Mark Your Calendars — Walnut Hill VFD Sets Annual Fish Fry
October 24, 2013
Mark your calendars — the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department has scheduled their 42nd Annual Catfish Fry.
The event will be Saturday, November 2 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97.
Plates will be $7 each with your choice of catfish fillets or grilled chicken, plus baked beans, cole slaw, hush puppies, homemade bread and cake. There will also be drawing for door prizes beginning at 1 p.m. and a live auction.
The Northwest Florida Blood Center Bloodmobile will also be on hand for a blood drive.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Tate Drama To Present ‘Jabberwock’
October 24, 2013
The Tate High School Drama Department will present “Jabberwock” nightly through Saturday.
Jabberwock is based on the early life of James Thurber who was an American author and cartoonist who contributed to The New Yorker during the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s. Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee adapted Thurber’s writings and drawings into this play that tells the story of a young Jamie Thurber and his eccentric family in the years before and during World War I.
Jabberwock will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the school cafetorium. Tickets are $7 at the door.
Pictured: The Tate High School Drama Department’s presentation of Jabberwock. Photos by Jennifer Beal for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Prescribe Burns Allow For Rare Orchids, Other Flowers To Bloom
October 24, 2013
A grouping of rare orchids and other flowers blooms bright in Blackwater River State Forest this year. The brilliant colors are, the Florida Forest Service says, proof of a healthy forest aided by a robust prescribed burning program.
The forest service’s statewide land management program has also brought a resurgence of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in Blackwater, once down to a dozen pair and now standing at almost 100 pair.
“Our forestry management programs, especially prescribed burns, bring our state forests back into good health,” said Florida State Forester Jim Karels. “The burns are a crucial part of our statewide endangered plant conservation program, one of the longest running such programs in the country.”
The blooms in Blackwater now include Pot-of-Gold and Catesby’s lilies, White Top Pitcher Plants, and several species of rare orchids, including four Yellow Fringeless Orchids (Platanthera integra) blooming together, more than has ever been seen in the state forest since the program began. Conservation efforts will ensure these plants continue to bloom on state forest lands for many years to come.
Prescribed burning helps manage the health of forest lands, control pests and disease, and improve wildlife habitat and control hardwood encroachment in sensitive areas such as pitcher plant bogs or red-cockaded woodpecker clusters. It also contributes to the restoration and maintenance of biological communities and reduces the hazard of wildfire.
Since 1991, Florida has worked with state universities, researchers and other nonprofits to support about 10 endangered plant conservation projects each year. Other than prescribed burns on managed lands, projects include removing exotic and invasive species, inventory of state forest lands for rare plants, and collection and propagation of plants. The program has protected more than 100 species of endangered plants on more than 150 public lands.
ECAT Union Reaches Deals, Workers Getting Multiple Raises
October 24, 2013
A deal has been reached with the union to avoid an ECAT strike and give workers multiple raises.
On Wednesday night the union members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1395 approved and accepted a tentative agreement reached between the union negotiating team and the management of First Transit, which manages the Escambia County Area Transit bus system on behalf of the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners.
With the ratified agreement and 90 percent of the union membership approving it, a strike was adverted. ”
We are pleased that we reached an agreement and especially pleased that ECAT transit workers finally received security at the workplace and we can now continue our focus on improving and expanding our bus service for our bus riders” stated Union President / Business Agent Michael Lowery.
All union workers will receive a three percent across the board raise retroactive to October 1, and they will receive addition three percent raises in 2014 and 2015.
Transit workers wanted to be covered under the Florida State Retirement System, but that was not included in the package. But Lowery said the union and management agreed to work toward a transit authority to oversee mass transit in five county transit authority. Under such an authority in the Panhandle, ECAT workers would fall under the state retirement program.
Also under the new labor agreement, 401K contributions will increase to five percent and then six percent in 2015.
ECAT workers had not received a raise since 2008 and their prior labor agreement had been expired since 2010. The Union had set a strike date of this past Monday, but decided to continue negotiations instead.
High School Football District Standings, Schedules
October 24, 2013
Here is a look at local high school football district standings, scores from last week, and Friday night’s schedule for Florida schools:
Under Fire: Enterprise Florida Gives Peek At Job Creation Numbers
October 24, 2013
After facing criticism from a national group, Enterprise Florida on Wednesday released a brief preview of its annual report on efforts to expand the state’s economy.
The annual report, which is expected to be presented to the Enterprise Florida board October 31 in Miami, will claim the public-private agency was responsible for 35,393 new and retained jobs in Florida last year, with $1.955 billion in capital investments by private companies.
The preview doesn’t mention the amount of incentives the state has offered to private firms to move to Florida or to expand within the Sunshine State.
Enterprise Florida released the information shortly after Good Jobs First, a national group that promotes corporate and government accountability in economic development, issued a report highly critical of privatized economic-development agencies such as Enterprise Florida.
“The cultures of these private development corporations fail on such basic competencies as vetting deal applications or accurately monitoring and honestly reporting job-creation outcomes on costly subsidy packages — not to mention vetting of staff and oversight of spending,” the Good Jobs First report said. The report also questioned a $70,000 bonus that was awarded to Secretary of Commerce and Enterprise Florida President Gray Swoope in August.
The Good Jobs First report relied heavily on media reports and Integrity Florida, a group that has criticized Enterprise Florida for Swoope’s bonus and for a lack of transparency in contracting and in the agency’s website. At the Enterprise Florida meeting in Miami the board is expected to also approve a $45,000 base-salary increase for Swoope as part of a new contract that would increase his pay to $275,000 a year.
Overnight Shooting Under Investigation
October 24, 2013
An overnight shooting at an Escambia County hotel is under investigation.
Deputies responded to the Red Roof Inn on Plantation Road just after 2 a.m. The victim, a 24-year old Deon Keith Harris, said that while he was smoking on his balcony he was approached by an unidentified male wearing a mask who shot him twice.
Harris was transported to a local hospital by Escambia County EMS. The Gun Crime Unit responded to the scene and the incident is currently under investigation.
Anyone having information concerning this incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Photo courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sewage Overflow Reported In Cantonment
October 23, 2013
A sanitary sewer overflow occurred Tuesday in Cantonment, ECUA said Wednesday, at 2350 Highway 297A. The overflow was estimated at 300 gallons.
The two-inch force sewer main was broken by private contractor Roads, Inc. while working on the Highway 297A construction project, ECUA said.
ECUA crews responded to the break and made appropriate repairs. The overflow area was then cleaned and disinfected with a biocide agent to remove any contamination concerns under state protocol. The Escambia County Health Department and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection were notified of the overflow.
This was the second sewage overflow as a result of a contractor error. There was a 12,300 gallons overflow one week ago at the corner of Carmody Hill Road and Highway 297A. Read more…
Century Chamber Offers Economic Development Position To Cindy Anderson
October 23, 2013
The Century Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voted Tuesday afternoon to offer the newly created position of economic development coordinator to Cindy Anderson.
If Anderson accepts the chamber’s formal offer, she is expected to start her new job in early November. The position will be mostly funded by a $40,000 contribution from the Escambia County Commission. The allowance, payable monthly, was earmarked for the retention and expansion of existing industries and recruitment of new businesses to the area.
For a decade, Anderson served as executive director of Team Santa Rosa, a public-private partnership that was the economic development contractor for Santa Rosa County from 1992 until 2012. After leaving TEAM, Anderson was briefly retired before accepting an office manager position at an Atmore real estate firm.
In 2009, Anderson tentatively accepted the position of Escambia County deputy administrator. But she withdrew her name after outcry from commissioners about the $120,000 job being filled during a budget crunch. She then returned to Team Santa Rosa until Santa Rosa County assumed responsibility for economic development services.
Anderson served as county engineer for Escambia County for nine years prior to joining Team Santa Rosa. She holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Oklahoma.
FDLE: A Lot We Don’t Know In Murderer Escape Case
October 23, 2013
The head of the statewide law-enforcement agency said Tuesday several suspects have been “targeted” for helping two murderers escape from prison by using forged documents. But he added, “there is a way to go” in the investigation.
“There is still a lot we do not know and a lot we have yet to prove,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey told reporters during a mid-day news conference.
After the news conference, Bailey said he hopes to have new information to share before he goes in front of the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee in two weeks to address the escapes.
Bailey said the state is widening the scope of its investigation into how Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, both sentenced to life sentences for murder, were able to get out of the Franklin Correctional Institution.
The FDLE and Attorney General Pam Bondi, in conjunction with Big Bend Crime Stoppers, have each offered rewards of up to $10,000 for information about people who helped create and submit the bogus court paperwork for Jenkins and Walker, both 34 and from the Orlando area.
The paperwork, received in the mail by the Orange County clerk of courts, indicated Walker and Jenkins had their life sentences reduced, earning releases.
Bondi, in a release, said an “illegal operation” aided in the escapes.
Walker and Jenkins, who were caught Saturday at the Coconut Grove Motor Inn in Panama City as they awaited someone from the Atlanta area to transport them out of state, are not cooperating with authorities.
Interviews continue with family members and friends of the inmates, Bailey said.
What the FDLE and others knew about the use of forged documents in attempted escapes is expected to be discussed by the Senate subcommittee.
Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who is chairman of the Senate subcommittee, announced late Sunday that he will hold a hearing on how the escapes occurred and whether there exist any other, as yet undetected, erroneous inmate releases.
Bailey said the use of such fake documents was discussed this summer during talks between the FDLE and state’s 20 state attorneys.
“At that time it had not rose to the level that obviously this case has risen too,” Bailey noted.
It remains unknown who submitted the paperwork, how Walker and Jenkins were able to travel from Franklin County after their releases and how widespread the use of false documents has been by inmates.
“We are worried about that and we are doing everything to confirm there is not more out there,” Bailey said.
Bailey said authorities know of at least five other attempted escapes using the same method of faked documents, including two that were in process when discovered. One of the prior attempts was by Jenkins. The attempts have occurred at the Franklin Correctional and Gulf Correctional institutions and the Pinellas County Jail.
The first known attempt using similar faked court papers was in October 2009 in a case involving Nydeed Nashaddai. The papers indicated charges of cashing stolen checks against Nashaddai had been dismissed. Nashaddai was out of jail for about 16 hours before the papers were deemed false and he was apprehended. Nashaddai was sentenced to 20 years for escape and housed at the Franklin facility.
Meanwhile, FDLE and the Department of Corrections are also combing through several years of inmate records statewide to determine if others used fraudulent orders to con their way from behind bars.
Bailey said forensic and digital experts are reviewing the forged papers, computer equipment from the Franklin Correctional Institution library and an iPad and mobile phone that were located in the motel room where Jenkins and Walker were picked up.
On Monday, Ninth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr., issued an order that changes procedures for dealing with criminal-court documents to try to prevent any other inmates from making similar escapes.
Perry advised the Orange County and Osceola County clerks of court that “effective immediately” they must verify with a judge or judicial assistant that an order was issued before the clerk processes and transmits the order to the appropriate Department of Corrections facility.
Perry’s directive follows letters sent Friday from the Department of Corrections to chief judges and judges in each circuit that when an inmate’s sentence is modified, the FDLE will require the judge whose name is on the document to attest in a follow-up check to verify the change in sentencing.
Jenkins, serving a life sentence on a first-degree murder conviction from Orange County, received his release from Franklin Correctional Institution on Sept. 27 by using fake documents that indicated his sentence had been reduced.
Walker, serving a life sentence on a second-degree murder conviction also from Orange County, used the same means to get out of the Franklin prison Oct. 8.
The forged documents used by Walker and Jenkins included the seal of the Orange County clerk of court’s office and signatures of numerous officials from the circuit, including Perry and Orange County State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton.
Perry and Ashton both gained national fame through the 2011 Casey Anthony murder trial, which has made their signatures easy to locate online due to the high-profile case.
“Absent the measure of redacting signatures and seals, cooperation between the Court and agencies to diligently follow uniform internal policies will help to ensure verification of an entire court document as legitimate before any action is taken,” Perry wrote in his order.
Perry also ordered the clerks of court in both counties to no longer accept criminal-case orders that have been placed in public drop-off boxes. Also, he ordered clerks and prosecutors to establish procedures to ensure the validity of filings indicating the state is no longer pursuing or prosecuting cases.
by The News Service of Florida