No Injuries When Vehicle Hits House, Pushes Into Young Boy’s Bedroom
April 3, 2010
There were no injuries when a vehicle plowed into a house on Highway 97 early this morning.
The accident happened at the intersection of Highway 97 and Highway 4 in Davisville about 5 a.m. The Florida Highway Patrol says Curtis Palmer, 36, of Atmore, was westbound on Highway 4 when he ran through the stop sign at the end of Highway 4, went across a yard and crashed into a brick house.
There were no injuries to Palmer or anyone in the house.
Palmer’s 2002 Mercury Mountaineer pushed into the brick wall of a bedroom normally occupied by a 10-year old boy. The boy was not at home at the time of the accident.
“I praise God that he was not in that bedroom,” the boy’s mother said. She was asleep at the time of the crash in a nearby bedroom. “He could have been really hurt.”
This is not the first time the home has been hit by a vehicle, according to the homeowner. He said he has tried for years to get the Florida Department of Transportation to place some sort of barrier along Highway 97 and a flashing caution light at the intersection. He said he has also tried for years to get the Escambia County Road Department to place rumble strips on Highway 4 to warn motorists of the approaching intersection. But so far, he said, neither entity has taken any action.
According to the FHP, Palmer was charged with careless driving. There was about $20,000 in damage to the house, according to a preliminary estimate by the FHP.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the call.
For a photo gallery with more pictures from inside and outside the house, click here. The gallery also contains photos of the damage after the vehicle was removed.
Pictured above: There were no injuries when a vehicle hit a house early Saturday morning in Walnut Hill. Pictured below: The outside wall of the house was pushed in a young boy’s bedroom. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Big Changes For Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship Fund
April 3, 2010
Major changes to a popular scholarship program that pays for the majority of Florida’s students to attend college easily won approval in the Florida Senate this week.
The Senate, by a 34-4 vote, approved changes that include upping the qualifying standards for the scholarship and permanently taking it away from students who can’t keep up their grades.
The reason for tweaking the program, which previously funded 75 percent to 100 percent of tuition for Florida students, is to keep the scholarship afloat. Since its 1997 inception, the scholarship has ballooned in popularity costing $75 million for the first year and $435 million in 2008-2009. To sustain it would cost about $480 million.
Instead, the Senate went with a $376.37 million for 2010-2011.
“We have been struggling every year to keep Bright Futures funded,” said Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, the chair of the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee.
Under the Senate proposal, students in a first tier of awards would receive $126 per credit hour, while students in the second tier would receive $95 per credit hour. That’s the same amount students received this year because last year, lawmakers realized they could not fund tuition at 100 percent or 75 percent for every qualifying student and set a flat rate for the awards.
But the program needs to have even narrower parameters to survive, Lynn said. The Bright Futures budget is currently being funded by federal stimulus money and will be next year as well, but if the program expands and there is no more stimulus money, Lynn said she doesn’t know where to get the money.
The Senate bill includes raising the SAT requirements from 1270 to 1290 for the top award and 970 to 1050 for the secondary award. It also changes the stakes for students who don’t keep up their grades.Currently, students in the first tier must maintain a 3.0 grade point average, while the second tier students must maintain a 2.75 GPA. If they fail to do that and lose the scholarship, they can eventually apply for reinstatement. However, if SB 1344 is approved, students would not be able to apply for reinstatement.
A change was added to the bill though to allow exceptions such as illness, an emergency or military service to qualify students for scholarship reinstatement.
Lawmakers generally favored the change out of economic necessity, but some also noted that there was a need to make the scholarship need-based rather than merit-based because the highest achieving students would likely qualify for other scholarships. Poor students would have more need for the money, some argued.
Throughout the state university system, about half of the students are on the scholarship. At the University of Florida, about 93 percent of freshmen have a Bright Futures Scholarship while about 76 percent of the overall undergraduate population has one. The legislation does not affect students who are currently on the scholarship.
“It is too easy to get Bright Futures,” said Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate. “It is not a merit based scholarship, it is a scholarship for everybody at this point.”
Part of the bill does require all Bright Futures recipients to fill out the federal student financial aid form (FAFSA) so that the Legislature can start examining the financial means of students who receive the state-funded scholarships.
The bill was opposed by four Democrats, Sens. Dan Gelber, Charlie Justice, Al Lawson and Chris Smith.
Gelber, D-Miami Beach, said he understood the intentions of the legislation but that he could not support some of the provisions such as permanently taking away a scholarship.
“Now is not the time to close the doors of our higher education institutions to anybody,” he said.
The House has not included a similar provision in its budget, but has cut the flat rate for students receiving the awards to $110 per credit hour for the first tier and $83 per credit hour for the second tier. The differences will likely be resolved in conference committees over the next few weeks.
By Kathleen Haughney, News Service Florida, for NorthEscambia.com
Final Slate Of Candidates Set For Escambia, Alabama, Elections
April 3, 2010
The field of candidates is now complete in Escambia County, Alabama, for this year’s elections.
Party primaries will take place June 1, and the general election will be November 2. Voters must register by May 21 to vote in the Escambia County, Alabama, primary election.
Candidates for county offices include:
- Sheriff — Democratic incumbent Grover Smith will face the winner of the Republican primary race between Lloyd Albritton and Heath Jackson. Albritton is a former military criminal investigator; Jackson is a narcotics investigator for the Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office.
- County Commission District 1 –
- County Commission District 3 — Republican Buster Crapps, a Flomaton councilman, will face incumbent Democrat Larry White.
- County Commission District 5 — Two Democrats, David Allen Quarker Sr. and Wiley B. Tait will face each other in the primary election. The winner will face Republican Don “Viking” Ellestad in the general election. The incumbent, Richard Hawthorne, did not seek re-election after being indicted on sexual misconduct charges.
- School Board District 4 — The most crowded local race in the county has five candidates — Democrats Stephanie Agerton, A.G. “Bo” Brantley and Joseph Hutchcraft; and Republicans Cindy Jackson and Monica Shockley.
- School Board District 6 — Incumbent District 6 Democrat Cereal Daniel will face Republican challenger Sherry Digmon, publisher of the Atmore News newspaper.
Area state race:
- Senate District 22 – Republicans Danny Joyner and Jeff Peacock; incumbent Democrat Marc Keahey.
- State House District 66 — Incumbent Republican Alan Baker.
- State House District 92 — Republicans Mike Jones, Jr. and Greg White.
Tate Aggies Capture Tournament With 11-1 Win Over Gibbs
April 3, 2010
The Tate High School Aggies won the Aggie-Gata National Baseball Classic tournament Friday night with 11-1 win over Gibbs.
The Aggies picked up the win on the mercy rule in five innings with four of nine hits coming in the final period against the Knoxville, Tenn. school.
Brandon Blackwelder was 4-4 for the Aggies, including RBI doubles.
Brewton Man Charged With ‘Sexting’ Jay High Student
April 3, 2010
A Brewton man has been charged with lewd and lascivious behavior on a Jay High School student between the ages of 12 and 16.
Craig Burgh, 31, is free from the Santa Rosa County Jail after posting $20,000 bond. An online chat between Burgh and the female victim was reportedly “sexting” — a term for electronically exchanging sexually explicit messages.
In one of those messages, according to authorities, Burgh admitted to placing his hand in the front waistband of the girl’s pants, but did not admit to any further advances. The victim told authorities that there had been no sexual contact with the 31-year old man.
Burgh admitted to authorities that he had hugged and kissed the victim on more than one occasion.
The complaint resulted after one of the girl’s parents found a chat session between their daughter and Burgh on a MySpace account.
Firefighters Respond To Shed, Brush Fire In Century; Brush Fire In Molino
April 2, 2010
[Updated] Firefighters were dispatched to a brush fire reported on Mayo Street in Century Friday afternoon and an unrelated brush fire in Molino.
At about 4:45, firefighters from Molino and McDavid were dispatched to a brush fire in the 5800 block of Fairground Road, near the intersection of Fillingim Lane. About an acre was reported to be on fire. Firefighters called for assistance in fighting the fire from the Florida Division of Forestry.
About 3:45, firefighters in Century found a storage shed completely burned to the ground when they responded to a reported brush fire. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. The brush fire was contained to a vacant lot and did not threaten any additional structures. The Century and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded.
Century Wreck Injures One
April 2, 2010
One person was injured in two vehicle accident Friday morning in Century.
The accident happened on North Century Boulevard just south of East Highway 4 about 11:10 a.m. One person was transported by ambulance to Jay Hospital following the crash.
The accident closed one southbound lane for about 45 minutes.
The accident is still under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details were not immediately available.
Engine 519, the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Atmore Ambulance and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pastor Arrested On Century Drug Charges Enters Plea; Church To Consider Her Future
April 2, 2010
A preacher accused of passing fake prescriptions at a Century pharmacy entered a not guilty plea in court Thursday, the day before her church is scheduled to consider pulling her license to preach.
Bertha Y. Wright, 43, was not in court Thursday morning in Pensacola, prompting an Escambia County judge to issue a warrant for her arrest. But when Judge Joel Boles learned that Wright’s attorney had indeed filed a not guilty plea with the court, the warrant was recalled.
Members of the Mount Vernon AOH Church in Mount Vernon, Alabama, say Wright is a co-pastor at their church. According to a press release from the church congregation, the national bishop of the AOH Church will meeting with church members Friday night to determine Wright’s future role in the church.
Wright was charged with 11 counts of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, three counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, one count of trafficking in hydrocodone and one count of possession of a blank prescription after being arrested at Century Pharmacy earlier this month.
Church members said that they eventually learned of the arrest after a March 11 story on NorthEscambia.com, not from the associate pastor. Tuesday, the church members forwarded an email news release to several Gulf Coast news media organizations in hopes that more media would run the story.
Wright remains free on $34,500 bond.
Mayor Still Optimistic That A New Industry Will Locate In Century Soon
April 2, 2010
There has been a delay in the announcement of a new industry for Century, but the town’s mayor says he remains hopeful that the company will formally announce their venture soon.
“I am still optimistic that this is going to happen,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said Thursday afternoon. “They hit a couple of snags in their paperwork, but they said just yesterday that they are confident that it will happen.”
At a town council meeting on March 15, McCall announced that there was “something on the horizon” for the old Alger-Sullivan lumberyard location on Front Street. He said he expected to have an announcement about the facility “very soon” at that meeting.
But over two weeks later, there has still been no announcement, but McCall said he is not worried.
“It may be a couple of weeks still, but I feel like we will be moving ahead,” he said Thursday.
McCall has declined to release any details about the new industry.
The 38 acre property was last sold in early 2006 to DMT Holdings, LLC in Navarre, according to the Escambia County Property Appraiser’s online records. The facility includes five buildings totaling just over 300,000 square feet, according to the property appraiser. The buildings on the property range in age from 11 to 54 years,with the largest 160,150 square foot building constructed in 1972.
Pictured above: A portion of the old Alger-Sullivan Lumberyard in Century as seen in February. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bond Increased In Sheriff’s Office $1.43 Million Theft Case
April 2, 2010
Bond has been increased for the former Escambia County Sheriff’s Office employee accused of stealing $1.43 million from the department.
Cathy Lister, 58, is facing 11 money laundering charges and one aggravated white collar crime charge. She had been free on $25,000 bond, but Circuit Judge Paul Rasmussen increased the bond to $128,500 at a Thursday hearing.
Lister was handcuffed and returned to the Escambia County Jail following the hearing.
Lister was first charged in February with stealing $130,000 from the sheriff’s office, but further investigation determined that well over $1 million more was missing. The money was taken over a 10 year period from monies seized as part of investigations that was placed the department’s Evidence Trust Fund.
Court testimony Thursday revealed that some of the money was deposited into account belonging to Lister and some of her family members. Investigators do not know where the rest of the money went.
Lister was a 32-year employee of the department who retired from the finance division just six days before her arrest.