Area Students of The Month Named
January 5, 2008
Area schools recently named their students of the month for November.:
- Bratt Elementary: Delaney Reynolds, first grade and Bradley Van Pelt, fourth grade
- Carver/Century K-8: Markayla Bradley and Desmone Knight, third grade.
- Molino Park Elementary: Mitchell Singleton and Quaneisha Walker, third grade
- Ernest Ward Middle School: Jonathan Foster, seventh grade; Thomas Jackson, eighth grade
Smoke In The Area Friday Tonight
January 4, 2008
There was a lot of smoke across North Escambia Friday night, a lot of it from a fire in the Flomaton, Alabama, area.
Fire departments from Century and McDavid were called to Lambeth Road west of Flomaton about 4:45 Friday afternoon to assist the Flomaton Fire Department with a brush fire.
Heavy smoke was still reported in Century, Bogia and McDavid about 5:30.
Temps Are Warming; North Escambia Residents Speak Out About the Cold
January 4, 2008
Saturday. Partly sunny and 68. Up to 78 on Monday. Now that just sounds better doesn’t it?
After overnight lows in the teens, the coldest they have been in over five years, many North Escambia residents are ready for a return to our normal Florida winter. Over the past few days, we asked NorthEscambia.com readers to comment about this week’s frigid weather. Here’s a sampling of what you had to say:
- “I’m just ready for it to be normal…a sweater in the morning and shirt sleeves in the afternoon,” said Mark in Bogia.
- “This has been bad for us kids out of school,” said Kate from Molino. “I bet it warms up when we go back (to school) next week.”
- “I thought this was Florida, not Alaska,” said Mike from Walnut Hill. “I don’t have the money to heat my house like this. It’s an old house, and it is real expensive to heat.”
- “I like it,” said Joseph from Molino. “I used to live up north, and I missed it.”
- “I’m freezin!” said Chad from Century.
- “It really hurt walking outside,” said Suzanne from McDavid. “It really hurt my face walking in that kind of cold wind. I just don’t like that.”
- “I wish it has been this cold for Christmas,” said Hazel from Walnut Hill. “It needed to be this cold, and it needed to snow for Christmas.”
- “I hope it gets cold enough, for long enough, to kill off some of those blasted mosquitos that have been about to drive us crazy,” said Rene from Atmore. “Seems the last few years it didn’t get cold enough for any length of time to do any good.”
What do you think of this cold weather? What precautions did you take? What problems did you have? We’d love to hear your comments at NorthEscambia.com for possible addition to this story. Click here to fill our our contact form, or email us at news@northescambia.com. Please let us know what community you are in when you contact us.
Barrineau Park Music Night Tonight
January 4, 2008
Southern Sound and the Qualls Family will perform at the Barrineau Park Music Night tonight at the Barrineau Park Community Center at 6055 Barrineau Park School Road.
The event will run from 7:00 until 10:00. Refreshments will be made available by the Barrineau Park Historical Society. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed. For more details, call Lawson Berry at 587-5575.
NorthEscambia.com helps launch AtmoreNews.com
January 3, 2008
AtmoreNews.com has been launched to bring Atmore News in Atmore, Alabama, to the web. The web site was launched with the help of NorthEscambia.com.
“Our close proximity to north Escambia (Fla.) ties us together in many ways,” said Ryan Carter of Atmore News. “We share schools, churches, community activities and many Atmore area residents have relatives who live across the state line.”
“For that reason, the two sites will often share stories that are of interest to visitors to both sites,” said William Reynolds of NorthEscambia.com. “The continued focus of NorthEscambia.com will be on the residents and happenings in North Escambia, but we will be able to bring you some of the news from our neighbors to the north in Atmore and Escambia County, Alabama.”
“Many North Escambia residents regularly visit Atmore to shop, eat and worship,” Reynolds added.
“Our hope is the two websites will serve to bringing the two communities closer together,” Carter said.
The AtmoreNews.com site is hosted by the parent company of NorthEscambia.com, and the technology behind AtmoreNews.com is the same technology that has served over a half million pages in less than two months to the thousands of NorthEscambia.com readers.
Just like NorthEscambia.com, the publishers of AtmoreNews.com plan to update the site daily with the latest local news.
The site is available now on the web at AtmoreNews.com.
Talk to Us: Tell Us What You Think of This Cold Weather
January 2, 2008
What do you think of this cold weather? What precautions did you take? What problems did you have? Just how cold was it on your thermometer? We’d love to hear your comments at NorthEscambia.com for possible inclusion in a story. Click here to fill our our contact form, or email us at news@northescambia.com. Please let us know what community you are in when you contact us.
Be Careful With Space Heaters
January 2, 2008
With our extremely cold overnight temperatures, Escambia County Fire Rescue reminds everyone to be safe while staying warm and offers these safety tips involving heating equipment:
• Properly inspect all heating equipment before using it.
• Keep space heaters at least three feet away from all combustibles.
• Use only heaters designed for use in the home. Never use cooking appliances or other heaters designed for outdoor usage indoors.
• Only use heaters that have safety features such as cut-off switches that turn the heater off if they accidentally tip over and those units that have heater element guards that prevent combustible materials from contacting the heating element.
• Never leave space heaters unattended, turn them off when you leave the room or go to bed.
• Make sure to keep children away from space heaters.
• Keep heaters and their cords along with extension cords away from high traffic areas.
• When buying a new space heater, make sure it carries the mark of an independent testing laboratory.
• Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home and outside every bedroom. Test the batteries every month and change them at least once a year.
• If you have gas appliances, install a carbon monoxide alarm in a central location outside each sleeping area.
Alternative Heating Fire Safety Life-Saving Tips
• Allow your heater to cool before refueling and only refuel outdoors.
• Fill your heater with only crystal clear, K-1 kerosene, not gasoline or camp stove fuel both explode easily.
• Keep the fire in the fireplace by making sure you have a screen large enough to catch flying sparks and rolling logs.
• Heaters need space. Keep combustibles at least three feet away from each heater and never use them to dry clothes or other materials.
• Carefully follow manufacturers’ installation and maintenance instructions.
• Remember its always safer to add more blankets on your bed than to use a space heater while sleeping.
• In case of a fire, stay low to the ground, beneath the smoke, and crawl to an exit using your escape plan.
If you need assistance in obtaining a smoke alarm for your residence, call the smoke alarm program at 595-HERO.
Minor Flooding On Escambia River
January 2, 2008
A flood warning continues in effect for the Escambia River near Century, with minor flooding reported in low lying areas.
The latest stage was 17.4 feet at 10:00 Wednesday morning. Flood stage is 17.0 feet. The river has crested according to the the National Weather Service, and it is expected to fall below flood stage by noon Thursday.
The weather service says minor lowland flooding will continue until the river level drops below 13 feet.
Seniors Ring In the New Year Tuesday In Century
January 1, 2008
Seniors at the Century Care Center rang in the New Year in a grand fashion Tuesday. The residents enjoyed a little “bubbly”, finger foods, cake and ice cream. The party was complete with party favors and hats as the Century Care Center residents welcomed 2008.
Click any of the photos on this page to enlarge. Submitted Photos by Mae Hildreth. Scroll down for more pictures.
Brisk Winds Bring Power Outages
January 1, 2008
Scattered power outages were reported across North Escambia Tuesday afternoon as a north-northwest winds gusted to about 35 miles per hour. Traffic signals were reported to be out in Century at one point Tuesday afternoon. A power outage lasting about two hours was reported along Highway 168 north of Bratt.
A wind advisory was issued by the National Weather Service. Freeze warnings have also been issued.
For more information on the weather warnings, click here.