Tate Aggies Fall To The Crestview Bulldogs
October 25, 2025
The Tate Aggies fell 38-6 on the road to the Crestview Bulldogs Friday night.
The only touchdown for the Aggies came on a Tanner Clark run in the second quarter.
Tate (6-3) will close the regulars season on Thursday night, October 30, as the Aggies host the Escambia Gators (3-6) in Pete Gindl Stadium.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
$10 Million State-Funded Project To Transform Old Century High Gym Into Hurricane Shelter
October 24, 2025
A $10 million project to convert the old Century High School gym into a hurricane shelter is getting closer to becoming a start date.
The Town of Century was awarded $10 million in a Florida Department of Commerce’s Rebuild Florida grant to turn the old gym property into a multipurpose facility that will also serve as a shelter during hurricanes or other disasters.
Grant management was later redirected from the town to Escambia County. Thursday, NorthEscambia.com was there as town officials and Escambia County Facilities Management staff toured the 56-year-old gym.
“It has good bones,” Century Mayor Ben Boutwell said. “With a steel frame and solid brick and concrete construction, it will make a good shelter.”
County staff agreed that the building appears to be structurally sound enough to meet the requirements for a hurricane shelter, and that will be confirmed by a structural engineer. The existing building will be gutted and slightly expanded during construction. It is expected to include a multipurpose area that will have uses including meeting space, shelter space, and indoor sports such as basketball. There will be other amenities including a kitchen and a generator.
The town does not own the old gym, which was constructed in 1960; it belongs to Pensacola State College, though the town had been working to have PSC deed the gym property to Century. Once an environmental study is completed, PSC will deed the property to the county at no cost.
Time and vandals have ravaged the former Blackcats’ gym. The windows have been smashed out of all the doors, and many of the gym windows are broken, with damage to the parquet wood floor—all of which is slated for replacement. Vandals have stripped all of the HVAC units and copper wiring. The Blackcats logo is still visible on the wall over the basketball court.
Behind the gym, remaining bleachers and press box, which was damaged by a tornado in 2016, are currently set to be removed for safety reasons. The football field will remain as a youth sports field.
Pictured: Officials toured the old Century High School gym on Thursday. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cottage Hill Man Charged With Grand Theft Of A U-Haul Truck
October 24, 2025
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office recently made an arrest in slightly unusual vehicle theft case. The vehicle was a 2021 GMC box truck rented from a U-Haul location on Mobile Highway.
James Joseph Sowinski, 55, was arrested at his Cottage Hill home this week on a warrant for the August incident.
According to the arrest report, the investigation centered on the U-Haul truck that was originally rented by Sowinski but was never returned on its due date of July 15, 2025.
The commercial vehicle was formally reported as stolen after the rental company attempted to contact Sowinski and sent a certified demand to return letter without success. The Sheriff’s Office was able to quickly track down and recover the vehicle at the Cutty Sark Liquor on Mobile Highway shortly after the official theft report was filed.
Sowinski is charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle. He remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond due to a propagation violation charge in a domestic violence injunction violation case from 2024.
Half Of Alabama School Treated To Lunch In Century
October 24, 2025
A Century restaurant was packed with students from an Escambia County, Alabama, school at lunch on Thursday.
Pollard-McCall Junior High School promised lunch to K-8 students that made the honor roll or had perfect attendance for the first nine weeks. A total of 83 students made the honor roll and 20 students had perfect attendance, representing about half the school’s enrollment.
Thanks to the school’s PTO, the students were treated to a Mexican lunch at Vallarta on North Century Boulevard.
“This is the best day ever,” one student said.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Convicted Of Violent Second Degree Murder
October 24, 2025
On Thursday, an Escambia County man was convicted of second degree murder.
Davarius James faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced on November 5 for the murder of Claudette Robinson.
On February 3, 2025, Claudette Robinson was located deceased in her residence. Her injuries included bruises over her body, broken ribs, a broken breastbone, and injuries to her throat. Evidence established that her boyfriend, Davarius James, had attempted to contact friends and family members for help over the course of that day, however, he failed to call 911 or seek medical treatment for the victim. A family member called 911 at 3:29 p.m. and officers and investigators responded to the scene. James was located and apprehended two hours later and taken into custody.
James told investigators that Robinson was injured when she fell twice earlier that morning.
During the trial, polie testified to search terms found in the victim’s phone including google searches asking how to determine if someone was dead, how long someone can live off CPR, and searches about how to tell if someone had been choked by the neck.
Associate Medical Examiner, Dr. Lorraine Lopez-Morell testified that the victim’s cause of death was “multiple blunt force trauma” and that broken cartilage in the victim’s throat and a broken hyoid bone indicated manual strangulation. Robinson’s injuries were described as being similar to injuries seen in a car crash.
Molino Utilities Issues Boil Water Notice For Highway 97; Molino Park Students Provided Bottled Water
October 23, 2025
UPDATE: This boil water notice was lifted Saturday morning.
Molino Utilities has issued a precautionary boil water notice is in effect for a portion of Highway 97, including Molino Park Elementary School, following the repair of a broken water main.
Escambia County Public Schools said portable toilets were made available to students during a period of no water on Thursday, and bottled water has been provided for drinking.
The boil water notice is in effect for Molino Utilities customers on Highway 97 North of Crabtree Church Road to Abromovich Lane.
Precautionary boil water notices are issued as a part of the standard protocol following any loss of water pressure, whether as a result of planned maintenance activities or unscheduled repairs.
Residents located in the specified area are advised to boil water for one minute at a rolling boil or to use eight drops of regular unscented household bleach per gallon of water, for water to be used for drinking or cooking purposes. Two independent bacteriological samples have been initiated and the advisory will be lifted as soon as possible.
Residents within the area and nearby are advised that there is a possibility of discolored water as a result of the utility work, and to flush their home’s plumbing by running their taps for a few minutes.
This story will be updated when the boil water notice is lifted.
FDLE: 13 Arrested In Online Operation Targeting Child Predators
October 23, 2025
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and partner agencies arrested 13 suspects during an online child sexual predator operation.
The five-day online operation targeted predators who were engaging in sexually explicit and harmful communication with minors, transmitting child sexual abuse material, and arranging to meet a minor for sexual activity.
The operation was conducted by inspectors, agents and analysts with FDLE and the Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Agriculture, Homeland Security Investigations, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, United States Marshals Service, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, Gulf Breeze Police Department, Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lake City Police Department.
The following suspects were charged:
- Nicholas Beech, 27, of Eight Mile, AL
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony; transmission of harmful material to a minor
- Marshall Blansett, 39, of Pensacola
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, transmission of harmful material to a minor
- Duran Brown, 18, of Pensacola
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
- Royce Cromer, 39, of Pensacola
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
- Micah Costner, 18, of Gulf Shores, AL
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
- Christopher Glover, 47, of Grand Bay, AL
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony; transmission of harmful material to a minor, resisting arrest without violence
- David Girard, 70, of Robertsdale, AL
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
- Noah Kimmons, 19, of Pensacola,
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
- William Pierce, 52, of Pensacola
- Charges: transmission of harmful material to a minor, use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, promoting the sexual performance by a child
- Robby Robertson, 47, of Beulah
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
- Ricardo Del Rosario, 38, of Pensacola
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
- Ranger Shindle, 19, of Crestview
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony; transmission of harmful material to a minor
- Chad Wren, 56, of Beulah
- Charges: seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct; travel to meet a minor for sexual activity; use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony
As we previously reported, Wren was a custodian at Blue Angel Elementary School and resigned the day of his arrest.
FDLE said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Additionally, FDLE and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office conducted a three-day enforcement operation focused on verifying the residential addresses of registered sexual offenders and sexual predators. During the initiative, contact was made with 130 registrants residing within Escambia County. The investigation also remains ongoing.
Pictured: (L-R, top row) Blansett, Brown, Comer, (second row) Costner, Girard, Pierce, (third row) Robertson, Shindle, Wren. Other mugshots were not available from the Escambia County Jail at time of publication.
Former Ernest Ward Middle Bookkeeper Sentenced For Grand Theft
October 23, 2025
A former Ernest Ward Middle School bookkeeper has been sentenced for embezzling over $50,000 in cash from the school and its student organizations.
Lindsey Dawn Kelley of McDavid, now age 42, was arrested in October 2024 charged with grand theft, scheme to defraud and false entry in books of business for the alleged thefts from Ernest Ward. The scheme to defraud and false entry in books of business charges were dismissed by prosecutors, according to court records.
On Wednesday, Kelley was convicted of grand theft and sentenced by Judge Amy Brodersen to 120 days in the county jail to be followed by five years probation. She was remanded into custody and booked into the Escambia County Jail.
She was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, undergo a mental health evaluation and follow through on any treatment recommendations, take an anti-theft course, complete a financial literacy course, and seek or maintain full-time employment or be a full time student.
She was also ordered to not handle money or finances for any business or organization, and pay $518 in court costs along with probation costs.
According to court records, Kelley paid $52,278.98 in restitution on September 2 as part of a plea deal. Under the plea arrangement, jail time was capped at a maximum of 180 days, and the school district made no objection to a sentence of probation only if restitution was made.
Ernest Ward Theft Allegations
According to investigators, Kelley stole cash collected by school organizations over a 13-month period.
She quit her bookkeeping job at the school in Walnut Hill before the first week of the 2024-2025 school year following her arrest on the unrelated credit card fraud and grand theft charges that have now been dropped.
That prompted Principal Tyvanna Boulanger to request the Escambia County School District complete an internal audit of the school’s bookkeeping and financial records.
According to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Kelley collected $52,278.98 in cash from various organizations at Ernest Ward that was stolen between July 1, 2023, and August 30, 2024.
- Change Fund-$300
- FFA-$4,047.50
- Honor Society – $310
- Shop- $650
- Volleyball/basketball – $4,001.65
- Cheer – $28,192.34
- SGA/track – $850
- Football – $200
- Band – $1,840
- Library/yearbook/drama – $4,670.49
- Culinary-$865
- 6th grade- $1,786
- 8th grade – $2,756
- 7th grade- $1,810
“It should be noted that this amount does not reflect any money stolen from Earnest Ward Middle School prior to July 1, 2023,” the arrest report states.
The report states that in the school year before Kelley was hired as a bookkeeper at EWMS, the school deposited $82,475.24 in cash for school organizations. The report notes after Kelly was hired as school finance specialist in August 2020, cash deposits were as follow:
- 2019-2020 – $46,736.28 cash deposited
- 2020-2021 – $23,270.08 cash deposited
- 2021-2022 – $29,782.46 cash deposited
- 2022-2023 – $18,733.64 cash deposited
- 2023-2024 -No Cash Deposited
The school district told investigators that Kelley was audited in the 2022-2023 school year and the audit noted that Kelley had a “lack of organization led to several issues, the most severe of which was the inability to locate entire records for deposits and receipts.” Kelley has not been charged with any school related crime that occurred prior to July 1, 2023.
Kelley was interviewed by ECSO investigators on October 23, 2024.
“One at a time, we spoke with teachers/sponsors of the different school organizations who had given cash to Kelley during the previous school year for their organizations,” an investigator reported. “There was zero cash deposited to the school’s bank account during the 2023-2024 school year so all cash that was given to Kelley is now missing.”
“Immediately upon beginning the interview, Kelley stated that she took the money. Kelley did not know the amount of money that she had taken because she had taken it over time and did not keep track of it,” the ECSO report states. Deputies said the money was deposited in her credit union account or added to a GreenDot account.
“I advised Kelley of the amounts stolen from each team/organization and that the total amount stolen for the 2023-2024 school year adds up to $52,278.98,” the investigator wrote in his report. “While surprised, Kelley did not disagree with that amount and advised that if that was the amount that had been determined, then that was the amount that she had stolen. When asked about the balance statements for the teams/organizations, she admitted to editing them on an Adobe program so that they wouldn’t discover the low balances of the accounts. At the conclusion of the interview, Kelley advised that she was remorseful and would never do something like this again.”
In addition, school administration alleged that all documents, such as purchase orders, money collected forms, along with receiving invoices and documents, were missing.
- Change Fund-$300
- FFA-$4,047.50
- Honor Society – $310
- Shop- $650
- Volleyball/basketball – $4,001.65
- Cheer – $28,192.34
- SGA/track – $850
- Football – $200
- Band – $1,840
- Library/yearbook/drama – $4,670.49
- Culinary-$865
- 6th grade- $1,786
- 8th grade – $2,756
- 7th grade- $1,810
Charges Dropped In Unrelated Arrest
In an unrelated case, Kelley was charged with petit theft, grand theft, fraudulent use of a credit card over $300, and fraudulent use of a credit card two or more times to obtain goods over $100 for the alleged fraudulent use of her uncle’s debit card while he was away at rehab. In July, the charges were dropped because the victim declined to prosecute, according to court documents.
Century Dollar General Manager Charged With Grand Theft
October 23, 2025
The manager of a Dollar General in Century has has been charged with stealing deposits totaling almost $8,000.
Dollar General Loss Prevention reported to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office that store manager Casey Leigh Rice failed to turn in two days of deposits. Dollar General reported that deposits of $$5,514.13 and another for $2,485.65 for October 2 and October 4 were recovered from her purse, according to an arrest report. The Dollar General loss prevention employee told deputies that Rice has admitted to stealing the deposits in a written statement. The total amount allegedly stolen by Rice was $7,999.78.
Rice told deputies that she “has been struggling with money, because her car broke down”, the arrested report states. Her additional statements were redacted from the report.
Rice was charged with felony grand theft between $5,000 and $10,000. She was later released from the Escambia County Jail on a $5,000 bond.
According to the ECSO report, Rice was manager of the Dollar General at 7731 North Century Boulevard, near Highway 4A
Farm Share Food Distribution Saturday In Century
October 23, 2025
Northwest Florida Community Outreach will hold their annual fall Farm Share food distribution on Saturday, October 25 in Century.
The food distribution will take place from 9 a.m. until 10 a.m., or while supplies last, at 150 East Pond Street. Recipients must be in line by 10 a.m.
File photo.