Town Hall: Gas Tax Hike, Hwy 29/97 Traffic Light, And Do Roosters Crow?
February 26, 2013
A gas tax hike, chickens, whether or not roosters crow, 100 mph log trucks and, yes, a traffic light at Highway 29 and Highway 97 were among the topics of discussion Monday night as Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry took county government on the road to a town hall meeting in Molino.
Accompanied by numerous department heads, the meeting at the Molino Community Complex was the first for Barry since taking office late last year.
GAS TAX
Numerous citizens questioned Barry about a four cent gas tax hike to fund ECAT mass transit, which was passed the day before he was sworn in. Residents expressed their displeasure, claiming the tax was unfair burden to District 5 residents were there is limited access to ECAT services. “We are being taxed to death,” one resident said, while another claimed the tax would cost her small business $200 per month once it goes into effect in 2014.
Barry responding with a desire, albeit unlikely, that the commission would rescind the tax in light of a Pensacola City Council vote on Monday. [Read more...]
CHICKENS AND ROOSTERS
A few residents addressed the county commission ongoing discussion about regulating chickens. Chickens are currently permitted in agricultural zones, while an ordinance is in the works to allow, but regulate chickens in other zones if the property meets minimum size requirements that are yet to be finalized.
“Changes would actually reduce zoning to allow chickens in additional zones,” Code Enforcement Director Sandra Slay said, adding that reading comments on NorthEscambia.com has shown that the public remains confused on the issue. She said a new ordinance might require chickens outside agricultural areas to be in a coop, property to be of a certain size, and other “less restrictive” conditions.
“How do you get chickens with no rooster?” a citizen asked, referring to a previously proposed ordinance that would have banned roosters outside agricultural areas.
“I like to hear a rooster crow in the morning,” one citizen said, leading a discussion about roosters and what time of day they might crow.
“I’m confused if they crow,” Barry said, admitting that raising chickens was not his area of expertise. “Perhaps they do.”
HIGHWAY 97 TRAFFIC LIGHT
As the Florida Highway Patrol worked a traffic crash on Highway 97 near Highway 29, less than two miles from Monday night’s town hall meeting, a resident questioned if a traffic light could be installed at the intersection to improve safety.
Assistant County Administrator Larry Newsom said it was a “high hazard intersection” and the county had almost “begged” the Florida Department of Transportation for a traffic light to no avail. “We will not stop until DOT does something,” he said.
90-100 MPH LOG TRUCKS
A resident of Highway 95A asked what could be done about log trucks that speed past her home at “90 to 100 mph”. She said she has never seen a DOT officer or Sheriff’s deputy patrolling for the high speed trucks.
Barry said the question would be passed along to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office for possible followup.
DON SUTTON PARK, CRABTREE CHURCH RD.
A resident questioned why Crabtree Church is being widened, and why the Don Sutton Park is often locked.
Public Works Chief Wes Moreno said plans to widen the shoulders on Crabtree Church Road is completely a Florida Department of Transportation project, with all funding from the state. Parks boss Michael Rhodes said county parks are often locked to prevent vehicular access and vandalism, but a walk-thru gate will be installed to allow pedestrian access to the park.
Pictured top: Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry (right) listens as Assistant County Administrator Larry Newsom. Pictured insets and below: A District 5 town hall meeting at the Molino Community Complext Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blue Jacket Jamboree Less Than Two Weeks Away
February 26, 2013
The Northview High School FFA Alumni Blue Jacket Jamboree is less than two weeks away.
This year’s lineup includes musical entertainment from local artists, along with an entire day of car shows, crafts, food, games, and more. The proceeds from this event will fund scholarships for graduating Northview seniors and promote agricultural education and FFA in Northwest Florida.
Featured music will include Shane Harrell and The Major Moves Band with a mix of Southern rock, classic rock, blues and country; and Denean Workman and her hope-centered music.
The Blue Jacket Jamboree will be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 9 at Northview High School. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children 10 and under, at the gate.
Arts and crafts vendor booths (except for food) are still available. For more information, contact (850) 256-5831 or (850) 327-6681 ext. 248..
The Blue Jacket Jamboree is sponsored in part by NorthEscambia.com.
Pictured top: Shane Harrell and The Major Moves Band. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Alabama Man Seriously Injured In Nine Mile Road Accident
February 26, 2013
An Alabama man was seriously injured in a two vehicle wreck Monday night on Nine Mile Road at I-10.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 50-year old Mark Alan Mothershed of Grand Bay, AL, exited westbound I-10 in a 2004 Buick and tried to cross all lanes of Nine Mile Road to re-enter the interstate. In the process, Mothershed pulled into the path of a 2004 Lincoln Navigator driven by 37-year old Robert Guice Jones of Pensacola. The Buick came to rest against a pole.
Mothershed and Jones receive minor injuries in the crash. A passenger in Mothershed’s vehicle, 20-year old Daniel Dewayne Draughon of Irvington, AL, was seriously injured in the wreck. All three were transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital.
Mothershed was charged with failing to yield right of way; Jones was charged with driving with a suspended license, according to FHP.
Pictured: Three people were injured in this two vehicle crash Monday night on Nine Mile Road at I-10. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Major Citizens Insurance Bill Could Be Hard To Pass
February 26, 2013
The Legislature appears to be on a path to make it harder for non-homesteaded homes, often owned by people living out-of-state, to be added to or remain under the umbrella of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
However, the Florida Insurance Council, one of the leading lobbying groups for the private insurance industry, is not overly optimistic there will be other lasting or meaningful changes in the coming session that could quickly spin Citizens back to being an insurer of last resort.
“The Senate bill is comprehensive, the Senate bill would reduce Citizens to an insurer of last resort, so it’s probably impossible to pass,” said council Executive Vice President Sam Miller. “The House is not even considering anything that comprehensive at this point.”
The Senate bill, still in a draft, comes as Citizens, with about 1.3 million policies, has been working to shed itself of the least risky polices.
For the insurance council, the pace isn’t fast enough.
Also, anything that does get through the Legislature will have to be signed by Gov. Rick Scott, who is up for re-election and has generally opposed rate and fee increases that impact Florida’s families.
Last Thursday, a trio of Senate Democrats — Sens. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, and Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth — urged Scott to consider expanding the risk to neighboring hurricane-prone states to establish a “regional approach for addressing the issue.”
Meanwhile, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee under Chairman Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, has been considered a number of sweeping changes to speed those efforts, including raising the 10 percent cap on rate increases and reducing the maximum policy from $2 million to $600,000.
Among the proposals still on the table: making homeowners ineligible for Citizens if coverage is available at a near similar price from a private firm; setting rates for new customers to be more actuarially sound or less competitive with the private market; creating a “clearinghouse” to make the least risky policies available to private companies; requiring the state Office of Insurance Regulation to establish new guidelines for homes valued at more than $300,000 to get into Citizens; and prohibiting out-of-state homeowners and secondary-owned homes from being eligible.
The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee is expected to meet next week, the first week of the regular session, to discuss the proposed bill.
By The News Service of Florida
Two Convicted In Liquor Store Shooting
February 26, 2013
Two men have been convicted in connection with a shooting last summer at an Escambia County liquor store.
Lance Anthony Carter was convicted of attempted second degree murder and George Lewayne Blount was convicted of principal to attempted second degree murder.
On July 9, 2012, there was a fight at the Tom, Ann & Buddy Liquor Store on Cervantes between Blount and some other individuals. During the course of the fight, Blount yelled for Carter to shoot at Herman Hill who was trying to break up the fight.
Carter jumped on top of a table, pulled out a handgun and shot Hill twice in the back. Hill was able to crawl out of the store and a passerby drove him to Baptist Hospital.
Both defendants will be sentenced by Circuit Judge Joel Boles on March 21. Lance Anthony Carter is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years state prison with a maximum of Life. George Lewayne Blount is facing 15 years state prison.
Man Pulls Gun On Walmart Workers (With Video)
February 26, 2013
What started out as a retail theft turned into a robbery when a suspect pulled what appeared to be a black semiautomatic pistol on loss prevention officers at a local Walmart. Now, Escambia Sheriff’s investigators are seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspect.
On Saturday, February 23, Escambia Sheriff’s investigators responded to a retail theft which occurred shortly after noon at the Walmart located in the 4600 block of Mobile Highway.
Loss prevention officers had witnessed the individual conceal several items from the store before checking out and failing to pay for the items. They then escorted him to the loss prevention office after a brief struggle in the exit area.
Before deputies arrived, dispatchers advised them that the person in question had pulled a weapon on store employees. The suspect fled and deputies circulated the area; however he was not located. He is described as a clean shaven white male with light brown hair. He was wearing dark pants and a gray tee shirt with a dark grey fleece pullover.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
If you do not see the video below, it is because your work, school or home firewall is blocking YouTube videos.
Missing Woman Located
February 25, 2013
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigators have found a 91-year old woman that had been missing for a week.
Geneva Woods was last seen February 18 in the 6000 block of Chelsea Street.
She was found unharmed a few hours after the Sheriff’s Office asked for the public’s help in locating her Monday afternoon.
No Injuries In Wrecks On Muscogee, Crabbtree Church Roads
February 25, 2013
There were no injuries in single vehicle wrecks Monday morning on Muscogee Road and Crabtree Church Road.
Muscogee Road Crash
The Florida Highway Patrol said 49-year old Kenneth Vincent Oakley of Mobile was traveling eastbound on Muscogee Road west of Highway 29 at about 5 a.m. in a 1996 Peterbuilt truck when he said he met another vehicle with high beams that blinded him.
Oakley veered off the road and into a ditch. He tried to continue to the travel out of the opposite end of the ditch but collided with a culvert, rupturing a fuel tank and dumping the truck’s load of sheet metal.
Charges against Oakley are pending, according to the FHP.
Crabtree Church Road
There were no injuries reported when a driver overturned about 6:10 a.m. on Crabtree Church Road near Homeplace Lane, just west of Highway 97.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 29-year old Jason Williams of Molino was traveling east on Crabtree Church Road where he said he hit standing water and lost control of his 2000 Ford SUV. The vehicle hit a culvert and overturned onto its right side.
Williams was not injured. There were no charges filed, according to the FHP.
Couple’s Mandatory Prison Time Cut From 15 To 3 Years For Drug Trafficking
February 25, 2013
A Walnut Hill man and his wife sentenced in 2009 to a mandatory 15 years in state prison for drug trafficking have had their mandatory sentence cut to only three years.
In June 2009, it took an Escambia County jury just 50 minutes to convict the Stephen Eugene Freeman, 43, and his wife Monica Lassitter Freeman, 40, on the trafficking charges involving 14 to 28 grams of hydrocodone.
Both Freemans filed a motion alleging that they had ineffective counsel during their trials, “essentially claiming that their lawyers did a poor job”, according to Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille, asking the judge to set aside their convictions.
“They made substantial allegations that would have been very difficult to refute,” Marcille said. “If their motion was granted, it would mean a new trial.”
Prosecutors were unable to locate the confidential informant that testified against the Freemans in 2009, Marcille said, making it near impossible to prove without question the number of pills sold. For that reason, the State Attorney’s Office negotiated the charges against both Freemans down from trafficking 14 to 28 grams to trafficking in more than four but less than 14 grams — which carries a much shorter minimum mandatory sentence — in order to avoid a new trial.
Monica Freeman was sentenced on the lesser charge to 69 months in state prison with a minimum mandatory of three years with credit for 214 days plus time served in prison since her conviction. Stephen Freeman was sentenced to 60 months in state prison with a three year minimum mandatory with credit for 81 days plus time served in state prison since his conviction. The court did not rule on the ineffectiveness of the Freeman’s lawyers.
The Freemans were originally arrested by Escambia County Sheriff’s Deputies on June 4, 2008, following an undercover operation in which deputies discovered prescription Lortab and other pills in the couple’s home on Garrett Road in Walnut Hill.
Pictured: Monica and Stephen Freeman as seen in their 2008 Escambia County Jail booking photos (below) and their most current Florida Department of Corrections photos (above).
Escambia County Drive-By Shooting Under Investigation
February 25, 2013
A drive-by shooting Sunday in Escambia County is under investigation.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to Rochelle Drive and Massachusetts Avenue about 5:30 Sunday morning in reference to a shots fired call. Deputies found 34-year old Herbert Lee Bonner of Pensacola with a gunshot wound to the thigh.
He told deputies that he had been walking on Massachusetts Avenue when a white car traveling eastbound fired multiple rounds at him, striking him in the back of the thigh.
Bonner was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Further details have not been released. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.