Old Molino School Could Become North Escambia ECAT Hub
June 16, 2009
The old Molino Elementary School could one day become a major hub for ECAT buses serving North Escambia from Walnut Hill to Century to Molino and Cantonment.
Escambia County recently purchased the old school for a library and community center. Marilyn Wesley, director of Neighborhoods and Community Services, said Monday night that the building on Highway 95A could be used a central transfer station for the Escambia County Area Transit system.
Wesley said ECAT would use the school as a “hub” for ECAT, and branch out in a circle providing routes to and from nearby communities. It would be a central “Park and Ride” facility, encouraging residents to leave their cars and take the bus to work or on errands. Riders would also be able to transfer to other buses and other routes, much like the bus station in Pensacola.
“It will benefit the entire county as a whole,” Wesley said of the Molino center. “We are also looking at improving service in the north end.”
She said, for example, ECAT could add a bus that loops Highway 97, Highway 4 and Highway 164. That route would serve locations such as Walnut Hill, Bratt and McDavid.
Wesley unveiled the potential ECAT plans for the old Molino Elementary as she pitched a 3-cent gas tax increase to the Century Town Council Monday night. The Escambia County Commission will consider the tax at their Thursday night meeting.
Missed The Bus: Century Votes Against 3-Cent ECAT Gas Tax
June 16, 2009
The Town of Century wants the Escambia County Commission to know that it does not support a 3-cent gas tax increase to fund mass transit.
The town council voted 3-2 Monday night against supporting the tax for Escambia County Area Transit, even if the county commission rolls back property taxes by an amount equal to the gas tax increase. Council members Gary Riley and Sharon Scott cast the no votes — essentially voting to support the tax.
Council member Nadine McCaw, who voted against the tax increase, said she was tired of agencies promising great benefits for Century and then pulling their services out of town. Citing the loss of courthouse services, the hospital, the health department and the town’s last school, McCaw said she would not support the town supporting ECAT funding without concrete service guarantees.
“Can you guarantee that you won’t touch the route here?” McCaw asked Marilyn Wesley, director of Neighborhoods and Community Services for the county, about Century’s only ECAT route. “We are always the first ones to go.”
Wesley said ECAT was committed to the Century route, having purchased two smaller buses to use on the route beginning in the fall.
“We are hurting our businesses if we adopt your 3-cent gas tax,” Council President Ann Brooks said. She said gas was already about a dime cheaper across the state line in Alabama.
“We need that bus,” Brenda Spencer told the council. Spencer rides the bus most days from Century to her job in downtown Pensacola. “This is something where we will benefit.”
Wesley said the tax would generate an estimated $4.1 million in funding per year for ECAT, with property taxes being rolled back by $3.2 million. The extra $600,000 per year, she said, would be put into a reserve fund for future growth.
Monday night was the second time Wesley has spoke to the council about supporting the tax; she first asked for the council’s support on June 1.
Library Program Today: Kids Can Cook
June 16, 2009
Yes, life is a bowl of cherries — if you know how to make good choices..
The Century Branch Library’s summer readings series continues at noon today with the program “Kids Can Cook!”.
Angela Hinkle from the Escambia County Extension Office will give tips for making smart food choices at a school and home. Children of all ages will have fun creating and decorating a lunch box and filling it with healthy snacks.
The program at noon today is free at the Century Branch Library, 7991 North Century Boulevard. For more information, call 256-6217.
Bratt Residents Plead Not Guilty To Operating Meth Lab
June 16, 2009
The Bratt residents accused of operating a meth lab out of a Bratt mobile home have entered not guilty pleas in Escambia County Circuit Court.
Daniel Wayne Sheets, 29, and Mary Elaine Sheets, 28, were arrested May 20 on multiple drug charges after deputies located the meth lab at 3740 Highway 168, near Wiggins Road .
Escambia County Circuit Court Judge Joyce Williams officially ordered bond at $45,000 each after their first court appearance. Mary Sheets was released on bond; Daniel Sheets remains in the Escambia County Jail.
Both will face a jury trial in September.
Daniel Wayne Sheets and Mary Elaine Sheets were each charged with a narcotics violation, the production of methamphetamine, use and possession of drug paraphernalia and the possession of chemicals used to manufacture a controlled substance.
Escambia County Deputy David Preston said authorities received a tip that a truck belonging to Atmore bank robbery suspect Chad Jeter might be at the residence. The sheriff’s departments from Escambia counties Florida and Alabama, the Atmore Police Department and the FBI attempted to located Jeter at the mobile home, but he was not there.
While authorities searched for the bank robber, they discovered a meth lab being operated at the mobile home.
NWE Falls To Destin
June 16, 2009
The Northwest Escambia All-Stars fell to Destin Monday afternoon in the second day of play in the District 1 Little League 8-9 Year Old All Stars tournament at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill.
NWE scored one and loaded the bases early in the game, but Destin dominated the scoring in the remainder of the game. Destin beat NWE 12-1 in four innings of play.
In the evening tournament game, Niceville-National beat Niceville-American 14-4.
Tuesday, Shalimar will play Tri-County at 5:30. Tri-County includes players from Century, Jay, Fidelis and Chumuckla. At 7:30 Tuesday evening, Defuniak Springs will play Niceville-American.
NWE will take to the field again Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 against the winner of Tuesday’s Tri-County versus Shalimar game.
Pictured: Action from NWE versus Destin at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill Monday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century Gets $1.5 Million Grant Toward Water Project
June 16, 2009
The Town Of Century received $1.5 million dollars worth of the good news Monday; good news that will mean an end to the water woes of residents on Backwoods Roads that have waited a decade for help.
Frank Fabre of Fabre Engineering surprised the Century Town Council with the announcement Monday night. The town was pursuing a low interest loan to fund several water projects, but Fabre decided to submit the shovel ready project for grant consideration. The result — the town was approved for $1,530,000 in stimulus dollars toward the $1.8 million project. The $270,000 balance will be a on low interest loan, with the current interest rate at about 3-percent.
“It is wonderful thing for the Town of Century,” Fabre told the council. He said he was proud to seek the stimulus grant money on behalf of the town. Fabre Engineering has worked for the town since 1988.
The project will include new 500,000 gallon elevated water storage tank to improve system reliability and fire protection, two natural gas operated back-up generators to improve system reliability for the existing water treatment plants, 16,000 feet of six-inch water main and a booster station to provide fire protection, improve pressure and system reliability in a portion of the existing water system franchise area.
Part of the project will include upgrading a two-inch pipe serving Backwoods Road to a six-inch water main. Backwoods Road residents have complained about poor water pressure and poor water quality for 10 years.
The town will next advertise for bids on the project. The bid is expected to be awarded by October 1.
Diverse Family: Bratt Mockingbird Is Raising Baby Blue Jay
June 15, 2009
A Bratt family has an interesting family of birds in their yard — a mockingbird is raising an orphaned blue jay along with her own young.
Here is the story, as related by Kim Godwin of Bratt:
My three daughters (Hannah, Shelby and Maegan) and I were driving down our driveway when I noticed a small ball of something just sitting on the ground. All four of us got out to check this little ball out. It just happened to be a tiny baby blue jay that had been orphaned.
We looked for the nest that it had apparently fallen out of but we couldn’t find it. Of course, we all wanted to pick it up immediately because it was so cute and tiny. I’ve always heard not to touch a baby bird with your bare hands because the mother would smell the human scent on it and leave it abandoned.
So, I grabbed a t-shirt and swaddled the tiny bird up in it. The next question for us was, “What do we do with this cute little bird?”. It just so happened that we have been watching a nest of mockingbird eggs hatch. The little mockingbirds could have only been a week or so old. I decided that we would see what happened if we stuck the blue jay in with the mockingbirds.
I didn’t really think that the mockingbird parents would just adopt the blue jay but I thought that is was worth a try. Well, then we had another obstacle — the nest was too small for the three tiny mockingbirds and the blue jay that is three times as big as the mockingbirds.
My nine-year old daughter Hanna looked up on the internet on how to create a make-shift nest. So, we found an old basket and filled it with pine straw. My husband tied it up in the tree where the old nest used to be. It wasn’t but just a few minutes and the mama mockingbird was checking out her new home which held her three babies plus one.
The mockingbird parents have fully adopted the bluejay and the whole family is doing well.
Pictured above: A hungry blue jay (the larger bird to the left) and two mockingbirds wait for mom to feed them. Pictured below: (L-R) Hannah Godwin, Maegan Godwin, friend Jadlyn Agerton, Shelby Godwin . Pictured bottom: More photos of the orphaned baby blue jay that is being raised by a mockingbird with her own young. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
New ECUA Plant Pumps $44 Million Into Local Economy
June 15, 2009
The construction of the new Emerald Coast Utilities Authority Century Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment pumped $44.4 million into the county’s economy, ECUA says.
The new facility replaces the 73-year old downtown Pensacola Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant and is the largest public works project in Escambia County’s history.
“Any economic development plan that hopes to be successful must focus on an area’s unique strengths. A brand new, environmentally friendly water reclamation facility that opens large tracts of real estate to commercial and industrial development adds more muscle to the powerful body of strengths already present, but too often overlooked, in the Greater Pensacola area,” according to Dale Perkins, ECUA board member.
There are 184 employees on the plant’s payroll, with 65 percent of them being local residents, ECUA Spokesman Jim Roberts said.
When the CWRF is finished in 2010, ECUA estimates it will have had a $320 million total economic impact, according Roberts. There are 103 suppliers and contractors — 60 of them local — working on the project.
“The Main Street replacement project is having a county-wide economic impact. At a recent dinner of the Century Chamber of Commerce, my friend, former Century Mayor Benny Barnes, asked me ‘is your project helping anyone up here?’,” Larry Walker, ECUA District 5 board member, said. “As I stammered for an answer, a young man across the table introduced himself as a Byrneville resident and a structural engineer working on the project through an engineering subcontract from Baskerville-Donovan, Inc. He then pointed to another man down the table saying, he was a Century resident and was also employed on the Main Street replacement project.”
Pictured above and below: Recent aerial photos of the new ECUA Central Water Reclamation Facility under construct near Cantonment. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
16,303 DTV Coupons Ordered Locally
June 15, 2009
The days of fuzzy TV stations are over — local television stations joined those across the country in making the digital switch Friday, days after hundreds of North Escambia area residents made last minute orders for converter box coupons.
In the North Escambia and surrounding zip codes, a total of 16,303 coupons have been ordered for $40 off the digital converter boxes needed by older televisions to receive programming. Of that number, 527 were last minute orders about a week before the switch.
Locally, the switch to DTV appears to have gone smoothly Friday. Except, perhaps, for over-the-air viewers of WKRG Channel 5. WKRG will operate with temporary DTV facility while a permanent one is constructed. “Some viewers on the fringes of our service area who now receive our analog programming over-the-air may be unable to receive our DTV programming until construction is complete,” according to the WKRG web site.
The breakdown of the number of coupons ordered by zip is below, with the number ordered in the last week in parenthesis:
- Century, 32535: 1,515 (25)
- McDavid/Walnut Hill, 32568: 1,230 (31)
- Molino, 32577: 1,270 (18)
- Cantonment, 32533: 4,423 (80)
- Jay, 32565: 1,487 (10)
- Flomaton, 36441: 937 (17)
- Atmore, 36502-4: 5,441 (346)
An important tip for those with DTV converter boxes that might be missing channels: Make sure you use the menu on the box to rescan for channels to receive all the channels available locally.
For more info on the switch to DTV, visit dtv2009.org or www.dtv.gov
All-Star Tourney Continues At Northwest Escambia
June 15, 2009
District 1 Little League 8-9 Year Old All Stars tournament continues today at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill with the host team NWE making its first appearance.
NWE will take on Destin at 5:30, and Niceville-American will play Niceville-National at 7:30.
Tuesday, Shalimar will play Tri-County at 5:30. Tri-County includes players from Century, Jay, Fidelis and Chumuckla. At 7:30 Tuesday evening, Defuniak Springs will play the loser of the Niceville-American versus Niceville-National game Monday night.
For a look at this weekend’s action, including a photo gallery with pictures from Shalimar, Niceville-American, Niceville-National and Tri-County, click here.
Pictured: A Niceville-American player gets a hit Saturday afternoon at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.