Principal Relieved Carver/Century To Remain Open; Ready To Work
June 17, 2008
Carver/Century K-8 School Principal Jeff Garthwaite said he was relieved to get a phone call Monday letting him know that Superintendent Jim Paul did not plan to recommend closing the school before the upcoming school year.
“We got the news we needed to get,” Garthwaite said. “We can now move forward with our plans for the next school year. There were a lot of logistical, operational and planning things that just would not let them close the school this year.”
Garthwaite told NorthEscambia.com that he has no plans to step down as the school’s principal; he said will remain there for the school and students.
“My plan is to be here and continue to make this the best learning institution that it can be,” he said.
Century Town Council Talks Sewage
June 17, 2008
The Century Town Council once again talked sewage for a great deal of their Monday night meeting. And Leola Robinson was there to talk back.
When Robinson placed a mobile home on property she owns in the 7500 block of Williams Street, she did not connect the trailer to the town’s sewer system. The town billed her each month for the minimum sewage usage charge, and that bill reach about $3,000 by the time the issue came before the town council about a month ago. The town discovered that due to time limitations, they could only bill her for $624 in service and reduced the bill.
But Robinson once again defiantly told the council that she is not going to pay up.
“I will not pay a penny for something they did not make available to me,” Robinson told the council Monday night. “They did not make it available to me.”
“As long as the sewer is not available to me, I won’t pay a penny,” she reiterated.
Council President Ann Brooks read two town ordinances at the council’s June 2 meeting that indicated that every property owner in the town must connect any structure to the town’s sewer service within three months. If not, the ordinances say the town can charge the property owner a minimum monthly fee and enter the person’s property to connect the service. The ordinances also prohibit septic tanks in the town unless approved by the health department and the council.
“That was not true,” Robinson said of the media’s reporting on the ordinances. “I have not violated no ordinances.”
“They have not made it available to the black people on the west side,” Robinson said of sewer taps. She said taps were installed when the sewer system was installed for people on Highway 29, but not on West Highway 4. “We are people just like they are,” she said.
“I’m not going to argue if it is accessible or not,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. He said the town was in the process of installing a tap near Robinson’s mobile home. He said that Bellsouth was to have located telephone lines by midnight Monday so that the town could being installing a line on Tuesday.
In other sewer related business, the town council voted to raise the sewer reconnect fee from $30 to $250 at Monday night’s meeting.
McCall said it takes several men with a backhoe most of the day to dig six to eight feet down to install a shutoff valve on customer sewer lines that are to be disconnected. He asked that the reconnect fee be raised to compensate the town for that considerable expense.
“It’s something to deter it from happening,” McCall said of past due sewer bills. “We have people that pay the $30 every month.”
He said a letter was going to all sewer customers with seriously delinquent bills asking for payment.
The first paragraph, he said “is begging the people to come in an talk with me”. The second paragraph outlines the town’s legal right to collect the bills, and the third paragraph once again says “please come in and let’s get this worked out”.
When council member Gary Riley asked if the town’s citizens would be informed of the increased fee, McCall said that they would be informed through NorthEscambia.com and The Tri-City Ledger.
The council also discussed water service on Backwoods Road again. The area is served by an inadequate two inch line that runs under the middle of the road. The town has attempted, and the county has attempted, to obtain right of way easements for the county road that is inside the town limits. That has yet to happen, so they may be forced to run the new water lines down the middle of Backwoods Road. That, the mayor says, will lead to future problems if the lines must be dug up for repairs.
Council member Sharon Scott said that many of the property owners that live out of town will be home for the Fourth of July holiday, and she volunteered to help contact them.
The mayor will also investigate hiring a title company to track down property owners.
In other business Monday night:
- McCall reported that Helicopter Technologies is “paid up” to date.
- The council amended the budget to reflect a half million dollar grant for sewage lift station generators.
- McCall announced a special called meeting at noon Wednesday with the town attorney.
- The mayor announced that flag poles had been installed at the town’s Wall of Honor. The wall will be dedicated at 10:00 a.m. on July 4.
Two Nights Of Record Low Temps Could Be On The Way
June 17, 2008
You may be able to cut off your air conditioner Wednesday and Thursday nights, says the National Weather Service. After the passage of two cold fronts, overnight lows both Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be around 61 degrees across the North Escambia area.
For today, there is a 30 percent chance of rain with a high of 92. Tonight, there is a 40 percent chance of rain with a low of 68. Wednesday, there is a slight 20 percent chance of rain before winds turn to the north with a high of 88.
Firefighters Respond To Wheat Field Fire Monday Night Near Bratt
June 17, 2008
The Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department responded to a brush fire call on Rigby Road at Still Road near Bratt about 9:30 Monday night.
When they arrived, they found a wheat field being burned by a farmer. The approximately 10 acre fire could been seen from four to five miles away, appearing as a huge glowing area in the sky from that distance.
The fire had almost burned itself out by the time firefighters arrived. The farmer had plowed a line around the previously harvested field to prevent the fire from spreading.
Pictured above: Firefighters on the scene of a wheat field Monday night near Bratt. A residence that was not threatened by the fire can be seen. Pictured below: A fire whirl, also known as a fire tornado or fire devil, begins to form in the field. Note the spinning embers rising several feet into the air over the flames. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Carver/Century Not To Close This Year
June 16, 2008
NorthEscambia.com has learned that Carver/Century K-8 School will not be closing this year. It will remain open for the 2008-2009 school year.
Superintendent Jim Paul will not formally recommend that school be closed at tomorrow’s meeting of the Escambia County School Board, according to our sources. He was expected to bring the closure up at this afternoon’s workshop meeting of the board later this afternoon, but not recommend the closure. At 8:30 Monday night, that meeting was still ongoing.
We will have more information posted here on NorthEscambia.com as it becomes available this afternoon, and complete coverage Tuesday morning.
One Room Log Walnut Hill School House Wins Major Historic Preservation Award
June 16, 2008
The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation recently honored the restoration project of the old Walnut Hill School House.
During the Trust’s 2008 Preservation Awards ceremony, the Walnut Hill School House project was awarded Outstanding Achievement in the Restoration/Rehabilitation Awards category. The award was accepted by Escambia County and the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club.
The log school, believed to have been built sometime around or just before 1880, was flattened by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. It was restored under the leadership of Quina Grundhoefer Architects in Pensacola with funding from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The restoration used mostly the original logs, reassembling them like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Each year, the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation recognizes significant contributions to the preservation of Florida’s historic resources through the annual Preservation Awards.
According to information posted inside the one room schoolhouse, the exact construction date of the building is unknown because school district records prior to 1880 could not be located. Financial records for the Escambia County School District indicate that William “Uncle Bud” Williams received $40 in April 1880 for “building a new school” and the school received a new heater at the cost of $10 in 1881.
A small shed had been constructed along the railroad about 10 miles north in Alabama several years prior for Williams. The settlement was named Williams Station in honor of Williams in 1866. That community was later renamed Atmore.
The school was originally located near the corner of the present day intersection of Arthur Brown Road and Highway 97. It was moved to its current location on Highway 97 after the construction of the Walnut Hill Community Center, also known as the Walnut Hill Ruritan Building, in the late 1990’s.
When the building was restored, a wheelchair ramp was added in accordance with law. A glassed in area just inside the door will allow visiting school children to view the interior of the building.
The Ruritan Club has placed a period wood burning heater in the building and a single student desk. The club plans to fully restore the interior of the building as a history museum, complete with a teacher’s desk and students desks. There is currently one student desk in the building. The Ruritan Club is in search of more desks like the one pictured at the bottom of the page to complete their collection. If you know where to locate desks like these, email us here at news@northescambia.com and we will put you in touch with the right people.
Pictured above: The exterior of the restored Walnut Hill School House. Pictured below: The interior of the log school house and a period desk. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
NWE All Stars Beat Shalimar 7-3
June 16, 2008
The Northwest Escambia Nine Year Old All Stars team traveled to Niceville Saturday night to take one Shalimar.
NWE defeated Shalimar by a score of 7 to 3. Zach Payne pitched for three innings and allowed no runs.
Center fielder Zachary Maholovich made an awesome catch in the 6th inning for an out.
NWE will travel back to Niceville tonight against Destin.
Ramona Preston story and photos for NorthEscambia.com. Pictured above: The NWE Nine Year Old All Stars, click to enlarge.
Tax Exemption Extended For McDavid Lumber Mill
June 16, 2008
A tax exemption for the West Fraser lumber mill in McDavid was recently extended by the Escambia County Commission.
The commission extended the West Fraser, Inc. Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for the McDavid Lumber Mill until 2010.
The tax exemption exempts the corporation of 100 percent of their ad valorem taxes until the year 2010.
The vote by the commission was unanimous.
Molino Pastor Attends Southern Baptist Convention; Escambia Pastor Nominates New President
June 15, 2008
A local pastor was among the 7,000 gathered at the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, where the man nominated by another Escambia County preacher was named president of the 16 million member group.
Brian Calhoun, pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Molino traveled to Indianapolis this past week for both the actual Southern Baptist Convention and the preceding Southern Baptist 2008 Pastor’s Conference.
“The convention itself was great,” Calhoun said. “I enjoyed the spirit of the convention…the spirit of brotherly love and concern.”
Calhoun said he was pleased in the election of Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Georgia, as president of the convention on the first ballot. Hunt was nominated at the convention by Ted Traylor pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola.
“Pray for him. He has a big task before him. Our Convention needs renewal. Johnny is just the man to point us in the right direction,” Traylor wrote Friday on his blog.
“I pray that these next two years will be exciting times as we turn the tide and begin once again to grow and to reach our neighbors and our nations for His glory and for the expansion of His glorious Kingdom,” Hunt told messengers the day after his election.
He said, “We’ve been declining as a denomination. You can’t turn something around until you stop the tide in the direction it’s going.”
Statistics show that in 2007 Southern Baptists baptized the fewest number of people in two decades.
At the convention, the North American Mission Board unveiled an ambitious National Evangelism Initiative — named God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS) — with the goal of having “every believer sharing” the Gospel and “every person hearing” by 2020.
“I believe it is a good program,” Calhoun said. “Everything that comes out of the Convention is good, but it is not always something that every church benefits from. What works in Southern California might not work in Molino, and vice versa. But this sounds like a good program.”
“As I have been around the country and around the world, the laypeople I have talked with are ready to get out and do something for Christ,” former SBC President Frank Page said. “And I think given the proper motivation and direction, they’ll do it.”
Growth in the Southern Baptist Convention will come from cooperation among Southern Baptist churches, Traylor said.
“Southern Baptists are not easily understood by those outside our Convention. We are often called a denomination and I understand that. However, in the true sense of the matter we are a Convention of churches coming together to cooperate in Gospel ministry. Only when we trust one another and cooperate does the Convention work,” he said. “When the people of a local church decide to cooperate with people from other churches we are then able to join forces and do more together than we can ever do apart.”
“I am proud to be a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is now time to go to work. We have a world to touch in Jesus’ name,” Traylor said.
Pictured top: Brian Calhoun, pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Molino. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge. Second picture: New Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt (left) and Pastor Ted Traylor of Olvie Baptist Church in Molino. TedTraylor.com photo, click to enlarge.
Hershey Games: Sweet Fun For Kids
June 15, 2008
Do you have a child that loves to run, jump and throw? Then Escambia County has an event for you.
Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the Escambia County Parks and Recreation Department and the City of Pensacola Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting the Hershey’s Track and Field Games at the University of West Florida.
Boys and girls, ages nine through 14 are eligible to participate in this free event. Pre-registration is preferred. Registration on the day of the event must be done prior to 9:30 a.m. with the games starting promptly at 10:00 a.m.
Events, which will begin promptly at 10:00 a.m., will include the 50 meter dash, 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 800 meter run, 1600 meter run, 4×100 meter relay, standing long jump and softball throw. Participants can enter three events, either two track and one field or two field and one track.
Participants will compete in boy and girl age groups of 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14, with prizes awarded to the top finishers in each category. Winners have an opportunity to advance to the regional competitions and ultimately qualify for the North American Final Meet on July 31 to August 3 in Hershey, Pa.
Now in its 31st year, the Hershey Youth Program has been hosting Hershey’s Track & Field Games as an exciting and memorable track and field event to promote active lifestyles, sportsmanship and to provide an opportunity for kids to be the best that they can be. Initiated in Charleston, W.V. by Dr. Donald P. Cohen in 1975, the Hershey’s Track & Field Youth Program has become the largest youth sports program of its kind in North America.
For the past 28 years, the mission statement has remained the same: To provide a quality recreation and school program where children have fun and are introduced to physical fitness through basic track and field events such as running, jumping and throwing.
To register for the event or for more information, please contact the Escambia County Parks and Recreation Department at 475-5220.