Driver’s Licenses No Longer Available In Century
September 12, 2008
Thursday was the last day that driver’s license services were be offered at the courthouse in Century, and the tax collector’s hours in Century are being cut back to just three days a week beginning next week.
Janet Holley, Escambia tax collector, said her office in the Billy G. Ward Courthouse in Century will no longer offer driver license services. Those services will be transferred to the Cantonment office on Highway 29.
“The service is being transferred from the Century Tax Collector Office in order to provide easier access to a greater number of citizens in the northern part of Escambia County,” the press release to be issued today from Holley’s office says.
Both the Century and Cantonment tax collector offices was closed Friday to transfer computer systems. The Century branch will reopen on Tuesday with new hours of operation…Tuesday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The office had previously been open 8:30 to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Cantonment branch will continue their same hours of operation from 8:30 until 5:00 Monday to Friday with extended hours unti 6:00 on Wednesdays. The driver license services will be available by appointment only by calling 438-6500, extension 252.
“In this reorganization, we have reallocated our services in order to reach the most citizens while reducing the cost of providing these services,” Holley said. “We expect to save about $100,000 annually in operational costs and reduction in staff.”
A Heroes’ Lunch For 9/11
September 12, 2008
The crew on duty Thursday at the Century Volunteer Fire Department was treated to a pizza lunch on Patriot’s Day to honor them for their service. Pictured (L-R) are Nathan Berry, Lt. Greg Sims, Greg Therrell, Donald Merritt and Kyle Kraatz. The lunch was provided by an group of Century area citizens that wished to remain anonymous. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Votes For Budget At Public Hearing
September 12, 2008
The Town of Century offered a preliminary nod to their nearly $2.5 million budget at a public hearing Thursday afternoon.
The council voted 3-1 for the budget, with council member Ann Brooks voting against it and council member Nadine McCaw absent.
Only one member of the public attended the public hearing, but she did not have any comment on the budget.
For more details on what the budget includes, and what items were cut, click here to read a story from a Tuesday budget workshop.
Northview Falls To Catholic In District Volleyball
September 12, 2008
The Northview varsity and JV volleyballs teams traveled to Pensacola to take on Catholic High School Thursday night in District action.
The varisty girls lost to Catholic, 25-21, 25-13, 25-9.
Ashley Digmon had eight digs for the Chiefs. Shawna Montgomery had half a dozen digs, along with a block and a kill. Brittney Thompson racked up four blocks, three kills, six digs and one ace. Junior Amber McMillan had four digs.
Setter Caitlin Hall, a junior, had three blocks, three assits and two digs against Catholic. Hall was named the Northview volleyball Player of the Week.
The JV Chiefs also lost to Catholic, 25-6, 25-12.
Shaniqua Jones had one dig and one kill against Catholic. Chief Trestine Dean had two digs, and sophomore Miranda Burkett picked up one ace and three digs.
Northview will be at home against W.S. Neal of Brewton Tuesday. The JV will play at 4:30, and the varsity will hit the court at 6:00.
Northview Remembers 9/11
September 11, 2008
Northview High School held a moment of silence and recognition for September 11 this morning. Captain Charlie Code, the Naval Science Instructor for Northview’s NJRTOC unit, penned the following for this morning’s reading:
September 11, 2001
A moment of silence-
To remember the men and women who lost their lives in an attack on American soil. Over thirty six hundred individuals died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania.
To remember the four thousand seven hundred eighty three soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who have died as a result of the global war on terrorism.
To remember and give thanks for all that you have, to the dedicated men and women who today continue to sacrifice and serve in our fight for freedom not only for America, but the people of the world who want that same freedom. Our fighting men and women have sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Remember that freedom has a price!
That freedom has been paid so you can attend the school of your choice, to worship in the faith of your choosing, to shop where you want, to go where you want to go without having to explain why. The simple things in life that many in the world can only dream of.
Douglas MacArthur said, “no man (or woman) is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he is vigilant in its preservation”.
Remember that freedom has a price!
Blog: Where Were You That September Morning?
September 11, 2008
September 11, 2001. It’s been seven years today. We’ll all ask each other today, “where were you”. So here’s my story.
Life, at least when that morning began, seemed good. I’ve always been a work at home dad, so I was home with my two girls. The youngest was almost four months old, and the oldest was approaching her fourth birthday. It was a normal morning. The little one was asleep, “fat and happy” as we used to say, after a morning bottle. The oldest was in the living room just a few feet from my office watching PBS Kids on the TV as I worked on a project for a client.
Then this arrived in my inbox:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 08:52am– World trade center damaged; unconfirmed reports say a plane has
crashed into tower. Details to come.
I got up, walked to the living room and flipped the TV to CNN. They were talking about how a pilot could make such an error, hitting such a large building. They were speculating that it was just a small plane. But then as the TV news helicopters zoomed their cameras in closer, the anchors were beginning to notice what I had already thought….those holes the tower were to big to have been a small plane.
I called my wife at work in Atmore. She had seen the breaking news email, and had tried to visit the CNN website to see the story. If you remember trying to use the internet that morning, it was near impossible to get a news website to load; they were all overloaded. She was unable to see the pictures. I was describing what I saw on the TV to her.
I managed to grab a picture from CNN via my web server and then download and email it to her. We were speculating about how it could happen when the second one hit.
I remember saying “wait, hold on, wait…”. I told her what I just watched on the TV. The second plane had hit the other tower. We quickly decided that we were at war as the anchors on TV speculated again that perhaps there was a problem with some navigational system, causing jetliners on a beautiful, clear morning in New York to fly into some of the tallest structures in the world.
Another breaking news email arrived:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:21am– Second plane crashes into World Trade Center.
She and I began to speculate ourselves that we were at war. What would we do? What should we do? What about the kids? It was not panic, understand, but just that protective momma and daddy instinct, I suppose. Prayer. That was a good idea. Maybe go to the bank and get out a little cash. That seemed like a good idea. How would you prep for a war on American soil? We were not sure.
I continued to relay information about what I was seeing on TV to my wife at work, who, in turn, would relay the information to her coworkers. They had a TV, but no cable service or antenna. They ended up fashioning a homemade antenna to see a fuzzy picture.
Meanwhile, the breaking news emails kept arriving…
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:32am– Sources tell CNN one of two planes that crashed into World Trade
Center was an American Airlines 767.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:42am– President Bush calls plane crashes at World Trade Center a
terrorist act.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:45am– Significant fire at the Pentagon. Details to come.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:46am– White House evactuated. Details to come.
The Pentagon on fire? The White House evacuated? Notice that in CNN’s email they were in such a hurry that they misspelled “evacuated”. One sentence at a time, the situation became more grave.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:55am– CNN confirms a plane hit the Pentagon
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:03am– One of World Trade Center towers collapses; fire forces
evacuation of State Department
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:30am– Second World Trade Center tower collapses in Manhattan
Over and over, we watched those towers collapse on TV, and we watched our Pentagon burn.
Our almost four year old asked a lot of questions. “Were people hurt? Did they need a Band-aid?” The magnitude of the event was lost on a four year old. Looking back at those first few hours, I think the magnitude of the event was lost on all of us.
Like many Americans, I sat glued to the TV that day, continuing to watch the video of the towers falling. Our almost four year old asked if another building fell down or if it was the same one. It was time to change the channel on the TV.
You might remember that many of the entertainment TV stations ran network news feeds. Others just simply ran screens about the day’s events. There was no USA network, no ESPN, no MTV. But on PBS, we found children’s programming at a time it was not normally on. For a little while, sitting in the living room floor holding my kids, the world stopped turning that September day, as we watched Big Bird and the Cookie Monster.
Country artist Alan Jackson later wrote a song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?”.
Some of those lyrics:
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cryDid you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don’t know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left belowBut I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Where where you when the world stopped turning that September day? Your comments are welcome below.
That’s A Big Rattlesnake: Six-Two
September 11, 2008
This rattlesnake was killed near the intersection of Tungoil Road and Highway 97 south of Walnut Hill Wednesday by Adam Dortch of Bratt. The snake was six feet two inches long. It had 14 rattles and one button. The snake’s head was four inches wide. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.
Century Man Recalls Flying On September 11
September 11, 2008
Seven years ago this morning, Freddie McCall of Century and his son were preparing their small plane to fly to Texas. It was a major business decision for the McCalls…should they bid on a contract for the Texas company, or should they not? They knew that landing the contract for their company, Brewton Aviation, would mean hiring a new pilot or perhaps one of them moving to Texas. It would be a day that would change their lives. But little did they know how much the lives of all Americans were about to change that morning…September 11, 2001.
McCall flew out of the Brewton airport early that morning, headed for brief stops in Mobile and Baton Rouge before heading to Texas. Plans quickly changed, as the weather became too foggy to fly. The McCalls set their small plane down on a grassy strip near Jay to wait for the fog to burn off. They had no communications… no cellular phone and their radio was not turned on.
We all know the sequence of events that most people saw unfold on live television before our eyes. At 7:45 our time, a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. Television anchors were talking about the terrible accident, speculating how a pilot could make such a grave mistake. As millions watched the TV, a second plane hit the second Twin Tower at 8:03. We all knew…we were under attack.
But McCall and his son still had no idea of the horror unfolding in New York. A world away, the fog had lifted in Jay. They took off, flying under the level of airport radar, toward Mobile. Their biggest concern was still the trip to Texas and the business deal.
At 8:40 local time, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights in the United States, for the first time in American history. Brewton Avation’s plane continued toward Mobile. They had no idea that they were flying in increasingly empty skies .
“Our big concern that day was the contract for our company in Texas,” McCall said. “I had thought long and hard about it, and we had prayed about it.”
As they approached Mobile, McCall contacted the Mobile Regional Airport to let them know they were approaching at about 500 feet, still below the level of the airport’s radar.
“A voice came back real prompt like and asked where we were,” he said. “They told us to fly directly to the airport and get that plane down as fast as we could.”
McCall and his son knew something was going on, but they had no idea what.
Upon landing in Mobile, the Brewton Aviation plane was met by authorities who told them to get anything out of the plane they ever wanted to see again. McCall said that he still did not know what was going on in New York, and by that point, at the Pentagon in Washington.
McCall and his son were escorted to a room that had a TV. They watched the replays of the towers being hit again and again.
They called their wives to get rides back home. Their plane was held by federal authorities for a week before it was released.
Post-9/11 business has changed in many ways for Brewton Aviation and McCall. Insurance is up 20 times what it was before the terrorist attacks. Flight plans are required by Homeland Security and the FAA.
“The Lord was good to us, increasing our contracts in other ways,” McCall said of his business, post-9/11. “We have kept our head above water, and we have survived.”
“And our country has survived; the Lord took care of all of us,” he said.
McCall now serves as mayor of Century.
JV Canes Down Excel
September 11, 2008
The Flomaton JV Canes hosted the Excel Panthers Tuesday night in game number two of their regular football season. The younger players started off the night by playing one ten minute quarter. The Canes came out on top of that by a score of 8-0.
After that, the regular JV team took the field for their game. The final of that game was 22-0. The JV Canes are now 2-0.
The JV Canes travel to Uriah next Tuesday to take on JU Blacksher. These two teams met a few weeks ago in a preseason game that saw the Canes victorious in that game also.
For more photos from the game, click here.
For even more photos, visit www.mikenewtonphotography.zenfolio.com.
Pictured above: The Flomaton JV Canes versus Excel. Submitted photo by Mike Newton Photography for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
School District: New Life Baptist Owes $73,000; Water, Gas Still In District’s Name
September 11, 2008
The Escambia County School District has reached a dollar figure they say New Life Baptist Church owes for electric bills on the Old Century High School, and the Town of Century has totaled gas, water and sewer bills on the building.
NorthEscambia.com was the first to report on August 7 that the Escambia County School District had paid water, sewer and gas bills for the old Century High School since it was leased by the Century church in 2004. New Life Baptist Church leases the building from the Escambia County School District for $1 per year. In an exclusive interview with NorthEscambia.com shortly after the story broke, New Life Pastor Irvin Stallworth acknowledged that the church had never paid any utility bills since moving into the building.
The Gulf Power electric account for the building was switched into the name of New Life Baptist on September 1, according to Ronnie Arnold, school district spokesman. The total amount Arnold says New Life owes the district for electricity for the four year period is about $73,000.
“We are in discussions with Rev. Stallworth and his trustees to develop a monthly payment plan for the church to make restitution,” Arnold said.
The gas, water and sewer accounts at the building remain in the school districts name, according to Century Mayor Freddie McCall.
An account history obtained by NorthEscambia.com shows that the water, sewer and gas bills from the Town of Century totaled $123,488.81 for the period from August 2004 to August 2008.
Arnold said those accounts would be switched to New Life’s name after the town installs new meters. The current meters serve both the old high school building leased by the church as well as the gym and football field that are still used by the school district.
McCall confirmed that the district had spoken with the town about installing the new meters and town employees had met with a district maintenance man to located lines. But he said the district had not yet initiated a work order to have the meters installed.