Christmas Gala Tonight At Ernest Ward
December 17, 2009
Ernest Ward Middle School will host a Christmas Gala tonight at 6:30.
There will be plenty of entertainment from the band, chorus, drama team and other Ernest Ward students. There will also be special guest performers from the community, including harpists, stompers and singers.
Everyone is invited to this fun Christmas event. There is no set admission ticket price; a $1 donation or a can food donation to the Manna Food Bank is requested.
Santa Claus will be available for Christmas wish lists and photographs for $5 from 6:00 until 6:30.
Updated: More North Escambia Roads Closed, Some Reopen
December 17, 2009
(Updated 8:30 a.m.) Several North Escambia roads have been closed, while others have reopened.
According to Escambia County, the following roads are closed:
- Daffin Road
- North Barth Road
- River Annex Road between Muscogee Road and the bridge
- Railroad Street
- Mystic Springs Road
- Pineville Road at 3 run bridges
- O.C. Phillips between Pineville and Highway 97-A
- Barrineau Park Road between Highway 99 and the Alabama State line.
And the following roads have reopened:
- Arthur Brown Road between Pineville and Highway 97-A
- Fannie Road
- Arthur Brown Road @ Brushy Creek Bridge
- Highway 29 at the Alabama State line.
- Jakes Road
Pictured above: A flooded Occie Phillips Road. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Atmore Water System Boil Water Notice Lifted
December 17, 2009
A precautionary boil water notice for the City of Atmore Water System has been lifted.
The notice had been issued December 15, 2009, for the residents of Sardis Church Road, Moye Drive, Little George Road, Howard Page Road, Vine Road and others in that area.
Samples show that the water is now safe to drink, according to the water system.
For more information, contact the Utilities Board of the City of Atmore at (251) 368-2207.
Carver/Century Building Declared Surplus, Could Be Sold
December 17, 2009
The former Carver/Century K-8 School has been reclassified as surplus property, and the school district would love to find a buyer for the property.
The Escambia County School Board officially reclassified the property as a “District Ancillary Services Facility” and has approved disposing of the property when it is no longer of value to the district.
“We will canvas and see if there might be someone interested in purchasing the buildings,” Shawn Dennis, assistant superintendent of operations, said. “We don’t anticipate that happening due to the size of the buildings…for now, we will just use it for storage.”
The district has attempted to find a new use for anything of value inside the former K-8 school. A majority of the school’s furnishings were transferred to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School, the two schools that absorbed Carver/Century’s student population.
A surplus property open house was held at the school in Century, allowing other Escambia district schools to claim items of use. Other furnishings were moved to Pensacola for another inter-district surplus property open house.
“I think the taxpayers of this county would demand that we put the furnishings to use instead of leaving them sitting in an empty building,” he said.
For now, the ancillary services facility designation means the district will use the building as storage for both North Escambia schools and any overflow from the Pensacola area schools. “We have a shortage of storage down here,” Dennis said.
The ancillary classification also removed the available capacity of Carver/Century from the school district’s total number of available student seats, possibly making additional funding available for district capital improvement projects.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Radio Station Owner, Personality Charged With Child Sex Abuse
December 17, 2009
A radio station owner and personality was arrested Wednesday after being indicted on two charges of sexual abuse of a child under 12.
Walter John Bowen, 67, was charged with one count by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office and one count by the Robertsdale Police Department. Authorities said Bowen knew the victim, but they were not a relative. One incident was reported to authorities in August, and one incident was reported months before. Bowen was arrested after a Baldwin County Grand Jury returned an indictment against him.
Bowen remains in the Baldwin County Jail on $75,000 bond.
Bowen, owner of WNSI radio, was known to station listeners on the station’s morning show as “Walter Jay”. His arrest came Wednesday morning during that morning show. WNSI-AM is licensed to Robertsdale, while WNSI-FM 105.9 is licensed to Atmore.
State Farm Staying In Florida
December 17, 2009
State Farm has backed out of a plan to leave Florida after reaching an agreement with the state that allows the company to hike rates and cancel higher risk policy holders.
Under terms of a consent order announced Wednesday, State Farm was granted a 14.8 percent rate increase for all homeowners’ and condominium unit owners policies. The consent order concludes a series of events that began with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s denial of State Farm Florida’s ultimate average rate request of 67.1 percent.
The company will also be allowed to rescind discounts previous granted for policyholders that hardened their homes against hurricanes, amounting to as much as 28 percent rate increase for those that had received the discounts.
Under the terms of the Consent Order, State Farm Florida will non-renew no more than 125,000 policies of its 810,416 residential property policies reported as of October 2009. Even after these non-renewals, State Farm Florida will remain the largest private insurer of property insurance risk in the state of Florida.
“This agreement is the product of a long and arduous negotiation process,” said Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. “The final result is beneficial to the people of the State of Florida, and beneficial to the Florida insurance marketplace. The consent order satisfies the Office’s requirements issued in our Order dated February 13, 2009, and allows State Farm Florida to remain a viable insurer in the Florida market.”
The consent order will allow State Farm’s agents to sell policies from 16 other companies to canceled policyholders. That will help keep the canceled policyholders out of the state-run Citizens insurance company.
“Property policies designated for non-renewal will receive at least six months advance notice and State Farm agents will be able to provide affected residential customers with other insurance options. New rates will go into effect as policies are renewed,” said State Farm Florida President Jim Thompson. “We apologize for any inconvenience or anxiety this process might cause our customers, but this is a necessary step for us as we attempt to stabilize State Farm Florida’s financial condition and serve our remaining customers.”
Project Graduation T-Shirt Design By Northview Students
December 17, 2009
Two Northview High School students were members of the group that created the award winning design for this year’s Project Graduation T-shirt for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
The award-winning t-shirt with the design by Parish Kelley and Nathan Taylor will be available in the spring, and the t-shirt will be worn by all of the seniors that participate in this year’s Project Graduation activities on their graduation night.
This was the second time in the school’s history that Northview has had a Project Graduation artwork winner. In 1997, Jennie Gilmore created a winning design that is still displayed in the school’s trophy case.
See Santa At The Library Today
December 17, 2009
Santa Claus is scheduled to pay a special visit to the Century Branch Library this afternoon for a special visit with North Escambia area children.
The event begins at 4:00 this afternoon. Everything is free, and everyone is invited.
The Century Branch Library is located at 7991 North Century Boulevard.
Pictured above: Ben Wilson of Walnut Hill makes a last minute decision about his Christmas list while visiting with Santa Claus last year at the Century Branch Library. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Barrineau Park Historical Society Celebrates
December 17, 2009
The Barrineau Park Historical Society recently held their annual Christmas dinner and honored two members for their service.
Sara Rickard was presented an award for calendar ad sales, and she was applauded for the “outstanding” cakes that she bakes for each of the monthly music nights.
Tina Tuttle was honored for her work to organize the library at the Barrineau Park Community Center. She also worked with the Honeysuckle Garden Club to landscape the area in front of the community center, and she serves as the coordinator of the annual Community Spring Cleanup.
Guest speaker was Charles Dillard, operations manager of Faith Chapel Funeral Homes. In addition to his 44 years of service to Faith Chapel, Dillard is a former member of the WPFA AM 790 staff and also announced the Tate High School football games. Dillard shared many stories from the area’s past.
Local favorite group Sons of the Pines serenaded the gathering with Christmas carols.
Pictured above left: Nita Berry presents an award to Tina Tuttle (left). Pictured above middle: Berry presents an award to Sara Rickard. Pictured above right: Charles Dillard of Faith Chapel Funeral Home shares stories of the past with the Barrineau Park Historial Society. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
All Schools In Session Thursday; Make Up Days Scheduled For Some
December 16, 2009
It’s back to class for students in Escambia County, Alabama, on Thursday — just in time for exams.
Public school students in Escambia, Alabama, were out of school Tuesday and Wednesday on an unexpected break following flooding in the county. But they will be making the missed days up on January 4 and March 19.
Students at Escambia Academy and the Brewton City Schools missed just Tuesday due to the flooding, and students at Perdido School missed part of Tuesday due to rising water.
Students in Escambia County, Florida, did not miss any time due to the floods.