Molino Bridge Reopening Delayed Until Next Week
April 6, 2011
The reopening of a bridge over Alligator Creek on Crabtree Church Road in Molino has been delayed until April 13. The bridge was expected to open Friday.
Additional work is being done on the bridge deck and guardrail, according to Sonya Daniel, public information manager for Escambia County.
The initial closure took place on March 24, when advanced decay was found in one of the pilings during a routine inspection. DKE Marine is handling the repairs under an emergency work order.
The bridge on Crabtree Church Road is about halfway between Sunshine Hill Road and Highway 99. The recommended east/west detour is Molino Road between Highway 99 and Sunshine Hill Road.
Century’s Ordinances Now Online In Searchable Format
April 6, 2011
Do you want to know what a law in Century says? You can now find out instantly as the town’s municipal codes are now posted online in a searchable format.
To access Century’s ordinances online, visit TownOfCentury.com.
The town is spending $1,418 for the Municipal Code Corporation to publish seven copies of a printed supplement containing updates to the town’s ordinances. The town is also investing $500 per year for Municode.com to publish those ordinances online in a searchable format for the public. The yearly fee will includes updates each time a new ordinance is approved.
The Municipal Code Corporation is one of the nation’s largest municipal code publication companies. The company currently provides code services for hundreds of governments, including Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and Pensacola.
Cantonment Man Dies After Being Crushed In Garbage Truck
April 6, 2011
A Cantonment man is dead after being trapped in a garbage truck early Tuesday morning in Escambia County.
Officials believe Phillip Wayne Murphy, Jr., 36, took shelter from the cold or storms in a dumpster before it was dumped into a Waste Management garbage truck. Murphy was discovered in compacted trash in the truck on West Hood Drive off Highway 29, near Wal-mart just before 5 a.m.
After emergency crews freed him from the garbage truck, Murphy was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital where he later died.
Pictured top: Emergency crews free a man from garbage truck early Tuesday morning. Courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lady Royals Set New Records At Panhandle Championship
April 6, 2011
Robin Blackman and Leely Trevino led the Jay Royals to an impressive finish at the Panhandle Championships held this past Friday at Washington High School.
Sixteen high schools across three counties gathered for one of the area’s largest meets on the area’s newest track.
Blackman and Trevino, both seniors, are Florida Elite Runners in cross country and are the top two scorers for the Royals. Robin has scored 223 points, and Leely has scored 173 points for the season.
On Friday, Robin broke the school record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:26.75. Trista Talbot previously set the record in 2009.
Leely was the overall female champion in the 1600-meter run with a personal record time of 5:37.09.
Other impressive finishes came in the 4×800 relay where the Royals relay team of Blackman, Trevino, Jessica Thornton and Caristyn Golden placed fourth with their tri-season best time of 10:20.81 — only five seconds off the school record that was set in 2005.
The 4×400 relay team of Blackman, Trevino, Golden and Katelyn Warrick managed an 8th place with a time of 4:30.98. T
In the discus Samantha Cerqueria placed sixth with a throw of 88’ 9”.
Blackman, who also holds the 400-meter dash record, signed earlier in the season to run track and cross country with the Troy Trojans next fall.
The Royals will host the annual Quarterback Club Invitational on Thursday at JHS beginning at 12:30 pm.
Pictured top: Robin Blackman of Jay (in blue) in the lead at the Panhandle Championships at Washington High School. Pictured inset: Leely Trevino with a first place medal. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Double Murder Trial Of Cantonment Man Delayed
April 6, 2011
Trial has been delayed for the man accused of the stabbing death of a pregnant Cantonment woman and her baby.
Phillip Arnold, 65, of Cantonment, is facing two first degree premeditated murder charges for the stabbing deaths of Angela Castella Brown and her newborn child on July 5 in Cantonment.
Judge Jan Shackelford has granted a motion for continuance filed by Arnold’s public defender; Arnold’s trial is now set for June. The court has also denied a motion to dismiss charges against Arnold for the death of the newborn.
Brown, who was six months pregnant, underwent an emergency C-section after she was stabbed. The newborn, later named Angela Chambers, died just over seven hours after being delivered.
Arnold, 65, of 349 South Chipper Road, fatally stabbed Brown in the chest, according to the State Attorney’s Office. Arnold and Brown were neighbors, and that was their only known connection, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were dispatched to the stabbing at a mobile home at 349 South Chipper Road about 8:35 p.m on July 5. When they arrived, witnesses told deputies that Arnold fled into a nearby wooded area. As deputies were arriving in the area, EMS personnel advised they had seen a black male running down the railroad tracks on South Chipper Road.
Witnesses at the scene reported observing a black male known to them as Arnold running from the scene moments before they discovered the victim, according to the Sheriff’s Office. K-9 officers attempting to track Arnold discovered a knife that was believed to be the murder weapon. As deputies were surrounding the area to search for Arnold, he called sheriff’s dispatchers about 9:10 p.m. Arnold said he was at a home at 2473 Stacey Road and that he wanted to turn himself in. He was taken into custody without incident.
Brown was the mother of seven other children.
Miller BP Fine Bill Would Aid Local Economy
April 6, 2011
Congressmen Jeff Miller and Steve Southerland, II introduced legislation Tuesday that would require a portion of the fines paid by BP for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill be used for economic development along the affected shores of the Gulf Coast.
The Gulf Coast Economic and Tourism Restoration Act, or H.R. 1333, would distribute 40 percent of the BP fines to the local communities and states directly impacted by the oil spill for use in economic restoration and tourism promotion.
“The Gulf Coast continues to feel the economic impacts of the Gulf oil spill, and BP must be held accountable,” Miller said. “Florida businesses are struggling, the real estate market has slowed, and individuals are still looking for work. My bill would ensure the fines paid by BP for their mistake would be returned to our area and promote the economies of the local communities still reeling from last year’s disaster.”
Under the Clean Water Act, BP is expected to pay between $5 billion and $21 billion in fines, based on estimates of the flow of oil from the Macondo well. Miller’s and Southerland’s bill would distribute 40 percent of these fines to the five Gulf states affected by the spill and further require each governor to send 75 percent of their allocation to the local communities directly impacted. A key component of the legislation is its focus on the economy, requiring that any funds spent be used specifically for economic development or tourism.
“North and Northwest Florida’s economy is heavily dependent upon Gulf Coast wildlife, fisheries, tourism, and real estate,” Southerland said. “This legislation is a critical step forward in ensuring that coastal families and small businesses receive the support they so desperately need to recover from the Deepwater Horizon spill.”
Lawmakers Push To Collect Taxes On Your Internet Purchases
April 6, 2011
As lawmakers consider budget plans that make deep cuts in health care and other state spending, supporters of boosting revenues by broadening existing taxes are pushing to collect taxes due on Internet purchases.
On a 5-1 vote, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee approved a measure aimed at trying to subject Floridians’ Internet retail purchases to the state’s sales tax. The bill would bring Florida’s sales tax code closer in line with other states to make it easier for online retailers to gather the tax for the state — something many of them do not currently do.
State residents are technically already required to pay sales taxes on Internet purchases, but as a practical matter, few do.
“This is not a new tax,” said Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach. “It is simply a tax that is not being collected.”
Brick-and-mortar retailers support the bill, saying the current system gives online outlets an unfair price advantage, an argument lawmakers who support the change adopted.
But it’s not clear how far the measure will go after legislative leaders have spent months pledging to fill the state’s $3.75 billion budget shortfall without new taxes.
Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, argued that state retailers should be adapting to the new Internet economy in order to level the playing field.
“I think that’s the more fair way to do it,” she said, “not by saying we’re going to add a tax to our friends and neighbors who are trying to save money.”
By Brandon Larrabee
The News Service of Florida
Senate Panel Approves Virtual School Overhaul
April 6, 2011
A wide-ranging bill that revamps Florida’s virtual education programs was unanimously approved by a Senate education committee on Tuesday.
The bill removes a mandate that school districts offer virtual instruction programs and allows them to contract with other districts or virtual school providers approved by the Department of Education.
Students in public and private schools as well as home-schooled children could enroll, a change from current law which only permits public school students to enroll. The funding formula used to pay districts for virtual students is also revamped so that it is based primarily on “seat time” versus course completion.
Students beginning in school year 2011-12 would be required to take at least one online course in order to meet high school graduation requirements.
“This bill creates equity and clarity in our current system,” said Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami. “We need to give access to all Florida students to take as many online classes as wanted.”
But Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, said after the meeting he had concerns about shifting control of virtual schools programming away from school districts.
“We’ve got to make sure the school districts themselves retain control over any program that goes on in their district…you can’t just farm that out,” Montford said. There is no identical measure in the House.
School Prayer Bill Shelved
April 6, 2011
A proposal to permit school prayers at sporting events and graduation ceremonies was blasted Tuesday by critics for oppressing minority religions at a Senate education committee.
Critics said the measure would require schools to police school prayer, which might violate federal law. Even by using the word “prayer,” the bill raises red flags because it indicates support for one religion, critics said.
“In order to protect religious freedoms of all students, including those of minority religious faiths, we must guard against promotion or endorsement of one set of religious beliefs over another,” said Danielle Prendergast, the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, authorizes school boards to adopt resolutions regarding the use of prayers or inspirational messages. It permits prayers led by students and requires that prayers be nonsectarian. It also prohibits school faculty or staff from participating or influencing prayers.
But after the Anti-Defamation League and the ACLU said the bill could violate federal and state constitutional prohibitions of the endorsement of religion by schools, the bill was temporarily postponed on Tuesday.
Critics of the bill said they have no objection to students praying among themselves, or laws that allow for “moments of silence.” But when it becomes a public school policy to allow school prayer it could violate long-established federal and state laws that prohibit taxpayer-funded institutions from endorsing any religion.
Siplin said the intent is not to promote one religion over another. “Over 36 states have this kind of language,” Siplin said. He said the bill explicitly states the prayer must be non-sectarian.
But an attorney with the Anti-Defamation League said by putting parameters around what students can say puts school districts in the position of policing school prayers. “When a school is getting involved, when a message becomes school-sponsored or school-endorsed, that is when you cross the constitutional threshold,” said David Barkey, an attorney with the Anti-Defamation League.
“This bill is fundamentally unfair to school districts,” Barkey said. “It will set them up for costly litigation.”
In 2008, the Santa Rosa School District was sued by the ACLU for allowing school-sponsored prayers.
The next year, the district agreed to an order that prohibited school officials from promoting, organizing or endorsing religious services or promoting their personal beliefs.
Siplin’s bill has a House companion that has not been heard in any committees. With the halfway mark of the session nearing, it becomes increasingly difficult for bills that have not been heard in committees to become law.
Last year lawmakers passed a bill that prohibits school boards or school officials from taking steps to infringe upon First Amendment rights of employees or students unless those rights are waived.
Pictured: The Northview High School Class of 2009 Baccalaureate service at a Bratt church. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
By Lilly Rockwell
The News Service of Florida
Extension Service Gathers Community Input
April 6, 2011
About two dozen people took part in an Escambia County Extension Service public meeting Tuesday evening in Century. Extension officials gathered input as they develop a community vision for their programs in Escambia County. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
