Flomaton JV Downs Georgiana
September 3, 2008
The Flomaton Junior Varsity downed the Georgiana Panthers 28-14 Tuesday night in their season opener.
The ‘Canes scored twice before the Panthers first score. The Hurricanes led 28-6 at the half.
During the second half, some of the younger JV Canes got time on the field. The Panthers would put eight more on the board for a final score of Canes 28, Panthers 14.
The next Flomaton JV game will be next Tuesday, September 9 at home against the Excel Panthers. Game time is at 6:00.
Click here for more photos of the Flomaton JV win over Georgiana.
Submitted by Mike Newton.
Pictured above: The Huricane’s David Williamson brings down a Panther for a loss of yards. Photos courtesy Mike Newton Photography for NorthEscambia.com.
Town Of Century Needs To Find A Quarter Million Dollars..Fast
September 3, 2008
The Town of Century needs to find a way to save a quarter million dollars, and they need to do it fast.
The town’s accountant, Robert Hudson, told the town council at their Tuesday night meeting that they need to approve a budget early next week in order to hold a public hearing on that budget by September 11.
The budget for the next fiscal year has a $255,000 deficit, according to Council president Ann Brooks. “We have a much larger shortfall than we’ve been having,” she said.
The $255,000 shortfall assumes the council chooses a cheaper health plan for town employees. The town currently pays about $161,000 a year for health benefits, but that number would rise to $212,000 if they council did not make a health benefit change. Brooks said one plan being considered would cost the town about $150,000 per year.
The town council will hold a workshop meeting at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, September 9 to finalize their choice of health insurance plans, and to insert numbers they are getting from quotes for workman’s comp, liability and life insurance into the budget. They will hold a special meeting immediately following the workshop to approve the budget.
A first public hearing on the budget will be held at 5:01 p.m. on Thursday, September 11 for public input on the budget.
In other business Tuesday night, the Century Town Council:
- Approved a five year schedule for capital improvement grant applications for the Anthony Pleasant Sports Complex, Fischer’s Landing and water, sewer and stormwater improvements. That schedule was made part of the town’s comprehensive plan.
- Postponed public hearings on grant application for the Anthony Pleasant Sports Complex and Fischer’s Landing because the public hearings were not properly advertised. The public hearings were postponed to the council’s next regular meeting on September 15.
- Heard from council member Gary Riley who said the council needs a comprehensive plan for dealing with disasters, not just hurricanes.
- Approved a separate bank account for funds related to the Veteran’s Memorial Wall.
The meeting, which was moved to Tuesday because of Monday’s Labor Day holiday, was held in near record time…about 30 minutes. For the first time since taking office, Mayor Freddie McCall had nothing for his “mayor’s report” portion of the meeting.
The Tropics: After Gustav, There’s Hanna And Ike And Josephine
September 2, 2008
Gustav is expected to fade away into a rainy low over Texas and Oklahoma this week, turning attention to the next round of tropical systems…Hanna and Ike and now Josephine.
Hurricane Hanna was located near the southern Bahamas. A category one hurricane, Hanna is expected strengthen this week and head west then northwest toward the U.S. Coast. Hanna is expected to make landfall on the South Carolina coast near the Georgia line Friday afternoon as a category two hurricane.
From his location in the middle of the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Ike is forecast to become a category two hurricane moving west toward southern Bahamas by the weekend. Long range forecast models have Ike potentially moving toward southern Florida or even the Gulf of Mexico by early next week.
Behind Ike is Tropical Storm Johsephine, just off the coast of Africa. Preliminary forecast models have the area approaching hurricane status in three days. But those models also have it beginning a turn out to the middle of the Atlantic and not becoming a threat to land anywhere.
Pictured above: A satellite image showing Gustav making landfall in Louisiana (left) and Hurricane Hanna over the southern Bahamas (right).
Gustav Lacks Gusto In North Escambia
September 2, 2008
Hurricane Gustav rained out more than a few Labor Day Barbecues in North Escambia, but overall it led to few problems in our immediate area.
Rain bands from Gustav contained storms that were observed rotating on radar, prompting the National Weather Service to issued about a half dozen different tornado warnings Monday morning. Possible tornadoes were observed on radar near Molino, Barrineau Park, Walnut Hill, Molino, Enon and Cantonment, but funnel clouds were never reported to have reached the ground in the area. There were no injuries or damage reported from the possible tornadoes.
A weather station in Molino reported a wind gust of 37 mph, while a weather station at Century reported a wind gust of 29 mph. Rain totals were from half an inch to almost two inches across the area.
Scattered power outages were reported across North Escambia by both Gulf Power and Escambia River Electric Cooperative. Most outages were brief in duration, with power crews able to quickly restore service to most customers.
No other major problems were reported across the North Escambia area.
Gustav Downgraded To Depression
September 2, 2008
Hurricane Gustav made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Cocodrie, Louisiana, with winds of 110 mph. It has now been downgraded to a tropical depression.
Tropical Depression Gustav was located about 135 miles from Lafayette, Louisiana, moving toward the northwest at 10 mph.
Maximum sustained winds are have decreased to 35 mph.
It’s Official: School Is Open Tuesday
September 2, 2008
It’s official…the Escambia County School District has announced that schools in the county will be open on Tuesday.
“School officials monitored local effects of Hurricane Gustav over the weekend and have conducted post-storm evaluations of schools and work sites to ensure safe operations for Tuesday,” Ronnie Arnold, district spokesperson said Monday afternoon.
Schools were closed Monday because of the Labor Day holiday.
Pictured above: For the second weekend in a row, hurricane shutters were up at Ernest Ward Middle School and other schools in North Escambia. NorthEscambia.com photo.
Hurricane, Holiday Cause Traffic Changes On Highway 29
September 2, 2008
Hurricane Gustav led to unusual Labor Day weekend traffic patterns in North Escambia.
There is one live traffic counter in North Escambia located on Highway 29 just south of Century. It records and reports hourly data on traffic patterns, including vehicle counts and the average speed at the location.
On Sunday afternoon, northbound traffic at the traffic counter jumped from a Labor Day weekend average of about 310 vehicles per hour to a high of 480 vehicles per hour as people headed north from the coast.
A notable decrease in northbound traffic was observed Monday morning, due to both the holiday and the hurricane. During the 7 a.m. hour on a Monday morning, 222 vehicles per hour normally head north on Highway 29 toward Century. Monday morning, that number was just 83 vehicles during that hour.
Southbound traffic on Sunday did was not far off average, with about 260 vehicles per hour headed south compared to a normal of about 280 per hour.
Southbound traffic was much lighter than normal Monday morning, dropping from an average of about 200 vehicles per hour to about 35 vehicle per hour headed south.
Speed was not a problem for the weekend traffic. The average speed per hour ranged from 61 mph to 70 mph. The 70 mph was the average speed of the 262 northbound vehicles Monday morning between 11 a.m. and noon. The speed limit in the area is 65 mph.
Pictured above: This graph shows in yellow the weekend northbound traffic count at an automated counter on Highway 29 just south of Century; the green line is the weekend average. Pictured below: The same information for the southbound side of the highway.
Century To Hold Budget Workshop, Council Meeting Tonight
September 2, 2008
The Century Town Council will hold a public workshop this afternoon prior to a regular council meeting.
Department heads and council members will discuss the town’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The budget workshop will be held at the town hall beginning at 5 p.m. A regular council meeting, moved to today because of yesterday’s Labor Day holiday, will be held at 7 p.m.
The public is invited to both meetings.
Power Outages Scattered
September 1, 2008
(Updated 5:15 p.m.) Gulf Power and Escambia River Electric Cooperative are reporting just scattered power outages across the county
Gulf Power reported as many as 4,600 people without power at one time Monday morning, but that number was down to 494 customers by last Monday afternoon.
EREC reports just scattered outages, with most restored very quickly by EREC crews across northern Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
To report a power outage:
- Gulf Power: (800) GU-POWER
- EREC: (877) OUT-EREC
Don’t forget…if the power goes out, you can still access NorthEscambia.com on your cellphone at www.northescambia.com.
Tropical Storm Ike Forms
September 1, 2008
Tropical Storm Ike formed Monday afternoon with winds of 50 mph.
The storm is in the Atlantic, about 1400 miles from the Leeward Islands. It is moving west at 16 mph.
Ike is likely to become a hurricane in the next couple of days.