Birth: Tyler Rex Walz
August 14, 2011
Chris and Misty Walz of Pensacola are proud to announce the birth of their son, Tyler Rex Walz. Tyler came into the world on July 18, 2011, at West Florida Hospital. He weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.
Paternal grandparents are Rex & Ruth Walz of Molino, and maternal grandparents are Leslie & Paula Poston, also of Molino.
Century Finalizes Ordinance To More Than Double Business Tax Rates
August 13, 2011
The Town of Century has finalized an ordinance that will more than double the town’s business taxes effective the fiscal year that begins October 1.
The average business tax receipt — the permit required to conduct business in the town — will jump from the current $25 to $55. Other business categories will increase more substantially, such as pharmacies to $100, entertainment establishments to $121 and factories to $132.
The town council will hold the first reading of the ordinance Monday night. A second reading must be held at a public meeting before the ordinance becomes law.
Under the new ordinance, anyone that engages in a business in Century that does not have a required business license could be subject to a penalty of $250 per offense plus civil actions and court costs.
The ordinance also requires “secondhand dealers” — those that deal in used secondhand or damaged articles by purchasing and selling them — to keep records on every transaction that will be open to inspection by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The business tax receipt rates are being copied from the small town of Fellsmere, Florida, because Century failed to update their business license regulations and fees as required by the state by 2008, forcing the town to backtrack and fix the error.
In 1971, the responsibility of issuing building licenses in Florida shifted from the state to local governments. Century adopted a business license schedule in 1981. But following the 2005 to 2006 Florida hurricanes, Florida mandated that the business licenses should no longer be called a “license”, but rather a “tax”.
State law gave Century three choices: adopt the 1971 state rates and business classes, adopt the rates set by Escambia County (currently $26.25 for all businesses), or find a schedule of rates adopted properly by another Florida municipality such as Fellsmere.
At last report, there were 56 companies and individuals that held a businesses license in Century, generating only about $1,400 per year in revenue.
To read the complete ordinance, click here.
Pictured: Food Giant (top) and Whataburger (inset) are just two businesses facing an increase in the business tax in Century.
Expect Delays On Highway 29 Through Tuesday In North Escambia
August 13, 2011
Drivers can expect delays on Highway 29 from Century to Cantonment through Tuesday.
Weather permitting, crews from Transfield Services will perform routine maintenance along Highway 29 between Neal Road in Cantonment and Tedder Road in Century.
This will be a moving operating, according to the Florida Department of Transportation, causing minor delays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily.
“It is important for drivers to stay alert and be patient for their safety as much as for the safety of construction crews,” Terry Sanders Branton, FDOT spokesperson, said.
Escambia Man Guilty Of Manslaughter
August 13, 2011
An Escambia County man was found guilty of manslaughter.
Alberto Leslie had been charged with second degree murder, but a jury returned a verdict for the lesser charge of manslaughter late Friday night. He will be sentenced in mid-September.
Leslie was accused in the shooting death of Brandon Stovall at the Twin Oaks Apartments in Warrington in 2010. Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a shots fired disturbance at the Twin Oaks Drive apartment complex. When they arrived, they found the victim lying in the street and a Vice Security officer holding the suspect at gunpoint. Stovall was pronounced dead on the scene by Escambia County EMS.
Sales Tax Holiday Continues (With Printable School Supply Lists)
August 13, 2011
Shoppers can take advantage of the Florida’s break from the state sales tax on items today and Sunday.
The break from the 6 percent state sales tax and any local option sales taxes applies to clothing, shoes, and certain accessories selling for $75 or less, and certain school supplies selling for $15 or less. (Click here for a list.)
School starts Monday, August 22 in Escambia County. Here are the school supply lists from each elementary school and middle school in the county.
(High schools typically do not have a general supply list. Students are advised of their supply needs in each class.)
North Escambia Area Schools:
- Bratt Elementary
- Byrneville Elementary
- Jim Allen Elementary
- Molino Park Elementary
- Ernest Ward Middle
- Ransom Middle
Complete Escambia County Lists:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
- Bellview Elementary
- Beulah Elementary
- Blue Angels Elementary
- Bratt Elementary
- Brentwood Elementary
- Byrneville Elementary
- Cook Elementary
- Cordova Park Elementary
- Ensley Elementary
- Ferry Pass Elementary
- Global Learning Academy
- Hellen Caro Elementary
- Holm Elementary
- Jim Allen Elementary
- Lincoln Park Elementary
- Lipscomb Elementary
- Longleaf Elementary
- McArthur Elementary
- McMillan Pre-K
- Molino Park Elementary
- Montclair Elementary
- Myrtle Grove Elementary
- Navy Point Elementary
- Oakcrest Elementary
- Pine Meadow Elementary
- Pleasant Grove Elementary
- Scenic Heights Elementary
- Semmes Elementary
- Sherwood Elementary
- Suter Elementary
- Warrington Elementary
- Weis Elementary
- West Pensacola Elementary
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
- Bailey Middle
- Bellview Middle
- Brown Barge Middle
- Ernest Ward Middle
- Ferry Pass Middle
- Ransom Middle
- Warrington Middle
- Woodham Middle
- Workman Middle
Another Appeals Court Rejects Federal Health Care Law
August 13, 2011
Calling it an”unprecedented exercise of congressional power,” a federal appeals court Friday sided with Florida and 25 other states in rejecting a plan that would require almost all Americans to have health insurance in 2014.
The insurance requirement, known as the individual mandate, is a linchpin of the health-system overhaul that President Obama and congressional Democrats approved in 2010.
But a divided 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that the mandate is unconstitutional, saying it is “unprecedented, lacks cognizable limits and imperils our federalist structure.”
“This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority: the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives,” Chief Judge Joel Dubina and Judge Frank M. Hull wrote in the 207-page majority opinion.
But Judge Stanley Marcus wrote a stinging dissent, siding with the Obama administration’s argument that the mandate is allowed under the constitution’s Commerce Clause.
“The parade of horribles said to follow ineluctably from upholding the individual mandate includes the federal government’s ability to compel us to purchase and consume broccoli, buy General Motors vehicles and exercise three times a week,” Marcus wrote. “However, acknowledging the constitutionality of the individual mandate portends no such impending doom.”
Former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum spearheaded the challenge to the health overhaul, immediately filing suit last year in U.S. District Court in Pensacola after Obama signed the law.
The case, which was joined by other states, the National Federation of Independent Business and two individuals, has become perhaps the most closely watched challenge to the law, which Republicans derisively call “Obamacare.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is ultimately expected to decide the constitutionality of the overhaul. But Florida Republicans praised the appeals-court ruling Friday.
“It is critical that this case be expedited to the United States Supreme Court so that we can put this job-killing federal government mandate behind us and begin making the meaningful improvements our healthcare system needs without infringing on the liberties of Americans,” said Gov. Rick Scott, who has made opposition to the law one of his signature issues.
Florida CHAIN, a health-advocacy group that backs the overhaul, said the court decision was disappointing. But with the dispute headed to the Supreme Court, the group said Florida should move forward with the law, which is known as the “Affordable Care Act.”
“Implementation of the (law) is critical to the health and well-being of Floridians,” Florida CHAIN said in a statement.
In finding the individual mandate unconstitutional, the appeals court upheld part of a January ruling by Pensacola federal judge Roger Vinson. But the court overturned another part of Vinson’s ruling, which said the entire health-care law should be tossed out because the individual mandate could not be separated from other changes approved by Congress.
Also, the appeals court agreed with the Obama administration on the law’s massive expansion of the Medicaid program, which is part of a multi-pronged strategy to expand health coverage.
Florida and other states have fought the expansion, accusing Washington of “coercion.” They contend they would have to go along with the expansion or face the possibility of losing billions of dollars in federal funding for Medicaid.
The court, however, ruled the Medicaid portion of the law was not “unduly coercive,” noting that the federal government will pick up almost all of the initial costs after the expansion takes effect in 2014. Also, the court said that states in the past have faced the choice of complying with Medicaid changes or giving up funding.
“(The) Medicaid-participating states were warned from the beginning of the Medicaid program that Congress reserved the right to make changes to the program,” the judges wrote.
While the Medicaid issue is important to states, the individual mandate is the most legally — and politically — volatile issue in the fight about the Affordable Care Act. People who do not comply with the mandate would have to pay financial penalties.
The Obama administration argues that such a mandate is critical to dramatically reducing the number of uninsured people in the country.
It contends that the Commerce Clause allows such a mandate, at least in part because of “cost shifting” that occurs when uninsured people need health care and cannot pay for it. Such scenarios lead to other people paying higher insurance premiums or taxes to cover the costs.
Marcus, an appointee of former Democratic President Bill Clinton, pointed to the large number of people who lack health insurance and said their inability to pay for health care has a “profound effect” on commerce.
“There is a less of a chance that an individual will go through his entire life without ever consuming health-care services than there is that he will win the Irish Sweepstakes at the very moment he is struck by lightning,” Marcus wrote. “Nor are there more than a miniscule number of Americans who could afford to take on the financial risk of a personal medical catastrophe out of their own pockets.”
But Hull, a Clinton appointee, and Dubina, an appointee of Republican former President George H.W. Bush, said the Supreme Court has never interpreted the Commerce Clause to allow Congress to “dictate the financial decisions of Americans through an economic mandate.”
“In sum, the individual mandate is breathtaking in its expansive scope,” Hull and Dubina wrote jointly. “It regulates those who have not entered the health care market at all. It regulates those who have entered the health care market but have not entered the insurance market (and have no intention of doing so).”
It remained unclear Friday when the Supreme Court might take up the constitutionality of the health law. It also is unclear whether justices would consider the 11th Circuit decision or one of several other cases that have drawn mixed rulings from judges across the country.
But state Rep. Matt Hudson, a Naples Republican who is a critic of the federal law, said the rulings by the appeals court and Vinson are a sign that the individual mandate could be found unconstitutional.
“This is a very good indicator that what we have been saying all along is in fact correct,” said Hudson, the House’s chief health budget writer.
By Jim Saunders
The News Service of Florida
Escambia Man Faces 35 Year For Home Invasion Robbery
August 13, 2011
An Escambia County man faces up to 35 years in prison for a 2010 home invasion.
Courtney Darnell Henderson was convicted by an Escambia County jury of home invasion robbery without a weapon, battery upon a person 65 years of age or older and resisting an officer without violence.
On April 8, 2010, Henderson and two others forced their way into the home of Lloyd E Dawson, while a fourth person waited in the car. Once inside, Dawson was pushed and held down while he was struck repeatedly with his own cane. The defendants took a camcorder and other electronic devices.
Judge Michael Allen scheduled sentencing for September 9. Henderson faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in state prison. The state will be seeking sentencing as a prison releasee reoffender, according to State Attorney Bill Eddins.
Two Injured In Friday Night Crash On Highway 97
August 12, 2011
Two people were injured in a three vehicle crash on Highway 97 south of Tungoil Road Friday night.
According to witnesses, an elderly male driving a van apparently collided with a pickup and another van just after 9 p.m. He was not injured.
The pickup flipped at least once, hitting a tree and landing off roadway. A female passenger in the pickup was transported by ambulance to West Florida Hospital in Pensacola. The driver of the pickup was not injured.
The driver of the second van was transported by ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital. None of the injuries were believed to be life threatening.
Further details were not available Friday night; the accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Atmore Ambulance also responded to the call.
Pictured top: A passenger in this pickup was transported to a Pensacola hospital by ambulance following a crash on Highway 97 south of Walnut Hill Friday night. Pictured below : The driver of this van was not injured. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Final Totals: Little Found During Daily Drug Dog Searches In Escambia County Schools
August 12, 2011
Very few drug dog searches in Escambia County’s public school resulted in any sort of drug find during a pilot program last school year.
Each school day, at least one middle or high school in the county was randomly visited by a canine officer and his dog.
During 352 school searches, there were 28 alerts. Seven of the alerts resulting in findings of drugs; the remaining 21 alerts were for residue or odor. Prescription drugs were found twice during physical searches in conjunction with the drug K-9 searches.
“These results and these tremendous decreases in the number of drug related expulsions validate the need for this comprehensive approach we have taken to curb the incidences
of illegal drugs being brought on campuses,” Jeff Bergosh, Escambia County School Board member, said Thursday evening.
Every high school had at least one alert, while only two middle schools (Bailey and Warrington) had alerts during the school year. (See a complete table at the bottom of the article.)
Findings included two grams of marijuana in a restroom at Washington High, marijuana on a bookcase and pills in a tank at the Judy Andrew Center, marijuana residue in a car at Tate High, marijuana seeds and residue in a car and a baggie of over the counter medications at Washington High and residue in a purse and marijuana in a vehicle at West Florida High.
Among North Escambia area schools — Northview High had one drug dog alert for an odor with no drugs found, Tate High had one alert for odor and three findings of marijuana residue. There were no alerts at Ernest Ward or Ransom Middle schools.
The Escambia County School Board implemented the random drug dog searches lasts school year as part of an aggressive anti-drug and alcohol policy. Only one person at the district office, Manager of Protection Services Steven Sharp, knew which school would be visited in advance. The canine officer would report to the principal’s office upon his or her arrival and was accompanied during the search by an administrator or their designee.
Students were not being searched, and they were removed from any classroom that was searched. Searches also included hallways, lockers, parking lots and other common areas.
The district spent about $36,000 from its general fund for the program. About two dozen off-duty canine officers from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Pensacola Police Department were utilized for the searches.
“The Pensacola Police Department and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, and their respective canine units, have been instrumental to the district’s success in our continuing work to
keep drugs out of school, and we look forward to continuing this successful partnership for many years to come,” Bergosh said.
Pictured above: Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Master Deputy Wayne Gulsby performs a drug dog search at Northview High School during the last school year. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge. Below: Totals from all Escambia County middle and high schools.
Burned Out Headlight Lands Century Man In Jail On Drug Charges
August 12, 2011
A traffic stop for a burned out headlight landed a Century man behind bars on drug charges.
Maurice Lovell James, 45, was charged with felony cocaine possession, marijuana possession and giving false identification to law enforcement.
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped James for a burned out headlight on West Highway 4 near North Century Boulevard late Wednesday night. Deputies, according to an arrest report, found crack cocaine in a pill bottle and marijuana in a plastic baggie inside James’ 1990 Mercury Cougar.
James, the report states, first provided deputies with false name and claimed to have a New Jersey driver’s license that was not on his person.
Late Thursday, James remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $2,000.