Elections Chief Wants More Early Voting
February 5, 2013
Secretary of State Ken Detzner all but guaranteed that a set of recommendations he submitted Monday would help Florida overcome the long lines on Election Day that left voters grumbling and once again made the state the butt of late-night comedians’ jokes.
In a 12-page report published Monday, Detzner called for an optional extension of early voting days, an expansion of the number of early voting sites available for county supervisors of elections and new limits on the length of ballot summaries for constitutional amendments offered by the Legislature. He also called on county commissions to more closely follow budget and policy recommendations from the supervisors.
The recommendations were largely in line with what is emerging as a bipartisan consensus about how to handle the snafus that plagued the November presidential election, when Florida was the last state in which a winner was projected.
“The bottom line is: Voter confidence must be restored,” Detzner told the House Ethics and Elections Subcommittee in a hearing Monday afternoon. “Voters are relying on us to ensure their elections are accessible, efficient and fair.”
And Detzner left little wiggle room when pressed on how certain he was that the recommendations in his report would prevent a recurrence of the issues that sprang up in November.
“I am 100 percent confident that my report and our recommendations will solve the problem,” he said.
Detzner’s recommendations would allow supervisors to offer up to 14 days of early voting, though they could stick with the current eight days or pick some number in between. And in addition to a limit on the word length on legislative amendments, Detzner said a provision in state law allowing the full text of an amendment to be placed on the ballot should be repealed.
Senate Ethics and Elections Chairman Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, filed legislation Monday (SB 600) that would get rid of that language and make other changes relating to absentee ballot certificates and the buffer zone for voters at polling places.
Lawmakers say that they are close to what Detzner and the supervisors of elections are proposing. A chart giving the areas the House subcommittee is likely to address in a bill mirrored the suggestions.
“I think between the three groups … there’s a lot of consistency in some of the issues that we can address,” said Rep. Jim Boyd, the Bradenton Republican who chairs the subcommittee.
But there are still some details to work through. Boyd’s chart lists a provision that would only limit the first summary in a legislatively-proposed amendment if lawmakers added more than one summary as a backstop against court challenges to the ballot language. And if the attorney general were forced to write a new summary after a court challenge, that would not be subject to the limit.
Democrats raised minor objections to that and are also pushing to broaden the scope of early voting measures. Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, said the state should consider mandating eight hours of early voting; under Boyd’s proposal, a supervisor could offer anywhere from six hours to 12.
“We’re not going outside of what many of the supervisors of elections’ hours of operation already are with at least eight hours,” Williams said.
Other groups are also pushing for more change. Ron Bilbao of the ACLU of Florida told the committee that the state should also consider allowing same-day voter registration, expanding the forms of identification voters could use at the polls and making it easier for felons to regain the right to vote after they’ve served their sentence.
Bilbao made it clear his organization supported the changes being considered.
“But Florida has a history of dysfunctional elections, and if all we do to address these problems is address the problems that voters endured this November, in 2012, then we’ll have lost an opportunity to address the badly-needed reforms that Florida needs to do,” he said.
By The News Service of Florida
Alabama Hostage Situation Is Over; Boy Is Safe
February 4, 2013
About a week after it began, a hostage situation in an underground bunker in Midland City, Ala., is over.
The 5-year old boy that had been held hostage since he was abducted from his school bus is in good condition and is under observation at at local hospital.
Hostage taker Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, is dead, according to the FBI. Authorities entered the bunker and rescued the child after Dykes was observed with a gun and negotiations “deteriorated”, according to Steve Richardson with the FBI’s office in Mobile. Authorities feared the boy was in imminent danger.
Dykes gunned down a school bus driver last Tuesday and abducted a 5-year-old boy from the bus before taking him to an underground bunker on his rural property. The driver, 66-year-old Charles Poland Jr., was buried Sunday.
Four Injured In School Bus Crash
February 4, 2013
Four students received minor injuries in a tw0-vehicle accident involving a school bus this morning on Davis Highway.
The Florida Highway Patrol said bus driver Barbara Jean Rogers, 53, of Cantonment was slowing with the bus yellow warning lights activated on North Davis Highway near Campus Drive at the time of the 9:05 a.m. accident. The FHP said 38-year old Kelly Marie O’Brien of Pace failed to observe the slowing bus and rear-ended itw ith her PT Cruiser.
There were 22 students students from Ferry Pass Middle School on the bus at the time of the crash. Four students, ranging in age from 11 to 14, were transported by ambulance to West Florida Hospital with minor injuries.
O’Brien was charged with careless driving, no insurance and driving while license suspended, according to the FHP.
Pictured: There were no serious injuries in this school bus crash Monday morning on Davis Highway. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Contractor To Remove Derelict Vessels, Log Jam From Escambia River
February 4, 2013
Escambia County is set to award a contract to remove derelict vessels and clear a log jam from a section of the Escambia River near McDavid.
The county commission will vote later this week on a $68,498 contract to be awarded to Florida Forest Recyclers, LLC to remove the vessels and associated debris — including thousands of logs — from the Escambia River about one river mile north of the Cotton Lake boat ramp.
The company will remove derelict vessels and associated debris that have shut down river traffic for years.
The bid from Florida Forest Recyclers was over a half million dollars lower than bids received from two Alabama companies. A $527,000 bid was received from Crowder Gulf Joint Ventures of Theodore, while DRC Emergency Services, LLC bid $792,622.14.
Pictured top: A logjam stretches bank to bank, blocking the Escambia River near McDavid (courtesy photo). Pictured below: An abandoned boat along the Escambia River. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Escambia Bus Drivers Attend Funeral Of Slain Alabama Driver
February 4, 2013
About two dozen Escambia County School District bus drivers attended the funeral Sunday of a bus driver shot and killed near Midland City, Ala.
When an armed gunman boarded his bus Tuesday and demanded to take all of the students, driver Charles Albert Poland, 66, refused. He was shot four times and died protecting all of the students, except one, was safely escaped bus 04-2.
A 5-year old kindergartener was kidnapped by Jimmy Lee Dykes and held in an underground bunker.
Poland had driven for the Dale County Board of Eduction for three years. After his route, he and his wife Jan would share a cup of coffee and watch the sunset, or listen to the Alabama ran, she told the Dothan Eagle.
They would sometimes recite their favorite Bible verse:
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. – 2 Timothy 1:12
Poland, by all accounts, love his simple life, and loved the children on his bus.
He loved them. He loved everybody and he was loved,” Jan Poland told the Dothan Eagle.
Pictured top: About two dozen Escambia County bus drivers attended a funeral Sunday in Midland City, Ala., for a school bus driver that was shot and killed. Pictured below (courtesy Dothan Eagle): Bus driver Charles Albert Poland. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Legislative Delegation Supports Two Local Bills
February 4, 2013
The Escambia County Legislative Delegation has voted to support two local bills during the 2013 legislative session.
The first bill, proposed by the City of Pensacola, would repeal Chapter 84-10, Laws of Florida, commonly referred to as the Pensacola Civil Service Act. The Pensacola Civil Service Act is rooted in the 1931 City Charter, which was repealed and replaced by referendum in October 2009 when the current Charter was adopted.
The second bill was proposed by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) and would amend the ECUA’s enabling legislation. The amendments allow the ECUA to purchase fuel under the same terms and exemptions as municipalities and counties, and to conduct management efficiency audits every five years as opposed to every three years as is currently required.
The Town of Century had asked the delegation to support legislation exempting Century from a four cent gas tax hike in 2014 to benefit ECAT public transportation. That request hit a major roadblock before being considered by the delegation. [Read more...]
The Escambia County Delegation is comprised of Sen. Greg Evers, Delegation Chair Rep. Clay Ingram, and Rep. Clay Ford.
Northview Diamond Club To Hold Softball Tourney
February 4, 2013
The Northview High School Diamond Club will hold a softball tournament later this month.
The coed tournament will be held February 16 at the Northwest Escambia ballpark. The entry fee is $300 per team. Three females must play at all times.
To register, call Amy Holland at (850) 516-8400. Proceeds benefit the Northview High School baseball team.
Jay Royals Cheerleaders Place Fourth In The State
February 4, 2013
The Jay High School Competitive Cheer Squad took fourth place in the state over the weekend.
In their second year,the Jay squad was among 50 that competed in four regions during the last month, with 27 teams advancing to the state series in the 1A Small, Non-Tumbling division. After the semis, the top seven teams — including Jay — advanced to the finals in Kissimmee.
Jay is one of the smallest schools in the state with a competitive cheer team, and is the only competitive team in Santa Rosa County. The team members are seniors Captain Hannah Roberts (captain) and Sha Kinder; juniors Kayla Flowers (co-captain), Kaitlyn Aguirre, Katy Bodiford, Harley Bradley, Morgin Mitchem, Brook Tegenkamp, and Brittany Tegenkamp; sophomores Brittani Ashworth, Makenzie Bray, Alisha Roberts, and Kendra Wells; freshmen- Leslie Kinder, Alaina Smith and Emily Wright. The girls are coached by Junia Fischer.
Pictured: The Jay Royals Competitive Cheer squad at the FHSAA state finals Saturday in Kissimmee, FL. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott Wants All State Workers To Pay The Same For Insurance
February 4, 2013
Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed 2013-14 budget would require all state employees to pay the same amounts for health-insurance coverage, ending a longstanding practice of appointed officials paying less than other workers.
Similar proposals have been floated in the past, including in Scott’s 2012-13 budget recommendations.
Under Scott’s proposal, all employees would pay $50 a month for individual coverage and $180 a month for family coverage. Those amounts would be for standard health-insurance policies, not high-deductible coverage, and would be unchanged next year for rank-and-file workers.
Officials in the executive and legislative branches currently pay $8.34 a month for individual coverage and $30 a month for family coverage. House members also pay the reduced amounts, though senators recently started paying the same amounts as rank-and-file workers.
By The News Service of Florida
Farm Day 2013 Planned For Tuesday
February 4, 2013
Escambia County Extension, Alabama Cooperative Extension and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (UF/IFAS) will present Farm Day 2013 on Tuesday in Atmore.
Topics will include crop insurance, subsurface drip irrigation, management practices, growing peanuts on a budget and market outlook.
The event will be held at the Atmore YMCA at 501 South Pensacola Avenue from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.. For more information or to RSVP, contact Libbie Johnson, Escambia County extension agent at (850) 475-5230 or libbiej@ufl.edu.