Traffic Watch: Paving Begins On Hwy 29, Continues On Hwy 97
May 4, 2010
It will be the week of orange traffic cones and delays as paving gets underway on Highway 29 and continues on Highway 97.
Paving operations will begin this week on Highway 29 from Highway 97 to north of Pine Barren Road. Motorists can expect intermittent lane closures for the next three weeks as crews pave the roadway, turn lanes and median opening. Drivers are reminded to use caution, obey the posted speed limit, and watch for construction workers and equipment entering and exiting the roadway, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
The 4.55 mile stretch of Highway 29 has a price tag of $3,986,342, funded with federal stimulus dollars. The entire project is due to be complete by August.
Meanwhile, the resurfacing operation is expected to continue Tuesday on Highway 97. Crews are currently working north of Molino Park Elementary School.
The work is part of the $5.7 million resurfacing project on Highway 97 from Highway 95A to the Alabama state line. The 22 mile project is scheduled to be complete in the fall.
NHS Senior Hits Hole In One At Champion Golf Course
May 4, 2010
Timothy Wages of Century hit a hole in a one at the Champion Golf Course in Cantonment on Saturday.
He accomplished the feat on the fourth hole, using a 6-iron, according to witnesses Rob Brown, David Gaines and James Hughes.
Wages is a senior at Northview High School. He is son of James and Karen Hughes of Century.
Businesses Brace For Gulf Oil Spill Impact
May 4, 2010
Businesses along the Florida Panhandle area bracing for disaster as an oil spill looms in the Gulf of Mexico.
“I’m looking at maybe no business for the rest of 2010,” said John Rivers (pictured), of Gulf Breeze, who owns a charter fishing boat business. “And if the oil affects the breeding grounds there may not be anything next year at all. I’m looking for work.”
Rivers, who has run Mega-Bite Inshore Charters for six years, said almost all of his bookings for June have canceled because of the publicity surrounding the spill.
Florida emergency operations officials said the oil could reach the shores of Escambia County by Wednesday depending on the ocean currents.
BP, which has been unable to contain the spill thus far, is expected to try another method that involves placing a dome over the well. That containment method has been used in other spills; however, it has never been used on a well in 5,000 feet of water. If the dome containment process fails, the next step would be to drill a relief well to redirect the oil. That process could take two to three months, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole said Monday.
“We do really need to get this discharge to stop,” he said. “They need to plug the hole.”
Gov. Charlie Crist originally declared a state of emergency for Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf counties but extended it Monday morning to include 13 more counties as far south as Sarasota County. As much as 770 miles of Gulf front property could be affected by the spill.
The impact could be devastating – and wide-reaching.
“It can affect everything in an economy that is strongly based on tourism or fisheries,” said Stephen Holland, professor of tourism, recreation and sport management at the University of Florida.
Florida fisheries have not yet been directly affected by the spill in a physical sense. Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said in a statement Monday that seafood currently being harvested is safe to eat. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is restricting commercial and recreational fishing in federal waters from Louisiana to an area off Pensacola Bay, but that ban does not yet impact waters extended out 25 miles from Escambia County.
State officials said there is the potential for additional closures, though, and that the state is working with federal partners to determine how and when to make that decision.
Holland said in some ways, the spill is like a strong rip tide in that it may keep people out of the water for a while. But a rip tide usually goes away after a few days, whereas the effects of the spill could last for weeks, or even months. It would be natural he said, for people to change vacation plans out of concern, thus creating an impact on local hotels and restaurants.
“They could choose to drive to Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach in the Carolinas instead of coming to the Panhandle,” he said.
Pensacola Convention and Visitors Bureau spokeswoman Laura Lee said that the visitors bureau is getting lots of phone calls from people worried about Memorial Day weekend or summer vacation plans. Pensacola officials, she said, are hoping that many tourists will still come to see the historic downtown and the air museum. But the beach is still what draws many visitors to the area, she said.
“Our beaches are the number one attraction here, so it would hurt us greatly,” said Lee.
Dave Rauschkolb, a Seaside restaurateur who also organized February’s “Hands Across the Sand” beach protest against legislative efforts to open Florida’s Gulf waters to drilling, said most Panhandle businesses don’t seem to have suffered an immediate decline stemming from the spill in Louisiana, but most are anxious.
“I think anybody who lives up or down the Gulf coast is afraid of this oil spill,” Rauschkolb said.
Bratt Elementary Names Students Of The Month
May 4, 2010
Bratt Elementary School has named their April Students of the Month.
They are:
- Pre-K: Emilee Cabral, Malonie Curryl
- Kindergarten: John Michael Ward, Dakota Peebles, Jakayla Jackson, Ashton Knicley
- First Grade: Deshawita Riley, Nona Wilson, JD Ward, Kiwianna McPherson, Gabrielle Marlow
- Second Grade:Natalee Gibson, Adam Peterson, Morgan Page, Myles Harrelson, Cheyenne Philyaw
- Third Grade: Samuel Stott, Janie Kite, Jeremiah Woods, Eric King, Kaitlin Berry
- Fourth Grade: Hunter Carter, Tara Windham, M.J. Jones, Logan Doremus
- Fifth Grade: Kylie Brook, Hanna Clarke, Kyle Ard, Zachary Maholovich, Tanner Guidry
No Injuries In Tate Road Wreck
May 3, 2010
There were no injuries in a single vehicle accident in Cantonment Monday afternoon. The driver of a GMC pickup lost control, ran off the road and struck a utility pole near the intersection of Tate Road and West Roberts Road. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Photo by Kristi Smith for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FHSAA Considers New Division For Small, Rural Schools Like Northview, Jay
May 3, 2010
A Florida High School Athletic Association committee has given preliminary approval to creating a new division for for small, rural schools like Northview and Jay. Schools in the rural division would compete within their own division and have their own playoff series for boys and girls basketball, baseball, football, softball and girls volleyball.
The recommendation from the FHSAA Urban/Rural Committee came about a year after Northview, Jay and nearly 20 other high schools in the Florida Panhandle met to discuss forming a new independent athletic league outside of the Florida High School Athletic Association.
“We all just want to see our teams have a level playing field,” Northview Principal Gayle Weaver told NorthEscambia.com at the time the smaller Panhandle schools were meeting. “Sometimes our students say we are playing for second best, because they know that they could never win state.”
The problem lies with smaller schools in the FHSAA that are forced to compete at the playoff level with private schools and academies located in cities like Pensacola. Those private schools are able to recruit the best players with scholarships and other incentives, making the chances of a small, rural public school winning a state playoff unlikely.
“It’s a good idea because it keeps these private schools out,” Northview Athletic Director Sammy Day said. “You’ve got a lot of private schools that recruit…if they get them coming to school because they live in their area, that would be fine. But they don’t.”
“A new division of participating schools (public and private) needs to be created,” the FHSAA Urban/Rural Committee wrote in a recommendation for full FHSAA board approval.
“We have a number of member schools that need issues addressed in terms of equitable competition,” said Executive Director Roger Dearing. “We need to make sure people know this is not a public-private issue. This is an issue of small rural schools that do not draw their student populations from larger urban areas or outside the state or country, and have a difficult time competing against those that do. There is a way for all schools to exist and succeed with the advent of this new division.”
The committee, which was commissioned in Fall 2009, traveled throughout the state to gather feedback from parents, coaches and other stakeholders at public meetings about issues of concern regarding participation. From this feedback, the committee developed the following recommendations:
- to create a new division of participating schools, private and public, which have been designated as rural by the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, and whose student enrollments are 500 or less. This classification shall be limited to the following sports: boys and girls basketball, baseball, football, boys and girls soccer, softball and girls volleyball.
- to ensure penalties for an offense of recruiting, or any violation(s) of eligibility bylaws, are very severe, including but not limited to: program and/or school suspension from the Association; program and/or school restrictive probation, including exclusion from state series playoff events; and increased financial penalties.
- to investigate the use of a “clearinghouse” system for international student eligibility, with no more than one international student being eligible to participate on each varsity-level team.
- to seek input from member schools regarding reclassification and redistricting processes.
The Urban/Rural Committee noted in their full recommendation that the student population of 500 is an approximation with the actual number to be determined by the actual number of schools required t o create a competitive division.
To read the full FHSAA committee recommendation, click here (pdf).
Pictured top: Brandon Sheets tries to avoid Jay defender Chris Carrigan during last year’s meeting of two rural schools. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Rain Spells Early End For North Pensacola Relay; Goal Almost Reached
May 3, 2010
The North Pensacola Relay for Life was cut down to just four hours, but organizers say they have almost reached their $90,000 goal.
Over 1,000 people were taking part in the Relay event Friday night in Pete Gindl Stadium at Tate High School when lightning forced an end to the festivities about 10 p.m. The Relay had began at 6 p.m. with a “Thunder Lap” of motorcycles and Relay’s signature Survivors Lap that honors those that have defeated cancer.
The fundraiser for the American Cancer Society had raised about $85,000 before the Relay’s early end, but organizers said there is more money to be turned in and a few remaining fund raising events to go.
All proceeds from the North Pensacola Relay for Life benefit research by the American Cancer Society.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the event, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Tate FFA Rodeo This Weekend
May 3, 2010
The Tate Future Farmers of America (FFA) Alumni Foundation Rodeo will be held Friday and Saturday nights at the Escambia County Equestrian Center.
Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children.
The FFA is an organization made up of middle and high school students who focus on agricultural education programs. The FFA Alumni Foundation holds events, such as the Tate FFA Alumni Rodeo, to raise money for these students and to give those students interested in the rodeo lifestyle a chance to compete.
The event is an open division competition. For more information, call John Kelley at 937-2308. The Equestrian Center is located at 7750 Mobile Highway in Beulah.
Weekend In Photos
May 3, 2010
There were lots of weekend events, and NorthEscambia.com has the photos.
- For photos from Mayfest in Atmore, click here.
- For photos from the Pen Wheels Fishing Rodeo in Walnut Hill, click here.
- For photos from the Atmore Community Hospital 5K, click here.
- For photos from the North Pensacola Relay for Life at Tate High, click here.
- For photos from Molino Park Elementary Arts Day, click here.
Gulf Power May Help With Oil Cleanup
May 3, 2010
Gulf Power Company is organizing employees to help with any coastal cleanup operations should an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico reach area beaches.
“We have offered our services to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Escambia County if they need workers,” Sandy Sims, Public Affairs manager said.
Gulf Power has almost 800 employees in the area and the company could also call on additional resources from sister companies in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
“With our experience in dealing with hurricanes, we know how to organize large-scale emergency operations, how to respond quickly and how to mobilize large numbers of people to get the job done,” Sims said. “We are willing to offer any and all of that expertise to help in this situation.”
The electric utility also has floating booms available if needed to capture surface oil. The company maintains a supply of these booms at their power plants where barges are unloaded.
“If the state and counties need us to walk the beaches and help clean up, we’re willing to roll up our pant legs and go to work,” said Sims.