Clothes Closet To Offer Free Help For The Needy
July 31, 2009
If you are in need of clothing, the Community Clothes Closet in Jay can help.
The Community Clothes Closet will be open Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon at the Jay Community Center. Everything is free, and everyone is welcome.
The Community Clothes Closet is also in need of donations. For more information, contact Michelle at (850) 675-8561 or (850) 686-6124.
Molino Marijuana: Deputies Pull Pot Plants From Wooded Area
July 30, 2009
The Escambia Sheriff’s Department pulled about $3,500 worth of marijuana plants out of a wooded area in Molino Thursday afternoon.
David Poole from the ECSO Narcotics Division said that six plants were recovered from about 100 yards into a heavily wooded area on Sean Road, a small dirt road off Highway 95A about halfway between Molino and Barrineau Park roads.
Poole said that there may be charges brought against a suspect in the case, but not the property owner.
“There are no indications that the property owner had any knowledge of it,” Poole said. The marijuana was located after deputies received a tip from an informant.
Along with the plants with a street value up to $3,500, deputies recovered fertilizer, water and what appeared to be an electric irrigation system constructed from a battery and a small pump. Poole said it appeared the plants had been started in some sort of container (click to enlarge photo at left) before being transferred to the wooded area.
The plants and grow equipment was will be processed for additional evidence such as fingerprints.
For more photos from the scene, click here.
Pictured top: Shelley Dill, an Escambia County Sheriff’s Department crime scene technician, loads marijuana plants into her vehicle Thursday afternoon in Molino. Pictured top inset: Narcotics Division Deputy David Poole with a recovered marijuana plant. Pictured bottom inset: Poole shows how the plant was likely started in a container; the root has a squared shape and has insulation or planting pot material attached. Pictured below: Some of the grow operation items recovered. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Updated: Pamela Long Wiggins Arrested On Bigamy Charges For Having Two Husbands
July 30, 2009
Updated: Pamela Long Wiggins, 47, has been arrested again in Escambia County — this time on bigamy charges for being married to two men at the same time.
NorthEscambia.com first reported July 16 that court records obtained by NorthEscambia.com indicated that Wiggins appeared to be married to two men.
Biggins was charged in Okaloosa County where her second marriage took place. She was released Thursday night on $5,000 bond.
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 is not complete.
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 indicate that the case is 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 deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings.
Pictured below: Pamela Long Wiggins’ marriage license in Okaloosa County date December 31, 2008, click to enlarge.
Fire Departments Respond To Century Woods Apartments
July 30, 2009
Fire departments from across the area were dispatched to reported fire at Century Woods Apartments about 8:40 this morning.
The fire turned out to be a pot on the stove in one apartment.
There was no damage reported at the apartment complex located near Highway 4 and North Century Boulevard.
‘Don’t Take For Granted That You Will See Your Kids Grown’
July 30, 2009
Marty Green of Bratt thought she felt bad from too much stress in her life. Within a few shorts weeks, she learned that it was not stress but stage IV lung cancer.
The year started off rough for Marty and her husband Greg — their teenage daughter Blaze was critically injured in car accident on Greenland Road in Davisville on January 7. Blaze’s condition was dire at the time, with doctors telling the family that she should have been paralyzed from the waist down. She spent weeks in a halo to hold her head in a fixed position as she recovered from a fractured neck. The family was also busy taking care of a bedridden relative. Marty knew she was feeling bad; and she knew that there was a lot of stress in her life.
“I just thought I was having a much needed nervous breakdown,” Marty said. She felt “pretty bad” for a couple of weeks and had a few chest pains. She had always been one of those healthy people that seldom visited a doctor. But she found a doctor, and she was treated for stress. Two months later, the treatments were not working, and she knew something else was wrong.
She was now losing her voice, so she made an appointment with an ENT — ear, nose and throat specialist. He thought he saw something during her exam under her vocal cords, and he ordered a CT scan. There was nothing under her vocal cords, but there were spots on her lungs, adrenal glands and lymph nodes. A biopsy was scheduled the next day. The results were not good.
It took three weeks to get an appointment with an oncologist. The news was really bad, and the words were hard to hear: Stage IV large cell carcinoma.
“He would not give me a prognosis,” Marty, 44, said. “He just said it is bad. One day at time. He did not want me to think about that.”
She is undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. Tuesday and Wednesday were her first full days in many weeks at home without trips to Pensacola for medical appointments.
“I am just hoping that maybe I will feel better for a few more days,” Marty said. “It’s now in my bones,” she added, almost as an afterthought.
Her conversation was matter of fact, repeating what the doctors have said. She talked about the disease that has attacked her body with little emotion, almost as if she was talking about someone else. She has told the story before.
But the next part of the story was the hard part.
“I want to wish that it was all a dream; you just don’t think this will happen to you,” she said.
“I have to keep my faith up. The Lord is going to step in and do His thing. He did it for Blaze; I know he can do it for me.” She paused for a moment. “If it is His will.”
“I worry about the kids, Greg, my mom.”
It is easy to see in the Green’s living room that family is important. The family pictures are everywhere. They are not all the posed portraits that everyone displays. Some are just simple snapshots of cherished moments over the years. Like a photo of son Blake, now 12, when he played machine pitch ball a few years ago. It’s one of her favorites.
She enjoys looking at the photos as she sits in her corner chair in the living room. She enjoys the family memories.
“I know the Lord can heal. But he might have a different plan for me. We just don’t know. I worry about Greg and the kids.”
She knows that if she is not healed, that there might be other reasons.
“It might be his plan to send a message to all those out there to take better care of themselves, and get their faith straight. You never know when it is your time to go,” she said, followed by a long pause as she gathered her strength to continue. It was hard to say the next words.
“Don’t take for granted that you will see your kids grown.”
There was more to that statement than might be imagined. Marty has already lost one child, a daughter almost five years old that died after being thrown from a horse. She found out she was pregnant with Blaze just a month later.
“She was my angel. She was my answered prayer.”
In January, when she found out Blaze was in that car wreck and was being transported via LifeFlight, it was hard.
“When I almost lost Blaze, it was was more than I could stand.”
For Blaze, 16, it’s been a tough year. From the car accident, to the halo cast, to missing the rest of the school year, to the decision not to return as a Northview cheerleader — it’s been a lot.
When asked about her mom, Blaze answered, “It’s been a big change; I was used to her doing things around here, now I have to do them.” It was one of those answers that someone gives because it is the easier thing to say. When asked again, she paused. It was a lot for a daughter to say about her mom.
“When I think about her not being here,” Blaze said, no longer able to fight back the tears, “…think about her not being here…it’s a lot for a 16 year old. God will be here for us.”
“I tell her to never forget what the Lord did for her, and don’t let other people forget either,” Marty said. “He is good.”
The Green family does not have health insurance. A coed softball tournament to benefit Marty Green will be held beginning at 8 a.m. on August 1 at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill. The coed softball team must consist of seven men and three women, double elimination. There is a $200 entry fee. For more information, contact Bodie Tullis at (850) 327-6788 or (850) 327-6722, Theresa Hanks at (850) 327-6722 or Pam Brown at (850) 327-6155. The tournament is sponsored by Northwest Escambia Little League and Northwest Escambia Football, with all proceeds going toward Marty Green’s medical expenses.
“I just want to thank everyone for what they have done for us,” Marty said.
Pictured top: Greg and Marty Green, daughter Blaze Green and son Blake Green. Pictured top inset: Marty Green prior to learning that she had cancer. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com. Pictured bottom inset: Blaze Green was severely injured while riding in the backseat of this car on January 7. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Judge Says No Bond For Stallworth
July 30, 2009
Donnie Ray Stallworth, Jr. will remain in the Escambia County Jail without bond on charges that he was involved in the shooting death of Byrd and Melanie Billings on July 9.
Escambia County Circuit Judge Joyce H. Williams denied bond for Stallworth Wednesday during his first court appearance via a video feed from the county jail.
Stallworth, 28, turned himself into Alabama authorities at the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton the night of July 13. He had remained in the Brewton jail without bond until his extradition to Florida Tuesday morning.
Williams denied bond because she considered him a flight risk and because of the serious charges against him. Stallworth is one of seven people charged with open counts of murder in connection with the Billings murders.
At the time of the murders, Stallworth was assigned to the 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Hurlburt Field. The 1999 T.R. Miller High School graduate is a Brewton native. His family still resides in the Brewton area.
Pictured: Donnie Wayne Stallworth’s booking photo taken Tuesday at the Escambia County Jail in Pensacola. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Drug Task Force Makes Bust
July 30, 2009
A Flomaton man was arrested on drug charges Wednesday following an investigation by the 21st Judicial Drug Task Force.
Michael Andrew Sansom, 23, was arrested midday Wednesday after the drug task force executed a search warrant at a home on Wilkerson Street in Flomaton. Sansom was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana first degree and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
The arrest came as part of an ongoing investigation, authorities said.
The 21st Judicial Drug Task Force is funded in part by a grant from the Bureau of Justice Affairs Division of the United States Department of Justice through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. The remainder of the funding comes from the Atmore Police Department, Brewton Police Department, Escambia County District Attorney’s Office, Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Department and Poarch Police Department.
Santa Rosa Health Boss Resigns
July 30, 2009
The administrator of the Santa Rosa County Health Department has resigned just over a month after being arrested on drunk driving charges following a crash on Navarre beach.
Shannon Jacobs submitted his resignation last Friday, effective at the close of business, in lieu of dismissal.
Jacobs, 34, crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic on Navarre Beach Road June 20 a struck a vehicle driven by James H. Hering, 42. Two Intoxilyzer tests showed Jacobs had blood alcohol levels of .160 and .148. Florida’s legal limit is .08.
He was charged with driving under the influence first offense, driving under the influence with property damage, criminal mischief with property damage, and failure to use a designated lane. He was released on a $7,500 bond.
Pictured above: Shannon Jacobs. Pictured below: His resignation letter as director the Santa Rosa County Health Department. Click to enlarge.
Masland To Make More Cuts, Reorganize Business
July 30, 2009
Dixie Group, Inc., the parent company of Masland Carpets, announced Wednesday that it will reorganize the business in an attempt to return profitability by further cutting costs.
The company will combine its three residential carpet brands — Masland, Fabrica and Dixie Home — into one business while maintaining the three distinct brands.
“As a result, our residential business will be organized much like our commercial carpet business and more like the rest of the industry,” said Daniel K. Frierson, chairman and chief executive officer of Dixie Group.
“The new structure should enable us to improve our responsiveness to customers’ changing needs and market conditions as well as enhance our operating capability, while significantly reducing costs. We will continue to build and invest in our brands – Masland Residential, Fabrica, Dixie Home, Masland Contract, and Whitespace; each has a distinct character and each is designed to appeal to and attract different customers,” Frierson said.
The company expects to cut up to an additional 60 jobs across all of its operations, partially by combining sales forces.
There are 325 people employed by Masland in Atmore and 340 in Saraland, Alabama. The two locations lost 70 jobs earlier this year as the company cut 25 percent of employees over an 18 month period.
Masland will attempt to cut another $8 to $10 million in expenses during 2010.
Dixie Group sales for the second quarter of 2009 were $52,572,000, down 32 percent from $77,155,000 in the year-earlier quarter.
Enjoy A Historical Day In The Park
July 30, 2009
There will be an old fashioned day in the park Saturday in Century.
The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society’s Day in the Park will take place on Jefferson Avenue from 9 am to 4 pm.
Collectors are invited to bring their collections to display and share with others. Attendees are encouraged to bring old photographs taken in this area; someone will be available to possibly identify unknown subjects in the photos and answer questions about area history.
The historical society’s museums will be open, and the group will be selling watermelon, ice cream, hot dogs and drinks. There is no admission charge and no charge for those displaying their collections.
For more information, contact Jerry Fischer at (850) 256-3980.