No Injuries In Wreck At Ernest Ward Middle School
April 26, 2013
There were no injuries in a Thursday afternoon wreck in front of Ernest Ward Middle School.
The accident happened about 6:15 p.m. on Highway 97 when a driver left the roadway and struck a crape myrtle tree next to the school’s main entrance. The 20-year old man refused medical treatment.
The accident was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol; further details have not been released. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Atmore Ambulance also responded to the crash.
Pictured top: The driver of this vehicle was not injured when he struck a crape myrtle tree (in background) in front of Ernest Ward Middle School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Academy Out Of AISA Playoffs With 2-Game Loss
April 26, 2013
Escambia Academy’s Alabama Independent School Association playoff hopes were dashed Thursday as the Cougars from Canoe, Ala., dropped two to Pike County Liberal Arts of Troy.
Pike won game one 11-1 and took the nightcap 16-1 in the best two of three series.
Escambia Academy was coming off a two-game sweep of Kingwood Christian in round one of the AISA playoffs.
House Backs Speeding Up Death Penalty
April 26, 2013
After a debate that touched on justice, innocence and the Bible, the Florida House on Thursday approved a bill aimed at reducing delays in carrying out the death penalty.
Supporters of the bill (HB 7083) pointed to convicted murderers who, in some cases, have been on Death Row for more than 30 years. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican who is the bill sponsor, said it is a “blight on our whole justice system” when people are on Death Row for decades with no questions remaining about their guilt.
“This is not about the death penalty,” said Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. “This is about justice. And justice delayed is justice denied.”
But opponents said they fear that trying to shorten the appeal process could lead to innocent people being executed, particularly with scientific advances that have helped exonerate Death Row inmates.
“What in the world is the hurry?” asked Rep. Elaine Schwartz, D-Hollywood.
The bill focuses, at least in part, on what is known as the “post-conviction” legal process, which starts after the Florida Supreme Court upholds death sentences in initial appeals. The post-conviction process can involve appeals about issues such as whether defendants have received ineffective legal representation.
Approved in an 84-34 vote, the bill would make a series of changes to try to reduce delays and end what one lawmaker described as gamesmanship in post-conviction proceedings.
As an example, part of the bill would try to ensure that attorneys have “actual” conflicts of interest before being replaced in death-penalty cases — replacements that can cause delays. “A possible, speculative or merely hypothetical conflict is insufficient to support an allegation that an actual conflict of interest exists,” the bill says.
Another part of the bill, meanwhile, would try to weed out attorneys who have inadequately represented defendants in death-penalty cases. It would bar such attorneys from working on death-penalty cases for five years if courts have found that they provided deficient representation twice.
Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, said the bill is aimed at making sure attorneys and Death Row inmates don’t abuse the system.
“We’re not speeding up the death penalty,” Grant said. “We’re just slowing down fraud.”
But critics repeatedly raised concerns about the potential of executing wrongly convicted inmates.
“The one thing that you cannot take back is, if you put a person to death, you can’t bring them back to life,” said Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville.
Debate about the bill became intense at times, with some lawmakers even citing the Bible to back their positions.
Rep. Charles Van Zant, a Keystone Heights Republican who supported the bill, referred to a passage in the Old Testament book of Genesis. That drew a response from Rep. Dwayne Taylor, D-Daytona Beach, who countered with passages from the New Testament.
At one point, Rep. Larry Lee, Jr., D-Port St. Lucie, said his sister was murdered by a jealous ex-boyfriend. But he said was torn about the bill, because he said he often sees reports of inmates being exonerated by scientific evidence. In the end, Lee voted against the bill.
By The News Service of Florida
Sheriff’s Office To Hold Church Safety And Security Workshop
April 26, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is inviting church leaders to attend a special conference on Church Safety and Security next month.
“Our places of worship should be regarded as safe havens where the community can worship and experience fellowship free from worries about violence, theft or unethical behavior,” says Sheriff David Morgan, “I encourage all citizens to arm themselves with the knowledge necessary to prevent fraud, theft and other crimes.”
The workshop is free and is designed to assist you in efforts to reduce crime in our places of worship and in our community. It will be held at the ECSO Main Administration Building, 1700 West Leonard Street on May 16 at 5:30 p.m.
To register, call Deputy Delarian Wiggins at (850) 436-9496.
Smokies Take Series Opener Over Pensacola’s Blue Wahoos 2-1
April 26, 2013
The Tennessee Smokies scored single runs in the second and third innings which proved to be enough as the Blue Wahoos dropped the series opener at Smokies Park 2-1.
The Smokies got on the board in the second inning taking advantage of a two-out walk to Jonathan Mota. A batter later, Rafael Lopez doubled him home to put Tennessee in front 1-0. The next inning, Ronald Torres tripled to open the third off Blue Wahoos starter Ryan Dennick. He scored on a base hit by Jae-Hoon Ha, which would prove to be the winning run.
Pensacola would break though with their only run of the game in the eighth inning. Ryan LaMarre scored from third on a wild pitch from Zac Rosscup. That was all the Blue Wahoos would get. Brian Schlitter (S, 1) retired Pensacola in order in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
LaMarre finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base. It was fifth multi-hit game of the season.
Despite another strong start, Dennick (L, 1-1) took the loss. He was charged with both Smokies runs. The lefty worked six innings with four strikeouts, two walks and five hits allowed.
Dallas Beeler (W, 2-2) allowed seven hits but shut out the Blue Wahoos over his seven innings to earn the win.
The Blue Wahoos look to even the series Friday night at Smokies Park. RHP Daniel Renken (1-1, 3.57) will start for Pensacola against Smokies RHP Alberto Cabrera (2-1, 4.63). First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m. CT.
story by Kevin Burke
District Losses For Northview, Tate
April 26, 2013
Both Northview and Tate came up short Thursday night in their homes for district championships, but both teams are still alive headed into the district semis as runner-ups.
District Finals Class 6A
The Tate Aggies had a taste of playing as the visiting team on their own field as the No. 2 sees as they faced the Pace Patriots in the District 1-6A title game.
The Aggies were first on the scoreboard with a base hit from David Moorhead that sent JT Granat in to score for a 1-0 Aggie lead. The Aggies stole home to make it all tied up 1-1 in the second.
The Patriots took at 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth and held on, as Pace beat Tate 2-1 for the tourney title.
Also Thursday night, Crestview beat Mosley 3-2.
It will be Tate at Crestview and Mosley at Pace when the regional tournament gets underway
District Finals Class 1A
In the Class 1A title games, the Northview Chiefs lost to Holmes County Bonifay 3-0 and Paxton beat Central 3-0. When the 1A regional semifinals get underway on May 7, Northview will travel to Paxton, and Central will travel to Bonifay to face Holmes County.
Citizens Property Insurance Overhaul Survives Senate Vote
April 26, 2013
The Senate’s sweeping overhaul of ens Property Insurance Corp. is on track to make landfall in the House.
The Senate approved by a 24-15 vote on Thursday the wide-ranging measure (SB 1770) that could require new homeowners to pay higher rates when buying a property currently covered by Citizens and would give the governor more say in the management of the state-backed company.
It remains to be seen how much of the bill will survive shearing from the House, which has advanced several bills that lawmakers in areas with large concentrations of Citizens policies such as Southeast Florida and the Tampa Bay area, have considered less threatening.
The 101-page Senate bill creates a clearinghouse so private companies could take over the least risky policies. It also establishes an inspector general to oversee issues within Citizens, caps annual rate increases for existing policy holders at the current 10 percent, and reduces the maximum value of property that could be covered to $500,000 by 2019.
All are measures that have advanced through the House.
But the bill would also require buyers of homes now covered by Citizens to seek private insurers or accept rates that are deemed more actuarially sound from the state-backed agency. And it would lift Citizens’ exemption from bad faith litigation that blocks certain civil actions, and replaces the president with an executive director who is jointly appointed by the governor and Florida’s chief financial officer.
The president is currently appointed by the Citizens Board of Governors.
Gov. Rick Scott continued to voice his displeasure this week with Citizens, which has been in his crosshairs over salaries that Citizens President and CEO Barry Gilway awarded a number of top executives last year and degree of punishments handed out after a report by the governor’s office outlined travel spending habits of employees and board members.
The sponsor of the Senate bill, Sen. David Simmons, who called the wind-only policies that are predominately found in coastal areas “welfare for the wealthy,” expressed confidence that the majority of his bill will get picked up by the House.
The overhaul has been supported by the Latin American Association of Insurance Agencies, the Professional Insurance Agents, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
Simmons said the changes are needed to depopulate Citizens and to diminish the threat that the below market policies within Citizens have on other policy holders, both inside and outside the company.
“Citizens, while it has all these policies, has been issuing policies at actuarially unsound rates, thus putting the entire state of Florida and its citizens, the people of Florida, in significant jeopardy,” Simmons said.
Scott has supported the inspector general, clearinghouse, and a provision that caps annual increases to current Citizens policies.
Senators spent two hours Thursday debating the measure that has been delayed twice in the past two weeks as Simmons massaged his proposal to be more palatable for lawmakers.
“My people in my district don’t want to be paying for someone else’s insurance,” said Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee. “They sure don’t want to be paying the insurance for somebody who doesn’t live in the state or the country.”
But not everyone was convinced the changes are needed.
Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz, said past efforts to make Citizens rates actuarially sound have yet to attract the anticipated increase in private firms into Florida and he doesn’t expect that to change with Simmons’ proposal.
“The bill is too much, too quick, too soon and it could have too much of an impact,” Legg said. Raising rates so fast for properties covered by Citizens could hurt the state’s economic recovery.
Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, said the first target should be reducing the state’s risk from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which provides coverage for insurers in the wake of major disasters.
“Get that right and then we can depopulate Citizens,” Ring said.
Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, said Citizens has been getting healthier and has money to cover claims for two one-in-50 year storms. “It’s working,” Clemens said, echoing a line the governor has been using about job creation efforts.
The bill is expected to drive 217,000 of the state-backed company’s 1.3 million policies into private hands. It keeps a current 10 percent cap on annual rate increases for current policyholders. The measure also lowers the maximum value of a property that could be covered to $500,000 by January 1, 2019. The rate would drop by $100,000 a year, from the current $1 million cap.
Buyers of homes now covered by Citizens would first enter a clearinghouse to determine if a private insurer is available. If no private firm is available, the new policy holder would have to pay for a policy at rates deemed actuarially sound by Citizens.
By The News Service of Florida
Escambia County’s Top Seniors Are Honored
April 26, 2013
The Escambia County Public Schools Foundation honored the top of the Class of 2013 during the Senior Academic Awards Thursday night. Eighty-eight of Escambia County’s high school seniors were selected as recipients of the 2013 Senior Academic Awards and will be honored for their academic achievement during a banquet at New World Landing .
Honorees include the top five students in each graduating class, as well as one student from each of the following disciplines: Career & Technical, English, Foreign Language, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
Escambia County’s National Merit Finalists and National Achievement Finalists will also be honored.
Honored Thursday night were:
Northview High School: Top Five – Hannah E. Fiellin, Jazzlyn Franklin, La’Derious Franklin, Justin Lance Halteman, Winston Riley; Subject Areas – Jessica Baldwin, Career & Technical; Tyler Roley, English; Maranda Moye, Foreign Language; Timothy W. Rackard II, Math; Talia Syria, Science; Zach Johnson, Social Studies
Escambia High School: Top Five – Lauren C. Cabrera, Sarah P. Potter, Johnie E. Sublett, Amanda L. Tonnaer, Kelsey M. Wood; Subject Areas – Dominic Eaton, Career & Technical; Elaina M. Keyes, English; Regan M. Juras, Foreign Language; Philip L. Adams, Math; Jaycee G. Palang, Science; Miranda K. Martin, Social Studies
Tate High School: Top Five – Alonna Simone Chastang, Jordan Noelle McGowan, Kelsey Marie Potoczek, Amy Elizabeth Sapp, Travis Lee Walton; Subject Areas – Chase Edward Green, Career & Technical; Hannah Marie Malone, English; Wes Jiang Chu, Foreign Language; Ryan Edward LaVoie, Math; Amanda Margaret Finger, Science; Andrew Seth Belt, Social Studies
Pine Forest High School: Top Five – Serena Bishop, Tawney Moylan, Haley McMillian, Danny Bao Phu, Spencer Simpson; Subject Areas – Leah Shank, Career & Technical; Rachel Moore, English; Harmony Lu Matson, Foreign Language; Rachel Muñoz, Math; Trevor Pulliam, Science; Emily Lockard, Social Studies
West Florida High School: Top Five – Caymen Barlow, Jennifer G. Clements, Alexander K. Dinelli, Lauren Elaine Meadors, Samantha Richardson; Kevin Le, Career & Technical; Natalie Allgyer, English; Jake Breeden, Foreign Language; Jakob Breidenbaugh, Math; Alexandra Organt, Science; Roberta Renee Skinner, Social Studies
Pensacola High School: Top Five - Michelle Bellanova, Madison Berner, Jasmine Bradstreet, Catherine Jorgensen, Jiwon Kim; Subject Areas – Victoria Jasmine Freeman, Career and Technical; Son Kim Truong, English; Nyoka Sarai Hicks, Foreign Language; Hailey Victoria Daigle, Math; Reem Alshaher, Science; Kaleb B. Kelsoe, Social Studies
Pensacola High School IB Program: Top Five – Emily Busse, Nicholas Gupta, Preeyal Gupta, Rhiana C. Simon, Olivia Warren; Subject Areas – Cameron Abney, Career & Technical; Carolyn Elise Hamilton, English; Nolan Danley, Foreign Language; Joal Swindells, Math; Andreas B. Dias, Science; Alexandra Rae Hunt, Social Studies
Washington High School: Top Five – Analeis Bain, Elise Griffin, Brady Kirby, Payton Kotlarz, Robert Turnage; Subject Areas – Michael Huang, Career & Technical; Destiny Williams, English; Nora Fanfalone, Foreign Language; Sarah Eleanor Louise Tucker, Math; Katherine Varnson, Science; Phi-Viet Van Phan, Social Studies
National Merit Finalists: Pensacola High IB Program – Nicholas Gupta; Tate High School – Andrew Belt
National Achievement Finalists: Pensacola High IB Program – Jalen A. Benson, Hannibal A. Brooks, Malcolm E. Brooks
The Academic Awards are sponsored by Bob and Sharon Kerrigan.
Pictured top: Northview seniors (L-R) Hannah Fiellin, Jazzlyn Franklin, La’Derious Franklin, Jessica Baldwin, Tyler Roley, Maranda Moye, Timothy Rackard II, Zach Johnson, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas, and Northview Assistant Principal Gerry Pippins. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Santa Rosa County Lands 200 New Jobs With ‘MyHouse’ Manufacturer
April 25, 2013
Santa Rosa County officials announced Thursday morning that Priton, LLC will locate in the Santa Rosa Industrial Park in East Milton.
Priton is the manufacturer of “MyHouse” affordable homes primarily for the international housing market. The company recently purchased the former 84 Lumber location and has committed to hiring 200 employees over three years. The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioner’s Economic Development Office assisted Priton in the application process for three performance-based incentive programs totaling $3.45 million aimed at increasing high-skilled, high-wage jobs in Florida.
The average wage for the new positions is $35,110 or 115 percent of the average county wage rate of $14.68. Along with the 200 workers hired directly, the new company is estimated to indirectly create an additional 380 new jobs with an impact over six years of approximately $51.5 million. The company is eligible to receive $2.35 million from the Industry Recruitment, Retention & Expansion Fund Grant Program, $600,000 in the state’s Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund, and a $500,000 Brownfield Redevelopment Bonus Refund as it meets predefined job creation and retention benchmarks. This is the first IRREF grant to be awarded in Santa Rosa County.
Priton. LLC is currently establishing an in-factory based manufacturing company that produces excessively strong wall panels that will be used to build “MyHouse.” Based on engineering testing, these houses will have overall strength performances more than three times greater than the minimum performance required by Miami-Dade code approvals. The Priton plant will load containers with the manufactured panels and will also include everything needed to build and occupy the house including doors, windows, appliances, cabinets, roof, floors, plumbing and electrical wiring. Customers will be able to occupy the home in seven days or less. Sales for these houses are currently in Caribbean countries, Central America, Mexico and South America. Priton has employed the management team as well as the first phase of manufacturing personnel and are currently hiring additional select positions through www.employflorida.com.
In late 2012, Priton began looking for a new manufacturing plant location based on its current sales focus geography and close proximity and access to container shipping ports. After exploring several locations, the company selected the Santa Rosa County Industrial Park site as the best location for its manufacturing and shipping operations. The availability of skilled personnel and veterans in the area was also a major consideration in the selection process.
Boys, Girls State Representatives Named
April 25, 2013
American Legion Post 90 and the Ladies Auxiliary Unit 90 have named their representatives to the 2013 session of Alabama’s Girls and Boys State.
Girls State representatives are Mariah Albritton from Northview High, Lacie Flowers from Escambia Academy and Annah Nichols from Escambia County High School.
Boys State representatives are Donald Baity from Northview; Davontae Walker and Desmond Williams from ECHS; and Tucker Boatwright, Brett Helton, Casey Jackson and Cameron Murphy from Escambia Academy.
The representatives will attend a week-long conference in June at the University of Alabama to learn about government from the local to national level.