Volleyball: Tate Beats PCA (With Photo Gallery)
September 18, 2012
In varsity volleyball action, the Tate Lady Aggies defeated Pensacola Christian Academy in three sets Monday night.
For a photo gallery, click here.
For the Tate Lady Aggies: Brooke White 1 ace, 9 kills, 5 blocks; Shani Conoly 1 ace, 1 dig, 9 kills, 3 blocks; Jordan Barnett 9 digs; Julie McKinley 1 ace, 2 blocks; Heather Thomason 5 aces, 5 digs; Jordan White 2 aces, 1 dig, 4 kills, 1 block; Carissa Carroll 2 digs; Lauren Merts 1 ace, 1 dig, 19 assists; Lexi Windham 2 aces, 3 digs, 1 kill, 1 block.
Photos by Hope Bonucchi for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott School Funding Effort Could Require Juggling
September 18, 2012
After a week-long education tour, Gov. Rick Scott said he wants to avoid funding cuts for public schools next year, and he would like to boost spending, if possible.
But while Scott’s stance might turn out to be popular with parents and teachers, he will have to set aside money for education in an overall state budget that is projected to barely break even.
What’s more, Scott will have to come to agreement with some fellow Republicans who say they are just as focused — if not more — on making sure the state’s education money is well spent.
Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat who also is chief executive officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, said Monday that schools need more money for such things as upgrading technology and covering rising costs of day-to-day expenses such as fuel.
“I’m very encouraged that the governor sees the need for at least holding the line and preferably returning more funding to public education,” said Montford, a former Leon County superintendent and principal.
But Montford also acknowledged that the state likely will have little cushion in its fiscal 2013-14 budget. An analysis released this month showed the state should have enough money to cover expected spending next year — with about $71.3 million to spare.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult,” he said. “The best-case scenario doesn’t give the state much breathing room.”
Scott offered his position on school funding after a dinner Friday night with leaders of the Florida Education Association teachers union and after a series of gatherings earlier in the week at schools across the state. But even in making the position public, he pointed to the tension between paying for schools and facing increased tabs for programs such as Medicaid.
“I went through and talked about how my goal was to maintain the state funding and hopefully increase it,” Scott said. “It’s really tied to two things: It’s tied to what happens with Medicaid – historically, Medicaid has been growing at three-and-a-half times the general-revenue growth of the state…and also how fast our economy grows.”
Scott and lawmakers increased public-education spending by about $1 billion this fiscal year, though critics said the money did not make up for cuts in recent years as the state grappled with a troubled economy. As lawmakers put together the 2013-14 budget, public schools also could face competition from other programs that have sustained past cuts — and from possible efforts to cut taxes.
Incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, pointed to the increase in this year’s budget as a sign of support for public schools.
“Education was a priority for the Legislature this past session and as a result, we increased its share of funding by $1 billion,” he said in a prepared statement Monday. “We will continue to make education a priority.”
But part of the debate about the education budget also likely will center on the effectiveness of spending. Incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who earlier served as Okaloosa County schools superintendent and as a school board member, said he will be “more interested in the how than the how much.”
“As a former superintendent of schools and a former school board member, I’ve always been more concerned with how education dollars are spent than marginal increases or decreases in spending,” Gaetz said Monday.
Sen. Nancy Detert, a Venice Republican and former Sarasota County School Board member, said it is good news that Scott has made education a priority and said she was happy to see him travel across the state to talk with “actual troops in the field.” But like Gaetz, she said part of the equation is how money is spent.
“Any new money is good,” Detert said. “But what’s it going to go for?”
Many Democratic lawmakers, the FEA and left-leaning interest groups have long complained about how the state’s Republican leadership has dealt with education funding and other issues, such as school vouchers.
Even with Scott’s tour and support for education funding, that likely will not go away during the 2013 legislative session. A group called Florida Watch Action — which refers to Scott as “Pink Slip Rick” — released a statement and video Monday blasting his tour as a publicity stunt.
“Rick Scott is putting on a dog and pony show for the media, posing with school kids in an effort to boost his dismal approval ratings,” Susannah Randolph, the group’s executive director, said in the statement.
By The News Service of Florida
West Nile Death In Escambia County, More Cases Reported
September 17, 2012
One death in Escambia County has now been linked to the West Nile Virus, and three more cases have been confirmed — bringing the total number of human cases in the county to 10.
“We are saddened to learn of the death of an Escambia County resident who tested positive for WNV. Whether a person experiences a few symptoms or develops the more severe disease is highly dependent on the age and underlying health of the individual,” said Dr. John Lanza, director of the Escambia County Health Department.
The risk of additional people becoming infected with West Nile Virus from mosquito bites remains very high, the health department said Monday morning.
Mosquitoes infected with West Nile Virus can bite and infect humans. About one in 150 people infected with WNV will develop serious illness. Symptoms of infection can range from mild to severe, including development of diseases such as meningitis or encephalitis. People with weakened immune systems and individuals over 50 are at higher risk of the most severe form of the infection.
“One preventable risk factor is going outdoors, for even short periods of time, unprotected. Persons making short outdoor trips to put out the trash, get the mail, or use tobacco should take the same protective precautions as persons who spend longer periods of time outdoors,” Lanza said.
Pallbearer Charged With Stealing Guns Hours After Uncle’s Death
September 17, 2012
An Cantonment man named a pallbearer at his uncle’s funeral has been charged with stealing guns from the uncle’s house hours after he had a heart attack .
Robert Michael Lanquist, Jr., 22, was charged with four felony counts of grand theft of a firearm.
The guns were reportedly taken while Lanquist’s aunt was at the hospital as his uncle passed away. A handgun and two rifles were stolen from a gun safe, while a handgun was taken from the headboard of the uncle’s bed.
Lanquist’s mother called his aunt and tipped her off that he may have taken guns from the deceased uncle’s home, according to an arrest report. When Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies and an ATF agent contacted Lanquist at his residence, he granted them permission to search the house. They reported finding the weapons hidden in a crawlspace under the home.
Deputies said Lanquist admitted to taking the guns when questioned.
Century Finalizing $2.9 Million Budget
September 17, 2012
The Town of Century is set to consider a budget that is $2.14 million less than the last fiscal year’s budget.
The proposed 2012-2013 budget is $2,889,827. Last year’s $5,032,816 budget was unusually large for Century due to grant income and expenditures of $1,913,000.
There will be no increase in ad valorem taxes this year to meet the budget for fiscal year 2012-2013, which begins October 1.
To view a summary of the budget in pdf format, click here or the image below.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Miller: 225 Years Under The Constitution
September 17, 2012
It was on September 17, 1787 that our United States Constitution was signed by thirty-nine men and sent to the states for ratification. For 225 years this precious document has stood as the foundation upon which our great nation is governed, and for 225 years, it is what our nation’s service members have bravely and honorably committed themselves to protect and defend.
While we will celebrate the anniversary of its signing on Constitution Day, we must always remember the importance of the Constitution and that it is equally relevant today as it was more than two centuries ago.
The Constitutional Convention that was convened to draft this founding document took place over the course of four long months. Each member of the Constitutional Convention realized the significance of the document they were drafting. They knew that this document would forever bind the states of our nation together to form a “more perfect union.” Our Founding Fathers realized the importance of ensuring that Constitutional powers were clearly defined and limited in nature. They ensured that the Constitution provided for a system of checks and balances so that the separate branches of government could not expand their power to areas outside of their Constitutional authority. And they ensured that the specific powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution would be reserved to the states and the people.
What the Framers did not intend for the Constitution to be is the Supreme Law of the Land that we can pick and choose to uphold at a time of our liking. Whether by preventing the Legislative Branch from carrying out our Constitutional obligation to provide oversight, ignoring the role of the Senate in judicial and executive appointments, or simply using executive orders to pass legislation that has failed to pass Congress, the current Administration has repeatedly sought to overstep its boundaries. This is not the freedom the Founding Fathers had in mind and for which they fought and enshrined in our Constitution.
After 225 years, the importance and meaning of the United States Constitution still holds true today, and it must not be abandoned. As we celebrate its anniversary, we must remember why we are still the greatest nation on earth. We must remember the sacrifices that have been made by those who have so bravely defended our freedom and those who continue to do so. As long as we continue each and every day to honor and remember their sacrifice and adhere to the guiding principles enshrined in the Constitution, we will remain the world’s shining beacon of freedom, liberty, and justice for all and should not apologize for it.
Caregiver Support Meeting Scheduled
September 17, 2012
The Council on Aging of West Florida will host a Century Caregiver Support Group Meeting on Thursday, September 20 at 6 p.m.
There is no cost and the public is invited. Reservations are not required. The meeting will be held at Century Care Center located at 6020 Industrial Blvd. The group meets on the third Thursday of each month at the same time and location. County residency is not required to attend.
The support group is designed to reduce stress, increase coping skills, provide strategies for effective management of care giving tasks and enable caregivers to provide high quality care in the home. The programs are sponsored by Council on Aging of West Florida, the State of Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging. For more information, call (850) 432-1475.
Forecasters See Budget Surplus, Lawmakers Are Cautious
September 17, 2012
State lawmakers will have about $71.3 million of breathing room when they begin crafting the budget for the coming fiscal year, according to forecasters, but some legislators are already beginning to wonder how long the good news will last.
Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, told the Legislative Budget Commission that current forecasts would give the state enough money to cover expected spending and have some money left over for the 2013-14 fiscal year, after years of lawmakers facing shortfalls that often ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
But the relatively small amount of money, in the context of a state budget of close to $70 billion, left lawmakers looking warily at the numbers as they prepare for the 2013 legislative session. Forecasters produced similar sunny projections last year but quickly started downplaying them when the economic recovery began to slow.
“It is very good news in terms of the fact that there’s no budget gap, but we would give you the warning that there’s not much of a cushion there,” Baker said Wednesday.
There are also still risks to the fragile recovery, Baker said. There is still the potential for a monetary crisis in the European Union, which could plunge the global economy back into recession. In Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama and Congress — and potentially a President-elect Mitt Romney — have until the end of the year to come to a wide-ranging deal on spending and taxes before the nation plunges off a “fiscal cliff.”
That cliff is the result of a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that economists say could cause the economy to slow again unless they are better managed.
“It’s better, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” said outgoing Senate Budget Chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales. “I wish we were.”
There were also potential problems with state spending, lawmakers said. Some are concerned that the cost of the state-federal Medicaid program, which provides health-care services for the poor, could grow more quickly than forecasters expect.
“Unless we can get Medicaid costs to a predictable level, and we haven’t done that yet … we will very likely find ourselves not in a plus position of a marginal amount but in a negative position yet again,” said incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.
Alexander also said tepid growth in the state’s pension investments could force the state to provide more money to cover liabilities in that fund, draining dollars away from other programs. He noted that the pension fund is lagging behind the return rates that it generally expects, and the state’s obligations are still less than 90 percent covered.
“It does make me wonder whether or not we’re really going to close that gap,” he said.
By The News Service of Florida
Week Three: Prep Football Standings
September 17, 2012
Another week with big winners, and big losers, is in the history books, but there still have been no district games for real standings in the playoff hunt.
That will change this Friday night in District 1-6A and District 1-5A with most teams meeting district opponents. For District 1-1A, Friday night will be another week of playing non-district games.
Here’s a look at last week’s results and this Friday night’s schedule:
Northview To Host Mini-Majorette Clinic
September 17, 2012
The Northview High School majorettes will host a mini-majorette clinic.
Practices will be held September 29 and October 1, with the mini-majorettes performing during the pregame and halftime festivities during the November 5 Northview game at home against Jay.
For complete details and a registration form, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.