One Injured In Highway 29, North Tate School Road Crash
April 17, 2024
One person was reported injured in a two-vehicle crash about 3:30 Wednesday afternoon on Highway 29 near North Tata School Road.
The injured person was transported to an area hospital by Escambia County EMS with injuries that were not considered critical.
We’re told properly restrained toddler in one of the vehicles was not injured.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Century Town Clerk Out On Leave; Town To Hire Temp Interim Clerk
April 17, 2024
The Century Town Council voted Tuesday night to seek a temporary interim town clerk.
“Yes, Leslie (Howington) is still the town clerk, but she’s out for a couple of weeks,” Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. said of Town Clerk Leslie Howington.
“There’s a lot of work because we have these new city managers, and we have a lot of moving parts, and it’s getting a little bit overwhelming for Leslie…getting overwhelming for the office staff,” he said. “We are calling in the temp to do an assessment to see how we can keep everything moving in the office and catch up a lot of work that’s missing this (council) table. There’s stuff on this agenda that should have been carried two months ago.”
“At not at liberty to discuss why Ms. Howington is not here, but she’s still employed here and she’s still our clerk,” the mayor said. “With that said, we need help, whether she was here tomorrow, we still need that help.”
Howington told NorthEscambia.com Tuesday that she is on temporary medical leave and did not wish to disclose her specific circumstances.
Gomez said the hire would be like a contract, paid from American Rescue Plan funds and could be limited to a day or two per week using a temporary service.
The council voted to authorize Gomez to retain a temp service to provide interim town clerk services for a period not to exceed six months. The council did not specify a dollar limit or budget.
Howington was Century town clerk from 2010-2018 before resigning for another position. She was rehired in 2021.
Pictured: Century Town Clerk Leslie Howington uses her phone to find information for council members during a Century Town Council meeting. NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Update: Investigation Determines Cause Of Cantonment House Fire
April 16, 2024
Escambia County Fire Rescue has determined the cause of a residential structure fire Tuesday morning in Cantonment.
The fire in the 900 block of Candy Lane was reported about 6:45 a.m.
Firefighters arrived a few moments later to find light smoke coming from the single-story home. The fire was extinguished within approximately 25 minutes.
There were no injuries reported.
An ECFR rescue investigation determined the fire started when an electric power strip malfunctioned in one of the bedrooms.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour (power strip photo courtesy ECFR), click to enlarge.
New Details Released In Fatal Cottage Hill Shooting Of 16-Year-Old
April 16, 2024
Arrest and investigative reports obtained Tuesday morning by NorthEscambia.com detail what witnesses say happened late Friday night when a 16-year-old was fatally shot at a party at a Cottage Hill home.
Ethan Alexander O’Brien, 19, was charged with felony negligent manslaughter. He turned himself in Monday afternoon at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and was booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond.
“The investigation determined that during a large gathering at the residence, O’Brien (pictured) was showing off his firearm at which time it accidentally discharged hitting the 16-year-old. O’Brien fled the scene before deputies arrived,” The ECSO said Saturday morning.
The incident happened about 11:30 p.m. Friday at a home in the 600 block of Wishbone Road. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Emergency dispatchers received one call from someone who told them she heard a gunshot from her neighbor’s house and someone screaming “help me”. Another caller reported that they heard one gunshot and two vehicles leaving, and people were knocking on other residents’ doors.
Another caller reported that there was a male that had a gunshot wound to his stomach and leg. Another 911 call reported that a 16-year-old male had been shot in the chest and was not breathing.
Deputies arrived on the scene and found a male on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. Deputies unsuccessfully performed CPR and used an AED in an attempt to revive the victim, who was pronounced deceased by Escambia County EMS.
A 17-year-old witness told deputies that O’Brien pulled his gun from his trunk, and he had it out trying to shoot it, the report states. O’Brien then held the gun up midway and shot it. The witness told deputies that she did not feel that O’Brien was trying to shoot the victim on purpose.
Another witness, a 17-year-old male, said he heard a gunshot and screaming about five minutes after arriving at the home. He said O’Brien pointed the gun. “He believes he was messing around with the gun, and he felt that he didn’t shoot it on purpose,” the report states.
Another 17-year-old witness told deputies that she had invited a few friends over to her house and she was inside when the incident occurred. She heard a gunshot and went outside to find the victim on the ground and asked who was responsible.
“Do you want us to get in trouble, and he said I gots to leave,” she indicated O’Brien said. She continues that before the incident O’Brien showed her the gun that was in his trunk, and she asked to shoot it. She said she did not fire what she described to investigators as a “big gun”.
The victim grabbed his side after being shot and said, “You just shot me bro” before falling to the ground, an additional 17-year-old witness told law enforcement. He said O’Brien had an “AR style” rifle and he was playing with before the shooting.
An additional witness said he was standing by the road in front of the residence talking to a female when he heard someone said “I’ve been shot” multiple times and walking toward the house and saw the victim on the ground.
Other witnesses said the victim stated “I’m shot. You shot me” and O’Brien replied, “I shot you?” before the victim fell to the ground. The witness described the gun as an AR pistol.
An additional witness said O’Brien appeared to be intoxicated and showed her the gun and the handgun magazine had hollow, green tips. About five minutes prior to the fatal shot, the gun was fired outside, and a male came running in the door, playfully sliding on his stomach across the floor.
No shell casings were found at the scene.
The teens at the party were from Tate High School, and O’Brien does “stupid stuff”, one teen told investigators, declining to elaborate on what he meant by “stupid stuff”>
Deputies went to multiple addresses known to be associated with O’Brien but were unable to locate him.
The report states the homeowner was out of town during the incident.
Pictured top: The scene on Wishbone Road in Cottage Hill late Friday night after a teen was shot and killed. Pictured below: Crime scene still surrounded the home Saturday morning. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
DeSantis Touts Education Legislation, Limits On Book Challenges
April 16, 2024
Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Escambia County Monday to announce his support for HB 1285, which he said will further cement Florida as the best state in the nation for education
Speaking at Warrington Preparatory Academy, the governor said the bill will simplify the process to convert failed “turnaround schools” to charter schools so no child is stuck in a poor-performing school, and incentivizing school districts to grow their roster of Purple Star Schools to support military families.
He said the bill will also streamline content objection process for parents and preventing activists from making bad-faith objections. Specifically, residents that are not the parent or guardian with a child in the local school district will be limited to one book challenge per month.
“The frivolous book challenges need to stop,” DeSantis said. “What’s gone on in the this county has not been something is nothing something that the law has tried to do….I know Escambia had a lot of books that should not have been under review that somehow were. You’ve got to use some common sense on this.”
In Escambia County, Northview High School teacher Vicki Baggett has challenged scores of books in Escambia County and has attended school board meetings in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties to challenge more. Under the new law, she will be limited to one new challenge per month because she does not have children in the school district.
DeSantis did not menton Baggett by name during Monday’s event.
“That’s performative, that’s political, you’re trying to be an activist when you should be trying to be an educator,” he said.
“If you don’t have kids in the school district, you still are a citizen. You still can be interested in education, but you’re going to be limited to what you can be objecting to. You can raise an objection, and these are limited to one a month because what we found is you have activists that are going in there and they’re objecting to everything under the sun, and it’s from all ends of the political spectrum,” the governor said.
Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, PEN America, a “free expression organization”, and several individuals have filed suit alleging Escambia County schools have violated the First Amendment by setting out to remove or restrict access to books discussing race, racism, and LGBTQ identities, against the recommendations of the district review committee charged with evaluating book challenges.
The Escambia County District filed a motion that was denied in Pensacola federal court to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge urged the parties to settle the case in mediation rather than moving forward in court.
Pictured. Florida Gov Ron DeSantis touts education bill at Warrington Preparatory Academy in Escambia County on Monday. Image for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FHP Says Charges Are Pending After Fatal Highway 29 Construction Zone Crash
April 16, 2024
The Florida Highway Patrol says charges are pending in a fatal crash involving a motorcycle last week in Molino.
The crash happened on Highway 29 near the Highway 97 intersection at about 10:50 p.m. on April 11.
A 21-year of Molino man was traveling north on Highway 29 on a yellow Honda motorcycle along with a person now identified as a 20-year-old Pensacola woman.
A 43-year-old Century man was also traveling north on Highway 29 approaching the construction area in a gray pickup truck towing a utility trailer.
FHP said, “the front of the Toyota pickup struck the rear of the Honda motorcycle”.
The man and woman were thrown from the motorcycle and landed on the roadway. The pickup truck came to a stop on the shoulder of the road.
The woman was pronounced deceased on the scene, and the man was airlifted to an area hospital by MedStar Air Care helicopter. The driver of the pickup truck was not injured.
Monday, FHP said charges are pending the conclusion of their investigation. Names were not released.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Man Arrested On Cocaine, Fentanyl Charges After Traffic Stop
April 15, 2024
A traffic stop led to the arrest of a Cantonment man on felony cocaine and fentanyl charges.
Kevin Jacob Moore, 35, was booked into the Escambia County Jail on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription (fentanyl), and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office stopped a Nissan Altima for a seatbelt violation at I-10 and Pensacola Boulevard.
Moore was one of three passengers in the vehicle. He was sitting on a plastic container that contained a white substance that field tested positive for cocaine, a smoking glass pipe, and a plastic straw, according to an arrest report. A metal smoking pipe was located next to the plastic container.
He told deputies that the substance was fake fentanyl that does not have the same effect as the real drug, but he was unaware of what it was called, the report continues. Deputies said he claimed ownership of the metal smoking pipe, but not the glass pipe.
The driver of the vehicle was issued citations for driving while a valid driver’s license and a seatbelt violation.
Police Warn Of Door To Door Satellite Equipment Scam
April 15, 2024
Police have issued a warning about a possible door to door scam in the area.
The Atmore Police Department said they have received reports of individuals going from home-to-home claiming to be representatives of satellite companies and requesting to enter residences to inspect satellite equipment.
“This is a play to case your house,” Atmore PD said, warning not to let them inside.
NorthEscambia.com has received similar reports from readers in the Walnut Hill, Dogwood Park, McDavid, Enon and Molino areas. Residents have reported one of the individuals as driving a grey or silver four-door car, possibly a 2022 Nissan Sentra.
Lane Closures As $6.2 Million Highway 29 Resurfacing Underway North Of Highway 97
April 14, 2024
Work is continuing a $6.2 million Florida Department of Transportation Project to resurface Highway 29 from Highway 97 to north of Champion Drive.
Lane closures are underway for paving operations. FDOT said lane closures are prohibited from 6:30 – 8:00 a.m. and from 1 – 3:00 p.m. on school days.
Improvements in the project include the milling and resurfacing, drainage improvements, auxiliary lane and shoulder widening, signalization, and signing and pavement marking improvements.
According to FDOT, the 4.58 mile project is set to be completed in the Fall of 2024, weather permitting.
Thursday night, one person was killed and another critically injured in a crash involving a motorcycle during lane closures in the construction zone on Highway 29 near the Highway 97 intersection. The Florida Highway Patrol said the pick-up truck rear-ended the motorcycle. Troopers did not directly attribute the cause of the crash to the construction zone.
Pictured: Lane closures and work to resurface Highway 29 north of Highway 97 as seen Thursday afternoon, April 10. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
