Grand Champions Named In Annual Livestock Show
April 15, 2012
The 19th Annual 4-H and FFA Youth Livestock Show and Agricultural Exposition wrapped up Saturday at the Langley Bell 4-H Center in Beulah.
The show provides an opportunity for local 4-H and FFA members to show their steers, swine, goats, lambs, heifers, rabbits and poultry. In addition, many of the steers and swine in the program were auctioned off.
This year’s Grand Champion Steer was exhibited by Donald Cunningham (pictured left). The 1,233 pound steer sold at auction for $4,007.25 ($3.25/lb) to Dr. Tom Lampone. Donald, age 14, is a member of the Barrineau Park 4-H Club. In addition to showing steers, he enjoyes swimming, NJROTC, basketball, football, working and being a Boy Scout. He is the son of Lewe and Beth Cunningham. He attends Pace High School.
The Reserve Champion Steer belonged to Ashley Cunningham, a 16-year old Northview High School Student and member of the Northview FFA. Her steer, at 1,250 pounds, sold at auction for $4,500 ($3.60/lb) to Hill Kelly Dodge. Ashley is the daughter of Andy and Christina Cunningham. She is a Northview High cheerleader and a member of the Northview dance, weightlifting and track teams. She enjoys going to the beach and Harry Potter movies.
The Grand Champion Market Swine was exhibited by Matthew Smith (pictured left), a 13-year old seventh grader at Ransom Middle School. Matthew, the son of Randal and Ginjer Smith, also enjoys band, hunting, fishing and trail raiding. The Barrineau Park 4-H Club member’s 260 pound pig sold for $962 ($3.70/lb) to Gulf South Automotive.
This year’s Reserve Champion Market Swine belonged to Dylan Livingston, a seventh grader at Ransom Middle School. The 13-year old 4-H club member’s 237 pound pig sold for $592.50 ($2.50/lb) to Todd Timko and Blooming Geri. Dylan enjoys video games and basketball. He is the son of Patty and Erick Livingston.
Complete and final results from the 19th Annual 4-H and FFA Youth Livestock Show were not available Saturday night; NorthEscambia.com will publish complete results and more photos later in the week.
If you have photos from events other than the swine and steer sales, please email them to news@northescambia.com for inclusion in a photo gallery.
Pictured top and top inset: Donald Cunningham and his $4,007.25 Grand Champion Steer. Pictured bottom inset: Matthew Smith and his 260 pound Grand Champion Market Swine. Pictured below: Dylan Livingston and his 237 pound Reserve Champion Market Swine. Not pictured: Ashley Cunningham was not available for a photograph with her Reserve Champion Steer. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Kindergarten Registration Begins April 30 In Escambia County
April 15, 2012
Kindergarten registration for Escambia County students will begin on April 30.
Students who will be five years old on or before September 1, 2012, are eligible to register for the 2012-2013 school year. Registration will occur at the school which serves the student’s residence.
At the time of registration, parents/guardians should bring the following:
- Child’s birth certificate
- Child’s social security card
- Proof of residence (electric bill or rent receipt – telephone and cable bills are not accepted)
- Immunization record (Florida blue card provided by the health department or family physician)
- Physical form completed by family physician
To a child’s school, visit www.myescambiaschools.com and click on “Find Your School”.
East Kingsfield Re-opens
April 15, 2012
East Kingsfield Road was back open Saturday afternoon being closed for 10 days. It was closed April 3 from Highway 29 to Pompano Street for a construction project.
Pictured: Contractor Roads, Inc. works Friday to finish a project on East Kingsfield Road at Highway 29. Northescambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Pensacola Wahoos Cap Series With 6-1 Victory Over Mobile
April 15, 2012
Blue Wahoos right fielder Yordanys Perez cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fourth inning, while starting pitcher J.C. Sulbaran fired 5.2 shutout innings to give Pensacola a 6-1 win over the Mobile BayBears on Saturday night at Hank Aaron Stadium. The BayBears won the series 3-2, clinching the series with their 6-5 victory Friday night.
Sulbaran (5.2 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 SO) turned in the best outing for a Blue Wahoos starter thus far in 2012, limiting Mobile batters to just two hits while striking out four in his 5.2 innings of work as he earned his first win of the season. After giving up a lead-off walk, Sulbaran retired the next 11 hitters of the contest before yielding a free pass in the fourth. BayBears starter Tyler Skaggs (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 0-1 on the year after allowing three earned runs on seven hits while fanning eight in five frames.
After shortstop Didi Gregorius scored on an error and second baseman Brodie Greene walked to load the bases, Perez brought in Greene, in addition to third baseman Henry Rodriguez and left fielder Joel Guzman with a double down the left field line to make it 4-0. Pensacola added two more scores in the seventh courtesy of an RBI double from Greene, and a run-scoring single off the bat of first baseman Mike Costanzo.
Gregorius led all hitters with three hits, while Rodriguez also recorded a multi-hit game. BayBears first baseman Kyle Greene led Mobile with two of the team’s three base knocks in the contest. Guzman extended his hit streak to nine games with a single in the second, while Costanzo has now reached base in nine straight contests with his seventh inning base knock.
The Blue Wahoos now return home to Pensacola for a five-game series with the Jacksonville Suns, the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, with the series opener set for Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm. Pensacola is scheduled to send RHP Pedro Villarreal to the hill, while the Suns have yet to announce a starter.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: Didi Gregorius recorded three hits in Penascola’s 6-1 win Saturday night. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Senate Argues For Its New Redistricting Map
April 15, 2012
The second draft of the Legislature’s redistricting plan for the state Senate answered all of the objections of the Florida Supreme Court to the first proposal and should get justices’ approval, according to a Senate brief in the case.
The brief, filed in response to complaints by the Florida Democratic Party, a coalition of voting-rights groups and the NAACP, came a week before oral arguments on the plan before the court. Also on Friday, the justices issued an order dividing two hours of arguments among the Senate and the groups opposing the plan.
Lawyers for the upper chamber argued in the 100-page filing that the new plan, approved by the Legislature after justices rejected the first draft, “addressed each of the flaws this Court found.”
The court threw out the Senate maps as part of its first review of redistricting proposals under the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts standards, approved by voters in a November 2010 referendum.
The brief also flayed the arguments raised by the opponents, saying that many of them attempt to draw the court into reconsidering districts that passed in the first review.
“The issue is whether the Legislature complied with the Court’s specific mandate, not whether other districts that this Court either did not find invalid or specifically found valid comply with constitutional standards,” the brief says.
The brief is signed by Raoul Cantero, a former Supreme Court justice who is representing the Senate.
Some of the arguments revolve around Central Florida, where the court specifically rejected an “appendage” to a district that would have prevented Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, from facing Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, in a primary.
Opponents have argued that the new plan simply adds the appendage to a different district. And while it would pair Gardiner and Simmons, critics say, that is an illusion because Simmons has said he would move to a different district to avoid the face-off.
“But the Senate cannot confine Senator Simmons to his current residence or disable him from seeking reelection,” the brief argues. “Indeed, a number of House incumbents who were paired in the House plan the Court approved will move and seek reelection in different districts.”
Senate lawyers also contend that there is no way to completely dismantle the appendage without blending the white voters who reside there into one or both of the minority districts that border it. That would weaken the ability of the minority communities in those districts to elect candidates of their choice, violating another constitutional standard.
The brief also lashes out at plans proposed by the coalition of voting-rights groups — which includes the League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause Florida and the Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza — and the Florida Democratic Party. Both plans, it says, are actually gerrymandered to give Democrats a better chance to take the Senate than they would have under the Legislature’s proposal.
And those proposals are unnecessary, the Senate argues, because its map is good enough.
“The voters who approved Amendment 5 never intended to transform redistricting into a tournament, or place every competitor that enters the arena on equal footing with the Legislature,” the brief says.
The court must rule by early May.
By The News Service of Florida
Escambia Special Olympics Held At Tate (With Gallery)
April 14, 2012
The big race was almost over. Everyone had crossed the finish line, except for a young lady named Kailee that had not even started. Kailee just sat in her wheelchair, not going along with plans of her Special Olympic “buddies”. They wanted her run the race. She wanted no part.
But the crowd began to chant her name. “Kailee, Kailee.” The confidence begin to build. Over and over, the crowd called her name louder and louder. “Kailee, Kailee!”
She, albeit cautiously, stepped up from her wheelchair with the help of a buddy.
She tapped her white cane on the track. That confident look disappeared from her face. Visually impaired, Kailee could not see what was ahead; she latched onto a buddy. Fear in her wandering eyes. The crowd continued their encouragement. “Kailiee! Kailee!”. She was center of attention in her corner of Pete Gindl Stadium.
Kailee picked her foot up high and stepped ahead. She felt around with her white cane. Solid ground, perhaps not so bad. She began to smile and went ahead. As she gained speed, her smile grew.
Her blond hair began to wave in the wind and she headed step after step toward the finish line. Beaming and grinning, she crossed the finish line. The crowd roared, smiles everywhere. A man watching the race wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
Kailee’s total time in the 30 meter? It really didn’t matter that it was probably five minutes. She was a big winner.
That’s the special part of the Escambia County Special Olympics held Friday at Tate High School — everybody, no matter their physical or mental disability, was their own winner.
Over 500 athletes from 18 schools took part in Friday’s event, showing off their competitive skills in a variety of events. Hundreds of Tate High students also took part, running event and serving as volunteer “buddies” for the athletes.
The day included track and field events, softball and tennis ball tosses, and other competitive events — plus fun events like fishing games, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, face painting and more.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top series: Kailee, a visually impaired student, takes part in the Escambia County Special Olympics Friday morning at Tate High School. Pictured inset and below: More scenes from the event. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pictured:
Bank Robbery Suspects Remain Behind Bars
April 14, 2012
Father and daughter bank robbery suspects — nabbed by federal agents in Bluff Springs and Brewton — remain behind bars this morning charged with a February 17 bank robbery in Brewton, Ala.
Robin Ann Godwin, age 42 of Century, was arrested by FBI agents Thursday night at a travel trailer on Bluff Springs Road just south of Century. She remains in the Escambia County, Fla., jail without bond as a fugitive from justice as she awaits extradition back to Alabama to face a first degree robbery charge.
As FBI agents arrested her in Florida, additional agents converged on a home on Pine Road in Escambia County, Ala. and arrested Norman Alvin Godwin, age 75, on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and first degree robbery. He remains in the Escambia County (Ala.) Detention Center in Brewton with bond set at $90,000.
As they executed search warrants, FBI agents recovered evidence at a both locations, including cash allegedly taken during the Brewton robbery.
NorthEscambia.com was there Thursday night in Bluff Springs as FBI agents searched the travel trailer of Robin Ann Godwin. For more on that search, click here for an earlier story.
A single suspect (pictured left) walked into the bank through a public boardwalk entrance at the rear of the building and demanded cash and fled out the same door. Authorities said at the time that they were not sure exactly how the bandit left the area following the robbery, but a few days later they said the bandit may have headed to Florida.
Pictured top and bottom: FBI agents executed a search warrant related to a Brewton bank robbery at this travel trailer on Bluff Springs Road south of Century Thursday night. FBI agents, who were just off camera, would not allow their photographs to be taken. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Tweedie Files For ECUA Seat
April 14, 2012
Republican Barry Tweedie has filed for the ECUA District 5 board seat currently held by Larry Walker.
Tweedie ran unsuccessfully for the office in 2000, 2004 and 2008. He has previously served on the ECUA Citizens Advisory Committee. Tweedie is a retired Navy flight officer.
Walker, a Republican, is seeking his sixth term on the ECUA board. He was first elected to the ECUA board in 1988 and served until he ran unsuccessfully for the Escambia County Commission in 2000. He has was re-elected to the ECUA board in 2004 and 2008.
Charlou Williams of Cantonment prefiled to seek the ECUA post in December.
No Injuries When Log Truck Overturns On Hwy 95A
April 14, 2012
There were no injuries when a log truck overturned Friday afternoon on Highway 95A just south of Quintette Road. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Six Homeless After Escambia Mobile Home Fire
April 14, 2012
Six people were left homeless after a mobile home fire in Ensley Friday night.
A double-wide mobile home near the intersection of Sonnyboy Lane and Action Street was reported to be nearly fully involved in flames when firefighters arrived about 11 p.m.. There were no injuries; no one was home at the time of the blaze.
The American Red Cross was called to provide temporary assistance to six people, ages 33, 13, 12, 9, 8 and 7.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.