Cantonment Man Charged After Failed Attempt To Burglarize Phone Store
August 26, 2022
A Cantonment man was allegedly caught on video as he tried successfully to break into a cellphone store.
Edward Charles Boyett, 43, was charged with attempted third degree felony burglary.
According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Boyett was caught on security video as he tried to force his way into the Metro PCS store in the 8000 block of Lillian Highway. He repeatedly tried for about three minutes to pull the doors open and even tried to kick the doors to break the glass, deputies said. He was shirtless, wearing shorts and a bracelet on his left wrist.
Minutes later, Boyett was trespass warned from a nearby business. According to an arrest report, he was shirtless, wearing shorts and a bracelet on his left wrist in body camera footage from the deputy.
Boyett remained in the Escambia County Jail Friday morning with bond set at $5,000.
Pine Forest Defeats Tate 34-0 (With Photo Gallery)
August 26, 2022
The Pine Forest Eagles defeated the Tate Aggies 34-0 Thursday night at PFHS.
The Eagles soared to a 13-0 lead at the half on their way to the win.
For a photo gallery, click or tap here.
It was the first game of the season for both teams, and the first game for the Eagles since they fell just short of a state championship last year.
Thursday night was also the debut for Rhett Summerford as the new coach for Tate, which went 1-9 last year.
Summerford has high hopes for the Aggies as they move on to face Pensacola High on September 2 in an away game. On September 9, the Aggies will have their first home game of the season as they host the Northview Chiefs, who are coached by Rhett Summerford’s brother Wes Summerford.
Pine Forest will travel to Navarre on September 2.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Jennifer Repine, click to enlarge.
Two Inmates Accused Of Assaulting Century Correctional Institution Staff
August 26, 2022
Two Century Correctional Institution inmates assault correctional officers in separate incidents recently, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Inmate Ronald Green assaulted a staff member. Green is serving a 20 year sentence from Orange and Seminole counties for multiple counts of robbery with a gun or deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft.
Inmate Kareem Rhodes assaulted an officer. Rhodes is serving a 12-year sentence from Alachua County for robbery with a gun or deadly weapon.
“Staff responded appropriately, and the inmate was subdued,” FDC said in both instances.
Escambia County Offering Free Sand For Flood Prep
August 26, 2022
Escambia County has free sand available for residents living in flood prone areas.
The sand is available on a first come, first served basis at the following locations:
- John R. Jones Jr. Athletic Park – 555 E. Nine Mile Road
- Don Sutton Park – 2320 Crabtree Church Road, Molino
- Travis M. Nelson Park - 4541 Highway 4, Bratt
- Equestrian Center – 7750 Mobile Highway
- Escambia County Road Department – 601 Highway 297A
- Brent Athletic Park – 4711 N. W St., Pensacola
- Ferry Pass Middle School -available on northwest corner of school property on Parazine Street
- Baars Field Athletic Park – 13001 Sorrento Road, Pensacola
Residents must bring their own sandbags and shovels. Sandbags are usually available for purchase at home improvement and hardware stores.
Pictured: Sand at Travis M. Nelson Park in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Split Doubleheader With Montgomery
August 26, 2022
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos split their doubleheader against the Montgomery Biscuits on Thursday night, falling 13-1 in game one but rebounding to win 2-0 in game two.
The Blue Wahoos have now split all six of their doubleheaders this season.
After a pregame rain delay of more than two hours, game one saw the Biscuits jump on Cody Mincey (L, 5-5) for five early runs as RBI doubles from Kameron Misner, Brett Wisely and Blake Hunt in the first three innings put Montgomery ahead 5-0.
José Devers hit an RBI double against Biscuits starter Sean Hunley (W, 5-1) in the third, but that would be the only offense for the Blue Wahoos in the game. Montgomery exploded for an eight-run sixth inning against Tyler Mitzel, capped with a Wisely two-run homer, to cruise to a 13-1 victory.
In game two, Pensacola’s pitching tightened up and allowed only three singles in a combined shutout effort. Andrew McInvale, making his first start in the Marlins organization, got things going with 4.0 clean innings before handing things off to Jefry Yan (W, 2-4).
Biscuits starter Mason Montgomery (L, 0-1) pitched well, but allowed a two-out RBI double to Demetrius Sims in the fifth to break a scoreless tie. A solo home run from Norel González in the sixth gave Sean Reynolds (S, 3) more than enough insurance to lock down the save in the seventh and final inning.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Biscuits on Friday.
by Erik Bremer, Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Officials Commit To Improving Big Highway 95A, Jim Allen Elementary Car Rider Line Problem
August 25, 2022
There’s a really big traffic problem on Highway 95A at Jim Allen Elementary School around drop-off and dismissal times, and officials committed Wednesday to start discussions on how to make the situation better.
During car rider times, vehicles line the side of the roadway waiting to turn into the school, and vehicles travel on the shoulder to get around a backed up turn lane.
Wednesday, even a school bus became stuck off the road in the mud. Other photos submitted by readers show dump trucks stuck in the mud, long lines of traffic, drivers on the shoulder and vehicles traveling into oncoming traffic.
“The county has offered to pave some areas for the traffic to be able to pull to get out of the road while they are dealing with the children” Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry said last week at a town hall meeting in Walnut Hill. “That’s not what the school thought was the best idea.”
Barry said that previous leadership was not interested in new lanes but with a new principal in place, he’s hopeful the county can work toward solving the problem.
“If doing some work to allow traffic to get out of the way of 95A will help, then we can certainly do that,” he said.
Numerous parents, community members and other Highway 95A drivers have reached out to NorthEscambia.com for help, including Brianne Freund, local resident and a Jim Allen parent who said her vehicle was nearly hit while she waited to turn onto Eden Lane.
“The biggest concern is the afternoon traffic. It is an absolute nightmare,” she said. “Understand that something has to be done about this sooner rather than later. There is a major safety issue with this line in the afternoons.”
“If travelers decide to go around the line, they run the risk of being ticketed, getting stuck in wet earth, damaging property, or causing accidents,” Freund added.
Wednesday afternoon, NorthEscambia.com reached back out to Barry, and we contacted Bill Slayton, District 5 Escambia County School Board member.
“The school board doesn’t have the money or the ability to widen the road,” Slayton said, adding that he would seek a meeting with Barry after our discussion.
“I’m very familiar with the car rider line; it’s gotten longer and bigger each year,” Slayton said. “Highway 95A was never built for an elementary school that large or a car rider line with that many people. It’s a school of 600. and more and more parents are deciding that they wan to pick up their kids or drive their kids to school.”
Barry told us he is more than open to meeting with Slayton and school officials in the search for the best solution as soon as practical.
“Whatever we need to do there, we will make it happen,” Barry said.
The Escambia County Commission recently approved $2.12 million for the milling and resurfacing of Highway 95A from the northern intersection with Highway 29 in Molino (just north of Highway 97), over nine miles to the southern intersection with Highway 29 near Morris Avenue. That project does not include any improvements other than resurfacing near Jim Allen Elementary. Barry said that the county may be able to make improvements near the school independently or as an addition to the overall resurfacing project.
As for that school bus that became stuck off-road in the mud, Slayton said it was a substitute driver that should have made a better decision. He said the bus became stuck in a muddy rut created earlier by a dump truck that also became stuck in the same location.
Have photos of the Jim Allen Elementary car rider line to share? Email news@northescambia.com.
Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Rigby Road Bridge In Bratt Closed For Repairs
August 25, 2022
The bridge on Rigby Road over Beaver Dam Creek is closed.
The bridge is about a half mile south of West Highway 4 in Bratt (map at bottom of story). Traffic is detoured on Still Road to Rigby Road.
An Escambia County spokesperson said the bridge was closed to enable a contractor to make repairs, but more information was not available.
The 75-foot long wood piling bridge was constructed in 1965.
In June 2021, the bridge was closed after the roadway collapsed during heavy rains from Tropical Storm Claudette. The bridge was also closed in February 2020 due to obvious support deterioration and a jack was used to support the middle of the bridge.
Pictured: the Rigby Road bridge of Beaver Dam Creek on Wednesday afternoon, August 24, 2022. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Library Youth Program Fed Over 3,700 During Summer Meal Program
August 25, 2022
The numbers are in from the summer “Meals for Youth” program at the West Florida Public Libraries.
From May 25 until August 9, the libraries distributed 3,719 meals at seven locations.
The number of meals distributed at each location was as follows:
- Molino: 521
- Century: 226
- Tryon: 1,142
- Genealogy: 209
- Pensacola: 821
- Southwest: 422
- Westside: 378
The “Meals for Youths” program from Feeding the Gulf Coast provided the free lunch for Escambia County residents ages 18 and younger. Disabled individuals 19 years of age and older who participate in a public or private non-profit school program during the school year were also eligible to receive meals.
Local Moonshiner’s New TV Show ‘Alabama Shine’ Premieres
August 25, 2022
A couple of years ago, a Flomaton man competed on national TV with his old McDavid moonshine recipe, and now he’s back on television co-starring in his own show.
Johnny Griffis competed on Moonshiners: Master Distiller on the Discovery Channel in 2020. In the end, his “old school corn liquor moonshine” took second place.
“Since the show aired I have had much success,” Griffis told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday.
His new television series “Alabama Shine” premiered Thursday night exclusively on The Country Network (TCN). It showcased Griffis in Flomaton and Jimbo Bray in Carbon Hill, Alabama. Bray won the very first episode of Master Distiller on Discovery.
“I had an old timer from McDavid that had many years experience in moonshine teach me how to do it,” Griffis said said. “He gave me his old school family recipe.”
“The show is about moonshine and music,” he said. We will have a special musical guests each week.”
On the premiere episode, guests were country rocker Jelly Roll, singer and songwriter Steve Oliver, and Nikki Nelson from the group Highway 101.
Jelly Roll has been at No. 1 n the Billboard Emerging Artists chart for the past two weeks and recently performed his song “Son of a Sinner” on Jimmie Kimmel Live.
Watch “Alabama Shine” Thursdays at 7 p.m. or on demand later at tcntoday.com.
Woman Accused Of Embezzling $165K From Church, Bible College
August 25, 2022
A church secretary is facing charges for allegedly taking over $160,000 from her employer.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents arrested Lisa Michelle Hively, 55, on one count of organized scheme to defraud and one count of grand theft, both first-degree felonies. She was secretary at Faith Baptist Church and Faith Bible College from 2008 to 2021 where her husband was an assistant pastor, according to court documents.
The investigation began in February 2022 when FDLE agents looked into allegations of potential embezzlement by employees of a local church. Investigators conducted forensic audits of the church’s finances and interviewed Hively.
According to FDLE, Hively embezzled approximately $164,716 from her employer between 2015 and 2021.
The investigation showed that Hively, whose duties included writing checks to pay church bills, would write checks from the church or Bible college and deposit them into her personal bank account. FDLE said approximately 232 checks were made out to Lisa Hively or her husband, Christopher Hively. Investigators say that she then altered the church’s financial ledger to disguise the checks as payments for services rendered to the church.
Hively surrendered at the Escambia County Jail and was released on a $30,000 bond.