USDA Announces Conservation Reserve Program General Sign-up
August 15, 2010
General sign-up for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) continues through August 27, 2010. During the sign-up period, farmers and ranchers may offer eligible land for CRP’s competitive general sign-up at their county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. The 2008 Farm Bill authorized USDA to maintain CRP enrollment up to 32 million acres.
“America’s farmers and ranchers play an important role in improving our environment, and for nearly 25 years, CRP has helped this nation build sound conservation practices that preserve the soil, clean our water, and restore habitat for wildlife,” said Agriculture Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services Jim Miller. “Today’s announcement will help us create a greener and healthier America, and I encourage all interested farmers and ranchers to contact their local FSA office to learn more how to take advantage of this opportunity.”
To help ensure that interested farmers and ranchers are aware of the sign-up period, USDA has signed partnership agreements with several conservation and wildlife organizations, which will play an active role in USDA’s 2010 CRP outreach efforts.
CRP is a voluntary program that assists farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers to use their environmentally sensitive land for conservation benefits. Producers enrolling in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers in exchange for rental payments, cost-share, and technical assistance. CRP protects millions of acres of America’s topsoil from erosion and is designed to improve the nation’s natural resources base. Participants voluntarily remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production by entering into long-term contracts for 10 to 15 years. In exchange, participants receive annual rental payments and a payment of up to 50 percent of the cost of establishing conservation practices.
By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP also protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to wildlife population increases in many parts of the country. As a result, CRP has provided significant opportunities for hunting and fishing on private lands.
Land currently not enrolled in CRP may be offered in this sign-up provided all eligibility requirements are met. Additionally, current CRP participants with contracts expiring this fall covering about 4.5 million acres may make new contract offers. Contracts awarded under this sign-up are scheduled to become effective Oct. 1, 2010.
FSA implements CRP on behalf of Commodity Credit Corporation. FSA will evaluate and rank eligible CRP offers using an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) for environmental benefits to be gained from enrolling the land in CRP. The EBI consists of five environmental factors (wildlife, water, soil, air and enduring benefits) and cost. Decisions on the EBI cutoff will be made after the sign-up ends and after analyzing the EBI data of all the offers.
Those who would have met previous sign-up EBI thresholds are not guaranteed a contract under this sign-up. In addition to the general sign-up, CRP’s continuous sign-up program will be ongoing. Continuous acres represent the most environmentally desirable and sensitive land. For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/crp.
School Shopping? Here Are The Supply Lists You Need
August 14, 2010
School starts Monday, August 23 in Escambia County. Here are the school supply lists from each elementary school in the county, plus Ernest Ward and Ransom middle schools.
(High schools typically do not have a general supply list. Students are advised of their supply needs in each class.)
- Bratt Elementary
- Jim Allen Elementary
- Molino Park (Molino Park Wish List)
- Ernest Ward Middle
- Ransom Middle
- Bellview Elementary
- Beulah Elementary
- Blue Angels Elementary
- Brentwood Elementary
- Cook Elementary
- Cordova Park Elementary
- Ensley Elementary
- Ferry Pass Elementary
- Hallmark Elementary
- Hellen Caro Elementary
- Holm Elementary
- Lincoln Park Elementary
- Lipscomb Elementary (Lipscomb Wish List)
- Longleaf Elementary
- McArthur Elementary
- McMillan Pre-K
- Montclair Elementary
- Myrtle Grove Elementary
- Navy Point Elementary
- Oakcrest Elementary
- Pine Meadow Elementary
- Pleasant Grove Elementary
- Scenic Heights Elementary
- Semmes Elementary
- Sherwood Elementary
- Spencer Bibbs Elementary
- Suter Elementary
- Warrington Elementary
- Weis Elementary
- West Pensacola Elementary
- Yniestra Elementary
Sales Tax Holiday Continues (With Printable List Of Exempt Items)
August 14, 2010
Florida’s 2010 Sales Tax Holiday is continuing until midnight Sunday, offering shoppers the chance to stock up on school supplies and clothing without paying sales tax.
After a two-year hiatus, consumers are excited about the return of a holiday that provides a break at the cash register for families during a time of year when their expenses climb.
Retailers across Northwest Florida are gearing up for a big weekend, stocking up on merchandise and planning for a boost to their bottom line. In addition to locals, retailers are expecting to see a lot of Alabama tags in their parking lots as Alabama residents cross the state line to save a few extra dollars this weekend.
In general, Florida’s sales tax holiday will apply to the sale of books, clothing, wallets, or bags, including handbags, backpacks, fanny packs, and diaper bags, but excluding briefcases, suitcases, and other garment bags, having a sales price of $50 or less, or on sales of certain school supplies having a sales price of $10 or less for the period from 12:01 a.m., August 13, 2010, until midnight, August 15, 2010, according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
For complete details on exempt items in Florida, click here (pdf).
Florida defines books as “a set of printed sheets bound together and published in a volume.” Newspapers, magazines, other periodicals and audio books are not books and will be taxable during the holiday.
Clothing is defined as any article of wearing apparel, including all footwear (except skis, swim fins, roller blades and skates) intended to be worn on or about the body. Clothing does not include watches, watchbands, jewelry, umbrellas, handkerchiefs or sporting equipment.
School supplies include pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunch boxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses and calculators.
The state also has a rule about where purchases can be made or, more importantly, where they can’t be made.
For example, eligible items are not exempt from sales tax if purchased at a theme park or entertainment complex. So, a T-shirt with a cartoon character on the front purchased at Disney World would be taxable, although a similar T-shirt purchased at a department store would be exempt.
Eligible items also lose their tax-exempt status if purchased at a public lodging establishment, aka a hotel, motel, resort, beach cottage, or airport.
Driver, 16, Ticketed After Cantonment Crash
August 14, 2010
A Cantonment teen was ticketed for careless driving following a Friday afternoon crash with a tanker truck.
Johnathan T. Gardipee, 16, was stopped in the median area of Highway 29 at Archer Road when he attempted to make a left turn onto southbound Highway 29. He accelerated his 2004 Ford Mustang in the inside lane and fish-tailed into the outside lane into the path of a 1998 Freightliner driven by David W. Brewster, 52, of Milton, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Brewster braked and attempted to avoid the collision, but rear-ended the Mustang, the FHP said. Gardipee’s Mustang continued to slide and overturned into a wooded area off Highway 29. The tanker truck came to a stop on the shoulder of the road.
Gardipee received minor injuries, and Brewster was uninjured, according to the FHP.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Two Jailed For Escambia’s Latest Murder
August 14, 2010
Two suspects are now behind bars in an Escambia County homicide that happened earlier this week.
Tyrone Vincent Moultrie, 21, turned himself in Friday morning. Omar Shereef Hickenbotham, 18, was arrested earlier in the week. Both are facing murder charges in the death of Jerome Peters. Investigators believe Peters was gunned down during a robbery attempt in the parking lot of an Exxon gas station on Fairfield Drive.
Moultrie and Hickenbotham are being held without bond in the Escambia County Jail.
Early Voting Continues
August 14, 2010
Early voting will continue in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties through this weekend and next week leading up the August 24 primaries.
As of the close of business Thursday, more than 2,100 voters had voted early and almost 23,000 absentee ballots had been issued in Escambia County. During the same period in Santa Rosa County, 1,322 people had cast their ballot.
There are four early voting locations in Escambia County:.
- Supervisor of Elections Main Office, 213 Palafox Place 2nd Floor
- Supervisor of Elections Annex, 292 Muscogee Road, Cantonment
- Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
- West Florida Genealogy Library (former Tryon Branch Library), 5740 North 9th Avenue
Early voting in Escambia County will be offered Sunday, August 15th from 11:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.; and Monday, August 16th through Saturday, August 21st from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Early voters will cast paper ballots through our digital scanners, and may choose any one of the four sites.
And there are two early voting locations for Santa Rosa County residents:
- Elections Office (behind McDonalds on U.S. 90, Milton), 6495 Caroline St., Suite F
- South Service Center (one block east of the zoo on U.S. 98), 5841 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze.
Early voting in Santa Rosa County will held from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. through August 21, with no early voting on Sunday.
Another option for voters is to cast an absentee ballot, which can be obtained by contacting the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections by mail, phone (850-595-3900), e-mail (absentee@escambiavotes.com), fax (850-595-3914), or by using the online form at EscambiaVotes.com. Requests must include the voter’s date of birth and the address where the ballot should be mailed, and must be received no later than Wednesday, August 18th. Voted ballots must be received in the Elections Office no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. Absentee voters may now follow the status of their ballot by clicking “Track My Ballot” on EscambiaVotes.com.
To obtain an absentee ballot in Santa Rosa County, contact the supervisor of elections by mail, phone (850-983-1900), e-mail (bodenstein@santarosa.fl.gov), fax (850-983-1829), or by using the online form at www.santa rosa.fl.gov/elections.
Visit Gulf Islands, Other National Parks Free
August 14, 2010
Gulf Islands National Seashore will join with other National Park Service sites around the country and offer fee-free entry into the park this weekend.
At Gulf Islands National Seashore, all entrance fees will be waived for visitors to the park on Saturday and Sunday. At this time of the year, entrance fees are collected at two of the park’s units: Fort Pickens and Perdido Key.
Acting Park Superintendent Nina Kelson states, “This is such a good opportunity to reconnect with all the natural and historic features of the national seashore as well as its ranger led programs.” Park entrance stations will have Senior and Annual Passes available for those who wish to purchase them. Kelson points out that faster moving lines makes this an excellent time to acquire annual passes for those visitors wanting to take advantage of what the park offers year-round. For a full description of the facilities and programs currently available, visit the park’s web site at www.nps.gov/guis or contact the Naval Live Oaks Visitor Center at (80) 934-2600.
Pictured: Fort Pickens in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Fall Veggies Are Cool To Grow In North Escambia Area
August 14, 2010
In Northwest Florida, vegetable lovers can enjoy harvests from their backyard gardens throughout the year. However, to ensure a productive and enjoyable vegetable garden, you must understand and abide by planting times.
In general, vegetable crops can be grouped into warm-season and cool-season varieties. Warm-season crops do not grow well at temperatures below 50 degrees F and are killed by frost. Cool-season crops are those that grow at lower temperatures, are not injured by light frost, but can’t take the heat.
In late summer and early fall, North Florida gardeners experience a unique opportunity. You can still plant another round of warm-season crops and/or start your cool-season vegetables.
Planting of warm-season vegetables gets to be more critical with the fall garden because we have an end point—frost and freezes. When planted too late, plants will grow, but may not provide enough of a harvest to make the effort worthwhile. Examples are peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. These vegetables can easily take up to two months from transplanting to producing the first fruit. All the time, the fall is getting shorter in day length and cooler in temperatures. That’s really tough on “warm-loving,” full-sun plants.
Since timing is so important with the fall crop, choose warm-season crops that will produce well within a short time. Look for fast-maturing and determinant or bush-type cultivars to ensure a good yield before frost.
Crops to plant outdoors in August include bush and lima beans, cauliflower, collards, cucumbers, onions, southern peas, peppers, squash, tomato and turnips.
In September, you can set out beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, endive, kale, kohlrabi, mustard and radish.
The cooler temperatures of October are better for planting Chinese cabbage, lettuce and spinach.
To find specific recommendations on when to plant vegetables in Florida, read the UF/IFAS “Vegetable Gardening Guide”. It’s online at edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021
The leafy crops excel in the fall. Some of the more popular leafy crops are Swiss chard, collards, spinach, mustard, turnip greens and lettuce. Endive, escarole, kale, arugula and the greens of mesclun mix also do very well during the cooler months.
Garden lettuces can be divided into three classes based on habit of growth – leaf or loose-leaf types, semi-heading types (such as butterhead and romaine) and heading or crisp-head types.
Crisp-head lettuces, such as the iceberg types available in supermarkets, are more of a challenge to grow here, so its recommend you stay with the leaf and semi-heading varieties. Other than generally avoiding the heading types, feel free to try just about any variety that strikes your fancy.
Leaf lettuces are the most decorative and least-demanding. They also are among the most heat-tolerant lettuces. This type of lettuce grows in a loose rosette of foliage, and the leaves can be smooth or crinkled, pointed, lobed, curled or ruffled. Foliage color runs from deep ruby red to dark green to pale greenish yellow, with just about every combination in between.
Collards will withstand wide ranges of temperatures if properly conditioned. They may be direct seeded and or plants can be transplanted. Collards may be harvested by cutting the whole plant or by “cropping” individual leaves.
Onions are generally grown from sets or plants. Sets and plants will require about six to eight weeks to reach eating size. Bulbing onions will not be ready to harvest until spring.
Radishes are fast growers and fun for the kids. Many are ready to harvest 25 to 30 days after planting.
So take the leap and “fall” into vegetable gardening.
Theresa Friday is the Residential Horticulture Extension Agent for Santa Rosa County
Funeral Services Set For Principal Killed In Police Chase
August 13, 2010
Funeral services have been scheduled for Saturday for Donald Wayne “Coach Rotch” Rotch, 60, of Brewton.
Rotch, principal at T.R. Miller High School, was killed when his vehicle was hit head-on by a car involved a high-speed chase with Brewton Police. He was assistant principal for nine years and principal for 10 years at T.R. Miller High School.
Visitation for Rotch will be held Saturday, August 14, from 2 until 4 p.m. at Brewton First United Methodist Church. Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 14, at 4 p.m. at Brewton First United Methodist Church with Dr. Ed Glaize officiating. Burial will follow in Union Cemetery with Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home directing.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donation by made in memory of Donnie Rotch to the Donald W. Rotch Scholarship Fund, Greater Brewton Foundation, P.O. Box 469,Brewton, AL 36427.
For the complete obituary, click here.
Man Found Dead By Highway 29 In McDavid Was In Prison 10 Days Prior
August 13, 2010
The man found dead by Highway 29 in McDavid on Tuesday had been released from a Florida prison just 10 before his body was discovered.
The body of Donald Freeman, 49, was found by a road crew near the West Fraser McDavid sawmill.
“We have ruled out any blunt force trauma, and there are no signs of foul play,” said Sgt. Ted Roy, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Roy also said there were no obvious signs of trauma that would indicate Freeman was struck by a passing vehicle. His death is no longer being treated as a homicide.
Freeman was believed to be walking toward Century were he had friends or relatives, Roy said.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Freeman was released July 31 from the Apalachee Correctional Institution, West Unit in Sneads. He was sentenced to state prison in 2006 for aggravated assault with a weapon without the intent to kill and cocaine possession.
Authorities are still trying to piece together what happened in the hours leading up to Freeman’s death, and Roy said the cause of Freeman’s death is still unknown. He said the department is still waiting for toxicology and additional test results.
Click here for a photo gallery from the scene.
Click here for raw news video from the scene.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.