Cantonment Farmer’s Market Opens 2012 Season
May 6, 2012
The Market at St Monica’s Episcopal Church in Cantonment kicked off their 2012 season Saturday.
The community farmer’s market is open on the first and third Saturdays of every month, May through October as local farmers and artisans gather in the church parking lot at 699 South Highway 95A.
For a photo gallery, click here.
“Like many other communities across the country, we are seeing a growth in demand for locally grown produce and fresh prepared food products,” said Viven Welch, market manager. “We have ramped up our vendor recruitment and promotion efforts to meet this demand and expect to offer the community access to more vendors and a broader range of produce and prepared food in the 2012 season.”
Vendors taking part in opening day included Smocked With Love, Pawless Mini Farm, Po Man’s Pickins, M&K Mayhaws, Ladybug Acres Natural Growers, Tracie’s Candles, Susan’s Hot Dogs, Polly & Glenda’s Baked Goods (they sold out by 10 a.m.), Jackie’s Sno-cones & Popcorn, Lyle & Shirley, Mr. V’s DJ Service, St. Monica’s Quilters, ECW and more.
Organizers said opening day festivities are just the start of the activities planned for the 2nd season. Future plans include canning demonstrations, along with agricultural, nutrition and health information.
For more information about Market’s vendors, special events, or schedule, click here, call the church office at (850) 937-0001, or email communications@st-monicas.org.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured: Opening Day of The Market at St Monica’s Episcopal Church in Cantonment. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Hundreds Attend Yard Sale For Baby Blaze
May 6, 2012
Hundreds of people attended a benefit yard sale in Flomaton Saturday for baby Blaze Johnson. He is currently in an Atlanta hospital awaiting his third open heart surgery in two months.
For more information about Baby Blaze, click here for an earlier story.
Pictured: A “Baby Blaze” benefit yard sale Saturday morning in Flomaton. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Take Series With 4-0 Win
May 6, 2012
Pensacola starter J.C. Sulbaran and reliever Justin Freeman combined to shut out the Jackson offense, while right fielder P.J. Phillips and left fielder Cody Puckett each homered to give the Blue Wahoos a 4-0 victory over the Generals in front of another sell-out crowd of 5,038 on Saturday night at Pensacola’s bayfront stadium. The victory gave the Blue Wahoos a 3-2 victory in the series.
It was also the tenth time in 14 home dates this year that Pensacola has hosted a capacity crowd. The Blue Wahoos started the night leading the Southern League in average attendance at just over 4,800 in 14 openings.
Sulbaran (7.0 IP, 5 H, 9 SO) was solid in his seven shutout frames, fanning nine batters and yielding just five hits to earn his second win of the season, while Freeman (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) gave up just one hit over the final two innings. Jackson starting pitcher Danny Hultzen (4.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 4 SO), the second-best prospect in the Seattle Mariners’ system according to Baseball America, suffered the loss to fall to 2-3 after giving up two earned runs on seven walks in 4.1 frames.
After CF Ryan LaMarre scored on a wild pitch in the second frame Phillips and Puckett each left the yard with solo homers, with Phillips blasting a lead-off shot in the fifth, while Puckett hit his an inning later. Phillips’ homer was his first longball since August 19, 2009, while it was Puckett’s third roundtripper of the season. Pensacola tacked on an additional insurance run in the sixth when C Koyie Hill came home on DH Yordanys Perez’s run-scoring single.
Generals 2B Nick Franklin (2-4, 1 2B) and RF Johermyn Chavez (2-4) each collected two hits in the contest, while no Blue Wahoos hitters recorded a multi-hit game. Pensacola 3B Henry Rodriguez tallied a single in the seventh frame to extend his hitting streak to a team-record 13 games. Since April 22, the infielder has hit .408 (20-49) with ten runs, two doubles and eight RBI.
The Blue Wahoos now head back on the road for a five-game series with the Mississippi Braves, the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. First pitch for the opening game of the series is set for 5:00 pm, with RHP Tim Gustafson expected to take the hill for Pensacola. Mississippi’s starting pitcher for the first game has not yet been announced.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: J.C. Sulbaran fired seven shutout innings in Pensacola’s 4-0 win Saturday night over Jackson. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photo: Supermoon
May 6, 2012
Saturday night’s supermoon, seen in the photo above, was the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Firefighters, Deputies Respond To Fire, Dispute Over Abandoned Building
May 5, 2012
Firefighters and deputies responded a to reported building fire on Highway 97 in Walnut Hill Friday night.
About 8 p.m., someone reported the building in the 7400 block of Highway 97, near Ernest Ward Middle School, to be on fire. When the first firefighters from the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue arrived on scene, they found a small pile of boards and other debris on fire directly next to the building, which housed a community store and served as a residence years ago. The building had been abandoned since it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ivan.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene due to a dispute between individuals claiming ownership and rights to the building. One of those individuals claiming rights to the building began demolishing it with a tractor Friday evening and had started the small fire. Another person with a claim to the building told deputies that she did not want the person to tear the building down.
According to Escambia County Property Appraiser records, the building sits on different parcels of property, including the state’s right of way along Highway 97.
There were no injuries and no charges filed in connection with the incident.
Pictured above: Firefighters work to completely extinguish a small trash and debris pile next to an abandoned building in Walnut Hill Friday night. Pictured below: The building has been abandoned since it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ivan. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
The Power Of Purple: Relay For Life At Tate High (With Gallery)
May 5, 2012
The annual Relay for Life of Greater Escambia got underway Friday evening at Tate High School.
Dozens of teams and hundreds of people took part in the annual event which has raised over $500,000 for cancer research in about 10 years.
Teams in the event were from Cantonment, Molino, Gonzalez, Cottage Hill, Ensley and surrounding areas. The even was fformerly called the North Pensacola Relay for Life.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: The 2012 Relay for Life of Greater Escambia got underway Friday event at Tate High School. Pictured inset: Celebrating during the Survivor’s Lap. Pictured below: The moon rises early Friday evening over “HOPE” luminarias at Tate High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Molino Carjacking Under Investigation
May 5, 2012
A Friday night car carjacking in Molino is under investigation.
The incident happened in the 5000 block of Schaag Road. The victim reported that a male in his 30’s approached them and first asked for a ride. Then, the suspect reportedly took the victim’s 2008 Ford Focus at knife point.
The suspect was last seen headed south toward Barrineau Park Road. There were no injuries reported.
The incident remains under investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Further details have not been released.
Photos: NHS Presents ‘The Dastardly Dr. Devereaux’
May 5, 2012
The Northview Spring Musical “The Dastardly Dr. Devereaux”, was presented Friday night.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Annie Wiedel, click to enlarge.
Jackson Tops Pensacola To Even Series
May 5, 2012
Five different Jackson hitters recorded a multi-hit game, while Generals starting pitcher Brandon Maurer kept the Pensacola offense at bay by allowing just one earned run in seven frames, as the Blue Wahoos fell 10-2 on Friday night in front of another sell-out crowd of 5,038 at Pensacola’s multi-use stadium. The capacity crowd was the ninth in 13 home dates for the Blue Wahoos in 2012.
The Generals plated got off to a quick start with a six-run second frame thanks to three hits and four walks. Included in the inning were two-run singles from DH Joe Dunigan and 1B Rich Poythress, while C Jesus Sucre also drove in a run with a base knock. Jackson would be held quiet until the final frame, when they would bring across four more scores.
Pensacola got their first run of the contest in the fourth with a two-out rally. RF Josh Fellhauer walked with two outs and advanced to third on 2B Brodie Greene’s single, before scoring on C Koyie Hill’s RBI single to right. The Blue Wahoos would also tally another run in the eighth on 1B Joel Guzman’s run-scoring base knock to left.
Maurer (7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) earned the victory to improve to 2-0 on the year after yielding just an earned run on six hits in his solid seven innings of work, while Pensacola starter Tim Crabbe (4.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO) suffered the loss to drop to 1-2 after allowing six earned runs on six hits in his four frames. Blue Wahoos reliever Mark Serrano (3.0 IP, 2 H, 4 SO) turned in a strong outing in relief, firing three shutout innings.
Dunigan (2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Poythress (2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI), along with 3B Francisco Martinez (2-6, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI), RF Johermyn Chavez (3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI) and C Jesus Sucre (2-4, 2 RBI) all collected two or more hits for the Generals. Greene (3-4) led all Blue Wahoos batters with three hits on the evening, while Guzman (2-4, 1 RBI) also recorded a pair of hits.
3B Henry Rodriguez reached base with a single in the eighth to extend his hit streak to 12 games, which is now the longest stretch by a Blue Wahoos player this year. Rodriguez in addition currently rides a 14-game on-base streak.
With the series tied at 2-2, Pensacola and Jackson will meet for the final game of the series, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 pm on Saturday night. The Blue Wahoos are expected to start RHP Pedro Villarreal in the rubber match, while the Generals are slated to send LHP Danny Hultzen, the Mariners’ second-best prospect according to Baseball America, to take the bump.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: Brodie Greene tallied three hits in Pensacola’s 10-2 loss Friday night. NorthEscambia.com photo by Chris Nelson, click to enlarge.
Man Busted For Explicit Texts, Arranging Sex With 14-Year Old
May 5, 2012
An Escambia County man was arrested Friday afternoon for explicit communication with what he thought was a 14-year girl and agreeing to meet her for sex.
Alan Lynsdale Hamilton, 48, began the text message conversations with was really an undercover Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigator with the department’s computer crimes unit.
“During the communications Hamilton engaged in a sexually explicit conversation and agreed to meet the fourteen year-old on May 4, 2012, for the purpose of having sex,” according to Deputy Matt Baxter, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
On Friday, Baxter said Hamilton went to the Deluna Lanes Bowling Alley, with the intention of picking up the 14-year old girl for sex.
When he arrived at the location he was taken into custody by members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Hamilton was charged with one count each of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, and traveling to meet a juvenile for sex after soliciting them via a computer. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $10,000 bond.