Slim Down With Weight Watchers
February 11, 2011
Century area residents needing to shed a few pounds will have the chance to take part in the Weight Watchers program.
The Weight Watchers at Work Program will be offered at the Century Town Hall beginning Thursday, February 24 at 4 p.m. The cost for the 12 week program is $150, which can be split into two $75 payments.
Everyone is welcome to attend. To preregister, call the Century Town Hall at (850) 256-3208. Payment is due prior to the first meeting.
Flomaton Woman Appointed To Alabama Health Board
February 11, 2011
A Flomaton woman was appointed Thursday to Alabama’s State Health Coordinating Council (SHCC) .
Gov. Robert Bentley announced that Ruth Harrell of Flomaton was one of two dozen people appointed to the SHCC. The newly elected governor also made appointments to the Certificate of Need Review Board (CON). Both groups are part of the State Health Planning and Development Agency.
“I have full confidence in the newly appointed members of both the CON and SHCC Boards. Those I appointed, or re-appointed, have a wealth of experience in their respective fields and will make the right decisions as they serve in their capacity as board members,” Bentley said.
New Chinese Restaurant Opens In Century
February 11, 2011
The Century Area Chamber of Commerce held a ceremonial ribbon cutting Thursday afternoon, welcoming Happy Star to the neighborhood. The new Chinese restaurant has received rave reviews, according to the chamber. Happy Star offers a full menu for dine in or carryout.
Happy Star is located at 8321 North Century Boulevard, across from Whataburger. The store’s phone number is (850) 256-2258.
Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia EMT Arrested For Reporting Fake Shooting
February 10, 2011
An Escambia County paramedic, who claimed to have been shot by an unknown male, was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with making a false report.
The arrest of Brandon Richie arrest came after he admitted to investigators Wednesday that the wound was self-inflicted. Richie, 28, was released from the Escambia County Jail on $1,000 bond.
Shortly after the arrest, Escambia County Administrator Randy Oliver announced that Richie was suspended, effective Thursday, from Escambia County EMS. He will remain on suspension without pay pending the outcome of his case.
Richie also faces disciplinary action for having a firearm on county property and termination, according a media release from Sonya Daniel, the county’s public information manager.
On January 28 at around 9:03 p.m. deputies responded to the 1100 block of W. Hayes Street for an emergency assistance call from an EMS unit. When deputies arrived they discovered Richie had been shot in the shoulder.
Richie told deputies that he was retrieving an item from a bag located inside his ambulance when someone tapped him on the back. As he turned around he was shot.
The incident occurred at an EMS staging post, just blocks from Baptist Hospital. One of the responding deputies rushed the injured medic to the Baptist Hospital emergency room in a cruiser.
Richie was released from the hospital on Saturday, January 30.
“After an in-depth investigation we determined that Richie’s story was just not adding up. He came in today on his own free will and admitted that the he shot himself and that the story was a made up,” said Sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Chris Welborn.
Investigators are applying for an arrest warrant on Richie for false reports to law enforcement authorities.
The Sheriff’s Office is not releasing any other details.
Pictured: An Escambia County EMS medic claimed to be shot January 28 on Hayes Street in Pensacola. Photos courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Insanity Defense Planned For Accused Bandit With Underwear On His Head
February 10, 2011
The trial of a Molino man accused of robbing a Molino pharmacy last year while wearing underwear on his head has been delayed as his attorney prepares an insanity defense.
Joseph Daniel Flowers, now 57, is facing multiple charges for the September 20, 2010, robbery of Scott’s Pharmacy, including robbery with a firearm, possession of a firearm in a pharmacy, aggravated battery and wearing a mask while committing a felony. Multiple drug possession charges were later filed against Flowers in connection with the case.
Flowers’ trial had been scheduled to begin next Monday, but was delayed last week when Flowers’ attorney notified the court that he intends to rely on an insanity defense, according to Escambia County Clerk of the Court records. The State Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to prevent the use of the insanity defense. Flowers is scheduled to appear again in court in early March.
Flowers was charged with robbing Scott’s Pharmacy on September 20, 2010 while wearing a bathrobe, slippers, yellow kitchen gloves and underwear on his head. He has remained in the Escambia County Jail after a November arrest for failure to appear.
Flowers is also facing charges for the alleged battery of his accomplice — Krystal Lynn Collins — with a two liter bottle of Coke. Collins, 24, was also charged in connection with the robbery; deputies believe she was the getaway car driver. Collins is also due to be in court in early March.
Scott Begins Department Of Corrections Job Cuts
February 10, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott eliminated at least 15 administrators Wednesday within the Florida Department of Corrections, taking steps toward restructuring an agency his budget proposal targets for deep cuts, according to those familiar with the move.
Those whose DOC careers are slated to end Friday include deputy secretaries and assistants – a mid-level of management Scott has vowed to flatten.
Scott’s newly appointed DOC chief, Edwin Buss, commissioner of Indiana’s corrections agency, is scheduled to begin work Monday and earlier hinted he intended to overhaul the Florida department’s administration.
“Gov. Scott will hold agency heads accountable for their performance on behalf of the people of Florida,” Scott spokesman Brian Hughes said. “Part of being able to hold them accountable is to allow them to make the staffing decisions they deem appropriate.”
The state Corrections Department would absorb an $82.4 million cut and lose 1,690 jobs under Scott’s budget proposal, which also calls for closing two state prisons.
By The News Service Florida
It’s Still Very Much Winter – For A Few Days
February 10, 2011
You’ll need the extra blankets on the bed the next couple of nights, with overnight lows forecast to bottom out near 21-23.
If you don’t like the winter weather, hold on for Sunday into next week with highs in the 60’s to eventually near 70.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Mostly cloudy early in the evening becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 20s. North winds around 5 mph.
- Friday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
- Friday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds around 5 mph.
- Saturday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 50s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
- Saturday Night: Clear. Lows in the upper 20s. West winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming light.
- Sunday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.
- Sunday Night: Clear. Lows in the mid 30s.
- Monday:Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.
- Monday Night: Clear. Lows in the upper 30s.
- Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 68.
- Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40.
- Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 70.
Century Ready To Resurface Five Streets
February 10, 2011
The bottom line estimate is in for resurfacing five of Century’s worst streets.
The town will resurface Freedom Road, the portion of Old Flomaton Road in the city limits, Hecker Road, Elm Street and Hilltop Road. The streets were the top five on the town’s priority list.
The resurfacing part of the project will cost the town just over $181,000 by piggybacking on an Escambia County contract with Roads, Inc. Of Northwest Florida. With the addition of pavement striping on Freedom, Old Flomaton and Hecker, the total cost will be an estimated $195,000. Striping — those lines down the middle and on the side of the roadway — will not be added Elm or Hilltop because they are low-traffic.
There will be about a dozen roads remaining to be paved on the town’s priority list. Five of them — West Cottage Street, Academy Street, Pleasant Hill Road, Ramar Street and Lake Street — are all short or dead end streets. The remaining are dirt roads that will require extensive drainage work prior to surfacing.
The start date for the resurfacing project is still to be determined.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Town Hall Meeting Tuesday To Discuss Old Molino School Project
February 10, 2011
The public will have an opportunity next week to learn more and offer input about the renovation of the old Molino School into a community center, library and museum.
Escambia County Commissioner Kevin White will hold a town hall meeting on Tuesday, February 15, at 6 p.m. at Molino Park Elementary School at 899 Highway 97. The meeting is being held to discuss the old Molino School project.
The project architects, DAG, have completed the design documents, and the project could be bid as early as the end of February.
In May, 2009, commissioners approved the $400,000 purchase of the building from the Escambia County School District. Commissioners have since approved a budget of $2,089,156 from Local Option Sales Tax monies for the renovation project. DAG Architects is being paid $214,580 to design the renovations.
The project includes one section of the 15,600 square foot main building that will be converted into a library with both a children’s and adult area, computers and thousands of linear feet of book shelving. The old auditorium will remain a community auditorium with available seating for 242 people. The rest of the building will include a museum, classrooms and meeting rooms.
First opened in 1939, the Molino School closed in 2003 when the new Molino Park Elementary School consolidated Molino Elementary and Barrineau Park Elementary.
Pictured: A front hallway of the old Molino School. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Scott’s Budget Claims Fade Before Senate Panel
February 10, 2011
Some of Gov. Rick Scott’s most vaunted spending claims faded Wednesday, as the Republican chief executive’s budget director endured three hours of withering questioning from the Senate Budget Committee.
Jerry McDaniel acknowledged Scott’s touted $4.6 billion in budget cuts was actually closer to $3 billion, with the governor removing both state university tuition and spending by the state’s clerks of courts from his budget calculus.
McDaniel also may have dampened Scott’s defense of his plan to cut $3.3 billion in education spending, which includes at least a $298 average cut in per-pupil spending.
“Unfortunately, I think there will be some teachers without jobs, thanks to this policy decision,” McDaniel told senators.
A day after three House committees generally gave poor-to-middling grades to Scott’s $65.9 billion spending blueprint, it was the Senate’s turn Wednesday to challenge key portions of the plan. Scott wants to cut 8,681 jobs across state agencies, overhaul Medicaid, and pull in $1.3 billion by making 655,000 government employees contribute 5 percent of their pay to pension plans, and hand-out $1.7 billion in tax cuts.
Scott also would pull $8.5 billion from 124 state trust funds, spreading the cash across other government services.
Lawmakers aired a wide range of questions about details of Scott’s spending plan. But they also sought to gauge the governor’s willingness to compromise on budget provisions – especially after Scott advisor Mary Ann Carter warned budget chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, Senate Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and others at a Governor’s Mansion dinner this week that “the nation is watching” the Legislature’s treatment of the spending plan.
Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who campaigned for Scott last fall as Florida Republican Party chairman, asked McDaniel directly: “How flexible is the governor on this?”
McDaniel offered some assurance that his boss might be willing to deal with lawmakers, saying Scott, “is not suffering under the idea that everything we proposed here is going to pass.”
Scott and lawmakers are struggling to close a budget shortfall of at least $3.6 billion, as Florida endures a fourth straight year of drum-tight finances stemming from the recession. House and Senate leaders have said budget cuts are certain – especially with federal stimulus dollars now gone. But lawmakers from both parties are questioning Scott’s approach – and his math.
While Scott eliminates traditional state funding for private colleges and universities, he managed to earmark $1.8 million for one such school – the historically black Edward Waters College near the legislative district formerly represented by his lieutenant governor, Jennifer Carroll.
Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, said it wasn’t fair to help one school – while struggling schools such as Bethune-Cookman University and Florida Memorial College were zeroed out of Scott’s spending plan.
Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, challenged Scott’s plan to cut the Corrections Department by $82.4 million, eliminating 1,690 jobs and closing two prisons, part of an effort to offset an 8,000-bed surplus throughout Florida’s prison system.
Fasano, though, said he didn’t think savings from closing prisons was worthwhile. “You’re doing away with 619 jobs to save $2.8 million-a-year,” he said. “Are we benefiting from that?”
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich of Weston raised similar questions about Scott’s plan to save close to $1 billion by limiting the state’s Medically Needy program mostly to children and pregnant women, barring thousands of transplant patients and those with catastrophic illnesses from getting costly prescription drug coverage.
“I just don’t see how people will survive,” Rich said.
Jane Johnson, another Scott budget official, tried to soften legislators’ take on the change, saying the Medically Needy proposal would not be enacted until 2012-13. Like the governor’s support for a sweeping plan to steer 2.7 million Medicaid patients into managed care, saving an anticipated $1.2 billion next year, the Medically Needy change also would need federal government approval.
Scott’s proposal to require 5 percent employee contributions to the Florida Retirement System also drew pushback from Republican Sen. David Simmons of Altamonte Springs, who warned that with budget cuts already threatening layoffs, the payroll standard could also cost teachers $2,000-a-year.
Instead, Simmons said the governor should consider supporting his proposal to reduce by half the state’s 10 percent payroll contribution to new employees in the FRS, while also revising his property-tax cut. Simmons said an across-the-board rollback will not spur the economy – since many homeowners are already paying low property taxes under the state’s Save Our Homes cap. Cuts, though, could be targeted toward new home-buyers, Simmons said.
“I ask you to look at that as a solution so we are not reducing the take-home pay of our teachers,” Simmons said.
Alexander, the Senate’s budget chief, was cautious in his initial review of Scott’s spending plan. He conceded that lawmakers opposed many elements in the new governor’s approach – but that the Legislature would clearly be forced to enact deep reductions of its own this spring.
“I can tell you that there isn’t any part of our budget that is sacrosanct,” Alexander said.
By John Kennedy
The News Service Florida
Pictured: Senate President Haridopolos discusses ways to improve Florida’s economy to members of the Florida Chamber on Wednesday. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.