Walnut Hill Burn Creates Lots Of Smoke
November 20, 2008
A 100-acre control burn in the Walnut Hill area is creating a lot of smoke this evening.
The burn, being supervised by the Division of Forestry, is near Arthur Brown Road and Brushy Creek, west of Walnut Hill. It fire was started this morning.
At sunset Thursday, smoke could be seen drifting as far away as Century.
Told She Would Never Walk Again After Wreck, Tina Vickery Stands Tall
November 20, 2008
In seconds, Tina Vickery went from a transportation supervisor responsible for transporting hundreds of North Escambia students by bus everyday, to a world where doctors told her that she would probably never walk again.
It was the morning of February 26, 2008, at about 8:00. She had just left Ernest Ward Middle School, and was southbound in a school district car on Highway 97 near Dixie Feed in Molino.
“I remember it. I remember everything,” Tina said Wednesday morning at at a bus driver Thanksgiving lunch in Molino. “It happened so fast. It happened so fast. There was nothing I could do.”
Elisha J Tyler, 50, of Molino lost control of her van when she hit standing water in the roadway and spun into Tina’s lane. “My most vivid memory is seeing her head toward me. I just hit her. There was nothing I could do.”
It was a bad wreck. A very bad wreck. Elisha’s van lay on its side, nearly folded in half. Tina was in her crumpled school district car, watching everything around her as emergency vehicles arrived. She saw, and remembers everything until the ambulance workers wheeled her into the emergency room where she was given strong pain medication. The next thing she remembers is waking up as nurses were removing her breathing tube. The first thing she asked was if the other driver survived.
After weeks in the hospital, Tina transferred to in-patient rehab. It was three and a half months before she could place any weight on her legs. Even then, doctors told her that her chances of walking were very slim.
“They told me I would probably never walk again,” Tina said. “But here I am walking again. What a blessing!”
Wednesday morning, she stood before her employees, the 35 bus drivers that transport students to the Escambia County Schools from Molino to Century to Walnut Hill. It was a Thanksgiving lunch, and Tina was thankful to be standing there.
“This has probably been one of the worst years of my life,” she told her employees. “But you were there for me. I thank God for each one of you. I hope He blesses each one of you.”
It was a proud moment for Vickery to be able to stand before her drivers, her friends.
“I had such wonderful support from my coworkers, my family and my friends,” she said of the months after the accident. “It’s not like we are coworkers. We are like a family.”
The bus drivers visited Vickery often in rehab. They cooked for her family. They took care of her personal business and errands. “It’s like we are family,” she said. “When one had a problem, everyone steps in, during the good times and the bad.”
Back on May 15, the drivers pulled a little surprise on their boss. Barbara Hollingsworth, one of the drivers, arranged for the drivers to use a handicap equipped bus to sneak Tina out of rehab. Since Tina was in a wheelchair, they even put people in two other wheelchairs in the back of the bus so that she would not be alone. They took her to Barnhill’s for lunch. It was the first time since the day of the accident that Tina had walked on her feet on the ground.
” I thank God for letting her come back because she is such a blessing to all of us and a great superior,” Hollingsworth said.
Tina is back at work now as the north end route supervisor for the Escambia County Schools Transportation Department for three half days per week. She is still attending physical therapy each week.
She looks at life a bit differently now, nine months after the accident.
“I give thanks to God each day,” she said. “The little things are not as important anymore when you look at the big picture.”
Even in her lowest moment, she continued to thank God. “I realized during those months of rehab that there were people that were there that were so much worse off than me. I was so thankful for all that God has done for me.”
To see a photo gallery from the Thanksgiving lunch, the trip to Barnhills and more stages of Tina’s recovery, click here.
To see a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the accident scene in February, click here.
Pictured top: Tina Vickery’s accident on Highway 97 on February 26, 2008. Pictured above: Tina Vickery on Wednesday with bus driver Marie McPhillips. Pictured below: North Escambia bus drivers at a Thanksgiving lunch on Wednesday. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Plans Underway For 35 Acre Christian Retreat In Century
November 20, 2008
Plans are underway for a 35 acres Christian retreat in Century that could eventually include a worship and prayer center.
Paul Davidson of Cantonment has purchased 35 acres at the end of McCall Road for the retreat they plan to call Moorer Place in memory of Paul’s late grandfather.
“God put this on our hearts at the first of the year,” Paul Davidson said. “He has really put Century on our hearts through prayer.”
The property will be named Moorer Place in honor of Davidson’s grandfather, the late Paul Nelson Moorer of Forest Home, Alabama. Davidson purchased the property with inheritance money from Moorer. It was purchased from current owner Carolyn Thompson, but it is actually the homeplace that once belong to Century Mayor Freddie McCall’s grandfather. “It’s a generation to generation thing,” Davidson said.
The property currently has only a small house and a barn. Those will be ready after the first of the year as a “place where people can come and relax and enjoy Christian fellowship,” he said. The center is not planned as a church, but as an a place to “strengthen other churches”.
“We will see what God has in store for it,” Davidson said, adding that there is no set timetable for the construction of the worship and prayer center.
Pictured above: The outlined property above will become Moorer Place. Lake Stone is seen at the left.
Atmore Man, Flomaton Couple Among Those Indicted For Child Abuse
November 20, 2008
Four Escambia County (Ala.) residents, including two from Flomaton and one from Atmore, have been indicted on child abuse charges.
Escambia County (Ala.) authorities say Buddy Jackson and Rhonda Jackson of Highway 31 Flomaton were indicted by an Escambia County Grand Jury in late October and arrested last week for torture or willful abuse of a child in a case involving a 16 year old child. Their bond was set at $50,000 each.
Timothy Odom of 6th Avenue, Atmore, was arrested for rape, first degree in a case involving a 13 year old child. His bond was set at $100,000.
Corey Beasley of Ridge Road, Brewton, was arrested for fondling a child less than 12 years old. His bond was set at $100,000.
Pictured above: Buddy Jackson (L) and Rhonda Jackson (R)
Pictured above: Timothy Odom (L) and Corey Beasley (R)
Ernest Ward Boys, Girls Beat Pollard
November 20, 2008
Both the girl’s and boy’s basketball teams at Ernest Ward Middle School beat Pollard-McCall Tuesday night.
The boy’s team won by a score of 41-29. Leading the scoring for the Eagles was DaMichael Fountain with 14 points. Ladareus Franklin score hald dozen, and LaMichael Banks and Kevin Vaughan score five each.
The girl’s team beat Pollard-McCall 16-12.
Dazarae Turner and Danielle Steaham scored four each. Morgan Payne and Jazzlyn Franklin had three points each, and Kaitlyn Gunn scored two points for the Eagles.
Ernest Ward will take on Carver/Century Thursday at Ernest Ward. The girls tip off at 5:00, and the boys play at 6:00.
Molino Park PTA Fund Raiser
November 20, 2008
The annual PTA fund raising drive at Molino Park Elementary School is a little bit different this year. Basically, it’s a no fund raiser, fund raiser.
Rather than asking the children and their parents to sell something like in past years, Principal Alice Woodward says the school’s has simply asked parents, grandparents, guardians and their friends and families to make a contribution to the school.
The math is simple, Woodward said. With over 400 children, if each gathers about $20 in donations each, the school will quickly reach its goal of $8,000.
Donations should be sent to school with Molino Park students by early next week, or donations can be made in the school office.
Some of the recent projects funded by the PTA include SuccessMaker software, supplies and materials for each of the school’s teachers, grandparent’s day, field day and more.
As of Wednesday, donations were at $700 of the $8,000 goal.
$1.85, And Dropping
November 20, 2008
Gas in North Escambia dropped as low at $1.85 a gallon on Wednesday at a Molino station.
The price of a gallon of regular unleaded at the Tom Thumb in Molino was $1.85.
Meanwhile, that same gallon of gas at the Sam’s Club in Pensacola was down to $1.79.
Analyst says that gas prices could continue to drop a few cents per gallon by the Thanksgiving holiday weekend next week.
Pensacola Chamber Working For Century Too
November 20, 2008
The Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce does not just work to promote growth in Pensacola, it is hard at work for Century too.
That was the message from Charles Wood, senior vice president for economic development for the chamber. He said the chamber had shown Century and Century locations to about a dozen potential businesses in the past year.
“You guys have some of the larger buildings that are available right now,” Wood told the Century Town Council. The Pensacola chamber features the Helicopter Technology building, the Alger-Sullivan Lumber building and the Century Industrial Park on their web site.
He said the chamber had brought about 2,000 jobs to Escambia County in the past year, with an average salary of $36,000 each.
“We are focusing on industries that are going to be high growth,” he said.
Tate FFA Students Honored
November 20, 2008
Lynsey Meharg and Austin Courson, Tate High FFA members, were honored at last night’s meeting of the Escambia County School Board for state-level achievements garnered at the 80th Annual Florida FFA Convention this summer in Orlando.
Courson, a senior, was the winner of the State Forage Production Proficiency Award in addition to the Ryan Rimmer Memorial Leadership Award. Meharg, a junior, received the State Star Greenhand Award.
The National FFA Organization, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, is a national organization comprised of over 500,000 students throughout the United States. Over 15,000 students in 320 chapters throughout Florida are engaged in a wide range of agricultural education activities, leading to more than 300 professional career opportunities in the agricultural industry.
School Board Rejects Century Charter School Application
November 19, 2008
The Escambia County School Board has rejected a charter school proposal for the Charter Magnet School of Century.
“The application did not meet basic requirements,” Ronnie Arnold, school district spokesperson, said. “For instance, it was missing a budget.”
The application was filed minutes before the Escambia County Schools Department of Alternative Education closed on August 1, the deadline to apply for charter school status for the 2009-2010 school year. It was the only application filed to essential take over the Carver/Century K-8 School if it closed
Then Superintendent Jim Paul had indicated that he planned to recommend the closure of Carver/Century prior to leaving office, but that recommendation never came.
“We have to pause a minute on closing Carver/Century,” newly-installed Superintendent Malcolm Thomas told NorthEscambia.com hours after winning election. “It is not that I am in opposition to closing that school, but I don’t want to close it now to find out that we just have to reopen it next year.”
Project Green Leaf could the school’s saving grace. The electric car manufacturing facility with up to 1,100 jobs proposed for Century could drastically change the future of Carver/Century. “I want specific answers, not just the (Project Green Leaf) sales pitch before making a decision. I want the facts,” Thomas said. “That does not mean that it is over. It just means we are pressing the pause button on closing the school.”
According to the application, it was “Prepared by the Century Blue Ribbon Committee on Education and The Century Community Development Partnership, Inc.”. It was filed by “James Sutton as organizer of the Charter Magnet School at Century in organization” and “Irvin Stallworth as President/Executive Director of CCDP”.
The Town of Century formed its own Blue Ribbon Committee on May 19 and named several area residents to the committee, including Stallworth. That committee appointed by the town is not the committee that filed the charter school application, according to Century Mayor Freddie McCall.
The charter application was officially filed by the Century Community Development Partnership, Inc., a nonprofit headed by Stallworth. But Stallworth is very clear in the cover letter of the application that the CCDP did not intend to be the corporation running the school.
Entire sections of the application were left blank in the 81 page application document. The names, backgrounds and references for each person in the corporation was blank, except for the statement “This information to be determined”. The most notable missing information was a budget, with that section of the application labeled as “pending”.