Schools Hold Orientation Sessions
August 17, 2012
Ernest Ward Middle School held a sixth grade and new student orientation Thursday, one of many held at schools across Escambia County. School begins Monday in Escambia County. Pictured top: Principal Nancy Perry speaks to students and parents. Pictured below: A school tour. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos And BayBears Postponed In Mobile
August 17, 2012
Thursday’s game between the Blue Wahoos and Mobile BayBears has been postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 5:05 p.m.
Both games will be seven-inning contests. The second game will start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. RHP Kyle Lotzkar will start for the Blue Wahoos in the first game against Mobile RHP Brett Tomko. In game two, RHP Mark Serrano is scheduled to square off against fellow RHP Chase Anderson.
The Blue Wahoos’ next homestand begins on Sunday, August 19 at 4:00 p.m., with the Montgomery Biscuits.
Pensacola Wins $1 Million Hurricane Ivan Appeal
August 17, 2012
FEMA will reimburse the City of Pensacola another $1 million for costs associated with Hurricane Ivan.
The city incurred costs of $1,369,891 for the removal of debris from 64 city parks after the hurricane. Due to a disagreement over the reasonable cost for the work, FEMA reimbursed only $357,047. Appeals submitted by the previous City administration were denied, and the process stalled as FEMA closed the case in February 2010.
Shortly after taking office, Mayor Ashton Hayward traveled to Washington in March 2011 to renew the appeal, personally meeting with representatives from FEMA. Hayward also flew to Orlando to meet with Senator Bill Nelson about the appeal, and made regular calls to officials to ensure the appeal was on track.
FEMA approved another $1,012,389 for Pensacola.
“This is a huge win for the City of Pensacola,” said Mayor Hayward. “Immediately after taking office, I made pursuing these FEMA dollars a top priority. With our new form of government, one of the mayor’s duties is to truly advocate and fight for our city, whether it’s for jobs, investment, or federal dollars that we’re owed. I want to thank Senator Nelson, his chief of staff Pete Mitchell, as well as Congressman Jeff Miller for all of their support and hard work on this issue.”
“It’s incredibly important for a leader to leverage every relationship and have the tenacity and determination to get things done,” said City Administrator Bill Reynolds.
In a letter Thursday, FEMA Deputy Associate Administrator Elizabeth Zimmerman noted that FEMA’s initial denials were based on only collecting and hauling debris, and did not consider additional work performed by the City’s contractor, such as hazardous tree, limb, and stump removal. Finding that the city’s “requested funding … is a reasonable cost for the work performed,” Zimmerman determined that the city’s appeal should be granted in full. The determination represents the final decision on this matter.
Feds Sue Florida Prisons Over Kosher Meals
August 17, 2012
Arguing that prisoners’ rights have been violated, the U.S. Department of Justice this week filed a federal lawsuit aimed at forcing the Florida Department of Corrections to make available kosher meals.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami, says Florida abandoned serving kosher meals in prisons in 2007, except for a pilot program at the South Florida Reception Center.
“FDC’s (the Florida Department of Corrections’) denial of kosher meals substantially burdens the religious exercise of prisoners desiring to keep kosher, as consuming a kosher diet is a fundamental tenet of Judaism and other religions practiced by FDC prisoners,” the lawsuit says.
Before 2007, the lawsuit says prisoners who wanted to keep kosher could be sent to 13 prisons. It says an average of 250 prisoners a day took part in the kosher program. The lawsuit lists 13 prisoners who want kosher meals but are unable to get them at a variety of prison facilities.
By The News Service of Florida
Marine Aviation Tower Arrives In Escambia County
August 16, 2012
A motorcade with the Marine Aviation Memorial Tower traveled through North Escambia Thursday afternoon.
The 30-foot tall steel tower, commemorating 100 years of Marine Aviation and honoring all Marine aviators, arrived later at the Veterans Memorial Park in Pensacola. It will be dedicated during a ceremony Sunday at 11 a.m.
The motorcade included about 100 members of the Patriot Guard.
Pictured top: The Marine Aviation Memorial Tower speeds past the McDavid Mini Mart Thursday afternoon. Pictured inset and below: The tower was accompanied by the Patriot Guard as it rolled through McDavid under stormy skies. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge. Pictured bottom: A rendering of the tower in place at the Veterans Memorial Park in Pensacola.
Escambia Deputy Injured In Traffic Crash
August 16, 2012
An Escambia County deputy was taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries after he was involved in a traffic crash this morning.
The wreck occurred around 8:20 a.m. at the intersection of Q and Jackson streets.
Pensacola Police Department Officer Dan Bell said a 2006 Honda CRV driven by Mary Woolley, age 57 of Jackson Street, was facing south on Q Street when she pulled from a stop sign into
the path of a marked Escambia County Sheriff’s cruiser driven by Deputy William Hallford, 48.
Hallford was traveling west on Jackson Street approaching the intersection when Woolley pulled in front of the cruiser, Bell said. The deputy did not have a stop sign.
The cruiser then struck the left front of Woolley’s vehicle with its right front bumper. Woolley was cited for running a stop sign.
Man Shot When Answering His Door
August 16, 2012
A man was shot when he answered his door early this morning just off Nine Mile Road.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 2300 block of Copter Road about 2 a.m. where they found that 29-year old Daniel N. Lukers of Pensacola had suffered gunshots to his side. Lukers told deputies he heard someone knocking at his door, and he went to see who it was. Lukers said when he opened the front door, the suspect tried to gain entry into his home.
During the confrontation at the door, Lukers was shot. He was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Further details have not been released by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Ransom Middle Offering New Multimedia Academy
August 16, 2012
A new Multimedia Academy is slated to open this fall at Ransom Middle School, giving students the chance to learn industry certifications and high school credit.
The Ramsom Multimedia Academy will be available to all RMS students through a sixth-eighth grade course sequence that focuses on multimedia technologies.
Students will learn the use of Microsoft Office 2010, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro. During the eighth grade, students will use their creative skills for television production, fashion and interior design. Students will produce a daily live production will be streamed across the school intranet for viewing by students, faculty and staff.
The Ramsom Multimedia Academy instructor will be James Jackson.
For more information, contact the school at (850) 937-2220.
Century Looks At Regulating Mobile Homes
August 16, 2012
About one in five housing units in Century is a mobile home, and the town is looking at regulating those mobile homes and elimination of substandard or dangerous units.
The oldest inhabited mobile home in Century was built in 1958, and about 60 percent of the 203 mobile homes in Century are older than 1995.
The Florida building code has been updated several times — in 1995, 2002 and 2004 — to increase construction standards based upon wind speed ratings. Florida began requiring stricter installation standards for manufactured homes in 1995 and 1999.
Just 25 of the mobile homes in Century were constructed after 2003 to high wind standards for site built and modular buildings.
Municipalities are required to allow mobile homes in permitted mobile home parks, but they do not have to allow them in any other zoning district, according to a presentation by Debbie Nickles, a consultant for the Town of Century.
Most communities have ordinances that make it unlawful to allow substandard or dangerous homes or to fail to take action to correct the problem or remove the home, according to Nickles’ presentation. “When the jurisdiction identifies substandard or dangerous homes (including mobile or manufactured homes) code enforcement action is initiated.”
The town is also considering just how the aesthetics of mobile homes might impact economic development.
“If conventional single-wide mobile homes or manufactured homes are located on the major roads and entrances into a town, especially a historic town, the whole character of the town is affected,” the presentation states.
In more rural areas of the community, or in areas that allow one dwelling unit per acre or less, there are few compatibility issues with manufactured homes, but in areas that allow more than one dwelling per acre, there are concerns that the manufactured homes may be incompatible with the majority of the surrounding neighborhood.
Century may consider opportunities that will assist homeowners will repairing or replacing substandard or dangerous mobile or manufactured homes, or methods to improve the energy efficiency and wind rating of the homes.
During a future update of Century’s Land Development Code, Century may consider mobile and manufactured home ordinances that would address were the homes are allowed, definitions for substandard or dangerous homes and identify a code enforcement procedure to address violations.
Photos courtesy Town of Century presentation, click to enlarge.
U.S. Marshals Capture Three Violent Fugitves In Escambia County
August 16, 2012
The U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force hit the streets of Escambia County Wednesday and arrested three men wanted on numerous charges that include aggravated assault with a weapon, armed robbery, using a firearm and including a non-registered sex offender.
The Task Force began their day when they had to breach the door of the home of Rodney Deangelo Ries, aka “Tattoo” after knocking and observing someone inside the home that would not come to the door.
Ries, was arrested around 8:15 a.m. after he surrendered after hiding in the home on the 8500 Block of Stockdale Avenue. The 23-year old Ries is wanted for aggravated assault with a gun and firing a weapon in public.
Task force members from the U.S. Marshals, Escambia and Okaloosa County sheriff’s offices and FDLE then apprehended David Lee Jones at the Travelodge Inn on Highway 29.
The task force captured him around 1:00 p.m. after he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel where they were doing surveillance.
Jones, 18, was arrested after he and another man he was with tried to elude the task force inside the hotel. Jones is wanted on an Escambia County warrant that charges him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, use or display of a firearm during a felony, armed burglary, robbery with a firearm or deadly weapon and petit theft. The other man was detained shortly then released.
The Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force then made their last arrest for the day when they nabbed Caleb Joseph Alderman after he left a job site on Nine Mile Road. They caught up with the fugitive around the 200 block of New Warrington Road at about 3 p.m.
Alderman, 19, was arrested without incident. Alderman’s charges include failure to register as a sex offender, probation violation for a weapon charge and failure to appear on a larceny arrest.
All three were booked into Escambia County Jail. Ries was released on a $11,000 bond, and Jones remained jailed on a $95,250 bond. Alderman’s bond was set at $5,000 for failure to register but he is being held on no bond on his additional other charges.