Monday Was Report Card Day, Carver-Century Parents Must Pickup Report Cards At The School
January 28, 2008
Today was report card day for students in Escambia County public schools. Report cards were sent home with students across North Escambia, except for Carver/Century K-8 School students.
Carver/Century principal Jeff Garthwaite said report cards were available for parents to pick up at the school from 4:00 until 6:00 Monday afternoon. Parents also had the opportunity for a brief meeting with their child’s teachers.
Dinner was served to participating students and parents. A short FCAT parent presentation was made during dinner, and parents received an easy to understand report for their child from last year’s FCAT.
Blog: Political Calls Are Driving Me Nuts
January 28, 2008
If you are registered voter in Escambia County, I bet your phone has been ringing more than you’d like with prerecorded candidate calls. They have been about to drive me nuts the past few days.
You can register for the national Do Not Call Registry and even pay to be on the state’s do-not-call list, but it’s not going to stop the political calls. Do you think politicians are going to regulate their ability to call you? Nope. They are as legal as they can be.
As of Sunday night, the McCain campaign has placed the most calls to me. Recorded calls from smooth announcer voices, recorded calls in McCain’s voice and even recorded calls from his wife. I’m guessing that by the time Tuesday rolls around, it would not surprise me to get a call from his dog or his third cousin Mark’s second cousin twice removed.
There have been the live calls too. Some candidates are actually signing up regular folks to call a list of number from their homes and pitch the candidate.
“Do you want to take a survey about your political preferences?” one caller Saturday wanted to know. Yes, I do. My preference is to hang up now. After all, it’s my phone, my time and my biscuit getting cold on the table.
I’d like to think that if you are reading this far into this blog posting that you are an informed adult, perfectly capable of making decisions now swayed by a phone call at supper. You read NorthEscambia.com, you watch the evening news and read a newspaper or two. Is the recorded call from the candidate’s wife going to change your mind in the 11th hour?
I heard one voter say he had narrowed his choice down to two candidates in his party for Tuesday. Both had been calling his house. The one that called the most will lose his vote. Oops. That political strategy backfired a bit.
When one of the candidates decides to call me in person, I’ll listen. Until then, I’ll get up from the table and answer the phone and grumble a bit that my biscuit is getting cold. I don’t like cold biscuits, and taking me away from a hot meal equals a bad idea.
Got to go answer the phone now. The caller id says “P. Call 000-000-0000″. Nothing like a candidate that tries to block their caller id. I think I’ll let my six year old answer and talk to them.
This is going to be fun.
–William
One Killed In Sunday Escambia County, Alabama Plane Crash
January 27, 2008
One person was killed in the crash of an ultralight plane crash in Escambia County, Alabama, north of Atmore.
The Atmore News is reporting that Chris Vanree, 21, died Sunday night from injuries sustained in the plane crash in an open field just north of the McCullough crossroads according to Mary Jane Sells, assistant fire chief of the McCullough Volunteer Fire Department.
Baptist Hospital’s LifeFlight responded from Evergreen and transported one victim from the scene. Paramedics with Atmore Ambulance Service worked with the victim until LifeFlight arrived.
The plane was completely burned. A large area around the aircraft was cordoned off to protect the scattered wreckage. The Poarch Fire Department and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department also responded. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
For more details and a complete photo gallery, visit AtmoreNews.com.
(Photos and story courtesy Sherry Digmon, The Atmore News)
Local Man Recommended For County Administrator Job
January 26, 2008
The Escambia County Commission voted 5-0 Saturday to recommend Interim County Administrator Bob McLaughlin for the county’s top job. The vote on the county administrator will take place at the commission’s meeting on February 7.
The county’s five commissioners spent over six hours interviewing the six top applicants for the position in a public meeting downtown Saturday. Individual commissioners had the opportunity to meet privately with each applicant on Friday. There were originally 38 candidates. That list was narrowed to seven, with one person dropping out before the interview process.
McLaughlin has been an assistant county administrator since 2002. He went to work for the county in 1996 as deputy public works director after 23 years with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Willie Taylor, a current Assistant County Administrator, was the other local finalist. He has been with Escambia County since 2006.
Other finalist were Betty M. Baker, Administrative Services Director, Alachua County, Florida; Pamela Brangaccio, former County Administrator, Broward County, Florida; Dennis W. Kelly, Deputy City Manager, City of North Miami, Florida; and Charles R. Oliver, City Manager, City of Peoria, Illinois.
Pictured above: Bob McLaughlin
Little League Registration In Molino
January 26, 2008
Registration for softball, baseball and tee ball was held this Saturday for the Molino Recreation Association. Registration will be held again next Saturday from 11-1 at the Don Sutton Park in Molino for the Molino Recreation Association.
Registration for the Northwest Escambia League that plays at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill will be held in February.
Talisa Jackson Crowned Miss Carver/Century
January 26, 2008
Eighth grader Talisa Jackson was crowned Miss Carver/Century Friday night. First Runner Up was Takeya Williams, a fifth grader.
Kindergarten student Brelynn Harris was named Little Miss Carver Century. First Runner Up was Vanessa Ovando, a second grader.
Every girl in the pageant received a trophy.
The money raised by the pageant will be put toward field trip to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery on April 24. The fifth through eight grades will be attending a performance of the “Count of Monte Cristo”.
Funds were also raised with a cake auction, with $108 contributed. One red velvet cake sold for $40.
Friday Was Elmira Gandy Crapps Day; She Turned 101 Years Old
January 25, 2008
Friday was proclaimed Elmira Gandy Crapps Day in the town of Century. Friday was a milestone day for Crapps when she turned 101. That’s one hundred and one.
She was born in Butler County, Alabama, near Georgiana in 1907. Theodore Roosevelt was president. A loaf of bread cost four cents. A gallon of milk was 29 cents. A new Ford? That would set you back 600 bucks.
She moved to a farm with her family in the Gandyville community in 1925, and still lives just down the road from that home.
She still drives, mostly to three places: the Piggly Wiggly for groceries, her church and her hairdresser. She’s still an active member of Poplar Dell Baptist Church, and very quick to give the Lord all the credit for her age and her health.
When asked her secret for a long life, she quickly replied that there was no secret. “It’s good living and a love of God. I’ve been blessed by the Lord and walk with Him,” she said.
Crapps is still active, very active in fact. She walks “seven times” most days, weather permitting, down her football field length driveway. She cooks three meals a day. This past summer, she canned pears and put peas and beans in the “deep freeze”.
When asked about the biggest change in her lifetime, she said “the way people wear, or don’t wear clothes”.
She never had children, but has “a ton” of nieces and nephews. Her father, John Oxford Gandy lived to the age of 108. In 1973, the Florida Legislature named Gandyville after him. He, by the way, had a first cousin that also lived to be 108.
Wednesday afternoon she arrived at the Panhandle Restaurant in Century for a bit of a surprise. Waiting for here were Century Mayor Freddie McCall, Sr., former mayor Benny Barnes and several friends and family members.
McCall presented her with the official proclamation of “Elmira Gandy Crapps Day” in Century on January 25, 2008 (pictured below). She smiled shyly while McCall read the proclamation to her and gave her a hug. She made a wish and blew out a single birthday candle on a slice of Panhandle pie, and ordered a grilled cheese, pickles on the side.
Friday, she planned to celebrate birthday number 101 with family and friends. And a trip to the hairdresser.
Click here for a photo gallery.
Escambia Commission Postpones Vote On Unified County Fire Department
January 25, 2008
The Escambia County Commission has delayed voting on the consolidation of the county’s volunteer fire department into one unified Escambia County fire department. The commission was set to approve the creation of a countywide fire department at their Thursday night meeting.
The fire department issue will now be discussed at the commission’s committee of the whole meeting at 9:30 on February 12. The proposal would have eliminated each of the county’s volunteer departments and created a single department answering to a single county fire chief.
There are four volunteer departments in the North Escambia area…Century, McDavid, Molino and Walnut Hill. All four would be eliminated as independent departments under the county’s plan.
The commission current contract with the volunteer fire departments expires on September 30, and commissioners Gene Valentino and Mike Whitehead have publicly stated they do not wish to see the contract renewed.
“I’m not going to vote to renew a contract,” Whitehead said at a recent commission meeting. “We’ve talked about it for two years. It’s time to move; it’s time to make it happen.
Valentino and District 5 Commissioner Kevin White pushed Thursday to have the vote postponed a month.
“My concern is with volunteers who feel they haven’t been heard,” Valentino said.
“We can’t have a rural system of delivery in an urban county,” Commissioner Grover Robinson said.
“There are 15 ways of doing things differently out there,” county Fire-Rescue Chief Ken Perkins said. “And right now, there’s nothing I can do about that. I’m trying to run a $10 million department here. Right now, I feel I am hindered in doing that.”
County Renews Atmore Ambulance Contract For Walnut Hill, Bratt, Davisville
January 25, 2008
The Escambia County Commission voted Thursday night to renew a contract with Atmore Ambulance to provide emergency medical services for the portion of North Escambia in the 327 phone exchange.
Atmore Ambulance has been providing ambulance service for the Walnut Hill, Bratt, Davisville and surrounding communities in the 327 telephone exchange since 1978.
The county’s current contract with Atmore Ambulance expires on February 3. The contract was first executed in 2004 for a three year period, with an option to extend it for two one-year periods. The cost was $70,000 for the first year, $72,500 for the second year and $75,000 per year for the third, fourth and fifth years.
Under the terms of the contract, Atmore Ambulance directly bills patients for services rendered at an amount not greater than that billed by Escambia County EMS, which provides ambulance service for the rest of the county.
The commission renewed contract Thursday night at the recommendation of Public Safety Director Janice Kilgore.
Northview Girls Lose Thursday
January 25, 2008
The Northview High School girl’s varsity basketball team lost on the road Thursday night. The Lady Chiefs were defeated 39-34 at Central High School.
The Northview junior varsity and varsity boy’s teams will be on the road Friday night to take on Walton.