Person Found Injured In Highway 97 Ditch Early Sunday Morning
November 23, 2008
An injured person was found lying by the side of Highway 97 in Davisville early Sunday morning, and authorities did not know how the person got there.
The male was found in the ditch alongside Highway 97 south of Pine Forest Road a few hundred feet north of a bridge. Authorities say the male had a slight head injury, but the injuries did not appear to be severe. The victim appeared to be intoxicated, authorities said. He was transported by Atmore Ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital.
A search was made of the area by members of the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire-Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department for a possible wrecked car, but nothing was located.
The victim was found by a passerby about 1:50 Sunday morning.
Pictured above: Emergency workers treat a person found lying in a ditch by Highway 97 about 1:50 Sunday morning. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Fort Walton Beach Man Shot Saturday In North Escambia
November 23, 2008
A Fort Walton Beach man was accidentally shot off Quintette Road Saturday afternoon.
The incident happened about 1:30 Saturday afternoon at the Escambia River Muzzle Loader’s shooting range on Quintete Road. John Henson, age unavailable, suffered what was described as an accidentally self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Henson was transported by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. He was listed in serious condition Saturday night.
The incident is under investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department.
West Fraser Cuts More Jobs
November 23, 2008
Two weeks after announcing it was shuttering its McDavid mill, West Fraser Timber Co, Ltd. continues to cut jobs.
West Fraser has announced that it is cutting the last 69 production jobs at its sawmill in Citronelle, Alabama, and completely idling the facility. That announcement comes about three weeks after the Canadian company cut the Mobile County plant’s second shift.
The shut down of the McDavid mill cost 75 people their jobs.
Like the McDavid facility, the one in Citronelle will operated on a limited basis the next several weeks to process timber remaining on site. West Fraser has shut down or had large scale layoffs at 12 of 15 U.S. lumber mills.
The annual capacity at the Citronelle mill was 70 million board feet, but the plant was operating at about 43 million board feet per year, manufacturing 2×4 and 2×6 lumber.
The McDavid mill produced Southern Yellow Pine lumber and had an annual production capacity of about 200 million board feet. The mill had been running just one shift, producing about 75 million board feet.
West Fraser reported a lost of $2 million, or about a nickel a share, on sales of $848 million in the third quarter of 2008. The company reported losses for the first nine months of of 2008 $68 million, or $1.58 per share.
Fire Damages Wood Shed
November 23, 2008
Fire damaged a wood shed on Wiggins Lake in Walnut Hill late Saturday night.
Fire units were called to 5100 block of Wiggins Lake Road about 10:50 Saturday night for a wood shed on fire. The homeowner told firefighters that children had been roasting marshmallows in the backyard near the shed prior to the fire. He had partially extinguished the fire with a garden hose before firemen arrived.
Most of the wood in one side of the double sided shed was damaged by the fire, as was the shed itself. No other structures were threatened, and there were no injuries.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire-Rescue responded to the call.
Pictured above: Firemen work to extinguish a smoldering fire in a Walnut Hill wood shed Saturday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
DirecTV Blimp Spotted Over North Escambia
November 23, 2008
The DirecTV blimp was spotted over North Escambia about noon Saturday.
It’s real name is the DirecTV Starship (not blimp). It is operated by the Lightship Group, a company that operates almost every non-military blimp in the country except for the three Goodyear blimps.
The Starship is equipped with the world’s largest screen at 30 feet by 21 feet. That’s 2100 square feet, 33,600 pixels, of football bliss, if you are counting. It’s the largest blimp screen in the world, capable of displaying full motion TV quality video day or night. It is 30 feet longer and 40% larger in volume (Helium content) than the Goodyear blimp.
At 178 feet long, the Starship is filled 170,000 cubic feet of purified helium. It has no steering wheel, just two foot pedals for up and down.
The blimp is equipped with a high definition camera for sporting events.
The Starship was headed west toward Baldwin County.
These photos were taken from Highway 97A near Enon School Road. The blimp was about two to four miles away when the photos were taken.
Pictured above and below (scroll down to see all photos): The DirecTV blimp over North Escambia Saturday about noon. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
‘A Meal For Amelia’ Raises Funds For One Year Old
November 23, 2008
The Friendship Circle of Aldersgate UMC in Molino is held a Spaghetti Lunch – ” A Meal for Amelia” Sunday.
This lunch was held to raise money to help the family of Amelia Lane Ruth. Amelia was diagnosed with Leukemia, AML, M7, at seven weeks old and started chemotherapy June 19th.
Amelia recently celebrated her first birthday. She has been undergoing treatment in Tennessee, which while hopefully lifesaving, has created a significant financial burden on her young family. If you were not able to attend, the church asks that you please send your prayers for this wonderful little girl. Any questions, please call the church at 587-5294.
Barrineau Park Veterans Wall Of Honor Surpasses 100 Photos Of Veterans
November 22, 2008
The Wall of Honor at the Barrineau Park Community Center surpassed 100 photos this week, with each photo honoring a veteran from around the small community.
“In a way, it makes me sad,” Nancy Fillingim, the local resident that proposed the wall, said. The picture of her husband, Aubie Fillingham, was one of the first photos on the wall. He spent 20 years in the Navy as a boiler technician and a criminal investigator. Pictures of his four brothers are also on the wall.
Having the boys up there that have been killed,” she said, “makes me real said.” Five of those on the wall were killed in action.
Marine Thomas Edward Jones was killed in Korea in 1950. Army CPL Joseph N. Landry, III was killed in action in 2007. Terry Beasley died in service in 1965. CPL Jonathon Ross “J.R.” Spears died in Iraq in 2005. LCPL William “Trey” Yuhasz died while serving his country in 2004. Rollin Golightly also died in service and is honored on the wall.
The wall was a project of the Barrineau Park Historical Society. Nita Berry, president of the organization, said the community has been very supportive of the project by providing the pictures. “It was something we could do to honor our veterans,” she said. “It’s a very small thing compared to what they did for us.”
When NorthEscambia.com visited the Wall of Honor at the Barrineau Park Community Center last week, Steve Jogan was hard at work on the office laptop.
“I’m trying to get this program to get rid of the background so the face stands out,” Jogan said as he worked hard in his graphics program to improve a photo. “Sometimes it takes a lot of work with these old photos to make them look good.”
Jogan himself is on the Wall of Honor; he’s retired Nav, with 27 years of service.
“We are going to have to raise the Wall of Honor sign,” Berry said. Organizers never knew there would be over 100 photos on the wall, so their sign had to be moved to make room for more photos.
For more information on the Wall of Honor, contact Nancy Fillingim at 587-2266.
For a complete photo gallery from the Barrineau Park Wall of Honor, click here.
Pictured above: The Wall of Honor at the Barrineau Park Community Center. Pictured below: Nita Berry (left) and Nancy Fillingim at the Wall of Honor. Fillingham’s husband Aubie Fillingham is in the picture by her shoulder. Pictured above middle: Steve Jogan works on a new photo for the Wall of Honor at the Barrineau Park Community Center. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
NWE Holds Football Banquet
November 22, 2008
The annual Northwest Escambia Football League held their annual football banquet Friday night.
The Mites, Mini-mites and midgets were honored, along with the Mini-mite and Mite cheerleaders.
The NWE Mite cheerleaders recently traveled to Pace to compete in the GCYFA Cheerleading competition. The girls competed in the non-mount medium category along with five other teams. Each team was given 2 minutes and 30 seconds to perform one cheer, one chant and a dance routine.
The talented young ladies from NWE took home the third place trophy for their performance that day. Jennifer Peebles, head coach, commented, “All of these girls worked very hard to make sure their motions, jumps, everything, were timed just right.”
Coaching along side Jennifer were Lisa Byrd, assistant coach, and Taylor Byrd, a J.V. cheerleader from Northview High School. The 2008 NWE Mite Cheerleaders are:
Memory Peebles, Kylie Brooke, Kristen Byrd, Danielle Robinson, Liberty Peebles, Jasmine Walker, and Jordan Parham.
Pictured above: The NWE Midgets. Pictured below: The NWE Mini-mites, Mites, Mini-mite cheerleaders and Mite cheerleaders. Submitted photos by Leah Gifford for NorthEscambia.com.
County Sponsors Christmas Coloring Contest For Kids 3-12
November 22, 2008
Escambia County Neighborhoods and Community Services Bureau is sponsoring a coloring contest in conjunction with the sixth Annual Santa Hayride. The contest is open to children ages three to 12. The pictures will be judged age appropriately on neatness, creativity and originality. The participant’s name and age must be on the page to qualify for the contest.
Click here to download the coloring page (pdf format). Once your child has colored the picture, drop it off or mail it to Escambia County Neighborhoods and Community Services Bureau, Recreation Division, attention Brandi Daigle, 1651 E. Nine Mile Road, Pensacola, Fla. 32514. All entries must be received by the close of business Monday, December 8.
Winners of the contest will be announced at the sixth Annual Santa Hay Ride and Deck the Stalls which will be held Friday, December 12 at the Escambia County Equestrian Center, 7750 Mobile Highway. Certificates will be awarded to first, second, and third place winners of each of the following age groups: 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 years old.
All entries will be on display the night of the event.
For more information on the coloring contest and the hayride, contact Brandi Daigle, Neighborhoods and Community Services Bureau, Recreation Division, at (850) 475-5220.
Solutia Shutting Down Nylon Business, Over 700 Local Employees Affected
November 21, 2008
Solutia became the latest company to announce a shutdown. Company officials say they are temporarily shutting down the Gonzalez facility’s nylon production, resulting in the layoff of about 200 employees. Another 450 contract employees, mostly employed by the Mundy company, were affected by the announcement today and earlier actions by the company. Another 55 Solutia employees had already been terminated before Friday’s layoffs.
A company official said that the company hopes to return production to normal levels as soon as possible and return most of the employees back to work. But about 55 of jobs will be permanently cut due to cost cutting measures at the Solutia plant.
Those losing their jobs permanently will be eligible for severance benefits. Those temporarily layoff employees will be eligible to continue their health and other benefits. Both Solutia and Mundy are working with the employees to assist them in filing for unemployment benefits.
“In recent years we have matched our manufacturing output and inventory levels with the very strong demand present across the nylon markets,” said Jim Voss, senior vice president of the St.Louis based Solutia Inc. and president of the Nylon business. “However, in the last several weeks, demand has declined significantly for nylon intermediate chemicals, fibers and resins. Therefore we are taking necessary actions to align our production and inventories with the current economic environment.”
The key component of the restructuring plan is to temporarily decrease production throughout the Nylon chain — from intermediate chemicals to fibers and resins. “We anticipate that this will be a temporary situation, and we will bring these assets back to more normal operating rates as inventories decline and demand returns,” added Voss. “We are meeting our customer commitments and will continue to do so going forward.”