Lending A Helping Hand: Church Provides Free School Supplies
August 15, 2009
A Century church provided free school supplies to scores of children Friday morning.
Dozens of children at time lined up at Abundant Life Assembly of God with their school supplies lists to receive the items they need for school.
School starts Monday, August 24 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Pictured: Free school supplies were handed out Friday at Abundant Life Assembly of God in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Community Clothes Closet Open Today
August 15, 2009
The Community Clothes Closet will be open today from 9 until noon at the Jay Community Center.
Everything is free for those in need. For more information, contact Wendy at (850) 686-6124.
Need A School Supply List? Print It Here
August 14, 2009
School begins Monday, August 24 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties — and that means a lot of school supply shopping.
NorthEscambia.com has the school supply lists from all of the area elementary and middle schools below. Click the name of the school to download and print the school supply list in pdf format.
- Bratt Elementary
- Byrneville Elementary
- Ernest Ward Middle
- Jay Elementary
- Jim Allen Elementary
- Molino Park Elementary
- Ransom Middle
Below are lists from other Escambia County elementary schools not listed above:
- Bellview Elem
- Beulah Elem
- Blue Angels Elem
- Brentwood Elem
- Cook Elem
- Cordova Park Elem
- Ensley Elem
- Ferry Pass Elem
- Hallmark Elem
- Hellen Caro Elem
- Holm Elem
- Lincoln Park Elem
- Lipscomb Elem
- Longleaf Elem
- McArthur Elem
- Montclair Elem
- Myrtle Grove Elem
- Navy Point Elem
- Oakcrest Elem
- Pine Meadow Elem
- Pleasant Grove Elem
- Scenic Heights Elem
- Semmes Elem
- Sherwood Elem
- Sid Nelson Pre-k
- Spencer Bibbs Elem
- Suter Elem
- Warrington Elem
- Weis Elem
- West Pensacola Elem
- Yniestra Elem
Sid Wheatley Named New Northview High School Head Football Coach
August 14, 2009
Call him the chief of the Chiefs — Sid Wheatley has officially been named the new Northview High School head football coach.
Wheatley was named interim head coach after Cody Keene resigned in mid-July to accept a coaching job at Hooper Academy in Montgomery. Wheatley was hired as the head football coach this week.
“I’m excited about it,” Wheatley said from his new office Thursday afternoon. “We have a good group of kids, and a good group of seniors. We are working out now, and they look good.”
After four years as an assistant coach, Wheatley said he knows the players and they know him from working together. That allowed him to hit the ground running when he took over as interim head coach.
On the defensive side, Wheatley plans to stick with a 4-3 scheme and push for focus on the ball.
“We’ve got to have 11 guys swarm the football,” he said.
On the offensive side — that one he is keeping to himself, other than to say he plans to throw in a “few wrinkles”.
“We’re working on ball control and wearing down the offense.”
The Chiefs are a classification lower this year, having dropped into Class 2A District 1 with Jay, Baker, Vernon, Sneeds, Freeport, Holmes County, South Walton and Bozeman.
“We are excited about the new class; it will bring a lot of excitement,” Wheatley said. “It is going to be a very competitive district. We are going to work and put ourselves were we want to be.”
There are 20 seniors on this year’s lineup, and Wheatley said those seniors have already been instrumental in providing leadership and motivation for the entire team. Seniors to watch, he said, include John Sellars, Anthony Pierce, Brian Knight and Austin Cooper.
Chris Sheets and Dustin Yuhasz are two others to watch this year, he said.
The new coach said that in the quarterback position, “we have two that are battling it out right now” — senior Brad Lowery and sophomore Brandon Sheets.
“It’s going to be a good year,” Wheatley said.
“We are going to go all the way; we look forward to the playoffs” Principal Gayle Weaver said. “Coach Wheatley was a good choice. He represents the school well, both on and off the field.”
Wheatley was selected for the head coaching job by a selection committee. He had served as Keene’s assistant coach since the 2005 season, most recently coaching the offensive line and defensive backs last season.
Wheatley has served as Northview’s baseball coach since 2005, and he also teaches history at the school. Wheatley attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he received a Bachelor’s degree in coaching and sports administration.
This is not the first time Wheatley has served as a head football coach — he led Loyd Star High School in Brookhaven, Miss. from 2002 to 2003. He’s also served as an assistant football coach at various other schools in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.
$300,000 Theft Ring Suspect Behind Bars
August 14, 2009
The man accused in a $300,000 multi-state theft ring is behind bars facing a list of charges with more to be filed.
Mark Anthony Harrison, 38, was arrested after he was found hiding in an apartment closet in Milton. He is now in the Santa Rosa County Jail, charged with resisting arrest, criminal mischief, two counts of burglary and two counts of larceny. He will be charged with four counts of receiving stolen property in Escambia County, Ala., grand theft, burglary and criminal mischief in Escambia County, Fla.; and more charges from both Santa Rosa County and Baldwin County, Ala.
His total bond stands at $22,500 on his current charges.
A tip led Santa Rosa County deputies to an apartment near Milton. Deputies found Harrison hiding under clothing and other items in the apartment closet. According to police reports, Harrison refused to show his hands and was forceibly removed from the closet by deputies.
Authorities say the theft ring targeted homes and businesses in North Escambia, Santa Rosa County and Baldwin and Escambia counties in Alabama.
Property discovered on Upper Creek Road in Flomaton included a four wheeler that was reported stolen from Century Marine in December of last year. Two additional stolen four wheeler and two motorcycles were also recovered from the property.
When officers executed search warrants at home in Riverview and Brewton, they located a stash of additional stolen property, including a Fleetwood motor home. In all the stolen goods are worth an estimated $300,000 from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida, and Escambia and Baldwin counties in Alabama.
Benefit This Weekend For Young Boy With Rare Condition
August 14, 2009
In December 2008, perfectly healthy A’Darious “A.J.” Adams, 5, was unexpectedly stricken with a life threatening illness — Steven Johnson’s Syndrome.
The illness, which can be suddenly caused by an ordinary children’s painkiller medication, caused A.J. to suffer second degree burns to 95 percent of his body.
Relatives say that through his painful recovery from debilitating surgeries, skin grafts, and therapies, AJ has remained a bright energetic child. Secondary complications have caused tremendous scaring on AJ’s corneas and have left him blind in both eyes.
A.J. who is from Pensacola but has several North Escambia relatives, is in need of several expensive surgeries to restore his vision.
A free benefit concert will be held Saturday for A.J. at the Deliverance Tabernacle at 1780 West Detroit Boulevard in Pensacola. The event will feature church choirs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and quarter groups beginning at 3 p.m.
Donations can also be made at to the “A’darious A.J. Adams fund” at any branch of Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union.
For more information, contact Janice Spencer at (850) 968-3899 or 450-6966.
Pictured above: A’darious A.J. Adams before and after being stricken with Steven Johnson’s Syndrome. Submitted photos for NorthEcambia.com, click to enlarge.
Billings Family Seeks To Keep Video From Being Made Public; Suspects Arraigned
August 14, 2009
The family of Byrd and Melanie Billings has asked a judge to rule that certain evidence, including security camera video footage of the execution style murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings, not be released to the public. That request came Thursday afternoon, just hours after the seven murder suspects all entered not guilty pleas to the crime.
“The only media or public interest in the information arises out of morbid exploitation by some members of the public and the sensationalism surrounding the criminal case,” Billings daughter Ashely Markham’s motion for a declaratory judgment said. The motion was filed in Escambia County Circuit Court last Wednesday afternoon.
The motion also argued that the documents and video would defame the Billings’ good name and place their nine adoptive children in danger. The motion states that at least one of the children appears in the video recordings from inside the home during the July 9 murders.
“The public release of the information will jeopardize the safety of the Markhams and the minor children,” the motion says. “The privacy rights of the Markhams outweighs the public’s right to know.”
State Attorney Bill Eddins agreed to withhold the video footage and other evidence until the judges assigned to hear the criminal cases can issue a ruling.
Items such as the video footage are usually made part of the public record in a case as it reaches the discovery phase — that’s when the prosecution makes the evidence available to the defense attorneys in a criminal case.
Also on Thursday, the seven people charged with first degree murder were arraigned. Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35; Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr., 56; Wayne Coldiron, 41; Donnie Ray Stallworth, 28; Gary Lamont Sumner Jr., 30; Rakeem Florence, 16; and Frederick Lee Thornton Jr., 19 all entered not guilty pleas.
The alleged mastermind, Gonzalez, Jr., also asked that his bond be reduced, a request that was denied.
Commissioners Can’t Use Blackberry, Laptop, Text Messaging
August 14, 2009
A new policy expected to be approved next week by the Escambia County Commission will restrict how commissioners can use technology during meetings and to conduct public business.
The policy, drafted by County Attorney Allison Rogers, “is to establish rules for the county commissioners use of technology to ensure they conduct themselves in a responsible, professional, ethical and efficient manner, with an eye toward the public’s perception of their elected officials”.
In the past, it has not been uncommon to see a commissioner typing a message on a Blackberry or other cell phone, or typing on their laptop computer during a commission meeting.
The policy as proposed by the county attorney would have forbidden a commissioner from having any device, including a personal cell phone, powered on during a meeting. That part of the proposal was not acceptable to one commissioner.
“If I keep my phone on vibrate and I get a call, I look down at it and see who it is and know whether I need to answer it or if it’s an emergency or not,” Commissioner Wilson Robertson said. “But I am not going to turn in my cell phone like some of y’all are doing.”
“I have no problem if you can excuse yourself and go tend to your call,” Commissioner Grover C. Robinson said. “But I don’t want to be sitting here in a four-hour meeting and unable to respond to an important call for my business or family.”
The policy will be amended to allow commissioners to have their phone on vibrate or silent during a meeting.
The policy, once approved by commissioners at their August 20 meeting, will forbid them from communicating on blogs; social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter; or using text or instant messaging for county related matters. The policy even encourages commissioners request that text and instant messages be disabled on their county-owned devices.
All emails related to county business will also be required to using an official county email address — no personal email addresses can be used for county business. If a commissioner receives an email related to county business at a personal email address, they are to forward it to county address and request that the sender use a county address in the future.
District 5 Commissioner Kevin White said that part of the policy will not be a problem for him. “I don’t have that problem because I don’t even have a private email,” he said.
Florida’s broad public record’s laws state that emails related to county business are public record and must be archived, or maintained.
If a commissioner violates the policy, the other commissioners “may take an available enforcement action against a fellow commissioner”.
“The point is, you don’t want these things to be an interactive way of communicating with each other,” Rogers said. “The policy is really one part courtesy and three parts preventative medicine.”
Singles Night Tonight At Molino Church
August 14, 2009
If you are single, or single again, there’s a chance tonight to meet other singles in a positive environment.
The New Beginnings Gang will meet at 6:00 tonight at Highland Baptist Church in Molino.
The free event will include a movie, pizza, dessert, and great fellowship. For more information, call the church at 587-5174.
Tate Grad Jayce Boyd Picks FSU Over MLB
August 14, 2009
Tate High grade Jayce Boyd is heading to Florida State. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers during the Major League Baseball draft, but he decided to play college ball before heading to the majors.
Boyd, a former Aggie third baseman, was chosen in June in the 19th round of the MLB amateur draft. He was expected to be picked in the first five rounds, but fell over concerns that he wanted too high of salary. His asking price was reportedly equal to a full scholarship to FSU where he is already signed to play next year.