Hiring Bonuses, Current Employee Bonuses And Pay Increases For Florida’s Correctional Officers
November 18, 2021
New incentives and a pay increase were for Florida’ correctional officers were announced Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Department of Corrections.
Effective immediately, the state will offer a $3,000 new hire bonus for all new correctional officers and a $1,000 hiring bonus for certified correctional officer applicants. At “high vacancy institutions”, including the Century Correctional Institution and Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, there is an additional $1,000 bonus.
Beginning in January, the state correctional officer starting salary will be increased 16% to $38,750.
In addition to an increase in correctional officer salary, all current state correctional officers will receive a one-time $1,500 bonus, and state probation officers will receive a $3,000 bonus this December.
“As so many cities and states choose to disrespect, degrade and defund the work of law enforcement, we want Florida to continue valuing our men and women of law enforcement today, tomorrow and for generations to come,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “This year, we have prioritized initiatives to recruit and reward high quality officers, especially corrections officers, and these new bonuses, effective immediately, will help support public safety positions within the Florida Department of Corrections.”
The minimum age requirement for a correctional officer in Florida is 18 years of age.
For more information, visit FLDOCjobs.com.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Northview’s Payton Gilchrist Inks With Huntingdon College
November 18, 2021
Northview High School’s Payton Gilchrist has signed to play softball with Huntingdon College. She played four years for the Northview Chiefs as a catcher, third base and shortstop. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
The Heroes Of Fall: Northview Chiefs Visit Byrneville Elementary
November 18, 2021
When you are an elementary school kid, you look up to the boys of fall that take the field on under those Friday night lights.
Members of the Northview Chiefs football team paid a special visit to the Braves of Byrneville Elementary School Wednesday morning. The players helped out in the car ride line and visited classrooms. The students cheered on their favorite Chiefs and presented them with homemade signs and cards supporting them in their regional semifinal game Friday night at Baker.
Many of today’s Northview Chiefs are Byrneville Elementary graduates.
For more photos, click or tap here.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Man, His Girlfriend Charged After Rolling Altercation
November 18, 2021
A Cantonment man and his girlfriend were both arrested on multiple charges after an altercation inside a moving vehicle on an Escambia County Roadway.
Jeffrey Joseph Porter, 43, and Ella Nicole Nichelson, 32, were fighting inside a vehicle in the area of Blue Angel Parkway and Lillian Highway and were swerving all over the road, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Porter took Nichelson’s phone during the altercation and pulled her back inside the vehicle against her will, according to an arrest report.
After conducting a traffic stop on the vehicle, deputies reported finding a marijuana in the vehicle, along with a bag of marijuana and a glass smoking pipe in Nichelson’s purse, the report continues. When Nichelson and her personal property were searched at the jail, a corrections officer found a substance that test positive for methamphetamine and more marijuana. They also found unknown white and grey powders that will be analyzed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Porter was charged with driving with a suspended license, petit theft, and false imprisonment. He was released on an $8,000 bond.
Nichelson was charged with two counts of smuggling contraband into a detention facility, possession of a control substance without a prescription and possession of marijuana. She remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $8,000.
Escambia Seeks $3.5 Million In State Funds For Community Center In Cantonment
November 17, 2021
When a veterans program was held Sunday in Cantonment, it was held outside on a basketball court.
The court was freshly pressure washed and decorated in red, white and blue at Carver Park. The skies were blue, and temperature was comfortable for most in the sun.
But the pretty weather wasn’t the real reason the Cantonment Improvement Committee held their first-ever veterans program outside. The veterans were seated on the outdoor basketball court because there is no indoor space for larger CIC programs.
However, that could change with a $3.5 million ask of the Florida Legislature. Tuesday, the Escambia County Commission voted to support Rep. Michelle Salzman in submitting the funding request on behalf of the county for a community center in Cantonment. If the state approves the $3.5 million, another $500,000 has been committed by District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry.
“It’s been an honor to work with the Cantonment Improvement Committee on this project,” Salzman said. ”Although it’s not a guaranteed win, it is certainly a step in the right direction for the residents of Cantonment.”
“I’m extremely excited to have our board support Representative Salzman’s appropriations request for a community center for the Cantonment community,” Barry said Tuesday evening. “I want to specifically thank Representative Salzman, the Cantonment Improvement Committee, and the Rotary Club of Cantonment for their continued support of my constituents, and look forward to continuing to move the Cantonment community forward.”
He said if funding is awarded the community center will be located in the Muscogee/Carver Park community.
About a year ago, the Escambia County School District agreed to make two acres of the 12.1 acre former Ransom Middle School property available for a community center, if construction on a community center begins within 7.5 years.
In 2015, Escambia County made improvements to Carver Park on Webb Street, located a short distance from the old Ransom Middle School. Those improvements include a renovated community resource center — a former school portable building that’s less than 800 square feet. he Cantonment Improvement Committee has managed the small resource center at Carver Park, faithfully holding programs and providing services in the building as space allowed until COVID-19. And they have advocated for a larger facility at the former Ransom property for years.
“The Cantonment Community Center will foster an environment that improves the overall quality of life for Cantonment community members by enhancing and increasing community building events and other activities to foster a strengthened sense of community in Cantonment,” the Florida House of Representatives appropriations request paperwork states.
The CIC would oversee programs such as financial literacy, homeownership, physical and mental health and more at the Cantonment community center, according to the application.
Pictured top and bottom inset: The current Carver Park Resource Center, a small portable school building, managed by the Cantonment Improvement Committee. Pictured top inset: A veterans program Sunday, November 14 held outside on a Carver Park basketball court. Pictured below: A portion of the 12.1 acre former Ransom Middle School property on Muscogee Road. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Commission Votes To Request State Funds For Elevated Walkway Over Nine Mile At Beulah Middle
November 17, 2021
The Escambia County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to submit a legislative funding request for a pedestrian bridge over Nine Mile Road at Beulah Middle School.
Local leaders announced in August their plan to work together to seek funding for the walkway, which has a preliminary cost estimate of $3 million. Rep. Michelle Salzman, Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh and Escambia County School Board Member Kevin Adams pledged to seek funding for the project.
Bergosh has previously said the elevated walkway will not only be a safety improvement for the school, but also the surrounding community. Along with expanded sidewalk construction on the north and south side of Nine Mile Road near the school, the project will allow for increased pedestrian access and connectivity in the growing community.
The District 1 commissioner has said he will commit up to $500,000 in D1 Local Option Sales Tax funding over the next few years for sidewalk construction that will be complimented by the walkway.
There are nearly 1,000 students at Beulah Middle School. Currently, a bus is transporting students to and from the middle school. State statutes specify that two miles within a school is the walk radius. If no “safe path” exists, then bussing is required.
The bridge would be an approximately 180-foot span with American Disability Act (ADA) accommodations on both sides of the street. The bridge would be completed in coordination with the Florida Department of Transportation and consider future widening needed for the Nine-Mile Road corridor.
Cantonment Man Gets 30 Years For Armed Home Invasion Robbery Of Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother
November 17, 2021
A Cantonment man was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in state prison for a 2020 home invasion robbery.
Lloyd Christopher Lister must serve a minimum mandatory 10 years under Florida’s 10-20-Life law under the sentence imposed by Circuit Judge Linda Nobles. He was convicted of home invasion robbery with a firearm, false imprisonment with a firearm and grand theft auto by an Escambia County jury.
On December 20, 2020, the victim told deputies she had been inside her residence in the 400 block of Forrest Street with her daughter Autumn Lee Beede when she stepped out to smoke. A few minutes later, Beede came back into the residence followed by a white male holding a handgun while wearing a hoodie, gloves and mask on his face, according to an arrest report.
The victim said the male suspect put the gun to her head, covered her face, zip-tied her wrists together and tied her feet with an extension cord. She was placed in a bathroom, and the door was tied shut with an extension cord. She was in the bathroom about 30 minutes before she could escape.
According to the ECSO, the victim stated the male said, “Don’t turn around or I will shoot you and ma’am, I don’t want to do that.”
As the masked man continued making demands, the victim and her daughter recognized his voice to be that of the daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Lloyd Lister.
The victim discovered her 2019 Kia Sorento was missing, along with her phone and a wallet containing a debit card, cash and checkbook. She called her credit union and discovered there were already unsuccessful attempts to use the debit card at an ATM inside a Tom Thumb on East Nine Mile Road, and the card had been used for a $139.07 purchase at Winn Dixie on Nine Mile Road. In a follow-up investigation, deputies obtained video surveillance of Beede and Lister using the victim’s debit card at both locations.
The ECSO said the victim made positive identification of both suspects from the videos.
Beede was convicted in September of burglary of an unoccupied structure, grand theft auto and petit theft. She must successfully complete a drug court program. She was sentenced to eight months community control to be followed with 20 months probation.
Northview High Names Students Of The Month
November 17, 2021
Northview High School has named Gracie Godwin and Derrick Nicholson as Students of the Month for October. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Posthumously Honors Firefighter Gary Diamond Of Molino
November 17, 2021
The Escambia County Commission on Tuesday issued a proclamation in honor of Gary Diamond, who was recently recognized posthumously as Florida’s Career Firefighter of the Year in a ceremony in the Senate Chamber of the Florida Capitol.
Diamond was murdered at his Molino home on December 26, 2020.
“Gary was a dedicated servant to the citizens of Escambia County,” said Escambia County Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore. “While we are saddened he is no longer with us, we will continue to honor Gary’s legacy within Escambia County Fire Rescue. It’s a privilege to present this proclamation to the Diamond family.”
Accepting the county proclamation on behalf of Gary Diamond was his wife, Cindy.
Diamond joined the Ensley Volunteer Fire Department in 1982 before transferring to the Molino Volunteer Firefighter. He worked his way through the ranks to assistant chief of the Molino Volunteer Fire Department in 1987 and went on to serve as Molino chief from November 1992 to September 1993. He left Escambia in County 2006 to pursue his career calling as a firefighter and EMT at Navarre Beach where he retired as a captain to return home to take care of a family member. At the time of his death, he was volunteering as a fleet transport driver for Escambia Fire Rescue, moving fire apparatus around the county as needed.
“Gary was known for his influence on others with the experience and passion to build a strong fire service community,” Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis. said during a ceremony in September, “dedicating his time to train younger generations of firefighters.”
“Gary suffered a tragic death in December 2020 doing what he has been know to do his entire career, which was selflessly protecting others at the expense of his own life,” stated a proclamation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, CFO and Fire Marshal Patronis, and Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.
Bergosh New Commission Chair, Underhill Vice Chair
November 16, 2021
The Escambia County Commission has new leadership after their annual reorganizational meeting Tuesday morning.
For the next year, District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh will serve as the new chairman and District 2 Commissioner Doug Underhill as the vice chairman. A scheduled rotation takes place each year.
“I want to keep the positive momentum of the last six months moving forward, continue to foster better working relationships with our employees, bargaining groups and community partners, and work toward streamlining our budgeting process for 2022 and beyond,” Bergosh said. “Additionally, I look forward to working with my peers on the board to provide our constituents, the taxpayers of Escambia County, maximum transparency and efficiency in all of our county operations as we work toward recruiting, training and deploying a dynamic and talented workforce to take our county into the future with competence and confidence.”
District 4 Commissioner Robert Bender previously served as the chairman. Bergosh was vice chair prior to his appointment as chair.
“I want to thank the commissioners for allowing me the opportunity to lead the board this past year. We continued to recover from Hurricane Sally, navigate through COVID-19, created and finalized a plan for OLF-8 and made great strides in Public Safety with pay increases and ordering new equipment. I look forward to a great year of leadership as Commissioner Bergosh takes control of the gavel, and I am able to continue to represent the citizens of District 4 and Escambia County.”
Bergosh added, “I applaud the accomplishments and achievements of the last year that the board and staff of the county were able to realize under Chairman Bender’s steady leadership. From hurricane rebuilding to the difficulties of COVID-19 on our community, to beach traffic reduction to profound economic development victories at OLF 8 and the Pensacola Airport with ST Engineering—it was a challenging yet still productive year for Escambia County.”