Florida Car Insurance Requirements Changed January 1
January 1, 2008
Effective January 1, 2008, Florida’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law once again requires motorists to carry mandatory personal injury and property damage liability insurance. Under the law, every owner or registrant of a motor vehicle will be required to carry not only the Property Damage Liability insurance but also $10,000 insurance coverage for Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Therefore, as a consumer, the Department encourages you to be informed and make sure that you purchase the mandatory PIP, and make sure your insurance agent also adds the mandatory $10,000 in Property Damage Liability.
During the period October 1 through December 31, only the property damage liability insurance was required to be carried by motor vehicle owners and registrants but not PIP. Many insurance carriers offered their customers the option of cancelling PIP coverage during this time. If you are one of those who canceled PIP, you should have reinstated the required PIP effective by Tuesday. If you did not, the law requires that the insurance carrier cancel your policy and inform the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, who will then suspend your driver’s license and registration. To avoid expensive reinstatement fees for license suspensions and registration which could range from $150 up to $500.
Law enforcement, including the Florida Highway Patrol, will be checking proof of insurance roadside and could issue a citation for failing to carry the proper insurance. They are encouraging all motorists to make sure their vehicle is properly insured. If you have questions please contact your insurance carrier/agent to make sure you have the required Personal Injury Protection coverage.
In addition, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has a hot line number at 1-877-MyFLCFO where consumers can learn more regarding frequently asked questions. Drivers can also log onto the CFO’s website at http://myfloridacfo.com/NoFault/.
Blog: 2008 Predictions; 2007 Reflections
January 1, 2008
Out with the old; in with the new. Black eyed peas and football. Resolutions, weight loss plans and diets. Can’t figure out the date to write on checks. Must be the New Year.
We have worked a bit on a set of predictions for 2008. Those are a little later in this post. But first, we want to look back at our short time in 2007.
2007 was but a short year for us here at NorthEscambia.com, but what a year it was. After first going online in early November, we published nearly 200 stories and about 800 pictures from the North Escambia area. Over 530,ooo page views later, we are excited about your welcoming us into your homes and offices.
It makes us feel good to see all the visits from the local folks here in North Escambia. It’s great to see all the visits we get from the Escambia County Schools, Escambia County and various other state and local agencies. One of our primary goals in starting this site was to provide you, the residents of North Escambia County, a forum and a voice since we are often forgotten on the other end of our county.
We’ve noticed that most of the Mobile and Pensacola TV stations are visiting the site on a regular basis. It’s good to see that they are checking us out to make sure they have not missed something “big” that happened here in North Escambia. By the way, we sent press releases to all the newspapers, radio stations and television stations in the Mobile and Pensacola areas shortly after the site launched. While many had done stories in the past about new newspapers and web sites around the area, only one — The Atmore News — bothered to cover our opening at all. Wonder why? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but just wanted you to know.
Now, on to 2008 and our comments and predictions.
- We will hear way too much bickering about the county commission. An excellent editorial was in the Sunday, 12/30 Pensacola News Journal begging somebody to step up and lead. We agree. This county needs leadership. We also agree with Dr. Ted Traylor at Olive Baptist Church, which has about the largest congregation in the county. We need leaders that lead with a little touch of God, he told the church this past Sunday.
- The county commission just might notice that “north Escambia” extends beyond 10 mile road. Our district five commissioner, Kevin White, knows. But we are not so sure the other four have a clue.
- It will be a nasty election year overall. Both our school board member and county commissioner are up for election this year. Plus there’s a race for sheriff, and the whole presidential mess. We hope that our local District 5 school board and commission candidates with run with integrity and grace. Run on your merits, not the bad points of the other person. As a District 5 candidate, we expect to see you from Molino to Century to Walnut Hill to Enon to Bratt and Bogia. We need to see you in North Escambia, and we need to know where you stand on our issues. We are not Nine Mile road.
- Things will get hot concerning volunteer fire fighters in the county. There are those that are pushing for end of our volunteer departments. The McDavid, Century, Molino and Walnut Hill volunteer fire departments are a vital part of our communities. We, as the communities of North Escambia, will not stand by and let them be closed, or our volunteers replaced with a few paid firefighters.
- We’ll see an expansion of leisure services in North Escambia. Perhaps a new park will be announced, and the county will move forward on the conversion of the old Molino Park Elementary into a community center.
- The Escambia County School Board will feel the budget crunch. The district will consider closing at least one North Escambia School.
- Property taxes and homeowner insurance will continue to be a pain.
- There will be two named hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and they will both head toward Texas or Mexico. Well…everybody else offers predictions, so we thought we’d toss one in there too. We can guess as good as the next guy.
- NorthEscambia.com will continue to grow and serve you in 2008. We have several new features planned and a few fun things also.
- We’ll all learn a little more about our community by visiting here at NorthEscambia.com. There’s so much more here than the things we mentioned so far in these predictions. Predictions aside, we know that North Escambia will continue to be a great place to live and work. That’s why we call this area home. Thanks again for being part of the NorthEscambia.com family.
Holiday Closings And Trash Pickup Schedule
January 1, 2008
Allied Waste was scheduled pickup as usual on New Year’s Eve Monday, and Tuesday routes will be picked up on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday routes are scheduled to be picked up as normal.
The following will be closed Tuesday for the New Year’s holiday:
- All city, state, county and federal offices
- The U.S. Postal Service
- All libraries
- All county schools
- All area colleges
- ECAT service
North Escambia public schools will return on Monday, January 7.
NorthEscambia.com will be publishing only late breaking news on Tuesday as we are closed for the holiday.
Monday Was Last Day To Register To Vote For Prez
January 1, 2008
Monday, December 31 was the last day to register to vote in the Presidential Preference Primary to be held January 29, according to the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections office.
There are multiple ways to register to vote in Escambia County. An online application can be filed (click here or pick up an application (click here for list of locations).
Locations with voter applications in North Escambia include the Century Branch Library at 7991 North Century Boulevard, the Tax Collectors office at 7500 North Century Boulevard, Century Bait Shop at 11 East Highway 4, Mitchells Grocery & Seafood at 8221 North Century Boulevard and Crossroads Service Center at 6470 North Highway 29 in Molino.
Locations in North Escambia with voter registration services include the Century Branch Library at 7991 North Century Boulevard, Florida Department of Motor Vehicles at 7500 North Century Boulevard (in the courthouse), Tax Collector’s Office at 470 South Highway 29 in Cantonment (old Winn Dixie shopping center), WIC Dept. of Children & Families, 3470 North Highway 29 in Molino (in the health department building).
For answers to common questions about how to vote, visit the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections office by clicking here.
Wreath Campaign Ends With Two Residential Fires In North Escambia
January 1, 2008
Back on November 30, Escambia County kicked off the “Keep the Wreath Green” campaign, with five foot wreaths outside twelve county facilities. A red bulb replaced a green everytime a residential fire was reported. Eleven bulbs were replaced by red, with two of the bulbs representing fires in the North Escambia area. The wreath at the Century fire station is pictured. A wreath was also in place at the McDavid fire station.
On Wednesday, December 12 at 1:45 p.m. a fire was reported in the 5400 block of Still Road in Walnut Hill (pictured below left). Fire fighters from Walnut Hill, Century, McDavid, Molino and Atmore responded to the fire. Upon arrival they found a mobile home with a fire in the kitchen. There were two people in the trailer at the time of the fire, and they were able to escape without injury.
The fire caused major damages to the kitchen area and moderate smoke and heat damage throughout the rest of the home. The cause of the fire was a pot left unattended on the stove. The American Red Cross was called to the scene to assist the family. This was the sixth red bulb in the county.
The ninth red bulb in the county appeared after a fire December 16, 2007 at 5:47 p.m. in the 800 block of
On December 19, an unoccupied dwelling in the 100 block of Highway 4 burned (pictured above). The house was fully involved when firefighters arrived on scene; it was a total loss. There were no injuries reported. Firefighters from McDavid, Century, Walnut Hill, and Molino responded to the fire about 12:10 in the afternoon. Since this was an unoccupied house, a red bulb was not lit in the county’s wreath campaign.
There were 16 red bulbs representing residential fires during the same period last year.
Escambia County has a smoke detector program in place. If you need assistance with smoke detectors for your home, call 595-HERO.
NorthEscambia.com Surpasses Half Million Visits
December 31, 2007
NorthEscambia.com will end 2007 with over a half million page views after being online for less than two months. As of midnight December 30, NorthEscambia.com had 533,860 page views recorded.
A page view is simply one person viewing one page on the site. That does not mean that a quarter million people have viewed the site…one person will usually view more than one page per visit. The photo gallery pages are not included in the 533,860 page view total.
There were over 210,000 page views in November, and there were over 323,000 page views in December.
Many inquiries have been received by NorthEscambia.com concerning the availability of advertising on the site. Ads are not currently available on the site, but there is a waiting list for potential advertisers. There are just a few slots remaining when advertising is available. If your business would like to be on the list to possibly advertise on NorthEscambia.com, let us know by filling out our contact form.
Some interesting facts about NorthEscambia.com visitors:
- The most viewed story involved the death of an Escambia County Deputy in Walnut Hill.
- The second most viewed story involved an accident and manhunt in McDavid.
- The third most viewed story was about the shooting of a suspect by deputies in Century.
- The fourth most viewed story was about the Molino Christmas parade.
- The fifth most viewed story was about the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department fish fry.
- The number one “referrer” (a site or link sending visitors to the site) was email…meaning many, many people emailed somebody the link to the site and they visited it.
- The second greatest source of visitors was Google. Yahoo was the second most popular search engine sending people to the site.
- Other links sending lots of visitors to the site were in the Pensacola News Journal’s forums and from the Northview High School web site.
- 77% of visitors are running Windows XP. 6% are running an Apple Mac, one person is still running Windows 95 and a handful are running Linux and WebTV.
- The most popular day of the week for NorthEscambia.com has been Monday; the slowest day has been Sunday.
- There have been visitors from Israel, Brazil, the Seychelles islands off Africa, Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan, Canada, France, England, Maylasia and Switzerland.
- The greatest number of visitors have come from the Frontier internet service (they provide dialup and DSL in Walnut Hill and Molino), followed by Cox high speed, Road Runner, Bellsouth and AOL.
- The site also popular with users within the Escambia County Schools, Wildblue satellite users, Escambia County and the U.S. Government, including the U.S. Northern Command.
- Several local media companies (TV and newspapers) visit the site on a regular basis.
In case you are wondering from all that…we don’t know who you are when you visit the site unless you fill out our form and tell us. The server knows that someone from a particular internet provider visited the site, what pages were viewed, their operating system (Windows XP, Linux, etc.) and where they came from (such as Google, another web site, etc.). Again, we don’t know who you are personally.
County Tax Discounts Ended Monday at Midnight
December 31, 2007
Escambia County Tax Collector Janet Holley reminds residents that the 3 percent discount on real-estate and tangible personal property tax expired Monday.
The three percent discount on Escambia County tangible personal property real estate taxes ended when 2007 came to a close on at midnight Monday.
To have received the discount and have your payment credited in December, your payment must have been made:
- in person is a tax collector’s office by the close of business Monday.
- on the after-hours automated telephone (800) 601-1055 by midnight Monday.
- made on the web site http://www.escambiataxcollector.com by midnight Monday.
If you payment is postmarked by Monday and received after January 1, it will receive the discount but will credited with a January date, as will payments left after hours in a drop box on Monday.
For more details, visit http://www.escambiataxcollector.com; call 438-6500 ext. 252, or get automated information at 438-3299.
Tax collector offices are located at Century, Cantonment, Marcus Pointe, downtown and Warrington. The Century office is located in the Billy G. Ward courthouse at 7500 North Century Boulevard. The Cantonment office is at 470 South Highway 29 (in the old Winn Dixie shopping center). The Century and Cantonment offices are open 8:30 until 5:00 Monday through Friday.
Hendersons Performed In Byrneville
December 31, 2007
The Hendersons were in concert at the Beulah Chapel Assembly of God in Byrneville Sunday night, and a chili and soup supper followed.
The Hendersons have been singing in a family ministry since 1989 and have over 70 combined years in the singing ministry. The Hendersons primarily sing traditional and southern gospel music.
The Henderson’s unique harmony has been featured on seven recored projects, including several original songs. Sunday night’s concert will feature such favorites as “I Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now”, “All Signs Are Pointing”, “I Won’t Be Satisfied” and the classic “Just Passing Thru”. Their latest radio releases “Sailing On Home” and “The Blood of Sacrifice” will also be included.
The group consists of Sonny Henderson, his daughter Lydia Henderson of Pensacola, FL, and Mark Cates of Pace, FL. Sonny’s wife, Marie, travels with the group serving as sound technician, and full time office manager.
Need A 2008 Calendar? Check Out This Molino One
December 31, 2007
With the new year here, it is now time to find a new 2008 calendar. The Molino Mid-County Historical Society has one for you that features transportation photos from days gone by in Molino.
From the cover photo of a car in front of the 1915 barbershop in downtown Molino, to horses in the late 1800’s, to early 1900’s school children in front of their bus, the calendar features historic photos that chronicle the history of transportation in Molino.
The “Our Rides of Yesterday” 2008 calendar is available for $5 at Cole’s Barbershop and Handcrafted Treasures. This is the fourth year the historical society has published calendar.
“It’s a great way to preserve our history and our pictures,” society member Donna Ging (pictured above, click to enlarge) said at a recent meeting of the group at Aldersgate Methodist Church.
“The neatest thing about doing the calendar every year is the excitement of seeing the people and the pictures, seeing relatives and their friends,” she said.
Guilty Plea In Highway 29 DUI Death
December 29, 2007
Anthony Mattheiss (pictured left) of Cantonment pleaded guilty Friday to DUI manslaughter in connection with a May 15 crash south of Molino.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash on Highway 29 near Booth Lake Road occurred when a Mercedes driven by Mattheiss, 45, crashed into a Chevy at about 95 mph, killing 71 year old Charles Stanton of Cantonment. The posted speed limit in that area is 65 mph.
The FHP says Mattheiss blood alcohol level was 0.16, which is twice the legal limit in Florida.
A passenger in Mattheiss vehicle, Gary Cooper, and the driver of the Chevrolet, Eddie Evans, were also injured in the crash, according to the FHP.
Mattheiss faces 15 to 20 years in prison. His next court date is currently scheduled for February 27.
