Portion Of Bogia Road Closed For Two Days
August 24, 2011
A portion of Bogia Road east of Highway 29 will be closed Thursday.
CSX will replace railroad tracks at the Bogia Road crossing. The road will be closed from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Gulf Power $38.5 Million Rate Hike Gets Approval
August 24, 2011
State regulators on Tuesday allowed Gulf Power Company to at least temporarily raise rates by $38.5 million, as the Panhandle utility gets ready to seek a broader hike that would take effect next year.
The so-called “interim” increase will start hitting customer bills in mid-September and will lead to a $4.49 a month jump for residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.
The Florida Public Service Commission will re-visit the interim increase as it considers Gulf’s proposal for a permanent base-rate increase of $93.5 million. If regulators decide that any of the interim hike was unjustified, they can order Gulf Power to refund money to customers.
The PSC unanimously approved the increase, pointing to a state law that allows utilities to seek interim hikes if they can show they are not earning as much money as allowed under their current rates. The interim increase will enable Gulf to make a 10.75 percent return on equity, a common measurement of profit.
“We have followed the statute to the ‘T’,” Gulf Power attorney Jeff Stone told the PSC.
But Jon Moyle, an attorney for the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, a business coalition of large energy users, said the commission should not act until holding hearings and considering the permanent rate increase. He also described the 10.75 percent return on equity as “exceedingly high.”
“We respectfully would oppose this effort to increase rates by $38 million today and suggest you can consider the issues later when you have evidence before you, when you have witnesses, when you have testimony,” Moyle told commissioners before their vote.
Gulf Power, which serves 431,000 customers in eight counties, has not received a base-rate increase in nearly a decade. Base rates pay for many day-to-day operations of utilities, but customers also face other charges for expenses such as power-plant fuel.
The company contends that it needs to increase base rates, at least in part, because of the costs of adding power lines and other types of infrastructure.
“We understand there is no good time to increase prices,” Gulf Power spokeswoman Sandy Sims said in a prepared statement after the PSC vote. “Providing reliable electricity requires a continuous investment in poles, lines and power plants.”
The PSC is scheduled to start hearing arguments in December on Gulf Power’s permanent rate request, with any changes expected to take effect in 2012.
Under the interim increase, Gulf Power residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours a month will see their bills go from $122.67 to $127.16. Utilities commonly use 1,000 kilowatt hours as a measuring stick, but many homes use more electricity than that each month.
If the permanent rate hike is approved, those same residential customers would see their monthly bills increase to $134.82, according to Gulf Power.
By Jim Saunders
The News Service Of Florida
Powerful Photo Gallery: Fallen Marine’s Remains Arrive In U.S.
August 24, 2011
Fallen local Marine Lance Cpl. Travis M. Nelson arrived back in the United States Sunday night from Afghanistan.
U.S. Air Force photographer Steve Koteciki captured the somber dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for NorthEscambia.com. Click here for the powerful photo gallery of the ceremony.
Pictured top: The remains of Lance Cpl. Travis M. Nelson (left) and Army Pfc. Douglas Cordo (right) as a prayer service is conducted. Pictured below: Nelson’s remains are transferred across the tarmac at Dover AFB. Photos by Steve Kotecki, U.S. Air Force, for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Three Alabama Men Indicted For Sex Crimes Involving Young Girls
August 24, 2011
Three young men from Flomaton are out of jail and awaiting trial after being indicted by an Escambia County Grand Jury for sex crimes involving underage girls.
D’Tavis Devon “TaTa” Ellis, 18, of Flomaton and Michael Dyeneil Knight, Jr., 19, also of Flomaton are each charged with second degree rape for allegedly having sex with the same 12-year old girl. Ellis reportedly had relations with the girl at Hurricane Park in Flomaton, while Knight allegedly had sex with the girl at her home.
Ellis was released from jail on a $50,000 bond and Knight was released on a $30,000 bond.
In an unrelated case, James Darion Jackson, 18, of Atmore, is charged with possession and distribution of pornographic material to a minor. He was released from jail on a $100,000 bond. He is facing felony charges for allegedly using a cellular photo to take and send obscene photographs of himself to a 14-year old female.
Feds Investigate Santa Rosa County, Private Prison Link
August 24, 2011
A Santa Rosa County commissioner’s work computer was seized by the FBI on Tuesday as a federal grand jury investigates the funding and construction of a privately owned prison in Milton.
The computer was used by Commissioner Jimmy Melvin and his predecessor, Gordon Goodin. Melvin said the FBI assured him that he is not involved in their investigation.
Documents related to the Blackwater River Correctional Facility operated by Geo Group of Boca Raton were previously subpoenaed from Team Santa Rosa, and subpoenas were issued in May to the Florida Office of Legislative Services for travel documents for former lawmaker Ray Samson and some of his aides.
Back in 2008, a provision inserted by Samson into a general appropriations bill provided for $110 million to build a private prison somewhere in the state. That money eventually went to fund the Blackwater facility in Santa Rosa County.
Blackwater CF has a maximum capacity of 2,000 inmates. Construction began in February 2009 and the first inmates were transferred into the facility in October 2010.
Atmore Police Seek Gas Station Stabbing Suspect
August 24, 2011
Atmore Police have identified a suspect in a stabbing late last week.
A warrant has been issued for 24-year old Larry Charles Johnson of Atmore for first degree assault in connection with a stabbing Friday at an Atmore convenience store.
About 4:49 p.m. Friday, Atmore Community Hospital notified Atmore Police that a stabbing victim had been transported to their emergency room for treatment. Police determined that the victim was pumping gas at the Speedy Mart Convenience Store at East Nashville Avenue and Medical Park Drive when Johnson allegedly stabbed the victim in the face and fled the scene.
The victim was treated and released. Both the victim and offender were acquaintances, to police, but the motive for the stabbing was unknown.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Johnson is asked to call the Atmore Police Department at (850) 368-9141.
Half Million Dollar Cantonment Athletic Park Expansion Is 70% Complete
August 24, 2011
A half million dollar expansion at the Cantonment Athletic Park is about 70 percent complete.
The Escambia County Commission awarded the $492,197.50 construction contract earlier this year to low-bidder Roads, Inc., of NWF. The project consists of the addition of two multi-use practice fields at the park, including a grass parking lot, landscaping and drainage improvements.
The new site was wooded and almost completely surrounded by wetlands. A Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit allowed access to the site from the current park with a paved entrance road with a culvert structure.
The park expansion is being funded with local option sales tax monies.
There were a total of nine companies that bid on the project. The second lowest bidder was Gulf Equipment Corp. at $509,312.50 while the highest bid was $653,243.57 from J.B. Coxwell Contracting, Inc.
The Cantonment Athletic Park is an 80 acre regional park at 681 Well Line Road. The park has 12 baseball and softball fields, one football field, restrooms, concessions, playground and security lights. A partnership with Cantonment Baseball Club and Cantonment Football Club provides for various youth athletic programs at the park.
Pictured top: Work is about 70 percent complete on a half million expansion at the Cantonment Athletic Park. Pictured inset: A paved entrance road from the back of the existing park leads across a culvert to the new addition. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Former North Escambia Residents React As Powerful Earthquake Rattles East Coast
August 24, 2011
An unusually strong magnitude 5.8 earthquake centered in Virginia rattled the East Coast Tuesday afternoon, including Washington and New York.
The earthquake took millions of people by surprise, including several North Escambia natives now living in the area.
Swala Burns, a former Cantonment resident, was at work in her cubicle at the Quantico Marine base in Virginia when the earthquake began to rattle.
“There was this rumbling at first, like some of the helicopters that fly over sometimes. But it got much worse very quickly,” she said. “I got under my desk not knowing what to do and not knowing what it was.” She said many thought it might have been a bomb.
Burns and her coworkers were ordered out of the building. She tried to call her husband, but all circuits were busy.
“It was very nerve-wracking, and it was a little bit scary,” Burns said.
Northview High School graduate Megan Amerson was in a store in Farmville, Virginia, about 50 miles from Richmond, when the earthquake hit and merchandise began to fall off the shelves.
“I had no clue was was going on at first,” the former Molino resident said. “It only lasted about 15 seconds at most.”
The quake was surprising for another Northview grad.
Bratt native Chelsea Sims Golson was having lunch with her husband and a few friends near the Norfolk Naval Station when the earthquake began. She thought her husband, Ethan, was shaking her chair at first until she realized the lights above the table were moving.
Two Injured In Afternoon Wreck At Ernest Ward Middle School
August 23, 2011
Two Pensacola residents were injured in a traffic crash about 2:30 Tuesday afternoon at Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Richard L. Willis II, 46, of Pensacola pulled his pickup from the stop sign at Highway 99A into the path of a Toyota driven by Ralph A. Meola, 56, of Pensacola.
Willis was airlifted by LifeFlight to West Florida Hospital in serious condition. Ralph Meola was uninjured. His passenger, 55-year old Jennifer K. Dean of Pensacola, received minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to West Florida Hospital
The FHP said charges are pending in the crash.
The Florida Highway Patrol, Walnut and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call.
Pictured top and inset: The driver of a pickup truck was airlifted to a Pensacola hospital by LifeFlight after a mid-afternoon wreck at Ernest Ward Middle School. Pictured below: A Tuesday afternoon wreck at Highway 97 and Highway 99A in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Fallen Marine’s Name Added To Walnut Hill Veterans Wall Of Honor
August 23, 2011
The name of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Travis M. Nelson was added Monday to the Walnut Hill Veterans Wall of Honor. Nelson was the first soldier from the Walnut Hill area to be killed in action since 1969.
The wall’s caretaker, Billy R. Ward, has engraved each of the nearly 300 veterans’ names that appear on the memorial. Nelson’s was especially hard for the 23-year Air Force Veteran.
“It’s tough to add the name of such a young man to the wall,” Ward said as he carefully used an antique engraving machine to carefully carve Nelson’s name in a long piece of black plastic. “I’ve never had to add a name to the Killed In Action section. I never wanted to have to do this.”
The nearly 300 names on the Walnut Hill Veterans Wall of Honor are of brave men and women who have served in the armed forces. All were residents of, or otherwise significantly connect to, the Walnut Hill area. The 13 names of soldiers that died in action were placed on the wall when it was dedicated in 2003. Five of the names were from the World War II era; the others were all from prior to 1970.
In addition to Lance Cpl. Nelson, the are two other Marines that were killed in action honored on the wall. Best buddies Michael D. Cruit and Jerry W. Corley spent their summers together in the Walnut Hill area. The inseparable best friends joined the Marines in 1967, and both where killed in action in Vietnam in 1968.
The Walnut Hill Veterans Wall of Honor is located at the Walnut Hill Community Center (also known as the “Ruritan Building”) at 7850 Highway 97, just north of Ernest Ward Middle School. It is maintained by the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club.
Pictured top and inset : Caretaker Billy R. Ward engraves the name of Travis M. Nelson and places it on the Walnut Hill Wall of Honor Monday morning. Pictured below: The Wall of Honor, the name being engraved and Ward preparing to return the Killed In Action panel to the wall. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
