Barry Manilow’s ‘Copacabana, the Musical’ At Tate High
February 4, 2011
There is one more chance remaining to see Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana, the Musical” at Tate High School. The Tate High School Drama Department will present the musical based on the Manilow songs of the 1980’s at 7:00 Saturday night in the school cafetorium.
Tickets are $10 for the reserve section and $7 for general admission.
Morning Fire Strikes Pensacola Apartment Complex
February 4, 2011
At least one person is homeless after an apartment complex fire this morning in Pensacola. The fire was reported just after 7 a.m. in the 2200 block of North Pace Boulevard. One apartment was heavily damaged by fire. There were no injuries reported. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
DCT Students Awarded
February 3, 2011
Several Northview High School DCT students placed in the District 1 CECF Competitions held this week at the University of West of Florida.
Three Northview students took first place in their categories: Wes Chancery, automotive technician; Laneicia Gomez, financial math; and Allyson Bullard, parliamentary procedures. Other NHS students who ranked high in scoring for their competitions were: Bobby Reid, third place, and Kaleb Purvis, sixth place, in automotive technician and Katie Wieborg, fourth place, in customer service.
CECF District 1 is comprised of high schools from Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Walton Counties. Northview High School students competed with students from Washington, Tate, Pine Forest, Escambia, Gulf Breeze, and Walton high schools.
DCT is affiliated with CECF, Career Education Clubs of Florida, and DCT is an educational class that prepares students for the workforce. DCT students combine their educational classes with on-the-job work experience. Tommy Weaver is the DCT coordinator for Northview High School.
Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Woman Reports ‘Voodoo Thing’
February 3, 2011
Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies received an unusual complaint this week from a North Escambia woman who felt that she had perhaps been the target of some sort of voodoo.
At 12:28 Monday morning, the woman on West Highway 4 between Bratt and Byrneville called the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office to report the alleged troubling incident.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the woman told dispatchers that she wanted “to show deputies a voodoo thing she took apart, and it has her picture in it. She thinks she knows who did it”.
A full incident report was not filed after the woman was contacted by deputies.
Walnut Hill Man Charged: Starving Horse Dead, Nine Others Rescued
February 3, 2011
A Walnut Hill man was arrested late Wednesday afternoon, charged in an animal cruelty case that ended with the seizure of nine horses and the euthanization of another.
James Benjamin Bethea, 61, was arrested at his Walnut Hill home as authorities and volunteers worked to save a horse in critical condition. Bethea was charged with two felony and eight misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. An outstanding Santa Rosa County warrant for worthless checks was also served on Bethea. He was released on $9,000 bond.
Bethea had 20 horses on his property in the 5000 block of Highway 97A in Enon when Panhandle Equine Rescue arrived to investigate an abuse complaint Wednesday afternoon.
A neighbor told deputies she observed a horse lying in the pasture Tuesday morning. When she returned home Tuesday night, the horse had not moved, and she contact Panhandle Equine Rescue for assistance.
For more photos from the scene, click here. WARNING: Some readers may find the photos disturbing.
One of the horses was so severely malnourished, according to PER President Diane Lowery, that it was euthanized in the pasture by a licensed veterinarian.
Another was in critical condition, unable to stand. The thin animal shivered in the cold and sleet as rescuers worked to load it into a trailer for transport to a veterinarian for evaluation. Nearly a dozen volunteers were forced to push and pull the horse into a trailer as it lay nearly motionless on a tarp.
Another eight horses were seized by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and taken to a veterinarian for treatment.
“They won’t survive the night in this cold and sleet if we don’t get them out of here,” Lowery said as a small army of volunteers assembled with horse trailers to load the animals for transport.
The other horses remained on the property. Lowery said that the case was being handled by the Sheriff’s Office, it would be up to law enforcement what happens to the remaining horses.
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene unit was called to the scene to photograph the horses and their surroundings, including empty food troughs and old bathtubs that were presumably the water source for the horses. The bathtubs were dry.
Many of the horses gathered around a fresh roll of hay that, according to Lowery, appeared to have been placed in the pasture sometime Wednesday. Other horses, bones clearly visible under their skin, stayed away. Another horse gently nudged volunteers, seeking attention and closely following those that would rub it on its face.
For more photos from the scene, click here. WARNING: Some readers may find the photos disturbing.
Pictured top: One of nine horses being seized Wednesday in the Enon community. Pictured inset: This horse was in critical condition, unable to stand even with assistance. Pictured below: Another of the seized horses. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Grammy Award Winning Marty Raybon To Headline Northview Blue Jacket Jamboree
February 3, 2011
A man that achieved legendary status in country music — 13 number one singles, 22 songs on the charts, a Grammy Award, and a CMA Vocal Group of the Year trophy — will headline a March concert in Bratt.
The Northview FFA Alumni Scholarship Fund and NorthEscambia.com will present the Northview FFA Blue Jacket Jamboree featuring Marty Raybon at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 5. Marty Raybon will be joined by the Southern Gospel quartet Lookin’ Up and Northview’s own Ashton Gibbs in the Northview High School Theater.
Marty Raybon is perhaps best known as the former lead singer of the country mega-group Shenandoah from 1985-1996. He led Shenandoah to 22 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including thirteen number one singles, such as: “The Church on Cumberland Road” (1989), “Sunday in the South” (1989), “Two Dozen Roses” (1989), “Next to You, Next to Me” (1990) and “Butterfly Kisses” (1997). At the top of the charts, Raybon became known for his bluegrass and gospel-influenced semi-traditional country sound.
Tickets for the Northview High School FFA Alumni Blue Jacket Jamboree are $15 and are available now at Smith Tractor in Atmore, Scott’s Pharmacy in Molino and Ann’s Hallmark on Nine Mile Road in Ensley.
Pictured: Grammy award winning Marty Raybon performs last year at Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Poll: Most Voters Waiting To See About Scott
February 3, 2011
One month after Rick Scott got to work as Florida’s governor, a plurality of voters in the state say they haven’t yet decided how they feel about him.
In a survey conducted by Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University, 35 percent said they approved of Scott’s performance as governor so far, but 43 percent said they were not sure yet. Another 22 percent said they disapproved. The university surveyed 1,160 registered voters.
Noting that Scott’s first approval ratings were lower than his predecessor’s early numbers, Quinnipiac University Polling Director Peter Brown attributed the difference to Scott’s newness to the Florida political scene.
“Before nine months ago, he wasn’t exactly a household name,” Brown said. “Other than what people learned about him from the campaign, which is that he’s not from Tallahassee, he was a Republican in a very Republican year and that there were questions about what went on at Columbia/HCA, there is not very much info about him.”
Four years ago, when Quinnipiac first surveyed Crist’s approval ratings, 69 percent responded favorably. But this is a very different time, and an equally different governor, Brown said.
“In 2006, things were good. Now, they’re not so good,” he said. “They’re difficult to compare because the times are so different, how these people got elected governor is so different and they’re such different types of Republicans.”
The Quinnipiac Poll showed voters have begun forming opinions about Scott’s proposals however, and thus far, the results are mixed. Sixty-four percent said they support his plan to make state workers contribute to their pension plans, but 46 percent said his plan to cut the state workforce was a “bad idea.”
Additionally, 50 percent of voters said Scott’s plan to cut property and business taxes was a good idea, while 56 percent said that increasing gambling in Florida to bring in more revenue for the cash-strapped state is a good idea.
Brown said that though they seemed contradictory, the numbers on the questions involving state workers made sense.
“Most people contribute to their pensions in their jobs, so people can identify with that, but people don’t want to see anyone laid off,” he said. “In this economy, people don’t want to see anyone lose their jobs.”
The Quinnipiac poll also showed that for all the coverage of Scott’s dealings with the media, voters by a substantial margin think the governor is accessible enough. The poll found that 58 percent said the governor’s level of accessibility was “about right,” and only 22 percent think he is not accessible enough. Six percent said he was too available, and another 14 either didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion.
Scott’s pledge to take only $1 of salary for his job as governor has also been popular, with 53 percent of those polls saying the move made them more inclined to view him favorably.
Brown said the high number of voters that are undecided about Scott gives him an opportunity to bring those residents to his side once he begins implementing his agenda, which includes a much-hyped promise of 700,000 jobs over the next seven years.
“The lesson of the last governor showed what really matters is job approval ratings at the end of the term, not job approval ratings in the beginning of a term,” he said.
Asked for a reaction to the numbers, Scott said he had not seen the Quinnipiac poll – and didn’t seem much interested in it.
“I ran on a platform of getting our state back to work, the real key is getting our state back to work, so that’s what I work on every day,” Scott said.
By Keith Laing
The News Service Florida
Bratt Elementary Names Students Of The Month
February 3, 2011
Bratt Elementary School has named Students of the Month for January. They are:
- Pre-K: Carsyn Dortch, Mayson Claire Edwards
- Kindergarten: Leonte’ Wright, Jamyla Feagin, Travis Sunday, Ar’quavian Smith
- First Grade: Rachael Sanders, A. J. Hasty, Jaylee Redmond
- Second Grade: Jaylon North, Maggie Amerson, Summer Waters, Haleigh Dean, Mary Paige Nassar
- Third Grade: Juliana Bryan, Lexi Broadhead, Luke Smith, Reba Rhinehart, Colby Morris
- Fourth Grade: Shelby Bashore, Reini Bodiker, Noah Moore, Cammie Carter
- Fifth Grade: Derek Rice, Angel Philyaw, Eli Deese, Raegan Harrell
Panhandle Corrections Officer Dies In The Line Of Duty
February 2, 2011
The Florida Department of Corrections is grieving the death of an officer shot and killed today in the pursuit of a suspected double murderer in Holmes County. The officer was assisting the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office in the hunt for the alleged killer.
Correctional Officer Colonel Greg Malloy, 44, was mortally wounded in an exchange of gunfire with suspect Wade Williams. Malloy was working as part of the Holmes Correctional Institution K-9 tracking team. The suspect, wanted for the double homicide of his parents, was also killed during the exchange.
“Words can never express our emotions when an Officer falls in the line of duty,” said Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Walt McNeil. “Tragedies such as today’s underscore the dangers inherent in our profession, both inside and outside the prison walls. We extend our condolences to Greg’s family and his co-workers.”
Malloy’s family issued the following statement: “We will never forget the kindness we received from the public, law enforcement and correctional community during this difficult day. Please accept our gratitude for your outpouring support and kind expression of sympathy.”
Malloy began his career with the Department of Corrections in 1988 as a correctional officer and rose through the ranks.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting the officer-involved shooting investigation.
An Early Spring? North Escambia Weather Ducks Miss Shadow
February 2, 2011
On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil, the world famous groundhog, and the NorthEscambia.com Weather Ducks have both predicted an early spring.
Forklore says that if the groundhog sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, it means six more weeks of winter. We did not have a groundhog handy for a photo, but we did have the NorthEscambia.com Weather Ducks (pictured above).
And just like their more famous Pennsylvania weather buddy, our weather ducks also did not see their shadow this morning here in North Escambia as they checked their weather computer.
For those that might be a little unsure as the weather ducks’ ability, we offer the two photographs below showing the weather ducks predicting six more weeks of winter on Groundhog Day 2010 and 10 days later with their snowman in Atmore.
