NorthEscambia.com Called A ‘Must-read’ By Pensacola News Journal Columnist
February 10, 2009
A column in Monday’s Pensacola News Journal calls NorthEscambia.com a “must-read”.
“For news north of Nine Mile Road, www.northescambia.com is must-reading, occasionally even beating emergency vehicles to accident scenes,” Pensacola News Journal columnist Mark O’Brien wrote in his Monday column.
While we at NorthEscambia.com appreciate being called a “must-read” by the daily paper, we thought it worthy to point out that we don’t cover Nine Mile Road and north. We cover the Molino area from Quintette Road north — the area which we define as being “North Escambia”.
That was one of the reasons we started NorthEscambia.com — the mainstream Pensacola media seemed to be missing out on basic geography. If you fold a map of this county in half, you find that places north of Nine Mile Road like Ten Mile Road, Cottage Hill and Cantonment, are actually in southern half of the county. North Escambia does not begin at Nine Mile Road.
O’Brien also used his column to attack most of the other local online news blogs that mentioned in his article, but not NorthEscambia.com. He attacked Ricksblog.biz, saying “Rick Outzen often prints unconfirmed items and writes about events he doesn’t attend, so his error rate is high.” He said the Pensacola Beach Blog “has a haughty tone”, and O’Brien said others were coming from the left or the right.
NorthEscambia.com is, by the way, the only complete general news online-only paper in Escambia County. We are the only ones that cover a complete range of news, from government to wrecks to fire to school events on a daily basis. All of the others in the county focus their coverage on a particular facet of events such as politics.
FCAT Writing Test Begins Today, A Look At North Escambia Schools
February 10, 2009
Today is big day for fourth, eighth and 10th-graders in North Escambia — it is the first day of the annual FCAT writing test for students in those grades.
The stakes are high at Bratt Elementary, Carver/Century K-8 School, Molino Park Elementary, Byrneville Elementary, Ernest Ward Middle School and Northview High School.
The FCAT scores are factored into a school’s grade assigned by the Florida Department of Education.
Many opponents to FCAT testing have cited poor socio-economic status as a reason for low for scores in schools. Details for each North Escambia school are below, along with the percentage of student that qualify for free or reduced price lunches and the percentage of minority students in the school.
Bratt Elementary has been an “A” rated school since 2001-2002 and was last year’s highest performing school in Escambia County. That was a drastic improvement from 1998-1999 when Bratt was ranked as a “D” school. At Bratt, 62 percent of the students take part in the free or reduced price lunch program, and 21 percent are classified as minority.
Carver/Century K-8 improved to a “B” last school year after being ranked as an “F” school in 2006-2007 and a “D” school three years prior. At Carver/Century, 93 percent recieve free or reduced price lunches, and 84 percent of the students are minority.
Byrneville Elementary has been ranked as an “A” school each year since 2002-2003, except for 2006-2007 when they slipped to a “B” ranking. At Bryneville, 56 percent receive free or reduced price meals, and 12 percent are minority.
Molino Park Elementary has been ranked as an “A” school by the state since 2003-2004. At Molino Park, 53 percent recieve free or reduced price meals, and 16 percent of the students are minority.
At Ernest Ward Middle School, the school has been rated as an “A” school for the past three school years, having improved from a “B” rating in 2004-2005 and a “C” rating in 2003-2004. At Ernest Ward, 50 percent of the students receive free or reduced price lunches, and 17 percent of the students are minority.
Northview High School improved to a “B” school last year school. Northview was ranked as a “C” school nine years prior. At Northview, 44 percent of the students receive free or reduced price lunches, and 22 percent of the students are classified as minority.
Northview NJROTC Heads To Florida A & M For Drill Competition
February 10, 2009
The Northview High School NJROTC attended the annual Florida A&M Drill Competition recently in Tallahassee.
“It was an opportunity for the unit to compete against other schools that are not in our area and it was an exciting and successful day,” Northview NJROTC instructor Charlie Code said. “It was a great experience for the unit and one that they will use to build upon for the future.”
Northview placed in the following events:
- Uarmed Basic Drill: 2nd place
- Armed Basic Drill: 2nd place
- Color Guard Drill: 4th place
- Personnel Inspection: 5th place
- Individual Drill: Jessica Bloodsworth, placed 2nd out of 150 cadets.
A total of 16 schools participated in the day-long event.
Click here for a complete photo gallery from the event.
Pictured above: The Northview High School NJROTC at the annual Florida A&M Drill Competition recently in Tallahasee. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Expect Fewer Trains In Area After Fire Damages Railroad Trestle
February 9, 2009
There will be fewer CSX trains passing through North Escambia and South Alabama the next couple of weeks following a fire that damaged a railroad trestle over Bayou Sara in north Mobile County Saturday afternoon.
Juveniles were reported to have rain away from the Bayou Sara trestle just before the fire. The trestle received heavy damage, and CSX says it will be out of service for up to two weeks.
Trains leaving Mobile must pass over the trestle before heading toward Birmingham or Pensacola.
The trains, about 18-20 per day, that are heading to Pensacola pass through Atmore, Flomaton, Century and Molino before heading south.
The Bayou Sara span is about two miles from the scene of the September 22, 1993, Amtrak Sunset Limited disaster on the Big Bayou Canot bridge. There were 47 people in that accident.
Ernest Ward Cheerleaders Take Second Best In Nation
February 9, 2009
(With Link To Video)The Ernest Ward Middle School cheerleaders have taken second best in the entire nation Sunday afternoon in Orlando in the Universal Cheerleaders Association competition.
The EWMS cheerleaders took first place in the UCA West Florida Regional in November at Tate High School. Their score was so high that they automatically bypassed the preliminary rounds of competition Saturday in Orlando. The EWMS Golden Eagle cheerleaders were automatically advanced to Sunday’s final round.
Click here for a few more photos from Orlando (including new photos from Sunday afternoon’s competition).
Members of the EWMS squad are Cheyenne Godwin, Hannah Gibson, Katelynne Calloway, Ali Martin, Ariel Holland, Mariah Albritton, Lana Clayton, Morgan Ward, Raven Weaver, Reagan Bell, Angel Mitchell, Paeton Hadley, Ashley Mooney, Madison Arrington, Coach Ashley Salter and large number of parent volunteers.
Click here to watch a video of the EWMS performance Sunday in Orlando (enter “Ernest Ward” in the search box under the video tab). The video site is sometimes overloaded and slow; be patient.
Pictured above: The EWMS cheerleaders pose for a quick photo for NorthEscambia.com heading into Disney World this afternoon. Pictured below: And they’re off! The Golden Eagles head to their competition. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pensacola Council, Escambia Commissioners Seek Input Into Economic Development Plans
February 9, 2009
Escambia County Commissioners and Pensacola City Council are asking the public to submit concepts, ideas, or thoughts on the best way for the county to manage its economic development growth.
The entities want to know if they are doing a good job now in the public’s opinion. They are wanting input on any better way, and what model should be used for future economic growth planning.
All submissions should be in writing, including contact information with a return address and phone number. If submittal is from a group or committee, themembers, chairman and contact information should be included. Include, at a minimum, the following information:
1. Comments on the existing economic development structure.
2. How should our economic development effort be structured?
3. What role should county government play in economic development?
4. Suggested industries we should target for this area.
5. Additional thoughts and concerns related to economic development in this area.
All information should be submitted by March 1, 2009, as a PDF or by mail to:
Larry M. Newsom, Economic Development Coordinator
Escambia County, 221 Palafox Place, Room 210
Pensacola, FL 32502
larry_newsom@co.escambia.fl.us
Individuals can share their submittals at the March Joint Meeting (date to be announced). Due to time constraints, presentations will be limited to three minutes.
County Gets Grants For Hurricane Upgrade At Walnut Hill, McDavid Fire Stations
February 9, 2009
Two area fire stations will get hurricane retrofits with grant money from the State of Florida.
Hurricane shutters will installed at the McDavid and Walnut Hill fire stations of Escambia Fire Rescue using $35,543 in grants from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The grant will provide $18,132 for the hurricane shutters at the McDavid Fire Station on North Century Boulevard.
Another $16,411 from the grant money will be used for hurricane shutters for the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97.
Escambia County applied for the grants back on May 1, 2007.
Spring Weather Continues
February 9, 2009
Spring-like weather will continue for several more days here in North Escambia, with daytime highs in the low to mid 70’s.
After some patchy fog to start the day, your Monday will be mostly sunny and warn, with a high of 72.
Daytime highs will continue around 75 Tuesday and Wednesday, and overnight lows will be around 55.
It will be slightly cooler, but still sunny, on Thursday, with a high around 68.
School Progress Reports Today
February 9, 2009
Check you child’s book bag this afternoon — it is time for progress reports.
The third nine-weeks period for Escambia Schools is over, and progress reports will be sent home this afternoon.
If you have any questions, contact your child’s school.
Escambia County Applies For Grant For Century And Molino ECAT Buses
February 8, 2009
Escambia County is applying for a grant to fund the ECAT bus that runs between North Escambia and Pensacola six days per week.
The $231,696 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation will be matched by the county for the “Route 60″ bus that stops in Century and Molino each day and connects to the rest of the Escambia County Area Transit system in the Pensacola area.
The application is for a “Federal Transit Administration non-urbanized area funding” grant to be used in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The grant is to offset operational expenses of public transportation in more rural areas.
Funding from the grant will also be used for the Pensacola Bay Transportation Company paratransit program for disabled persons in rural area of Escambia County.
The ECAT Route 60 bus from Century and Molino to Pensacola is the most expensive bus per person and the most expensive bus per hour in the entire public transportation system in the county, NorthEscambia.com reported on December 31.
The bus costs $16.27 per passenger to operate, according to ECAT numbers from the last fiscal year. That’s the most expensive cost per passenger by far over any other bus in the system, with every other route falling below $10 per person (except for a free tourist route that runs to Pensacola Beach). In fact, is almost twice the next most expensive route per person, a 12th Avenue area route that costs ECAT $8.68 per person. The Century and Molino to Pensacola bus is also the most expensive per hour to operate in the ECAT system, at $78.29 per hour.
A total of 7,819 riders took the Route 60 bus over a one year period. That compares to 145,883 riders on a Fairfield Drive area bus.
Read the December 31 NorthEscambia.com story about the route by clicking here.