Soil and Water Board Honors Locals
December 19, 2007
The Escambia County Soil and Water Conservation District honored several local people at the board’s meeting Wednesday in Molino. Dan Cain was honored as “Conservation Farmer of the Year” Dan and his wife Kathy own a Molino area Angus farm. Pictured above, from the left: Dan Cain, Jeff Hester and Richard Freisinger from the Escambia Soil and Water Conservation District.
Area Supervisor for the Division of Forestry Elton Gilmore (above, left) accepted an award of appreciation on behalf of the Division of Forestry Molino Work Center from Hester and Freisinger.
Escambia County Extension Agent Lamar Christenberry was present a “Lifetime Service Award”, “in sincere appreciation for over 20 years of dedicated service to the citizens of Escambia County and the Soil and Water Conservation District”. Christenberry will soon be retiring. Pictured left to right are Christenberry, Josh McElhaney from the Natural Resources Conservation Service Molino office and Freisinger.
Charles Woodward was presented a plaque in appreciate of “over 29 years of dedicated service to Escambia County Producers as County Executive Director”. Pictured, left to right, are McElhaney, Woodward and Freisinger.
Empty House Burns in McDavid
December 19, 2007
An unoccupied wood frame house in McDavid burned Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters from McDavid, Century, Walnut Hill, and Molino responded to the fire about 12:10 Wednesday afternoon in the 100 block of Highway 164.
The house was fully involved when firefighters arrived on scene; it was a total loss. There were no injuries reported.
Pictured above and below: Firefighters enter a burning house Wednesday afternoon in the 100 block of Highway 164 in McDavid.
School Board Votes To Fence Ernest Ward; Takes Other Local Actions
December 18, 2007
The Escambia County School Board voted to purchase fencing for Ernest Ward Middle School at the board’s monthly meeting Tuesday night.
The board also voted not to fire former Woodham teacher Benny Washington, and they voted to accept his resignation. He was arrested earlier this year in Century on drug charges. Click here to read more.
The board also voted to enter into part one of a lighting and electrical upgrade for the Northview High School stage. Problems with the stage lightning led to a Veterans Day program at the school being postponed last month.
The school board approved final payments related to the replacement of the media center at Bratt Elementary School. The school’s media center was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan.
In other actions involving schools in North Escambia, the school board:
- voted to hire Sharon Kostelecky as a teacher at Carver/Century effective 10/15/07.
- voted to transfer Bratt Elementary third grade teacher Barbara Luker to Northview High School effective 1/07/08.
- appointed Lisa Johnsen as a food service assistant at Northview High School.
Pictured: Ernest Ward Middle School (file photo).
Teacher Arrested In Century Allowed to Resign
December 18, 2007
The Escambia County School Board voted not to accept Superintendent recommendation that James “Benny” Washington, former coach of the Woodham High School basketball program, be fired. Instead, they voted to accept his resignation Tuesday night.
Washington was arrested March 8 in Century on drug possession charges; he later agreed to enter a pretrial intervention program.
District 5 School Board Member Pete Gindhl and Board Chairwoman Patty Hightower were on the losing side of the vote to fire Washington and the vote to accept his resignation. Both motions failed 3-2.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Deputy Ellis Smallwood found a small piece of powder cocaine, a marijuana cigarette and rolling papers during a traffic stop on North Century Boulevard near Ranch Road, according to court papers.
Washington was clocked by Smallwood on radar at 41 mph in a 35 mph zone. Washington then pulled into the parking lot of the Century Burger King, before entering the highway again and being stopped by the deputy, according to testimony. Smallwood testified that he smelled a strong odor of burnt marijuana and air freshener upon making the traffic stop, prompting the search.
Washington’s attorney, Barry Beroset, argued that the traffic stop and resulting search were illegal. Circuit Judge Michael Allen did not agree, and refused to throw out the charges back in September.
The Escambia County School Board suspended Washington without pay from his teaching position at Woodham after his arrest. He was fired as Woodham’s basketall coach after being suspended by the Florida High School Athletic Association after allegedly making a racist remark toward black official. He publicly denied that claim. He had served as basketball coach for the Titans for 18 years. Woodham has since became a middle school.
The one felony and two misdemeanor charges against Washington will be dropped by state prosecutors if he completes the yearlong program of community service, random drug test and substance abuse counseling.
Pictured above: Washington, with his sons at his side, addresses the Escambia County School Board Tuesday night.
Century Home Destroyed By Fire Sunday Night
December 16, 2007
Fire destroyed a home in the 900 block of Backwoods Road near Century just before 6:00 Sunday night.
Three people — a man, his wife an an infant — escaped without injury. Witnesses reported flames over the treetops as the fire began; the home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived on the scene. Firefighters believe the fire was started by an electrical short circuit.
Firefighters from Century, Walnut Hill, McDavid, Molino and Flomaton responded to the fire.
One Injured in Highway 97 Crash
December 15, 2007
At least one person was injured in a one vehicle accident about 1:00 a.m. Saturday on Highway 97 south of Tungoil Road.
A Jeep Cherokee was in a culvert in a wooded stretch of Highway 97 near 4690 Highway 97.
The accident was originally reported to the Florida Highway Patrol as being on Barth Road near Highway 29 at about 1:00 a.m. Firefighters from the Molino Volunteer Fire Department were unable to find the accident at that location. An additional 911 caller several minutes later reported the accident to be on Highway 97 north of Gibson Road. Molino firefighters located the wreck about 1:20 a.m.
The accident site is about 10 miles driving distance from the original call given to the Molino VFD. It is under investigation by the FHP.
About 11:30 Friday night, at least one person was injured in an accident between Omega Drive and Chance Road on Highway 29 in Molino. That accident is also under investigation by troopers.
Pictured below: A Florida Highway Patrol trooper investigates an accident that happened at 1:00 a.m. Saturday on Highway 97.
Century Whataburger Is Now Open For Business
December 14, 2007
The long-awaited Whataburger restaurant in Century is now open, serving up Whataburgers “Just Like You Like It”.
Lee Cartledge from Barrand, Inc. said store will have between 50 and 60 employees, most of which attended an employee meeting at the restaurant Thursday afternoon. Barrand is the owner of the Century franchise of Whataburger.
When NorthEscambia.com visited the restaurant Thursday afternoon, dozens of workers were busy inside and out putting the final touches on the restaurant.
Barrand owns Whataburger franchises across the Florida Panhandle and in the Dallas, Texas, area. The first Whataburger opened in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1950, and the first franchised restaurant opened in 1953 in Alice, Texas. The first Whataburger outside Texas opened in Pensacola in 1959.
The Century Whataburger is located at 8340 North Century Boulevard (near the intersection of Highway 4). It will be open 24 hours a day. Today’s “soft opening” will be followed by an official grand opening and ribbon cutting in the coming weeks.
Internal Audit Finds Volunteer Firefighters Overpaid $39,500
December 13, 2007
An internal audit of the county’s volunteer fire departments was accepted this morning at a special called meeting of the Escambia County Commission.
The audit find thats volunteer firefighters were overpaid $39,500 during the six months from October 2006 to February 2007, with one third of that money going to firefighters in North Escambia. An audit conducted by the volunteer fire departments found $24,575 in overpayments county-wide.
Assistant County Administrator Willie Taylor told the commission that the $14,925 difference between the county’s audit and the volunteer firefighters’ own audit was due to some documentation coming in late or not being accepted by the county’s auditors due to a lack of supporting documentation.
“The volunteer association has said that they accept, or that they acknowledge that $24, 575 is the ceiling,” Taylor said. “They owe that amount.”
“We all agree that there will be a further time that we can discuss this issue,” he said. “The purpose of filing today is just to say that the report has been done.”
The Century Volunteer Fire Department (Station 5) had the highest stipend overpayment in the report, with $7,925 in overpayments. The Molino Volunteer Fire Department (Station 18) overpaid its volunteers $3,275, according the report. Overpayments at the McDavid Volunteer Fire Department (Station 9) totaled $1,570, and overpayments at the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department (Station 15) totaled $705, the report says.
An internal audit complete in June had found $52,045 in overpayments, but that figure was revised in this latest audit that was completed in September to the $39,500 adopted today by the commission.
The original audit was revised after submission of about 300 additional documents by all of the volunteer fire departments in the county.
“It has taken an unreasonable length of time, and at excess cost to the County, to perform and complete this audit. This underscores the importance of the finding included in our original report related to the fact that the Volunteer Fire Departments currently have inadequate or insufficient policies and procedures for documenting and retaining training and certification records on volunteer firefighters,” the report states.
The audit reports that better record keeping requirements be put into place, and the stipend payment scale be simplified.
The overpayments included all volunteer departments in the county, not just the departments in North Escambia mentioned in this article. Amounts ranged from the $7,925 at the Century Volunteer Fire Department to $10 at the Brent Volunteer Fire Department.
The original audit in June found the $7,925 in overpayments in Century, while the volunteer’s audit found $2,000 in excess payments.
The June audit found $5,135 in excess payments in Molino, with the volunteer’s audit finding $2,415. Tonight’s report indicates $3,275.
The June audit indicated McDavid overpaid its volunteers $2,615, and the volunteer audit said $1,195. The final audit says the amount is $1,570.
June’s audit found $3,055 in overpayments at Walnut Hill, and the volunteer’s report found $720. The June audit was drastically revised to $705 in the final report.
Fire Damages Mobile Home
December 12, 2007
A mobile home on Still Road suffered heavy smoke damage in a fire about 1:45 Wednesday afternoon.
Witnesses say at least one person and an infant were at home at the time of the fire,. They escaped from the small mobile home without injury. The home was located at 5970 Still Road in Gillmore’s Mobile Home Park.
Fire units from Walnut Hill, Century, Atmore, McDavid and Molino were called to the fire. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
This fire will be at least the sixth red bulb in Escambia County’s “Keep the Wreath Green” program. In the program, a red bulb is lit at fire stations around the county each time there is a residential structure fire in the county during the holiday season.
Pictured above: A firefighter works inside the structure fire on Still Road Wednesday afternoon. Below: Pictures from the scene. Click the below pictures to enlarge.
Farm Service Agency Holds Elections
December 12, 2007
The Escambia County Farm Service Agency has announced results of its recent mail-in election, with James D. Cunningham re-elected as a county committee person. He will serve a three year term.
Dan Cain was elected as first alternative for the county committee. Bradley Seabrook was elected as second alternative for the county committee.
Escambia County is divided into three “Local Administrative Areas” or “LAA”. LAA 2 is located in the northeastern section of the county and includes Molino, Barrineau Park, and areas south. LAA 2 was the only district to have an office open in this year’s election.
Farmer committees are in charge of local administration of national farm programs. One committee member and at least one alternate are elected from one LAA each year. FSA County Committees make decisions on:
- Commodity price support loans and payments.
- Establishment of allotments, yields, and marketing quotas.Farmer loans.
- Conservation programs.
- Eligibility requirements.
- Incentive, indemnity, and disaster payment for some commodities.
- Other farm disaster assistance.
The FSA Office is located in the Farm Bureau Building on Hwy. 97 East in Molino. For more information, the FSA can be contacted at 587-5345.