Three Escambia County Commissioners Sworn Into Office
November 21, 2012
Three commissioners — two newly elected and one returning — were sworn into office Tuesday morning.
Newly elected District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry took office after a 70-percent to 30-percent win over Packy Mitchell in the general election and a narrow 41 to 38 percent primary win over Sam Archer in a five person race.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to serve the community that I love. I know that it comes with a great deal of responsibility as well, but I am prepared to face that and help the entire county move forward,” Barry said after taking the oath of office from Judge John Simon.
In District 3, newly elected Lumon May took office. He received 71 percent of the general election vote to Tiffany Washington’s 21 percent. He received 69 percent of the primary election vote.
“First, give it unto God who allowed for this opportunity to happen,” May said Tuesday morning, thanking family, campaign staff and supporters for his election. “I am humbled today to be in a position to serve, and I think service means humility…I will serve, advocate, for those who have not had a voice. Thank you for trusting me.”
Commissioner Wilson Robertson was sworn into the District 1 seat after winning re-election. His win was narrow — just 32 votes — in the primary election over Jesse Casey. In the general election, he took 65 percent of the vote to 35 percent for Bobby Spencer.
After being sworn into office by Judge Lacey Collier, Robertson offered typical appreciation to family and supporters as he launched a 10-minute speech in which he called the media the “worst enemy” of Escambia County and taking particular aim at the Pensacola News Journal. For complete details, click here for an additional story.
Also at Tuesday’s Installation Meeting, a new chairman and vice-chairman were named for the commission under a standing rotation policy. Gene Valentino was named commission chairman, and May was name vice-chairman.
Pictured top: District 5 Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry is sworn into office Tuesday morning. Pictured below: District 3 Commissioner Lumon May takes the oath of office. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Garbage Rates Rising In Century
November 21, 2012
Century residents will soon see a slight increase on their garbage bills.
The rate for residential service will increase 32-cents, from $15.38 to $15.70 per month for household waste. The town is passing along a 2.7 percent rate increase from Allied Waste, the town’s service provider. Under their contract with Century, Allied is allowed to periodically adjust rates based upon increases in the Consumer Price Index.
Commercial garbage customers in Century that utilize Allied Waste will see an increase of 2.7 percent.
Commissioner Wilson Robertson Blasts Media, PNJ At His Swearing In
November 21, 2012
After being sworn in for a second consecutive term Tuesday, Escambia County District 1 Commissioner Wilson Robertson launched a 10 minute attack on the media as the county’s “worst enemy”, in particular targeting the Pensacola News Journal.
“I am going to have my last say, because this is my last time to be sworn it,” Robertson said.
He started by thanking God, his wife and family, numerous supporters and the State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Ethics Commission for his re-election.
Robertson was the subject of several stories in the Pensacola News Journal about his alleged actions behind the scene that would lead to his longtime friend Forrest Gibbs being named director of the Escambia County Equestrian Center. Subsequent investigations by the State Attorney’s Office and Florida Ethics Commission found no wrongdoing.
“By the way, if you did not know that, there was a little bitty script in the back of the paper that said that, but there were eight front page headlines…about the crimes I had committed.” One of those headlines, he said, was above the PNJ’s headline about the capture of Muammar Gaddafi. “I did not know I was worse than a terrorist.”
“I do know why the News Journal did not like me for one thing,” he said. “I was a strong, strong opponent with having this county one city like Jacksonville. I’ll guarantee you one thing…the county of Escambia is in 10 times better financial condition than the City of Pensacola. And if you’d paid the extra 4.9 mils out in the unincorporated areas if that had passed, you wouldn’t be very happy.”
Robertson said the county’s worst enemy right now is the media. His media assault included the national media for their coverage of the BP oil spill.
He then turned his attention back to the Pensacola News Journal, saying he attended a luncheon with a “woman from corporate” from Gannett, the parent company of the newspaper. He said she asked, “how are we going to survive, the print media today, versus the Internet?”
“You know what they decided? This lady was willing to share it at this meeting…she probably did not know who Wilson Robertson was,” the commissioner said. “The only way we are going to continue to sell papers is to go after local elected officials and public leaders and bring out everything we can about them because the public loves to read that.”
“Folks, I don’t mind you printing news, but don’t go out and create the news,” he said.
He said a PNJ reporter told him, “It doesn’t have to be the truth if we are quoting someone…we don’t care if it’s the truth.”
Robertson said the PNJ tried to destroy the Touart family (George Touart will be the interim county administrator as of December 1.). He also accused the PNJ of destroying the Gibbs family, “an honorable family”, and Sheriff David Morgan, who “refuses to give the News Journal an interview”.
Robertson did offer compliments to Nate Monroe, the current PNJ government reporter, and then blasted Jamie Page, who is no longer employed the PNJ.
“I want to hit the Independent News,” he said near the conclusion of his remarks, accusing the Independent News of targeting School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.
In a published story on the newspaper’s website Tuesday, Pensacola News Journal Managing Editor Ginny Graybiel said Robertson’s claims were “ludicrous”. She said Robertson’s comments about the corporate Gannett executive were “not true”.
“Commissioner Robertson wove today a conspiracy to create a boogie man–the Pensacola News Journal–to explain his problems with the public,” Independent News Publisher Rick Outzen said in a story published on his blog Tuesday night, adding that Robertson’s claims of a PNJ vendetta against him over consolidation were “ridiculous”.
“As for our paper, Malcolm Thomas and me, we don’t deal in political careers -could care less about them. We review, investigate, analyze and criticize our job performances of local elected officials,” Outzen wrote.
Robertson did not specifically mention NorthEscambia.com or any other prominent local media such was WEAR 3 or News Radio 1620 in any of his comments.
Pictured top: Escambia County District 1 Commissioner Wilson Robertson is sworn in Tuesday morning. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Anti-Drug Video Named Best In County (With Video)
November 21, 2012
An anti-drug video by students at Northview High School was named the best in the Escambia County School District.
“Get On Out of Here” was produced by Northview students Anna Donald, Misty Doran, Ashton Gibbs, Ryan Lambert, Winston Riley and Logan Weber under the direction of teacher Elaine Holk. The video features numerous Northview students and faculty.
The students were honored Tuesday night by the Escambia County School Board for their winning video. (Watch the “extended” version of the winning video at the top of the page.)
“Congratulations to those students for your creative energy to create that video clip that we will share will all of our middle schools and high schools,” Superintendent Malcolm Thomas told the group Tuesday night.. “Job well done.”
The video contest was open to all public middle and high schools in Escambia County.
Pictured below: Northview anti-drug video producers Ryan Lambert, Logan Weber, Ashton Gibbs and Winston Lowery. Not pictured: Anna Donald and Misty Doran. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
One Robbed At Atmore McDonald’s
November 21, 2012
One person has been arrested following the armed robbery of an individual outside an Atmore McDonald’s restaurant.
About 3:20 p.m. Monday, Atmore Police responded to the McDonald’s on South Main Street in Atmore after an individual reported that they had been robbed. The victim was able to give a detailed description of the suspects and vehicle, including license number.
Responding officer Lenard Conley observed a vehicle matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle and make a traffic stop at a bank on South Main Street.
Police arrested 19-year old Cornelius Hugh Palmer of Atmore and charged him with robbery first degree. He was booked into the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton.
Measure Filed To Ban Texting And Driving In Florida
November 21, 2012
Drivers would be banned from manually typing or reading texts, emails or other electronic messages while operating a car under legislation filed in the Senate Tuesday.
The measure (SB 52), filed by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, calls for the offense to be what is known as a “secondary offense,” meaning officers could only ticket people for texting while driving if they’ve stopped them for some other traffic violation. That is, if a police officer sees someone texting they wouldn’t be able to pull them over – but if they see someone speeding and texting, they could tack on extra charges for texting in addition to the speeding penalty.
Drivers would still be able to read navigational devices or electronic maps without incurring a penalty under the proposal. Reading weather alerts or other safety-related information would also be exempt, as would using a hands-free voice-recognition application.
Texting while driving would be a nonmoving violation, punishable by a $30 fine, under the bill.
Lawmakers will be in full session in March, but bills can be filed now and committee meetings on proposed legislation start Dec. 3. Detert’s was among the first measures in the Senate to emerge from bill drafting for the coming year.
The National Transportation Safety Board has urged Florida and other states to ban the use of cell phones for texting or talking while driving. The NTSB said last year that distracted driving, some of it due to cell phone use, contributed to nearly 4,000 highway deaths a year, citing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. About a quarter of American drivers admit they sometimes text and drive. The issue is on the NTSB’s “most wanted” list for changes in transportation safety nationwide.
According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, Florida is one of only five states without some sort of ban on texting while driving. The others are Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, and South Carolina.
Detert has sponsored the proposal in at least the past two previous years with no success, despite generally bipartisan support.
The idea has generally been met with opposition from Libertarian-leaning lawmakers from rural areas who have a philosophical aversion to government imposing additional safety laws. It has also been opposed by some minority legislators, who fear giving police additional reasons to target drivers because of concerns about racial profiling – though Detert’s bill wouldn’t allow police to proactively pull drivers over just for texting.
Two legislators who in the past have held the legislation up in committee – former Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff in the Senate and former Rep. Brad Drake in the House – are no longer in the Legislature.
Ten states — California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia — and the District of Columbia have banned hand-held phone use by all drivers.
Several other states, including Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Florida’s neighboring states of Alabama and Georgia, have a primary enforcement ban on texting while driving. Some states, such as Texas, have a texting ban just for younger drivers.
Detert’s bill is yet to be referred to committee.
By David Royse, The News Service of Florida
Gaetz: Florida’s Election System Will Be Improved
November 21, 2012
Senate President Don Gaetz forcefully pledged that the Legislature will do something to avoid election embarrassment in two years, while also promising to reach out to Democrats and usher in a new era of more ethical conduct as he leads the Senate the next two years.
Gaetz, a Republican from Niceville, was sworn in Tuesday as the 85th president of the state Senate as the Legislature held a short organizational session to admit new members elected earlier this month, and formally choose its leaders, though they’ve been known for months.
Gaetz had already signaled that ethics improvements would be a top priority for him, but on Tuesday in brief opening remarks he also forcefully told his colleagues that they must do something about the elections process that broke down in some places on Election night.
“Floridians should never again have to stand in lines for six and seven hours to vote,” Gaetz said drawing standing applause from members.
“Floridians should never again have to wonder if their ballots were miscoded or misprinted or miscounted,” Gaetz continued. “Floridians shouldn’t be embarrassed that while most counties in our state run flawless elections, some counties keep running flawed elections.
“This isn’t a third world country. America shouldn’t have to wait for five days after the polls close to find out how Florida voted,” Gaetz said.
He said he doesn’t know yet what needs to be fixed, but vowed to find out. Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, have both elevated elections to the fore by giving full committee status to Ethics and Elections Committees in each chamber. Weatherford was also sworn in by the House on Tuesday.
Democrats have blamed Republicans for the problems. The Republican-led Legislature, with backing from Gov. Rick Scott, cut early voting days from 14 to 8, and while half the state’s voters cast a ballot early, critics said if more had been able to vote early, the lines would have been shorter on Election Day.
Elections officials, while acknowledging problems, have noted that in most counties, the process went smoothly.
“We’ll probe. We’ll listen. If we need to change laws, we’ll change them,” Gaetz said. “But I won’t be satisfied and neither should you unless the 2014 elections in Florida are a model for America.”
Gaetz also gave a general outline of the GOP Senate’s priorities for the coming two years: job growth, encouraging education changes that make school more tied to the types of jobs available, and raising the standard of ethical conduct.
Gaetz also criticized Congress for divisive partisanship that doesn’t serve people well, drawing a contrast with state lawmakers
“The difference between Tallahassee and Washington is that here, unlike there, the campaign is over,” Gaetz said. “Congress – both parties – has an approval rating of 11 percent. Muammar Gaddafi had an approval rating of 14 percent and his people killed him.”
He also noted that voters don’t want to hear the parties blame each other.
“I cannot go home to Niceville with the excuse that I did nothing about job growth and blame the Democrats,” said Gaetz, who was a school board member and superintendent in Okaloosa County and a health care executive before being elected to the Senate.
The public also has a low esteem for politicians because of ethical lapses, he said.
“In my medium-sized north Florida county, a commissioner was just removed for official misconduct, the (tourism development) director committed suicide after he stole bed tax
and BP money, the Speaker of the House was forced to resign, the Tax Collector was run out of office, our college president was fired and our sheriff is in federal prison,” Gaetz said. “That’s just my county.”
By The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: Senate President Don Gaetz (left) is sworn in Tuesday. Pictured inset: Gaetz addresses the Senate. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Local Cheerleader To March In Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
November 21, 2012
A local cheerleader will march in Thursday morning’s 86th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Ashley Cunningham of Molino, a senior at Northview High School, will march with The Spirit of America Varsity Cheerleaders at the beginning and end of the parade with Santa Claus.
“The best part is meeting new girls from around the nation,” Ashley said Tuesday night, on her way from the Statue of Liberty to a tour at the Empire State Building. “It is definitely an honor to represent Northview.”
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be nationally televised Thursday morning on NBC and seen locally on WPMI TV 15.
Pictured top: Ashley Cunningham (left) at the Statue of Liberty Monday in New York City. Pictured inset: Ashley at the Empire State Building Tuesday night. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Health Department Offers Thanksgiving Food Safety Tips
November 21, 2012
The Escambia County Health Department is emphasizing the importance of safe food preparation and storage to prevent possible foodborne illnesses.
“While family celebrations are being prepared, everyone should practice proper food hygiene,” said Dr. John Lanza, health department director. “Floridians should wash their hands and counter tops thoroughly before and after preparing foods to help eliminate bacteria. Foods should be cooked at the appropriate temperature and leftovers should be stored properly.”
Factors that can contribute to foodborne illnesses include:
- Improper food storage (inadequate refrigeration temperature or hot holding temperature). Safe refrigeration temperature is less than 41 degrees Fahrenheit, and safe hot holding temperature is greater than 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Improper washing of hands and fingernails
- Improper cooling of foods. Safe cooling of foods is getting the foods to less than 41 degrees Fahrenheit within a four-hour time period.
- Cross contamination (such as from uncooked meat to salad ingredients)
- Improper cleaning and sanitizing of eating and cooking utensils, work areas and equipment
- Contamination of food, utensils and equipment from flies, roaches and other pests
Tips to prepare turkeys safely:
- A whole turkey should be cooked at an oven temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- An 8-12 pound unstuffed turkey should be cooked for 2-3 hours.
- Preparers should use a meat thermometer. Every part of the turkey should reach a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Frozen turkeys should be kept frozen until ready to thaw prior to cooking.
Individuals with liver disease or diabetes or who have had gastric surgery or are immune-compromised should avoid eating raw oysters or other raw animal protein during the holidays. Oysters that are thoroughly cooked or have been post-harvest treated can be consumed by people with these conditions to minimize the risk of infection from Vibrio vulnificus.
For more information about food safety, click here.
Thanksgiving Recipe: Sweet Potato Marshmallow Swirl Cheesecake
November 21, 2012
As Thanksgiving approaches, we are featuring recipes on NorthEscambia.com this week. Today’s featured recipe, from columnist Janet Tharpe is a Sweet Potato Marshmallow Swirl Cheesecake.
