Lightning Strike Sends Steeple Crashing Into Church Roof
July 26, 2010
Lightning struck a North Escambia church Sunday afternoon, sending a portion of the steeple crashing through the church roof.
The lightning hit the First Baptist Church of Cantonment about 2 p.m., splintering the top of the church steeple. The pointed end of the steeple pierced the roof as it fell. The lightning strike also damaged the church’s sound system, fire alarm, computers and phones.
“We thank the Lord this didn’t cause a fire,” said church members Jerry and Lynda Barnes in an email. “Just a couple hours before the lightning strike, the church was packed with people — as we were having our VBS musical — so we are thankful it didn’t happen during that.”
Pictured: Lightning splintered the steeple at the First Baptist Church of Cantonment Sunday afternoon. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pair Pleads Guilty To Robbing Three Banks On Alabama-Florida Line
July 26, 2010
A couple described as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde have pleaded guilty to three bank robberies.
Rhianna Marie Jones, 30, of California, and Jerry Hover Tinsley, 30, of North Carolina, have admitted in federal court that they robbed banks in Flomaton, East Brewton and Florala during a March crime spree.
They admitted to taking $4,963 from two tellers at United Bank in Flomaton on March 8, another $2,840 in cash from one teller at BankTrust in East Brewton and $1,700 from a Wachovia Bank in Florala, Ala.
If Jones offers “substantial assistance” to law enforcement, federal prosecutors have offered her a reduced sentence. Prosecutors only agreed to seek the minimum sentence under federal guidelines. Sentencing is scheduled for late October.
During the Flomaton robbery, Tinsley and Jones both presented tellers with demand notes which stated “this is a robbery, place all $100s, $50s, $20s on the counter no alarm no die packs no tracers”, according to federal court documents. A demand note with the same wording was presented during the East Brewton robbery. They did not display a weapon during any of the robberies.
Authorities said Tinsley and Jones picked banks along the state line because they believed Alabama authorities could not pursue them into Florida. Authorities believe in each robbery, the pair fled to Florida immediately after the holdups — including March 8 when they fled into North Escambia following the Flomaton robbery.
The pair was arrested by federal agents and local law enforcement after a short chase from a Motel 6 in Destin, Florida, March 18. The arrest was reportedly the result of a tip phoned into the Florala (Ala.) Police Department concerning a MySpace photo.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Warrants Unit was assisting the FBI from Mobile in the hunt for Tinsley and Jones. They determined that they were staying in the Motel 6 located at 405 Harbor Boulevard in Destin. In addition to being suspects in the bank robberies, authorities knew Jones was wanted on felony charges out of Pinellas County, Florida, and Tinsley was suspected of being in violation of his probation.
At 11:14 p.m. March 18, the pair was seen leaving the Motel 6 in a gold color 2004 Chevrolet Impala with a Florida tag. Deputies attempted a traffic stop in the parking lot, but Tinsley and Jones fled westbound on Harbor Boulevard, a four lane divided highway, at a high rate of speed, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
“Tinsley, who was identified as the driver, was passing around and between cars to get away,” according to Okaloosa Deputy Todd Watkins. Speeds in the chase, according to Watkins, reach in excess of 90 mph. Tinsley, who is known by the street name “Prison Ink” turned onto two-lane roads, and the chase continued over 90 mph until he turned onto the dead end Sea Hills Drive. The total distance of the chase was about 1.8 miles.
While several units pursued the vehicle down the dead end street, Deputy Watkins went to an adjacent street where he observed the duo flee on foot. He was able to take Tinsley into custody, while Jones fled into a wooded area. She was located a short time later hiding in some brush in a fenced in yard.
Local charges were filed by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office: Tinsley was charged with fleeing and eluding at high speed, resisting arrest without violence, and possession of a controlled substance, and Jones was charged with resisting arrest without violence.
Tinsley reportedly had two grams cocaine and three Oxycontin pills in his possession at the time of his arrest.
Pictured top: Rhianna Marie Jones and Jerry Hover Tinsley pass holdup notes at the United Bank in Flomaton on March 8. Pictured top inset: Flomaton Police investigate the robbery of the United Bank on Sidney Manning Boulevard. Pictured below: Mug shots of Jones and Tinsley after their arrests in Okaloosa County. NorthEscambia.com and courtesy photos, click to enlarge.
Salters Named Farm Family Of Year During Farm Tour
July 26, 2010
Organizers say the 44th Annual Santa Rosa County Farm Tour was a success with over 200 local officials and citizens taking part.
On the day-long bus tour, participants learned first-hand of the importance of agriculture and forestry in the county and the issues facing local farmers. Stops on the tour included the Santa Rosa County Extension Demonstration Gardens, Lundy’s Berry Patch, Panhandle Growers, Chumuckla’s Farmers Opry and House Garden, the Jerry Jones Farm, and Holland Farms.
A highlight of the tour was recognition of the John Salter Family as “Outstanding Farm Family of the Year”. John and his wife Stacy accepted the award from County Commissioners Don Salter and Bob Cole during the lunch program at the Farmers’ Opry. Congressman Jeff Miller also presented the couple with a resolution he read before the U. S. House of Representatives honoring the Salter family for their accomplishments. John is a fourth generation farmer who started farming with his dad in 1980. Today the Salters farm 850 acres of cotton, peanuts, corn, and hay. The Salters are leaders in our county’s production of food and fiber and are active in various agricultural organizations.
The Farm Tour is organized each year by the Santa Rosa Farm Tour Committee, comprised of representatives from various agricultural support agencies in the county, and conducted in cooperation with the Board of County Commissioners. Of course, the tour would not be possible without the help of numerous local supporters and corporate sponsors.
The Farm Tour Committee thanked the following sponsors: Burkhead Gin Company, Crop Production Services, Escambia County Bank, Escambia River Electric Coop, Farm Credit of Northwest Florida, First National Bank of Florida, Golden Gin & Warehouse, Griswold Peanut Company, Gulf Power Company, Hall’s Hardware, Helena Chemical Company, Jay Peanut Farmers Coop, Kiwanis Club of Santa Rosa-Sunrise, McKenzie Motor Company, Pen Air Federal Credit Union, Publix, Regions Bank, Resource Management Services, Santa Rosa County Farm Bureau, Smith Tractor Company, Syngenta Crop Protection, Three Rivers RC&D Council, and United Bank.
BLOG: Big Change For NorthEscambia.com
July 26, 2010
NorthEscambia.com celebrated a major milestone of sorts over the weekend that we hope will benefit you.
Friday evening, we moved to a much faster dedicated web server. That’s it pictured at the top of the page. We had been hosted on what’s called a “shared server” — a server that contained multiple web sites. But, thanks to readers like you, we had experienced growing pains on that server.
During peak hours, it just was not possible for the server to deliver thousands of requests per minute. Over the past month, our underpowered little server delivered over 8 million pages to tens of thousands of people. That, quite frankly, is a huge number of views for a local website and was almost technically impossible for us to pull off with our old server setup. In fact, a small number of our readers would, on rare occasions, receive an error message or notice that a page took a little longer than usual to load.
Friday evening, we moved to our very own, brand-new dedicated server. We are the only company on what is, in simple terms, a mega-server. It’s loaded with all the bells and whistles. We did not change web hosts; our company has been with same web host for 13 years. The web server is connected to eight different major Internet backbone providers with multiple GigE (up to 10,000Mbps) connections.
What does this mean for our readers? First, the end of error messages and slow load times. Second, it means will be able to offer more services and present the news to you in an improved fashion. The new and exciting changes won’t happen right away; there’s lots of behind the scenes work involved.
It also means we will now be able to accept more advertisers. We had to hold back a little bit before due to the technical limitations of the old server. (If you own or manage a business, we’d love to have you as an advertiser. Send us an email, and we’ll talk.)
You are reading NorthEscambia.com from the bottom server in the picture at the top of the page. It is located in a secure facility in the Northeastern United States along with servers for Reader’s Digest, Barack Obama, Yamaha and more high profile companies.
This, by the way, marks the return of our blog column. We’ll work on publishing the column on a more regular basis. The blog will present a variety of topics, from opinion based editorials, to news stories that perhaps we would otherwise never cover, to inside information behind the scenes of our stories. The column will be available on our front page and under the “Blog” tab on the top of each page.
We are looking for a name for the column. If you have any suggestions, please pass them along. And don’t forget to send us your news tips and photos to news@northescambia.com.
And, as always, we thank each one of you for reading NorthEscambia.com and being part of the NorthEscambia.com family. We appreciate you.
– William, NorthEscambia.com
*** Here’s an insider secret: We have also started a Facebook page. You can be among the first to join now at www.facebook.com/northescambia
Pictured top: The NorthEscambia.com web server is seen on the bottom. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
FCAT Scores At Your Child’s School
July 26, 2010
FCAT scores for individual students are now available at schools in Escambia County.
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test score letters have arrived at individual schools and are available for pickup with a photo ID.
If you have questions, for summer hours, contact your child’s school.
Motorcyclist Flown To Hospital Following Crash
July 25, 2010
On person was injured in a motorcycle accident Sunday afternoon in Bratt.
The accident happened shortly after 5 p.m. in the “S-curve” on North Highway 99 just south of Breastworks Road. The male driver of a Harley Davidson motorcycle apparently lost control in the curve, slid off the highway and into an electric fence.
The motorcyclist, who was reported to be in his 60’s,was transported by LifeFlight helicopter to a Pensacola Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The accident is still under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Atmore Ambulance also responded to the call.
Pictured above and below: A Florida Highway Patrol Trooper looks at a wrecked motorcycle Sunday evening in Bratt as LifeFlight lifts off with the driver. Pictured below: The driver apparently lost control in a curve before hitting the electric fence. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Olivia’s Story: The Littlest Girl’s Biggest Birthday
July 25, 2010
Birthdays are a big deal for every little girl. For North Escambia resident Olivia Bush, her seventh birthday was a big deal in ways she might not realize.
We first introduced you to Olivia last December in a story titled “A Christmas Wish: A Cure For Olivia”.
Olivia Bush’s story started July 22, 2003, almost four months before there should have been a first chapter in her life. Born at just 22 weeks, she stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit three and half months, defying doctors and coming home two weeks before her due date. Olivia is the second youngest baby to ever survive at Sacred Heart Hospital.
She is blind, able to see just a little light with her left eye. And she suffered frequent seizures — until a portion of her brain was removed in February at Miami Children’s Hospital. During the surgery, doctors removed a seven centimeter portion of her brain — basically taking out the bad, non-functioning portion and leaving behind the good, healthy tissue.
She has been seizure-free since. And that was reason for the Bush family to celebrate a little more on the occasion of birthday number seven.
When the big birthday was winding down and the kids were in bed, mom Amber Bush took a quiet moment to go through some of the items from the Sacred Heart NICU and reflect on the days and weeks after the birth of their baby girl, who weighed barely a pound and a quarter.
Amber Bush, in her own words:
“We would just go in the waiting room and pray,” she said of one occasion in the neonatal intensive care unit. “We had no clue until after the fact, that she was so sick. The nurses told us that they couldn’t even look at us because Olivia was about to die. They knew what was coming and we had no clue. But, Olivia was a fighter and she slowly got better and better. I thank God that he shielded us from so much. I really don’t think I could have handled it.
“And, looking back, we really had no clue what we were going through. God shielded us from all the bad that was happening to Olivia and kept reassuring us that she would be OK. He was showing all of those doctors and nurses a true miracle right before their eyes.
“I thank God for these last seven years. They have been seven of the most rewarding years of my life. Not many people get to see their baby develop outside the womb. Not many people get to see a one pound baby fight for life after doctors wanted to abort her.”
It was, truly, a happy birthday.
Top photo courtesy Portrait Innovations.
Abundant Life Students Place Superior In Fine Arts Festivaln
July 25, 2010
Two youth from the Abundant Life Assembly in Century won superior in a recent Assemblies Of God Fine Arts Festival and were invited to attend Nationals. Zach Ingram won Superior for digital photography, and Victoria Creamer won Superior for voice.
Pictured above: Zach Ingram received a Superior for digital photography of “Ms. Brenda pulling her wagon”. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Have church news or an announcement you would like to share? Email news@northescambia.com
State Wants $11 Million More In Damages Over Late FCAT
July 25, 2010
The Department of Education continues to press its testing contractor for penalties for late delivery of test scores, adding more than $11 million on Friday to what it says NCS Pearson must pay for damages.
Pearson, which acknowledged problems in delivering the test scores, has already paid more than $3 million.
But Education Commissioner Eric Smith on Friday demanded another $11.7 million in penalties for additional problems, and ordered the company to deliver the money no later than Aug. 6. The additional penalty is for late delivery of math and reading FCAT results for grades 4 through 10 and science results for grades 5, 8 and 11, Smith said.
“Pearson’s usage of unproven technology systems this year has caused great turmoil for our parents, teachers, administrators and other education stakeholders and I remain committed to holding the company fully accountable for these disruptions,” Smith said, adding that if it turns out that it costs districts more than expected to deal with the problems, he’ll go to the company for that money too.
He also said company officials would appear before the state Board of Education in September to answer questions about the delays and explain why the company should keep its contract.
“I have firmly impressed upon Pearson that failure to meet their contractual obligations is not an option,” Smith said.
A spokesman for Pearson, Adam Gaber, said in a statement that the company would make good on “substantiated, unexpected costs,” due to the delay.
He also defended the company’s technology – it delivers testing and grading services in several other states – but again acknowledged the company’s shortcomings with the project in Florida.
“Pearson uses quality technology to conduct its testing, scoring and reporting functions,” the company statement said. “Our technology is sound. In short, as previously communicated, the delay was due to human factors in underestimating the requirements to customize our core technology for Florida.
“As we began the process of testing and configuring our systems to support FCAT and the requirements of the department, it became clear to us that we needed to make changes, and these changes took additional time. As a result we fell behind schedule.“Throughout the process our number one concern has always been the accuracy of the data,” Pearson said. “The FCAT scores are valid and accurate.”
NCS Pearson signed a $250 million contract with the state in 2009 to provide scoring of the FCAT until 2013. Harcourt Assessment, acquired by Pearson in 2007, had provided similar services related to the FCAT since 2000.
The Department of Education has contracted with the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment to check the FCAT results, which some districts have also questioned in a matter unrelated to the result delays. The results are also being reviewed by a Pearson subsidiary that was signed up to check the company’s work as well.
Small Farms Programs To Help Producers
July 25, 2010
Upcoming workshops will help small farm producers get their product to local markets, address obstacles for small producers, and identify new market segments for selling products locally.
Florida Small Farms Outreach Program is offering four training sessions statewide. These workshops are available via video teleconference through Escambia Extension, 3740 Stefani Road. The program is open to the public for $5 per session.
Early registration is recommended for participants. The availability of program notebooks and materials will be based on pre-registration numbers.
The programs will offer a discussion by farmers and experts on their selected topics. Sessions are two hours each starting at 6 p.m. as follows:
- August 3 – Food Safety Requirements for Small Farmers
August 17 – Taking Care of Business: Price Discovery , Accountability, Basic Merchandising
August 24 – The Art of Selling
Pre-registration is required. Contact Escambia Extension Office at 475-5230. For more information about Small Farms Outreach, visit their website at http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu.