Another Molino Area Motorcycle Vs. Deer Accident Injures One
February 13, 2009
The second collision between a motorcycle and a deer in the Molino area in less than a week has left another person with serious injuries.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Michael Edward Johansen, 53, of Pensacola was southbound on Highway 99 near Luth Road about 9:20 Friday morning when he struck a deer. Johansen was ejected from his 2007 Yamaha motorcycle. He was taken to Baptist Hospital in serious condition.
The accident is still under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Another motorcycle versus deer accident Monday claimed the life of a Walnut Hill man. Tad Fredrick Cann, 46, struck a deer while riding his motorcycle just after 6 a.m. Monday near the intersection of Molino Road and Sunshine Hill Road. He died early Monday afternoon at a Pensacola hospital. That accident happened on Molino Road near Sunshine Hill Road.
Field Of Dreams: Bratt Residents Get Look At Their New Park
February 13, 2009
Clark Caraway begin work on his dream of a community park in Bratt 10 years ago. For the first time, he saw that dream in black and white Thursday night.
Caraway and several other Bratt residents even formed Bratt Community Park, Inc. back in 2001 to work toward the park.
Fast forward to Thursday night…Caraway sat in a public meeting at the Shiloh Free Will Baptist Church as Joy Jones from Escambia County’s parks and recreation department presented preliminary plan drawings for the Bratt Regional Park on Highway 4.
About 30 area residents learned that preliminary plans for the park include a paved, 8-foot wide walking/biking track around the perimeter of the park. There will also be exercise and rest stations positioned along the track.
Plans also call for one or two fenced softball fields, a half-court basketball court, a covered pavilion and playground equipment for children of various ages. The softball fields will not be lit for night play; in fact, the park’s hours will follow that of other county parks — sunrise to sunset.
The money is already in the bank, so to speak, to fund the park’s amentities. District 5 Escambia Commissioner Kevin White has $200,000 in LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) funds set aside to fund the park’s development.
“We are trying to use the money we have to accomodate everybody on this park,” White said.
Some members of the audience Thursday night questioned if a recreation building, perhaps one large enough for an indoor basketball court, could be built on the propery. Jones said she did not believe that was possible with current funding. Other residents questioned lighting the park to keep it open until a reasonable time at night, running drinking water and other items not included in the concept.
Jones will work on finalizing park plans and options. She will have those plans posted on the county’s web site within 30 days, and the county will hold another public meeting within six weeks for public review.
Also at Thursday night’s meeting, White praised Kale and Donna Schneider who traded 57 acres of mostly wetlands that county owned on Hanks Road for their 13.19 acres at the corner of West Highway 4 and Bratt Road for the park.
“He stepped up to the plate to better his community,” White said of Mr. Schneider.
The new park will be located along Highway 4 between Bratt First Baptist Church and Northview High School
Pictured above: Clark Caraway discusses the new Bratt Regional Park at a Thursday night public meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church. Pictured below: Joy Jones (left) from Escambia Parks and Recreation discusses preliminary Bratt Regional Park plans with a local resident. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Fire Destroys Molino Home
February 13, 2009
Fire destroyed a Molino home Thursday afternoon, leaving two people homeless.
The fire was reported about 1:45 at the end Warhop Lane in Molino. Firefighters had some difficulty reaching the isolated mobile home; they were forced to use smaller brush trucks — trucks that are pickup size — in order to reach the fire. They were unable to reach the structure using regular fire engines.
There were no reported injuries in the blaze.
Firefighters were on scene for hours, battling a brush fire at the same location.
The Molino, Century, McDavid, Walnut Hill and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to the blaze.
This was the second home in less than 24 hours to be destroyed by fire in the northern half of Escambia County. An early Thursday morning blaze gutted a home on Neal Road in Cantonment.
Family Fun Day At Showalter Park
February 13, 2009
Century Little League will hold a Family Fun Day and Baseball Registration Saturday at Showalter Park.
The event will be held from noon until 4 p.m.
All ages are invited to enjoy free hotdogs, pony rides, speed pitch, home run derby, base race, basketball shoot, moonwalk, dunking booth and more. Children ages 8-12 will have the opportunity to win a free baseball registration.
Funeral Services Announced For Accident Victim
February 13, 2009
Funeral services have been announced for Tad Fredrick Cann, 46, of Walnut Hill.
He died Monday after he struck a deer while riding his motorcycle just after 6 a.m. near the intersection of Molino Road and Sunshine Hill Road.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North in Cantonment.
Funeral services will be held at at 10 Saturday morning, also at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North in Cantonment.
Burial will follow in Bogia.
Updated EWMS Cheerleader National Championship Photos
February 13, 2009
NorthEscambia.com readers followed the Ernest Ward Middle School cheerleaders all last weekend from their arrival at Disney World to their second place win in the national championship.
We have added more photos from Disney and from the competition to our photo gallery. Click here to see the submitted photos.
Click here for the story about the championship cheerleaders.
Get About $70 Of Groceries, Including Steaks, For $30: No Strings Attached
February 13, 2009
As the cost of food continues to rise, there is a program available at a local church that can save more than half off the cost of groceries. And, perhaps best of all, everyone qualifies, no strings attached .It’s called Angel Food Ministries, a program that provides food relief to more than a half million families a month across the nation.
It’s a simple concept…pay $30 for a box of food worth about $70. There are no applications; everyone qualifies. The process is simple too…just stop by the Allen Memorial United Methodist Church in Cantonment, pay the $30 and return on the designated pickup day to receive the box of food. They even accept food stamps.
And, for seniors, there’s a special box of food for just $28 that includes 10 full cooked, low sodium heat and eat meals.
Allen Memorial United Methodist Church has been the local host for the Angel Food Ministries program since October of 2006, according to their program director Katrina Williamson.
“It’s a great program,” Williamson said. “It can really help people out.”
Orders for February can be placed Saturday, February 14 or Monday, February 16 from 10 until noon at the church at 206 Pace Parkway in Cantonment for a food delivery on February 28. The church accepts cash or food stamps.
The $30 February box of food includes 1.5 pounds of sirloin strip steaks, two pounds of chicken breasts, one pound of boneless pork chops, two pounds of breaded chicken nuggets, a salisbury steak entree, plus other items like french fries, mac ‘n cheese, several vegetables and desserts.
Specials are also available each month with the purchase of a regular box of food. For instance, this month, one special is 1.5 pounds of ribeye steaks, 1.5 pounds of bacon-wrapped lean ground beef patties, two pounds of thick cut pork chops and one pound of mild Italian sausage with mozzarella cheese all for $22.
“Our food is “restaurant grade” meats, frozen vegetables, fruits, dairy products, etc. which we acquire through our involvement with only the best producers/vendors of high quality, “name brand” foods. Never “seconds” or “day old” type products are involved,” according to the Angel Food Ministries web site.
For more information about the program, call Allen Memorial United Methodist Church at 968-6213 or visit www.angelfoodministries.com. To visit the church and place an order…take Highway 20 south into Cantonment. Turn right at the red light onto Muskogee Road. Take the second right onto Pace Parkway.
Other churches in the North Escambia area that might be interested in hosting the Angel Food Ministries program can visit www.angelfoodministries.com for more information.
Click here to download a complete February Angel Food menu (pdf).
County Survey Shows North Escambia Concerns
February 12, 2009
Escambia County has released a county-wide survey on the quality of life in county and satisfaction with services provided by the county, and several responses showed concerns about North Escambia.
When asked, “how satisfied are you with the overall quality of the job that the County is doing”, 91.6% of the residents responded with a neutral to very satisfied rating. The highest ratings when to fire services, emergency medical services and hurricane preparedness.
The county’s lowest ratings were to questions about the county is responsive to complaints, public transportation and mosquito control.
There were 538 randomly chosen registered voters in the county that took part in the telephone survey. Several of their answers revealed common concerns about the quality of life and the concerns in North Escambia.
Comments related to North Escambia included:
- I am from Molino in the northern part of he county and we have a lot of residential, but we need more economic development to balance it out. Managing growth is very important.
- We live in the north end of the county. We don’t get much in the way of services. We’re like the step-children. Because we live in a rural area, we’re not heard as much as the rest of the county.
- We have a pretty safe neighborhood here and law enforcement does come by here. I don’t think they have enough law enforcement in the north end of the county.
- A hospital in Century, closest one is Pace
- Downsize public bus that runs from Pensacola to Century
- The amount of services where I live in Molino have been cut. There used to be a bus service out here. If someone didn’t have a car, they couldn’t get out of town. — Our
fire service is volunteer.– People are leaving Molino in droves. - I live in a rural area in Molino that is not densely populated. I feel we are neglected & our tax dollars s/b more useful. I was glad to see that recycling has been implemented out here. I live on a dirt road & for 3 to 5 years we have been promised that it would be paved. The last I heard this was in the planning stages, which could take another 5 years.
- On hurricane response: In our area, North of Hwy 29, we always have a slow response. They don’t bring out meals, for example because we’re not in the ‘disaster area’, & I thought that was really stupid!
- I live out in the northern part of the County. During Ivan, the ice ran out. I don’t think they were ready overall, for the devastation of Opal and Erin, at first, but they got better.
- I live in the most northern part of the county, and we’re the last ones to get any kind of service. But I understand that.
- Top 3 things: 1) Growth to move north of 9 mile road 2) Incentives to help improve north end of the county 3) keep police/sheriff offices open for north end
- Top 3 things: 1) road improvements 2) stop closing the schools in the north end 3) more efficient building codes in the north end
- Discontinue: I do not want them to do garbage pickup in the north end of the county. I like Allied Waste much better, and the County should let them compete.
Another 220 North Escambia Area Jobs Being Cut
February 12, 2009
Another 220 jobs in the North Escambia area will be gone by the end of September, with the first employees getting their pink slip in 60 days.
Graphic Packaging says they are closing four U.S. facilities, including their multi-wall bag packaging facility in Cantonment, by September 30. Graphic Packaging employees about 220 people at the their Cantonment facility.
The first layoffs will come by April, with more senior staff remaining at the facility until the final day in September.
“We are continuing to push aggressively in 2009 to integrate assets and streamline operations, as well as achieve a minimum of
The company lost $42 million on $3.03 billion in sales during the first nine months of 2008.
ECUA Adds Hundreds Of New Customers, Recycling Continues To Grow
February 12, 2009
The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority recycling program continues to become more popular, and large numbers of people are signing up for ECUA service for the first time.
ECUA originally had 62,000 residential waste customers before adding 11,000 Allied customers on January 1. Since the first of the year, another 1,300 customers have signed up for ECUA service for the first time.
“Apparently, 1300 households that had refused to do business with Allied have seen fit to sign up with ECUA,” Larry Walker, ECUA District 5 member, said, adding that the number is increasing daily.
About 29 percent of those ECUA customers have signed up to participate in the voluntary curbside recycling program. There have been about 22,000 recycling containers delivered, Walker said.
For more information on ECUA’s services available in North Escambia, click here.
Allied Waste continues to provide residential trash service in the Town of Century.