Local Hams Take To The Airwaves For Amateur Radio Field Day, Practicing Emergency Communications
June 23, 2024
Local ham radio operators at two locations in Escambia County took part in the 2024 American Radio Relay League Field Day this weekend.
ARRL Field Day was an opportunity for about 40,000 amateur radio enthusiasts throughout the U.S. and Canada to set up temporary communications stations and make contact with like-minded people. Licensed radio operators, often called “hams,” spent the weekend practicing community outreach, emergency preparedness and technical skills.
The Five Flags Amateur Radio Association operated continuously from 1 p.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. Sunday at Ashton Brosnaham Park off East 10 Mile Road.
Amateur radio operator Gene Bannon, call sign KB4HAH, said amateur radio operators were the only ones communication for 36 hours after Hurricane Ivan. He said sheriff’s deputies could not talk to each other and the fire departments couldn’t talk to each other.
He added that amateurs were the communications source for the first 36 hours before the arrival of satellite trucks and other equipment arrived.
Bannon said that’s the reason amateur radio exists.
For a photo gallery from both field day sites, click here.
Club members set up their amateur radio equipment — ranging from old 1980s radios to modern digital gear and satellite communications. With a generator and portable antennas, including a wire antenna spanning half a soccer field, they were soon communicating with ham operators across the United States and Canada.
The goal was to reach other ham operators in as many Canadian provinces and U.S. states as possible, including Alaska and Hawaii.
The Southern Amateur Radio Union (SARU) participated from Travis Nelson Park on West Highway 4 in Bratt, near Northview High School. Club members from both Escambia counties (Alabama and Florida) participated from 1 p.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. Sunday. Operators would carefully tune radios, repeat their call sign and see who would answer from where.
The amateur radio operators have their own equipment inside the Escambia County Operations Center, ready to provide needed communications during local emergencies. That room was named for Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP, a ham operator that passed away in May 2021.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
There’s No Lt. James Perry: Sheriff’s Office Warns Of Phone Scam
June 23, 2024
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is warning of an ongoing phone scam.
ECSO said they have been notified that several citizens are receiving phone calls from someone who is identifying themselves as “Lt. James Perry of the ECSO Civil Division”. They are asking citizens to call or report to the Sheriff’s Office.
ECOS said there is no ““Lt. James Perry” employed at the Sheriff’s Office and the call is a scam.
Man Found Deceased In Vehicle Alongside I-10
June 23, 2024
An investigation is underway after a man was found dead in a vehicle along I-10 in Santa Rosa County Saturday.
At 11:10 a.m., a road ranger saw a Dodge Ram pickup truck parked on the I-10 0 eastbound shoulder in the area of the 20 mile marker. When the road ranger arrived, he observed a single occupant slumped over inside the vehicle. When they were unable to gain the attention of the occupant, he notified EMS and the Florida Highway Patrol.
A Florida State Trooper arrived on scene and gained access to the vehicle by breaking a window.
The male occupant was pronounced deceased by a Santa Rosa County paramedic. FHP is the lead investigating agency for the case and received assistance received from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, and Santa Rosa County EMS
Additional details have not been released.
Undefeated Century 10U Lady Legends Win rewton YMCA All-Star Tourney
June 23, 2024
The Century Baseball Association 10U Lady Legends went undefeated in the Brewton YMCA All-Star tournament to claim the championship Saturday. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Hold Off Lookouts To Provide Chance At First Half Division Crown
June 23, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
The Blue Wahoos will now play the final game of their first half schedule on Sunday with another playoff berth at stake.
They can thank Diego Infante’s slide and Jakob Marsee’s triple for helping make it happen.
Infante avoided being tagged on an sixth-inning steal attempt, then scored on a Marsee triple in Pensacola’s 5-4 victory Saturday night on a Copa initiative game against the Chattanooga Lookouts.
Taking on their alternate identity Saturday as the Pensacola Pok Ta Pok, honoring the first ballgame of the Americas centuries ago as part of the Minor League Baseball Copa de la Diversión series, the Blue Wahoos got the win and got some help to make Sunday a dramatic finale to the first half schedule.
That’s because the Birmingham Barons knocked off the Montgomery Biscuits 4-1 in 10 innings, enabling the Blue Wahoos to move to within a half-game of the Biscuits in the league’s South Division.
The Biscuits at home have a half-hour head start Sunday before Pensacola’s 4:05 p.m. weekend finale against Chattanooga.
Half of the Southern League will end the first half in playoff contention Sunday. The Tennessee Smokies had a walk-off win Saturday against the Mississippi Braves to pull within a half-game of Birmingham, so it’s the same scenario in the North Division.
After the Lookouts (19-49), who wore their own Copa de la Diversión uniforms, rallied in the middle innings from a 4-0 deficit to tie Saturday’s game, the Blue Wahoos (38-28) answered with a decisive run.
Infante led off the sixth inning by reaching base on a wild pitch from a swinging strikeout. With two out and Marsee at the plate, Infante took off on a steal attempt. The throw beat him to the bag, but his deft move on the slide avoided the tag and he was ruled safe.
Two pitches later, Marsee connected to send a ball into the left-center gap, easily scoring Infante for the go-ahead run on an eventual triple.
That became the game-winning run.
Relievers Anderson Pilar (4th hold), Matt Pushard (7th hold) and closer Austin Roberts with his league-best 11th save, combined to shut down the Barons lineup to seal the win. The trio allowed just two hits, one walk and five strikeouts.
Roberts struck out the side in the ninth and reacted with natural emotion as the Blue Wahoos knew they will now play a potential decisive game Sunday to determine the South Division first half winner. The Blue Wahoos have won the first half the past two seasons and reached the league championship series both times – winning the title in 2022.
Blue Wahoos starter Luis Palacios, who struggled in both starts last year against Chattanooga, allowing eight earned runs in 11 innings, fared much better Saturday.
He carried a shutout into the fifth when the Lookouts scored two runs off fielding errors. But Palacios made a big pitch to end a bases-loaded situation in that inning.
In the top of the sixth, Austin Hendrick tied the game with a one out homer run that just cleared a leaping attempt by Infante in right field.
Seven different Blue Wahoos players each had one hit.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Chattanooga Lookouts vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
Jay Woman Found Incompetent To Stand Trial For Allegedly Threatening To Kill Three FHP Troopers
June 23, 2024
A Jay woman has been found incompetent to currently stand trial for allegedly threatening to murder Florida Highway Patrol troopers during an interaction back in February.
FHP responded to I-10 on Sunday, February 4, 2024, after receiving reports of someone lying down on the interstate. Troopers arrived to find 38-year old Brooke Amer Phillips walking west on the shoulder of I-10 near Pensacola Boulevard. The trooper informed her she could not walk and he would transport her to the next exit.
Phillips told the trooper that she was going to continue to walk, ignoring multiple commands to stop, according to an arrest report. Phillips ignored additional commands and stated that the trooper would have to “kill her” to make her stop, the report continues.
The trooper gained physical control over Phillips and “assisted” her to the ground.
Phillips then threatened to “murder” three troopers that were now on scene, according to FHP.
Phillips was charged with failure to obey law enforcement, resisting, and threatening death or serious bodily harm to a law enforcement officer. She is scheduled to go before Judge Barry Dickson, Jr. for another hearing on December 2.
Early Morning Wreck Claims Life Of Off-Duty Firefighter
June 22, 2024
An off-duty firefighter was killed in a single vehicle crash early Saturday morning.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the 27-year-old man was traveling south on a Highway 87 approaching the intersection with County Road 87A when his 2016 Ford F-150 let the roadway for an unknown reason just after 2:30 a.m.. The pickup truck then collided with a drainage ditch and a utility pole.
There were no other vehicles involved.
The driver, who was the only occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The victim’s name has not been released.
He was a career firefighter for Escambia County Fire-Rescue and a volunteer for the Jay Volunteer Fire Department.
File photo.
Saturday Morning Fire Damages Molino Home
June 22, 2024
Fire damaged a home in Molino Saturday morning.
The fire in the 5700 block of Cedartown Road, just off Highway 95A, was reported about 7 a.m. Escambia County Fire Rescue firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from the single-story concrete block home.
There were no serious injuries reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
For additional photos, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Century Woman Charged With Providing False Info During Traffic Stop
June 22, 2024
A Century woman is facing multiple charges after allegedly providing false information to deputies following a traffic stop near Walnut Hill.
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy pulled 28-year-old Jami Makala Owens over on Lambert Bridge Road near Velor Road.
Owens provided the deputy with a false name, date of birth, driver’s license number and social security number, according to an arrest report.
The traffic stop was conducted when a deputy pulled over two vehicles that appeared to be traveling together. One was driven by a man that had an outstand warrant for his arrest.
The sheriff’s office said Owens’ actual driver’s license was suspended in 2020, but the name and driver’s license number she provided came back at the time as being valid from Alabama.
She was charged with knowingly driving with a suspended license, obstruction of justice for providing a false name.
The incident occurred May 19 and Owens was arrested this week on an outstanding warrant. She remained in the Escambia County Jail Saturday morning with bond set at $6,500.
FWC Law Enforcement Report: Taking An Alligator Without A Permit
June 22, 2024
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following recent activity:
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Hahr responded to an anonymous complaint regarding an alligator that was shot near Perdido Bay. The officer investigated and determined a homeowner in the area was unhappy with the presence of alligators around his dock and used a 22-magnum rifle to shoot an approximately five-foot alligator and retrieve it from the water. He was charged with taking alligators without a permit/license.
Officer Lugg and Waters and Lieutenant Corbin conducted a fisheries inspection on a vessel returning from offshore. The operator was found to possess over the bag limit of vermillion snapper. The operator was cited for the violations.
Officers Lugg and Waters and Lieutenant Corbin received a Wildlife Alert tip about an individual harvesting an oversized red drum at Bob Sikes Fishing Pier. Upon arriving, they located the individual who possessed a red drum that was 36 inches long. Additionally, the subject did not have a valid fishing license. The individual was cited accordingly.
Officer Waters responded to a call near Palafox Pier regarding a sinking pontoon boat that was a livery vessel. Upon conducting a livery inspection, the owner of the vessel was found to be operating a livery business without a FWC livery permit or boating safety signage. Other livery violations were found. The owner was cited accordingly.
Lieutenant Corbin was conducting boating safety and resource inspections at the 17th Ave. boat ramp. A vessel with fishing gear returned to the boat ramp without proper navigational lights. A resource inspection revealed an oversized red drum was located in a cooler on the vessel. The operator of the vessel claimed responsibility for harvesting the red drum. Another subject on the vessel did not have a valid saltwater fishing license. Both subjects were cited accordingly.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
No report was submitted from Santa Rosa County.
This report represents some events the FWC handled during the time period; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
NorthEscambia.com photo.