Will It Snow This Morning?
January 19, 2008
Will it snow this morning? Across North Escambia…the answer is probably not. But a flake or two might just fall during the morning. But don’t hold your breath.
But if you are traveling very far at all north into central Alabama…the answer is “most likely”.
The National Weather Service has issued a Heavy Snow Warning across north & central Alabama where up to two inches of snow is forecast. The Heavy Snow Warning has been extended all the way down to Montgomery, where forecasters now say UP TO SIX INCHES of snow is possible by Saturday afternoon.
The text of the Heavy Snow Warning for Montgomery says:
A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW EARLY THIS MORNING IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE
OVER TO ALL SNOW BETWEEN 6 AM AND 8 AM. HEAVY SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED
ACROSS THESE AREAS…WITH SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES
LIKELY.
A slight chance of snow is forecast by Saturday morning as far south as Greenville, Alabama, with perhaps just a little accumulation expected that far south.
A sporadic flake or two can’t be ruled out across North Escambia early Saturday morning, but no accumulation. Our official forecast is for low of 38 with a 100% chance of precipitation tonight. Saturday’s high will hold steady around 40 with another 100% chance of precipitation.
In the unlikely event you do see snow…let NorthEscambia.com know about by using our contact form or email news@northescambia.com. You can send pictures to the email address.
School Board Quiet On Paul’s DUI
January 19, 2008
The Escambia County School Board was quiet about Superintendent Jim Paul’s DUI arrest at workshop meeting Friday. It was the board’s first meeting since the arrest just over a week ago in Pinellas County, Florida.
The board conducted regular business…discussing holding a workshop for public input into the new school calendar for 2008-2009, and discussing a new location rather than the expensive Pensacola Civic Center for high school graduations.
You can read complete details of Paul’s arrest, including his comments in an exclusive NorthEscambia.com interview, by clicking here.
Century Prison Visitations Returned This Weekend
January 18, 2008
Visitations were once again allowed this weekend at the Century Correctional Institution. Visitations were canceled last weekend due to case of chicken pox within the facility.
A spokesman said one person had a confirmed case of the chicken pox and there were other possible cases, prompting the cancellation last weekend as a precaution.
“We have identified several cases of chicken pox at this institution, and as a precautionary measure, visitation has been canceled for this weekend,” according to statement on the Florida Department of Corrections website last week that was attributed to Director of Health Services Patrick H. Brown, M.D.
“We do this to ensure that you and your loved ones are not exposed to any potential cases.” the statement continued. “Thank you for your understanding.”
According to the Department of Corrections website, there are 1,361 inmates currently at Century Correctional Institute. That most recent staff count was 410. It was established in 1991.
County Wants To Kill Current Volunteer Fire Departments, Create New Unified Fire Dept
January 18, 2008
Independent volunteer fire departments will be a thing of the past by October 1 if the Escambia County Commission gets its way.
“As far as I am concerned on October 1, we’ve got a whole new fire department in Escambia County,” said Commissioner Mike Whitehead.
“There will be so many stations, but they won’t be independent districts anymore. It will be an Escambia County fire system,” said Commissioner Gene Valentino. “We will still very much value and absolutely need the support of the volunteers, but it will be one system that will be a unified Escambia County fire system.”
Commissioners began their fire department discussion centered around stipend overpayments and a recent audit. That audit found volunteer firefighters were overpaid $39,500 during the six months from October 2006 to February 2007, with one third of that money going to firefighters in North Escambia. An audit conducted by the volunteer fire departments found $24,575 in overpayments county-wide.
Assistant County Administrator Willie Taylor told commissioners they basically had three choices: first, waive repayment; second, accept a lump sum repayment; or third, negotiate a repayment plan.
Regi Burkett, vice president of the Escambia County Volunteer Firefighters Association, told the commission that the $24,575 was the amount that the volunteers had agreed upon. Burkett is also chief of the Century Volunteer Fire Department.
“We stand on the twenty four five,” Burkett said. “Whatever you decide on the repayment, that’s what we’ll do, if it will end this thing here and today.”
Valentino said he believed the volunteer overpayments were neither deceitful or intentional and “pinching a department or two of 24 grand is not on my agenda today”.
“God knows we need to support them as much as we can,” Valentino said. “I’m more concerned about unified fire service. I’m more concerned about an organization chart where one guy is at the top, and if he’s not doing his job, then he’s fired. ” The organization chart should end with everyone reporting ultimately to the assistant county administrator, he said.
“An orderly response for life safety issues means more to me than the $24,000. I would be very much in favor of just waiving this issue altogether but tie it to a very important request,” he continued, asking the volunteer and paid firefighters to work “in a unified manner to help work with staff with consolidating the fire system.”
“We would very much appreciate you waiving it,” Burkett responded to the commission. “But we stand ready to make it a unified sytem either way it goes. We want to do that, but we want our concerns heard and acted on in the process.”
“We are the ones in the community out there that have been supplying this so many years, and we want to see it continue at a pace where the residents and taxpayers are going to benefit for it and not suffer from it,” Burkett also said.
Burkett told the commission that the volunteers were willing to work with the commission on unifying the fire system, but he did not see why the stipend overpayment repayment and the unified system needed to be handled together.
County Attorney Janet Lander told the commission that the county’s agreement with the volunteer fire departments in the county ends on September 30.
“I’m not going to vote to renew a contract,” Whitehead said. “We’ve talked about it for two years. It’s time to move; it’s time to make it happen.
The commission then voted 5-0 in favor of waiving the volunteer overpayments and working toward a unified county fire department as of October 1 of this year. The vote is not binding; a similar resolution must pass at a regular commission meeting.
The commission also tackled the issue of volunteer certification. In order to become a certified “Firefighter I”, a volunteer must complete 160 hours of training and take a state certification test within one year. Provisions exist to allow exemption letters for firefighters that had an equivalent amount of experience prior to the end of 2005, without requiring those firefighters to take a state test.
“There will be no new letters,” Burkett said. “Attrition will take care of the ones that are in existence.” No new firefighters are allowed under state law to obtain an exemption letter.
The Firefighter I certification is required for a volunteer to enter an “exclusion zone”. In essence, a firefighter without proper certification is not allowed to enter a burning building, the area immediately around a burning building, or certain other scenes like the danger area around a chemical spill.
The commission voted 5-0 to grandfather volunteer firefighters with an exemption letter to be paid at the Firefighter I stipend rate until September 30. Beginning October 1, firefighters with an exemption letter will be dropped to the stipend level of a “Firefighter Trainee”.
Lander said that if the resolution passes, as of October 1, “Escambia County shall not issue a stipend to any volunteer who has not at least met the state certification requirements of Firefighter I, regardless of whether the volunteer has an exemption letter.”
The volunteer firefighter training motion passed at Thursday’s Escambia County Committee of the Whole is not binding until approved a regular commission meeting. The commission has a joint meeting scheduled for Tuesday with the Pensacola City Council and a regular meeting scheduled for next Thursday at 5:30. The firefighters issues are expected to be discussed at the Thursday meeting; they do not appear on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.
Mardi Gras Parade At Century Library
January 18, 2008
It was party time Thursday afternoon at the Century Branch Library as area youngsters participated in a Mardi Gras parade around the library and the Century City Hall.
The children wore “floats” made from boxes and filled with candy. They paraded around the parking lot, tossing candy, beads and moon pies to excited onlookers while New Orleans style jazz music played.
For a complete photo gallery from the Century Library Mardi Gras parade, click here.
the road to the crown Part Four
January 18, 2008
Today, it’s part four of our five part series “the road to the crown”. We are following 25 young ladies at Northview High School in their quest for the crown and the title of “Miss Northview High School” for 2008.
We’ve posted more photos today from Wednesday afternoon’s dress rehearsal. They are in black and white so we can show them to you without spoiling the excitement of seeing the gowns in their colorful splendor Saturday night. Plus we thought the black and white was just cool looking. See the photo gallery by clicking here.
Most of the girls purchased their gowns the “traditional” way. Try on a bunch and finally pick that perfect one. But not junior Ashley Snow. She actually found her gown on ebay. That’s right, ebay. Sight unseen, other than a few photos on the computer, and without trying it on, she picked out her dream pageant gown.
“I told my mom what I wanted,” she said. “We looked online on ebay because it is cheaper. We found it and bid on it.”
“My mom buys from ebay a lot, so it did not make me that nervous,” she said. Ashley is pictured to the left in her dream pageant dress.
Click here to read part one of this series from Tuesday.
Click here to read part two of this series from Wednesday.
Click here to view part three of this series from Thursday.
All of the tickets for Saturday night’s pageant have been sold. The final practice is over. Our series “the road to the crown” will continue Saturday morning. The pageant is Saturday night at 7:00, and NorthEscambia.com will have the new Miss Northview High School and all the photos here Sunday morning.
Northview Boys Lose In Final Four Seconds, Girls Win Against Jay Royals
January 17, 2008
Jay High School squeaked past the Northview Chief varsity boy’s team 57-56 Thursday night in Bratt. Jay’s Greg Nelson sank a running shot with just four seconds on the clock for the Royal’s win. Nelson had 25 on the board for the night.
Farrin Jackson had 21 points for the Chiefs. Nakitta Miles tossed in 16 for Northview. Other points came from: Tarus Thomas 11, James Lewis 5, Cordaryl Lowery 2.
The Northview High School girls downed the Royals 49-44 in another one that came down to almost the buzzer. The game was tied at 19 seconds until Timeka Marshall put the Chiefs out on top.
Number 20 Gabe Wesley was on fire for Northview, adding 31 to the big board during the night. Other points came from: Timeka Marshall 7, Melissa Garrett, 7, Angela Rodriquez 2 and Brittney Thompson 2.
State Suspends Allstate From Writing New Vehicle Policies
January 17, 2008
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has issued an Immediate Final Order suspending the Allstate Companies from writing new insurance business in Florida until the companies fully comply with the subpoenas served Oct. 16 by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. The Order applies to all new business.
The decision by the commissioner follows Tuesday’s action when he abruptly halted the scheduled two-day hearing into the Allstate Companies’ reinsurance program, their relationships with risk modeling companies, insurance rating organizations and insurance trade associations.
“In view of Allstate’s ongoing, blatant disregard of our subpoenas, I have little choice but to take an action that will send a clear message about how seriously I am taking this issue,” said Commissioner McCarty. “Suspending their certificate of authority to write new business in our state should make my point.
If Allstate is willing to pay $25,000 per day in fines to a Missouri court for its ongoing failure to provide similar documents, it’s obvious to me that it will take more than a monetary sanction to get them to comply with our subpoenas.”
Allstate was to have provided all appropriate company documents related to the above topics at or before Tuesday’s hearing, but failed to do so. Instead, the Office received 51 pages of objections to the subpoenas.
The suspension applies to all Allstate companies and it only suspends the companies from writing new business in Florida. Renewals are not affected.
Allstate must continue to service them and the companies must make all required statutory filings including, but not limited to, audited annual financial statements, quarterly financial statements and rate filings.
“The duration of the suspension is up to them,” added McCarty. “It will be lifted when I am satisfied that we have received each and every document we need to properly investigate the important issues before us.
“It continues to trouble me that Allstate has not complied with our subpoenas and is not willing to explain to us their relationships with rating agencies, modeling companies and trade groups and how these relationships might have influenced the huge rate increases they have requested. This clearly cannot be in the best interests of Florida consumers.”
This is the first time the Office has suspended a company for failure to “freely” provide documents as required by Florida law.
A copy of the subpoena is available to review.
Allstate Floridian Indemnity and Allstate Floridian Insurance Company have requested rate increases of 28.3 percent and 41.9 percent respectively. Encompass Floridian Indemnity requested a 38.4 percent increase, and Encompass Floridian Insurance Company requested a 39.7 percent increase.
Walnut Hill Water Works Fails To Meet Monitoring Requirements
January 17, 2008
The Walnut Hill Water Works failed to meet monitoring requirements for total coliform bacteria in November, according to a posted public notice.
But that does mean the water is unsafe to drink. The water company properly tested the water in December, and it was found safe to drink.
“Due to an operator oversight, the proper number of samples was not collected (in November),” the public notice says.” The proper sampling procedures have been reviewed in order to avoid monitoring and reporting violations in the future. The required samples for the next compliance period have already been collected and were absent of total coliform bacteria.”
“Total coliform bacteria are generally not harmful themselves. Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially harmful, bacteria, may be present,” according to the notice.
For more information, call (850) 675-4521.
The Walnut Hill Water Works is operated by the Escambia River Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Better Weather For Thursday
January 17, 2008
Yuck. That was just the best word to describe yesterday’s weather.
It is forecast to be sunny by this afternoon, but still cold with a high around 58.
Tonight it will be back down around 38. Rain is back in the forecast for Friday and Friday night with a high of 55 and a low of 38.