Sheriff and Mayor Hold News Conference, Express Surprise Over Type Of Drugs Found In Century
July 11, 2008
Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and Century Mayor Freddie McCall held a joint news conference Friday morning, praising each one another for helping to rid Century’s streets of illegal drugs and expressing surprise at the type of drugs found in an early Friday morning raid.
“I met with Mayor McCall in regard to some drug problems they were having in Century,” McNesby said. “His office cooperated 100 percent with us based on complaints he and received and just his observations up there. And I ordered an undercover investigation into this thing.”
That investigation led to the arrest of 10 Century area residents in raids early Friday morning, with the arrest of up to six more people expected soon.
The four search warrants were served by officers from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department, the department’s SWAT team, the Drug Enforcement Administratin (DEA) and the Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
The drugs involved in the Century investigation were a little different this time, according to the sheriff, with most of the investigation centering around hydrocodone, also known by the brand name Lortab.
“Normally, we’ve had cocaine problems up there, and crack and things of that nature,” McNesby said. “We are seeing more of a prescription drug type problem up there now like Lortab. That’s kind of fascinating in that it is kind of changing the face of what is happening in the Century area.”
“Even though we got cocaine this time, we are finding that it is more of the Lortab type medicine,” the sheriff said. “I think it is becoming more of a drug of the times that crack cocaine is because of the accessibility of it.”
The sheriff said that the Lortab in the case likely originated in several places…leftover prescriptions, forged prescriptions, drugstore burglaries and residential burglaries where medicine cabinets are emptied. But he said he believes that most of the drugs came from people going to doctors “where they can get a pretty good supply of it”.
“It’s just become a new market,” he said. “It’s something that we are seeing more and more of. We were just surprised to see it it in Century. We were expecting crack cocaine and marijuana.”
On particular problem faced in the undercover Century investigation was Century’s small population, McNesby said. In an environment where most people know their neighbors, putting undercover officers into place is a difficult task.
“I feel that this is a great accomplishment for the city of Century,” the sheriff said, adding that about 48 percent of all sheriff’s department calls in the north end of Escambia County are within the city limits of Century.
“I appreciate what the sheriff and his department has done. We do have a problem. I have citizens calling the office and complaining every day,” McCall said of the investigation.
“We feel like it was very successful,” McNesby said. “It would not have been successful if we had not of had the cooperation of the mayor and his office up there because there are a lot of things we don’t know about a community.”
Photos: New Gallery Posted From Inside The Century Drug Raids
July 11, 2008
(Updated) More photos have been added to the NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from Friday morning’s drug raid in Century. The photos will show you the raids from the inside and out.
Click here for the NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the Century drug raids.
Photos Of Drug Suspects Released
July 11, 2008
Mug shot photos from the suspects arrested in last night’s drug raids in Century have been release.
Click here for a photo gallery.
To read the charges on each suspect, click here for the latest story on the Century drug busts.
NWE Football Registration Saturday
July 11, 2008
Football season is just around the corner, and now is the time to register to play football in Walnut Hill
Registration for the Northwest Escambia Football League will be held this and every Saturday in July at the Ernest Ward Middle School football field from 10:00 a.m. until noon. For more information, contact Charles Williams at 327-4603.
Kindergarten And New Student Registration Underway At Area Elementary Schools
July 11, 2008
Kindergarten and new student registration is going on now at Byrneville Elementary School , Carver/Century K-8 School and Molino Park Elementary School.
For registration information at Byrneville Elementary, visit the school at 1600 Byrneville Road or call 256-6350.
Parents interested in registering their child for Carver/Century should call 256-6380 or stop by 440 East Hecker Road.
Registration will be held Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at Molino Park at 899 Highway 97 in Molino, or call 587-5265 for more information.
At any school in Escambia County, items needed for registration are a birth certificate, social security card, immunization record, a Florida physical form and proof of residence such as a current electric bill or rent receipt.
For more information, call 587-5265.
Pictured above: Melanie Brinker (left) registers her daughter Kaelin Brinker for kindergarten recently at Molino Park Elementary. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.
Blue Angels shows this weekend
July 11, 2008
A large number of North Escambia residents are expected to attend the Blue Angels air show Saturday at Pensacola Beach.
The world-famous Navy flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, will be joined by an exhilarating line up during the main event on Saturday. It kicks off shortly after noon with Julian MacQueen in his amphibious Grumman Widgeon G-44 and culminate with The Blue Angels taking to the sky at 2 p.m.
Following is a complete line up of events:
12:05 p.m. Water in front of show area is cleared for safety precautions
12:25 p.m. Julian MacQueen’s Grumman Widgeon G-44
12:30 p.m. Coast Guard Search & Rescue (SAR) demonstration, HH-65 Dolphin
12:45 p.m. Vortex Aerobatics, Pitts Eagle hybrid
12:55 p.m. Gary Ward’s MX2
1:05 p.m. AeroShell Aerobatic Team, AT-6 “Texan”
1:20 p.m. Swimmers are allowed back into the water for 20 minutes
1:40 p.m. Water is cleared again for final part of show
1:50 p.m. Fat Albert, C-130 Hercules
2:00 p.m. Blue Angels, F/A-18 Hornets
If you plan to attend the Pensacola Beach Air Show, you are urged to arrive early. For your convenience and to help alleviate traffic congestion, Pensacola Beach will provide trolley service from 9 a.m. until midnight Saturday between Casino Beach and the Fort Pickens gate. Motorists are asked not to block emergency access locations, bike paths, sidewalks or medians. Park in a marked spot or off the roadway, but do not extend into traffic lanes.
Plan on being at the beach all day, not just for a couple of hours for the air show, event organizers say. Remember to drink plenty of water, and wear sun protection such as a sunscreen with a high SPF, hats and long-sleeve shirts.
For more information, contact the Pensacola Beach Visitors Information Center at (850) 932-1500, toll free at (800) 635-4803. All information is subject to weather conditions and can change without prior notice.
No Sale: Helicopter Technologies Building Buyer Backs Out
July 10, 2008
The sale of the Helicopter Technologies building in Century will not take place this week, NorthEscambia.com has learned.
“I will not be purchasing the building,” John O’Neill III told NorthEscambia.com late Wednesday.
O’Neill’s company, Shellco of Pensacola, Inc., was negotiating the purchase of the Helicopter Technologies building the Century Industrial Park. At Monday night’s meeting of the Century Town Council, Mayor Freddie McCall said that Shellco was expected to close the deal by Friday. He told the council that Shellco was an investment company that was working on a deal with an electric car manufacturing company.
“Basically, the fellow that owned the company told us that he owned all the property around the building, when in fact he does not,” O’Neill said. “Right now, this deal is just not going to happen.”
McCall said that a clause in Helicopter Technologies’ contract with the town gave the town the option to “take back” three lots around the building. That would, if effect, lower the acreage with the building from about 20 acres to just five, he said.
O’Neill also express concerns that the legal agreements surrounding the building would essentially give Century too much control over any business in the building.
“As a potential investor, I had no idea that the city of Century would become my partner,” O’Neill said.
The Town of Century currrently holds the mortage on the building. McCall requested and was granted council approval Monday night to allow the town’s attorney to begin “emergency foreclosure” proceedings against Helicopter Technologies in the event the building sale did not take place this week.
When NorthEscambia.com contacted Mayor McCall late Wednesday, he had not been informed that building deal had fallen through.
“I was in hopes that we (the town) would have our money by Tuesday. I’m disappointed” McCall said. “I don’t know about the future. I looks like we may have to foreclose.”
It appears that many of the contents of the Helicopter Technologies building are also for sale. Listings on pensacola.craiglist.com that were posted Monday morning indicate that the company is having a “Office Equipment and Furniture Sale” and a “Huge Tool and Equipment Sale” this week. (Click the blue links to see the Craigslist listings.)
The building was sold to Georges Van Nevel and Helicopter Technologies in 2001.
In September of 2007, a FH1100 helicopter refurbished by Helicopter Technologies crashed near Hosston, Louisiana. The helicopter had been picked up by its new owners at Helicopter Technologies in Century shortly before the crash.
Then on the morning of January 9, federal officials raided the Helicopter Technologies building in Century, seizing records. Van Nevel was kept off the property during the raid by sheriff’s deputies. In the photo to the left, Van Nevel is being stopped from entering the property by sheriff deputies. (NorthEscambia.com exclusive file photo, click to enlarge.)
“Van Nevel is suspected of improperly refurbishing helicopters and helicopter parts, selling unapproved aircraft parts, performing improper repairs on helicopters and misleading the aviation community by false advertisements,” 
said federal documents obtained by NorthEscambia.com on the day of the raid. Click the photos at the left to read portions of the federal search warrants. (NorthEscambia.com exclusive file photos, click to enlarge.)
Van Nevel lost most of his employees at that time, and also lost his Federal Aviation Administration certificates that allowed him to continue to refurbish helicopters.
But during an exclusive interview inside the Helicopter Technologies building, Van Nevel told NorthEscambia.com in February that “I will recover…I am not leaving Century.”
During that factory tour, he showed us a small model of a military helicopter that he says would save the government a lot of money, being cheap and easy to produce. It was an impressive looking model, ominous in appearance like an Apache helicopter. He said he was working toward a military contract to produce the helicopter.
But now Van Nevel is in France, at least according to what McCall told the Century council Monday night. Attempts by NorthEscambia.com to reach Van Nevel by email this week have been unsuccessful.
At a May meeting of the Century Town Council, council member Henry Hawkins expressed outrage that Van Nevel was trying to sell the building “out from under our noses”. At the council’s next meeting in June, Van Nevel addressed the council, asking for a retraction on that statement, and he claimed that he held a “clear title” on the building.
Van Nevel told the council in June (pictured left) that he had been trying to sell the building since 2003. NorthEscambia.com discovered that a Pensacola MLS real estate listing for the building was placed by the real estate agent on February 5, just a few months prior.
Hawkins and Van Nevel ended up in a verbal altercation before that June 2 council meeting was over.
“It sounds crooked to me,” Hawkins said of the building sale.
“You are trying to damage my business,” Van Nevel said to Hawkins. “You are trying to boot me out of town.” Van Nevel accused Hawkins of going to the fire department in an attempt to get the fire marshal to fine or close the business. Hawkins denied the allegation.
“The thing that was most damaging was…when you said the asking price was too high,” Van Nevel said of a Hawkins interview with a television station.
“I think you are adding to what I said,” Hawkins said. “Do you want me to get the tape?”
“I said it looked crooked, and it is crooked,” Hawkins said, escalating the argument between the two men.
“You are corrupt. I will prove it. You have an ulterior motive to boot me,” Van Nevel said. “There will be an investigation.”
“Bring it on,” Hawkins said.
In February, NorthEscambia.com ran a three part investigative series looking at Van Nevel, Helicopter Technologies, the federal raid, the Louisiana helicopter crash and more. Click here to read part one, click here to read part two, and click here to read part three.
You can read our story about the federal raid by clicking here.
Pictured top of page: Inside the Helicopter Technologies building in Century. NorthEscambia.com exclusive file photo, click to enlarge.
FHP Plans Checkpoint On Highway 97
July 10, 2008
The Florida Highway Patrols says that it is planning a driver’s license and vehicle safety checkpoint somewhere on Highway 97 between Friday of this week and Thursday of next week.
Recognizing the danger presented to the public by defective vehicle equipment, troopers will concentrate their efforts on vehicles being operated with defects such as bad brakes, worn tires and defective lighting equipment. In addition, attention will be directed to drivers who would violate the driver license laws of Florida.
The patrol has found these checkpoints to be an effective means of enforcing the equipment and driver license laws of Florida while ensuring the protection of all motorists.
School Grades Released; Good News For Most Area Schools
July 9, 2008
The Florida Department of Education has released its annual school grade reports, and it is good news for most area schools.
The biggest gain came from Carver/Century K-8 School, with a jump from being an “F” rated school to a “B” rated school.
Northview High School improved as well, moving from being a “C” rated school last year to a “B” rated school this year.
Byrneville Elementary School improved from a “B” school last year to an “A” rating this year.
Bratt Elementary School, Molino Park Elementary School and Ernest Ward Middle School all remained “A” rated schools for another year.
In the Cantonment area, Tate High School remained at a “C”, and Jim Allen Elementary and Ransom Middle School held steady at an “A” rating.
Over in north Santa Rosa County, Jay Elementary remained an “A” school, while Jay High School improved from a “B” to and “A”.
All Area Schools But One Fail To Make Adequate Yearly Progress
July 9, 2008
Of the schools in North Escambia and in the immediately surrounding area, only one school made “adequate yearly progress”.
According to statistics released Tuesday by the Florida Department of Education, Bratt Elementary School was the only area school that made adequate yearly progress (AYP). AYP is a set of benchmarks from the federal goverment related to the national No Child Left Behind Act.
AYP measurements target the performance and participation of various student subgroups on statewide assessments based on race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability and English proficiency.
The most improved school in the area, Carver-Century K-8 School, still failed to make AYP according to the federal standards despite their letter grade soaring from an “F” to an “B”.
Byrneville Elementary, Molino Park Elementary, Jim Allen Elementary, Jay Elementary, Ernest Ward Middle School, Ransom Middle School, Northview High School, Jay High School and Tate High School all failed to make AYP, despite several of the schools receiving “A” ratings.