Northview Lady Chiefs Take 2nd In Tip Off Classic
November 10, 2010
The varsity Northview Lady Chiefs basketball team finished second in a two-day Tip Off Classic at Central High School.
Northview defeated Gulf Breeze 40-28 Monday night to advance to Tuesday night’s championship game against Central. Central was coming off a Monday night win over Pensacola Christian Academy, 37-18.
In Tuesday’s championship game, the Northview Lady Chiefs fell to Central High, 32-29.
Northview’s girls will open their regular season next Monday night at Central. The junior varsity will tip off at 5:30, and the varsity hits the court at 6:30.
Submitted photo by Wayne Holland for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Care Center Veterans Honored For Service
November 10, 2010
Veterans at Century Care Center were honored this week for their services and sacrifices. During the program, sponsored by Covenant Hospice, each veteran was presented with a pin and certificate.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Two Injured In School Bus Crash; 34 On Bus, Bus Driver Charged
November 10, 2010
An Escambia County School bus with 33 students was involved in a crash this afternoon in Bratt that sent two people to the hospital.
Escambia School District bus 28-06 rear-ended a pickup truck on North Highway 99 at Hall Road, according to the Florida Highway Patrol about 4:10 p.m. Bus driver Stephanie Morgan, 36, of Century was northbound on North Highway 99 when she collided with the pickup driven by Terri Muller, 50, of Pensacola. Muller had stopped for traffic turning in front of her, according to the FHP.
The bus was occupied by 33 Ernest Ward Middle and Northview High school students. Northview student Shila Reid, 15, was transported by ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital with minor injuries. Muller, the pickup truck driver, was transported to the hospital by ambulance with minor injuries.
Several other students were evaluated by EMS but not transported. Morgan was not injured.
Morgan, the bus driver, was charged with careless driving by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Multiple EMS units from Atmore Ambulance and Escambia County EMS responded to the call, along with the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue.
For more photos from the scene, click here.
Pictured above: A Northview High School student was transported to an area hospital following the crash, one of two people sent to the hospital. Pictured below: A school bus rear-ended a pickup truck Tuesday afternoon in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Caregiver Charged With Neglect Of Disabled Man, Forgery
November 10, 2010
Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced the arrest of an Escambia County personal care attendant formerly employed by Community Outreach in Escambia County.
Amanda Capers, 22, was arrested for neglecting a disabled adult under her care and forging official documents. Capers was arrested by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with assistance from the Santa Rosa County Probation Office.
Based on information from the Florida Department of Children and Families Adult Protective Services Division, investigators discovered that Capers violated facility policy. While on duty, Capers took a resident with her to a friend’s house and permitted the disabled adult to ride on the back of a moped which collided with another moped. Due to the collision, the disabled man suffered a broken leg which required surgery.
Following the accident, Capers falsified the initial incident report, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Upon closer examination, investigators determined that Capers also falsified her driving record she had submitted when applying for the position at Community Outreach. Capers’ driver license has been suspended since 2007.
Capers was charged with one count of neglect of a disabled adult causing great bodily harm, a second-degree felony, as well as one count of forgery and one count of uttering forged documents, both third-degree felonies. If convicted on all counts, Capers faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and $20,000 in fines. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office under the authority of the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit.
Meet The New Boss — Rick Scott Comes To The Capitol
November 10, 2010
Governor-elect Rick Scott made his first post-election trip Tuesday to the Florida Capitol, taking part in a pair of brief, closed-door meetings with outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist and incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon.
Scott then met the media.
A pair of availabilities, first with Crist – and then with the incoming chief executive flanked by Cannon – each spanned just over three minutes.
“Our goal is to have a smooth transition, and I’m looking forward to getting to work,” Scott said, with Crist looking on.
Scott offered little about his plans for governing, staffing or the Legislature’s upcoming special session to override several vetoes imposed by Crist. Instead, he seemed to stray little from the campaign themes which carried him to a 1.16 percent, wafer-thin margin-of-victory over Democrat Alex Sink last Tuesday.
“The reason I won the election is over one issue: And that’s getting us back to work,” Scott said. “My whole goal and the things I’m going to focus on when I take office is how we’re going to get this state back to work.”
The Legislature next week plans to follow its one-day organizational session with a brief special session where ruling Republicans intend to override Crist’s vetoes of nine bills and a budget item which took $9.7 million from Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville. The money was intended to serve an additional 18,000 uninsured Floridians and make the state eligible for another $12 million in federal Medicaid matching money.
Scott during his campaign had called for the Legislature to approve a tough new immigration law, similar to that approved in Arizona which required police and sheriff’s deputies to enforce federal laws. The governor-elect, however, said he wasn’t asking lawmakers to push a similar measure this month.
“I’m not suggesting they have anything on this special session,” Scott said.
Crist is clearly the target of the Legislature’s override session – which, if successful, would mark only the third time in 24 years that a Florida governor was unable to sustain a veto. But Scott could sustain some collateral damage.
Lawmakers are looking to revive a measure (HB 5611) that would take oversight of the state’s troubled Department of Management Services away from the new chief executive – placing it under the governor and the state’s three Cabinet members.
Scott shrugged-off the move.
“I don’t think anybody’s trying to go after my power,” Scott said of legislative leaders. “They’re following through on things they believe in.”
Lawmakers also are ready to use the special session to restore some spending provisions that may clash with Scott’s campaign push to shrink government and reduce state spending.
Along with the Shands funding, lawmakers are looking to resolve the state’s outstanding commitments to homeowners and businesses taking part in a pair of energy rebate programs.
Legislative leaders are calling for accepting $31.3 million of federal stimulus cash to cover rebates owed thousands of Floridians who installed qualified air-conditioning systems or made solar energy improvements.
Scott campaigned against the Obama administration and the federal stimulus – calling it wasteful spending that contributed to the nation’s mounting debt. He seemed to draw a distinction with the Legislature’s reaching for more Washington money.
“What I’m concerned about stimulus money is that it’s money that creates a long-term obligation and it’s just interim money….I don’t want stimulus dollars that cause us long-term to spend money that we don’t have,” Scott said.
Following his meeting with Scott, Cannon said “his vision and mine are very similar.”
The incoming governor said he would also drawn good advice from his predecessor, Crist.
“I asked him ‘what’s your best advice, and he said, `follow your heart,’” Scott said. “And that makes all the sense in the world to me.”
Scott also indicated he would stay out of another legislative drama which appears ready to unfold during next week’s session. Cannon, R-Winter Park, and incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, have embraced a call by Sink to revive the vetoed SB 5603, a measure backed heavily by the state’s leading business groups, which would have reduced the cost of prescription drugs in workers’ compensation cases.
Crist’s veto was prompted, he said, by concerns the legislation would have made it “more awkward to get the medicine they need.” Urging a Crist veto were the Florida Orthopedic Society, Florida Medical Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
Also playing a key role in pushing the vetoes were a pair of South Florida doctors, Paul Zimmerman and Gerald Glass, who steered $1 million to political committees led by Haridopolos and Cannon – money that was used to finance TV ads against Scott during the Republican primary, when the two lawmakers supported Bill McCollum’s losing candidacy.
Automated Healthcare Solutions, a Miramar company headed by the doctors, also steered $605,000 to the Florida Republican Party in the weeks following the primary — this time, apparently to help Scott’s election. Similarly, Cannon seemed ready to make an easy transition back to the side of the state’s business lobby.
“That bill passed overwhelmingly in both chambers,” Cannon said. “We think it was good policy then, so we think it’s good policy now. It doesn’t really matter to me who supported it or opposed it.”
By John Kennedy
The News Service Florida
Flomaton Opens New, Expanded Library
November 10, 2010
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday for the new Flomaton Public Library.
“It will allow us to offer many more services because it has so much more room,” said Librarian Faye Knowles. “It is a great facility.”
The town’s old library was only 2,400 square feet, while the new library is nearly four times that size. The extra space will allow the library the room to increase its book collection, provide space for meetings and programs, and offer room for library patrons to sit and read or use the wireless Internet access.
Residents outside of Flomaton are also able to enjoy the library, Knowles said, with library cards available to residents of both Alabama and Florida at no charge. Proper identification and a complete library card application are required.
The new Flomaton Public Library is located at the corner of Church and Houston streets, one block east of Sidney Manning Boulevard (Highway 29) in the downtown area. The library is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday. For more information, call (850) 296-3552.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
New Graphic Arts Academy Planned For Northview High
November 9, 2010
A new graphics art career academy is planned for Northview High School.
The Escambia County School Board is expected to approve the Northview High School Graphic Arts Career Academy at their November 16 meeting. The academy will open next fall for the 2010-2011 school year.
The academy will focus on a digital art and design curriculum that can lead students to industry certifications and internships related to graphic design.
Students will learn through a hands-on approach, according to the school district, using the Adobe Creative Suite and the Microsoft Office Suite, under the leadership of instructor Donna Smith.
“Mrs. Donna Smith is a great business teacher, and she has worked diligently over the years to not only stay abreast of the fast-changing technology software programs, but she has also used her time to become industry certified. Through her efforts, Northview has been declared a Certiport Testing Site,” said Northview Principal Gayle Weaver. “With her industry certification, not only is Mrs. Smith able to test Northview students and give them the opportunity to become certified applicants in the job field, but she has also single-handedly increased the points toward our school grade, through the addition of students who pass the industry certification test.”
This year, there are 33 students enrolled in the Digital Design Program at Northview . These students will be given an opportunity to enroll in the new career academy. Other students in the country will be able to apply for NHS Graphic Arts Academy.
Northview is currently home to a Building Trades and Construction Design Academy.
The School District of Escambia County’s career academies are small learning communities within a school that focus on a career pathway for a two to four year period span. Students enter through a voluntary application process and take a mixture of career and academic classes each year.
Classes meet entrance requirements for four-year universities. Students develop knowledge in a given industry, and usually have opportunities to earn industry certification relevant to the career academy. Students’ senior year may include work experience in the community.
No Injuries In Monday Night Highway 97 Crash
November 9, 2010
There were no injuries in a single vehicle accident Monday night on Highway 97 south of Walnut Hill.
The driver apparently lost control while northbound on Highway 97 just north of Tungoil Road about 10:45 p.m.. Her vehicle left the roadway, struck a culvert and came to rest in a ditch. The driver, who walked to a nearby home for help, was not injured.
The accident was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Atmore Ambulance also responded to the call.
Pictured: There were no injuries in this single vehicle accident on Highway 97 near Tungoil Road Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Gulf Oil Spill Task Force Begins Meetings In Pensacola
November 9, 2010
EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson on Monday in Pensacola pushed a federal task force to go beyond its immediate charge to look into ecosystem damage caused by the Gulf oil spill and explore ecological problems in the system that pre-dated the disaster.
Jackson, speaking to members of the Gulf Ecosystem Restoration Task Force at its first meeting, called on the 12-member task force to seek remedies to decades of environmental degradation and population pressures that have occurred on what once was one of the most productive ecosystems in the country.
“We’re taking one step back and saying what does the Gulf region need to be resilient,” Jackson told a group of more than 250 stakeholders who attended the panel’s first hearing. “It’s not just oil. It’s hypoxia and nutrients in our system that are creating dead zones. It’s just the fact that we have so many people who want to live on the Gulf of Mexico.”
Monday’s kick-off of the federal task force’s work in Pensacola was overshadowed by related events unfolding in Washington, where the White House’s oil spill commission found no evidence that the offshore spill following the April 20 explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig happened because BP and its partners cut corners to save money.
The panel agreed with nearly all of the findings of BP’s internal investigation of the accident released this summer. BP’s report assigned much of the blame for the accident to its drilling partners including Halliburton, which provided the cement used to secure the wellhead and blowout protectors, which also malfunctioned.
Critics have accused BP and other companies involved in drilling the well of sacrificing safety for monetary savings in the run up to rig explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed millions of barrels of oil into Gulf over the summer
Florida participants in the ecosystem task force include state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mimi Drew, a task force member who said the state’s reliance on the Gulf region makes its participation in regional efforts critical.
“The tourism and seafood industries are really the backbone of our economy,” Drew said. “Our goal is to restore consumer confidence in our beaches and our seafood.”
Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida, was hopeful yet skeptical that the panel made up of the same agencies that have let the Gulf slip are the ones trying to fix it up.
“I think you have to be optimistic at this point of the game,” Young said. “But let’s just say I remain concerned.”
In addition to Jackson’s call for a broader look at environmental dangers to the Gulf system, officials also said the economic impacts of the spill and other threats also should be part of the task force’s work.
“While not overlooking the environment, I hope this task force will also look at the economic effects of the oil spill,” said David Stewart, chief of staff for Alabama Governor Bob Riley. “There are businesses today that are on the precipice of extinction.”
Southeastern officials also need buy-in from a wider audience, said the executive director of the task force, John Hankinson.
“We need to articulate to the nation why this is the nation’s Gulf,” said Hankinson.
The task force must return a set of recommendations by October, 2011. Until then the panel will hold a series of meetings throughout the region to compile an overall strategy to address the differing needs of all Gulf States.
By Michael Peltier
Jay Cross Country Takes 3rd In District, Headed To Regionals
November 9, 2010
The Lady Royals of Jay High School placed third at the District 1-1A Championships held recently in Tallahassee.
Four of the Royals placed in the top 15 runners. Robin Blackman led the Royals with a time of 21:29, placing seventh overall.
Other Royals in the top 15 were Leely Trevino (12th), Jessica Thornton (13th), and Allison Blair (15th). Jenna Thornton who ran fifth for the Royals set a personal record with a time of 23:19. Of the 12 teams from District 1 the top six teams automatically advanced to the region competition. The overall top fifteen individuals also advance individually. The Royals will run at the regional competition in Gainesville on Friday, November 12.
Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.