Ernest Ward Middle School Names Students Of The Month
January 25, 2011
Ernest Ward Middle School Students of the Month for January have been named. They are Jacob Weaver, Gavin Grant and Cara Thompson.
Pictured: EWMS Students of the Month for January are Jacob Weaver (left), Gavin Grant and Cara Thompson. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Arrested In Maryland For Local Homicide
January 24, 2011
An Escambia County man has been arrested in Prince Georges County, Maryland, on an arrest warrant in connection with a homicide that occurred on December 14 of last year in Escambia County.
Cameron Tyler Cherry, 18, was arrested for homicide in connection with the the death of Robert Witherspoon, 24, of Pensacola.
Residents reported gunfire at the intersection of Mary Lane and Paula Avenue around 4:42 p.m. on December 14. When deputies arrived, they found Witherspoon had been shot while sitting in a 2005 Chevrolet Aveo. Medics pronounced the him dead at the scene.
Cherry was arrested Friday night in Prince George’s County.
““He has waived extradition and we should have him in our jail before the end of the week, said Escambia County Sheriff’s spokesperson, Deputy Chris Welborn.
Although Cherry is in custody, the investigation into Witherspoon’s death is ongoing. The Sheriff’s Office is not releasing any other information concerning the case at this time.
Pictured: Murder suspect Cameron Tyler Cherry.
Argument Over ‘Beer Pong’ Leads To Shooting Near Tate High
January 24, 2011
Deputies are investigating a weekend shooting near Tate High School that began with a game of beer pong.
The victim, identified as Brian Keith Cantwell, 20, of Cantonment, was at a residence in the 1300 block of Tate Road when an argument with the suspect led to the shooting around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
During the argument, the suspect, 21-year-old Zachary Steven Wilson, of Pensacola, displayed a handgun and shot Cantwell in the face, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. He was transported to West Florida Hospital with non-life threatening injuries where he was treated and released.
“They were at a house party betting on a game of beer pong when the argument broke out”, said Sheriff’s spokesperson Chris Welborn.
Deputies were unable to locate Wilson but have applied for an arrest warrant for aggravated battery, Welborn said.
Anyone that knows the whereabouts of Wilson is asked to call the Sheriff’s office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Prison Time For McDavid Man For Sexual Battery Of Runaway, 14
January 24, 2011
A 19-year old McDavid man has been convicted of sexual battery of a 14-year old girl.
Nathan Arron Mack, of Railroad Street, McDavid, was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by 18 months probation. Once released from prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender, be forbidden to have unsupervised contact with any minor and enter a sex offender counseling program.
In July, 2010, the victim’s stepfather told Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies that the 14-year old, who had been reported as a runaway, was at Mack’s residence on Railroad Street. When deputies arrived at the residence, they found Mack and the teen girl.
According to the Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Mack admitted to having sexual relations multiple times with the 14-year old. He admitted that he had picked up the Pensacola girl at the Winn Dixie on Nine Mile Road because he knew the victim’s mother would not allow the two to be together. The young girl corroborated Mack’s story, according to the report.
According to Escambia County Clerk of the Circuit Court records, the court found that the 14-year old was a willing participant in the incidents.
When deputies contacted the victim’s mother in July, she advised that she wanted to pursue criminal charges against Mack. The mother stated that she had retrieved her daughter from Mack at the McDavid Mini Mart the week prior and had forbidden him from having any contact with her daughter.
Ask Us: How Do You Anonymously Report A Crime To The Escambia Sheriff’s Office?
January 24, 2011
How do you anonymously report a suspected crime to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office? That’s a question a NorthEscambia.com reader asked us recently.
We posed the question to Melissa Aiken Rawson, public affairs coordinator for the Sheriff’s Office. The complete question and her answer are below.
Do you have a question you would like NorthEscambia.com to answer? Email it news@northescambia.com
Q. I support Sheriff Morgan’s initiative to improve community based intel of criminal activity, however, there seems to be no mechanism to report (or perhaps it’s well hidden) the presence of drug activity, or even the presence of a crack house or meth lab without filing a criminal complaint and then identifying yourself to the criminals for future retribution. I am puzzled by the lack of a simple avenue to report possible crimes within our own community. Am I missing something here? I’ve looked at the ESCO website and there seems no way to work this issue out there.
A. I will work on making something more prominent, but we receive numerous complaints daily through our website’s contact us page reporting the presence of criminal activity. Although it asks for an email address, the form submits without one (however if you do not include one- you will not receive an email back stating we received your complaint)
People who want to provide tips about criminal activity can always call Crimestoppers to report such crimes and remain anonymous. Last night was the first night of the Desk to Road program here at the Sheriff’s Office and groups of officers were out following up on Crimestoppers tips and serving warrants, so I can assure you that these tips are taken very seriously and are utilized. Another way that people can report crimes is by contacting dispatch at 850-436-9620. If the caller wants to remain anonymous, they can request so and the dispatcher will omit a complainant’s name and inform the officer that the caller wanted “no contact”. This prevents the officers from coming to your house and identifying you as the person who called in the complaint.
What the public doesn’t realize is that we can’t simply do a search warrant and make arrests based on anonymous complaints. In the case of Narcotics Operations, these cases could take months of surveillance and undercover operations to bring about enough for a search warrant or arrest warrant. We want the community to get involved and report these types of crimes, but they also need to understand that these complaints are not just getting filed away and it could take months before any results are seen.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Melissa Aiken Rawson
Public Affairs Coordinator
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office
the road to the crown: Miss Northview High 2011 Contestants
January 24, 2011
Join NorthEscambia.com this week for our annual multi-part series “the road to the crown”.
We will follow 25 young ladies at Northview High School in their quest for the crown and the title of “Miss Northview High School” for 2011. We’ll introduce you to each girl and go behind the scenes with exclusive photos for a look at the annual Northview High School pageant.
A new installment of “the road to the crown” will be posted each morning this week. Then, on Sunday morning, we’ll introduce you to the new Miss Northview High School.
The annual Miss Northview High School Pageant will be held on Saturday, January 29 at 7:00 in the school auditorium. The pageant is sponsored by the Northview High Varsity Cheerleaders.
Today, we begin with a group photo of all the young ladies participating. Their names are listed below.
Pictured top: Participants in this year’s Miss Northview High School 2011 are: (front, L-R) Courtney Weaver, Tiffany Sutton, Ashley Mooney, Caitlyn Brown, Lauren McCall, Morgan Digmon, and Jessica Warner, (middle) Mallory Bell, Allie Bryan, Abby Odom, Mariah Albritton, Lauren Cloud, Brooke Tullis, Brittany Thompson, Ashley Cunningham, and Ariel Holland, (back) Sarah Killam, Rebekah Sepulveda, Lauryn Walker, Megan Ryan, Morgan Smith, Hayley Simpson, Tabitha Steege, Clarissa Ross, and Charleigh McPherson. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Northview, Tate, Jay FFA Students Headed To State
January 24, 2011
Several students from the North Escambia area placed in the District I FFA Competition recently.
FFA Chapters from Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, and Washington participated in the competition. The individuals and FFA Chapters above will represent their respective school districts and District I FFA at the 83rd Florida FFA State Convention in June. They are now the top 12 of over 40,000 students statewide.
Participating members of the Northview High School Agricultural Mechanics and Agricultural Business Teams were: Lydia Weaver, Stephanie Solari, Courtney Solari, Dillian Crutchfield, Allie Vidak, Brandon Chambless and Allyson Bullard. The group participated in other FFA Career Development Events that were sent to Gainesville to be scored; those results are not yet known.
Available results are:
High School Results
Prepared Public Speaking
1. Ashley McLeod – Laurel Hill (Okaloosa County)
Extemporaneous Speaking
1. Megan Gibbs – J. M. Tate High School
Creed Speaking
1. Courtney Solari – Northview High School
Tractor Operation and Maintenance
1. Jeff Hansford – J. M. Tate High School
Parliamentary Procedure
1. J. M. Tate High School
Middle School Results
Prepared Public Speaking
1. Hannah Price – Laurel Hill
Extemporaneous Speaking
1. Savannah Maddox – Beulah Academy
Opening and Closing Ceremony
1. Bethlehem Middle School (Holmes County)
Parliamentary Procedure
1. Jay Middle School (Santa Rosa County)
Pictured top: Courtney Solari was awarded first place in Creed Speaking at the recent District I FFA Competition. Pictured below: (front, L-R) Courtney Solari, Stephanie Solari, (middle) Lydia Weaver, Allyson Bullard, Allie Vidak, (back) Brandon Chambless and Dillian Crutchfield. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Existing Home Sales Up 5 Percent Last Year
January 24, 2011
Existing home sales in 2010 were up 5 percent in Florida from the year before, a welcome sign that bodes well for homebuyers and sellers in 2011, according to Florida Realtors.
Existing home sales rose 4 percent in December from a year ago with 12 of 19 metropolitan areas showing gains, the statewide association said. Condominium sales were even stronger, with sales rising 12 percent in year-to-year figures.
“It’s encouraging to close out the year for Florida’s housing market with increased sales activity,” said 2011 Florida Realtors President Patricia Fitzgerald. “The homebuyer tax credits helped to fuel home and condo sales during the first half of 2010, while favorable affordability conditions and historically low mortgage rates continued to bring buyers into the market in the waning months of the year.”
Median home prices remained soft in December, falling to $133,000 from $139,800 a year earlier, a drop of 5 percent. Condo prices experienced a 17 percent reduction in median price to $88,100 in December. Median price means that half of homes sold above that price and half below.
For the year, existing home sales totaled 170,848 homes compared to 162,873 homes sold in 2009. Statewide existing home sales in 2010 also were 37.5 percent higher than 2008.
Nationally, existing home sales were 2.9 percent lower in December from a year ago, but were up more than 12 percent from November, a monthly increase that national observers say portends well for 2011.
“The December pace is near the volume we’re expecting for 2011, so the market is getting much closer to an adequate, sustainable level,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, in a statement. “The recovery will likely continue as job growth gains momentum and rising rents encourage more renters into ownership while exceptional affordability conditions remain.”
Of Florida’s 19 metropolitan areas, 14 reported higher existing home sales for the year.
Sales in Orlando jumped 12 percent for the year, while sales in St. Petersburg/Tampa and Pensacola were up 3 percent. Sales in Tallahassee were flat year to year.
“Looking to the future, 2011 is going to be a year of opportunity for buyers and sellers,” Fitzgerald said. “Industry analysts report seeing steady economic improvements, including more jobs and stronger consumer confidence, which will have a positive, stabilizing impact on the housing market.”
While existing home sales showed improvement, new construction did not. Nationally, housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000, an 8.2 percent drop from December 2009. December housing starts in the South were off 17.2 percent from a year earlier to a seasonable adjusted annual rate of 217,000 units.
Fire Damages Molino Mobile Home; Possible Meth Lab Discovered
January 23, 2011
Part of a possible meth lab was recovered from a Molino Road mobile home after a Sunday morning blaze.
The exact cause of the fire has not been released, but authorities said the fire may have started with garage-type propane heaters being used in a bedroom in the trailer at 275 Molino Road. The mobile home had no electrical power, but a authorities said a man did appear to be living at the residence at least temporarily. The man, James Norman Brown, 45, was not injured.
Neighbors reported hearing an explosion as the fire started at about 10:45 a.m. The fire was quickly extinguished by the first firefighters on scene.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit was called to investigate after suspicious items were found in the mobile home. Deputies said a portion of possible meth lab was removed from the trailer and that charges may be pending against a suspect as a result.
According to an offense report, firefighters told deputies they found propane bottles, aluminum foil and an open flame fish cooker along with other items consistent with a meth lab.
“Because of the sensitive nature of narcotics investigations, we are not able to release any more information concerning this case”, said Escambia County Sheriff’s spokesperson Chris Welborn.
Brown detained temporarily and questioned by deputies and a State Fire Marshal officer, but he was not arrested or charged with any crime Sunday.
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the exact cause of the fire.
The Molino, McDavid, Cantonment, Ensley, Walnut Hill and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were dispatched to the blaze.
For more photos from the scene, click here.
Pictured top: Smoke pours from a Molino Road mobile home Sunday morning. Pictured inset: James Norman Brown, the man inside the home at the time of the fire, is questioned by an officer from the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office. Pictured below: Firefighters discuss their findings with an Escambia County deputy. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Top photo credit: NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Smith.
Three People Injured In Highway 29, Highway 97 Crash
January 23, 2011
Three people were injured in a two vehicle crash Sunday night on Highway 29 at Highway 97 in Molino.
One, a 44-year old female, was transported to a Pensacola hospital by LifeFlight. Two others were not seriously injured. Their names were not immediately available.
The wreck happened about 8:40 p.m. and involved a Toyota Camry and a pickup truck. The accident is still under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details have not been released.
The Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the accident.
Pictured above and below: Three people were injured in this two vehicle accident Sunday night in Molino. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
