Sorry I Hit Your Car: No Money, No Driver’s License, No Insurance
June 7, 2012
When Flomaton resident Ashley Kirk finished her shopping at Century’s Food Giant, she was surprised to find that someone had hit the side of her 2000 Nissan Maxima and driven away. But she was even more surprised at the note left behind by someone that apparently had a load on their conscience.
“Apparently someone either backed out and hit me or just went down the side of my car with theirs. Not really sure, but when I read the note I couldn’t help but to bust out laughing,” Kirk said.
“Sorry I hit your car no money no driver lisense and no insurense but had to get of my cheste. Sorry agin,” the note riddled with spelling errors said.
“Well at least they were honest,” she said “Kind of felt sorry for them. My vehicle has been hit before and the person left, but never has this happened before. I got a good laugh out of it.”
Kirk does have full coverage insurance that will pay for her repairs.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Feds Dismiss County Claims About Poarch Creek Land, Casinos
June 7, 2012
A federal official has notified the Escambia County (Ala.) Commission that the land where the Wind Creek Casino sits is protected tribal land, shooting down the commission’s claims that a Supreme Court decision says the contrary.
In April, the commission said it wanted the Poarch Band of Creek Indians to start paying property and other other taxes on tribal lands in Atmore — including the Wind Creek Casino — because they don’t legally qualify to operate tax free. The commission fired off a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior claiming the lands should fall under local and state jurisdiction.
The county’s claims were denied in a two-paragraph letter from Donald Laverdure, acting assistant secretary of Indian affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior.
“The Department of the Interior can confirm that the land referenced in your letter was acquired in trust by the United States in 1984 and proclaimed to be a reservation in 1985,” Laverdure’s letter states. “The (Poarch Band of Creek Indian’s) reservation, including the portion of the reservation that is situated within the geographical boundary of Escambia County, Alabama, is held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the band. As such, the band enjoys all rights and privileges associated with having its reservation held in trust by the United States under federal law.”
The Escambia (Ala.) Commission had claimed in its letter that a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that said essentially that under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the federal government had no right to create land trusts with tribes that were not recognized by 1934 — 50 years before the Poarch Creeks were recognized.
Laverdure’s letter did not directly respond to the claims about that 2009 Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.
The Escambia County (Ala.) commissioner that represents the Atmore area, Brandon Smith, publicly expressed his opposition to the commission’s claims and letter to the Department of the Interior.
Jacksonville Edges The Pensacola Blue Wahoos 2-1 To Take Series
June 7, 2012
Jacksonville starting pitcher Matthew Neil shutout Pensacola over six shutout frames, while center fielder Donnie Webb totaled three hits and fell a double short of the cycle as the Suns topped the Blue Wahoos 2-1 on Wednesday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
The win gives Jacksonville a 3-2 series victory and improves their season’s record to 28-32, while Pensacola fell to 27-33 on the year. It was the third time in four series this season that the final game decided a series between the two teams.
The Suns got on the board with single scores in the third and fifth frames. Webb led off the third with a triple before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center, while Webb would increase the advantage to 2-0 with a solo homer to right in the fifth.
The Blue Wahoos cut the deficit in half in the eighth when CF Ryan LaMarre started the frame with a base knock and advanced to second and third on a Jacksonville fielding miscue, before he came home on RF Josh Fellhauer’s sacrifice fly to right.
Neil (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 SO)earned his first victory at the Double-A level after being promoted to Jacksonville on May 18, tossing six shutout frames and yielding just five hits while fanning six. Suns relievers James Leverton (1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 SO) and Evan Reed (1.1 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO) followed Neil by combining to give up the lone unearned run on only one hit in the last three innings. Neil received his first hold of the year, while Reed notched his 12th save of the year to tie him for the Southern League lead.
Pensacola starter Daniel Corcino (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 2-4 despite allowing just two earned runs on five hits in five innings of work. Chris Manno (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO) and Drew Hayes (2.0 IP, 1 H, 3 SO) were outstanding in support of Corcino, surrendering just one hit and a walk in the final four scoreless frames.
Webb (3-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI) and LaMarre (3-4, 1 R) each recorded three hits for their respective clubs, with each collecting half of their team’s six base knocks in the game. Blue Wahoos SS Didi Gregorius and 3B David Vidal each tallied a base knock in the contest to extend their hit streaks to nine and six respectively.
Pensacola will now travel to Birmingham to face the Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, with the first pitch of the series scheduled for Thursday night at 7:05 pm. RHP Tim Crabbe is expected to get the nod for the Fish, while Birmingham is slated to send RHP Simon Castro to the hill.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: OF Ryan LaMarre tallied three hits in the Fish’s 2-1 loss Wednesday night. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bad Golfers, Bad Timing and Bad Economy Lead To Century Park Changes
June 7, 2012
There are three changes coming to all of Century’s parks — one caused by bad golfers, another caused by bad timing and a third due to the bad economy.
Mayor Freddie McCall said the parks will soon have “No Golfing” signs erected because bad golfers are breaking out lights. “People are knocking out the big globes when they don’t get a good chip shot,” he said.
Late night music is leading to a loud music and noise curfew in the town’s parks of 8 p.m. McCall said the town and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has received reports of loud music at parks late at night.
And the bad economy and rising electric rates has forced the town to up the cost for using field lights The town has charged everyone but non-profits $10 per hour to use lights at ball fields for numerous years. Now, the town had voted to up that rate to $15 per hour. That’s still cheaper than the neighboring town of Jay, McCall said, which is at $25 per hour.
Brickyard Road Bridge To Close
June 7, 2012
Beginning Friday, the bridge at the south end of Brickyard Road in the Molino area will be closed until further notice due to bridge construction.
State Defends Voter Purge, Accuses Feds Of Breaking Law
June 7, 2012
The Scott administration disagrees with the federal Department of Justice’s interpretation of elections law, saying the state’s efforts to clear its voter rolls of non-citizens are not only legal but necessary to ensure eligible voters’ choices aren’t diluted.
In a letter Wednesday to the DOJ, Secretary of State Ken Detzner defended the state’s voter purge effort, echoing Gov. Rick Scott’s assertion that it wouldn’t disenfranchise any legal voters and that the only people removed would be those who are truly ineligible to vote.
Detzner also turned the allegations of illegality back on the Obama Administration, arguing it has improperly denied Florida access to a key federal database that would help the state root out ineligible voters.
Civil rights groups and Democrats have criticized the state’s purge effort as too broad-brushed and have raised the prospect that it could capture legal voters – who may not respond to a warning from local officials that they are about to be removed from the rolls unless they can prove they’re legal citizens.
That won’t happen, Detzner said.
“Pursuant to Florida law, no person has been or will be removed from the voter rolls without the fundamentals of due process: notice, an opportunity to be heard, and a determination by the county supervisor of elections that a preponderance of the evidence shows the voter is ineligible,” Detzner, a Scott appointee, wrote.
The letter, sent to DOJ elections lawyer T. Christian Herren, was in response to one sent by Herren last week to the state. The Herren letter raised the possibility that Florida could be violating federal voting laws with the purge, primarily by continuing to remove voters less than 90 days before an election. Herren’s letter also suggested that the state could be violating federal requirements for getting prior approval for major changes in election procedures in certain jurisdictions.
Detzner said the preclearance requirement isn’t an issue in the five Florida counties normally required to get such approvals, because a Florida statute spelling out the process for cleaning up the voter rolls, which supervisors are following, has already been cleared by the Justice Department.
The 90-day requirement for stopping certain voter roll clean-up efforts, which is part of the federal National Voter Registration Act, simply can’t apply in this case, Detzner argued. The purpose of that law was to ensure “accurate and current voter registration,” he noted. And if it did apply, it wouldn’t be constitutional, he argued.
“If the effect of the NVRA is to force a state to allow never-eligible non-citizens the opportunity to vote, then the statute might violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, which guarantees that the right to vote cannot be denied by a dilution of the weight of a citizen’s vote,” Detzner wrote.
Even if the 90-day requirement were valid the only reason Florida has started trying to remove voters now is that it was prevented from beginning the process earlier by the federal government, Detzner charged.
That’s because the Department of Homeland Security has “repeatedly ignored or rebuffed” the state’s efforts to get access to a federal DHS database, known as SAVE, that would help Florida in identifying non-citizens for removal from the rolls.
“By denying Florida access to the SAVE database, DHS appears to have violated federal law, which provides that states may use the SAVE database ‘for any legal purpose such as … voter registration,’” Detzner alleged. The federal law also requires DHS to turn over that database when asked, he said.
“In sum, the practice DOJ now appears to be endorsing is as follows,” he wrote. “The federal Department of Homeland Security may, for months, violate federal law and deny Florida and other states access to the SAVE database so that the federal Department of Justice may then assert that the resulting delays in a state’s election-integrity efforts violate the time periods established in another federal law. This hardly seems like an approach earnestly designed to protect the integrity of elections and to ensure that eligible voters have their votes counted.”
The Scott administration also turned around the Justice Department’s demand for information on the purge process with a demand for answers to questions that Detzer has. He asked the DOJ to respond by June 11 to four questions:
-Whether DOJ agrees Homeland Security should provide access to the SAVE database.
-Whether DOJ’s position is that federal law prohibits Florida from removing non-citizens from voter rolls between now and the November election.
-If not, what DOJ thinks Florida should do to remove non-citizens between now and then.
-And if so, whether Florida could even identify non-citizens for later removal from the rolls after the election.
Scott came under fire shortly after asking local elections supervisors – who are independently elected and don’t technically answer to Tallahassee – to use a list generated by the state that was pulled from a driver’s license database to identify potentially ineligible voters for removal.
But in recent days, Scott and his supporters have pushed back hard. The Republican Party has taken up the issue, sending out regular messages about the logic of clearing the voter rolls of non-citizens.
And in what was clearly a coordinated effort, Scott this week began getting encouragement emails, after weeks of not getting any email on the subject.
Hundreds of similar emails from supporters began showing up in the last two days in Scott’s inbox, which is open to the public and media to view.
“I encourage, implore, and demand that you do not give into the pressure and demands of the federal government,” an emailer named Troy French wrote to Scott. An emailer from Arizona sent a similar note urging Scott to clean up the Florida voter rolls and another emailer told Scott it is easy for poll officials to “create additional votes” from non-citizens.
Detzner’s letter in defense of Florida’s practice also closely tracked an opinion piece written in the National Review Online by Republican lawyer Hans von Spakovsky. A fellow at the Heritage Foundation, von Spakovsky was counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department in the Bush administration, where he was in charge of enforcement of the voting rights laws DOJ cited in its questions to Florida. The state’s response to DOJ was essentially von Spakovsky’s argument.
Local supervisors of elections had been advised by their association’s legal counsel to hold off on actually removing voters from the rolls pending the state’s response to DOJ on its questions. A lawyer for the supervisors’ association told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel late Wednesday that that recommendation wouldn’t immediately change.
Liberal opponents of the purge effort redoubled their criticism on Wednesday after Detzner’s response.
“The fact that Gov. Scott is using the nearly nonexistent threat of voter fraud as an excuse to continue his dragnet voter purge reveals his true intention to rig the 2012 election,” said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of the liberal advocacy group Progress Florida.
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich of Weston, who is so far the only Democrat who has announced a challenge to Scott in the 2014 election, also criticized the governor.
“Gov. Scott needs to pay more attention to the affairs of our struggling economy rather than trying to stack the outcome of an election,” she said.
By The News Service of Florida
Man Hit Over Head With Glass Vase After Talking About Suspect’s Mother
June 7, 2012
A 64-year old Cantonment man was arrested for busting a glass vase over man’s head after he said not so nice things about his mother.
Fredie Eugene Milner of Robinson Street was charged with felony aggravated battery after the incident Tuesday night.
Deputies found the 58-year old victim walking up and down Robinson Street, bleed from his head. He told Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies that had gone to girlfriend’s house to retrieve a cell phone charger. He said her brother answered the door and hit him over the head with glass bottle. He was transported to West Florida Hospital for treatment.
Milner admitted to deputies that he used a glass vase to strike the victim over the head when the victim said bad things about his mother, according to an arrest report.
Early Thursday, Milner remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $10,000.
Man Busted For Using Device To Steal Gas
June 7, 2012
A Hileah man was arrested in Santa Rosa County after allegedly using a device connected to a service station gas pump to keep the cashier from knowing how much fuel was being pumped.
Elian Laguna, age 38 of Katy, TX, was charged with use of an anti-shopping control device countermeasure and criminal mischief.
He was caught when an Exxon Fuel Express employee noticed the fuel pump stayed at $0.45 and was not registering any other amount as Laguna pumped diesel into his Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup. The owner noticed a device connected to the pump and called the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies arrived while the fuel was still flowing into Laguna’s truck. He denied stealing diesel fuel and told deputies the device was already there when he started pumped.
“Deputies verified that the device connected to the fuel pump allowed the pump to flow at a normal rate while not showing any reading on the digital pump display,” according to Sgt. Scott Haines, spokesman for the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office.
A search of his truck also revealed another device and pump with nozzle that could be used to siphon fuel from a tank.
“These pumps are commonly used by thieves to steal fuel from large trucks at rest areas or truck stops,” Haines said.
Laguna remained in the Santa Rosa County Jail with bond set at $8,000.
Ernest Ward – Sixth Grade Awards
June 7, 2012
The following sixth grade students received awards recently at Ernest Ward Middle School.
Overall Most Outstanding Student
- Triston Long
Overall Most Improved Student
- Myisha Syria
A Honor Roll
- Korbin Bryan
- Kayla Galvan
- Bailee Hinote
- Triston Long
- Hannah Nelson
- Celeste North
- Sarah Perritt
- Olivia Reber
- Sabra Stewart
- Tara Windham
A/B Honor Roll
- Anna Belle Barberree
- Alayna Brown
- Dawson Brown
- Logan Calloway
- Rhayeshawanna Davidson
- James Davis
- Aaron Dees
- Eli Deese
- Breanna Deloach
- Logan Doremus
- Jason Fischer
- Austin Ging
- Kayla Godwin
- Logan Hall
- Abby Hammond
- Raegan Harrell
- Cole Hassebrock
- Madelyn Lathan
- Cheyanne Lee
- Lari McCann
- Kamryn Mothershed
- Robin Nahkala
- Patience Newsome
- Andrew Sharpless
- Trevor Singleton
- Fisher Spence
- Hunter Spence
- Jayda Warner
- Destiny Watson
- Jake White
- Brandy Wooten
Golden Eagle Top Gun Award — Students who receive this award are recognized for maintaining grades of C or higher on report cards, having 10 or less absences, and receiving no referrals during the course of the school year.
Golden Eagle Top Gun Award
- Josh Bailey
- Anna Belle Barberree
- Alayna Brown
- Dawson Brown
- Korbin Bryan
- Logan Calloway
- Jerni Crabtree
- Aaron Dees
- Eli Deese
- Logan Doremus
- Jason Fischer
- Kayla Galvan
- Austin Ging
- Hannah Godwin
- Clint Gunter
- Logan Hall
- Abby Hammond
- Wesley Hardin
- Raegan Harrell
- Cole Hassebrock
- Bailee Hinote
- Cody Kite
- Madelyn Lathan
- Mallory Lathan
- Cheyanne Lee
- Triston Long
- Elizabeth Mbeng
- Lari McCann
- Jacob McCullough
- Kamryn Mothershed
- Anna Nelson
- Hannah Nelson
- Patience Newsome
- Savana Nielsen
- Celeste North
- Sarah Perritt
- Angel Philyaw
- Olivia Reber
- Mary Sanders
- Heath Sheldt
- Trevor Singleton
- Tori Smith
- Fisher Spence
- Hunter Spence
- Sabra Stewart
- Evan Till
- Jayda Warner
- Kirsten White
- Tara Windham
- Brandy Wooten
Glenda Bell’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Trevor Singleton-Advanced Reading
- Jenna Black-Reading
- Most Improved Improved Students
- Jaquarius Thomas-Advanced Reading
- Shavon Hall-Reading
Laura Chaver’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Triston Long-Geography
- Logan Hall-Geography
- Bailee Hinote-Geography
- Hannah Nelson-Geography
- Tara Windham-Geography
- Most Improved Improved Students
- Myisha Syria-Geography
Kathleen Ellis’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Jake White-Health Career Wheel
- Robin Nahkala- Health Career Wheel
- Triston Long- Health Career Wheel
- Korbin Bryan- Health Career Wheel
Vickie Grant’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Jake White-Advanced Science
- Kamryn Mothershed-Science
- Rhayeshawanna Davidson-Science
- Bailee Hinote-Advanced Science
- Patience Newsome-Science
- Most Improved Students
- Logan Calloway-Advanced Science
- Jarrod Davison-Science
- Chase Gifford-Science
- James Davis-Advanced Science
- Tori Smith-Science
Jeremy Greenwell’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Austin Ging-P.E.
- Hunter Carter-P.E.
- Heath Sheldt-P.E.
Dee Hendrix and Mary Johnson’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Hannah Godwin-Reading
- Most Improved Improved Students
- Levi Wagner-Reading
Julie Lowery’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Jacob McCullough-Reading
- Triston Long-Advanced Reading
- Sarah Perritt-Advanced Reading
- Kayla Galvan-Advanced Reading
- Hannah Nelson-Advanced Reading
- Anna Belle Barberree-Advanced Reading
- Kayla Godwin-Advanced Reading
- Anna Belle Barberree-Research
- Mallory Lathan-Research
- Tori Smith-Reading
- Lari McCann-Reading
- Most Improved Improved Students
- Myisha Syria-Reading
- Aaron White-Reading
Regene Martin’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Shay Kidd-Science
- Heath Sheldt-Science
- Anna Belle Barberree-Geography
- Trevor Singleton-Geography
- Clayton Findley-Geography
- Kamryn Mothershed-Geography
- Austin Ging-Geography
- Jake White-Geography
- Kayla Godwin-Language Arts
- Kamryn Mothershed-Language Arts
- Rhayeshawanna Davidson-Geography
- Hannah Godwin-Geography
Robin McCall ’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Kamryn Mothershed-Math
- Mallory Lathan-Math
- Clayton Findley-Math
- Patience Newsome-Math
- Jayda Warner-Advanced Math
- Trevor Singleton-Advanced Math
- Hannah Godwin-Math
- Jake White-Advanced Math
- Tara Windham-Advanced Math
- Cheyanne Lee-Math
- Jarrod Davison-Math
- Most Improved Improved Students
- Jack Nielsen-Math
Brenda Rutherford’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Kayla Galvan-Orientation to Technical Occupations
- Triston Long- Orientation to Technical Occupations
- Hannah Nelson-Exploratory Wheel-Keyboarding
- Jake White- Exploratory Wheel-Keyboarding
- Sarah Perritt- Exploratory Wheel-Keyboarding
- Anna Belle Barberree- Exploratory Wheel-Keyboarding
Ashley Salter’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Hannah Nelson-P.E./Cheer
- Triston Long-Science
- Sabra Stewart-Science
- Trevor Singleton-P.E.
- Destiny Watson-P.E.
- Jordan Parham-P.E.
- Michael Harrelson-P.E.
Charles Tucker’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Triston Long-Beginner Band
- Sabra Stewart-Beginner Band
- Kayla Galvan-Chorus
- Anna Belle Barberree-Chorus
- Celeste North-Chorus
Ron Wark’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Shay Kidd- Math
- Most Improved Improved Students
- Jenna Black-Math
Katie Ward’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Tori Smith-Language Arts
- Patience Newsome-Language Arts
- Cheyanne Lee-Language Arts
- Tara Windham-Advanced Language Arts
- Kayla Galvan-Advanced Language Arts
- Anna Belle Barberree-Language Arts
- Rhayeshawanna Davidson-Language Arts
- Triston Long-Advanced Language
- Brandy Wooten-Advanced Language Arts
- Most Improved Improved Students
- Hunter Carter-Language Arts
- Lari McCann-Language Arts
- Mallory Lathan-Language Arts
Cindy Wilson’s Awards
- Most Outstanding Students
- Bailee Hinote-Ag
- Cody Kite-Ag
Students of the Month
- Celeste North, September
- Bailee Hinote, October
- Cody Kite, November
- Hannah Godwin, December
- Josh English, January
- Jake White, February
- Rhayeshawanna Davidson, March
- Hannah Nelson, April
- Fisher Spence, May
The Principal’s Award, presented by Nancy Gindl-Perry, is awarded to students who show overwhelming improvement in their behavior, attitude, or academic status over the course of the school year.
Principal’s Award
- Sabra Stewart
Voter Registration Drive To Resume
June 7, 2012
The League of Women Voters of Florida said Wednesday it will resume voter registration efforts following a federal judge’s ruling last week overturning portions of a 2011 state election law critics say is too restrictive.
“Failure was never an option in this battle against voter suppression,” said President Deirdre Macnab. “Now it’s time for our volunteers to work overtime to make up for lost ground. Our goal? To make sure every eligible Floridian has the opportunity to have their voice heard and their vote counted.”
The League and Rock the Vote challenged the law passed last year that placed more restrictions on signature gathering groups.
Last week, Federal Judge Robert Hinkle temporarily halted enforcement of some provisions, including a 48-hour deadline for signatures to be turned in and reporting requirements for some registration volunteers that Hinkle determined were overly burdensome and likely violated federal voting rights protections.
By The News Service of Florida