Man Broke Into Molino Home, Ate Two Lunchables And Took A Shower, ECSO Says
January 24, 2023
A Molino woman returned to her home to find a man inside that ate two Lunchables out of the refrigerator and took a shower, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Edward Charles Boyett, 44, was booked into the Escambia County Jail on charges of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling unarmed and petit theft.
A woman that lives on North Highway 95A near Highland Baptist Church and walked to her son’s house nearby. She returned home to find someone in her house.
She told her son, who returned with a firearm to his mom’s home to find the doors locked. He said he could see someone inside taking a shower, according to an arrest report. He fired several shots in an attempt to scare the intruder out.
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived to find the son outside the home with a firearm, talking to Boyett through a bathroom window. Deputies commanded Boyett to exit the home and arrested him at gunpoint.
The victim told deputies that several items were disturbed. Two Lunchables, valued at $5 each, had been removed from the refrigerator and eaten before the packages were thrown in the trash. The victim said her purse has been gone through, and a vehicle key was removed and placed on the kitchen counter.
Deputies found several of Boyett’s belongings in the home, including a backpack with clothing and miscellaneous items on the kitchen table. Boyett’s bicycle was located on the north side of the residence.
Boyett remained in the Escambia County Jail Tuesday with bond set at $10,500.
Monday Night Fire Destroys Cantonment Home
January 24, 2023
Fire destroyed a home in Cantonment Monday night.
The fire was reported about 7:15 p.m. in the 2900 block of Sundance Lane, just off County Road 97 in the Windsong subdivision. The 3,400 square foot home was heavily involved in fire when firefighters arrived on scene.
The fire started with a vehicle in the garage, according to Escambia Fire Rescue. There were no injuries.
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Tate Boys Entering Soccer Districts As No. 2 Seed On Saturday
January 24, 2023
The Tate High School boys soccer team is headed into the 6A District playoffs as the second seed.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Thursday, January 26
No. 4 Pace will host No. 5 Milton at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Saturday, January 28
No. 2 Tate will host No. 3 Navarre at Ashton Brosnaham Park at noon.
No 1 Gulf Breeze will play the winner of Pace and Milton at 2 p.m. at Ashton Brosnaham Park.
Wednesday, February 1
Championship game at 6 p.m. at Ashton Brosnaham Park.
Tickets will be available only on GoFan.
Police Seek Info On $12,000 Welder Stolen From Flomaton Business
January 24, 2023
The Flomaton Police Department is seeking information about the theft of a $12,000 welding machine from a local business.
The Lincoln Electric Vantage 322 was stolen on January 17 from L&L Welding on Highway 31. The unit number on the machine is 134910 and the serial number is U1210304170.
Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Ashley Wood at (251) 809-4444.
Cantonment Woman Charged With Felony Child Neglect For Failing To Provide Medical Care
January 24, 2023
A Cantonment woman was arrested after allegedly failing to provide medical care for her son.
Sabrina Dawn Neufeldt, 45, was charged with felony child neglect and was being held in the Escambia County Jail with a $50,000 bond.
On January 18, a man contacted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office to report the possible child abuse.
He told deputies that Neufeldt contacted him on December 20 asking if she and her child could stay with him for a while. He agreed to let her “stay with him rent-free until she was able to get her life back on track,” according to an arrest report. He drove to pick her up from a camper, and “when he arrived at the camper he noticed the living conditions were horrible such as black mold, rats, and a wet interior”.
The man told deputies that the child was emotionally distressed and malnourished, with pale skin, dark rings around his eyes, and severe rotting of the teeth with an abscess. She allegedly stated that she needed to get insurance to provide medical care for the boy.
On January 15, the boy lost consciousness on a ride at Foley amusement park. After paramedics determined he had low blood pressure, Neufeldt said she would take him to the hospital the next day. Instead, she decided to drink heavily and became intoxicated, the report states, before leaving home.
The man contacted deputies when she did not return for two days. The relationship between Neufeldt and the man is redacted from the arrest report, but the man told deputies that he had not seen her in six years and that he does not have custody or appear on the child’s birth certificate.
According to the ECSO, the child had about eight rotten teeth and is skinny, but appeared to be eating. There were no other injuries noted.
Another witness said Neufeldt’s camper in Flomaton had rats and black mold and she often did not have food to feed the child.
Perdido May Join Pensacola And Century As Escambia County’s Municipalities
January 24, 2023
Right now there are just two municipalities in Escambia County — the city of Pensacola and the town of Century.
But that could change in the not so distant future with the addition of the city of Perdido.
Those hoping to officially incorporate Perdido as a city held a public information meeting Monday night.
Proponents say Perdido generates an estimated $60 million a year in revenue for Escambia County, holds 16% of the county’s taxable real estate value and produces 20% of the tourist development tax.
Over the coming months, Perdido’s citizens will work together to propose boundaries and guide the creation of a feasibility study, a five-year projected budget, and a proposed city charter. The results will be submitted to the local legislative delegation to be considered as a local bill by the Florida House and Senate. If it passes the legislature, citizens in the proposed city of Perdido will vote on incorporation in 2024.
The proposed Perdido municipality has about 19,400 residents. As proposed, it would include Perdido Key and the inland area to the north.
It’s No Secret: Century’s Mayor Says New Industry Will Jump-start Growth
January 23, 2023
It’s no secret that Century Mayor Ben Boutwell is excited about a new industry that promises a handful of new jobs this year, and he knows that will lead to future growth.
A 50-year old foreign company with established American customers is set to execute a lease for a long empty town-owned industrial park building that’s been empty for about 15 years. The company has agreed to pay the appraised value of the building — $7.833.33 a month, totaling $188,000 the first two years. The lease will continue for five years with a 3% annual increase beginning in the third year. The company will accept the building “as-is” and pay all utilities, maintenance, insurance and taxes.
Serving the oil and gas industry, the domestic manufacturing and warehouse distribution facility will start with about five jobs with a goal of 10 employees by the end of the year.
“We are getting someone in here, and it’s a start. It’s not sitting empty, and the town is not taking care of the utilities. It’s going to start taking care of itself. It’s been a long time coming.”
“You’ve got to get someone in here, and that’s going to bring more (jobs),” Boutwell said of the town’s 140 acre industrial park with some 30-plus empty parcels of about five acres each. “I keep emphasizing they’re running out of room in the south part of the county; it’s only heading north. I think this is one of many that should, that will come. I honestly feel that.”
An added bonus, he said, is Century’s proximity to both I-10 and I-65.
“That’s one thing that drew them in here. They already have customers here in the United States on the east coast and in the midwest. So we are right in the middle of it for them. We’re 12-14 miles from I-65 and 30 miles from I-10…and we have the rail that runs right through the town — that could help out with the port to our south.”
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Boutwell said the town will encourage the company to hire locally.
“This is machine work so people have got to be qualified. Some of it, they said “look if you can work at a grocery store, you’ll be able to work on some of these machines,”,” he said. “And then there’s the warehousing part. They’ll be able to teach you how to do the job.”
Salaries are expected to average $46,570 a year.
“The salaries that are coming in are Pensacola-priced for the town of Century, which is huge.”
The proposed lease with the company includes environmental restrictions, including prohibitions against potentially harmful air and water discharges.
“That’s not going to be an issue at all,” Boutwell said, explaining the company’s manufacturing process. “It’s just like having a waffle iron. You put your ingredients in there. You close it and seal it, and it heats up for a little bit. Whatever residual there is, they can reuse it. So it’s not like they’re going to throw it in a dumpster out back. They can reuse it.”
As for that other really big question — what’s the name of the company?
That’s a secret for now. And that’s not unusual.
Florida law allows economic development discussions to remain private until deals are finalized. That’s to prevent other locales from potentially stealing away businesses, and to keep business competitors in the dark on potential expansion plans.
The deal is being facilitated by the FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance — the economic development organization for Escambia County.
A final building lease with the company is expected to be considered by the Century Town Council in early February.
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Fike, Duffy Promoted At International Paper
January 23, 2023
International Paper has made two key promotions at their local mill.
Whitney Fike has been promoted to regional communications manager, Containerboard, and Kyle Duffy has been promoted to operations manager, Pensacola Mill.
Whitney Fike
Fike will retain mill communications responsibilities at the Pensacola Mill while also providing strategic direction and people leadership at Containerboard mills in Orange, Texas, Springfield, Oregon, Maysville, Kentucky, and Newport, Indiana.
Fike joinned International Paper as a communications contractor in 2016, prior to joining full time as the mill communications manager in Pensacola in 2017. Prior to joining IP, she owned a public relations company and has worked in a variety of sectors including nonprofits, government, tourism, financial, entertainment and events throughout her career.
She is passionate about serving and volunteering in the community. Fike serves on several boards and committees, including vice-president of the University of West Florida Alumni Board of Directors, Pensacola Little Theatre, IMPACT 100, Escambia County 4-H Foundation, and Manna Food Bank. She is a proud alumna of Leadership Pensacola and Leadership Florida.
Kyle Duffy
As operations manager for the Pensacola Mill, Duffy will report to Scott Taylor, Pensacola Mill manager. Duffy will be responsible for leading safety and employee engagement, as well as driving deliberate and sustainable improvement and operational excellence to support facility, manufacturing and business objectives.
Duffy joined International Paper in 2011 as an environmental engineer in Memphis and has held various roles of increasing responsibility throughout operations and Environmental, Health and Safety. Since 2020, he has served as the Fibers Department manager at the Pensacola Mill.
Jimitre McMillan Is Escambia Westgate’s Teacher Of The Year
January 23, 2023
Jimitre McMillan was named the Escambia Westgate’s Teacher of the Year.
NorthEscambia.com is continuing to spotlight Teachers of the Year from the North Escambia area during January.
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Local Weather Radar Will Be Down For The Next Two Weeks (And What That Means)
January 23, 2023
UPDATE: The major radar maintenance and two week outage originally scheduled to begin Monday for the weather radar has been postponed until Wednesday due to a severe weather threat Tuesday night.
The weather radar that serves the Mobile/Pensacola area is scheduled to be down for about two weeks.
Beginning on January 25, the radar operated by the National Weather Service in Mobile (KMOB) will be down for replacement of the radar pedestal.
What happens if there is hazardous weather during this significant radar downtime? Meteorologists at the NWS Mobile/Pensacola Office will use the adjacent radar sites (listed below) in addition to GOES-16 satellite imagery, and observational data to provide accurate and timely warnings, when or if necessary.
The radar pedestal is one of the most critical components of the radar, which is necessary for antenna rotation and position to capture data in all directions. The components are extremely heavy and will require the radome to be removed by crane and then replaced by crane when the work is completed. Once this project begins, the radar cannot be turned on until the work is complete. Work on the radar should be completed by February 4.
This weather radar is what is used by most local television stations, phone apps and websites to show rain in the Mobile/Pensacola area, including North Escambia.
During the downtime, adjacent radars will be available, including those from Eglin Air Force Base (KEVX), New Orleans, LA (KLIX), Ft Rucker, AL (KEOX), Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, AL (KMXX),
The radar and pedestal were designed to last 25 years, and this radar has exceeded its lifespan. This activity is necessary to keep the radar functioning for another 20 years or more.
The pedestal refurbishment is the third major project of the NEXRAD Service Life Extension Program, a series of upgrades that will keep our nation’s radars viable into the 2030s. NOAA’s National Weather Service, the United States Air Force, and the Federal Aviation Administration are investing $135 million in the eight-year program. The first project was the installation of the new signal processor and the second project was the refurbishment of the transmitter. The fourth project will be the refurbishment of the equipment shelters. The Service Life Extension Program will be completed in 2023.
The KMOB WSR-88D is part of a network of 159 operational radars.
Photo courtesy Don Shepherd for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.