Three Burglary Suspects Captured After Manhunt
February 19, 2009
Three burglary suspects were captured in a two hour manhunt Wednesday in Davisville after a deputy interrupted a burglary in progress.
The incident began just after 10:00 Wednesday morning when a neighbor called police to report suspicious persons at an unoccupied trailer at 10881 Highway 97. The trailer is located in a secluded wooded area off Highway 97, just south of Greenland Road.
When Deputy Rudy Brown arrived at the trailer, he saw two of the suspects flee into a wooded area behind the mobile home. He called for backup and tracking dogs from the Century Correctional Institute.
One by one, the suspects were tracked down by the prison dogs, according to Escambia County Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Sgt. Ted Roy.
Deputies arrested Joseph Wigginton, 39, of Atmore. He was charged with burglary, criminal mischief, theft and resisting officers without violence. He was being held in the Escambia County Jail Wednesday night. His bond was set at $11,000.
Ronnie B Peavy, 48, of Atmore was charged with burglary, criminal mischief, theft and resisting officers without violence. His bond was also set at $11,000.
Charles W. Phillips, 56, a Pensacola transient, was charged with burglary, criminal mischief, theft, and resisting officers without violence. His bond was also set at $11,000.
Deputies reportedly discovered a bucket of copper wire near the buglarized mobile home, and they said it appeared the trio had removed more copper from the Davisville mobile home. Roy said no one currently lives in the mobile home.
The first suspect was taken into custody about 11:10 am. behind a mobile home on Greenland Road. The second was arrested about 11:25 a.m., and the third, Peavy, surrendered to an officer on Highway 97 about 12:05 p.m.
Deputies also located a car belonging Wigginton parked on Highway 97.
Officers from the Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Department, Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Department, Atmore Police Department, the Escambia County (Ala.) Drug Task Force and the K-9 officers from the Century Correctional Institute participated in the manhunt.
Pictured above: Burglary suspects arrested after Wednesday manhunt in Davisville: (L-R) Ronnie B. Peavy, Charles W. Phillips and Joseph Wigginton. Submitted photos from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department.
North Escambia History Began With The Spanish
February 19, 2009
North Escambia can trace its history back to the Spanish with the first settlers in the area arriving when this area was a Spanish territory.
With the King and Queen of Spain in Escambia County today, we thought we would take a trip back to the early 1800’s when North Escambia was part of the Spanish kingdom.
The first recorded settler in Walnut Hill was John Gaylor in or about 1816. Gaylor received a land grant for acreage near Walnut Hill from the Spanish government. North Escambia was part of the Spanish Territory at the time. The land grant was for land located in the vicinity of the present-day Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill. Gaylor was under contract to use the land to raise cattle to be sold to the Spanish in Pensacola.
Many of the first settlers in the Davisville area also lived on land from Spanish Land Grants along Pine Barren Creek, known then as the Paxesco River.
The Spanish Land Grants were land claims filed by settlers in Florida after the transfer of the territory from Spain to the United States in 1821 in order to prove land ownership. Starting in 1790, Spain offered land grants to encourage settlement to the sparsely populated and vulnerable Florida colony. When the United States assumed control of Florida, it agreed to honor any valid land grants.
Residents had to prove that validity through documentation and testimonials. Those records became the dossiers filed by grantees to the U.S. government. They were either confirmed (found to be valid) or unconfirmed (found invalid) by the US government through land commissions, federal courts, or by the U.S. Congress. Most of the records for West Florida are missing.
King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain are in Pensacola today to help celebrate the city’s 450th anniversary.
Pictured: Copies of the Land District West Territory of Florida records from 1826 confirming John Gaylor’s Spanish Land Claim for land in Walnut Hill. Click to enlarge.
County’s Top Firemen Out; One Had Been Fired In The Past By Sheriff’s Dept.
February 18, 2009
The three men at the top of Escambia County Fire Rescue are out.
Fire Chief Ken Perkins (pictured left) and Assistant Chief Robbie Whitfield were asked to resign to by Escambia County Administrator Bob McLaughlin. Deputy Chief Kurt Isakson is out as Deputy Chief, but will remain with the department as a battalion chief.
McLaughlin said he wants a new administration to finally unify the department, eliminating problems between paid staff and volunteers. The county’s paid firefighters and 15 volunteer departments were all brought together with one unified leadership back in September. But McLaughlin said the departments three leaders did not have the skills needed to move the unified department forward with paid and volunteer firefighters working together.
“The majority of the career and volunteer personnel are working toward a common goal,” Dan Brask, president of the Escambia County Professional Firefighters Local 4131 union said. “The resignation of Chief Perkins has hindered those efforts by catering to a very vocal minority.”
“It is apparent that your approach to cleaning house to take care of the issues is an easy way out to say the least,” Whitfield said in his resignation letter to McLaughlin. “One would expect more from someone in your position.”
Whitfield (pictured left) has recently come under fire from several angles, including from the firefighters union.
“The lack of professionalism, along with the political interferences in the appointment of Robbie Whitfield has created a massive divide and resentment for the future of this department,” the firefighters union said in a statement after Whitfield was announced as the county’s new deputy chief, one day before the application process for the job was officially closed.
Whitfield was fired by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department on December 22, 2005, for untruthfulness and misdirecting another officer that was under investigation.
Whitfield was serving as a lieutenant at the time, and he allegedly lied about a relationship with a subordinate deputy, Rebecca Johnson. Johnson told investigators that Whitfield was the father of her child. Investigators asked Whitfield for a paternity test, but he never provided a DNA sample. Whitfield later appealed the termination, but that appeal was denied by a Santa Rosa County judge in October 2006.
Perkins’ resignation letter was more subdued than that of Whitfield.
“I don’t necessarily agree but understand where a ‘clean house’ solution may seem to be the easiest solution,” he wrote to McLaughlin.
Battalion Chief Jim Sanders has been named as acting county fire chief. The county plans to begin a search for a new fire chief immediately.
Pictured top: Former Escambia Fire Chief Ken Perkins addresses the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club. Pictured middle: Former Assistant Fire Chief Robbie Whitfield addressed the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Two Area Teachers Recognized For National Certification
February 18, 2009
Two North Escambia teachers were among the 23 honored last night by the Escambia County School Board for attaining National Board Certification.
Rebecca Hatch, a fifth grade teacher at Molino Park Elementary, recently received her certification.
Holley Driver, a Century resident and a music teacher at R.C. Lipscomb Elementary in Pensacola, received her certification as well. She is a former teacher at Molino Elementary and Byrneville Elementary.
The certification shows that Hatch and Driver have mastered high standards from from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. There are only 171 teachers in Escambia County with National Board Certification.
Personnel Changes At North Escambia Schools
February 18, 2009
The Escambia County School Board approved a short list of personnel changes Tuesday night.
The list was much shorter than usual due to a hiring freeze currently in place in the county.
The Escambia County School District issued a hiring and transfer freeze in the county’s schools effective back in January, the first in a series of expected cutbacks in the county’s school system.. That hiring freeze extends all the way to the classroom; open teaching positions will be filled with substitutes.
The hiring freeze includes both school and district office positions. The memo says that all positions which become vacant due to the resignation, retirement, promotion or leave of absence of a permanent employee will remain vacant unless otherwise approved by Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.
Two North Escambia personnel change were approved Tuesday night by the school board:
William Britt was hired as a teacher Northview High School.
Belinda Perry was promoted to Admin. School Secretary II at Molino Park Elementary.
Both Britt and Perry’s personnel changes went into effect prior to the implementation of the hiring freeze.
Council Approves Cold Weather Shelter
February 18, 2009
The Century Town Council has approved the location of an inclement weather shelter for the town.
The shelter will be located at Century’s Habitat building, using the dining room for sleeping and the kitchen to provide a warm meal.
The shelter location was determined by council member Gary Riley working in conjunction with Brunie Emmanuel with the EscaRosa Coalition For the Homeless. Emmanuel approached the council in early February looking for help in establishing a shelter in Century.
The next step in the shelter plan is to determine guideline on when to open the shelter, for instance, the overnight low that would trigger the shelter opening as a cold weather shelter.
Under the plan, the American Red Cross would provide cots for the shelter, and area churches would provide volunteers and food.
The shelter would provide a refuge from the cold and other inclement weather for not just the homeless, but also for those in substandard housing.
“You have folks that may be in a house but it’s not a safe shelter for them,” Emmanuel told the council.
Emmanuel told the council that in addition to the short-term shelter solution, he hopes to look at ways to improve the substandard housing that might drive people to use the shelter.
The shelter will not be used as a hurricane evacuation shelter.
Four Qualify For Deceased Senator’s Job
February 18, 2009
Four people have qualified to replace the late Alabama Sen. Pat Lindsey of Butler.
State Rep. Marc Keahey of Grove Hill was the only Democrat to qualify. Three Republicans met the filing deadline — Danny Joyner, a Brewton businessman; former state Rep. Greg Albritton of Range and Judy Belk, a Citronelle businesswoman.
The special election will be held April 14 to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the senate term, which ends in November 2010.
Lindsey, 72, was discovered dead in his bed on a hunting trip while staying with friends in Boligee in west Alabama.
Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr., and State Senator Roger Bedford were also on the trip and among those in the group that discovered Lindsey. He was discovered as the group was getting ready to leave the home friends where they had been hunting.
Lindsey’s senate district included Escambia County in Alabama. Other counties in the district are Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties.
Council Delays Backwoods Water Action And Gives Free Water To Residents
February 17, 2009
The Town of Century has voted to not charge residents of Backwoods Road for their water while the town takes a wait-and-see approach on funding a project that improved the area’s water service.
The $1.7 million project is ready to build, except there has been a delay in acquiring a small piece of property for a booster pumping stations. The project include a new 500,000 gallon elevate water storage tank and new water lines along State Line Road, Highway 4A and Backwoods Road. It has taken the town about 10 years to address upgrading the Backwoods water service from a 2-inch to a 6-inch main.
“The bottom line is the plans are ready,” said Dale Long of Fabre Engineering. “We could build it tomorrow.”
The town was approved for a USDA Rural Development loan for the project, but never entered into a contract for the funds. Now they have voted to wait a few weeks to see if funding might be coming to the town under the federal stimulus program.
Council member Gary Riley said he would like to wait on possible stimulus money, as did member Nadine McCaw.
“It ain’t fair to the folks on Backwoods to wait,” Council member Henry Hawkins said. “In the meantime while they waiting, Backwoods should not have to pay no water bill.”
“That right now is very logical at this point,” McCaw said
“It gives them something in exchange for waiting,” Council President Ann Brooks agreed.
The council voted 5-0 to not charge Backwoods Road customers for their water service, beginning with the next billing cycle.
Long said that he would expect the council to know about any stimulus money within a few weeks. Once the council votes to advertise the water system upgrade, the time for the first shovel would be about two to three additional months, he said.
There are “20 something” water customers on Backwoods Road, Mayor Freddie McCall said. The town does not provide water or sewer service to those residents.
Molino Tornado One Year Later: Highland Baptist
February 17, 2009
The story of the Molino tornado one year ago and what happened inside Highland Baptist Church played out on television networks across the United States.
Highland was directly in the path of the EF-1 tornado that destroyed four Molino homes and damaged dozens more on February 17, 2008.
Highland Pastor Brian Calhoun and other church members did television interviews, beamed by satellite into homes across the Gulf Coast and the country. A front page article about the church and the tornado was in the Florida Baptist Witness. That article used photographs from NorthEscambia.com.
For Highland’s tornado story as it ran last year on NorthEscambia.com, click here.
The Sunday after the storm, worshipers at Highland Baptist Church and Victory Assembly of God viewed a video using NorthEscambia.com pictures. Click here to watch the video.
Pictured top: The cross from the Highland Baptist Church steeple sites in front of the church days after the Molino tornado last year. Pictured bottom: The rest of the Highland steeple in the church parking lot. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
One Year Since Tornado Ripped Though Molino
February 17, 2009
Tuesday marked the one year anniversary of the Molino tornado that destroyed four homes, caused heavy damage and ripped the steeple of a church with worshipers inside.
The E-F1 tornado destroyed four homes in Molino about noon Sunday, February 17. Escambia County officials say at least 60 other structures were damaged by the twister along at least a two and a half mile path. At least 20 of those structures suffered major damage. There were no injuries reported.
Many homes in the Crest Lane area were damaged, with at least one house destroyed. Other suffered significant roof damage. As the tornado continued on a path to the northeast, it took the steeple off Highland Baptist Church and caused roof damage to the sanctuary. The steeple landed in the church parking lot, damaging at least four cars.
Church members said the service was about to end when they got word of the approaching tornado. Everyone evacuated the sanctuary and sought shelter in the church fellowship hall, a brick building with no windows. They prayed and sang songs as the storm approached, a church member said.
On Molino Road, near Brickyard Road, several more homes were damaged. The roof was completely gone from several houses and the Masonic Lodge building. One mobile home was flipped upside down and others were heavily damaged.
Gulf Power company cut power to about 4,500 people in the Molino area as a safety precaution. Power lines were down all around the area with many poles snapped in half.
Dozens of emergency responders conducted a door to door search in the areas with heavy damage, checking to make sure residents were not injured. Firefighters also drove all of the roads around the area, looking for any additional damage.
For cleanup photos from February 19, click here.
Pictured above: One of the homes destroyed by last year’s Molino tornado. Pictured below: Another home under repair February 17, 2008. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.