Free Health Clinic To Provide Health And Hope For North Escambia
March 9, 2011
There will soon be help and hope for the uninsured and medically underserved in the North Escambia area.
Work is underway now to prepare for an April opening of the Health And Hope Northend Clinic in Century. The new clinic in Century will be an entirely volunteer and donor driven clinic established by the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association in order to help meet the need of the medically underserved population in Escambia County. The clinic will target patients who are without access to health insurance and with an income at or below 150-percent of the poverty level.
At the Century clinic, as well as an existing Health and Hope Clinic in Pensacola, doctors, mid-level providers, nurses, pharmacists, medical technologists, case workers, clerical workers, medical assistants, equipment specialists, encouragers and more volunteer side-by-side to provide Christ-centered health care.
The new Northend Health and Hope Clinic will be located in the former Escambia County Health Department building on Church Street in Century.
This past weekend, youth and adult leader volunteers gathered at the Century clinic to paint the building’s interior. Youth groups from Highland Baptist, the First Baptist Church of Century, the First Baptist Church of Bratt, Walnut Hill Baptist and Ray’s Chapel Baptist churches took part. For more photos, click here.
The Health and Hope Clinic is seeking volunteers, supplies and equipment for the Century clinic. For more information, click here or call (850) 479-4456.
Pictured: Youth groups from several North Escambia churches volunteered to paint the new Health and Hope Clinic in Century. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Court Rules Against Tiny Town In Mega Landfill Fight; Public Hearing Thursday
March 9, 2011
A public hearing on the proposed Conecuh Woods mega-landfill will go on as planned Thursday after a court ruling Tuesday against the tiny town of Repton, Alabama.
Repton, which sits adjacent to the proposed 5,100 acre landfill, filed suit this week against Conecuh Woods LLC and the Conecuh County (Ala.) Commission in an attempt to stop a permit from being issued for landfill. A judge denied the injunction sought by lawyers for the town of 280 residents.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has issued an executive order providing for a moratorium on new landfills in the state, but Thursday’s public hearing will go on as planned.
The public hearing for the Conecuh County Commission to consider approval for Conecuh Woods is set for next 9:00 Thursday morning at Reid State Technical College in Evergreen. The commission has until April 2 to make a decision on the proposal — if the governor’s moratorium does not stop the process.
Numerous counties and cities in the area have passed resolutions against the landfill forwarded to Conecuh commissioners and Alabama’s governor — including Escambia counties in Alabama and Florida, Baldwin County, Century, Atmore and Flomaton.
The Town of Century, which sits directly downstream from the proposed landfill, expressed concerns over potential water quality issues in the Escambia River as a result of the landfill.
Century Mayor Freddie McCall is encouraging as many area residents as possible to attend Thursday’s public hearing in Evergreen.
“Numbers count trying to influence the county commission up there,” McCall said. While he will not be able to personally attend the hearing due to previously scheduled medical tests, Town Clerk Leslie Gonzalez will officially represent the town at the hearing.
Reid State is located just off of I-65 at Exit #96, the northernmost Evergreen exit.
State Of The State: Scott Tries To Sell Lawmakers On Jobs Agenda
March 9, 2011
Just like the cold calls he says he makes to businesses that he wants to move to Florida, Gov. Rick Scott gave lawmakers in his first State of the State speech a sales pitch for a government-cutting agenda he promises will create jobs.
In his first true public overture to legislators, Scott on Tuesday evening urged lawmakers to join him in “making job recruitment a daily task.
“I want to encourage each of you to become a ‘Jobs Ambassador’ and direct new prospects to me, so we can work together to recruit potential job creators.”
Scott asked a Legislature that’s been skeptical so far to help him with his budget, assistance that the outsider governor has seemed up to now unconvinced he would need.
But Scott was firm, too, telling legislators that they would be wrong if they didn’t go along with his proposals, which he predicted insiders and “special interests” will try to thwart, and urged lawmakers not to blink in the face of criticism.
“My ‘jobs’ budget has plenty of critics,” Scott said. “Some critics are accustomed to big government and will fight to protect special interests, and there are others who agree on our policy but say that our agenda is too bold – that we need to trim the sails of our imagination and settle for small improvements.
“They’re wrong,” Scott said.
“I did not fight to become the 45th Governor of the greatest state in the nation to settle for a status quo that does not promote the enormous potential of our people,” Scott continued. “And I am completely committed to this mission. It is achievable.”
Scott made no new policy proposals that he hasn’t already rolled out, saying that focusing the state’s economic development and recruitment efforts would be the main thrust of his effort to lower the unemployment rate, along with cutting taxes and reducing regulations.
Even fellow Republicans in the Legislature have been cool to Scott, who has given little indication in his two months in office that he wants to share power with lawmakers.
But GOP legislative leaders have said this week they’re generally in agreement with Scott’s agenda.
“I think what is so important…is that his message in the campaign is his message as governor,” Senate President Mike Haridopolos said after the speech. “That is the kind of leadership that we need where you are focused on the job at hand. Too often people hear one thing at campaign time and something different as they govern. He is matching up his campaign theme with his legislative theme and I think he will be very effective.”
While mentioning the word “job” or “jobs” 31 times in the 27-minute speech, Scott did hit a couple of other themes in his speech, the traditional opener of the annual legislative session.
He acknowledged that school budgets will have to shrink, blaming “the exhaustion of one-time federal handouts,” but said there must still be commitment to make schools better.
He restated his support for teacher merit pay, saying that Florida should “end the practice of guaranteeing educators a job for life regardless of their importance.”
He also called for competition in schools, by expanding charter schools and vouchers for private education.
Scott also renewed calls for lowering unemployment taxes, making it harder to win lawsuits against businesses, and cutting costs in the Medicaid program that provides medical care for the poor and those in nursing homes, though without any new specifics.
But most of the speech focused on his effort to grow the number of jobs in the state. He said businesses were looking at the Capitol before deciding whether to make Florida home.
He pointed into the audience to recognize Dean Minardi, CEO of Bing Energy, who said when the company decided to move its headquarters to Tallahassee from California that while he had been talking to Tallahassee officials since before Scott was elected, the new governor’s proposal to eliminate corporate income tax was a clincher in the decision.
Companies “can locate anywhere,” said Scott. “They will be deciding whether to invest in Florida, based, in part, on our ability to work together to remove the obstacles to business success.”
Democratic critics mostly said Scott’s narrow focus on making the state friendly to businesses missed a larger picture in making the state the kind of place where people want to live.
“Gov. Scott has proposed a 10 percent cut in public school funding and major cuts to our colleges and universities,” said House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders of Key West. “Will businesses want to come to a state that does not properly fund the schools their employees’ children will attend or the colleges from which they will hire their employees?”
Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich of Weston said the recession was caused by largely deregulated “Wall Street insiders.”
“That’s the same kind of hands-off policy Gov. Scott is now seeking for corporations,” said Rich. “…Rather than make meaningful investments to turn around our economy and reduce our budget gap by getting people back to work, the Republican solutions pit health care against education: our seniors in nursing homes against elementary school students, our desperately ill against teachers, our transplant patients against school books and classrooms.”
Pictured: Gov. Rick Scott listens to applause during his first State of the State address Tuesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. Photo by Colin Hackley for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
By David Royse and Lilly Rockwell
The News Service of Florida
Students Take Part In History Fair
March 9, 2011
Over 265 students took part in the Escambia County Florida History Fair competition, with several North Escambia area students placing.
These students Competed in a variety of categories including exhibits, web sites, performances, documentaries and historical papers. Each of these students advanced from their school level competitions.
North Escambia area students placing included: Abbie Johnson, Harmoni Till and Brittney Ward (Ernest Ward Middle), third place Junior Division, Historical Performance; Danielle Suggs and Penny Banda (Ernest Ward Middle), Junior Division, Historical Web Sites; Nick Krostag (Ransom Middle), first place, Historical Web Sites; Asia Cravens and Maya Crosby (Tate High) second place, Senior Group Division, Historical Exhibits.
The complete awards list included:
Historical Performance Awards:
Elementary Individual Division- 1st Bryce Harvey (NB Cook Elementary), 2nd Katie Shelnut (McArthur Elementary)
Elementary Group Division- 1st Delaney Pallas, Elizabeth Teets, Sarah Thomas, and Samantha Mumma (NB Cook Elementary); 2nd Nevada Wood, Will McDavid, Joshua Sourdif, and Sidney Nelson (NB Cook Elementary); 3rd Ginna Burton and Hallie Stephenson (NB Cook Elementary)
Junior Division- 1st Kael Madison(Woodham Middle); 2nd Blakeley Baker (St. Paul Catholic); 3rd Abbie Johnson, Harmoni Till and Brittney Ward (Ernest Ward Middle)
Senior Individual Division- 1st Amanda Patton (Pensacola High School); 2nd Kourtney Jones (Pensacola High School)
Senior Group Division- 1st Anthony Miller, Tyler Bryant, and Anthony Dickup (West Florida Technical High School); 2nd Jackie Oliveros, Mary Videau, Jerry Bustamante and Allie Hybart (Booker T. Washington High School); 3rd place Ellery Jones, Linda Wong, Clarissa, Gina Nguyen and Marlon Simmons (Pensacola High School)
Historical Web Site Awards:
Junior Websites- 1st Nick Krostag (Ransom Middle); three way tie for third place: 3rd Dylan Harris and Clayton Sallions (Bellview Middle); 3rd Danielle Suggs and Penny Banda (Ernest Ward Middle); 3rd place Austin Rothfeder and Michael Bearman (Creative Learning)
Senior Individual Website Division- 1st Robert Mines (West Florida Technical High School); 2nd Matthew Posner (Booker T. Washington High School)
Senior Group Website Division- 1st Jeffrey Grosso, Jr. and Justin Wilson (West Florida Technical High School); 2nd Taylor Martinez, Keimon Lewis, Colton Flanigam and Amanda Bibb (Booker T. Washington High School)
Historical Paper Awards:
Junior Division- 1st Brianna Leatherwood (Bellview Middle); 2nd Dante Navarro (Creative Learning); 3rd Elena Mayhugh (Bellview Middle)
Senior Division- 1st Caroline Fleischbauer (Pensacola High School); 2nd Ethan Landrum (Pensacola High School); 3rd Daphne Green (West Florida Technical High School)
Historical Documentary Awards:
Junior Documentary Division: 1st Maggie Byrd (Bellview Middle)
Senior Individual Division: 1st Rebecca Farr(Catholic High School); 2nd Aron Byrd (Pensacola High School); 3rd Greg Florian (Catholic High School)
Senior Group Division- 1st Dilani Patel, Jenny Clements and Andrea Dalilva (West Florida Technical High School); 2nd William Bond and Alex Anderson (Booker T. Washington High School); 3rd Kallie Erickson and Andrea Vargas (Catholic High School)
Historical Exhibit Awards:
Elementary Individual Division: 1stKennedy Roy (Lipscomb Elementary); 2nd Alexander Pope (Lipscomb Elementary); 3rd Sarah Puchner (Blue Angel Elementary)
Elementary Group Division: 1st Bryant Johnecheck and Alex Young (McArthur Elementary); 2nd Lucas Liseth and Prescott Moore (Lipscomb Elementary); 3rd Ryan Greene and Jonathan Suveges (McArthur Elementary)
Junior Individual Division: 1st Mary Jutras (Pensacola Christian); 2nd Joanna Deng (Bellview Middle); 3rd Kate Manning (St. Paul’s)
Junior Group Division: 1st Randolph Gibson and Matthew Alliss (St. Paul’s); 2nd Greer Coffey, Madison Mougey and Emma Hamrick (St. Paul’s); 3rd Skylar Peck, Jordan Riddle, and Elizabeth Shin (Bellview Middle)
Senior Individual Division: 1st Nick Gupta (Pensacola High School); 2nd Jalen Benson (Pensacola High School); 3rd Peter Jutras (Catholic High School).
Senior Group Division- 1st Jacob Sullivan and Daniel Dziadon (Catholic High School); 2nd Asia Cravens and Maya Crosby (Tate High School); 3rd Grace Synder and Katrina Ramos (Pensacola High School).
Let The Good Times Roll — Century Care Celebrates Mardi Gras
March 9, 2011
Residents at the Century Care Center celebrated Mardi Gras Tuesday in grand style with both a parade and a party.
The parade, held Tuesday morning, featured lots of throws, including Mardi Gras beads and other trinkets. Residents in Mardi Gras costumes paraded and rolled through the hallways in their wheelchairs to the delight of other residents watching the parade.
Pictured: Mardi Gras fun Tuesday at the Century Care Center. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Stadium Lights To Be Moved From Old Century High To Century Park
March 9, 2011
Youth football at the Anthony Pleasant Sports Complex has always been a race to beat sunset with no lighting at the Century field.
But now the Escambia County School District will allow the town to remove and utilize the stadium lights currently located at the former Century High School stadium.
Mayor Freddie McCall believes the town will be able to remove the lights from the old high school stadium and move them to the Anthony Pleasant field for $6,000 to $8,000 — he is still working on getting an exact cost.
If the town purchased new lights for the field, it would cost an estimated $70,000, McCall said.
Pictured: The football field at the Anthony Pleasant Sports Complex in Century. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Panel Passes Doctor Don’t Ask Gun Bill
March 9, 2011
Doctors would be barred from asking most of their patients if they own guns under a measure that passed in a House panel on Tuesday after it was amended in response to doctors’ concerns – though not enough to win over the medical establishment. The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Rep. Greg Evers, who represents the North Escambia area.
By a 9-6 vote, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee approved a National Rifle Association-backed bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford. The proposal would bar physicians, nurses and other medical personnel in non-emergency settings from asking patients if there are guns in the home, a query backers say oversteps a physician’s authority and infringes on Second Amendment gun rights.
Vehemently opposed by the Florida Medical Association, the Florida Pediatric Society and other medical groups, the bill that originally banned any questions about gun ownership was amended Tuesday to allow medical providers in certain cases to ask about guns, an effort to address concerns of committee members who normally side with the doctors.
“This bill is about taking politics, pure politics, out of the examining room,” Marion Hammer, a lobbyist for the NRA and other gun righs groups, told the committee before the vote.
The bill is being sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Greg Evers, R-Crestview. A constituent in Evers’ district complained when a physician refused to treat her after she wouldn’t say if the family had guns in the home. Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said constituents in his district also complained of being dropped by their physician when they declined to answer a question about whether they owned a gun.
Such altercations, however, should not be used as a justification to establish such a prohibition in Florida law, said Rep. Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, who voted against the measure and said it will cost lives.
“If this is major problem, we would have heard about it in our communities,” Thurston said. “For me it’s a no brainer. … This bill creates a situation where the doctor is unable to ask a question.”
The amended version of the bill would now allow physicians to ask patients about gun ownership if they believe the the patient or another person is in imminent danger. The question could also be asked during a medical emergency. In those cases, practitioners would be allowed to enter the information into the medical record.
The bill is also now less punitive than the original version, which made it a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5 million fine.
Physicians groups vowed to fight the bill vigorously as it move forward, saying Florida already has a tough time recruiting doctors.
“It really makes Florida out to be a laughingstock and the FMA will work hard to make sure that this bad public policy does not become law,” FMA executive vice president Timothy Stapleton said in a statement after the vote. “Frankly, it is disrespectful and insulting to the good doctors of our state who want nothing more than to help their patients.”
Pictured: Marion Hammer, lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, speaks for the bill to prevent physicians from asking patients if they own guns during the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee meeting Tuesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. Photo by Colin Hackley for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Story by Michael Peltier
The News Service Florida
Historic Marker Honors Regional Contribution Of Methodist Church
March 9, 2011
A historic marker was dedicated Sunday at the Pollard (Ala.) Methodist Church, commemorating the church’s long history and role in the area.
According to the historic marker, dedicated by the Escambia County (Ala.) Historical Society:
“A pre Civil War structure, this is the oldest church building remaining in Escambia County, Alabama. Confederate veterans related stories that mules and horses where sheltered inside during harsh winter months. Circuit riders served the church in the early days and in 1869 Robert F. Mountain was pastor. The bell was a gift from a riverboat captain named Kelley in gratitude for the aid church members gave his crew and passengers when his vessel wrecked and burned on the nearby Conecuh River. Methodists were in this area as early as 1830. In 1984 Pollard hosted the Methodist bicentennial celebration for Brewton, East Brewton, Cedar Hill, Zion AME, Flomaton and Century, Florida.”
Pollard, Alabama, is located just east of Flomaton near the Alabama/Florida state line.
Pictured top: (L-R) Rev. Doug Chandler Pastor of Pollard United Methodist Church, Robin Brewton, vice president of the Escambia County Alabama Historical Society, Sally Finlay Pollard, church historian; Hugh White, Pollard UMC Administrative Board chairman. Pictured below: The historic marker. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Full Text: Gov. Rick Scott’s State Of The State Address
March 8, 2011
The following is the full text of Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s State of the State address, as prepared for delivery Tuesday evening:
President Haridopolos, Speaker Cannon, Chief Justice Canady, members of the Supreme Court, members of the Cabinet, members of the Legislature, my fellow Floridians: It is an honor to appear before this body for the first time as Governor of the Great State of Florida.
I want to recognize our Lt Governor, Jennifer Carroll, and her husband Nolan. The new first lady of Florida is here, who’s been my first lady for 38 years, Ann Scott.
Tonight we are honored to be joined by General Titshaw, members of the Florida National Guard, and Florida soldiers and airmen who have returned from duty abroad. We are safe and comfortable here tonight because men and women like them stand guard in hard and dangerous places.
There are many humbling moments in life, but none more so than visiting with a wounded warrior, seeing the sacrifice and the courage. And we are joined tonight by two of those brave men who received the Purple Heart for their service: Staff Sergeant Alberto D. Porro and Air Force Staff Sergeant Christopher “Mark” McDuffie.
We are also honored by the presence of Phillip and Maureen Miller, the parents of Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, a Special Forces soldier who gave his life serving our country in Afghanistan.
Staff Sergeant Miller was awarded the Medal of Honor for giving his life so that his fellow team members could move out of an ambush kill zone. His courage is an inspiration to all of us.
On behalf of the people of Florida, we thank all of you for your service.
We also want to recognize the bravery and the sacrifices of our law enforcement officers here in Florida. In the last two months, six public safety officers have lost their lives serving our state in the line of duty, including three brave men in St. Petersburg in just one month.
We’re honored tonight by the presence of Donna Malloy and her daughter Payton, the family of Colonel Greg Malloy, who laid down his life just a few weeks ago, while hunting down a fugitive. Thank you, for joining us here tonight and representing the families of our fallen law enforcement heroes. We honor their memory and pray that God will comfort their families.
We gather tonight at a momentous time in our state’s history. Bold reforms are underway.
Thousands of our fellow Floridians have assembled here in our Capital – some to criticize our budget priorities, and far more to thank us for our willingness to make hard choices.
For years, politicians have not dared to face the full extent of our financial problems. Politics prevailed, even when the numbers did not add up. All the cans that have been kicked down the road are now piled up in front of us. Floridians have been encouraged to believe that government could take care of us.
But government always takes more than it gives back.
Some thought that businesses could tolerate a strangling web of regulations, and that government could grow without starving the private sector or destroying jobs. The result of that experiment is in: Government grew way beyond its ability to pay for its promises, and the jobs disappeared.
The first step to better times is acknowledging that government cannot afford what some have come to expect.
Doing what must be done will not make me “Most Popular,” but I’m determined to make Florida “Most Likely to Succeed.”
On my first day in office, I ordered a review of every regulation in the pipeline and every contract exceeding $1 million.
These steps sent two clear signals. First, that Florida will not allow unreasonable regulations to stand in the way of job creation. And second, that we intend to watch state spending like a hawk. On my watch we will never allow another wasteful project like the “Taj Mahal” Courthouse to slip under the radar.
We also sold the state airplanes as I had promised to do. And we created the most fiscally conservative state budget in the country.
Our “jobs” budget is targeted to create private sector jobs, increase accountability and reduce the size of government.
Every day since elected Governor, I’ve gone job hunting for the people of Florida. In my business career I was never shy about picking up the phone and making a cold call to try to make something good happen. As Governor, I’ve been making those calls every day to recruit job creators, and I will continue making those calls until every Floridian has the opportunity to get back to work.
As we meet tonight, unemployment in Florida stands at 12 percent. While this legislative session is a regular session, it is, in many ways, an emergency session.
For the 1.1 million Floridians who are out of work, this is an emergency. They are running out of options. The unemployed have heard enough talk. They’re saying, “Show me the jobs.”
And tonight, I am here to show you some new jobs. We have a long way to go, but we’re on our way.
Joining us tonight are four business leaders: one who decided to move a business to Florida, and three who decided to expand their business here. I’d like to recognize them now.
Armand Lauzon is president of Chromalloy, an aviation parts manufacturing company that just opened a new, manufacturing plant in Tampa and created 400 jobs in Hillsborough County.
And we’re also joined tonight by David Meers, the Chief Operating Officer of Vision Airlines, a company that helps put tourists onto Florida’s beaches. Vision recently began flying to 23 cities from Destin less than a year after the economic damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In Southwest Florida, Rheinhold Schmieding is founder and president of Arthrex, manufacturer of state-of-the-art medical devices. Tonight he’s here to announce that Arthrex is breaking ground on a 160,000-square-foot facility that will create 150 new jobs every year for the next five years.
And finally, Dean Minardi, CFO of Bing Energy, is here with us. Bing Energy, a California-based company, was courted by offers from several other states. Bing decided to come to Florida in December.
The reason Florida won? Mr. Minardi said it was our plan to eliminate the corporate tax.
These leaders, like me, share a positive view of Florida’s economic potential. On behalf of the people of Florida, I want to thank all of you for your faith in Florida’s future.
I urge every member of the Legislature to join me in making job recruitment a daily task. I want to encourage each of you to become a “Jobs Ambassador” and direct new prospects to me, so we can work together to recruit potential job creators.
Ask Florida business owners, “What can we do to help you expand your business?”
Ask business leaders around the world, “Why not move to Florida?”
Last July I submitted a detailed plan to the people of Florida to create 700,000 jobs over seven years. They reviewed the plan and voted to enact it.
Last month, I delivered to you a budget that puts that plan into action and cuts taxes by $2 billion. These tax cuts put money back in the hands of families and business owners who will grow private sector jobs.
An important priority in our “jobs” budget is to consolidate government’s economic development efforts into a single, highly focused agency. Working with our public-private partner, we will have the resources to be effective, and the flexibility to adapt to particularly promising opportunities. This agency will be headquartered two doors down from my office, and its work will never be far from my mind.
I come to the job of Governor after a 35-year career in the private sector. I want to use that business experience on behalf of the people of Florida. I’m asking this legislature and the people of Florida to give me the tools and hold me accountable for results.
Our “jobs” budget makes sure government is held accountable for every spending decision. And by focusing on the core missions of government – and only the core missions – this budget will give Florida a competitive edge in attracting jobs.
I know the members of this body have thoughtful, constructive modifications to our “jobs” budget.
But we must not lose our focus or blunt our momentum.
Business people in Florida and around the world are watching what we do in the weeks ahead. They can locate anywhere. They will be deciding whether to invest in Florida, based, in part, on our ability to work together to remove the obstacles to business success. I am convinced that putting this plan into action will put our state on the road to prosperity.
On behalf of the millions of Floridians who are desperate for new jobs, I ask you to pass our “jobs” budget promptly.
We also need to focus on our incredible opportunity to improve our K-through-12 education system. We now have real innovators offering a 21st century approach to education. And many of those new approaches offer better outcomes without increasing costs.
With so many Floridians out of work, and the exhaustion of one-time federal handouts, Florida educators will face challenges in managing limited resources. But our commitment to positive change must not waiver.
Let’s begin by agreeing on a few basic principles.
First, that individual student learning must be the touchstone for all our decisions. Practices that improve student learning must be adopted. Practices that impair student learning must be abolished.
Second, I think we can all also agree that the single most important factor in student learning is the quality of teaching. Florida has to recruit, train, support and promote great teachers, great school principals and great school superintendents.
Great educators are priceless. Every one of us has a teacher in our past who made a lifelong difference in our lives. Educators, like other professionals, should be rewarded based on the effectiveness of their work, not the length of their professional life. That’s why Florida needs to pay the best educators more and end the practice of guaranteeing educators a job for life regardless of their performance.
The third principle worth remembering is that we all improve through competition. Think of how exciting it will be when schools are recruiting our children, when every school in the state focuses on continual improvement in order to outperform every other school in attracting students. We need to expand the eligibility for opportunity scholarships to harness the power of engaged parents.
And I am calling for an increase in the number of charter schools – which are public schools that are allowed to work independently of their school board and can innovate in ways that encourage all schools to improve.
With us here today is the principal of a very successful charter school – Sonia Mitchell of Florida International Academy. This charter school moved from an “F” school to an “A” school. Ms. Mitchell attributes their success to the passion of great educators and weekly measurements of student outcomes.
And finally, we can all agree that measuring results is a key aspect of education. We must test our students, and we must evaluate our educators. Those measurements need to be fair and thoughtful, and they need to have rewards and consequences.
We must also analyze how much education money is spent in the classroom versus the amount spent on administration or capital outlays.
With these principles in mind, Florida can become the most innovative and effective place in the country to educate the workforce of the future.
In other areas where government has a role to play, we are offering cost-conscious reforms. Most Floridians have had to tighten their belts. The state needs to do the same thing.
We are streamlining the functions of state agencies to save money and provide better service for taxpayers. Reviewing every activity in every agency with a fresh eye, we are simplifying the structure of state government.
For example, I have asked the Division of Emergency Management to report directly to me. If a hurricane comes our way, I will be personally and continuously engaged in solving problems. Direct, clear lines of authority will expedite our efforts.
We will also modernize our state government. Florida is currently the only state where taxpayers pay for the entire pension of state workers. We need to secure the state’s pension system and be fair to the taxpayers of Florida. We will bring Florida’s retirement system in line with other states by having government workers contribute towards their own retirement, just like everyone else.
Providing a modern, health care safety net for our low-income and disabled citizens is an important state function, but the costs of this program have been spiraling out of control. Yet there are ways to save money and provide better care by adopting market principles and giving patients more choice.
Unfortunately, the federal government requires Florida to get approval before expanding the use of these innovative, cost-saving programs. The federal government seems to forget that federal revenues were recently the hard earned dollars of Floridians. But, with or without the cooperation of the federal government, we will find a way to meet these health care needs without jeopardizing other priorities.
Another government program with good intentions and potentially dangerous side-effects is our system of unemployment compensation. In times of high unemployment, the system provides a critical safety net. But its rising costs, which are borne by the very employers who are struggling to stay in business, threaten to create even more job losses.
The costs of unemployment insurance cannot be allowed to deter job creation. By working with the legislature, we will bring those costs down.
And finally, we need lawsuit reform.
Every Floridian should have access to the courts for redress of harm. At the same time, we can’t allow frivolous suits and unreasonable awards to give our state a reputation that frightens away new jobs.
I ask everyone to look beyond the short-term and imagine with me what Florida will be like once we turn our state around. Florida will be the leading job creator over the next eight years.
With no income tax, a phase out of the business tax, the expansion of the Panama Canal, the expansion of the economies of Central and South America, our beautiful weather, our beaches, the Everglades, world-class theme parks, Florida oranges, our universities and colleges, and the hardest working people in the world, Florida will become the most exciting place to live work and play.
With more than 700,000 new jobs, families will be able to build their own version of the American dream with the security of steady employment opportunities. Entrepreneurs will create a business climate that continually offers new goods and services. State government will be smart, lean, affordable and focused only on its core missions.
Let me close with this: It’s a rare blessing in life to be in a position to improve the lives of millions of people. The leaders in this room have the power to make that kind of difference. We have a unique opportunity to put government back in its proper place and show the nation how private-sector growth leads to prosperity.
Such a moment may not come again.
My “jobs” budget has plenty of critics. Some critics are accustomed to big government and will fight to protect special interests, and there are others who agree on our policy but say that our agenda is too bold – that we need to trim the sails of our imagination and settle for small improvements.
They’re wrong.
I did not fight to become the 45th Governor of the greatest state in the nation to settle for a status quo that does not promote the enormous potential of our people. I am completely committed to this mission. It is achievable.
A vast majority of legislators were elected, as I was, on our promise of smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation, support for job creation, individual opportunity, individual accountability, and more freedom.
Don’t blink. Don’t let special interests persuade you to turn your back on the people who elected you.
Keep faith with the Floridians who supported you because you said, “I believe in the American Dream.” Remember their faces when you decide what to do in the weeks ahead.
Working together we can do incredible things if we stand together with the courage of our convictions.
Ronald Reagan once described America as a place “Unimpressed with what others say is impossible.” I think that’s especially true about Florida.
We are a state that has regularly done the impossible. We build magic kingdoms. We launch ships that fly to the moon. Florida can be the place where the American Dream continues to be a reality.
The world is watching, and God is watching over us. Our success will be the model for the nation.
With new jobs and an education system full of new energy, we’ll plot the course for a brighter future. May God bless our great state and all of you. Let’s get to work!
Escambia Student, 12, Injured In School Bus Altercation In Molino
March 8, 2011
A 12-year old middle school student was transported to a Pensacola hospital after an altercation on a school bus in Molino Tuesday afternoon.
The incident happened about 4:10 p.m. on Escambia County School District bus 16-07 on Highway 97 near Pine Circle Drive. The students on the bus were all students at Camelot Academy, an alternative charter school located in Pensacola.
The student was transported by Escambia County EMS to a Pensacola hospital as a precaution, according to Assistant Superintendent Norm Ross. He said the student’s injuries were not serious.
The student reportedly suffered lacerations on head and face as a result of the altercation.
The incident is under investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Pictured top: A Camelot Academy student was transported to a Pensacola hospital after being injured in altercation on an Escambia County school bus Tuesday afternoon in Molino. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.