Tate Wins Again
March 31, 2012
The Tate High School Aggies improved to 15-1 on the season Friday with a 6-5 win over Washington High School.
The junior varsity Aggies also beat Washington, 10-6.
The Aggies will travel to Escambia High Tuesday, April 3 with the varsity taking the field against the Gators at 7 p.m.
DUI Charges Pending After Nine Mile Road Wreck
March 31, 2012
DUI charges are pending against a Pace man following a single vehicle wreck on Nine Mile Road Friday afternoon.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 54-year old Frank Amore was eastbound on Nine Mile Road when he veered off the roadway striking a curb and a traffic road sign. He managed to maneuver his 2004 Dodge Ram back onto Nine Mile Road before hitting another curb and then colliding with a the business sign of “Net Strike Arena”.
Amore was transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital with minor injuries.
According to the FHP, DUI and other charges against Amore are pending the results of a blood test.
A Little Good News On The Unemployment Front
March 31, 2012
The latest job numbers released Friday showed a little bit of good news in the three-county North Escambia area — while Florida’s state unemployment rate dropped to the lowest level since early 2009.
Escambia County’s unemployment fell half a percentage point from 9.5 percent in January to 9.0 percent in February. There were 587 jobs gained during the period, for a total Escambia County unemployment of 12,254 people. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 10.3 percent.
Santa Rosa County unemployment slipped from 9.0 percent in January to 8.6 percent in February. Santa Rosa County added 344 jobs during the period, with a total of 6,067 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 9.2 percent.
In Escambia County, Alabama, unemployment dropped slightly from 9.6 percent in February to 9.5 percent in February. That represented 9 people returning to work during the month. There were 1,381 people unemployed in the county during the month.
Florida’s unemployment rate dipped in February to 9.4 percent, the lowest since February 2009, the state labor agency reported Friday. The rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than in January, and nearly a point and a half lower than a year ago. The Department of Economic Opportunity said, however, there remained 869,000 people looking for work out of a state labor force of just under 9.3 million, and Florida’s rate remains well above the nation’s jobless rate of 8.3 percent.
Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, at 7.6 percent in February, was down from January’s rate of 7.8 percent and was below the year-ago rate of 9.3 percent.
The unemployment figures do not include discouraged workers who have given up on their job search or part-time employees who would rather be working full time. If those are added, the jobless rate typically climbs by several points.
Cow, Dog And Woman Cause Traffic Problems On Highway 29
March 30, 2012
A cow, a dog and a woman caused traffic problems on Highway 29 just south of Barrineau Park Road late this morning.
The woman was chasing a small dog that was chasing a cow into traffic about 11:40 a.m., forcing drivers to steer clear of them. The woman, the dog and the cow were darting across all four lanes of Highway 29 as Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies and a Florida Highway Patrol trooper worked to stop traffic and corral the wayward trio.
The woman eventually chased the dog — which was still chasing the cow — into a wooded area east of Highway 29. After the lady was able to catch the dog, she fell to ground overheated and with exhaustion. She was evaluated on scene by Escambia County EMS.
The dog was returned to its owner. And after a period of freedom in the woods, deputies were able to put the cow back out to pasture.
Pictured top: An 18-wheeler driver brakes to avoid hitting a dog and cow in southbound Highway 29 in Molino late Friday morning. Pictured inset: Deputy Melissa Sterling took custody of th dog. Pictured below: A woman who became overheated while chasing the dog and cow around Highway 29 and a wooded area is helped to an ambulance for evaluation. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
MIRA Awards Honor Creative High School Students
March 30, 2012
The Escambia County Public Schools Foundation hosted the 2012 Mira Creative Arts Awards program Thursday night. Sixty-nine of Escambia County’s most creative high school seniors were selected as recipients of the 2012 Mira Creative Arts Awards. They were honored at a dinner at New World Landing.
In 1987, a group of teachers at Tate High School created the Mira Awards to recognize talented and creative students in the arts and sciences. The following year, the committee approached the Foundation to bring the awards under its umbrella and to initiate county-wide student participation each year in the areas of writing, performing and visual arts, and other disciplines. The term “Mira” is Latin for the name of the brightest star in the constellation Cetus.
Winners received engraved medallions, a book scholarship from Pensacola State College, and memberships from the Pensacola Museum of Art and Artel Gallery.
This year’s Mira Creative Arts Awards winners are:
Northview High School: Jacob Baldwin, Instrumental Music; Joseph Baldwin, Instrumental Music; Josie Doucette, Journalism; Alissa Fiellin, Graphic Art; Cory King, Instrumental Music; Melissa Jayne Moretz, Instrumental Music; Kiani Okahashi, Visual Art; Chelsea Parham, Theatre; Justin Purvis, Theatre; Darwin Eugene (D.J.) Robinson, II, Graphic Arts.
Tate High School: Amber Baker, Drama; Tabetha Champitto, Chorus; Katelyn Clairain, Photography; Jacob Dearrington, Instrumental Music; Adam DiMercurio, Debate; Angela Howard, Chorus; Amanda Alzira Medeiros, Visual Art; Matthew Perez-Rex, Pottery; Chris Snyder, Instrumental Music; Victoria Veith, TV Production.
West Florida High School: Kelli Brock, Instrumental Music; Lexi Buker, Journalism; T. J. Grier, Journalism; Katherine Ledbetter, Visual Art; Coral Elizabeth Molchanoff, Theatre;
Michaela Rodriguez, Instrumental Music; Julia L. Spear, Multimedia/Broadcasting; Hunter Sport, Journalism; Jessica Brooke Touchstone, Drama; Jerrad Dusan Vunovich, Visual Art.
Escambia High: Megan Beebe, Web Design, Instrumental Music; Nike Evers, Visual Arts; Stephen French, Instrumental Music; Brittany Horton, Vocal Music; Laura Krauss, Instrumental Music; Abigail Lord, Journalism; Monique Queen-Smith, Theatre; Andria Quinlan, Digital Multimedia; Morgan Sasser, Theatre; Andrea Marie Ulm, Culinary Art.
Pensacola High School: R. J. Burns, Instrumental Music; Tiffany Chiang, Visual Art; Jessica Grandrup, Instrumental Music; Rachel Hovell, Creative Achievement; Alys Mead, Drama’ Jisung Moon, Creative Writing; Sara Omlor, Visual Art; Aaron Rogers, Instrumental Music; Carson Schmidt, Drama; Danielle K. Telhiard, Photography.
Pine Forest High School: Meagan Desirae Jean Evans, Visual Art; Giselle Collie, Orchestra; Kevin Fails, Instrumental Music; Alexander Daniel Gueits, Journalism; Catherine M. Hobbs, Culinary Arts; Anastasia Larkins, Instrumental Music; Jeremy Nelson, Theatre; Ramel Price, Orchestra; Sara Thomas, Visual Art.
Washington High School: Nicholas C. Bridges, Vocal Music; Chelsey Domschke, Photography; Luke Evans, Drama; Gabriel Friedman, Drama; Gerard Gunner, Instrumental Music; Lindsay Riddle, Drama; Brandon Spencer, Instrumental Music; Luke C. Vest, Visual Art; Marie Videau, Drama; Joycelyn Woods, Instrumental and Vocal Music.
Fire Heavily Damages School Bus; 12 Students Escape Injury
March 30, 2012
Fire heavily damaged an Escambia County school bus that had a dozen elementary students on board this morning.
The fire erupted about 6:50 a.m. in bus 2-99 on Thompson Road near Crary Road, just south of Century. The fire destroyed the dash and driver’s area of the bus and caused heavy smoke and heat damage throughout.
All 12 Byrneville Elementary School students on the bus and the driver escaped without injury.
“That’s why we practice; they know how to get out,” Byrneville Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan said. “Procedures were followed and everybody was safe. I’ve very thankful to God for that.”
The Century and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to the blaze.
Pictured: Fire heavily damaged this school bus Friday morning near Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Man With Terrorism Book, Scooby Snacks Busted Searching For Power Plant
March 30, 2012
An Alabama man with a book on terrorism and Scoobie Snacks that said he was looking for Gulf Power’s Crist Plant was arrested in Century on a drug charge.
About 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted a traffic stop in Century on a 2001 Dodge truck occupied by Jason Corey Dykes, age 29, of Theodore. Ala.
When deputies asked Dykes where he was headed in a hurry, he told them he was looking for the Gulf Power Crist Plant, which is actually located about 35 miles south of Century. When Dykes was asked why he was looking for Gulf Power’s generating plant, he responded that he was unemployed but had once worked there.
Dykes consented to a search of his vehicle, which turned up a wooden pipes that Dykes said were used to smoke marijuana and a metal scale in the center console, according to an arrest report. Deputies also reported finding the book “The Newest Explosion of Terrorism”, a sealed and unopened disposable camera, a cigarette box containing four Scooby Snacks, potpouri/”spice” bags that were empty and a small bag containing unknown seeds.
According to deputies, Dykes said he was looking for the power plant to seek employment. He also said the terrorism book was purchased as a prank by his girlfriend at a Goodwill Store.
“Dykes advised that he was a not a terrorist and did not wish to blow anything up,” the arrest report states.
Dykes was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and released from the Escambia County Jail on a $250 bond. He was also issued a traffic citation for no working tag lights.
Scott Signs Medicaid Bill; Escambia Could Lose $6 Million
March 30, 2012
Gov. Rick Scott signed a contentious Medicaid billing measure late Thursday, angering counties that will have to pay tens of millions of dollars in disputed health-care charges that have piled up for years.
The bill is expected to cost Escambia County about $6 million, while Santa Rosa Count is expected to be out over $600,000.
And the bill will also impact patients, limiting the number of times that non-pregnant adults on Medicaid can visit a hospital emergency room to six a year.
Scott said the Agency for Health Care Administration would work with counties to soften HB 5301.
But the most contentious part of the measure will require counties to pay back years of disputed Medicaid bills unless they can prove to an administrative judge that the bills were unwarranted.
Counties argue that the state should fix its bill system, which they say is plagued with errors, before using the withholding mechanism in the bill to force counties to pay 85 percent of bills that might or might not be valid. Lawmakers who supported the measure said they should have been paying their bills all along.
The counties would have three years to pay back the money, at a cost of about $77.5 million, according to the state; the Florida Association of Counties argues that the measure will cost governments nearly $155.6 million.
“I respectfully acknowledge the concern this provision may create for some counties,” Scott wrote in a letter announcing his signature. ” … To that end, I have pledged to the counties that AHCA and my staff will work diligently with them to certify that any billings for which counties are charged are accurate and valid.”
Scott also said AHCA officials will visit every county in the state to talk about problems with the billing system.
Even so, FAC President Doug Smith issued a statement blasting the move.
“While we appreciate the Governor’s commitment to certify accurate billings, the bottom line is that H.B. 5301 makes those errors the law of the land, leaving taxpayers on the hook for Tallahassee’s multi-million dollar accounting mess,” Smith said. “This bill represents the very worst in bureaucratic inefficiency and serves as a splendid example of what taxpayers resent about government.”
Smith said the counties were “considering all of our options” in responding to the law. He did not elaborate on what those options might include.
The bill also allows the children of state workers to get subsidized health care coverage through the KidCare system.
The News Service Florida contributed to this report.
Ready, Set, Go: Ernest Ward Begins Track Season (With Gallery)
March 30, 2012
Middle School track and field season got underway Thursday in Escambia County.
The Ernest Ward Middle School Eagles traveled to Pensacola to compete against Woodham, Warrington and Brown Barge middle schools. Results from the meet were not immediately available from host school Woodham.
For a photo gallery from the meet, click here.
Pictured top: Ernest Ward’s Jensyn Warner leads the pack in the girls 800 meter Thursday afternoon at Woodham Middle School in Pensacola. Pictured inset: Hadley Woodfin runs the girls 4×100 relay for the Eagles. Pictured: Ernest Ward competed in their first track meet of the season Thursday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Gets 25 Years For Drug Trafficking
March 30, 2012
An Escambia County man will spend a mandatory 25 years in prison and was hit with a half million dollar fine for trafficking in hydrocodone.
Roderick Jones receive the sentence this week from Judge Jan Shackelford. Under the sentence, he will receive no gain time and must serve the full 25 years, according to State Attorney Bill Eddins.
This defendant was part of the undercover “Operation Anything for a Buck”. The storefront was an eight month operation between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, and other law enforcement agencies as well as the First Circuit State Attorneys Office. The operation recovered over 270 firearms, as well as drugs and stolen property ranging from jewelry, tools, cameras, and other electronic devices. A total of 75 people were arrested in connection with the undercover operation.
On July 18, 2011, Roderick Jones went into the undercover storefront and sold a trafficking amount of hydrocodone pills to undercover officers. Jones has 16 more cases pending in connection with this operation. These cases are currently set for trial on April 2, 2012. Of the pending cases, he faces multiple 25-year minimum mandatory sentences for drug trafficking charges.