Bank Robber Nabbed 20 Minutes After Crime
October 18, 2011
A suspected bank robber was apprehended within about 20 minutes of the crime Tuesday afternoon in Pensacola.
Ronald Stephen Witt, 42, of Pensacola was arrested around 2:50 p.m. near Beverly Parkway and W Street. He was charged with robbery, according to Pensacola Police Department Detective James Gore.
The incident occurred just before 2:30 p.m. at Pensacola Federal Credit Union on Garden Street. Police said Witt walked into the bank and handed a teller a note indicating it was a robbery. He then told her it was a robbery and demanded cash. No weapon was displayed, Officer Greg Stone said.
The teller complied and the suspect left with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police followed the suspect to the area of W Street and Beverly Parkway where he got out, fled on foot and was taken into custody after a foot pursuit.
Gore said all of the money was recovered in a bag near Beverly Parkway and Concordia. There were about four employees and no customers in the credit union during the robbery, according to police, and none were injured.
Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies also responded to the scene and assisted with the arrest.
Family Dollar Store Planned For Century
October 18, 2011
A new Family Dollar store is in the works for Century.
The 8,000 square foot discount retail store will be located at 9441 North Century Boulevard — that’s at the corner of North Century Boulevard and Green Street. The site was last occupied by Royal Pizza and Subs, which was destroyed by fire in July 2008. Prior to that, the property housed a barbecue restaurant. The 1.22 acre lot is located just south of the Food Giant grocery store.
Family Dollar has not formerly announced a new Century store, and there’s no word yet on the number of jobs the business will provide, or when the business will open.
Monday night, the Century Town Council approved a variance to allow the Family Dollar to have 30 parking spaces rather than the 40 that would currently be required by code.
Debbie Nickles, a consultant for the Town of Century, said it would likely take about eight weeks for various agencies to approve the project.
Family Dollar currently operates 6,800 stores in 44 states. Other Family Dollar Stores in the North Escambia area are located in Davisville, Cantonment, Pensacola and Atmore.
Pictured top: A typical Family Dollar store. Pictured top: A pizza restaurant located at 9441 North Century Boulevard burned in July 2008. Pictured inset: The property remained unoccupied after the fire. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
IMPACT 100 Announces $107K Grants
October 18, 2011
IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area has announced six local nonprofits who will receive $107,500 grants, including several that will have a direct impact on the North Escambia area.
The IMPACT 100 group has 645 members that has donated $1,000 in membership dues, which are distributed to non-profits each year.
Grant winners included:
- Pensacola Bay Baptist Association’s Health and Hope Clinic, which recently opened a second location in Century, to purchase equipment, expand diabetes care, add a nurse practitioner.
- Escambia County Public Schools Foundation to build an outdoor playground at the Roy Hyatt Environmental Center in Cantonment.
- Westgate Foundation to build a special needs playground at Westgate School.
- ARC Gateway, to purchase computer hardware and software to increase staff efficiency to allow more time to be spent with 750 children and adults with developmental disabilities.
- Ray of Hope of Northwest Florida to build wheelchair ramps for disabled residents.
- Pensacola Opera for a multipurpose facility in Pensacola.
According to Rick Hollis, director of the Health and Hope Clinic, the organization will be able to expand service hours in Century from the current Tuesday evenings only. The group will also be able to help with transportation costs for those from North Escambia that must travel to Pensacola for other care.
“This grant will be a blessing to the uninsured in the northern part of the county,” Hollis said, adding that the Health and Hope Clinic will be able to expand the number of patient-doctor visits by about 200 per month. (For more information on the new Century Health and Hope Clinic, click here for a previous article.)
Previous North Escambia winners of IMPACT 100 grants include $113,000 to the Leaning Post Ranch in Molino, a state-licensed facility and prevention program for developmentally disabled and at-risk young people, and $113,335 to the Century Branch Library to fund a childrens’ reading room and literacy center.
Pictured top: Susie Farthing and Rick Hollis of the Health and Hope Clinic with their $107,500 check from IMPACT 100. Courtesy photo. Pictured inset: The Century Health and Hope Clinic. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Deputies Conduct Century Clean Sweep; Five Arrested (With Photo Gallery)
October 18, 2011
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and several other agencies conducted an “Operation Clean Sweep” Monday morning in Century.
Five people were arrested on outstanding warrants during the operation for violation of probation or failure to appear. A total of 46 traffic citations were also issued during checkpoint on Old Flomaton Road, and Escambia County Code Enforcement opened 40 new code cases. The ESCO Sex Crimes Unit also made seven address verifications.
Over two tons of trash and debris was also collected.
The first arrest of the day was 51-year old Jose Phillip Galvan, who was taken into custody at a home on Cumbie Road on a violation of probation charge. Galvan remained in the Escambia County Jail early Tuesday where he was being held without bond.
Deputies the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office TAC Unit made another arrest a short time later in the 300 block of East Pond Street. Domonique Sade Fisher, 26, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for petty theft and two violation of probation warrants. She was released from the Escambia County Jail on $4,000 bond.
During the traffic checkpoint on Old Flomaton Road, 31-year old Johnny Bruce Pyles of Jay was arrested for driving with a revoked license. Deputies said he also had outstanding warrants from Santa Rosa County, and also from Escambia County, Alabama.
Details on the other two arrest made during Monday’s Clean Sweep were not available early Tuesday morning
Other groups participating in, or contributing toward, the Clean Sweep were Naval Air Technical Training Command, Escambia County Road Prison, ECUA, Roads and Bridges, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit, Allied Waste and Boyettes.
NorthEscambia.com was along for the ride as the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office TAC Unit hit the streets of Century Monday morning. For more photos, click here.
Pictured top: Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies make plans to look for a wanted suspect in Century. Pictured inset: Jose Phillip Galvan, 51, is arrested on Cumbie Lane on a violation of probation warrant. Pictured below: Deputies arrest Domonique Sade Fisher on failure to appear warrants and a warrant for petty theft on Pond Street in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Racy Images Found On Bracelets Given To Jay Elementary Students
October 18, 2011
Several slap bracelets given to Jay Elementary School students as incentive prizes contained racy images, and now the school is working to got get the bracelets back.
So far, the school has found only four of 160 bracelets distributed to students containing the hidden images. The students received the cloth covered bracelets as an incentive for raising funds for new computers but some of the students ripped off the cloth and found what was hidden underneath.
The bracelets were made out of recycled tape measure materials, and four of them depicted women in various poses and stages of dress beneath their cloth coverings.
The bracelets were provided by a Nashville company that orders them from China. The Tennessee company has stopped any additional shipments of the bracelets.
Jay Elementary is working to collect all of the bracelets from their students. They will be returned to the incentive company and exchanged for another prize.
Pictured: The recycled measuring tape (top) inside slap bracelets (below) given to Jay Elementary School students. Photos by WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Go Little Chiefs: Northview Plans Mini Cheerleading Clinic
October 18, 2011
The annual Northview Mini-Cheerleading Clinic will be held Thursday evening, giving area girls the chance to cheer at an upcoming Northview Chiefs game.
The clinic will be from from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m Thursday in the school gym. The clinic is open to children three-years old through the eighth grade. Cost is $10 per person, and t-shirts will be available for purchase the at the clinic.
The girls will perform during the October 21st Northview Chiefs football game at home against Freeport High School. They girls will receive free admission to the game,ribbon and a megaphone filled with goodies.
For questions, call Anna at Northview at (850) 327-6681.
Pictured: Mini-cheerleaders perform last year at Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Work For Minimum Wage? You’re Getting A Raise
October 18, 2011
Florida’s minimum wage for non-tipped employees will increase January 1 to $7.67 an hour, a 4.9 percent increase from the $7.31 an hour minimum for 2011, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Wages for tipped employees will rise to $4.65 an hour, up from $4.29.
The wage increase is based on the increase of the federal Consumer Price Index for urban wage workers in the southeastern United States. Following a 2004 constitutional amendment, Florida is among 10 states that automatically raise minimum wage rates.
The federal rate, now $7.25 an hour, must be raised by an act of Congress. The state was sued earlier this year for using an inflation calculation that reduced the annual increase for January 1 by factoring in a deflationary period in 2009.
Florida Debit Card Bill Would Prohibit Fees
October 18, 2011
Banks would be prohibited from charging customers monthly fees for debit card use under a measure filed in the state Legislature Monday. The proposal would also prevent consumers from being charged for not using their cards.
The bill (HB 375) would definitely affect nearly two-thirds of Florida banks, those regulated by the state. Whether it would affect the remainder, including some of the big national banks that customers are mad at, is in dispute. The banking industry says those federally regulated banks wouldn’t be covered, but the bill sponsor argues that a 2009 Supreme Court decision opens the door for the state to put limits on those banks as well.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, who said banks are trying to recoup losses accrued elsewhere.
“The banks sold us all on the idea of a cashless society, and now that we’ve bought into their promise of free, easy access to our own money, they want to charge us for it,” Clemens said. “Anyone with a sense of decency should be outraged.”
Last month, Bank of America announced it would begin charging customers $5 a month for debit card use, joining SunTrust and Regions banks, which already impose such fees.
Bankers argue that the state can’t regulate federally regulated institutions, and so BOA wouldn’t be covered by the prohibition anyway, said Anthony DiMarco, a lobbyist for the Florida Banking Association.
But Clemens disagrees, citing the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cuomo v. Clearing House Association, a case out of New York, in which the court by a 5-4 ruling decided that a federal banking regulation did not preempt the ability of states to enforce their own fair-lending laws.
“To me it’s clear that the Cuomo case allows states to be able to not only regulate local banks but also federal banks,” Clemens said.
Banking industry officials oppose the measure either way, saying such fees are needed to recoup costs and make up for federal legislation passed in 2010 limiting their ability to charge retailers for swiping their debit cards.
“Generally, we are opposed to anything that restricts our ability to determine fees,” DiMarco said.
The federal law limits the amount of money banks can charge merchants when customers use a debit card. Banks say the federal law will cost them an estimated $6.6 billion per year in revenue. Rather than recoup their costs by boosting fees to retailers, banks are turning to consumers to pay the bill.
An industry survey conducted by Bankrate.com in August found ATM charges at their highest rates for the seventh straight year. The higher fees coincide with a decline in free checking accounts and higher penalties for non-sufficient funds.
Clemens’ measure is one of a number of bills affecting banking fees and consumer credit as the market adjusts to federal legislation, a sluggish economy, and cash strapped businesses.
Earlier this month, Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, filed a measure (SB 438) that would raise the maximum allowed interest rates on some loans of less than $25,000. An identical measure (HB 275) was filed by Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview.
The consumer credit bill has come under fire from consumer groups that say now is not the time to raise the portion of loans that can be subjected to higher interest rates. “There is nothing in this bill that is good for consumers,” said Brad Ashwell, the legislative advocate for Florida Public Interest Research Group.
By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida
Northview, Tate Split Volleyball Games
October 18, 2011
The Tate Aggies defeated the Northview Chiefs Monday in varsity high school volleyball action, while the junior varsity Lady Chiefs beat Tate.
Varsity
Tate defeated Northview in three straight, 25-9, 25-17, 25-14.
Josie Docuette had three aces, three kills, a block and a dig for the Lady Chiefs. Payton Hadley contributed one ace, four assists, one block and a dig, while Morgan Payne had two kills and six digs.
For Tate, Maia Nguyen had three aces, 14 assists, four digs; Madeline Sellers had a block and a kill. Bianca Brown contributed two aces, nine kills and five digs, as Perhawna Williams added tow blocks. Kyla Muhammad had one ace, seven kills, one block and four digs for the Aggies.
The varsity Lady Chiefs are 4-17 overall, 3-5 in district play.
Junior Varsity
Northview defeated Tate 25-23, 24-26, 16-14.
Danielle Steaham had four kills, two assists, two blocks and two digs for the JV Lady Chiefs, as Hannah Fiellin posted three aces, two kills, three assists and two digs. Tiffani Pritchett added three aces and six assists, and Rebecca Grim had one ace, two kills, one assist and two digs.
The JV Lady Chiefs are 10-8 overall, 4-2 in the district.
Northview will end their regular season on the road Tuesday at Escambia. The junior varsity takes to the court at 4:30 p.m., while the varsity plays at 5:30 p.m.
Two Cited After Bratt Wreck
October 17, 2011
Two people were cited after a two vehicle crash Monday afternoon on West Highway 4.
The Florida Highway Patrols says 80-year old Martez G. Dortch of Century was westbound on Highway 4 near Dortch Road when she attempted to turn into a driveway and traveled into the path of a 2002 Ford Mustang driven by Delorise A. Milam, 26, of Century.
Milam braked in an attempt to avoid hitting Dortch, but the front of the Mustang collided with the Dortch’s 2007 Ford Taurus.
Dortch and Milam received minor injuries but were not transported to the hospital. Milam’s passenger, 45-year old Kimberly G. Honeywell of Century, was transported to Jay Hospital with minor injuries.
Dortch was charged with turning left in front of approaching traffic, and Milam was cited with having no insurance.
Pictured above: One person from this Ford Mustang was injured in a two vehicle crash Monday afternoon in Bratt. Pictured below: The driver of this vehicle was not injured. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
