H1N1 Vaccine Available To Health Care Workers
November 4, 2009
Escambia County now has additional H1N1 vaccine available and is able to serve the priority group of health care workers with direct patient contact.
In addition to offering the vaccine at the health department’s Fairfield location, more than 2,000 doses of vaccine are being sent to area hospitals who will deliver it to their workers through employee health offices. The health department continues to provide vaccine to pregnant women, children of 6 months – 18 years of age, and caregivers of infants younger than six months old, according to Mollye Payne Hardin, spokes person for the Escambia County Health Department.
The H1N1 vaccine is available to the priority group on a walk-in basis at the health department’s Fairfield Drive location from 8 a.m. to 4 pm., Monday – Friday.
Priority groups are defined as pregnant women, children ages 6 months -18 years old, and people who live with or care for infants younger than 6 months of age. Now that additional vaccine is available, the health department is also providing it to health care workers with direct patient care responsibilities.
On Thursday, October 22, the Escambia County Health Department began offering voluntary H1N1 vaccination through schools and childcare centers. School-based vaccination will continue through December as long as vaccine is available. If distribution of the vaccine slows, clinics will be rescheduled. Parents will get information about the vaccine and permission forms about one week before the voluntary vaccination clinic is scheduled to be at their child’s school. The Health Department is also providing vaccine to the larger child care centers in the county.
Another Cheerleader Attacked In Second Molino Home Invasion
November 3, 2009
(Updated 4:45 p.m.) The second home invasion in four days was reported this morning in Molino. And, like a home invasion Friday night in Molino, it involved a young cheerleader home alone.
At 8:27 this morning, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a home invasion at 8:27 this morning. A 16-year old told investigators that a tall, slender white male had entered her home on Nancy Lane through a utility room window. She fought back — throwing drinking glasses at him and dousing him with pepper spray. She then fled the home, running to nearby Highland Baptist Church to for help. She described her attacker as wearing a black ski mask, a long black shirt and black pants. The pepper spray, which contained a dye, may have stained the attacker an orange color.
She evaluated by Escambia County EMS for minor cuts to her face, arms and legs. She was not transported to the hospital. She was not able to provide a vehicle description for her attacker or tell authorities how he fled the scene; he was still inside the home, incapacitated by the pepper spray, as she ran to the church.
She told investigators that she had stayed home from school after hurting her shoulder yesterday during cheerleading practice at Northview High School. She said the only people that knew she would be at home were her parents and the person that normally gives her a ride to school. That person, also a Northview student, is a the brother of the 13-year old attacked Friday night, authorities said.
A similar home invasion was reported Friday night about a mile away on Highway 95A. In that incident, an Ernest Ward Middle School cheerleader was attacked in her bedroom by a man with about the same physical description. In Friday night’s attack, the 13-year old was attacked with a knife, receiving minor cuts to her hands as she was held down on her bed by her attacker.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to follow this breaking news story with updates all afternoon.
Pictured above: The attacker in this morning’s home invasion in Molino entered this Nancy Lane home through this utility room window. Pictured inset: The victim received minor cuts to her arms, face and legs from a broken kitchen glass she threw at the suspect. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Firefighters Respond To Train Fire
November 3, 2009
A Tuesday morning fire in a train locomotive left a CSX train headed northbound minus half of its power.
The Flomaton Fire Department responded to a reported train locomotive on fire about 6:30 a.m. at Dixon Road and Old Fannie Road, about two-tenths of a mile north of the Florida/Alabama state line.
The CSX Transportation train’s engineer had already extinguished the fire in a gear box under the train — the portion of engine with the wheels driven by electric motors. When the first Flomaton firemen arrived on the scene, the gear box was just smoldering. Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to look for hot spots inside the gear box, but they were unable to find anything unusual.
The train engineer said he had noticed the fire as the train was traveling through Flomaton, and he said he continued to Dixon Road crossing to allow firefighters to be able to reach the engine by road.
The train continued north toward its Waycross, Georgia, destination about 7:15 a.m. The engineer said that because of the fire, the rear wheels on the lead locomotive would not be used to power the train. Instead, he said they would run “dead”. The four engine train was already being powered by just three engines; the last engine was being towed to Waycross for repair.
Pictured above: A CSX employees watches a gear box under the train as it pulls away from Dixon Road in Flomaton. Pictured above: The wheels and gear box of a CSX locomotive are covered in fire extinguisher material after an engineer extinguished a Tuesday morning fire. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century To Begin $371,000 Drainage Improvement Project
November 3, 2009
The Century Town Council voted Monday night to add $230,000 to a $141,000 grant for a project that will improve drainage in an area south of the old Century High School.
The complete $371,000 project was designed prior to Hurricane Ivan, and it sat “shovel ready” since that time. The project will improve stormwater drainage in an area bordered roughly by Hecker Road to the north, Mayo Street to the west, Baptist Church Road to the east and a concrete ditch between Mayo Lane and Church Street to the south.
Acting on an opinion from the town’s attorney, the council voted to use the $230,000 from a fund that contains $1.6 million from half cent sales tax and local option sales tax funds. The town requested the attorney’s opinion to make sure the money could legally be used for drainage projects.
Pictured above: This graphic shows the approximate area that will see drainage improvements from an upcoming project. NorthEscambia.com graphic, click to enlarge.
Century Looks At Increase For Water, Sewer Customers
November 3, 2009
The Town of Century is continuing to explore options that will ultimately lead to increase in water and sewer rates for most, if not all, of the town’s residents.
The council was set to meet Monday night with William Secoy from the Florida Rural Water Association, authors of a rate study under consideration by the council. But Secoy was unable to attend the meeting due to a family emergency.
The town’s accountant, Robert Hudson, told council members that the town must increase rates in order to qualify for future loans and grants from the USDA Rural Development Agency.
Hudson offered his own simple plan for raising rates — an across the board increase for most customers of 10 to 15 percent. In contrast, the Florida Rural Water Association has proposed a more complicated rate increase that would greatly increase water rates for those that use the least amount of water and often pay a minimum bill. The min
“It’s the minimum I am really concerned about,” Council President Ann Brooks said Monday night. “I looked at the ones that had really high (water) usage, and their increase was not as much.”
Council Henry Hawkins suggested that any across the board increase be phased in over a couple of years to lessen the burden on the town’s water and sewer customers.
“That will be more fair to everybody,” Hawkins said.
Hudson said he would check with Rural Development to determine if a simple percentage water and sewer rate increase would meet their requirements.
The Town of Century has not increased water and sewer rates since 1995.
EWMS Collecting Old Cell Phones For Soldiers
November 3, 2009
The National Junior Honor Society at Ernest Ward Middle School is collecting cell phones for soldiers in a program that turns old cell phones into calling time for soldiers abroad.
The National Junior Honor Society with the help of Cell Phones for Soldiers are calling on all students, teachers, parents, and members of the community to support these brave men and women by donating old, used cell phones.
The cell phone drive will take place during the entire month of November. Anyone who would like to donate can drop their used cell phones off in a designated box located in the office at Ernest Ward Middle during school hours.
At the end of November all cell phones will be shipped to Cell Phones for Soldiers, which is a registered 501 non-profit organization, who will then in turn ship the phones to a company that pays for each phone that is recycled , providing an hour of talk time for soldiers abroad.
The EWMS National Junior Honor Society has set a goal of 1,000 cell phones which will provide 60,000 minutes of free talk time to soldiers overseas.
Cell Phones for Soldiers was created by brother and sister Brittany and Robbie Bergquist of Norwell, MA. After reading a story about a soldier who ran up a huge phone bill calling home from Iraq, the teens decided to find a way to help. They started by opening an account with $21 of their own money. For more information about Cell Phones for Soldiers visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com.
The Circus Is Coming
November 3, 2009
An old-fashioned big top circus is coming to the Atmore YMCA this weekend with jugglers, acrobats, clowns, tigers and more.
The circus show, to be performed by the Lewis & Clark Circus, will harken back to earlier days when such events came bustling into town for a day and then mysteriously disappeared overnight.
Lewis & Clark is a one-ring European style circus with continuous action going on in the center ring. Traditional circus acts such as hi-flying trapeze artists, amazing acrobats, zany clowns, and liberty animal acts that include horses and camel are featured.
The Circus attracts all types of people, from the young to the young at heart, which may be why it remains a popular form of family entertainment. The circus is one of about 10 traditional big top shows that operate in the United States. The circus troop presents about500 shows a year and will be in Atmore on Saturday, November 7 with performances at 4 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, November 8 at 3 p.m. You can relive childhood dreams while your children create their own dreams and memories from this fun filled event.
Tickets can be purchased at the Atmore Area YMCA, United Bank in Atmore and from any YMCA Board Member. Advance discount tickets are $10 per adult and children under 14 are free when accompanied by an adult. Non-discounted tickets will be available on circus day.
For more information, call the Atmore Area YMCA at (251) 368-9622.
Learn More About The Newest Cuts Of Beef
November 3, 2009
Beef..it’s what is new for dinner.
Producers and consumers alike can learn more about selecting, preparing and marketing the latest trends in beef cuts with Escambia Extension on Monday, November 16, at 6 p.m. at the Langley Bell 4-H Auditorium located at 4810 West Nine Mile Road .
“Mister Pete,” of Oakes Meat Processing, will discuss common cuts and some of the newer cuts being promoted. Extension Agent Dorothy Lee will demonstrate preparation methods for the new cuts developed to ensure flavorful and hearty beef dishes.
Cost is $5 and dinner is included. Pre-register by November 10. Contact the Escambia County Extension Office, 475-5230, or email Extension Agent Libbie Johnson, libbiej@ufl.edu.
NorthEscambia.com Is Celebrating Our Second Birthday
November 3, 2009
NorthEscambia.com is celebrating our second birthday today. We want to offer you a big thanks, and offer a little insight into our little site.
We have been amazed at the response to NorthEscambia.com as it has grown into the area’s mostly widely read news source and one of the top most popular local web sites on the entire Gulf Coast.
Just a year ago, as we celebrated our first birthday, we were humbled that we stood at 2.2 million page view per month. But that has continued to grow by leaps and bounds — in October of this year, we had 6.8 million page views. That put NorthEscambia.com among the most popular websites on the Gulf Coast. And speaking of the Gulf Coast, readers of the Pensacola Independent News recently named NorthEscambia.com as the Best Blog on the Coast.
We quietly started NorthEscambia.com November 3, 2007, announcing it at the annual Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department Fish Fry. Over the next weeks, we expanded our coverage into Century and Molino, building a family of loyal readers like you.
It’s a diverse family.. From elementary age kids to senior adults, people across North Escambia and in surrounding areas like Atmore, Flomaton, Jay, Cantonment and Pensacola turn to NorthEscambia.com for local news.
Online news like NorthEscambia.com is the future of journalism. Television news ratings are down. Newspaper circulations are down. Online news readers are up.
Minutes after news event occurs, we can post the information you need to know. We have the technology in place to post live updates from the scene of the news.
Over the next year, we plan a few changes to improve our service to you. You’ll see more coverage from more stories. You’ll see more videos, maybe even a live video or two. An improved system of delivery for breaking news. More chances for reader participation.
Speaking of reader participation, we added the ability to comment on our stories just over a year ago. Since then, you have expressed your views with almost 20,000 comments. Thanks for joining in. If you have not yet, we encourage you to start leaving your comments on our stories by using the form at the bottom of each story.
A few more numbers we’d like to share…we’ve posted about 12,000 stories in the past two years, with several new stories posted each day. There are almost 20,000 photos in our photo galleries.
We’ve laughed with you, and we’ve cried with you over the past year. We’ve shared those happy moments with your children at their school or on their playing field. We’ve been there as communities suffered tragedies.
We’ve been at your church, your school, your club, your business and elsewhere in your community as things have happened in your lives. If it was important you, it was important to us.
Let us know how we can serve you; that’s what we are here for. Email news@northescambia.com or use our contact form.
Thank you for helping up reach our second birthday. We are humbled and feel blessed to be part of your family in this area we call North Escambia. Thank you for welcoming NorthEscambia.com into your family.
School Board Approves Personnel Changes At North Escambia Schools
November 2, 2009
The Escambia County School Board has approved numerous North Escambia teacher and staff transfers, resignations, and rehires.
Many of these personnel changes took place prior to the beginning of the current school year, but they were just approved by the board this month.
The following changes below were made this month:
- Appointments – Instructional/Professional
- Lynn M. Hodges, Tate High
- Ty A. Wise, Northview High
- Appointments – Support Personnel
- Karen Brown, promoted to Data Specialist I, Bratt Elem.
- Cherryl Dykes, Early Childhood Assist., Bratt Elem.
- Reappointments
- Douglas D. Kriner, Ransom Middle
- Gary K. Page, Tate High
- Kate O. Sapp, Molino Park Elementary
- Mary Jo Smith, Northview High
- Resignations/Retirements/Other
- Arthur Farish, teacher, Ransom Middle
- John R. Willey, Tate High
- Temporary Promotions
- Odessa Edwards, teacher assist. to Admin. Clerk II, Jim Allen Elem.
- Emily Tullis, teacher assist. to Admin. Clerk II, Bratt Elem.
- Leaves of Absence
- Tamara Godwin, food services, Bratt Elem.
- Gloria Miller, Jim Allen Elementary
- Barbara Morgan, food services, Northview High