Navy Cutting NJROTC Program At Escambia County High
July 20, 2011
The Navy has announced that it will disestablish 29 Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) units next summer, including the unit at Escambia County High School in Atmore.
Military.com reports the units, including the one at Escambia County High, are already on probationary status for not meeting statutory and regulatory minimum student enrollment standards.
“Our goal is to maintain a high-quality program that ensures the full range of NJROTC activities are available for participating students across the nation and overseas,” Rear Adm. David F. Steindl, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC). “We are extremely proud of what the NJROTC program offers participating students, so it was important for us to work with each non-compliant high school and continue to support the NJROTC program as long as possible. However, due to projected future funding levels, it is no longer possible to maintain NJROTC units that fail to meet minimum enrollment requirements and are not in compliance with program directives.”
State Gives Warrington Middle One More Year – Or Else
July 20, 2011
The State Board of Education voted Tuesday to give Escambia County’s Warrington Middle School and seven others in Miami-Dade County more time to turn themselves around.
The schools were on “intervene” status for poor performance on state tests and federal accountability standards. Only one state board member – John Padget – voted against granting these schools more time, saying he wants to send a message that the schools should take their poor performance seriously.
The board is giving these schools one year to show increased improvement in learning gains in math, science, reading and writing. The board has yet to take up a similar request for more time from Duval County, which has four schools on “intervene” status. If the board had not approved these requests for more time, the schools would have to privatize, close or become charter schools.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Photos: Rising Rivers
July 20, 2011
After reaching near all-time lows, area river levels are up following a wet weekend that dumped several inches of rain in and upstream from North Escambia.
The Escambia River at Century had dropped to 2.90 feet about two weeks ago. By Sunday the river reached 7.96 feet and had fallen to 6.5 feet by Tuesday night.
The Perdido River at Barrineau Park fell to a low of 1.23 on July 11. By Sunday night, the river was up to 7.46 feet. Tuesday night, the Perdido River was at 5.73 feet.
Pictured top: The Escambia River at Molino two weeks ago with the dock and boat ramp completely dry. Pictured below: the Escambia River at Molino on late Tuesday afternoon. Note that the end piers on the dock are nearly submerged. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Women, 87, Crashes Into Dentist Office
July 19, 2011
An 87-year old Cantonment woman crashed her vehicle into a dentist office in Pensacola on Monday.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Charlotte Lucas was traveling through the parking lot of a Doctor Monte Treadway’s office on Village Oaks Drive in Pensacola when she failed to stop in handicap parking place in front of the business. Her 2002 Toyota Avalon continued into the front of the building, causing about $1,500 in damage to the building and $5,000 in damage to the car.
She was not injured.
Lucas was charged with careless driving.
Annie Savage Appointed To Century Council; Late Nadine McCaw Honored
July 19, 2011
The Century Town Council paused Monday night to remember late Councilwoman Nadine McCaw and to appoint a successor to fill her seat.
The council unanimously voted to appoint Annie Carter Savage to fill the vacant Seat 2 until the end of McCaw’s term which ends in early January of 2012. Last year, Savage ran an unsuccessful campaign for Seat 5, defeated by current council member Sandra McMurray Jackson.
According to town council President Ann Brooks, Savage was the only person that expressed an interest in filling the seat. Savage will be sworn in at the council’s next regular meeting on August 1.
The Seat 2 position will appear on Century’s October ballot. As of Monday, no one had prefiled to run for the seat.
The Century Town Council also adopted a resolution honoring McCaw, who passed away July 7, and accepted a letter of condolences from the Town of Jay.
Pictured top: Anne Carter Savage sits in the audience at Monday night’s Century Town Council meeting. She will be sworn in as a council member on August 1. Pictured below: A resolution adopted by the Century Town Council honoring the late Nadine McCaw. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Incumbent Ann Brooks Prefiles For Century Council Seat
July 19, 2011
Incumbent Century Town Council member Ann C. Brooks prefiled Monday to seek reelection.
Brooks, an accountant, currently holds Seat 1 and also serves as president of the town council. She was was first elected in 2007 after running unsuccessfully for Seat 4 on the council in 2003 and 2006.
Brooks is the first candidate to file for a council seat in the October general election.
Court Rules Pensacola Beach Residents Must Pay Escambia Property Taxes
July 19, 2011
Residents of Pensacola Beach must pay property taxes like everyone else, the 1st District Court of Appeal affirmed Monday in a case that addresses an issue that has persisted on Santa Rosa Island since shortly after World War II.
In an opinion affirming a lower court ruling and setting the stage for possible Florida Supreme Court review, the First DCA ruled that Escambia County can collect property taxes from residents even though the residents don’t own the land on which their residences sit. All of the homes on the island are built on land that is leased by Escambia County to the homeowners.
“We’re satisfied with the outcome,” said Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones of Monday’s ruling. “It vindicates what we have been saying for some time.”
Monday’s ruling affects about 2,400 properties that have been assessed $39 million in property taxes since the case was brought forward in 2004, said Escambia County Tax Collector Janet Holley. Of that, residents have paid $26 million in anticipation that the ruling might go Escambia’s way.
The case is only the most recent to challenge the county’s taxing authority. Since 2004 there have been lawsuits challenging about $90 million in property assessments.
Monday’s ruling is the latest in what 1st DCA Judge Van Nortwick called a “long and rather tortured history” of tax battles on the island over how local governments should tax residents who lease the property on which their homes are built.
Santa Rosa Island is home to Pensacola Beach in Escambia County and Navarre, which is governed by Santa Rosa County. What was once a rather desolate and isolated stretch of sugar-sand beach owned by the federal government was donated to Escambia County in 1947 with the restriction that it could not sell parcels. Escambia officials, in turn, leased the eastern portion of the island to Santa Rosa County.
Both counties entered into long-term lease arrangements with leaseholders who were allowed to build, take out mortgages, sublet and transfer title to residences built on parcels that were protected by 99-year lease agreements. Originally, leaseholders did not pay local property taxes but were assessed intangible taxes.
Over the years as parcels began filling up with permanent residents, Santa Rosa and Escambia officials began looking at ways to shift to property tax collections. Numerous lawsuits followed. Santa Rosa County now levies property taxes on the land and the improvements. That levy, upheld by the 1st DCA in April, is also likely to be challenged in the state’s highest court.
In Monday’s ruling, the appeals court sided with Escambia County officials who, unlike those in Santa Rosa, are only trying to tax the improvements and not the land upon which they stand.
“There is nothing inherently unlawful in subjecting the appellants to ad valorem taxes, as leaseholders on Santa Rosa Island were subject to,” Nortwick wrote. “Looking at the benefits and burdens of ownership, these Escambia County leaseholders are no different than the Santa Rosa County leaseholders.”
Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, a Tallahassee attorney representing property owners in both Santa Rosa and Escambia counties, says the ruling leaves the island with three distinct taxing structures, a discrepancy that could lead to the high court taking an interest in answering the question once and for all.
“Right now it’s a mess,” D’Alemberte said Monday.
By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida
Burglar Smashes Into Two Jay Pharmacies
July 19, 2011
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is searching for the person that smashed windows into two Jay pharmacies late Sunday night.
The unidentified male tossed a brick through the glass front door of the Dura-Med Pharmacy and Soda Shoppe on Highway 4. The suspect left a trail of blood behind as he sprinted to the pharmacy counter where he was unable to reach the narcotics located behind a security door. Within eight seconds, he was back out of the pharmacy.
A short time before the Dura-Med burglary, what was believed to be the same suspect smashed through a drive-thru window and of the nearby Jay Pharmacy. The burglary suspect failed at the second pharmacy too; he only managed to break through the first layer of the double pane window.
Anyone with information about the burglaries is asked to contact Santa Rosa Crime Stoppers at (850) 437-STOP or the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 983-1100.
Pictured top: A burglary suspect seen on the security footage at Dura-Med Pharmacy in Jay late Sunday night. Pictured inset: Pharmacist Cecil Phillips shows where the burglary suspect tried to enter a drive-thru window at Jay Pharmacy. Photos courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Third Trial Begins For Billings Murder Suspect Stallworth
July 19, 2011
The third trial is underway for one of the suspects in the Billings murders.
Opening statements were heard Monday afternoon with three witnesses taking the stand in the case of Donnie Stallworth of Brewton. Stallworth is facing two counts of first degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of the Beulah couple in July 2009 — one of seven people charged in the double murder.
The former Air Force staff sergeant’s first trial ended when the judge declared a mistrial after a jury could not decide his fate during nine hours of deliberations. His second trial came to an end in late April when the jury announced they were deadlocked after two days of deliberations.
Stallworth was accused of being in the home at time of the murders, armed with a gun. The accusations came from two co-defendants, 16-year old Rakeem Florence and 21-year old Fredrick Thorton. Both pleaded not contest to a lessor second degree murder charge in exchange for their testimony.
This time, the case is being prosecuted by both Assistant State Attorney John Molchan and State Attorney Bill Eddins.
Tax Service Employee Pleads; Will Testify Against Boss
July 19, 2011
A woman who was employed at an Atmore tax preparation business has pleaded guilty to federal charges and has agreed to cooperate with authorities in the investigation into the company’s owner.
Federal authorities raided Preyear’s Tax and Check Cashing Services in 2010. Latina Locke, who worked at the business from 2009 to 2010,was indicted in late June 2011 on one charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. She pleaded guility and faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
But she’s expected to receive a lighter sentence in exchange for helping in the investigation and prosecution of her former boss, Alice Mobley.
According to court documents, Mobley instructed Locke to create false dependents on tax forms in order to claim exemptions and tax breaks. The plea agreement states Locke would use a Post-it Note and write down the number of dependents the client wanted to purchase and attach it to the tax form. Once in Mobley’s hands, she would add the dependents before filing the form with the IRS, according to the plea deal.
Mobley was due to plead guilty last month to a 99-count federal indictment, but she changed her mind and decided to go to trial.
Mobley faces a long list of charges, including preparing and filing false tax returns, mortgage fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and filing false tax returns. Mobley’s charges stem from alleged false tax returns filed from 2007 to 2009 through her business Preyear Tax and Check Cashing, LLC, located in Monroeville and its offices in Atmore and Thomasville.
Federal agents raided Mobley’s Preyear’s Tax & Check Cashing, LLC on Ridgely Street in Atmore and other locations in March, 2010. Federal court documents show that FBI and IRS agents seized over $300,000, boxes of tax documents, computers, vehicles and even a stuffed teddy bear when they raided the businesses and Mobley’s Monroeville home.
Mobley’s scheme filed tax returns claiming some $68 million in tax refunds, largely for Earned Income Credit and other tax credits, according to the Department of Justice. Mobley would falsely claim various dependent credits, either charged her clients an extra fee for the using the false dependents or pocketing the extra funds herself.
Mobley also “split” dependents, using the identity of some children on one return to obtain Earned Income Credit, and on other returns to obtain Child Credit and Dependent Care Credit. Mobley’s firm also prepared returns which claimed business tax deductions for business which did not exist and farm tax deductions for clients who did not have farms, the DOJ said.
Mobley was also charged with mortgage fraud and wire fraud in connection with fraud in regards to applications she made for mortgages to CitiBank and Wells Fargo.
Pictured above: A federal agent enters Preyear’s Tax & Check Cashing, LLC in Atmore March 4, 2010. Pictured inset: Agents search a vehicle at the business. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.