Learn To Read Volunteer Workshop Saturday
August 22, 2008
Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, a nonprofit adult literacy program in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, will have a workshop to train volunteers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Century Family Practice Building, 7600 Mayo Street in Century.
The workshop will train volunteers to teach adults to read and write.
For reservations or more information, call Edna Earle Barnes at 256-0880 or visit www.learntoreadnwf.org.
Hurricanes Blow Past J.U. Blacksher In Thursday Preseason Games
August 22, 2008
The area’s football season got underway Thursday night as the Flomaton Hurricanes dealt a double blow to the Bulldogs of J.U. Blacksher.
The varsity Hurricanes beat the Bulldogs 22-6 in a preseason scrimmage that was two 12 minute quarters. The JV ‘Canes played one 10 minute quarter in Uriah, blowing away the JV Bulldogs 8-0.
Pictured above: Tony Ellis with the ball for the Flomaton Hurricanes. Pictured below, top: Neiko Robinson has the play. Pictured below, middle: Quarterback Jacob Newton goes for the pass. Pictured bottom: Quarterback Denver Hawsey getting the play from Coach Doug Vickery. Photos courtesy Mike Newton Photography for NorthEscambia.com.
Like sports? NorthEscambia.com is looking for someone to take pictures and provide scores for Northview High School football. Email news@northescambia.com for more information.
County To Hold Emergency Meeting On Tropical Storm Fay
August 22, 2008
The Escambia County Commission will hold an emergency special meeting this morning to determine if a local state of emergency should be declared in advance of Tropical Storm Fay.
The commission will meet in the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center at 10 a.m. for a conference call with the National Weather Service and the county’s emergency leaders. A local state of emergency would allow the county to institute protective actions if needed.
Escambia Emergency Management officials are continuing to monitor Tropical Storm Fay. There are no evacuations or protective actions in place at this time. There will be school at all Escambia County public schools on Friday.
“The forecast path is forecasted to come through Escambia County beginning sometime Saturday and into Sunday,” John Dosh, chief of the county’s emergency management agency, said. “It will be a depression. It will not be a tropical storm at present forecast track.”
“Our concern is not so much the wind, but the rain,” Dosh said. “We could receive in excess of seven to 10 inches of rainfall over the weekend. That is our main concern at this point.
If some computer models are correct, the storm might stall in our area until Monday or Tuesday.
“That could potentially be even more rain,” Dosh said.
Division Of Forestry Presents Annual Report
August 22, 2008
Wildfires consumed 116 acres of land in Escambia County during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, according to the annual report of the Florida Division of Forestry to the Escambia County Commission.
The report was presented to the commission Thursday evening by Elton Gilmore, forest area supervisor, and Adam Parden, county forester.
The Division of Forestry responded to 38 different fires during the fiscal year, a decrease from the previous year due to a wetter spring. Five of the fires during the last fiscal year were started by lightning, consuming 15.6 acres. Eleven fires were caused by non-permitted burn piles and burning yard trash, consuming about 22 acres.
During the year, the Division of Forestry issued 1,470 burn permits covering 5,966 acres and 967 piles.
To help minimize the wildfire risk in the county, the Division of Forestry maintains an agressive fire prevention campaign, with both an ongoing educational program and an active landowner assistance policy. Forestry also works with the local volunteer fire departments with both training and funding, according to the report.
The county will pay the Division of Forestry seven cents pe acre for Forestry’s services in Escambia County. With 326,422 acres in Escambia County, that bill in September will amount to $22,849.54. The state’s fee increased this year from three cents per acre to the seven cents, the first increase since 1945. Over one half of the land in Escambia County is forest land.
Escambia County’s half million acres of forest land contributes an estimated $351 million to the local economy and provides 1,306 jobs, according to the reported presented Thursday night. Forestry’s indirect impact on Escambia’s economy is an additional $313 million and 5,917 jobs.
The Florida Division of Forestry in Escambia County is headquartered at 4100 North Highway 29 in Molino (under the fire tower).
Pictured above: Adam Parden (left), county forester, and Elton Gilmore, forest area supervisor, at the Thursday evening meeting of the Escambia County Commission.
IP Awards Grants To Ernest Ward Middle, Quintette Park Association, Other Groups
August 21, 2008
Ernest Ward Middle School and the Quintette Community Center were among the recipients of grants from the International Paper Pensacola Mill. The grants, totaling $50,000, were presented to 15 groups in the area.
The 2008 Foundation grant presented to Ernest Ward Middle School will be used to purchase InterActive Reader workbooks for one grade level for the 2008-2009 school year. The InterActive Reader program is designed to reward excellence and help mid to high-level readers take their skills to the next level where most programs leave off.
The grant presented to the Quintette Community Park Association was used for their Youth Summer Enrichment Program that served over 120 children in the Quintette and Cantonment areas this summer with academic tutoring, sporting events, arts and crafts and other fun-filled activities. In addition, each child received a nutritious meal which they may not have otherwise received during the summer months.
Of the 34 applications accepted, 15 were chosen by the mill’s grant review committee to receive funding for part or all of a program or project benefiting the community.
“The selection process is rigorous, and it’s difficult to choose since all of our applicants are worthy of receiving their request,” said Jessica Morris, mill communication manager. “We’re confident that the projects we’ve chosen to fund this year reflect the values of the Foundation, the company and the employees.”
Grants are awarded through the IP Foundation in Memphis, TN, which focuses primarily on education – specifically environmental education, literacy and minority career development opportunities. The company also supports organizations where its employees actively volunteer and critical civic needs in the communities where our employees live and work. Applicants must be a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization or qualifying federal entity to apply.
This year’s grant recipients were:
- American Cancer Society
- American Heart Association
- Baptist Health Care Foundation
- Civitan International
- Ernest Ward Middle School
- Escambia County School Readiness Coalition
- Greater Pensacola Symphony Orchestra
- Jim Allen Elementary School
- Junior Achievement
- Partnership for Community Programs / Bay Area Resource Council
- Pensacola Historical Society
- Pensacola Junior College Foundation
- Pensacola Opera
- Quintette Community Park Association
- Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida
The Pensacola Mill observes one grant deadline per calendar year.
For more information about IP Giving, visit www.internationalpaper.com or call (850) 968-4203.
Pictured above: International Paper Pensacola Mill employee Joe Mack accepts a certificate of appreciation for the mill’s support of the Quintette Community Park Summer Enrichment Program. Pictured below: The Quintette Community Park Association Youth Summer Enrichment Program hosted over 120 children this year in the Quintette and Cantonment area. Each child received a nutritious meal every day and participated in academic tutoring, sporting activities, and arts and crafts. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com.
Walnut Hill Fire Ruled Arson, No Arrests Yet
August 21, 2008
A fire that swept through a Walnut Hill home on August 13 was arson, according the state fire marshal’s office.
The fire destroyed a wood frame home in the 7000 block of Highway 97 about 9:00 p.m. on August 13. A separate fire appeared to have been set on a boat parked under a nearby shed, slightly damaging the back of the vessel. All four tires on the homeowner’s SUV were flattened, and three large gashes where cut into a nearby trampoline.
“The fire is being worked as an arson,” said Chris Powell, a detective with the Division of State Fire Marshal’s Office, Bureau of Fire and Arson Investigations. “We are pursuing leads in the case, and it is still under investigation.”
Powell said there have not been any arrests yet in the case.
NorthEscambia.com was first on the scene, with flames visible from the rear of the house as we arrived. The flames quickly spread as the first fire trucks pulled up on the scene. Windows quickly blew out of the front of the small wood frame home, and flames then jumped into the air from the front of the house. The home was fully involved as the firefighters began their assault on the blaze.
The home sits in a field down a long dirt driveway, about one third of a mile south of Highway 97.
For a complete photo gallery from the scene on August 13, click here. The gallery shows the fire as it begins to spread, the fire shooting from the windows of the home after the glass exploded out of them, and the first attempts to put out the fire. The total time represented by the photos that show flames at the beginning of the gallery is just over two minutes.
Pictured above: Fire rages through a Walnut Hill home before the first fire trucks arrive at a Walnut Hill home on August 13. Pictured below: It appeared that someone tried to set fire to this boat near the home. Pictured bottom: All four tires were slashed on the homeowner’s SUV. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Charter School Application Now Official
August 21, 2008
A charter school application has been filed for the Carver/Century K-8 School has been signed, making it official.
When the Century Community Development Partnership filed a charter school application minutes before the deadline early this month, it was missing the required signature of James Sutton, who was listed as organizer of the Charter Magnet School at Century.
The application has now been signed and is official, according to Vickie Mathis, director of the Department of Alternative Education that administers the charter school program in Escambia County.
The charter application was officially filed by the Century Community Development Partnership, Inc., a nonprofit headed by Rev. Irvin Stallworth. But Stallworth is very clear in the cover letter of the application that the CCDP does not intend to be the corporation running the school. The letter reads:
“In an effort to expedite the process and to move forward as rapidly as possible with the application of the Charter Magnet School at Century, Florida, the Century Community Development Partnership, Inc. is allowing this application to be filed under their name and their established 501(c)3; however, the Century Community Development Partnership, Inc. will not be the Florida Corporation that will ultimately hold the Charter of the CMS@Century. This interim use of CCDP in this application is pending the CMS@Century obtaining a 501(c)3 designation. The Charter Magnet School at Century is in organization as a Florida nonprofit corporation.”
501(c)3 is the designation given by the Internal Revenue Service to officially designate an approved nonprofit organization.
The detailed 81 page application document spells out the plans for the school, which hopes to 150 students enrolled in grades K-8 in its first year, 175 in its second year and 200 by year number three of the charter.
“Our Charter Magnet School Vision will facilitate the building of a community where any American can live and accomplish good, moral works, enjoy and revel in an abundant life, while looking forward with excitement and interest to what the future will bring,” the applications says.
Frontier DSL Outage Due To Equipment Failure In Mobile
August 21, 2008
Frontier Communications experienced a major DSL outage across their coverage area Monday, including several communities in North Escambia.
The outage was caused by a failure of equipment owned by Level 3 Communications according to Cereal Daniel, local manager for Frontier Communications.
DSL service was impacted for some customers in Molino, Bratt and Walnut Hill in Florida, and Atmore, Monroeville, Thomaston and Camden in Alabama, along with Frontier areas in Mississippi. Daniel said the equipment failure affected one circuit from Level 3 in Mobile to a Frontier server, but it did not impact all servers or customers.
“That is why the trouble affected some customers and not all,” Daniel told NorthEscambia.com.
The outage for DSL customers lasted up to 19 hours and 36 minutes, he said.
“Dialup did not seem to be affected; we had several customers to switch over and were able to connect,” Daniel said.
The NorthEscambia.com site was not impacted by the outage; our server is in a secure data facility in the northeast that is not served by Frontier or Level 3. Internet service to our servers is provided by six companies on circuits that range in speed from GigE to OC-48. An OC-48 connection is a fiber optic connection with a speed that is almost 2,500 times faster than the average Frontier residential DSL connection.
Commissioner Named To Statewide County Association Post
August 21, 2008
President of the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) and Suwannee County Commissioner Randy Hatch has announced that Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino will serve as Co-Vice Chair with Holmes County Commissioner Raymon Thomas for FAC’s Finance, Transportation and Administration Policy committee. The FAC is committed to preserving home rule authority for our communities by restoring the partnership between counties and the state legislature.
“Valentino is dedicated to Escambia County and to ensuring that counties can continue to protect finance and transportation issues in the best interest of the state of Florida,” said President Hatch, “FAC is committed to working with the state legislature to restore a strong partnership to better serve the people of Florida.”
Each year FAC represents Florida’s 67 counties, focusing our legislative efforts in preserving ‘home rule’. Home rule is the ability of local governments set or remove regulations to better serve the unique environment of their county and its citizens. What may work for a large urban county does not necessarily work for a small rural county and each county should have the authority to make this imperative unique decision.
“I’m honored to serve this Finance, Transportation, and Administration Policy team. Creatively jump-starting growth of our transportation infrastructure is absolutely essential in supporting long-term economic growth, statewide,” said Commissioner Gene Valentino. “We must think “out of the box” if we are serious about Florida’s future.”
Commissioner Valentino’s history and commitment to finance and transportation issues qualify him to lead FAC in determining statewide policy that carefully balances the ‘home rule’ authority with the interests of the state, personal and professional rights. The mission of the FAC is “to preserve and promote democratic principles by working to keep appropriate authority at the level of government closest to the people, and to increase the capacity of Florida counties to effectively serve and represent the citizens of the state through legislative action, education of public officials, and enhancement of public awareness about the role and functions of county government.”
Founded in 1929, the Florida Association of Counties is a non-profit association representing the diverse interests of Florida’s 67 counties. Created in 1998, the Florida Association of Counties County Commissioners Voluntary Certification program has trained 196 county commissioners on the complexities of county government and public life.
Cops Respond To Call Of Naked Man With A Gun Wednesday AM
August 20, 2008
Authorities responded to call of a naked man with a gun in Bratt just before dawn Wednesday. Nothing was uncovered after a thorough search of the area.
The man was reported to be on Water Tank Road near North Highway 99 about 5:45 a.m. Two units from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department and one from the Atmore Police Department responded to the area. Atmore was called to assist because the Florida units were on the other side of the county at the time of the call.
The naked white male was reported by a passerby on their way to work. Authorities were unable to find anything unusual in the area. One officer theorized that the man had stepped outside in his pajamas, or perhaps with no clothing, to shoot an armadillo.