Molino Library, Tax Collector And Property Appraiser Office Work Continues
February 27, 2012
Progress is continuing on a $4 million project to convert the old Molino School into a community center and museum.
Roof shingles are expected to be installed this week, while interior electrical and plumbing rough-in work is in progress on a new building. Rough-in for plumbing, mechanical and electrical continues on the existing building.
The project includes the conversion of the old Molino School into a 15,600 square foot library, community center and museum under a $2.95 million construction contract awarded by Escambia County to Birkshire Johnstone, LLC.
In addition to converting the 72-year old school building, a new 7,000 square foot building is being constructed adjacent to the old building for the tax collector and property appraiser. The current Escambia County Tax Collector office in the former Winn Dixie shopping center in Cantonment and the property appraiser office on Highway 97 in Molino will both be closed. The facility will also house a polling station for early voting and elections.
Final completion for both buildings is scheduled for November 2012.
Pictured: Work to convert the old Molino School into a new library and museum, plus the addition of a new building for the tax collector and property appraiser. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Jeff Miller: Solution Needed To Rising Gas Prices
February 27, 2012
In his latest newsletter, U.S. Rep Jeff Miller discusses rising gas prices.
The following was submitted by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla for NorthEscambia.com:
With gas prices slowly creeping upwards toward $4 a gallon, one would think the President of the United States and Congressional Democrats would finally get serious about working across the aisle on solutions to ease the pain at the pump. At the very least they could put forward a few ideas that would provide consumers already hard hit by a weak economy some relief in their weekly gas bill. However, this week we saw instead an incredible demonstration of the blame game by the Administration. The key message of the President was not about working together to find an answer, but a clear statement of “it’s not my fault.”
The blame was extended to anyone but the Administration – rising gas prices are caused by increased demand from China. Or maybe it’s the recent tensions with Iran. Or it could be decreased foreign supply. Or the Administration’s consistent election-year boogeyman: the Wall Street speculators. Better yet, gas prices are higher because of oil companies. Of course, these things are outside of the control of the U.S. government, so the Administration can’t do anything about it.
President Obama offered little in the way of solutions, instead telling the American people that he wouldn’t make “phony election-year promises about lower gas prices.” The American people don’t want phony promises, but they also don’t want inaction while gas prices go up. I am astonished that in a speech about lowering gas prices, the President also called for higher taxes on the oil industry and more money for unproven clean energy. Let me clear, clean energy technologies will play a role in a long-term solution, but will do nothing to solve the problem this year.
When the rhetoric over gas prices heats up, it is helpful to take a look at some of the facts about gas prices and American energy production. The Administration claims it is opening up more than 75 percent of our offshore oil and gas resources. Yet, that is just the status quo and includes only the areas we have already explored. Eighty-five percent of all American offshore areas remain off-limits. This Administration also placed a moratorium on new drilling and has barely begun to approve any new leases. One example of backwards policymaking is in the Chukchi Sea in Alaska. The energy industry has spent $2.6 billion to obtain close to 500 leases; yet, to date the Administration has not allowed a single well to be drilled on any of these leases. Rhetoric does not drill wells and does not create jobs. Action does. There is no doubt that in light of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill almost two years ago, new safety and inspection measures must be put in place; but, new energy exploration cannot and should not be halted altogether.
The Executive Branch is also quick to blame “tax breaks” for energy companies, specifically oil and natural gas companies. The fact is, however, the oil and gas industry does not receive a single targeted tax credit from the IRS. It takes deductions on the cost of doing business, just like other companies. The Administration’s call for an $85 billion tax hike on a particular sector of our economy is not going to lower gas prices. It will make them higher. Giving millions in loan guarantees to companies like Solyndra while increasing taxes on proven energy resources is not going to solve the energy crisis. To call out the oil and gas industry over others is yet another illustration of the government picking winners and losers in the marketplace, something it does not need to be in the business of doing. In fact, the government should not be “in business” at all.
I agree with the President on one thing he said this week, namely that “[t]here is no silver bullet, there never has been.” Nonetheless, I completely disagree with his assertion that there is little we can do about it. The President and Senate should join us in putting forward a viable “All of the Above” energy strategy that will expand domestic sources of production, invest in clean energy technologies, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and help keep gas prices low for Americans. The United States can be a leader in innovation and clean energy without limiting our current sources of energy. I hope my colleagues will join in pushing for solutions to increasing gas prices that could have a debilitating effect on our fragile economy.
Ernest Ward Boys, Girls Swim Teams Take Second In County
February 27, 2012
Both the boys and girls Ernest Ward Middle swim teams finished second in Escambia County for the season. Pictured: The EWMS boys and girls swim teams at a recent county meet. Submitted photo by Stephanie Sims for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Man Indicted For New Year’s Day Abortion Clinic Bombing
February 27, 2012
A man accused of firebombing an abortion clinic in Escambia County has been indicted.
The two-count indictment charges Bobby Joe Rogers, 41, with arson and damaging a reproductive health facility in connection with the fire that destroyed the American Family Planning Clinic on January 1. Rogers has remained in federal custody since his arrest on January 5.
If convicted, Rogers faces 5 to 20 years in prison for the arson count and up to one year in prison for damaging a reproductive health clinic.
Escambia School Cafeterias Named Protectors Of The Environment
February 27, 2012
The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority has presented the “Protector of the Environment” (POE) Award to the Escambia County School Board’s cafeteria operations. This one of-a-kind initiative recognized the school system’s effort to promote a positive safe working and clean eating environment through the ECUA’s Fats, Oils, and Grease (FOG) and backflow prevention programs.
“The District is honored to receive the Protector of the Environment award. The recognition clearly illustrates the collective team effort of many departments within the District that are actively engaged in conscientious environmentally appropriate approaches to doing business. We’re proud to be a part of Escambia County’s earth friendly team,” said Assistant Superintendent of Operations Shawn Dennis.
The Protector of the Environment Award recognizes organizations that train their employees on “best management practices,” participate in scheduled 90-day cleanliness inspections, have no FOG or Backflow violations, and no warnings within a one-year period.
Pictured top: Tim Haag, Glenna Taylor, Chuck Peterson, Kenny Lyons, Gabriel Brown amd Mr. Elvin McCorvey. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Former Director Of Low Income Energy Assistance Program Indicted
February 27, 2012
The former director of a program that helped low income families pay their utility bills has been indicted on federal charges.
Sandra L. Johnson, 43, of Pensacola, made her initial appearance in federal court Thursday on charges relating to a conspiracy to commit fraud. The federal indictment alleges that Johnson, the former director of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) was involved in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud based upon actions she took in relation to her official duties.
LIHEAP is a program funded by the Community Action Program Committee, Inc. (CAPC). CAPC receives federal funds to aid those in the community with job training, education, health care, energy assistance, and more. In particular, LIHEAP guarantees payment of power bills to the Gulf Power Company for those who are eligible for the federal benefits due to low income.
During the course of the charged conspiracy, as outlined in the indictment, Johnson altered documents and signatures in order to get coverage for some questionable LIHEAP recipients, as well as for herself.
United States Magistrate Judge Charles J. Kahn, Jr., held the arraignment for Johnson Thursday, at which time she entered a plea of not guilty. A trial date of April 2, 2012, has been set before Senior United States District Judge Lacey A. Collier. If convicted, Johnson faces up to 30 years in prison. H
The indictment resulted from an investigation by the FBI and security personnel of the Gulf Power Company.
Fla. House Votes To Pay Innocent Man $1.35 Million For Time In Prison
February 27, 2012
More than 30 years after going to a prison for a murder he did not commit, William Dillon sat in the Florida House gallery and got what he wanted – a form of apology.
“That’s the closure for me — that they’re admitting something wrong did happen,” Dillon said.
The House voted 107-5 to approve a claims bill that will pay $1.35 million to Dillon, or $50,000 for each of the 27 years he spent in prison after being wrongfully convicted in the 1981 killing of James Dvorak in Brevard County.
For procedural reasons, the bill will have to go to the Senate for a final vote. But with Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, making a priority of the issue, the House vote makes it appear virtually certain that Dillon will get compensated.
The proposal drew impassioned debate about Dillon and bigger-picture questions about the fairness of the Legislature’s claims-bill process. Despite those questions, Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said Dillon’s time in prison was an injustice that needed to be addressed.
“There’s no price-tag you can put on that,” Weatherford said. “There’s no dollar amount that will give this man his 27 years back.”
But Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne, listed details of Dillon’s background, including a drunken-driving conviction and an Army discharge because of possession of stolen property, and questioned whether the state should pay the man more than $1 million.
Along with Tobia, the other bill opponents were Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville; Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach; Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton; and Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven.
Haridopolos tried to pass a claims bill last year for Dillon, but the issue died during a chaotic end to the legislative session. Veteran lobbyist Guy Spearman and former House member and Florida State University President Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte worked for free to help move the bill through the Legislature.
Dillon, now 52 and living in North Carolina, was freed from prison in 2008 after the Innocence Project of Florida got involved in his case. DNA testing on evidence led to his exoneration.
“It’s been a long journey,” he told reporters a few minutes after the vote.
Lawmakers on both sides of the Dillon issue expressed frustration Friday with the process that leads them to decide such issues. Earlier in the day, the House Judiciary Committee considered 16 claims bills that would compensate people for a wide range of injuries caused by employees of government agencies.
“We are not here to be judge and jury,” Wood said. “We are policymakers.”
But Rep. Steve Crisafulli, a Merritt Island Republican who sponsored the Dillon bill, said the case involved clear evidence that Dillon had been wrongfully imprisoned.
“This man is sitting here today, and we’re going to give him an opportunity to live the rest of his life like (the opportunity) he should have had from 1981 on,” Crisafulli said.
By The News Service of Florida
Oranges In Escambia County?
February 26, 2012
The few orange trees located in Escambia County are currently full of fruit. Pictured is a tree in front of the Pfeiffer House on Zaragoza Street in the Historic Pensacola Village, directly behind the old Christ Church.
It is a Seville orange, native to Spain with trees planted in several downtown Pensacola locations. Seville oranges are known for being sour and bitter and are often made into a sweet and tart marmalade.
The Pfieiffer House, home to the orange tree, is an example of a simple folk cottage, or shotgun house. It was built in 1876 by Bavarian immigrant John Pfeiffer, who established a successful baking business and also sold children’s toys. Originally located on Government Street, the Pfeiffer House was moved to Zaragoza Street in 1997 and serves as additional space for Old Christ Church functions.
Pictured: Oranges growing in downtown Pensacola as seen Saturday afternoon behind the Old Christ Church on Zaraboza Street. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Gas Prices Rising And It’s Not Over Yet
February 26, 2012
Gas prices continue to increase across the Gulf Coast, up 20 cents in the past month.
The average price Saturday for a gallon of regular unleaded was $3.63, up from $3.43 just a month ago. One year ago, that gallon of gas was $3.25. Industry analysts are expecting prices to rise about a dime during the coming week thanks to tensions in the Middle East.
The area record was $4.03 in July 2008, leading many motorists to change their driving to save money.
With gas prices hitting an all time February high and the current national retail average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline hanging at $3.65, many drivers are anxious about what to expect in the coming months.
“Every driver is impacted by the increased cost of fuel,” said Marshall L. Doney, AAA National vice president. “There are several easy things drivers can do to stretch each tank of gas and find the lowest fuel prices when it is time to fill up.”
The cheapest gas price in the Pensacola area Saturday was $3.53 at a handful of stations on Mobile Highway. Across the state line in Alabama, a Flomaton Shell station was at $3.51.
Pictured top: A gallon of regular unleaded gas was $3.61 Saturday night at this station on Highway 29 in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: The Future Is Now
February 26, 2012
The Senate this week passed a budget for the coming year – but some of its members were focused on another year in the future as those who want to be Senate president down the road intensified their maneuvering in the face of an increasingly apparent challenge to the chamber’s conservative ruling class.
The Senate has long been a place where the in-charge Republican Party has been fractured, with splits between social moderates and conservatives, fiscally conservative members and those less antagonistic to government services, and populists versus the big business wing.
That has been in the open as much as ever – if not more in the now almost two years that Senate President Mike Haridopolos has led the Senate. It’s a murky split – with those opposed to the faction led by Haridopolos a shifting and motley group. Some are more populist, some are more moderate, and some are simply independent-minded and seem to be most interested in preserving a Senate that doesn’t blindly follow a leader.
Put all those together in a coalition, and throw in a few surprises in the November election, and the possibility has emerged that a real challenge could be mounted to the status quo when it comes to the generally presumed line of succession to the Senate throne. The Senate presidency over the next several years has generally been thought to be preordained by the leaders of the chamber. When Haridopolos leaves office in November, the gavel will be handed to Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. That much is nearly certain.
After that, the general expectation has been that Haridopolos-Gaetz ally Sen. Andy Gardiner, currently a member of the leadership team as majority leader, will take over. Then would come other members of the leadership team, maybe Sen. John Thrasher and Sen. Joe Negron, both conservative, business-backed Republicans loyal to the current leadership.
But something has been bubbling up in the last couple years that may threaten that. A soft coalition of Republican senators who have disagreements with the Haridopolos group has increasingly been thwarting the leadership’s agenda. During the last day of session last year, there was a near mutiny over what was in several budget bills.
This year, there was the prison privatization fiasco, in which leadership lost in a floor vote on one of its top priorities, privatizing a large number of prisons. Then there was the University of South Florida fight – in which some Republican senators fought with Budget Chairman and Haridopolos ally JD Alexander over the USF budget and the future of a USF branch campus that is going to break off. There have been other little fights – an ethics bill pushed by Thrasher went down, for example. A leadership move to consolidate expressway authorities was softened.
Deeply involved in many of the challenges to the authority of Haridopolos et al has been the veteran newcomer Sen. Jack Latvala. The moderate Republican from St. Petersburg was in the Senate for a long time, and then left before returning again. Latvala was a leader of the fight against prison privatization, and this week emerged as a serious challenger to Gardiner for the presidency of the Senate in 2014.
Yes, it’s very inside baseball – but also very central to the direction the Legislature will take in the future. It could be led by Gardiner and the leadership team that includes dogmatic conservatives like Thrasher and Negron. Or it could be a more unpredictable, and possibly more moderate body led by Latvala and those who support him.
This week, there were lots of rumors floating around the Senate that the Haridopolos-Thrasher conservative wing of the party was looking to replace Gardiner in the line of succession because of the fear that Gardiner wouldn’t be able to hold off a challenge from Latvala.
But nearly as soon as those rumors made it out of the 10th floor cafeteria at the Capitol, the Gardiner presidency campaign seemed to kick into high gear, as if to say, ‘thanks guys, but I can handle this.’
And by Thursday night Gardiner was claiming victory in the race for the 2014 presidency, though Thrasher was now openly questioning whether that would be so.
“I have secured enough signatures of the sitting members and the returning members for the Senate presidency in ‘14,” Gardiner said after two days of Capitol intrigue over whether he was being pushed aside by his own party.
But Thrasher, who like Latvala has been around the Capitol seemingly forever as a member who left the Legislature and later returned, sure sounded like a Gardiner opponent.
“I don’t think anybody has pledges until the day they get designated,” Thrasher said. “To me, that’s what it’s about. And in a year like this, when we have a big summer of a lot of elections, a lot of things can change, seems to me.”
All 40 Senate seats will be up for re-election in 2012 because of redistricting.
MEANWHILE, THERE’S A BUDGET TO WRITE
For some in the Senate, the wrangling over its future leadership was a sideshow to a more pressing issue: the session only has a couple weeks left and there’s a budget to write for the more immediate future. The session is early this year because of redistricting, so there’s plenty of time before the start of the fiscal year. But it is an election year, and lawmakers who have to run in new districts would like to get to it, not be here in May putting the finishing touches on a budget.
So the Senate passed its budget this week, which was probably the other big news. A couple of issues dominated the debate – the aforementioned fight over the University of South Florida’s budget got by far the most attention.
With Alexander putting a hold on some money for the university earlier, and then backing off, it was an interesting drama that overshadowed an otherwise pretty good story: the Senate managed to cobble together a balanced budget when there’s a tax-revenue shortfall, didn’t raise taxes, increased education spending by more than $1 billion and didn’t have massive protests at the Capitol over the cuts that have been suggested.
Still, even with the budget passing this week in the Senate, it doesn’t match up with the House yet, and the hard work is just beginning.
PIPPY LONGSHOT?
Also this week, one of the things that legislative leaders and Gov. Scott say is a big priority – legislation aimed at cracking down on personal injury protection or PIP insurance fraud – got moving again, passing in the House Economic Affairs Committee on Friday – but House Speaker Dean Cannon didn’t sound too confident that it was going to pass, priority or not.
“I don’t know whether they’ll be able to bring the House and Senate positions together before the end of session,” Cannon said of the PIP bill. If they don’t, it will have to wait until next year. “I’m not contemplating any special session on that issue at this time.,” Cannon said.
The bill (HB 119) would put restrictions on some reimbursements, and cap attorney fees, a provision not included in a Senate proposal. As lawmakers try to work out the differences in the budget, this issue will be secondary. Whether Scott, who has made it one of his main talking points, will push them to work out a bill – or even keep them in town until they do – is yet to be seen.
SORRY YOU MISSED THE 80′S, 90′S AND 2000′S WITH THE REST OF US
William Dillon spent 27 years in prison for a murder that authorities later said he couldn’t have committed. Since being released in 2008 he’s been trying to get someone to say they were sorry.
The House apologized on Friday with a $1.35 million claims award to Dillon. Several House members said it couldn’t pay him back for the years he spent in prison, but it was the least the state could do.
Dillon was in the gallery to watch as the House voted 107-5 for the bill (SB 2), which now returns to the Senate.
Passage of the bill was also a win of sorts for Haridopolos, who made the Dillon restitution a top priority last year, only to see the bill die in the waning hours of the session, caught up in back-and-forth politics between the House and Senate, the leadership and the mavericks. Dillon missed out on all the history that led up to the political wrangling that led to his claims bill failing last year – he missed out on a lot of things over the last three decades.
Opponents say the claim system is broken, and that the Legislature shouldn’t be in the business of making individual decisions about such cases. But the measure is almost certain to pass now that it has cleared the House where it failed last year.
STEINBERG QUITS
Rep. Richard Steinberg stepped down on Friday after admitting he’d sent repeated text messages anonymously to a married Miami prosecutor who didn’t want them. The prosecutor Marlene Fernandez-Karavetsos, asked whoever kept sending her the inappropriate messages to identify himself and to stop sending them – Steinberg didn’t. While she couldn’t figure out who they were coming from, the U.S. Secret Service had no problem and by midweek Steinberg was facing a looming story in the Miami Herald about the investigation. He confessed to the paper that he’d sent the messages and said he was sorry.
On Friday, Steinberg, who wasn’t in Tallahassee for the second half of the week, apologized again and then resigned. The Democrat from Miami Beach likely will be replaced in a special election.
URINE TROUBLE NOW
State agencies may be able to soon drug test workers after all. The governor ordered drug testing of state employees last year in an executive order, but it was blocked by the courts for most workers. But Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, has taken up the cause, pushing a bill (HB 1205) that would allow agencies, though not require them, to set up random drug testing plans for employees. The bill looks like it is on its way to passage, headed to the House floor after a vote this week in the State Affairs Committee. Civil liberties groups say it, too, will be found unconstitutional, and that there’s no evidence state workers are more likely to use drugs than anyone else. Backers say it’s just like in the private sector: if they know they might be tested they won’t use drugs.
BONDI JOINS CONTRACEPTIVE LAWSUIT
Just as the row over the federal rule requiring coverage of contraceptives seemed to subside a bit late this week, Florida got into the issue. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday announced she was joining six other state attorneys general in a lawsuit against the federal decision to require religious employers to offer health insurance that covers contraceptives and other services that violate the tenets of the employer’s affiliated religion.
“Government has no business forcing religious institutions and individuals to violate their sincerely held beliefs,” Bondi said in a statement. “This lawsuit is about protecting religious liberty and the rights of conscience, our most basic freedoms as Americans.” Bondi joined attorneys general from Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas in the lawsuit. Other plaintiffs include a Catholic high school, social services agencies and a nun, among others.
STORY OF THE WEEK: We’ve seen the future and it is here: the 2012-2013 budget was passed by the Senate setting up a conference with the House, while the 2014 Senate presidency contest got murky.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I’m not going anywhere,” Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, about his plans to be the Senate president in 2014. Or possibly referring to the prospects for his campaign?
By The News Service of Florida