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Year In Review North Escambia’s Biggest Stories Of 2009: January

December 28, 2009

NorthEscambia.com is looking back at 2009 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 January 2009.

At their first meeting of the year, the Town of Century voted to spend $478 on a lawyer to determine if they should collect a $629 sewer bill from an elderly resident. The woman, according to the council, had not paid for sewer service since 1999.

A new top cop took office in Escambia County. David Morgan was sworn in before a standing room only crowd.

Firefighters from Century and McDavid were call to Milton to help control a massive fire that destroyed almost an entire city block of the town’s historic district.

The Town of Century withdrew its support for a plan to consolidate Century, Pensacola and Escambia County under one unified government, with council members saying that they were misled by the group Escambia All For One. In December 2008, the Century Town Council approved a resolution identical to resolutions passed recently by Escambia County and the City of Pensacola that simply says that Century supports moving forward in exploring the governmental consolidation sought by Escambia All For One. But the council rescinded that resolution on a recommendation from Mayor Freddie McCall.

Ashely Cunningham was named Miss Ernest Ward Middle School. Other award winners were Clarissa Ross, 1st runner-up; Ariel Holland, 2nd runner-up, and poise and appearance, and Miss Hospitality; Savanna VanderPol, 3rd runner-up; Cheyenne Godwin, physical fitness, and Miss Congeniality.

ECUA took over residential trash collection in North Escambia, but not without their share of problems. A large number of people were unable to recycle as promised when pickups were dropped from twice per week to once. ECUA had great difficulty in getting the recycling cans delivered in a timely fashion.

Christopher Patterson of Molino was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the death of his one year old daughter Ali Jean Paterson in late September, 2006. Ali Jean Paterson died on November 26, 2006, from burns she received two weeks earlier when she was left unattended in a hot bath, according to authorities.

It was announced that thee days of Alabama students attending school in Escambia County, Florida schools were coming to and end, and students from Escambia, Florida, including those from the closing Carver/Century K-8 School, will not be allowed to attend school in Alabama. Escambia County, Alabama, rescinded an agreement from the two Escambia, ending an even student for student exchange.

A federal judge issued preliminary injunction against any policy or practice that promotes prayer or religion in the Santa Rosa County School District. The ACLU requested documents concerning prayer from Escambia County Schools.

Escambia Commissioners began to talk about raising the gas tax in the county to fund ECAT and other public transportation options.

New football districts were announced in Florida, with Northview dropping back to District 1A with Jay High School.

On Election Day, we elected the nation’s first black president, In North Escambia, 6,311 people voted for John McCain while 2,202 voted for Barack Obama.

People gathered across North Escambia to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with parades and programs, including a large gathering in Century.

Despite passionate pleas from several Century residents, the Escambia County School Board’s ax fell on Carver/Century K-8 school as the board vote to redistrict all of the student out of the school to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle schools. A NorthEscambia.com investigation found that most students that lived in the Carver/Century district did not attend the school, taking advantage of the fact that the school did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress in order to transfer to a neighboring school.

Modular classrooms totaling $1 million were announced for Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle schools. The classrooms were to provide extra space for the Carver/Century students being redistricting to the schools in the fall.

Northview senior Amber Holland was named as the new Miss Northview High School. First Runner Up was Sarah Killam, a sophomore. Second Runner Up was Katie Mann, also a sophomore.

Legendary football coach Carl Madison returned to sidelines as the offensive coordinator for the Tate Aggies. From his first coaching job at Ernest Ward High School at age 26, Madison went on to become one of America’s most winning coaches. Madison, age 77, was 326-129-7 over a 45 year coaching career, making him number two on Florida’s all-time coaching victories list and in the top 30 in the entire nation.

Production came to a halt at the Jay Oil Field, costing about 30 employees their job less than a month after Christmas. The nation’s poor financial state and a drop in oil prices were to blame.

The local legislative delegation put their stamp of approval on a bill that would create a 25-member commission to draft a consolidated government proposal. The consolidation would roll Escambia County, Century and Pensacola governments into one. The group supporting consolidation, Escambia All For One, held a meeting in Walnut Hill to talk about their plan. No one attended.

It was practice, practice for the Ernest Ward Middle School cheerleaders as they prepared to compete for a national championship in Orlando.

The Town of Century voted to return code enforcement to the town, agreeing to allow Escambia County provide the service. Code officers promised to be proactive and not complaint driven.

People were on the lookout for a phony cop pulling people over in Escambia County. He was never arrested.

Century was still holding onto a thread of hope for an electric car manufacturing plant, but more tax liens against the developers of the project surfaced

January was time to dig out the birth certificates and think about spring — it was ball registration time in Century, Molino and Walnut Hill.

In late January, the state ethics commission found that former Mayor Evelyn Hammond misused her position and recommended a $3,000 fine. Hammond used her position to retaliate against Century Little League and its president, Dabney Longhorne, when that organization failed to hire her son as chief umpire, according to the ethics commission findings.

NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FEATURE TOP STORY, Features, News