Partial Remains Of Possibly 100 People Found In Storage Shed
August 28, 2012
Partial remains of as many as 100 people have been found in storage unit in Pensacola.
The remains were reportedly from private autopsies performed from 1997 to 2007 by a former assistant medical examiner, Michael Berkland. The body parts — including hearts, lungs, brains and tissue samples — were stored in labeled containers and were believed to be from funeral homes in the Pensacola and Panama City areas.
The remains were found at Uncle Bob’s Storage on East Fairfield Drive when a unit was sold at auction. Many containers were labeled with the name or other information that can be used to notify families, but many parts were unlabeled.
The State Attorney’s Office does not believe that the parts were acquired through criminal activity, just through Berkland’s work.
The incident is under investigation by the Pensacola Police Department, the State Attorney’s Office and other agencies to determine if any laws were broken.
Power Restoration Crews Stream Into The Area
August 28, 2012
About 500 restoration specialists and contractors are rolling into the local area to assist Gulf Power with any outages related to Isaac.
Pictured top: Dominion line crews from Virginia roll into the Gulf Power storm restoration staging area at the Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds as storm clouds from Tropical Storm Isaac pass overhead Monday. The 54-employee store restoration team completed an 1,200 mile trip after being diverted from Ocala. Pictured below: Heather Madison briefs a Gulf Power storm team Logistics group to coordinate arrangements for the hundreds of out-of-state line crews and contractors assisting with Issac. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
‘Like” NorthEscambia On Facebook
August 28, 2012
Make sure you ‘like” NorthEscambia.com on Facebook for more “live” updates each day.
https://www.facebook.com/northescambia
We are posting several localized updates on Facebook that may not make the more regional updates on NorthEscambia.com and sharing info from other local pages.
Pensacola Beach Readies For Whatever Isaac Brings
August 28, 2012
Preparations for Isaac were underway Monday on Pensacola Beach, including the removal of gondolas from the observation wheel (pictured top). NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Evacuation Maps
August 28, 2012
An Escambia County evacuation map is below. Click any portion of the map to enlarge.
Escambia County reduced evacuation orders for Zones A only. This includes the barriers islands of Perdido Key and Pensacola Beach as well as low-lying coastal areas.
GOP: We Need You, Florida
August 28, 2012
The Republican Party’s decision to gather in Tampa to officially nominate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president underlines what is quickly becoming an imperative for Romney: Carrying the Sunshine State.
The message was already sent by the decision to have former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of the state’s most popular political figures, and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the party’s rising stars, assume prime-time speaking roles during the get-together. But party figures now are beginning to actually voice the necessity of the state instead of just suggesting it.
“Florida, we need you,” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told the Florida delegation during a breakfast. “We can’t win this without Florida; we can’t.”
While Haley’s remarks could be written off as a friendly gesture toward a swing state with which South Carolina shares a resort at the convention, they struck on a key truth: It would be incredibly difficult for Romney to win in November without carrying Florida.
In fact, if Obama were to carry Florida, and even if Romney were to win North Carolina, Romney would need to win a majority of the votes in the remaining swing states to win the Electoral College. But Obama has performed well in polls in many of the remaining states, especially large prizes like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
Lenny Curry, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, put it more bluntly when asked if Romney could lose the state and win the White House.
“No,” Curry said. “Mitt Romney cannot win the presidency without Florida.”
But whether holding the convention in Tampa will help swing Florida and its treasure trove of 29 electoral votes — more than a tenth of those needed for victory — to Romney remains an open question.
“There’s very little evidence that a convention helps carry a state,” said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
In fact, the Republicans haven’t won the state in which they held their convention since 1992 — when they held it in Texas. The GOP lost California in 1996 after holding the convention in San Diego; Pennsylvania in 2000 despite holding the confab in Philadelphia; deep blue New York when they held it in the city of the same name; and Minnesota four years ago, when Republicans gathered in St. Paul.
Holding the convention in Florida, though, isn’t necessarily fruitless. It could help along the margins, some observers say. MacManus said it could fire up the base of the party in Florida, a state that is particularly critical to Romney’s hopes of winning in November.
And the GOP will be the major story in the Tampa Bay area, along with the rest of America, over the four nights of the gathering.
“The point of the convention is really just to introduce a candidate and drive home a message,” said Brian Graham, a Republican strategist not affiliated with the Romney campaign.
But even without much of a post-convention bump, Curry said that Romney was in a good position to win the state. He said that the party was zeroing in on the independent vote after exciting the base.
“It looks like we’re there,” Curry said. “It looks like we have the energy. So now we have to carry the Mitt Romney message, the jobs message, the opportunity message to the independents, to the I-4 corridor, to Hillsborough County.”
By The News Service of Florida
Crist’s Shadow Looms Over Republican Convention
August 28, 2012
Charlie Crist appeared to be on the cusp of completing his most dramatic political conversion, with news emerging Monday that the former Republican governor would speak next week at the Democratic National Convention.
Those reports, along with an op-ed piece in the Sunday edition of the Tampa Bay Times endorsing President Barack Obama, sparked evident anger at Crist among the Florida delegation at the Republican National Convention. Or at least re-sparked the anger that the GOP has directed at Crist ever since he bolted the party in 2010 to avoid defeat in the U.S. Senate primary.
“What does he stand for other than himself?” marveled Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in remarks at the delegations’ breakfast Monday morning. “It’s unbelievable. He’ll wear any costume just to get in the parade.”
And that was the note Republicans hit over and over Monday: That Crist’s decision to go from Republican to unaffiliated in 2010, and then join Democrats for their confab two years later, is nothing more than a triumph of political expediency.
“It’s got to be a historic moment,” RPOF Chairman Lenny Curry sarcastically sneered. “A self-proclaimed Jeb Bush, self-proclaimed Ronald Reagan Republican that is on the record opposing most of the policies of President Obama is going to speak at the Democratic convention.”
And incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, drew boos when he mentioned Crist’s change of heart to the delegates, switching directions quickly after talking about Tropical Storm Isaac.
“Speaking of winds blowing and people shifting positions, the Florida Republican Party had a former member of the Republican Party by the name of Charlie Crist, who’s decided not to be a part of our party anymore,” Weatherford said as the crowd booed.
Crist’s column this past weekend shrugged off arguments that Obama hasn’t done enough to improve the economy, a major theme of the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney.
“But an element of their party has pitched so far to the extreme right on issues important to women, immigrants, seniors and students that they’ve proven incapable of governing for the people. … The truth is that the party has failed to demonstrate the kind of leadership or seriousness voters deserve,” Crist wrote.
The fire on Crist was only intensified when the Associated Press and ABC News reported that he would speak in Charlotte next week. But that move is in ways a counterstrike to the news that former Democratic Congressman Artur Davis, an early Obama supporter, would speak this week in Tampa.
Curry said the party doesn’t have a more developed plan, such as advertisements or other efforts, to push back on Crist’s defection. But he also didn’t rule it out.
“If Charlie Crist wants to try to play ball and rain on our parade, we’re going to respond,” Curry said, “because he’s got a record.”
By The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Run Past Braves
August 28, 2012
ue Wahoos shortstop Billy Hamilton stole four bases, including two in the extra frame, while right fielder Josh Fellhauer recorded his fourth multi-hit game in a six-game span, to push Pensacola to a 3-2 ten-inning series clinching win over the Mississippi Braves on Monday night at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi.
With the defeat of the Braves, the Fish improved to 33-31 in the second half of the year to remain two games back of first place in the South Division. Mississippi dropped to 29-35 since the midpoint of the 2012 season.
Two of Hamilton’s thefts came in the extra frame, which helped propel the Blue Wahoos to a series victory. The speedster reached on an bloop single and swiped both second and third, before pinch hitter Yordanys Perez lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate Hamilton and put the Fish ahead. The club totaled a team-record six steals in the contest, topping the previous mark of five.
Pensacola struck first, bringing home two scores in the third frame. 2B Miguel Rojas led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a single by SS Billy Hamilton. After Hamilton swiped third for his 151st steal of the season, both he and Rojas came across on RF Josh Fellhauer’s two-run single up to middle to put the Blue Wahoos out in front.
Mississippi would then counter with a two-spot of their own in the sixth to draw the game even. CF Todd Cunningham reached on a one-out base knock and stole second before being plated on 1B Joe Terdoslavich’s run-scoring single. LF Evan Gattis would subsequently tie it with a triple to right, sending home Terdoslavich.
Neither team’s starting pitchers received a decision, with Mississippi RHP Gary Moran (6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) allowing two earned runs on five hits in his six frames, while Blue Wahoos RHP Mark Serrano (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) yielded two earned runs on four hits in 5.2 innings of work.
Pensacola reliever Curtis Partch (1.0 IP, 1 H) earned the victory with his scoreless frame, while LHP Chris Manno (0.2 IP, 1 SO) notched his second save of the year. Braves RHP Cory Rasmus (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) suffered the loss after yielding the game’s final score.
Fellhauer (2-5, 2 R, 1 2B) recorded another multi-hit game, his fourth in a six game span, while Hamilton (2-5, 2 RBI, 4 SB) also collected a pair of base knocks in addition to his four thefts in the contest. Fellhauer in his last six contests has hit at a blistering .588 clip (10-17), while the four-steal game for Hamilton was hit first since setting the single-season steals record on August 21 versus Montgomery. The Braves were led at the plate by 3B Joe Leonard (2-4, 1 2B) who was the lone Braves batter to accrue two hits.
The Blue Wahoos’ final game of their series against the Mississippi Braves scheduled for Tuesday, August 27 in Pearl, Mississippi, has been cancelled in anticipation of the effects of Tropical Storm Isaac. The game is not scheduled to be made up at this time.
The final Blue Wahoos homestand of the season begins on Thursday, August 30 at 7:00 p.m., with Pensacola hosting the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. At this time, that contest is still on as scheduled. Tickets for that series are still available and can be purchased online at BlueWahoos.com. The Blue Wahoos’ offices will be closed Tuesday as a result of Isaac.
By Andrew Green
First Judicial Circuit Courts Update
August 27, 2012
First Judicial Circuit Courts Update:
Escambia County will be closed Tuesday, August 28, 2012. No decision has been made regarding Wednesday at this time.
Persons scheduled for Plea Day before Judge Williams on Tuesday, August 28th have been rescheduled to Friday, August 31st at 1:00 pm
Persons scheduled for Docket Day before Judge Shackelford on Tuesday, August 28th have been rescheduled to Thursday, August 30th at 9:00 am
Santa Rosa County will be closed Tuesday, August 28 and Wednesday, August 29, 2012.
Walton County will be closed Tuesday, August 28, 2012.
No closures are anticipated in Okaloosa County
If you were scheduled for any matter not included in the rescheduled events above, please contact your attorney concerning your rescheduling. If you do not have an attorney, please contact the court for a new date.
Tate Football Canceled Friday Night
August 27, 2012
The Tate High School Aggies regular season opener against Louisiana’s St. Charles High School scheduled for Friday night has been canceled due to Isaac.