Century Town Clerk Out On Leave; Town To Hire Temp Interim Clerk
April 17, 2024
The Century Town Council voted Tuesday night to seek a temporary interim town clerk.
“Yes, Leslie (Howington) is still the town clerk, but she’s out for a couple of weeks,” Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. said of Town Clerk Leslie Howington.
“There’s a lot of work because we have these new city managers, and we have a lot of moving parts, and it’s getting a little bit overwhelming for Leslie…getting overwhelming for the office staff,” he said. “We are calling in the temp to do an assessment to see how we can keep everything moving in the office and catch up a lot of work that’s missing this (council) table. There’s stuff on this agenda that should have been carried two months ago.”
“At not at liberty to discuss why Ms. Howington is not here, but she’s still employed here and she’s still our clerk,” the mayor said. “With that said, we need help, whether she was here tomorrow, we still need that help.”
Howington told NorthEscambia.com Tuesday that she is on temporary medical leave and did not wish to disclose her specific circumstances.
Gomez said the hire would be like a contract, paid from American Rescue Plan funds and could be limited to a day or two per week using a temporary service.
The council voted to authorize Gomez to retain a temp service to provide interim town clerk services for a period not to exceed six months. The council did not specify a dollar limit or budget.
Howington was Century town clerk from 2010-2018 before resigning for another position. She was rehired in 2021.
Pictured: Century Town Clerk Leslie Howington uses her phone to find information for council members during a Century Town Council meeting. NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Shutout Win For Tate Baseball As They Honor ‘84 National Champ Aggies
April 17, 2024
Tate 12, Washington 0
The Tate High School Aggies baseball team honored their national championship legacy Tuesday night as they shut out Washington 12-0 in Cantonment.
The 1984 Tate baseball team (35-1) won both the state title and the national championship and Tuesday night was their 40th reunion. The current Aggies wore commemorative jerseys with the number “84″ on the sleeve to honor the team.
Kaleb Posta earned the win for Tate Tuesday night, giving up one and no runs over a complete five-inning game.
Bray Touchstone had a three-run RBI home run for the Aggies in the bottom of the fourth. Trey Rebber and Madox Lan both had two hits for Tate. Connor Hassell and Quiggins were back-to-back in the lineup and they both had three RBIs.
The Tate Aggies will be at West Florida on Wednesday.
Images courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tates Boys Tennis Are District Runner-ups; Two Tate Girls Finish Second
April 17, 2024
The Tate Aggies boys tennis team finished as District 3A runners-ups on Tuesday.
The Aggies boys will travel to the first round of regionals next week at Leon High School in Tallahassee.
KJ Crow and Sloane Inacio were runners up in their No. 1 girls doubles match at districts.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scruggs Goes 3-4 As Northview Beats Neal 9-1
April 17, 2024
Northview 9, W.S. Neal 1
The Northview Chiefs defeated W.S. Neal 9-1 Tuesday night in East Brewton.
Jackson Bridges earned the win for Northview, giving up one hit and one run in four innings while recording two strikeouts and one walk. Jase Portwood surrendered one hit and no runs while striking out six and walking two.
Wyatt Scruggs was 3-1 on the night with singles in the third, fourth and sixth innings. Portwood and Grayde Sheffield had multiple hits for the Chiefs. Brady Smith was 2-4 with three RBIs.
Northview will be at Milton on Friday.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
New Playground Equipment Added At Harvester Homes Park I In Cantonment
April 17, 2024
Escambia County Parks and Recreation has installed a new playground at the Harvester Homes I Park in Cantonment, one of four new county playgrounds this year.
The new playgrounds offer a variety of play features for children of all ages to enjoy, including slides, climbing structures, interactive games, musical instruments, and more.
The other new playgrounds were installed at the Garcon Bayou Nature Park, Lakewood Park and Westernmark Park,
The Harvester Home Park is located off Well Line Road at 430 Belmont Avenue, about a block away from Harvester Homes II Park.
Pictured: The playground at the Harvester Homes Park in Cantonment. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Godwin and Hernandez Named EREC Scholarship Winners
April 17, 2024
Maggie Rose Godwin and Anna Marie Hernandez have been named as the winners of Escambia River Electric Cooperative’s 2024 Herman D. Johnson Scholarship Awards.
Godwin (pictured left) is a senior at Northview High School.
Hernandez is a senior at Central School.
Godwin and Hernandez will receive $1,000 each for four years providing they continue to meet the scholarship criteria. The scholarships will be formally presented at the EREC annual meeting on April 27 at Ernest Ward Middle School.
In the past, capital credits issued by EREC that were unclaimed had to be turned over to the state. But state legislation now allows such funds to be deposited into a qualified, educational charity fund. The EREC membership voted to use these funds in the form of scholarships.
Courtesy photos.
Reminder: Driver’s License, Tax Collector Services Available Thursday In Century
April 17, 2024
Driver’s license and other tax collector services will be available in Century on Thursday, April 18 from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the Billy G. Ward Courthouse.
Mobile Licensing and Identification Office (MILO) is a fully functional tax collector office on wheels, offering a range of services. The mobile unit provides a convenient method to renew a driver license, obtain a replacement driver license, conversion/reciprocation of out-of-state license, change a name or address on a current driver license or identification card, and get a first-time identification card. In addition to licensing services, the mobile unit also provides an opportunity to renew or replace a vehicle registration, receive a parking placard, transfer a title, pay property taxes, and apply for a business tax receipt. Written and driving tests are not available from the MILO unit.
Pictured: A citizens receives services at MILO at the Billy G. Ward Courthouse in Century on on March 21. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Softball: WFHS Tops Tate Varsity; Tate JV Shuts Out Jags
April 17, 2024
West Florida 2, Tate 1 (8 innings)
The West Florida Lady Jags got past the Tate Aggies 2-1 in nine innings Tuesday night.
Sydney Scapin went the full nine innings, giving up two hits and no runs while striking out 19 and walking one.
Kate Balagbagan went eight innings in the circle for Tate, surrendering no runs on five hits, walking one and striking out four.
Amburleigh Larid and Kara Wine both had one hit for Tate.
Ava Scapin was 3-4 at the plate for WFHS. Macey Vegas went 2-3.
Tate will host Pace on Thursday.
Tate 6, Pace 0 (JV)
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Bermúdez Brilliant As Blue Wahoos Start Extended Homestand In Memorable Style
April 17, 2024
The Blue Wahoos began their longest homestand of the season in a special way.
Jonathan Bermúdez helped make sure of it.
With one of the best starts of his professional career, Bermúdez dazzled with five no-hit innings, pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, then watched three scoreless innings by three relievers as the Blue Wahoos beat the Rocket City Trash Pandas 1-0 before a crowd of 3,008 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
“It was fun to be on the mound (Tuesday), I’ll tell you that,” said Bermúdez, a left-hander who joined the Blue Wahoos in May last season after being released from the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento.
After losing five of six road games last week at Montgomery, the Blue Wahoos continued their amazing success against Rocket City, the Los Angeles Angels affiliate. The Blue Wahoos are now 17-2 against the Trash Pandas in Pensacola, 27-6 overall against them.
This game was played in just two hours, 15 minutes. It began a stretch of 12 games in 13 days at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
“It’s good to be home,” said Bermúdez, a Puerto Rico native who can speak English and Spanish fluently. “After a tough week, it’s good to start like this. “I think this team is really good. We showed it (Tuesday). The bats are going to get going. I trust our bats.
“Our bullpen is our forte. This week is going to be fun. We started it the right way.”
The game’s only run was produced with one blast. Designated hitter Zach Zubia led off the fourth inning with a no-doubter home run over the left field wall off a fastball that exited his bat at 112 mph.
But from that point, Rocket City starter Caden Dana, a 20-year-old from Warwick, New York, who is the No. 2 rated prospect in the LA Angels minor league system. Rocket City (5-5) has all four of the Angels’ top-rated prospects on this team.
Bermúdez wowed through five innings, facing only the minimum 15 batters with seven strikeouts and only one ball hit to the outfield on a flyout to centerfield.
Amazingly, the only baserunner he allowed in that span was the game’s first batter.
He plunked centerfielder Nelson Rada on his second pitch. Rada, an 18-year-old Venezuela native, is the Los Angeles Angels’ No. 1 prospect. Bermúdez then erased him on a pickoff. And from that point, it was perfection through the fifth inning.
With one out in the sixth inning, the Trash Pandas’ first hit was produced by a former Blue Wahoos player. Catcher Caleb Hamilton, 29, who played in Pensacola during the 2019 season as a Minnesota Twins prospect, laced a no-doubt single through into center field to break up the no-hitter.
And then it got dicey.
The next batter, Arol Vera, doubled down the third base line to put runners on second and third. Bermúdez then walked Rada on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases.
Bermúdez dug in and stuck out shortstop Kyren Paris, the LA Angels’ No. 3 rated prospect, on a swing-and-miss fastball. He threw a slider to get Sam Brown to fly out to center and end the inning.
From that point, the Blue Wahoos bullpen shined. Josan Méndez, newcomer Raffi Vizcaíno, who joined the team Tuesday and was hitting near 100-mph with his fastball, along with closer Austin Roberts combined for three shutout innings. They combined for six strikeouts, no hits, no walks.
Vizcaíno and Roberts struck out all six batters they faced in a dominating end to the game.
GAME NOTABLES
The National Anthem was brilliantly performed Tuesday by Jessica Voigt, a Blue Wahoos group sales intern and UWF senior, who filled in when the scheduled singer could not make it.
WANT TO GO?
WHO: Rocket City Trash Pandas vs. Blue Wahoos.
WHEN: Wednesday, 6:05 p.m.
Update: Investigation Determines Cause Of Cantonment House Fire
April 16, 2024
Escambia County Fire Rescue has determined the cause of a residential structure fire Tuesday morning in Cantonment.
The fire in the 900 block of Candy Lane was reported about 6:45 a.m.
Firefighters arrived a few moments later to find light smoke coming from the single-story home. The fire was extinguished within approximately 25 minutes.
There were no injuries reported.
An ECFR rescue investigation determined the fire started when an electric power strip malfunctioned in one of the bedrooms.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour (power strip photo courtesy ECFR), click to enlarge.
