Man Charged With Five Felonies For Selling Stolen Jewelry
July 16, 2012
A Cantonment man was charged with allegedly stealing over $4,000 worth of jewelry from a local home.
Matthew Michael Barker, 25, was charged with felony grand theft, two felony counts of giving a false statement and two felony counts of dealing in stolen property. He remained in the Escambia County Jail Monday morning with bond set at $45,000.
The victim reported that she had discovered a golf tennis bracelet with diamonds worth $3,500, a men’s gold bracelet worth $400 and a pendant worth about $200 were missing from her jewelry box.
She told deputies that her son said that Barker, his friend, had recently spent time at the residence and was known to regularly sell gold and silver items to gold dealers in Pensacola.
Deputies reported that they discovered Barker had sold the jewelry at American Gold Parties on West Nine Mile Road.
Weekend Photos: Blue Angels
July 16, 2012
This weekend was the annual Blue Angels show at Pensacola Beach, and NorthEscambia.com had dozens of photos — including fly along photos from inside one of the F/18 Hornets.
Click a link for a gallery:
Blue Angels Saturday Show Gallery 1 (Ditto Gorme)
Blue Angels Saturday Show Gallery 2 (Terry Emmons)
Fly Along With The Blues (US Navy)
Blue Angels Friday Practice (Raja Atalla)
Pictured top: The Blue Angels please the crowd Saturday at Pensacola Beach. Pictured below: “Ernie”, a C-130 filling in for the famous Fat Albert, approaches Pensacola Beach. Photos by Ditto Gorme for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Republicans, Democrats Both Claim Victory In Voter Database Clash
July 16, 2012
Republicans and Democrats alike declared at least a qualified victory after the federal government agreed Saturday to allow Florida to access the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database in its drive to remove suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls.
Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry issued a statement saying the federal government had essentially capitulated to the state.
“The only thing that overshadows this victory is the reality that our federal government spent nearly a year blocking efforts to ensure election laws are followed,” Curry said in a statement issued Saturday evening.
But Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch, speaking shortly before the Democrats’ annual Jefferson Jackson fundraising dinner, said the requirement that state officials submit individual identifiers required to use the SAVE database could curb Gov. Rick Scott’s sweep of the voting rolls.
Deutch said fewer than the 180,000 names that the state initially identified as suspected non-citizens would likely be reviewed.
“This is a check on the governor, finally,” Deutch said. “And now we have to just demand transparency going forward, so that this system that [Scott] now utilizes is done in accordance with the way that is established.”
By The News Service of Florida
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Win 6-2 Over Jacksonville Suns
July 16, 2012
Blue Wahoos starter Daniel Corcino earned his fourth straight victory by surrendering just one run on five hits, while shortstop Billy Hamilton hit an inside-the-park home run in the seventh, as Pensacola defeated the Jacksonville Suns 6-2 on Sunday afternoon at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
The win improved the Fish’s record to 15-9 in the second half to keep them to at least a share of the Southern League South Division lead with Montgomery, while the loss dropped Jacksonville to a 10-14 mark since the league’s All-Star Break.
Corcino (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO) earned his fourth win in a row and fifth in as many home starts after yielding just a lone earned run on five hits while fanning six in his 6.1 innings of work, while reliever Curtis Partch (1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 SO) notched his sixth hold of the season by firing 1.2 shutout frames in support of Corcino. Suns starter Jose Alvarez (4.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 2-5 after allowing four earned runs on six hits in four innings.
With the Blue Wahoos up 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, Hamilton led off the frame by lining the first pitch towards right-center field. Suns right fielder Kyle Jensen dove but was unable to make the catch as the Reds’ top prospect flew around the bases without a throw home to complete his third career inside-the-park home run. It was his first since April 19, 2011, when he circled the bases for Low-A Dayton versus Bowling Green.
The Fish got the scoring started early with a three-spot in the second frame. RF Bill Rhinehart began with a double and 3B Miguel Rojas walked, before both came across on C Mark Fleury’s two-run double down the right field line. Fleury would then score on the next pitch when Corcino helped his own cause by lacing a single into center.
The Suns plated their first tally in the subsequent inning to narrow the margin to 3-1. LF Jake Smolinski started the inning with a free pass and took second on a hit by pitch, prior to being sent in on 2B Paul Gran’s single to left.
Pensacola however, would counter right back with a run in the fourth. 1B Beau Mills led off with a double to right, got to third on a single and scored on a double play to move the advantage back up to three.
Following Hamilton’s electric roundtripper in the seventh, Mills left the yard in the eighth with a solo shot to right. It was the sixth longball of the season for Mills and fourth in July. Jacksonville RF Kyle Jensen started the final frame with a big fly to left, his 12thh of the season, but the Suns were kept off the scoreboard after that point.
Mills (2-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI) and Rojas (2-3, 1 R, 1 BB), along with LF Andrew Means (2-4) also collected two base knocks in the contests for the Blue Wahoos, while Gran (2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI) and Jensen (2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI) each tallied multi-hit efforts in the loss.
With the series even at 1-1, Jacksonville and Pensacola will face off again Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. RHP J.C. Sulbaran is expected to get the nod for the Fish, while the Suns have not yet announced their starting pitcher.
By Andrew Green
Daniel Corcino earned his fourth straight win in Pensacola’s 6-2 win Sunday. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Big Changes On The Radio
July 15, 2012
It’s time to reprogram the presets on your car radio…there were big changes in the local radio market Sunday with three stations changing their frequencies.
K-LOVE, which recently purchased WABB 97.5, moved and is now heard on 98.3 FM.
WABD 104.1 — airstaff, music format and all — has now moved back home to 97.5 FM.
And, “smooth hits” WDLT 98.3 moved to 104.1 FM.
Sailors Help Equine Group
July 15, 2012
A group of sailors from Corry Field volunteered Saturday to help a volunteer group clean up their Cantonment facility. Almost three dozen men and women helped mend fences and spruce up for Panhandle Equine Rescue — a non-profit group that helps abused and neglected horses.
The group also enjoyed a lunch provided by Subway in Cantonment.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: Panhandle Equine Rescue volunteer Linda Lambert gives “orders” to a group of sailors that volunteered to clean up the PER facility in Cantonment. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Air Show Fans Get Show Of Nature; Blue Angels Still Fly (With Photo Gallery)
July 15, 2012
Mother nature stole the opening acts of the Pensacola Beach Air Show Saturday afternoon, but the Blue Angel show went on with a bit of delay.
The civilian portion of the show was canceled due to bad weather, including waterspouts over Santa Rosa Sound (pictured above). It wasn’t just the weather at the beach that canceled the civilian show; bad weather over the Pensacola airport prevented the plans from taking off.
“Ernie”, the C-130 filling in for Fat Albert that was out for a paint job, took to the skies about 2:00, but a delay for the Blue Angels was announced at 2:10 p.m. due to weather at Pensacola NAS preventing the world famous flight demonstration team from taking off.
By 2:35, the Blue Angels were in the air, performing a shortened lower ceiling show.
For a photo gallery from Saturday’s show, click here. Photos by Terry Emmons.
Pictured above and inset: A waterspout over Santa Rosa Sound Saturday afternoon. Pictured below: The Blues performed an abbreviated show due to weather. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Man Critically Injured In Navarre Wreck
July 15, 2012
A Cantonment man was critically injured when he collided with a tow truck at a red light in Navarre.
The Florida Patrol said Rickey Endsley, 41 was driving southbound on the Navarre Beach Causeway approaching Highway98 in a 2008 Nissan Titan about 2:50 Saturday morning when he hit an eastbound 2008 Hino tow truck driven by Billy Eugene Turner, 52, of Mary Ester.
Endsley, who was not wearing a seat belt, was transported by Baptist Hospital where remained in critical condition late Saturday. Turner and his 11-year old passenger were not injured.
Charges are pending in the crash, according the FHP, but it was not immediately known which vehicle ran the red light at the intersection.
Feds Allow Florida To Use Citizen Database For Voter Purge
July 15, 2012
Secretary of State Ken Detzner said Saturday that the state has received access to a federal database that could allow it to move forward with a voter purge aimed at removing suspected non-citizens from the rolls.
The announcement is likely to reignite a battle over the initiative, which the state says will sweep ineligible voters off the rolls but critics charge could inadvertently cost some citizens their right to vote.
“I am very pleased that the federal government has committed to giving us the access necessary to identify noncitizens on the voter rolls and make sure these ineligible voters cannot cast a ballot,” Detzner said in a statement released Saturday. “Florida voters are counting on their state and federal governments to cooperate in a way that ensures elections are fair, beginning with ensuring the voter rolls are current and accurate.”
Detzner almost immediately sent a letter to elections supervisors, many of whom have so far resisted the purge, suggesting that access to the federal database would allow the program to resume. The state had stopped sending names beyond a random sample to the supervisors after many complained it was riddled with inaccuracies.
In the letter, Detzner says the state and the federal government plan to sign an agreement allowing the state use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database “very soon.”
“The first set of names we intend to review using the SAVE database will be the names provided to supervisors this past April,” Detzner wrote. “The results will be provided to you for additional actions in accordance with applicable laws.”
Detzner also reiterated the state’s argument that the initial sample turned up examples of noncitizens who were registered to vote, some of whom had cast ballots.
“These ineligible voters must be removed to ensure the integrity of our elections,” Detzner said.
A federal court in June rejected a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to bar the state from taking any more steps toward carrying out its purge program, saying that concerns that eligible voters could be removed from the list were significant.
“But having an ineligible voter on the list is not a solution,” U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle said.
At the same time, Hinkle said the ruling was driven in part by assurances from the state that it would not forward any more names to county elections supervisors based on a list of potentially ineligible voters that even the state concedes is inaccurate. That list is drawn from driver’s license and voter-registration records.
Detzner said in his letter that the state-generated list “should be considered obsolete.”
Overall, Hinkle’s ruling that the state could pursue the removal of non-citizens within 90 days of a federal election seemed to pave the way for some version of the scrubbing to continue, especially if the state gained access to SAVE and could prove the effort isn’t discriminatory.
The state and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have battled over the SAVE database for months, with the state saying it has the right to access the list and DHS saying Florida hasn’t provided all the necessary information to use it. The state eventually sued the department for access to SAVE.
Florida officials said in recent weeks it now has sent the information the federal agency was looking for, apparently clearing the way for Saturday’s announcement.
By The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Fall To The Suns 6-1; Hamilton Steals No. 109
July 15, 2012
Blue Wahoos shortstop Billy Hamilton stole his 109th base of the season, while Jacksonville starter Bryan Evans combined with relievers Jordan Conley and Joshua Schmidt to hold Pensacola to just one run as the Suns topped the Fish 6-1 in front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 on Saturday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
The loss dropped Pensacola to a 14-9 record in the second half, while Jacksonville improved to a 10-13 mark since the league’s All-Star Break. The capacity crowd hosted by the club was the 31st of the year in their 46th home opening of the 2012 campaign. Before the game Gulf Breeze High School graduate and current Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin threw out a ceremonial first pitch, while the Blue Wahoos also sported special jerseys that were auctioned off during the game to help benefit Autism research.
Evans (5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) earned the win to improve to 3-6 after yielding the lone earned run on six hits in his 5.1 innings, while Conley (2.2 IP, 1 H, 4 SO) and Schmidt (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) teamed up to allow just two hits in the final 3.2 scoreless frames. Blue Wahoos starter Kyle Lotzkar (4.0 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO) suffered the defeat after allowing five runs, four of which were earned, on two hits in four innings.
The Suns struck first in the opening frame, using just one hit to plate three tallies. LF Jake Smolinski was hit by a pitch and SS Chris Gutierrez drew a free pass before a double steal moved both into scoring position. Smolinski would come home when 1B Curt Smith reached on a fielding miscue, while Gutierrez and Smith came plateward thanks to C Kyle Skipworth’s two-run double to center to make it 3-0.
Pensacola would then bring home their only score of the contest in the third. Hamilton began the frame with a walk, stole second and reached third on an error prior to LF Josh Fellhauer’s run-scoring single up the middle. The swiped bag was the fifth for Hamilton since being promoted to the Blue Wahoos from High-A Bakersfield, and his 109thh overall this year. The speedster now ranks ninth all-time in a single season in Minor League baseball history as he continues to chase Vince Coleman’s record of 145 in 1983 while he was with Macon.
Jacksonville would follow with a pair of runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to add to their margin. 2B Paul Gran singled, advanced to second when Smith was hit by a pitch and third on a fielder’s choice before he was sent home on RF Kyle Jensen’s single, while Smith would come across on an RBI groundout. The Suns got their additional insurance run in the following frame when Smolinski scored on a double play.
Wahoos CF Bryson Smith (2-4) and 2B Miguel Rojas (2-4) each collected two hits in the contest for Pensacola, while no Suns batters recorded a multi-hit effort. Skipworth (1-2, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB) however, did reach base three times thanks to a pair of base-on-balls in addition to his two-run double.
The two teams will meet again Sunday afternoon, with first pitch set for 4:00 p.m. from the bayfront stadium. Pensacola is expected to send RHP Daniel Corcino to the hill, while Jacksonville is slated to give the nod to LHP Jose Alvarez for the second game of the series.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: Miguel Rojas recorded two hits in the Wahoos’ 6-1 loss Saturday night. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.