FCAT Round Two Began Tuesday Morning
March 11, 2008
Round two of this year’s FCAT testing began Tuesday morning in schools across North Escambia. Students in grades three through 10 will take the reading and math portions this week. Grades five, eight, and 10 will also take the science portion.
In a recent newsletter sent home to parents, Bratt Elementary offered several tips for parents and students for the all important FCAT test:
1. Get a good night’s sleep before the test. Staying up late at night increases anxiety, which interferes with clear thinking.
2. Eat for success. A hearty breakfast with seven to ten grams of fiber will keep your child from getting jittery from a sugar high or, later, bottoming out when the insulin goes up.
3. Relax. If your child is nervous, he may forget what he knows. Stretching and/or breathing deeply helps to focus the mind.
4. Wear Comfortable clothes. If your child is comfortable, he will be less distracted and better able to focus on the tasks given.
5. Drink plenty of water. Drinking plenty of water will help keep the body hydrated and alert.
Additional tips offered by Molino Park Elementary include:
1. Take your time so you can do your best.
2. Read directions carefully. Underline key words.
3. Look in your text for the answers and underline.
4. Check over your work when completed.
Students are not permitted to have any electronic device on their person or within reach during the test that reproduces, transmits, calculates or records. Prohibited items include cellphones. Any student who violates this policy will have his FCAT test invalidated.
Pictured above: Students at Byrneville Elementary School take part in a recent FCAT preparation session.
Investigative Series Part One: Allied Waste’s Days Might Be Numbered
March 10, 2008
Allied Waste’s days in North Escambia will come to an end soon if Emerald Coast Utilities Authority board member Larry Walker gets his way. Today, NorthEscambia.com begins a multi-part investigative series looking at Allied Waste and their service to the citizens of the North Escambia area. We will take a look at Allied’s service through comments both good and bad from dozens of Allied customers. And we will learn where Walker and ECUA stand on Allied Waste service in North Escambia.
The Background
Allied Waste currently has a contract that extends until 2010 for residential garbage pickup north of Ten Mile Road for 11,000 households. But ECUA district five board member Walker is pressing his fellow ECUA board members to end that contract sooner. Back in November, the board voted to purchase 11,000 automated collection garbage cans instead of their usual 2,000 per year in anticipation of possibly taking over the Allied contract.
ECUA has already purchased seven new garbage collection trucks in anticipation of taking over the north end household collection Allied Waste routes. If that does not happen, the trucks will be used to replace aging trucks in the ECUA fleet over the coming years.
“With added financial pressures of Allied’s commercial operation, it is even less likely than before that Allied will commit the additional resources that are needed,” Walker said in a letter to the ECUA board back in November. “I think it possible that Allied will choose to walk away from its Escambia County operations, both commercial and residential.”
So far, Allied has not walked away from their contract in North Escambia, and Walker continues to press the ECUA to pull the Allied contract.
The Request To Pull The Contract
At ECUA’s last board meeting in late February, Walker made what he termed a “spirited pitch for termination of Allied’s franchise by the ECUA”. But board members did not vote to pull Allied’s contract.
But Walker does not plan to give up on ending the contact. He has carefully documented the emails and phone calls he’s received about Allied’s service in North Escambia. NorthEscambia.com has obtained several of those documents, and we will share those comments, both good and bad, with you in this multi-part series.
The Trip to Walnut Hill
Back on February 23, Walker traveled from the area of the Scenic Hills Country Club on Nine Mile Road, to Walnut Hill, to Century, to the area of the Ashton Brosnaham Park off Chemstrand Road and then back to the area of the Scenic Hills Country Club.
Along the way, he noted Allied Waste containers that has missing or damaged lids. Such containers would be replaced by ECUA upon a request by one of their customers or when noticed by an ECUA driver.
In the document obtained by NorthEscambia.com, Walker notes that his trip was made on a Saturday, which is a not a typical Allied Waste pickup day. As a result, there were few containers still out by the roads he traveled. But he notated nearly two dozen cans with missing or damaged lids.
The Missing Lids and a Wooden Wheel
Cans in the 9900 block of Highway 97 in Walnut Hill, the 3300 block of Highway 4 and the 4600 block of Highway 4 were among the first he noticed with missing or damaged lids.
In the 5800 block of Vaughn Road, Walker spoke to residents with damaged cans. They reported that they are sometimes skipped all together by Allied, and they complained about loose trash blowing out of the Allied truck.
In the 2500 block of Highway 4, the resident also complained about missed pickups. In his notes, Walker wrote: “She stated that her container is blown over by speeding traffic; that, because of the missing lid, dogs and wild animals are able to pull garbage from the container and carry it as far as 300 yards downhill to a creek; and that she has to pick up garbage along the entire 300-yard stretch of hillside road in order to clean up the mess that is due to the missing lid.”
People in the 4500 block of North Century Boulevard complained that the lid had been broken off their can for one to two months. A resident in the 2900 block of North Century Boulevard complained that the can is always turned over. The wheel is missing from his can as is the lid, and he replaced it with a crude plywood wheel. On Roach Road, a resident told Walker that she has tried at least six times to call Allied about her container’s missing lid, but always she always receives a recorded message before being placed on an endless hold.
One resident on Ronda Road reported that the lid had been missing from their container for a year or more; another said their lid has been missing for months. Another on Orby Street reported called Allied for months about her can’s missing lid.
“I saw far more Allied containers with missing/broken lids than I had expected to see—and far more, I think, than I should have seen,” Walker wrote in his presentation to the ECUA board.
Your Thoughts, And the Series Continues
The complaints Walker has received about Allied Waste include far more than just broken or missing lids. On Tuesday, NorthEscambia.com will take look at some of those complaints. As this series continues, we will take a look at some of the positive comments about Allied Waste on Wednesday.
If you would like to add your comments about Allied Waste’s service (good or bad) in North Escambia, email your comments to news@northescambia.com. Please include your name and your address. In our story, will will only use the area in which you live (such as “the 13000 block of Highway 97″) and will not print your name. You can also send photographs of your can to the email address.
Escambia Adminstrators Name Students of the Month
March 10, 2008
The Escambia Association for Administrators in Education has named their Students of the Month for January. The association spotlights two students from each school. They are picked by the schools and receive certificates from the EAAE.
From the North Escambia area, the students selected as Students of the Month are:
- Bratt Elementary: Lydia Davis, kindergarten; Penny Banda, fifth grade.
- Carver/Century K-8: Mina Lamb, fifth grade; Takeya Williams, fifth grade.
- Molino Park Elementary: Tristen Jordan, first grade; Helen Kemp, first grade.
- Jim Allen Elementary: Edward Halfacre, fourth grade; Alonte Thompson, fourth grade.
- Ernest Ward Middle: Jessica Lowery, sixth grade; Brittany Thompson, eighth grade.
- Ransom Middle: Joshua McDaniel, seventh grade; Jackson Mann, eighth grade.
- Northview High: Olivia Godwin, 12th grade.
Member of Very First U.S. Navy Seal Team Buried In Molino Friday
March 9, 2008
An original member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs was laid to rest Friday in Molino. Chief Petty Officer James R. Perkins of Molino died February 29 at the age of 77.
Perkins joined the Navy in 1947 and became part of the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Team. When the Sea, Air, Land Team, better known as the SEALs was formed in 1962 by then President John F. Kennedy, Perkins signed up and became an inaugural member of the force.
The U.S. Navy SEALs were established as a small, elite maritime military force to conduct Unconventional Warfare. They carry out the types of clandestine, small-unit, high-impact missions that large forces with high-profile platforms (such as ships, tanks, jets and submarines) cannot. SEALs also conduct essential on-the-ground Special Reconnaissance of critical targets for imminent strikes by larger conventional forces.
Perkins served three tours in Vietnam before retiring in 1970 and moving to Northwest Florida back in 1974.
Jimmy and Bobby Perkins, his two sons, also served in the military. Now four of his grandchildren are serving in the military…three in the Army and one in the Air Force. Another one is a deputy with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department.
Perkins was laid to rest at the St. Elizabeth Catholic Church on Elizabeth Street in Molino Friday morning. His is survived by his wife Maxine Perkins, two siblings, five children, 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Longtime North Escambia Educator Pens Spiritual Poetry Collection Book
March 9, 2008
Longtime North Escambia teacher Mary Alice Thomas has published a personal spiritual poetry collection called “Battle of the Soul”, a title that has connections with her early days as a Teens for Christ sponsor while teaching in North Escambia.
Thomas used her Christian educational background to author and publish to the collection. Thomas said that she is “writing from the heart and not from the head”, and she adds that she took the seeds that were planted in her life at Southern Normal and transplanted them when she ended up at Stillman College, where she earned her undergraduate degree.
In her Bible classes at Stillman, these seeds grew into small plants. This basis has allowed her to draw deeply into her inner being and urged her to find her calling in the teaching profession.
Florida’s Escambia County School District opened the doors for her to become an educator, creating an opportunity for Thomas to combine her spiritual training with her love for writing.
“All my life I had wanted to minister to the needs of people, students and peers,” Thomas says. And Escambia County offered this to her until she retired 35 years later after teaching both English and social studies.
Thomas began teaching at Ernest Ward Middle School then transferred to Carver/Century K-8 School, where she remained for 22 years.
“Century, Florida, is as much as home to me as Brewton, Alabama,” she says. “I hold both of these towns close to my heart.” Thomas retired from Northview High School in 2004 and followed that year with a year on the West coast where her daughter and grandchildren resided at that time.
After a year out of the classroom, Thomas found herself restless and missing the faces of young people, so in 2005 she returned to the same district. She is presently employed at Carver/Century.
When asked why she wanted to come out of retirement, Thomas replied, “My love for teaching, trying to change lives, trying to encourage the broken-hearted, trying to get students ready for learning and trying to massage the brain, to change the mind and heart and the directions of the innocent.”
Thomas said that her superior fulfillment comes when she learns of the success of one of her former students. “I invested my life in every student who sat in a classroom under my teaching.” She adds that her favorite success was the day that she started working with a group of young people who would sacrifice their early morning peer social time for Bible study and pray before school.
She ended up sponsoring the Teens for Christ group for 24 years. She said that her commitment to that group and those students stemmed from the fact that “the battle of the soul is in a changing society”.
From this comment comes the title of her book, “Battle of the Soul”. Thomas believes that teaching is a ministry that one must be called into. It should never be a choice one makes just to have a job.
“I write to honor the Creator of all life,” Thomas adds, and her collection of over 35 spiritual poems is a testament to her endeavors. She currently has a religious-based drama and other various poetry collections that are awaiting publication.
To order a copy of her religious poems, write to Mary Alice Thomas, P.O. Box 163, Brewton, AL 36427. All books are $10 each.
Submitted story and photos by Vicki Baggett. Click photo to enlarge.
Spring Forward; Change Battery In Your Fire Alarms
March 8, 2008
As you “spring forward” with the change to daylight-saving time, Escambia County Fire Rescue wants to remind residents to make another change that could save their lives — changing the batteries in their smoke alarms.
“The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most families are sleeping,” says Fire Chief Ken Perkins. “Smoke alarm maintenance is a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths. Children and senior citizens are most at risk, and a working smoke alarm can give them the extra seconds they need to get out safely.”
In addition, Perkins also recommends residents test smoke alarms by pushing the test button, planning “two ways out” and practicing escape routes with the entire family. Families should also prepare a fire safety kit that includes working flashlights and fresh batteries.
Communities nationwide witness tragic home fire deaths each year. An average of three children per day die in home fires and 80 percent of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms. Non-working smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits home fire safety devices were designed to provide. The most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms: worn or missing batteries.
Tragically, fire can kill selectively. Those most at risk include:
- Children — Approximately 1,000 children under the age of 20 die each year in home fires. Children under age five are at twice the risk of dying in a home fire. Eighty percent of fatal home fire victims who were children were killed in homes without working smoke alarms.
- Seniors — Adults over age 75 are three times more likely to die in home fires than the rest of the population; those over 85 are 4.5 times more likely to die in a home fire. Many seniors are unable to escape quickly.
- Low-Income Households — Many low-income families are unable to afford batteries for their smoke alarms. These same households often rely on poorly installed, maintained or misused portable or area heating equipment — a main cause of fatal home fires.
Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once a year is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce these tragic deaths and injuries. In fact, working smoke alarms nearly cut in half the risk of dying in a home fire. Additionally, the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends replacing your smoke alarms every ten years.
For more information about fire safety, call Escambia County Fire Rescue at 850-475-5530 or visit our web site at www.myescambia.com
For information about obtaining a free home smoke alarm call 850-595-HERO (4376).
Family Says Three-Year-Old Girl Is A Hero, “She Saved All Of Our Lives”
March 7, 2008
Three-year-old Elizabeth White is being called a hero by her family. Her mom credits Elizabeth for saving their lives.
Last Saturday afternoon was an ordinary one around the White household on Campbell Road in Century. Lunch was over. Mom Tiffany White had just loaded the dishwasher. She was home with her three kids, three year old Elizabeth, five year old Alicyn and two year old Landon. Dad Jason White had just left the house for a short trip.
“Then Elizabeth told me that she saw smoke,” Tiffany said. “I thought she had just seen the steam from the dishwasher. At first I didn’t think anything about what she was saying. Then I thought maybe I did see smoke cross outside the window. I went over and opened the back door. I saw fire everywhere.”
The utility room, located just outside the kitchen, was filled with a raging fire, Tiffany said. She grabbed the children and headed across the road to safety.
“If Elizabeth hadn’t seen the smoke when she did, we would have all got burned up in there,” Tiffany told NorthEscambia.com Thursday, standing outside the burned out shell of her home. “She saved all of our lives. She is our little hero. I’m proud of her.”
Elizabeth, who will celebrate her fourth birthday on Tuesday, was a bit shy about being interviewed by a stranger. But she did say she was not a hero. And she said she was not scared.
When NorthEscambia.com arrived Thursday, Jason and Tiffany were sifting through the burned out home, looking for anything they could salvage. Tiffany had just found a small photo album containing just handful of family photos. There’s a glimmer of hope in her eyes and she picks up the album and opens it for the first time. But her hope quickly turns to disappointment. The plastic on the album is melted to most of the photos. Others are a bit charred, or falling apart from becoming wet.
“These are about the only pictures I have left of my kids,” Tiffany said. “Most of my pictures were in frames on the walls. I’m going to miss my pictures of my babies.”
But she’s very thankful that she still has her babies and continues to praise Elizabeth has a hero.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, grows bored with the whole interview as one might expect from a three-year-old. She runs around the yard, which still contains several of the children’s outside play toys. She runs around excited and playful, hiding from our camera as much as she can. She’s turned avoid the NorthEscambia.com camera into a game of sorts.
Then she stops by the front corner of the house and points up toward the burned out window.
“I want to see my room,” she says. “Take me in there.”
Tiffany explains that she can’t take her inside because it is not safe.
“But I want to see,” she says. “Daddy, hold me up to the window so I can see my room. I want my toys.”
Jason tells her maybe later.
She does not seem to understand that her favorite toys — her Beanie Babies, her My Little Ponies and her stuffed animals — are not just inside that window anymore. They, like all the family’s possessions, are gone.
The family had no insurance, Jason said. They are currently crowded in the home of his parents, Kenneth and Ruby White in Flomaton, while they figure out what they will do next.
In the meantime, the community continues to pull together to help the Whites. Many have donated clothes and other items; some have donated money. If you would like help the family, email news@northescambia.com and we will put you in touch with family . Their primary need right now is for a house to rent in the area. Once they find that house, they will need household items, toys for the children and clothes.
Pictured top of page: Three year old Elizabeth White stands in front of her burned out home. Pictured below: Elizabeth points toward her room. Pictured bottom of page: Tiffany White looks at the only family photos that she could find. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos. Click to enlarge.
To read NorthEscambia.com’s story about the fire, click here.
To view a photo album from Saturday’s fire, click here.
Sheriff Candidate Has Plan To Increase Patrols In North Escambia
March 7, 2008
Larry Scapecchi has a plan to increase law enforcement patrols in areas of North Escambia. The Democratic candidate for Escambia County Sheriff said the department currently has two many supervisors.
Scapecchi told the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club Thursday night that incumbent Sheriff Ron McNesby has “over promoted” supervisors with his department having one supervisor for every three deputies on the streets.
“The amount we are overpaying some supervisors would put more deputies on the steets,” he said. “If were are putting all your money into his (McNesby’s) kingdom, then there is no money for deputies in the precincts.”
“We need staff, but we don’t need more adminstration,” Scapecchi said. “Everybody is asking me ‘where’s the deputies?’”
The sheriff’s department helicopter needs to go, he told the Ruritan Club. “It is wasted money,” he said. “The response time for the helicopter can be as much as 25 to 40 minutes. By the time they get there, the incident is over.”
However, he added that perhaps a single helicopter for use by all county departments, not just the sheriff’s department, would split the cost to the point it would be feasible.
When asked if Escambia County should round up illegal aliens as has been done in Santa Rosa County recently, Scapecchi said he does not think an actual round up would make economic sense. But he was not promoting a free ride for illegals.
“If they are not here legally, they need to go because they are a drain on society,” he said. “But we don’t need a task force rounding them up when those deputies could be out answering calls. But we will pursue any and all violations.”
Scapecchi spent 25 years in law enforcement, retiring as a lieutenant with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department. He said he decided to run for Escambia’s top cop because “I just could not stay in retirement. I felt that whoever was sheriff of Escambia County should be a person of integrity.”
“We need a good, strong sheriff,” Scapecchi said.
Habitat For Humanity Looking For North Escambia Volunteers
March 7, 2008
Pensacola’s Habitat for Humanity is look for some North Escambia volunteers to help make six homes in the Molino a reality. Janet Westlake from Habitat’s told the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club Thursday night she needs them and other community groups.
“A lot of the labor to build our homes comes from groups in the community,” she said.
During the construction of the typical home, constructions supervisors lead volunteers in the framing on the house. Then students from the George Stone Area Vocational-Tech Center for the electrical, plumbing and heating/cooling because George Stone instructions are licensed contractors. Then volunteers return to paint and do landscaping.
A Habitat home is not a free handout; home recipients must have the ability to repay a small mortgage payment, typically in the $400-$450 range, each month. That money goes into the program to build future Habitat homes. In addition, the residents must provide 300 hours of “sweat equity”, working on their own home.
Volunteers do not need construction knowledge, although those with construction knowledge can be extremely helpful in the construction of a Habitat home, Westlake said.
The six Molino Habitat homes will be constructed on Schaag Road in Molino.
For more information on Habitat for Humanity’s plans to build six homes in North Escambia, click here for a previous NorthEscambia.com story.
County To Nonprofits: The Check Is NOT In The Mail
March 7, 2008
The Escambia County Commission voted Thursday night to send a letter to nonprofit agencies that currently receive funding from the county telling them not to expect any county dollars this year.
The commission voted 5-0 to send letters to 18 nonprofits that received county funds this year. Those letters will inform them that due to being $15 million in the hole for the next fiscal year, the county won’t be sending a check this year.
Those groups include the Sertoma Club, West Florida Regional Planning Council, Gulf Coast African American Chamber, Pensacola’s Promise, Junior Achievement, First Call for Help, the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida and the Council on Aging.
With the passage of Amendment 1, Escambia County is facing a budget shortfall of about $12 million beginning with the new fiscal year that starts October 1.
In addition to the $12 million shortfall, Director of Administrative Services Jean Kassab says in a county memo that the county is facing a $1 million subsidy requirement for the county’s emergency medical services department, another $1 million needed next year to keep ECAT’s public transportation afloat and a loss estimated at $900,000 in sales tax revenue due to a declining economy.