Economist: Florida Hits Recession Bottom And Stays There
July 19, 2010
Florida’s economy has hit bottom in the recession but appears likely to continue scraping along with the state’s housing market still serving as an anchor, state economists said.
The state’s Economic Estimating Conference concluded Florida’s unemployment rate is on track to continue what has been a three-month improvement from a 12.4 percent peak, with manufacturing and health care industries now hiring. But the construction industry, which has lost 28,000 jobs over the past year, is forecast as facing another slowdown because of the deepening housing slump.
Tim Campbell, an analyst with the state’s Economic and Demographic Research Office, said housing has been staggered by a steady 50,000 foreclosures a month combined with tightening credit markets, resulting in a 14 percent decline in home construction through 2010’s first quarter.
“It’s really a recession within a recession,” Campbell said. “I think Florida has essentially hit bottom. But we’re at a flat part at the bottom of the recession.”
Economists conceded they still don’t have a good handle on the Gulf oil spill’s impact on the state’s economy. While much of the tourism decline is concentrated in the Panhandle, analysts conceded it is having a ripple effect across the state.
Along with the spill’s effect on tourism, the weak economy globally is reducing the pace of visitors to Florida from Europe and Japan. “We’re seeing a slight reduction in the number of visitors coming here, and that’s having a major impact,” said Clyde Diao, an economist with Gov. Charlie Crist’s office.
by The News Service Florida
Aldersgate’s A-maize-ing Outing
July 19, 2010
Members of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Molino recently had an “a-maize-ing” time at “Bratt’s A-maize-ing” cornfield maze. The six acre cornfield maze is located on Highway 4 just west of North Highway 99.
Have news items, announcements or photos from your church? Email them to news@northescambia.com
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Deputies Seek Help To Solve 1996 Murder
July 19, 2010
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in solving a cold case murder from 14 years ago.
On the morning of July4, 1996, 69-year old Everett Jerome Mack was reported missing by a family member. He was reportedly last seen at his home in the 2000 block of Kelso Road near Nine Mile Road the afternoon of July 3, 1996.
The following day, Mack’s body was found in the water in the area of the Highway 90 bridge over the Escambia River. An investigation determined that Mack was murdered. Investigators still do not know the person or persons responsible for his death.
Anyone with any information whatsoever about what happened to Everett Jerome Mack or the events that led up to his July 4, 1996, disappearance is asked to contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (850) 436-9580 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Pictured above: Murder victim Everett Jerome Mack when he was about 65 years old. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Man With Multiple Alcohol-Related Convictions Charged With DUI After Highway 97 Incident
July 18, 2010
A McDavid man with a long history of alcoh0l-related driving convictions was arrested and charged with DUI after an early Sunday morning incident on Highway 97 in Molino.
Michael Aaron Killam, 30, was charged with DUI fourth or subsequent offense, refusal to submit to a DUI test an driving with a suspended license. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on $12,000 bond.
Several stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were dispatched to a possible accident on Highway 97 near Molino Park Elementary School about 5:40 a.m. Sunday. Rather than an accident, they found Killam, apparently passed out or asleep behind the wheel of a Nissan Frontier truck in the ditch alongside the roadway.
Killam was taken into custody by the Florida Highway Patrol after he failed a field sobriety test.
Killam was arrested in late May, 2009 for driving under the influence, driving while his license was suspended, resisting arrest without violence and for threatening a deputy and his family. He was also issued traffic citations for an open container of alcohol and failure to drive in a single lane.
Escambia County deputy James Gilman was on Pine Barren Road the morning of May 20, 2009, at a brush fire when Killam made a u-turn in the roadway to avoid approaching Gilman’s patrol car and fire trucks. He sped away, prompting Gilman to follow. After observing Killam cross the yellow center and side white lines of the highway several times, Gilman initiated a traffic stop on Highway 164, according to Sheriff’s Office records.
That’s when Gilman said Killam headed for the passenger seat, reaching into the floorboard. After Killam was removed from the vehicle, he refused a field sobriety test and stated that his license was already suspended for DUI.
Killam was found guilty and sentenced to community control for 12 months, 24 months probation, 90 days in jail and community service. He was also ordered to avoid the possession or consumption of alcohol, ordered to use an ignition interlock system to test for the presence of alcohol before driving, and his driver’s license was revoked for 10 years.
Escambia County Court records show the following convictions for Killam:
- DUI, third conviction within 10 years after prior conviction
- Driving with license suspended
- Threatening a public servant
- Resisting arrest without violence
- Driving with license suspended, third or subsequent conviction
- Open container of alcohol in vehicle
- Failure to drive in a single lane
- Open container of alcohol in vehicle
- Trespassing
- DUI, third conviction within 10 years
- Refusal to submit to DUI test
- Driving with license suspended, second conviction
- DUI property damage, second offense
- Refusal to submit to DUI test
- Driving with license suspended
- Open container of alcohol in vehicle
- Failure to display registration
- Careless driving
- DUI property damage
- failure to leave info at accident
- Unlawful speed
- Careless driving
Pictured top: Michael Aaron Killam of McDavid is given a field sobriety test early Sunday morning along Highway 97 in Molino. Pictured below: Killam is taken into custody. Pictured inset: A Florida Highway Patrol trooper pours out an apparent container of beer found in the driver’s truck. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Leaders Limit Special Session Agenda
July 18, 2010
Legislative leaders have moved to end speculation about adding property-tax breaks, immigration reform or a host of other issues to the special session called next week by Gov. Charlie Crist to craft a ballot measure banning oil-drilling in Florida waters.
House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, said he agreed with Senate President Jeff Atwater’s proposal to return to the Capitol by early September to address other measures stemming from the Gulf oil spill and Florida’s economic fallout.
But Cretul also may have signaled dim prospects for Crist’s push for a drilling ban. In a memo to House members, Cretul ambiguously said that he agreed with Atwater that “we are not ready to legislate with respect to the oil spill.”
“You can expect your stay to be very short next week,” Cretul assured fellow House members.
Still, neither Cretul nor Atwater provided any insight into how they plan to deal with Crist’s proposal for a November ballot measure. House Republicans have almost unanimously derided Crist’s push to ban drilling, with one Central Florida lawmaker Thursday saying the governor should be censured for wasting taxpayer money by calling lawmakers into session.
Instead, Atwater and Cretul agreed that legislators should plan on returning to the Capitol in another month. As a prelude, Atwater also recommended adding several House members to an existing Senate committee and charging it with developing “a legislative package that truly meets the needs of this emergency.”
“Floridians will not be well served by hastily drafted legislation designed more for political consumption than meaningful economic relief,” Atwater said in his letter to Cretul.
The leaders said a second special session may be the time to consider other action, which other lawmakers have said may include steps to improve the state’s recovery of millions of dollars in claims from BP and provide property-tax reimbursements for Gulf coast residents and businesses.
Cretul said a September session would be called once “we can identify those subjects upon which we can act.”
The exchange between the two leaders ends what in recent days has proved a free-for-all of measures that could be tacked onto next week’s agenda, including extending state unemployment eligibility standards and enacting an Arizona-style immigration law.
Crist has called lawmakers into a four-day special session beginning Tuesday to put on the November ballot a proposed constitutional amendment banning oil-drilling within Florida waters, over opposition from most ruling Republicans who say the measure is unnecessary, since state law already bars such exploration.
On Thursday, a House joint resolution was unveiled sponsored by a pair of Gulf Coast Democrats, Reps. Keith Fitzgerald of Sarasota and Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg. But Crist has gained little support from Republicans, with even Atwater’s “political consumption” reference a possibly veiled shot at the state’s chief executive.
The House’s view of the session may have been underscored by Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Oviedo, who said Thursday she is sponsoring a resolution to censure Crist. She accused the governor of wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars by calling what she said is an unneeded session.
For his part, Crist has said the House’s push for oil-exploration the past two years affirms the need to have voters consider a drilling ban.
While Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, is expected to introduce an oil-drilling amendment similar to that proposed by the two House Democrats, Atwater in his letter doesn’t appear to share his view about Crist’s proposed ballot measure. Atwater refused the House the past two springs when it pushed to bring oil-drilling as close as three miles from Florida’s coastline, but when Crist called the session last week, the Senate president responded only by saying he hoped other economic issues could be added to the agenda.
By Thursday, however, Atwater seemed to abandon that hope.
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, also managed to take a veiled shot at Crist. Gaetz, whose Select Committee on Florida’s Economy is being positioned by Atwater to put together the legislation for the post-Aug. 24 primary special session, said the governor’s hurry-up call for a session has blunted the possibility of fully developing other spill-related bills.
“It is unfortunate that the timing and call of next week’s special session did not take into account the economic aspects of the oil spill,” Gaetz said in a letter released by Atwater’s office. “Sadly, the clock has tolled on that opportunity.”
Among other steps, Gaetz had been looking to enact legislation providing property-tax reductions to Gulf coast residents and businesses. Property appraisers in the Panhandle’s Santa Rosa and Escambia counties earlier this summer wrote Crist warning that properties would lose value this year because of the spill – but taxpayers would still face bills based on assessments in place at the start of 2010.
The Legislature has approved various tax relief measures five times since 1985, following hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes in Florida. The most recent, $1,500 property-tax reimbursements were handed out in 2007 to Central Florida residents whose houses were destroyed or heavily damaged by tornadoes.
Providing tax relief this time around, though, is proving more troublesome.
With businesses the length of the Gulf coast complaining about the slow tourist season, any attempt give property-tax breaks is likely to draw complaints from lawmakers whose districts are left out.
The Florida Constitution also sets Jan. 1 as the effective date for the value of homestead properties. Although tax bills aren’t due until fall, the constitutional requirement is a barrier lawmakers would have to navigate in trying to reset values for residents, Gaetz told the News Service of Florida.
“Everybody knows it should be done, can be done,” Gaetz said of the tax give-back. “But how we do it is still elusive.”
Before the exchange of letters from legislative leaders, the state’s largest labor union, the Florida AFL-CIO, on Thursday added to the call for more action next week. AFL-CIO President Mike Williams said lawmakers should extend unemployment benefits and modernize state compensation laws to cover more jobless Floridians.
Unemployment benefits have run out for about 200,000 Floridians since federal emergency benefits expired at the beginning of June, officials said.
The state’s $60 billion tourism industry has been staggered by at least a 20 percent decline in recent months, Visit Florida officials acknowledge. Along the Panhandle, the usually lucrative summer season has evolved into a grim summer of waiting for oil, sharply reducing what for many beach-reliant businesses is the bulk of their annual revenue. That’s despite the fact that little oil has actually washed ashore in the state.
University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith predicted earlier this summer that even a 10 percent decline in Florida tourism along the Gulf coast would drain $2.2 billion from the state’s economy and cost 39,000 jobs. If tourism was cut in half, Snaith warned, the economic cost could top $10 billion and erase almost 200,000 jobs.
by John Kennedy, The News Service Florida
Winning Jay Lottery Ticket Expires Saturday
July 18, 2010
Midnight Saturday is the deadline to claim a $68,663.34 prize from a winning lottery ticket sold near Jay.
The Fantasy 5 ticket was sold January 25 at McDonald’s State Line Lotto on Highway 87 at the Alabama/Florida line. The prize winner had 180 days to claim the prize, and that time period expires at midnight Saturday.
The winning numbers were 2-13-19-24-28.
Atmore Man Charged In Local Burglary; May Have Been Accompanied By Child
July 18, 2010
An Atmore man that may have had a child in his car at the time of the crime has been charged with a burglary last Sunday afternoon in Davisville.
Brady Lee Mosley, 52, of McRae Street, is jailed on felony charges of burglary and larceny. He remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond on a violation of probation warrant.
About 1 p.m. July 11, Escambia County Sheriffs’ Office investigators believe Mosley took five automotive radiators from a workshop at a home in the 10000 block of Highway 97. Witnesses reported seeing a 1995 tan Mercury Marquis with Alabama tag 30A73P1 backed into the carport area of the workshop. The suspect removed five radiators worth about $500 from the workshop area, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
A witness confronted Mosley, at which time he fled north on Highway 97 in the Mercury Marquis. The witness followed Mosley as he turned west on Nokomis Road, to Rockaway Creek Road to Miller Road. Knowing that Miller Road was a dead end, the witness parked his car and waited while on the phone with a Sheriff’s Office dispatcher. When the suspect exited Miller Road a short time later, the witness again followed him back to Nokomis Road. That’s where the witness stopped the chase because he said the man believed to be Mosley was driving erratically at a high rate of speed.
Two witnesses reported that the suspect had a juvenile male about 11-years old in the car at the time of the incident.
The burglary victim reported that several items in the workshop had been tampered with or moved, but only the radiators were missing.
According to the Sheriff’s Office report, the Mercury was registered to the Mosley’s stepfather, and his roommate in Atmore told authorities that Mosley had left home in the vehicle just prior to the incident. Two witnesses independently picked Mosley out of separate photo lineups.
Highland 633 Students Attend M-Fuge Camp
July 18, 2010
The Highland Baptist Church 633 Student Ministry recently participated in the M-Fuge Student Camp at North Greenville University in Greenville, South Carolina.
“We took 27 students and adult chaperones. Our students participated each day in ministry projects including children’s ministry, social ministry, games and recreation ministry, painting-cleanup-yard work ministry, and creative ministry. Students were equipped to share their faith, which they did each day. Each day the students and adults participated in worship services and enjoyed various activities as a group. Upon return from camp our students have a renewed heart for serving others in our community with the love of Christ,” said Student Pastor Brad Johnson.
Highland Student Ministry meets each Wednesday night at 6:45pm at Highland Baptist Church, 6240 Hwy 95A North, Molino.
To share news from your church, email news@northescambia.com
Pictured: The Highland Baptist Church 633 Student Ministry at M-Fuge Student Camp in Greenville, South Carolina. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
NWE All-Stars Win Sectionals, Headed To State
July 18, 2010
The Northwest Escambia All-Stars are now sectional champions and headed to state after sweeping both of their 11-12 year old Little League softball games Saturday in Tallahassee.
NWE beat Tallahassee Chaires Little League 16-1 and 8-2 in the double elimination tournament for the Florida Section 1 Championship. The Northwest Escambia girls will travel to the state tournament in Fort Myers next week.
In the first game, Mallory Ryan pitched all four innings with seven strike outs and no walks.
Scoring for NWE: Mallory Ryan: 2; Kyndall Hall: 2; Penny Banda: 1; Courtney Peebles: 2; Kendal Cobb: 2; Addy Lee: 3; Kristen Byrd: 2; Natalie Goetter: 1; Peighton Dortch: 1. RBIs for NWE: Mallory Ryan: 4; Kyndall Hall: 1; Courtney Peebles: 3; Kendal Cobb: 1; Addy Lee: 1.
In the second game, NWE and Chaires were tied 2-2 at the end of the sixth, and continued tied 2-2 at the end of the seventh. But NWE was able to score six runs in the top of the eighth for the 8-2 win.
Ryan pitched five innings with four strike outs and a walk. Courtney Peebles pitched three innings with one strike out and no walks.
Scoring for NWE: Kyndall Hall: 1; Courtney Peebles: 1; Kendal Cobb: 2; Addy Lee: 1; Kristen Byrd: 1; Natalie Goetter: 1; Savanna Roux: 1. RBIs for NWE: Kyndall Hall: 1;
Penny Banda: 1; Natalie Goetter: 1.
In the state championship series next week, NWE will play Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 1:30 p.m. and Friday at 6:30 p.m. All times listed are Eastern.
Members of the NWE 11-12 year old All-Stars are: Savanna Roux, Peighton Dortch, Courtney Peebles, Kyndall Hall, Penny Banda, Addy Lee, Kendal Cobb, Mallory Ryan, Kristin Byrd and Natalie Goetter. The team is managed by Jerry Mason, and coached by Ronald Peebles and Eddie Ryan.
Pictured top and bottom:The Northwest Escambia All-Starts 11-12 softball team after Saturday’s sectional win in Tallahassee. Pictured inset: Kendal Cobb plays for NWE. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kim Ryan, click to enlarge.
Fire Reported On Quintette Lane
July 17, 2010
Fire stations from across the area responded to an early morning house fire in the Quintette community.
Firefighters reportedly found a smoldering mattress when they arrived on Quintette Lane just north of Quintette Road about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The fire was quickly extinguished.
The Cantonment, Molino, McDavid and Ensley stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were dispatched to the fire. Several units were canceled prior to their arrival.
There were no injures reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.