Trial Begins For Billings Murder Suspect Stallworth
April 25, 2011
Jury selection begin Monday in the second trial of the Brewton man charged in the death of Byrd and Melanie Billings.
Donnie Stallworth is facing two counts of first degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of the Beulah couple last July — one of seven people charged in the double murder. The former Air Force staff sergeant went on trail last month, but a judge declared a mistrial after a jury could not decide his fate during nine hours of deliberations.
Stallworth’s attorney filed for a change of venue to move the case out of Escambia County, but, so far, there’s no ruling to move the case.
Stallworth was accused of being in the home at time of the murders, armed with a gun. The accusations came from two co-defendants, 16-year old Rakeem Florence and 21-year old Fredrick Thorton. Both pleaded not contest to a lessor second degree murder charge in exchange for their testimony.
Tiny Town Files Suit To Block Giant Landfill
April 25, 2011
The tiny town of Repton, Ala., has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a mega landfill planned for their backdoor and upstream from the North Escambia area.
Attorneys filed the suit in Conecuh County Circuit Court on behalf of Repton (pop. 280) and Mayor Terri Carter seeking an injunction to block the 5,100 acre Conecuh Woods landfill approved 3-2 last week by the Conecuh County Commission.
Conecuh Woods’ landfill, will include a 1,600 acre “disposal cell” from Range to Repton to near the Big Escambia Creek. Big Escambia Creek flows southward into Escambia County, Alabama, through Flomaton and drains through a North Escambia swamp into the Escambia River and then Escambia Bay.
Many other governments in South Alabama and Northwest Florida have passed resolutions in opposition to Conecuh Woods, including Escambia counties in Alabama and Florida, Century, Atmore and Flomaton.
The lawsuit claims there are “numerous factual errors” in the landfill application and it disregards threatened or endangered species in the area, ignores the water table that can approach withing 25 feet of the surface and numerous other items.
The lawsuit also claims the Conecuh County Commission ignored the public outcry against the facility and that they ignored several potentially negative aspects of the landfill.
Pictured top: Repton, Alabama, Mayor Terri Carter addresses the Century Town Council recently in opposition to a proposed 5,100 acre landfill in Conecuh County, Alabama. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Florida School Districts Grapple With Budget Cuts
April 25, 2011
Completely virtual 7th period classes. Teacher furloughs. Layoffs of hundreds of school employees. Four-day school weeks. Fewer school buses.
Those are just a few of the options schools districts across the state are mulling to close budget gaps that range from $6 million to $144 million. The budget holes are blamed in part on falling property tax revenue, the disappearance of federal stimulus dollars and proposed reductions in state funding for schools of nearly 7 percent per student.
Florida lawmakers want to cut funding to K-12 schools statewide by about $1 billion, one of the largest cuts in recent memory. Though school districts won’t know their final numbers until the governor and Legislature agree on a budget, districts across the state are beginning to craft budgets based on legislative estimates.
For districts, these budget cuts come on top of five years of strict belt-tightening. Already districts have closed schools, eliminated thousands of jobs and in some cases, charged for popular after-school programs like sports.
“We’ve had economic downturns in the past, but they lasted a year, maybe two. They didn’t have such a negative impact that we’re seeing now because schools had reserves and were able to buffer themselves against a state budget cut,” said Florida Education Association spokesman Mark Pudlow.
While most districts have avoided any cuts that impact classrooms so far, such as laying off large numbers of teachers, Pudlow said next budget year schools are examining teacher layoffs and furloughs.
Republican lawmakers in charge of the state education budgets defend these cuts as the product of a tough economic climate and the consequence of losing $1.2 billion in federal stimulus dollars.
“We’ve had to make some tough choices on the state level,” said Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna, who is in charge of the House budget committee on education. “I completely understand that the local school board members along with the superintendents will make equally tough choices, but that will be up to them.”
The size of each district’s budget hole varies widely. Some districts chose to levy local tax increases, others didn’t. Some districts used all or most of their federal stimulus dollars, others socked it away.
Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, argued that schools can’t blame the state for their budget problems. He takes into consideration unused federal stimulus dollars and savings from pension reform into his budget calculations.
“Based on the fact that most of the school districts kept their (stimulus dollars), in general there is an almost even funding from last year,” said Simmons, the head of the Senate’s education budget committee.
Still, school boards are preparing for worst-case scenarios. The populous Miami-Dade County Schools are bracing for a $144 million budget cut, on top of $400 million trimmed from the district’s budget in the last four years.
The district has turned to its maintenance and construction departments to close the gap, with a proposal to cut maintenance worker salaries by 20 percent and lay off hundreds of district employees.
In Leon County, where Tallahassee is located, the school board is pondering turning its high school seventh-period classes all virtual. This would save the school district $1 million out of a possible $10 million cut.
District spokesman Chris Petley said 7th period is optional and only about 10 percent of students take classes that period anyway.
In Southwest Florida, the Lee County schools may have to cut the budget by more than $30 million, on top of cuts of $86 million over the last four years. Spokesman Joe Donzelli the district has already cut 700 positions over the last three years. For next year, the school board may choose to eliminate more than 50 “support staff” jobs.
“Our philosophy has been we don’t want to start meddling with the classroom,” said Donzelli said. “But there’s no guarantee we won’t lay off teachers. That is sacrosanct – the last place the board wants to go.”
Meanwhile in Duval County, where Jacksonville is located, the school system is looking at a budget shortfall of $82 million. The district is considering several controversial measures to close the shortfall, including four-day school weeks, furloughs, increasing class sizes and reducing bus transportation to magnet schools.
Most school districts are reluctant to dip too extensively into their reserves for fear of damaging their credit ratings.
In Volusia County, which includes Daytona Beach, school board members had to cut deeply into their budget earlier in the recession.
In the last three years, Volusia County Schools have cut $75 million from the budget. Their budget troubles were compounded by the loss of students. State funds are tied to the number of students a district enrolls.
“We’ve been struggling,” said Volusia County schools spokeswoman Nancy Wait. The school board has already tried the obvious cuts: cutting 1,000 jobs, eliminating some bus routes and closing schools.
But the district also tried more unusual budget-whacking methods. It began charging for high school sports. It now costs $75 a sport and $100 for multiple sports at Volusia County high schools.
Now the district once again has to find a way to plug a $13 million budget shortfall.
“We have done just about everything you can think of,” Wait said.
This year, the district hopes to maintain the roughly 500 jobs funded through federal stimulus dollars.
“The superintendent has gone on the record saying we will do everything we can to, number one, protect the classroom and number two, protect jobs as much as we can,” Wait said.
In Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg is located, the school board is estimating a $60 million shortfall.
The district wants to eliminate roughly 400 jobs, though many of those could be cut through attrition.
“We have taken a real hard look at big ticket items, such as transportation, energy, health insurance and staffing,” said Pinellas County Schools spokeswoman Andrea Zahn. The district has already cut $118 million over five years. “When you cut that much in five years and are targeting $60 million in one year it is drastic.”
By Lilly Rockwell
The News Service of Florida
Sales Tax Funds Paves 2 North Escambia Dirt Roads
April 25, 2011
Crews from Roads, Inc. have almost completed a paving project on Pelt and Seals road in Walnut Hill.
The $310,457.25 project was funded with Local Option Sales Tax monies.
Pelt Road is about a mile in length between Highway 97 and Pine Forest Road in Walnut Hill. Seals Road is a dead end dirt road that runs about a half mile north off Pelt Road. The project includes paving the existing dirt road, removing and replacing existing culverts, driveway replacements and signage.
Pictured top: Pelt Road in Walnut Hill last week and, pictured below, Pelt Road as work began last November. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
April Students Of The Month Named
April 25, 2011
Escambia County Students of the Month for April have been named by the Escambia Association for Administrators in Education. The awards are presented monthly to two students from participating schools.
The following students were named from participating North Escambia area schools:
- Bratt Elementary: Kerry Hicks, kindergarten; Jalexis Robinson, third grade
- Jim Allen Elementary: Katie L. Bryant, third grade; Spencer R. Newton, third grade
- Molino Park Elementary: Miah U. Massey, kindergarten; Shelby B. Lashley, kindergarten
- Ransom Middle: Savannah K. Rowell, seventh grade; Kolton L. Radford, seventh grade
- Northview High: Dillian C. Crutchfield, 10th grade; Jamila A. Codrington, 11th grade
- Tate High: Kelly H. Ewing, 12th grade; Michael T. Lowery, 12th grade
Pictured top: Northview High School Students of the Month for April Dillian Crutchfield and Jamila Codrington. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
End Is Near For ECUA’s Main Street Sewage Plant
April 25, 2011
The end is near for the old Main Street sewage plant in downtown Pensacola as all of ECUA’s wastewater will finally be processed in Cantonment.
The 70-year old plant has been operating partially since ECUA opened the new $316-million Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment last August. But beginning Monday, ECUA plans to begin shutting down the old downtown plant that locals affectionately refer to as “Old Stinky”.
The new plant sits on 2,000 acres on land adjacent to Ascend Performance Materials (formerly Solutia) on Old Chemstrand Road near Cantonment. A full 15 miles north of the existing Main Street Treatment Plant, the facility is well above the flood plain and is built to resist hurricane-force winds. Redundant power and storage systems help to ensure that the facility can remain operational during conditions that crippled the Main Street plant during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
It will take about four days to fully decommission the Main Street plant, ending the discharge of reclaimed water into Pensacola Bay.
Pictured top: The Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tornadoes That Hit Escambia, Alabama, Had Winds Up To 130 MPH
April 25, 2011
The National Weather Service has determined that two tornadoes touched down in Escambia County, Alabama, on April 15 — one an EF-2 with winds up to 130 mph and the other an EF-1 with winds of up to 100 mph.
EF-2 — Damascus to Andalusia
The tornado first touched down just west of Damascus Road and quickly intensified as it moved east. EF-2 intensity damage was observed along Damascus Road — two mobile homes and one wood frame home were destroyed. Seven other mobile and framed homes were damaged. All of the trees in a 70 yard path were snapped.
The tornado continued to travel east northeast, producing tree damage across extreme eastern Escambia County and extreme southern Conecuh County. The tornado then tracked into western Covington county, producing damage all the way to Andalusia.
The total path of the EF-2 tornado was 22 miles with a maximum width of 300 yards.
EF-1 — Appleton to north of Brewton
The tornado first touched down in Appleton, producing EF-0 tree damage. Scattered tree damage continued along the track to the northeast where a corrugated metal home was destroyed on Highway 31 near the Conecuh County line. A small outbuilding was also overturned.
The total patch of the EF-1 tornado was five miles with a maximum width of 75 yards.
Pictured: One of the homes in Escambia County, Alabama, destroyed by a tornado on April 15. Photo by WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos: Highland Baptist Easter
April 25, 2011
Highland Baptist Church in Molino held a Resurrection Celebration Sunday, with over 2,000 eggs and the Easter Bunny.
For a photo gallery from the event, click here.
From Sara Calhoun, Highland’s children’s director:
We had the Easter Bunny make an appearance at our Resurrection Celebration and teach the kids that Easter is NOT about him ~ it’s not his ‘birthday’, it’s not about him at all! It’s all about JESUS! Our prize eggs were empty to symbolize our ultimate prize with the EMPTY TOMB. They traded their empty eggs in for Bibles. It is near impossible to ignore these type traditions in our society, so we try to find ways to incorporate them into the true reason we celebrate by making everything point back to the cross and empty grave. The children led in worship by singing and acting out ‘Glorious Day’. Resurrection Sunday is when we celebrate the Glorious Day when Jesus conquered death and the grave.
Do you have photos of an event at your church? Email them news@northescambia.com
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos: Century First Baptist Church Easter
April 25, 2011
Easter events for the children and youth at the Century First Baptist Church included an egg hunt, fire truck tours courtesy of the Century Volunteer Fire Department and the Resurrection egg story.
Do you have photos of an event at your church? Email them news@northescambia.com
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Area Sunrise Services Celebrate Resurrection
April 24, 2011
Easter morning sunrise services were held at many locations in the North Escambia area Sunday morning.
One of the largest was in Molino as several churches came together for a community Easter morning sunrise service at Aldersgate Methodist Church, celebrating with music and a message.
Other sunrise services were held across the area, including Century, Atmore, McDavid, Flomaton and Cantonment. The sunrise services celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, an important event to the faithful.
According to the Bible:
Matthew 28:1-20
Resurrection Morning
1 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. 2 Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached [the tomb]. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his robe was as white as snow. 4 The guards were so shaken from fear of him that they became like dead men. 5
But the angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here! For He has been resurrected, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. In fact, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”
8 So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell His disciples the news. 9 Just then Jesus met them and said, “Good morning!” They came up, took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see Me there.”
The Soldiers Are Bribed to Lie
11 As they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 After the priests had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money 13 and told them, “Say this, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole Him while we were sleeping.’ 14 If this reaches the governor’s ears, we will deal with him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day.
The Great Commission
16 The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
from the Holman Christian Standard Bible