Firefighters Respond To Cottage Hill Home Early Tuesday
September 1, 2009
Fire stations from across the area were dispatched to a home in the 800 block of McKenzie Road in Cottage Hill early Tuesday morning.
About 1:00 a.m., the resident of the home reported the smell of burning plastic coming from an air conditioning unit. The first fire units on scene did not report a fire, and other responders were canceled.
The Cantonment, Molino and Ensley stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were originally dispatched to the call. There were no injuries and no major damage reported.
Hundreds Wait In Long Lines To Avoid Fee Increases
September 1, 2009
People stood in line for hours Monday to renew their tags or driver’s licenses on the last day to save some green. The fees for vehicle registrations, renewals, titles and driver licenses have all increased — some more than double — effective today.
So many people tried to avoid the fee increase on Friday that Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles computer systems crashed. On Monday, hundreds of people lined up at Escambia County Tax Collector offices. Some waited well over two hours. In Cantonment and on W Street in Pensacola, drive-through windows were closed because traffic backed up into the highways.
Thousands of people across the state turned to the Internet to renew their tags and licenses, but that was not a time-saver for most. The state’s gorenew.com was down for most of the day, returned nothing or error messages.
“It’s almost like they did it on purpose to make us pay more,” one NorthEscambia.com wrote in an email. “They are doing anything they can to make us pay more. People can’t afford this right now; we should be able to at least pay online.”
Tax Collector Janet Holley’s office issued rain checks Friday and Monday to those unable to renew in person due to the computer problems. The rain checks are good for the current lower fees until September 10.
The New Fees Effective September 1
The initial registration fee – the fee paid for a vehicle registration on an additional vehicle not replacing a current vehicle — jumped from $100 to $225.
Tag and registration fees went up as much as 66 percent; the exact amount depends on the weight of the vehicle. Transfer fees for titles more than doubled from $29.75 to $75.75. Motorcycle registrations also increased, from $24.60 to $41.65.
Reinstating a suspended driver license increased, late payment fees on driver license renewals went up 15-fold, from $1 to $15, and the cost of the original driver license went from $32.25 to $54.25. Renewing a driver license went from $25.25 to $54.25.
Holley stressed that the increases were mandated by the state legislature for all Florida residents; the increases are not specific to Escambia County. For more information, contact Holley’s office at (850) 438-6500 ext. 252.
Parents, Volunteers Can Learn More About 4-H
September 1, 2009
The Escambia County Extension Service will present “4-H Just for the Fun of It” to give parents and volunteers to learn more about the 4-H Youth and Volunteer Program in Escambia County.
This program is open to the public to learn about 4-H topics including: youth programs/activities, how to start a 4-H club in your community or school, volunteer roles in 4-H, school enrichment programs, and volunteer training opportunities.
Escambia County Extension Agents will present many areas of interest for 4-H youth, clubs, and volunteers , including areas in Gardening, Horticulture, Environmental Education, Wildlife, Recycling, Food and Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyles, Consumer Science, Marine Science, Agriculture, Teen Leadership and Citizenship, Public Speaking, and Science and Technology. 4-H Clubs can sign up for special programs at this time.
The “4-H Just for the Fun of it” parent and volunteer information program will be September 8 from 6-8 p.m. at the Langley Bell 4-H Center on West Nine Mile Road. Refreshments will be served.
Registration required; call the Escambia County Extension Office 850-475-5230.
Founded in 1902 nationally, 4-H is now the largest youth organization in the world. Nationwide, 4-H has over 9 million members, including 234,000 in Florida. A total of 6226 youth are enrolled in the Escambia County 4-H Youth Program. 4-H offers youth, ages 5 – 18, diverse project topics available through 4-H clubs, 4-H school enrichment, workshops, clinics, day camps and summer camp programs. Florida 4-H is the youth development program of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service (CES), headquartered in Gainesville within UF’s IFAS and the Escambia County Extension Service. The CES is funded by a partnership between federal, state and county government agencies.
FHP Plans Checkpoints
September 1, 2009
The Florida Highway Patrol will be conducting drivers license and vehicle safety checkpoints in North Escambia and northern Santa Rosa County. According to the FHP, checkpoints will take place in Escambia County anytime through September 10 on Fannie Road north of Old Flomaton Road and Muscogee Road west of Cantonment. In north Santa Rosa County, checkpoints will be held on Quintette Road and State Road 4.
The FHP says troopers will concentrate on vehicles being operated with defects such as bad brakes, worn tires and defective lighting. Troopers will also be looking for drivers in violation of the state’s drivers license laws.
Additional checkpoints will be held at various locations in the Pensacola area this week:
- Pipeline Road south of Rambler Drive
- Kemp Road west of Rolling Hills Road
- Citrus Street north of Jackson Street
- Avery Street west of “W” Street
- Hancock Road east of Old Palafox Highway
- Patton Drive north of Gulf Beach Highway
- Hollywood Blvd. north of Fairfield Drive
- Jernigan Road south of 9 Mile Road
- Millview Road south of Mobile Highway
Additional checkpoints held in Santa Rosa County include:
- Quintette Road west of County Road 197
- Bagdad Highway south of Milton
- Hamilton Bridge Road east of Bridge
- County Road 197 north of Guernsey Road
- State Road 4 northern Santa Rosa County
- State Road 399 west of State Road 87
School Prayer: Students Gather Without Coaches; Legal Defense Fund Grows
September 1, 2009
Dozens of athletes prayed after a Friday night ballgame without their coaches, and the criminal defense fund for Frank Lay and Robert Freemen continues to grow.
After last Friday night’s Pace High versus Navarre High School game, football players and cheerleaders from both schools gathered together on the field for prayer. Noticeably absent were the coaches and adult leaders from both schools.
In meantime to the legal defense fund for Lay and Freeman has grown to nearly $38,000. Lay, the Pace High School principal, and Freeman, Pace athletic director, face federal criminal charges for praying before a meal at a field house dedication despite an order against prayer in Santa Rosa County Schools issued in response to an ACLU lawsuit.
Started on Monday, August 3, the fund was at $5,220 by Thursday, August 6. By Monday, the fund balance was at $38,818.57. The funds will be used to pay the legal expenses for Lay and Freeman, and fund organizers say that if there are any funds leftover after all legal fees are paid, they will be donated to the Liberty Counsel. The non-profit Liberty Counsel provides legal services and actively fights the ACLU. The Liberty Counsel was actively involved in the defense of Michelle Winkler, recently by a federal judge on charges she violated the no-prayer order. (Read more here.)
The Farmer’s Opry in Chumuckla will hold a benefit concert and supper on September 10 from 5:30 until. The Saw Mill Band, the Hendersons and Crossroads will perform. The event, which includes a hamburger, french fry and baked bean supper, will begin at 5:30.
A web site set up for the two men, layfreemandefense.com, asks supporters to make donations to the Lay and Freeman Defense Fund at any First National Bank of Florida. The site is also selling t-shirts for $10 and lists other events in support of the fund.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court almost a year ago against the Santa Rosa School District, Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and then-Santa Rosa Superintendent John Rogers. The suit alleged that Santa Rosa County Schools “persistently and persuasively promote their personal religious beliefs in the public schools and at school events”.
A federal court order earlier this year prohibited, among other things, any prayer in schools, “reading from a sacred text”, “calling upon a deity to offer guidance, assistance or a blessing” and religious services such as baccalaureate services. There are circumstances were student-led prayers are permissible, but school employees are prohibited to participate in the prayer, even prohibited from “a posture or manner that is likely to be perceived as an endorsement of prayer, e.g. bowing their heads, kneeling or folding their hands”.
The ACLU has requested documents from Escambia County Schools, prompting the district to err on the side of caution when it comes to prayer at organized school events.
Pictured top: Athletes from Pace High School (in blue) and Navarre High School (in white) gather for prayer after a kickoff classic football game last Friday night at Pace High School. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Man Injured In Bluff Springs Rollover Accident
August 31, 2009
One person was injured in a single vehicle rollover accident Monday morning in Bluff Springs.
Leslie L. Lassiter, 63, of Century, was northbound on Highway 29 just north of Bluff Springs Road just before 6 a.m. when he lost control, ran off onto the shoulder of the road and overturned into the median, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. His Toyota truck came to rest upside down in the median of the highway. Lassiter was ejected from the vehicle, according to the FHP.
He was transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in serious condition. LifeFlight was unable to respond to the scene due to morning fog.
Charges against Lassiter are pending, according to the FHP.
The Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded to the call.
Pictured above: A Century man was injured in this rollover accident Monday morning in Bluff Springs. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Alabama Child Molester Gets New Trial Because North Escambia Resident Lied About Address
August 31, 2009
An Escambia County (Ala.) man in prison for abusing a seven year old girl will get a new trial because a juror from North Escambia lied about living in Alabama so he could keep his job.
Larry Richard Chavers was sentenced in 2006 to a total of 31 years for sodomizing and sexual abusing a girl that was seven-years old in 2004.
Last week, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals sided with Chavers’ defense attorney, Paul Harden of Monroeville, and found that the man known as “Juror No. 216″ actually lived in North Escambia and not in Escambia County, Ala. Juror No. 216 served on the jury that convicted Chavers. Alabama law has a mandatory requirement that jurors live in Alabama for at least 12 months before a trial begins.
Harden argued that Juror No. 216 had a post office box in Escambia County, Ala., and claimed to live on South Eighth Avenue in Atmore, but he actually resided at 7500 Hodges Road, just across the state line in Escambia County, Fla. near Davisville.
Juror No. 216 was subpoenaed to testify before the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals back in January. According to court documents, he testified that he lived at 105-1/2 Tatum Avenue in Atmore. He told the court that he did not own any property in Alabama, but that he and his wife owned property on Hodges Road. Juror No. 216 said that his wife and children lived on the Florida property, but he had lived at the Tatum Avenue address all of his life. He denied that he and his wife were separated.
“He maintained that ‘I stay there a little bit,’ but admitted that he spent three to four nights a week there and that he had spent all the previous week at the residence in Florida,” the appeal said.
For the past 15 years, Juror No. 216 has been employed by Reid State Technical College in Evergreen, and he said that his job required him to have an Alabama driver’s license. When asked when he stopped residing in the State of Florida, Juror No. 216 responded, “I guess I still do.”
Ultimately, Juror No. 216 maintained that he resided both in Alabama at the Tatum Avenue address and in Florida at the Hodges Road address, about two-tenths of a mile from Alabama. When the defense counsel attempted to determine how often Juror No. 216 stayed with his wife and children in Florida and for how long, Juror No. 216 responded that that was “between me and my wife how many times I stay there”.
Juror No. 216’s wife was equally unwilling to disclose her husband’s residence, maintaining that it was not anyone’s business “how many nights my husband stays at my house or if he stays at his sister’s house”.
The court found that Juror No. 216’s sister owns houses at 105 Tatum Avenue and 105-1/2 Tatum Avenue, and that the houses were about 50-60 feet apart. Juror No. 216’s sister testified that on occasion her brother stayed at the house located at 105-1/2 Tatum Avenue, but she was unable to say how often he stayed there. Further questioning determined that the utility bills for 105-1/2 Tatum Avenue were in her name and that her brother did not compensate her financially for staying at that address.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals found that Juror No. 216 did, in fact, live in Florida at 7500 Hodges Road. The court ordered a new trial for Chavers.
Chavers was convicted of raping and sodomizing the seven-year old daughter of a woman he had dated. The girl, who was 10-years old at the time of the 2006 trial, testified that Chavers had abused her 15 to 20 times. The trial court sentenced Chavers to 21 years’ imprisonment on the sodomy conviction and to 10 years’ imprisonment on the sexual abuse conviction. The court suspended Chavers’s 10-year sentence for sexual abuse and ordered him to serve three years in prison and the balanced on supervised probation. He is scheduled to be released in October 2027.
Televised Workshops Offered To Small Farm Producers
August 31, 2009
Upcoming training sessions will give farmers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties the opportunity to learn about new markets, regulations that impact their farms and how to get their products to market.
There will be four televised weekly sessions beginning on September 10 from 6 to 8 p.m.. These workshops can be accessed through several participating extension offices statewide.
The programs are free to everyone, but participants should register by September 4. The availability of program notebooks and materials at the Santa Rosa County, Milton Extension office location will be based on pre-registration numbers.
The first session will cover state food regulations and federal food laws as they apply to Florida. Session two on September 17 covers potential markets and sales venues, as well as how to price various products. Session three on September 24 discusses marketing skills and packaging requirements, while session four on October 1 will cover basic merchandising, marketing, cash flow and accountability.
Contact the Santa Rosa County Extension office at (850) 623-3868 for more information or to register.
This small farms program is the result of cooperation between the University of Florida’s IFAS Extension, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Florida A&M University College of Engineering Sciences Technology and Agriculture
Photo Galleries: Hundreds Of North Escambia Weekend Photos
August 31, 2009
If you missed NorthEscambia.com this weekend, you missed hundreds of photos from across the area. From mini-cheerleaders to exciting football action, we had the area covered in pictures.
Click gallery name below to view the photos:
- Northwest Escambia Mites vs. Pace.
- Northwest Escambia Midgets vs. Pace.
- Northwest Escambia Cheerleaders.
- Flomaton High School versus Calhoun.
- Northview High Mini-Cheerleaders.
- Molino Residents watch the Pelicans win.
- Meet the NHS Tribal Beat Band.
- Byrneville Elementary emergency drills.
Sunday Storms Cause Problems In Century, Flomaton
August 31, 2009
A line of strong storms caused a few problems in the Century and Flomaton areas Sunday afternoon.
In Century, several inches of rainfall in a short time period caused localized street flooding, including North Century Boulevard near Jackson Street. Numerous trees were downed on both the Alabama and Florida sides of Fannie Road. Firefighters from Flomaton and Century responded to cut the trees out of the roadway.
There were also scattered power outages reported.
There was no major damage and no injuries reported from Sunday afternoon’s storm in North Escambia.
For Monday, there is a 30 percent chance of more showers and thunderstorms.
Pictured above: Crews from Escambia River Electric Cooperative work to restore power along the Florida portion of Fannie Road Sunday afternoon. Pictured below: Numerous small trees were downed in Alabama and Florida along Fannie Road. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
