Brooks Elected Council President, Hawkins Vice President
January 6, 2009
Ann Brooks was re-elected on a 3-2 split vote as the president of the Century Town Council at their Monday night meeting.
Two council members voted for Henry Hawkins as the new council president, including Hawkins who voted for himself. Fellow council member Gary Rily also voted for Hawkins.
Brooks received two votes, one from herself and one from Nadine McCaw, making the vote 2-2.
That put council member Sharon Scott in the position to vote and ultimately choose the council president.
“Either way I vote, I hurt somebody’s feelings,” Scott said.
“It’s tax season coming up and you are going to be busy,” Scott said to Brooks, who works an accountant in her own firm.
“You are not going to hurt my feelings,” Brooks responded.
“I guess I will vote for you because you are woman,” Scott told Brooks, giving Brooks her second term as council president.
Hawkins and McCaw were nominated for the position of vice-president of the council. Hawkins won the position on a 3-2 vote. He replaces Scott who served as vice president last year.
ECUA Recycling Program Began Tuesday, But Where Are The Cans?
January 6, 2009
The ECUA’s new residential recycling programs kicked off Tuesday in North Escambia, but very few residents that have opted to participate in the program have received their recycling can.
In our search for an ECUA recyclables container, we found District 5 ECUA Board Member Larry Walker in his truck along Highway 4 near Byrneville late Monday morning. He had been in North Escambia all morning, talking to residents about ECUA’s new service and searching for recyclable containers. He found none, and Walker said he was not sure why.
“All customers–regardless of location–who requested recyclables service prior to December 26 should find a recyclables can delivered by Saturday, January 3. Customers who have signed up after December 26 will receive delivery by January 10,” Larry Walker, ECUA District 5 Board member, told NorthEscambia.com in an email early on January 2.
Fast forward to January 5, and there were no containers to be found. NorthEscambia.com drove two different routes from Davisville to Walnut Hill to Bratt to Byrneville and Century on Monday. We found lots of regular trash cans, but we found exactly zero recycling containers. All we found was Walker, also looking for recycling containers, and we found trash pickups that ECUA missed last week.
Walker said the cans were to be delivered by a contract company, and he was told those deliveries would be done by Saturday to those customers that had signed up for service by December 26. We have received reports that a few customers in Molino area did receive the recyclables containers by Monday.
He said he would continue to push for timely delivery of the recyclable containers in North Escambia and the rest of the county.
ECUA made their first trash pickups on Friday and Saturday. Customers from Davisville to Bratt to Byrneville to Century were missed, and ECUA trucks were out again Monday pickup up those customers.
Walker said that ECUA was not obligated under their Allied Waste takeover contract to make those Friday and Saturday pickups, but they were done as a public service and as a test run for Tuesday’s first official pickup. Every North Escambia waste pickup customer, except for Allied Waste customers in Century, were to have their trash, yard debris and recyclables (if they have a recyclable can) picked up Tuesday.
As customers of Allied Waste, North Escambia customers had two 90 gallon trash container pickups per week on different days. Now that ECUA has taken over Allied’s customers in North Escambia, residents will get one 90 gallon trash pickup, an option recycling pickup in up to a 90 gallon can, and a yard waste pickup — all three in one day.
Pictured above: We created this graphic showing what an ECUA trash and recyclables can might look like. ECUA’s recyclables services began Tuesday in North Escambia, but we were unable to locate a single recyclables container that had been delivered to a North Escambia customer between Walnut Hill and Byrneville.
Students Head Back To School
January 6, 2009
Students in Escambia County Schools head back to class today after a long Christmas vacation.
Motorists are reminded to obey the lower speed limits in school zones, and they are reminded to be on the lookout for school buses loading and unloading.
Teachers and staff were back at school Monday for an in-service planning day.
The next school holiday will be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 19.
Carver/Century School Honors Susan Jones As Teacher Of The Year
January 6, 2009
As they returned to school for the New Year, the staff and faculty at Carver/Century K-8 School took the time to honor one of their own Monday.
Third grade teacher Susan Jones was honored as Carver/Century’s Teach of the Year by her peers.
“She is an excellent, excellent teacher,” Principal Jeff Garthwaite said. “She was one of the teachers directly responsible for our gains last year on the FCAT in the third grade.”
This will be the last year in the classroom for Jones; she is planning on retirement after 35 years as a teacher.
The teachers and staff celebrated with a lunch, including a bit of “bubbly”(sparkling grape juice). The lunch, sponsored by the Carver/Century School Advisory Council, included items donated by Subway of Flomaton, Tri-Cities Florist in Flomaton, Piggly Wiggly and Southern Panhandle Restaurant.
Pictured above: Carver/Century Principal Jeff Garthwaite pours a glass of sparkling grape juice for Teacher of the Year Susan Jones at a staff lunch Monday at the school. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
New Sheriff Plans To Make Century Crime A Top Target
January 5, 2009
Now that David Morgan has been sworn in as Escambia County’s new sheriff , he plans to turn his sights on Century as one of his first major projects.
“You tell them that I coming for them. If they are part of the criminal element in Century, I’m coming for them,” Morgan told NorthEscambia.com. ” I am going to start with Century and show them how it is done.” Morgan said that he will begin his attack on crime in Century within four months.
Statistically, Century accounts for a large majority of all sheriff’s department calls in North Escambia.
“I want to put the criminal element that has their foot on the throat of Century on notice,” Morgan said. “Their days are over.”
Morgan said he wants to sit down with Century Mayor Freddie McCall and work on a plan to clean up the town.
“Century needs to stand by,” Morgan said. “We want to work on a plan to take care of the problem in that town.”
Also in North Escambia, the sheriff-elect said he intends to reopen the department’s Walnut Hill Precinct that has sat mostly unused for years.
Countywide, Morgan said he intends to hit the ground running to make his campaign promises a reality. He plans to restructure the Escambia County Sheriff’ Department administration, putting more deputies on the streets of the county. And he plans to increase pay for deputies and correctional officers.
“The good ole boy system, that’s coming to an end,” Morgan said. “When times are good, you can kind of pull that off, but when times are bad, you can’t.”
He expects that annual budget for the sheriff’s department to be cut from its current $86.3 million to around $76 million. But despite the cuts, he plans to increase the number of deputies on the streets of Escambia County. Out of 1,058 employees in the sheriff’s department, Morgan said just 240 are deputies on patrol. He said 55 percent of the department’s employees work in administration.
“You have secretaries that gets cars to drive and gas cards,” he said.
Morgan plans to increase the number of deputies on patrol from the current 240 to nearly 300, the number of detention employees at the jail from 268 to about 300 and nearly double the number of narcotics officers.
“We are going to do more basic police work at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office,” he added. “We are going to return to serving the public, not being served.”
Morgan was sworn-in Tuesday morning as the county’s top cop.
Pictured above: Sheriff elect David Morgan was sworn in on Tuesday. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Dense Fog Advisory, Chance Of Rain
January 5, 2009
A dense fog advisory is in effect until 9:00 this morning for North Escambia and the surrounding area.
A dense fog advisory means visibilities will frequently be reduced to less than one quarter mile. If driving, slow down, use your low beam headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.
There is a 50 percent chance of rain today, with a high of 73. The rain chance remains at 40 percent tonight, 50 percent on Tuesday, 80 percent Tuesday night and 20 percent Wednesday.
Daytime highs Tuesady will be about 72, with a low of 58.
Wednesday will be sunny and cooler, with a high of 62 and a low of 35.
Reminder: New North Escambia Trash Day Is Tuesday
January 5, 2009
Don’t forget to take out the trash tonight…the new trash day in North Escambia is Tuesdays. ECUA is now the residential sanitation company in North Escambia, except for within the town limits of Century, and the pickup day is Tuesday.
Emerald Coast Utilities Authority sanitation service has assumed collection of all routes currently collected by Allied Waste in North Escambia.
All ECUA customers, including North Escambia customers, will begin receiving once weekly garbage, recyclable and yard waste pickup beginning tomorrow. For customers in North Escambia, the pickup day will be Tuesday. The collection service includes once weekly garbage pickup, once weekly pickup of recyclables, and once weekly yard waste pickup. In addition, bulky waste pickup service is available, free-of-charge, once each calendar month. Residential garbage service rates have been reduced to $17.99 a month.
Carver/Century Students Create Centerpieces For Council On Aging Party
January 5, 2009
When the Escambia County Council on Aging held their annual Holiday Celebration in Pensacola, they had a little piece of Century on each table.
Students at Carver/Century K-8 School created the centerpieces that were used to decorate the tables at the Osceola Golf Club in Pensacola. The festive centerpieces were created by Carver/Century fifth graders, with a little help from the eighth graders. Paula Jernigan, the school’s curriculum cooridinator, supervised the project.
The fifth graders became involved in the project through Brenda Spencer of Century. Spencer serves as secretary for the Advisory Committee to the Council on Aging. When the group was discussing plans for the Christmas party, Spencer said she asked if a school could become involved.
Pictured above: In this submitted photo of the one of the Carver/Century centerpieces at the Council on Aging Christmas party, Santa was a little shy and turned his back to the camera. Pictured below: The centerpieces were used at the Council on Aging party at the Osceola Golf Club. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com
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2008 Persons Of The Year: Sharon Smith
January 5, 2009
The late Sharon Smith has been named as one of our NorthEscambia.com Persons of the Year. Mrs. Smith was a teach at Molino Park Elementary School until her sudden death moments after waving goodbye to her students on the last day of school. Along with Mrs. Smith, we honor all of our North Escambia teachers and everyone else that works hard to educate our children.
On the last day of school, Mrs. Smith waved goodbye to her students, turned around and lost her breath. She died a short time later. She spent 36 years of her life educating students at the former Molino Elementary School and at Molino Park.
Reprinted below is a NorthEscambia.com story about Mrs. Smith’s death.
Beloved Molino Teacher Passes Away After Waving Goodbye To Students
Molino Park Elementary fourth grade teacher Sharon Smith was set to retire Friday. She stood outside the school, waving goodbye on the last day of school to her students.
She turned back toward her Molino Park Elementary school and lost her breath. Sharon Smith, 57, passed away a short time later.
“She loved ‘her children’ in her class,” Molino Park Principal Alice Woodward said. “She was happy all day today; it was her retirement day. She didn’t feel bad at all.”
Molino Park fifth grade students “walk the walk” and wave goodbye to cheering friends and family on the last day of school. Mrs. Smith walked too, arm around another retiring teacher as they waved to the cheering crowd.
Then the students left on the buses, Mrs. Smith waving goodbye to them.
“She was excited to go outside and wave goodbye to ‘her children’ as they left school,” Mrs. Woodward said. “She was so happy. Then she turned around and went inside. That’s when she started having trouble breathing.” Mrs. Smith died a short time later.
Funeral services are set for Thursday, the day the school had planned to throw a retirement party for her.
Mrs. Smith had experienced more than her fair share of tragedy in the past months, with both her husband and son passing away within six months of each other. Her husband, President Smith, Jr. passed away May 1, 2007, and her son Reginald Smith died on October 20, 2007, at the age of 23.
“She retired, then she went home to the Lord to be with her husband and son,” Mrs. Woodward said.
“We were her family; she was ours,” Mrs. Woodward said. “We are really going to miss her.”
Mrs. Smith began teaching in 1972 at Molino Elementary School, where she remained until 2002 before moving to the new Molino Park Elementary School. Friday was set to be her last day before her planned retirement.
“We thank you and feel blessed that we got to share this awesome teacher and woman with the world,” her aunt Doreatha Jackson said. “She finished her work here.
“And due to her faithfulness in spreading the love of God to others inspite of her pain and heartache,” Jackson said, “He rewarded her by reuniting her with her husband and child. We will miss her greatly but she is happy and at peace! Thank you, Molino Family for loving her.”
Family members say Mrs. Smith suffered one heart attack at the school. She was revived, then died on the way to Pensacola’s West Florida Hospital.
“She finished the race,” Mrs. Woodward said. “She finished the race.”
NorthEscambia.com invites your comments on this article and Mrs. Smith. Email news@northescambia.com or click here for our contact form. To read the comments we have received, click here for our memorial board.
Funeral Services for Mrs. Sharon Smith will be held at 11:00 Thursday morning at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church at 1120 North Sixth Avenue in Pensacola.
Pictured above: Mrs. Sharon Smith and her fourth grade class wave goodbye about five minutes before their final walk to the buses Friday morning at Molino Park Elementary School. Pictures below: Sharon Smith (top left of photo) and Elaine Barrow pose with students just minutes before they took their retirement walk; and Mrs. Smith at Thursday’s class party. Submitted photo, click to enlarge.
Year In Review North Escambia’s Biggest Stories Of 08: November
January 5, 2009
NorthEscambia.com is looking back at 2008 with our “Year in Review” series. Each day, we will review the biggest stories of 2008. Today, we take a look at the biggest stories of November.
Ernest Ward Middle School held a rally to celebrate the end of Red Ribbon Week, an anti-drug campaign, complete with pie in the face for a few teachers (pictured above). Read more…
With tears and a standing ovation, area residents honored retired Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department chief Robert Stewart at a fish fry benefiting him in his battle against cancer. Read more… Stewart was featured on a Channel 3 “Angels In Midst” segment. We were there, with exclusive photos. More…
An estimated one thousand people attended a community-wide Fall Festival in Molino Sponsored by four area churches, the interdenominational event provided a safe Christian alternative on Halloween night. Read more…
Ernest Ward Middle School held a rally to celebrate the end of Red Ribbon Week, an anti-drug campaign, complete with pie in the face for a few teachers. Read more…
Gas prices in North Escambia continue to fall, with prices in Molino down to $2.15 a gallon the first Monday of November. More…
NorthEscambia.com is celebrated our first birthday on November 3. More…
The First Baptist Church of Bratt celebrated its 100th anniversary. More…
Bill Slayton won the District 5 Escambia County School Board seat, defeating Tom Harrell. More…
Ernest Ward Middle School held their annual career day. Read more..
NorthEscambia.com ran a live election blog on November 4, election day. We posted the latest happenings live, with updates from polling places around North Escambia. More…
Students at Byrneville Elementary School headed to the polls on election day to vote, and the brown pelican won. The students were voting not for Barack Obama or John McCain, but for Florida’s new state bird. More…
A Century woman told the town council that she’d go to jail, or would go to hell, before she pays a $629 sewer bill from the Town of Century. More… In the end, the council voted a couple of weeks later to forgive the bill. More…
NorthEscambia.com had the opportunity to take a ride up in an Escambia River Electric Cooperative bucket truck. From 60 feet above the parking lot at the Ernest Ward Middle School gym, the view of Walnut Hill was impressive. More…
NorthEscambia.com took an exclusive look at what a new school superintendent and school board might mean for North Escambia. More…
Incumbent District 5 Escambia County Commissioner Kevin White was re-elected to that seat by a more than 8,000 vote margin. More… He was sworn-in in late November. More…
Employees at West Frasher’s McDavid Lumbermill were told that about 75 of the plant’s approximately 100 jobs are being cut in a partial shutdown. More…
Former Century Mayor Evelyn Hammond used her position to retaliate against Century Little League when that organization failed to hire her son as chief umpire, according to an administrative law judge. More…
Fights and rumors of a gun at Escambia County High School in Atmore led to the brief lockdown of Bratt Elementary School. More…
Molino Park Elementary School demonstrated its “exergaming” program for the media and physical education teachers across the area. More…
A tearful service at Ernest Ward Middle School honored veterans. More… Bratt Elementary School also honored veterans. More.. Northview High School honored veterans with a presentation of “Don’t Say No To The USO”. More… And Molino Park Elementary School honored veterans with “United We Stand”. More…
The commanding officer of Whiting Field honored veterans at Century Care Center. More…
NorthEscambia.com had an exclusive interview with Alabama Governor Bob Riley prior to the opening of Alabama 113 as a hurricane evacuation route. More… We were also on hand as the ribbon was cut on the project, which was jointly funded by Alabama and Florida. More…
Restoration work began on Old 100 at the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society. More…
Friends and family gathered at a reception to honor Robert Stewart, retired chief of the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department. More…
The Northview Chiefs finished their season with a loss to the West Florida High School Jaguars. More…
In mid-November, gas prices in North Escambia fell below $2 a gallon. More..
The Escambia County School Board rejected a charter school proposal for the Charter Magnet School of Century. More…
Pete Gindl, Sr. completed 50 years of service to Escambia County Schools as his term ended on the school board. More…
We visited with Tina Vickery, who was told that she would not walk again after a February accident on Highway 97 near Molino. She was once again standing tall. More…
Plans were announced for a 35 acre Christian retreat in Century that could eventually include a worship and prayer center. More…
The DirecTV Starship blimp was spotted on North Escambia, and we had the exclusive photos. More…
The Wall of Honor at the Barrineau Park Community Center surpassed 100 photos, with each photo honoring a veteran from around the small community. More…
Solutia became the latest company to announce a shutdown. Company officials say they are temporarily shutting down the Gonzalez facility’s nylon production, resulting in the layoff of about 200 employees. More…
Fire destroyed a single family home on Jefferson Avenue in Century the last Monday night of November. More…
The Federal Aviation Administration released its findings in the fatal Louisiana crash of a flight that originated in Century with a refurbished helicopter from Van Nevel Helicopters, Inc. More….
We reported that the company behind Project Green Leaf that plans to bring an electric car manufacturing plant to Century owes the state of Florida more than $65 thousand in unpaid taxes. And they failed to pay Escambia County thousands in county tourist development taxes. More…
Two best friends, both students at Ernest Ward Middle School, were cast in an upcoming movie. Angel Mitchell and Cheyenne Godwin both had roles in the new movie “Chatterbox”. More…
Two different Thanksgiving accidents injured two people near Walnut Hill. More here and here.
Gas prices were down as low as $1.75 in the area just in time for Thanksgiving travel. More..
Southern barbecue, bluegrass and gospel music, time with friends and a little history were all part of the annual Boxcar Barbecue in Century. And we took the really cool picture below of fire shooting from the barrel of a Civil War era gun. More…
