by ambulance to Baptist Hospital where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
Further details have not been released by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. There were no arrests reported.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9630 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Anything For A Buck Defendant Gets 25 Years Prison Term
September 20, 2013
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to the minimum mandatory for drug trafficking.
Erick Anthony Fluker was sentenced to 25 years in state prison for trafficking in hydrocodone. He was arrested as part of the “Operation Anything for A Buck”, an eight month undercover operation between the ATF, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the First Circuit State Attorney’s Office and other law enforcement agencies.
The operation recovered over 270 firearms, as well as drugs and stolen property ranging from jewelry, tools, cameras, and other electronic devices. A total of 75 people were arrested in connection with the operation.
Fluker also pleaded guilty to four other trafficking cases that were in connection Anything for a Buck. He received additional prison sentences to be served concurrently with the 25-year sentence.
On July 22, 2011, Erick Fluker went into the undercover storefront and sold the undercover officers a trafficking amount of hydrocodone pills, according to prosecutors.
New Escambia School District Website Now Online
September 20, 2013
The Escambia County School District’s main website has a new look.
The new site is located at www.escambiaschools.org, but the old address of www.escambia.k12.fl.us should be automatically redirected to the new page.
Changes to the site were made based on recommendations from the district’s Web Site Task Force, which is composed of 13 representatives from district departments and schools as well as the community. One of the goals of the Task Force was to make the district’s web site more user-friendly. As the school district migrates content to the new design, visitors to the web site will see five main improvements:
- New design with common menus on all of the main district web site pages to enable easy navigation
- Expanded, alphabetical listing of resources for Students, Families, Staff, and Community
- Quick Links highlighting the most important information based on site usage statistics and input from district leadership
- Social media (beginning with Facebook and Google Calendar) to expand access to news and events
- Faster access to school web sites and consistent placement of common elements on all school web sites for ease of use
Pictured top: A screenshot of the new Escambia County School District website. The site features rotating photos, including this NorthEscambia.com photo of the recent groundbreaking at Ernest Ward Middle School.
Clean Sweep Targets East Kingsfield, Chemstrand Road Area
September 20, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and several other agencies conducted an “Operation Clean Sweep” Thursday morning in the Ashland Park area. The sweep was conducted around East Kingsfield Road from Chemstrand Road to Rodney Street.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office reported four arrests, four state probation warrants served, 10 code violations cited, 21 addresses verified by the Sex Crimes Unit and 2.5 tons of debris collected.
The focus of “Operation Clean Sweep” is to work with Neighborhood Watch groups, residents, churches and business owners to control and prevent the damaging effects of criminal activity, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Pictured top: Volunteers from the U.S. Navy pick up trash in the Ashland Park area Thursday morning as part of an Operation Clean Sweep in the area. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century T-ball Coach Sentenced On Federal Weapons Charges
September 19, 2013
A Century man arrested on federal weapons charges while coaching t-ball is headed to federal prison.
Joshua Duane Griffis, age 26 of North Century Boulevard, was sentenced by Senior Judge Lacey Collier to seven years in federal prison followed by three years supervised released after his conviction on charges of unlawful transport of firearms and transport of stolen firearms.
ATF Special Agent George Bruno testified that in September 2012 Griffis went to the home of a person known to him on Green Village Road near Walnut Hill and advised the resident that he needed to retrieve a cell phone charger from a bedroom. The resident complied.
Later that evening, the resident discovered his .22 caliber revolver was missing. The victim’s wife confronted Griffis. According to an arrest report, and he said that he had let a friend working offshore borrow the gun but it would be returned soon. Agent Bruno testified that Griffis instead pawned the firearm at State Line Pawn in Atmore on September 27, 2012.
Court documents show Griffis has prior adult felony convictions for grand theft, fraudulent use of credit cards, two counts of burglary of a dwelling, two counts of concealing information to obtain a prescription and receiving stolen property. His record also includes 13 misdemeanor convictions for worthless checks, two counts of petit theft, two counts of driving while license suspended and domestic violence third degree assault.
Just eight days before the firearm was pawned, Griffis was sentenced to two years probation and a suspended year in jail for receiving stolen property and domestic violence offenses. Court documents also reflect that Griffis has substance abuse issues.
Griffis was taken into custody without incident as he coached a little league t-ball game at a Century ballpark last May. He was escorted off the field by deputies and handcuffed out of sight of children, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). A federal magistrate ruled that Griffis posed a danger to the community and ordered him held without bond until his trial.
Alligator Mystery: Gator Apparently Hit By Vehicle On Highway 97
September 19, 2013
A five-foot alligator was found dead on the shoulder of Highway 97 in Walnut Hill Wednesday, apparently struck and killed by a vehicle. But exactly how the alligator got there is a bit of a mystery that’s now under investigation by state law enforcement.
The gator, found just south of North Highway 99 and the Walnut Hill Mennonite Church, had injuries that were consistent with being hit by a vehicle, likely while it was still alive. There were no injuries that would firmly indicate the alligator fell out of a moving vehicle.
While it is currently alligator harvest season in Florida, the gator did not appear to have a harvest tag attached as required by law. But the alligator did have rope tied to at least two legs.
Could the alligator have come from a Walnut Hill waterway?
The nearest body of water, Little Pine Barren Creek, is about 1,000 yards from where the gator was found.
Stan Kirkland, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said it would be unlikely, but entirely possible, that alligators could live in the small creek. Bill Eubanks of Walnut Hill, who owns nearby property along the creek, said he has seen an alligator in the Little Pine Creek, but that sighting was many years ago.
Around midday or early afternoon Wednesday, the alligator’s carcass was removed from the Highway 97 shoulder by an unknown individual.
FWC Lt. Brian Lambert said possessing the untagged alligator carcass is illegal, even for the person that removed the carcass.
Anyone with information about the alligator is asked to call the Florida FWC’s Wildlife Alert Reward Program at 888-404-3922. Callers may be eligible for a cash reward.
Pictured top and inset: This alligator was found dead, apparently hit by a vehicle, alongside Highway 97 in Walnut Hill Wednesday. Pictured below. The highlighted areas show rope tied to two of the gator’s legs. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Jay Man Charged With DUI Manslaughter
September 19, 2013
A 32-year old Jay man was charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter in connection with the August traffic death of a 64-year woman in Milton.
Milton Police said Travis Alan Kelly was the driver of a semi-truck that crossed the center line on Highway 87 at Magnolia Street. The semi collided head-on with a SUV driven by Susan Ann Hartfelder, a speech therapist at Bagdad Elementary School. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the August 16 crash. A school bus also hit the SUV after the initial crash.
Kelly was also charged with DUI property damage and possession of marijuana under 20 grams. He was not seriously injured in the crash.
Lawyer: Century Can’t De-Annex Resident That Once Claimed Slavery, Discrimination
September 19, 2013
Century’s lawyer has once again determined that the town can’t de-annex the property of a woman that once claimed she is the victim of slavery and discrimination based upon the town limits drawn 34 years ago.
Leola Robinson, a resident of of 350 West Highway 4, claimed at a March 2012 Century Town Council meeting that her nearby “farm” was wrongly annexed into the town back in 1979 when other farmland belonging to white property owners was not.
“It is slavery and discrimination,” Robinson told the council on March 19, 2012. “It must be because I am black.”
Matt Dannheisser, the town’s attorney, said in 2012 that Robinson’s property cannot be removed from the town limits because it would leave other parcels of property non-contiguous — essentially cut off from the town.
Robinson once again approached the council this year, requesting that her agricultural acreage be removed from the town limits.
And in a letter dated, September 11, Dannheisser reiterated that removing the property from the town’s limits would simple be illegal.
According to Escambia County Property Appraiser website records, Robinson a owns a 28.72-acre parcel at 351 West Highway 4, across the street from her residence, that is zoned improved agricultural and contains two mobile homes. The remainder of the property is wooded, according to property appraiser aerial images. She also owns a 19-acre parcel at 7501 Williams Road that is currently zoned for a mobile home. Records indicate three mobile homes are on the property.