Monday Morning Fire Was The Seventh Of The Month In Escambia
December 21, 2009
A Monday morning fire added the seventh red bulb in the Escambia County Fire-Rescue “Keep the Wreath Green” holiday fire safety campaign after a fire.
Just after 9:00 Monday morning, a residential fire was reported on Vivian Drive. The kitchen fire caused moderate damage to the kitchen and smoke and heat damage throughout the house. A pan of grease left unattended on the stove is believed to have been the cause. There were no injuries reported.
The Vivian Drive fire was the second in under 48 hours in Escambia County.
Just after noon Sunday, a fire was reported in the 8100 block of Eight Mile Creek Road. When firefighters arrived on scene, they found a fire in the living room of the home. The fire, declared out at 12:27 p.m., caused moderate damage to the living room. There were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire is believed to have been from a lit candle that was left unattended. Firefighters from Bellview, Ensley, Beulah, Osceola, and the Navy responded to the fire.
Escambia County Fire-Rescue offers the following few safety tips involving candles:
- Use candle holders that are sturdy, and won’t tip over easily.
- Put candle holders on a sturdy, uncluttered surface.
- Light candles carefully. Keep your hair and any loose clothing away from the flame.
- Don’t burn a candle all the way down — put it out before it gets too close to the holder or container.
- Never use a candle if oxygen is used in the home.
- Blow out all candles when you leave the room or go to bed. Avoid the use of candles in the bedroom and other areas where people may fall asleep.
- Keep candles at least 12 inches away from anything that can burn.
Escambia County Fire-Rescue and the City of Pensacola Fire Department will continue the “Keep the Wreath Green” fire safety campaign throughout the holiday season. This year, the fifth year of the campaign, five-foot wreaths will be on display at 22 different locations throughout the holiday season. These sites are the Old Escambia County Courthouse on Palafox Place, the Public Safety Building on W Street, all 18 primary county fire stations, and two fire stations within the City of Pensacola. Every time firefighters respond to a residential fire, a green light bulb will be replaced with a red one to remind citizens of the dangers posed by holiday decorations.
All six red bulbs lit so far have been for fires south of Nine Mile Road. No serious residential fires have been reported in North Escambia this December.
Escambia County Coach Removed
December 21, 2009
The head coach of the Escambia County High School Blue Devils has been removed.
The administration at Escambia County High School in Atmore relieved Head Coach Kyle Davis of his head coaching duties Friday afternoon.
Davis, who has coached the Blue Devils for the past five years, led ECHS to two playoff appearances. This season, Escambia County was 3-7, finishing the season with a 21-14 win over Robertsdale.
Escambia County will move down a classification next fall, from 5A to 4A with teams like W.S. Neal, Andalusia, Clerke County and Hillcrest-Evergreen.
The search is now underway for an new head coach at Escambia County High School.
NorthEscambia.com file photo/graphic.
Thomas: $1 Per Year Lease Over, New Life Asked To Vacate Old Century High
December 21, 2009
When their $1 per year lease is up next year, Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas says New Life Baptist Church is expected to vacate their current location in the old Century High School.
“We sent them a notice that we expect them to leave in June,” Thomas said. New Life’s current lease expires in June 2010. “I will send them notices to remind them to vacate; we don’t deal with $1 per year leases anymore.”
Over the past five years, New Life has paid just $5 — at $1 per year — to lease the 30,327 square foot building under a lease executed by former Superintendent Jim Paul. Under the lease, the school district has provided maintenance on the building, and the BOE has maintained property insurance.
In May, Thomas sent a letter to New Life Pastor Irvin Stallworth offering to rent the building to New Life for $5 per square foot, far below the $10 to $15 per square foot he said similar buildings would cost in monthly rent. The reduced rate, his letter says, is because of the “location, age and configuration of the facility.” At $5 per square foot, the 30,327 square foot building would have cost the church $12,636.25 per month, or $151,635 per year of a five year lease.
“There are no negotiations going on,” Thomas said, adding that Stallworth “has chosen not to respond to our letters.”
Shawn Dennis, the school district’s assistant superintendent of operations, said the lease was non-renewed on the advice of the district’s legal counsel.
“The lease will not be renewed,” Dennis said. “The tenant will be asked to vacate.”
Leasing the district’s building to the church at $1 per year is not in the best interest of the taxpayers, Thomas said. “We always look at the best options for the community, the school and the taxpayers.”
Attempts to contact Stallworth for comment on this story were unsuccessful. In May, he said the church would explore all of its options in regards to the lease.
Even if New Life no longer occupies the old Century High School, the church will still owe monthly payments to the school district for back utility bills.
For the first four years New Life Baptist Church leased the old Century High School for $1 a year from the Escambia School District while taxpayers footed the bill for nearly $200,000 in utilities.
After NorthEscambia.com uncovered the story on August 7 of last year, the school district went to work to sort out about $73,000 in Gulf Power electric bills and $124,000 in gas, water and sewage bills paid to the Town of Century. In an exclusive interview with NorthEscambia.com shortly after the story broke, New Life Pastor Irvin Stallworth acknowledged that the church had never paid any utility bills since moving into the building.
The school district settled on $75,072,19 as the amount New Life Baptist church owed taxpayers. The rest of the approximately $200,000 in utility bills were either owned by the school district, a meter problem, or a billing problem.
At last report, New Life was current on a 10-year payment plan to pay back the $75,072.19. The church is paying the school district 119 interest-free payments of $625.60, with the final 120th payment due in 2019 for $625.79.
New utility meters serving the church’s leased portion of the old high school were been installed so that New Life be paying its fair share of the utilities on the building.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
FWC Officers Rescue Stranded Dog From Escambia River Log Jam
December 21, 2009
Two officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission managed to save a small dog that had become stranded on a long jam under the Escambia River Bridge on Highway 4.
Officers Steve Hoomes and Gary Ridaught were patrolling near the Escambia River at Fisher Landing in Century. The officers heard barking from the river and investigated. They located the source of the barking under the Highway 4 Bridge where a large number of logs had created a log jam. A small dog had somehow become stranded on the logs piled against the bridge pilings.
With the recent rains, the river was extremely swollen and the current was swift. There was no way the dog could swim the distance to shore. The officers sought the assistance of a citizen who arrived at the boat ramp with a small boat. They maneuvered the boat to the log jam and “rescued the very wet, but grateful dog”.
The officers were unable to determine how the dog wound up stranded in the middle of the Escambia River.
The dog was not wearing a collar, so after a quick drying off, the officers took it to the Humane Society for assistance in locating the dog’s owner or finding it a new home.
ECUA Still Disputes Claim That Pensacola Has Nation’s Worst Water
December 21, 2009
Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) officials are still disputing the Environmental Working Group (EWG) claims that Pensacola’s water is the worst in the nation among cities over 250,000 poplulation.
Stephen Sorrell, ECUA executive director said “Bottom line: the ECUA’s water is safe to drink and meets every federal and state regulatory guideline.”
EWG, a watchdog nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., released the report on recently. It placed the ECUA number one on a list of cities with the worst water in the nation. (Read that story here.)
“We conducted 74,897 test samples and EWG found 45 impurities in these tests. The national average for impurities is 8, out of 420 tests. Our 45 impurities are for approximately 75,000 tests. The facts indicate the ECUA’s water is cleaner than virtually every other agency’s and we did not have one single health standard violation in five years as clearly indicated in the EWG report,” Sorrell said.
Sorrell encouraged interested persons to read ECUA’s 2008 Water Quality Report, which was mailed to each customer in June 2009, and is available online at www.ecua.org. The 2009 ECUA Water Quality Report will be prepared in early 2010, and will include all of 2009’s testing data.
The full text of Sorrell’s statement is below.
“We have looked at the report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) very closely. Any allegations about our water quality we take very, very seriously. In looking deeply into the report we frankly found inconsistencies and errors. We are certain we can legitimately dispute the overstated claims of the EWG concerning our water quality.
“I’m learning more and more every day, and I know our water is outstanding, meeting or exceeding every standards demanded by federal and state regulatory agencies. In fact, EWG ‘s report clearly states the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued no violations to the ECUA during the five-year period in question.
“The more I dissect the report the more I believe EWG interpreted the data and published their report to support a preconceived agenda, It is clear they want to force the EPA to adopt stricter standards for drinking water. Our city, Pensacola, and the ECUA’s water system are unintended casualties of the effort.
“The EWG report is quite interesting in that, if read closely their arguments is actually negated. They simply did a very shoddy and unscientific comparison to further their agenda. Data, as always can be made to say anything. In order to find the truth I urge all our citizens to take a look at the report’s summary, which I will briefly describe.
“The EWG report’s summary indicates ECUA did 74,897 test samples over a five year period and in those tests 45 different impurities were found. (EWG calls them contaminants, even though they are not regulated.) At the same time, they noted in the summary and only in the summary that during the five years they surveyed EPA did not issue a single violation to ECUA. I believe this fact is telling and I believe EWG intentionally underplayed it.
“To further our concern, EWG’s report states that 420 was the national average for water quality tests conducted by the 100 water companies in the five year period surveyed. During that same period ECUA water was tested almost 75,000 times, exceeding the national average by 178 times. This is a clear illustration of how vigilant ECUA is regarding the monitoring of our water quality. EWG also indicates the national average for impurities are eight in that average of 420 tests. Again, the 45 impurities they listed in our water, usually found in trace amounts, came from almost 75,000 tests of water samples. With ECUA’s water being tested vastly more frequently and meeting or exceeding all federal and state water quality standards on every single occasion, I believe it is clear ECUA’s water is far cleaner than virtually every other system surveyed.
“It also appears that in making their determinations the EWG has apparently adopted their own health guidelines, even though they have no authority to do so, and have no regulatory powers. ECUA’s water satisfies every single EPA and Florida Department of Environmental Protection regulation. Actually in Florida, our regulations are much stricter than those established by the EPA. We meet or exceed all of them.
“The EWG’s suspect methodology was to take data from large water systems in the U.S. and then list the number of impurities (according to them) without regard for the actual quantities in the water. If an impurity showed up once or twice in almost 75,000 testing and then in trace amounts, EWG still counted it as a contaminant in the water. This is a fatal flaw in their work.
“If you take a scrupulous, scientifically based comparative look at the data from the water systems in Texas and Rhode Island EWG listed as the best in the country, our water system compares very favorably.
“It also is of concern that on EWG’s website they recommend the purchasing of household water filters and directs consumers to their online `buyer’s guide’ to help them determine which filtration system to buy. At the same time, EWG’s website encourages the purchasing of systems from an online retailer who then gives EWG a portion of the profits. I could not help but see this as a conflict of interest from a supposedly objective scientific organization.”
Atmore Baby Killer Gets His Wish: The Death Penalty
December 21, 2009
An admitted baby killer from Atmore will get his wish — a death sentence at Atmore’s Holman Prison.
Christopher Thomas Johnson, now 37, of Atmore testified that he purposefully beat his six-month old son Elias Ocean Johnson to death on February 20, 2005. He said he killed his son because he hated his wife.
“You go see Jesus,” were the last words Johnson said to his son, he testified at his trial.
Johnson fired his public defenders and served as his own attorney during his 2006 Escambia County trial, telling the judge and jury that he wanted the death penalty for his actions. It took the jury less than a half hour to return a guilty verdict, and the death penalty was imposed.
Under Alabama law, the Court of Criminal Appeals was required by Alabama law to review the case. Last Friday, the court upheld the capital murder conviction and death sentence.
“This court is convinced that Johnson’s decision to represent himself on appeal and his decision not to file an appellate brief on his own behalf was knowing and voluntary,” the court said in the decision.
Urgent Need For Blankets, Heaters For Elderly Residents
December 21, 2009
The Council on Aging of West Florida is still seeking donations of small electric space heaters, blankets and funds to help the elderly avoid the serious health problems that can result from exposure to the cold.
Heaters and blankets can be dropped off at any location of Council on Aging of West Florida, including 6025 Industrial Boulevard In Century and 132 Mintz Lane in Cantonment. Only new items can be accepted.
Financial donations can be sent to Council on Aging of West Florida, PO Box 17066, Pensacola, FL 32522-7066 or made online at www.coawfla.org.
Seniors in need of a heater, blanket or other assistance should call 432-1475.
North Escambia Students Of The Month Named For December
December 21, 2009
Escambia County Students of the Month for December have been named by the Escambia Association for Administrators in Education. The awards are presented monthly to two students from participating schools.
The following students were named from North Escambia area schools:
- Bratt Elementary: Zachary S. Hilton, third grade; Taviana A. Parker, first grade.
- Jim Allen Elementary: Darren J. Barlow, second grade; Nicholas L. Brooks, second grade.
- Molino Park Elementary: David T. Green, second grade; Brianna S. White, second grade.
- Ransom Middle: Sheilamae N. Jensen, eighth grade; Jacob Charles, eighth grade.
- Northview High: Kaitlyn N. Caraway, 12th grade; Jacob L. Peterson, 11th grade.
- Tate High: Liza Lechner, 11th grade; Samuel C. Maulden, 12th grade.
Pictured top: Kaitlyn Caraway and Jacob Peterson, Northview High School’s Students of the Month for December. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Horse Rescue Group Needs Help To Care For Horse
December 20, 2009
A North Escambia equine rescue group is seeking help to care for a neglected horse.
The horse named “Russ” was voluntarily surrendered Friday to investigators from Panhandle Equine Rescue.
“The owner was unemployed and not able to feed him anymore,” said PER President Diane Lowery. “He was definitely a horse that was ‘in trouble’ and well on his way downhill.” The horse in currently in rehabilitation and will then be put up for adoption.
“Donations are appreciated to get this horse back on the road to a full recovery,” Lowery said.
Since Panhandle Equine Rescue was formed in 2005, the group has worked 118 cases involving 487 horses. PER has rescued a total of 55 horses.
To make a donation, or for more information, visit www.panhandleequinerescue.org.
Pictured above: Panhandle Equine Rescue needs help to care for “Russ”, a malnourished horse the group rescued on Friday. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Update From Miami: Olivia’s Christmas Wish
December 20, 2009
The Bush family may get their simple Christmas wish — a cure for Olivia.
Olivia Bush, 6, is blind, able to see only a little light with her left eye. She has a shunt to drain fluid off of her brain, and has frequent seizures.
Olivia and her family are currently at Miami Children’s Hospital hoping to find a cure for her seizures. So far, the results hold a bit a promise. The Bush family arrived in Miami last Monday. Olivia has been monitored by a 35-lead EEG and a video camera a great deal of the time that she has been in the hospital, doctors hoping to capture data from a seizure.
On Tuesday night, she had a seizure that was captured on the EEG and video, according to her father Tad Bush.
“The doctor came in Wednesday and said that they localized it to the front left lobe of her brain but he wanted to see another seizure so he could pinpoint it,” Tad said. “On Thursday he came back in and told us that she was a candidate for surgery.” Just to be sure, the doctor wanted to observe another seizure. The family has been waiting for that seizure, hoping that it happens before they leave Miami on Tuesday. Without another seizure, the family will need to return to Miami sometime after Christmas.
“So, basically we still need another seizure. So, please, please, please pray for another seizure,” mom Amber Bush, said. “I so don’t want to have to go through this again or have the possibility that we go home and her have one.”
NorthEscambia.com first introduced our readers to Olivia back in early December. That story is below.
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 weighed only one pound six ounces. She stayed in the NICU 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.
The current-day chapter Olivia’s story is perhaps best told by her mother, Amber Bush:
“Olivia is now 6 years old. She is blind and can only see light with her left eye. She has a shunt to drain fluid off of her brain, and has frequent seizures.
“Our little miracle girl started first grade this year and loves to go to school. She is spoiled rotten by everyone she meets and has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She loves to rock and spin and everything needs to be fast. Roller coasters, throw up rides, and bumps are her friends. Olivia doesn’t meet a stranger. She has the greatest smile and laugh and always brightens our day. She is such an inspiration to everyone she meets, and she has come such a long way. Her favorite song is the BIBLE and she tells everyone to sing it to her.
“After enduring the NICU, she came home on oxygen and a heart monitor, and doctor after doctor. Then started the therapy. She is still in physical, occupational, speech, vision, and mobility therapy.”
Now, Olivia is heading to Miami Children’s Hospital. She will see the same doctor that cured the seizures of her cousin, Northview High student Nathan Therrell. NorthEscambia.com introduced our readers to Nate in November of 2008 when he was on the sidelines as Northview’s waterboy. After undergoing surgery at Miami Children’s Hospital, Nathan played in Northview’s Garnet and Gold Game in May of 2009, void of seizures. (Read about Nathan here.)
Olivia will be in Miami Children’s Hospital December 14-16 for a battery of tests that her parents hope will end with a successful treatment plan. It’s their Christmas wish.
“Pray for guidance in this matter and that the seizures will subside,” mom Amber said. “Please pray for Olivia. She has come such a long way, and we are so thankful. God has truly blessed us with a living angel and we are very grateful.”
A successful benefit car wash for Olivia Bush was held in Century on Saturday, December 5.
Pictured top: Olivia Bush with a therapy dog at Miami Children’s Hospital. Pictured top insets: Olivia at the children’s hospital. Pictured top inset: Olivia was just one pound six ounces when she was born at 22 weeks. Pictured bottom inset: Olivia Bush at six-years old. Pictured below: Tad, Olivia, Simon and Amber Bush.Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
