Photo: Beautiful Rainbow
May 4, 2013
A full rainbow was seen over portions of the North Escambia area Friday afternoon. Pictured top is the rainbow over Northview High School (by Ramona Preston). Pictured below is the rainbow over Atmore (by Ditto Gorme). Pictured bottom is the rainbow over Oakshade Road behind Northview HIgh in Bratt (by Donna Gilman). Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Chipley Beats Jay In 10 For Region 1-1A Championship
May 4, 2013
The Jay Lady Royals fell short of a return trip to state with a Friday night loss to Chipley.
In Friday night’s Region 1-1A championship game, the Chipley Tigers defeated Jay 4-1 in 10 innings.
Chassity McCranie pitched 10 for the Lady Royals, allowing four runs, 12 hits and striking out four. Sydney Lowery went 2-4 for Jay with two doubles and an RBI. Olivia Wright was 1-3, Destiny Herring was 1-4, and Brittany Gillman was 2-4.
Lawmakers Approve Budget, Finish Session
May 4, 2013
The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved a $74.5 billion budget Friday evening, bringing the curtain down on the 2013 legislative session.
The spending plan for the year that begins July 1 — the one thing lawmakers are constitutionally required to do — gives raises to teachers and state employees, the latter for the first time in six years; repays $300 million that lawmakers had drained from university reserves last year in an effort to close a budget gap; and sets aside money for projects large and small, including $70 million to help restore the Everglades.
Perhaps as significantly, the plan was passed a few minutes before 7 p.m. Friday, marking a departure from the late and sometimes bitter denouements to the sessions of recent years.
“The era of acrimony between the House and the Senate is over,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, moments after the session ended.
In the House, lawmakers voted 106-11 to approve the budget, with a handful of Democrats and Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne Beach, voting against the package. Most members of the minority party joined Republicans in approving the deal. The vote was unanimous in the Senate.
The measure still needs to be signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott, who will have the opportunity to nix individual projects and proposals with his veto pen.
“I’ll be going line-by-line, making sure that we don’t waste any dollars,” Scott said after the session.
The era of good feelings was helped along by modest growth in state revenues as the budget finally began to emerge from the shadows of the Great Recession.
“There’s light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not another train,” said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach.
The extra money allowed the Legislature to both allow spending to grow and say that they were being careful guardians of taxpayer money.
“And this year in addition to taking care of the people who you’re supposed to take care of, you’ve also responsibly balanced your budget by putting $2.6 billion in reserves, and responsibly funding one of our most important missions coming up here, and that is education, by putting $1.8 billion new into your entire education system,” said House Appropriations Chairman Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland.
It was not a universally shared sentiment. Democratic leaders in the House hammered Republicans for not including as part of the budget any program to use federal funds to provide health-care for low-income Floridians. While Scott and the Senate backed doing so, House Republican leaders balked and said that the federal government was an unreliable partner.
House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, acknowledged that lawmakers should not proverbially let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
“But we do have an opportunity to be great, and we’re settling for good,” Thurston said.
Republicans, who also claimed victories on an overhaul of the state’s education system, bills dealing with ethics and elections reforms and measures revamping campaign-finance laws, didn’t let the criticism get to them.
“I can go home and sleep well tonight,” Gaetz said. “When I go back to northwest Florida, I’m going back proud of our accomplishments.”
by The News Service of Florida
Broken Down: LifeFlight Helicopter Grounded In Walnut Hill
May 4, 2013
A LifeFlight helicopter was grounded in Walnut Hill Thursday afternoon. The helicopter had responded to the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97 to transport a patient to Pensacola. Shortly after the helicopter lifted from the ground, it experienced a reported radio problem and aborted the flight. The patient was transported by ambulance to Pensacola with no additional complications. The 2010 Eurocopter is operated by Air Methods for Baptist Health Care. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Biscuits Beat The Wahoos 3-2
May 4, 2013
The Montgomery Biscuits rallied from an early two-run deficit to beat the Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3-2 on Friday night in front of 4,662 fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. With the win, Montgomery clinched the five-game series by winning the first three contests.
Trailing 2-0 after the first inning, the Biscuits tied the game in the third on a two-run triple from Mikie Mahtook. It stayed that way until the eighth inning when Montgomery took advantage of wild Pensacola pitching. Lee Hyde loaded the bases with two walks and a single before being lifted for Drew Hayes. With nobody out, Hayes struck out back-to-back hitters, but wasn’t able to escape the frame without the Biscuits pushing across the go-ahead run on a five-pitch walk to Mark Thomas. Hayes would strike out Shawn O’Malley to avert further danger.
Pensacola jumped out to an early two-run lead in the first as the first four batters reached, culminating in RBI base knocks from Ryan LaMarre and Steve Selsky. Those would be the only runs the Blue Wahoos could muster but it wasn’t for lack of opportunities. Pensacola had the bags packed and one out in the seventh but Travis Mattair bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to keep the game tied at two.
In the ninth, Pensacola had the tying run at second with one out, but Juan Sandoval was able to get out of the jam with two groundouts sandwiched around a hit by pitch. Sandoval picked up his sixth save of the season in the process.
Matt Nevarez (2-0) earned the win for the Biscuits by tossing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Starter Merrill Kelly went 6.1 frames for Montgomery and allowed two runs on six hits, striking out five and walking a pair.
Daniel Renken settled for a no-decision for Pensacola despite tossing a quality start. Renken went six innings, yielding two runs (one earned) on four hits while tying a season-high with six strikeouts. Hyde (1-3) picked up the loss by giving up a run on a hit in .1 innings while walking three.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series with the Biscuits on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Josh Smith gets the start for Pensacola against Montgomery’s Enny Romero. It will be Boy Scout night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium with local scout troops participating in pre-game activities and sleeping over after the game. I
story by Kevin Burke
Photos by Gary McCracken for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos: Fire Destroys Pickup Truck In Century
May 3, 2013
Fire destroyed a GMC pickup on Lodge Drive in Century this afternoon. The blaze was reported just after 2 p.m. and was quickly extinguished by Escambia County Fire Rescue Engine 519. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Molino Woman Rear-Ends School Bus In Cantonment
May 3, 2013
A Molino woman was cited by the Florida Highway Patrol after rear-ending a school bus Friday morning on Highway 29.
The FHP said 39-year old Audra Mae Parker was southbound on Highway 29 near Muscogee Road about 7:45 a.m. when she rear-ended the bus that was stopped at railroad tracks that cross Highway 29. There was no visible damage to the bus driven by 41-year old Patricia Darlene Johnson of Molino, while Parker’s Toyota Corolla suffered about $500 in damage.
There were 14 Tate High School students on the bus at the time of the crash, none of which were injured.
Parker was cited by the FHP for careless driving.
One Injured In Jacks Branch Road Curve Accident
May 3, 2013
One person was injured in a two-vehicle collision Fridaymorning on Jacks Branch Road in Cantonment.
The accident happened just after 7:00 in a sharp curve on Jacks Branch Road between the two ends of Green Tree Circle, just west of Muscogee Road. A
The Florida Highway Patrol said 45-year old Johnny Whitehurst of Cantonment was northbound on Jacks Branch Road when he drifted over the center line in the curve and side-swiped a southbound Buick driven by 53-year old Brenda Ricketts of Pensacola.
Ricketts was transported to West Florida Hospital with minor injuries. Her passenger, 22-year old Bontrice Warren of Pensacola, was not injured. Whitehurst, also not injured, was cited for failing to drive in a single lane.
The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash.
Pictured: One person was injured in this two vehicle crash on Jacks Branch Road in Cantonment Friday morning. Reader submitted photo by Stacey Cain, click to enlarge.
Century Couple Charged With Exploiting Elderly Woman
May 3, 2013
A Century husband and wife have been charged with financially exploiting an elderly woman.
Lashonda Marsha Johnson, 41, and Eric Russell Johnson 43, both of Jefferson Avenue, Century, were charged with felony exploitation of an elderly person. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Lashonda Johnson worked for Granny Nannies as a certified nursing assistant for the victim at the time of the alleged crime in 2011.
After the Johnsons were denied a loan in December 2011 to purchase a 2011 Buick Lacrosse, Eric Johnson returned to Pen Air Federal Credit Union with his wife’s elderly client and used the elderly woman’s good credit to obtain a $28,583 loan as a co-signer, deputies said. The elderly woman, according to an arrest report, lacked the physical and mental capacity to consent to the loan.
In March 2013, the elderly woman’s son discovered the loan and contact sheriff’s investigators. According to an arrest report, Eric Johnson returned to Pen Air in April 2012 to refinance the vehicle only in his name. The vehicle was later returned to the credit union after Eric Johnson filed bankruptcy.
After their arrests this week, both Johnsons were released from the Escambia County Jail on $5,000 bond each.
Lawmakers Approve Texting While Driving Ban, Awaiting Scott’s Signature
May 3, 2013
Texting while driving will be illegal in Florida if Gov. Rick Scott signs legislation sent to him by the Senate on Thursday after a years-long effort to join most other states in outlawing it.
The Senate voted 39-1 in favor of a bill (SB 52) that makes it illegal to read or type texts or emails while actually driving, though it would remain legal to do it while stopped, such as at a red light.
Scott hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill.
Under the measure as passed, only drivers who are pulled over for something else, such as careless driving or speeding, and then are determined to have been texting while driving, could be cited. And in most cases, police and prosecutors won’t be able to seek the driver’s cell phone records to prove it. Under an amendment added to the bill this week by the House, records could only be sought if there were an injury or death in a crash.
That provision weakened the bill, but the measure’s Senate sponsor said the fight to get a texting ban has been long and so it was better to go along with that than not pass the bill – and she said the measure still could reduce the dangerous practice, particularly among kids.
“This bill is still a good bill, it still will allow parents today to say to their kids ‘Don’t text, it’s against the law,’” said Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, who has pushed for the ban unsuccessfully for years.
On the second-to-last day of the legislative session, there was a risk that stripping the House provision on cell phone records and sending it back to the House would keep the bill from passing.
If Scott were to approve, Florida would become one of the last states to have any kind of restriction on texting while driving.
The measure has an exception for use of a GPS device, or for reporting criminal behavior. The bill also allows talk-to-text technology to be used, as long as the driver isn’t typing or reading the message. In addition to texting, the bill includes reading or writing emails, or other messages.
By The News Service of Florida