Mattie Smith Retires After 16 Years At Century Care Center
May 18, 2010
Century Care Center employee Mattie Smith has retired after 16-years of dedicated service at Century Care Care Center. Smith was hired before Century Care Center had patients, helping to move in the furniture. Smith, who many at CCC consider a mother-figure, was honored with a gold plaque and gold watch. Pictured above and below: Century Care Center Administrator Don Ripley and Mattie Smith. Submitted photos by Beth Whatley for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Several Area Baseball, Softball Players In High School All-Star Games
May 18, 2010
Several North Escambia area seniors were scheduled to hit the field Tuesday night in the Fourth Annual High School All-Star Baseball and Softball Game at the University of West Florida.
The first pitch for baseball was thrown out by former Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers player and MLB scout Kevin Saucier. For softball, the first pitch was thrown out by Charity Bulter.
North Escambia area players invited to participate included:
BASEBALL
- Rush Hendricks C/1B Jay
- Brandon Blackwelder C/3B Tate
- Heath Burkett P Northview
- Lee Hunter DH/1B Tate
- Brad Lowery P/SS/CF Northview
- Zach McCulley LHP Tate
- Tyler Moore P Tate
- Tevin Padgett OF Tate
- Austen Reid P/SS/CF Northview
- Cole Vickery P Tate
SOFTBALL
- Amber Steadham CF/Utility Jay
- Aimee Clark 1B Northview
- Avery Cobb LF Tate
- Kolbi Cobb OF Northview
- Candice Greenwell 3B Northview
- Amber McMillan 2B Northview
- Crysta Paulson RF Tate
- Amy Siefert 2B Tate
Pictured: Northview’s Aimee Clark is one of the many North Escambia are players taking part in tonight’s Fourth Annual High School All-Star Baseball and Softball Game at the University of West Florida. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Much Of Flomaton, Including Schools, Loses Power
May 17, 2010
A portion of Flomaton was without power this afternoon after a county employee accidentally cut a power line on Old Atmore Road.
The county maintenance employee was using a tractor-mounted side arm telescoping cutter to trim brush about 12:30 when he accidentally severed the power line. He was not injured.
The schools on Highway 31 were among those without power.
Billings Murder Suspect Pamela Long Wiggins Pleads To Bigamy Charges
May 17, 2010
Pamela Long Wiggins, who is facing accessory to murder charges in the deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings, has pleaded no contest to a bigamy charge for having two husbands.
She will face a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and a $5,000 fine when she is sentenced on June 30.
NorthEscambia.com first reported on July 16, 2009, that court records obtained by NorthEscambia.com indicated that Wiggins appeared to be married to two men. Wiggins was charged about two weeks later in Okaloosa County where her second marriage took place.
Wiggins, who is charged as an accessory after the fact in connection with the murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings, was married in December 31, 2008, to Hugh Gregory Wiggins, 48, by a court clerk in Shalimar, Florida. That marriage license, as first reported by NorthEscambia.com on July 16, was witnessed by murder suspect Leonard Patrick Gonzalez, Jr. and his wife Tabitha C. Gonzalez. (License is pictured below, click to enlarge.)
But court records in Escambia County indicate that her divorce from her previous husband was not complete at the time.
Under the name Pamela Long Malden, she filed for divorce from James Colburn Malden, 68, on January 29, 2008, seeking to an a marriage from May 5, 2007. Escambia County court records indicated that case was still open.
The bigamy charge arrest warrant states that confidential sources told Okaloosa investigators that there were photographs of Pamela Long and Hugh Wiggins displayed near a stairwell in her Gulf Breeze home. She told the confidential sources that she had married Hugh Wiggins to shield him from about $11,000 in back taxes, and she admitted that her marriage to Walden was still valid.
“Both sources heard Pamela state that she was a bigamist,” the arrest warrant states.
When arrested on the bigamy charge, Wiggins was out on $10,000 bond after she was charge as an accessory after the fact in connection to the July 19, 2009, deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings.
Pictured below: Pamela Long Wiggins’ marriage license in Okaloosa County dated December 31, 2008, click to enlarge.
Longtime Educator Pete Gindl Passes Away
May 17, 2010
Longtime educator and Escambia County School Board member Peter R. (Pete) Gindl, Sr. of Barrineau Park passed away Sunday.
Gindl was fresh out of college back in 1957 when friends first convinced the political newcomer to run for the school board. He was a product of the Escambia School District and a graduate of Auburn. But he really did not know much about the office that was about to propel him into a lifelong quest to help children succeed.
“I was just fresh out of college, a single fellow, when a group of friends convinced me to run for the school board. I had a college education, and the other guy did not,” Gindl said in a 2008 NorthEscambia.com interview. “I didn’t know anything about the school board, but I ran. And I won — by 36 votes.”
Election after election, he continued to win, remaining on the school board for twenty years before deciding to “retire” and teach. He then spent 18 years in the classroom before “retiring” from teaching in 1996. While he supported the family as a farmer (he held an agricultural education degree, after all) for nearly 50 years, the second retirement was not forever. Education was just in his blood somewhere.
In 2004, the Escambia County native returned to the school board in District 5, ousting Linda Finkelstein from her seat. Gindl had plans to return to the board for another term in 2008, but District 5 voters had another plan, as they elected Bill Slayton to Gindl’s seat.
In all, the man that fought tirelessly for the children of District 5 and all of Escambia County spent 24 years on the Escambia County School Board — 16 years as chairman. He also served a year and a half as president of the Florida School Board Association.
But he considered his 18 years in the classroom as the most rewarding period of his career.
“I’m going to miss it,” he said in November, 2008, just hours before his school board term officially came to an end. “I’ll miss working with the parents, the educational personnel, everyone that cares about the kids. It has always been about the children…I just love the children.”
For the complete obituary and arrangements, click here.
Pictured: Pete Gindl, Sr. at an August, 2008, Escambia County School Board meeting. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Century Mayor Seeks Help For Woman With Leaky Roof; Code Lien Preventing Repairs
May 17, 2010
An Century woman can’t get assistance to have her leaky roof fixed because she owes an old code enforcement lien that amounts to more than her monthly income, and Century’s mayor is asking the county to help.
The single, 58-year old female head of household takes care of her 34-year old developmentally disabled son on a Social Security disability income of $672 per month, according to a letter from Century Mayor Freddie McCall. She currently owes costs of $675 from a 2005 Escambia County Code Enforcement magistrate hearing.
To fix her leaky roof, the resident of Jefferson Avenue applied for emergency repair housing assistance through Escambia County’s State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program. When her application was processed, it was discovered that she owed the $675 code lien and back taxes of $617.47. The back taxes have since been paid by her brother.
In the letter to the county, McCall requested that the code lien be forgiven so that the woman “may be determined eligible to receive housing assistance to replace her roof and to eliminate existing health and safety conditions”.
McCall’s request first went before the Escambia County Commission on May 6, but commissioners took no action.
According to Code Enforcement records, the woman was first cited on April 14, 2005, for an inoperable vehicle, overgrowth in excess of 12 inches, trash and debris, including mattresses on her property. On December 5, 2005, the woman faced a Special Magistrate hearing, was ordered to bring the property into compliance by January 21, 2006, and was ordered to pay costs of $675.
The property, according to Code Enforcement records, was brought into compliance by January 9, 2006 — over a week prior to the magistrate imposed deadline.
Jay Playoff Schedule, Map, Driving Directions
May 17, 2010
The Jay Royals will face Shorecrest of St. Petersberg next Monday morning in the the Class 2a baseball semifinals.
The game will be played at 9 a.m. local time (10 a.m. EDT) Monday, May 24 at Digital Domain Park (pictured above, click to enlarge) in St. Lucie, Fla. Admission will be $8. The winner of the Jay versus Shorecrest game will play the winner of the 4 p.m. Westminster Christian of Miami versus Orlando Christian game for the state championship. The state championship game will be played at 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, May 25.
Digital Domain park is the spring training home of the New York Mets. The facility seats 7,347 people.
For recommended hotel accommodations from the Florida High School Athletic Association web site, click here. The Hilton Garden Inn at PGA Village/Port St. Lucie offers a special rate of $79 per night through the link.
The park is 555 miles from Jay, an estimated nine hour road trip. Driving directions, according to Google Maps, are below. Click here to see a map with these directions.
- Head east on 1st Ave W/FL-4 E toward S Alabama St Continue to follow FL-4 E 31.8 mi
- Turn right to stay on FL-4 E 4.6 mi
- Turn left at FL-10 E/US-90 E 17.8 mi
- Turn right at FL-285 S 0.4 mi
- Turn left to merge onto I-10 E 226 mi
- Take exit 296A to merge onto I-75 S toward Tampa 108 mi
- Slight left at Florida’s Turnpike/Ronald Reagan Turnpike (signs for Orlando/Florida Turnpike S) Partial toll road 156 mi
- Take exit 152 to merge onto FL-70 E/Okeechobee Rd Partial toll road 1.2 mi
- Merge onto I-95 S via the ramp to W Palm Beach 7.4 mi
- Take exit 121 for St Lucie W Blvd 0.4 mi
- Keep left at the fork, follow signs for Port St Lucie 269 ft
- Turn left at St Lucie W Blvd 0.7 mi
- Turn left at NW Peacock Blvd Destination will be on the right
Sports Association Awards Scholarships To Area Seniors
May 17, 2010
Several North Escambia area seniors were honored at the recent 2010 PSA Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet.
Rush Hendricks of Jay (pictured) was named an overall winner and will receive a cash scholarship to the school of his choice from the Pensacola Sports Association Foundation. Drew Kennedy from Jay was awarded a scholarship from the University of West Florida.
A total of 26 students from were offered scholarships totaling $110,000 by PSA and Pensacola Junior College.
PSA Scholar Athlete winners from the North Escambia area awarded PJC scholarships included:
- Jordan Bray, Jay, cheerleading
- Zach McMulley,, Tate, baseball
- Justin Galagher, Tate, tennis
- Travis Thrash, Tate, weightlifting
- Chelsea Hall, Tate, basketball
Cantonment Airman McCauley Graduates From Basic Training
May 17, 2010
Air Force Airman Travis G. McCauley graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
He is the son of Kevin and Lisa McCauley of Lake Suzanne Drive, Cantonment. McCauley is a 2002 graduate of Tate High School.
Lightning Sparks Morning Barn Fire, Possibly Hits School
May 16, 2010
A lightning strike was believed to have sparked a barn fire Sunday morning in Molino, and lightning may have struck a North Escambia middle school.
The fire in the 4400 block of Crabtree Church Road was reported about 5:45 a.m. A resident reported that they believed lightning hit the barn. The fire was quickly extinguished.
Just before 6:00 a.m. Sunday, fire units responded to Ransom Middle School in Cantonment after a possible lightning strike activated the facility’s fire alarm. No damage was reported.