Bratt Elementary Awards Kindergarten, First Grade Students
June 5, 2009
Mrs. Wendt’s Kindergarten class
Outstanding Attendance: Maggie Amerson, Jaylon North, Andrianna Cooper; Most Improved: Arrington Odom, Travis Butler; Outstanding Citizenship: Hannah Hughes; Outstanding P.E. Student: Maggie Amerson; Outstanding Art Student: Esme’ Culleton; Outstanding Music Student: Jaylon North; Book-it Awards: Travis Butler, Jaylon North, Kenna Redmond, Michael Sanders
Mrs. Killam’s Kindergarten class
Citizenship Award: Shelby Godwin; Outstanding Progress Award: Hannah Brousseau, Cody Thomas; Outstanding Attendance Award: Haleigh Dean, Libby Pugh, Jonathan Windham; Art Award: Libby Pugh; Music Award: Taviana Parker; P.E. Award: Cody Thomas Book-it Awards: Haleigh Dean, Shelby Godwin, Taviana Parker, Libby Pugh, Cody Thomas, Jonathan Windham
All Kindergarten students received a participation award.
Mrs. Gilmore’s First Grade class
A Honor Roll Award: Cierra Stabler, Bailey Van Pelt, Wyatt Windham; A/B Honor Roll Award: Sheyenne Dillon, Jakob Gibson, Lauren Sapp, Cassidy White, Ben Wilson; Citizenship Award: Bailey Van Pelt, Brianna Hall (Ms. Cobb); Most Improved: Ansleigh Maholovich, Aaliyah Pope, Brianna Hall (Ms. Cobb); Accelerated Reading Award: Bailey Van Pelt, Jakob Gibson, Cassidy White, Gracen Brook, Ben Wilson; Art Award: Cierra Stabler; P.E. Award: Ben Wilson; Music Award: Bailey Van Pelt.
Mrs. Perritt’s First Grade class
A Honor Roll Award: Christopher Nordman, Teriana Redmond, Savanah Roley; A/B Honor Roll Award: Devon Rhinehart, Anna King, Jackson Edwards, Melissa Sunday, AJ Simmons, Kelley Bradley, Makenzie Moorer; Outstanding Citizenship: Melissa Sunday; Most Improved: Jackson Edwards, Makenzie Moorer
Gas Tax Not Likely To Pass Commission, But Public Hearing Scheduled Anyway
June 5, 2009
The Escambia County Commission will hold a public hearing a 3-cent gas tax increase for mass transit, but the chances of the tax passing look very slim.
The commission will hold the public hearing on June 18 on the 3-cent gas tax for Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT). After the public hearing, it will take a super majority — four of the five commissions must vote in favor of the gas tax for it to be approved.
All of the commissioners except for District 5’s Kevin White, had said earlier in the year that they would be in favor of the gas tax. Commissioner Wilson Robertson also spoke out against the gas tax at a Thursday morning agenda review commission meeting.
“I am not going to support it with the economy like it is,” Robertson said. “It’s not just families that I got calls from. It’s people who own businesses, like one with cement trucks that get three miles to the gallon. They buy thousands and thousands of gallons of fuel.”
White suggested that the commission not even hold the public hearing since the tax increase was not likely to pass.
“If you are not going to have the votes to pass it then why waste the money to advertise it and hold a hearing?” White asked Thursday morning.
Commissioners and Gene Valentino and Grover C. Robinson said they would like to have the public hearing, with Robinson saying that ECAT needs the funding. He said the tax burden would fall on those that use the roadways, rather than a tax on property owners. He said that small business needs mass transit in order to survive.
“I support it because I don’t believe it’s an additional tax and because it would shift the burden of paying for transit off of property owners,” Valentino said. “And between 50 to 60 percent of the 3 cents per gallon will be paid by non residents who are passing through.”
Commissioner Marie Young said she has found most people in her district to be in favor of the gas tax for ECAT, and she told White that he should be in favor of it as well.
“Just because your district doesn’t have any bus routes doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned about this,” Young told White. ECAT does offer bus service in North Escambia, with two trips available daily from Century to Pensacola and Pensacola to Century.
The board will debate the gas tax at a June 11 committee workshop. It will then go to a public hearing at a regular commission meeting on June 18, followed by a vote later that night.
The Century Town Council heard complete details on the gas tax Monday night and took no action to support it. Read that story here.
To Do Tonight: Free Movie And Free Music
June 5, 2009
If you are looking for something to do tonight in North Escambia, you could choose a free movie night in Molino or music night in Barrineau Park.
There will be a free outdoor movie night in honor of the Pensacola Miracle League on tonight 7:30 at CrossFaith Church in Molino. Concessions will be available.
Barrineau Park Music Night will begin with food at 5:00 and singing at 7:00. The singing is free. The featured groups will be “TruGrass” and “Harold & Ovaline”. The music night is located in the Barrineau Park Community Center. Call 587-5575 for more information.
North Escambia Driver Involved In I-10 Bridge Wreck; One Dead
June 5, 2009
A North Escambia driver was among those involved in one of two accidents on the Escambia Bay Bridge Thursday afternoon that left one person dead and several injured.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the fatality occurred in an accident on the westbound side of the I-10 bridge over Escambia Bay about 4:51 Thursday afternoon. Troopers say Jeffrey Earl Hollis, 39, of Williams Ditch Road, Cantonment, was looking a fiery crash on the eastbound bridge when his Ford F250 slammed into two vehicles that were stopped on the bridge as drivers observed the accident on the eastbound bridge.
Troopers say Hollis braked, but struck the rear of a Dodge driven by Christopher Lee Hinson, 20, of Pace, pushing the Dodge into a GMC Yukon driven by Hao Chi Nguyen, 36 of Pensacola.
A passenger in the vehicle struck by Hollis was killed in the collision. Troopers identified the victim as Kimberly Marie Gooden, 23, of Pace. Hinson, the driver of the car, was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital with serious injuries.
Hollis suffered minor injures in the accident and was not transported to the hospital. A passenger in Hollis’ vehicle, 26-year old Curtis W. Poole, of Cantonment, was not injured.
Troopers say charges are pending in the crash.
In the fiery crash on the eastbound side of the bridge, the FHP says a tractor trailer driven by Rickey Hughes, 37, of Bainbridge, GA, slammed into a Dodge truck driven by Terry Bartlett, 48, of Pensacola. Troopers say Bartlett and other drivers had slowed to near stop on the bridge due to traffic.
The Dodge truck was shoved about 300 feet by the semi, pushing it into four other vehicles along the way. The drivers of those vehicles were indentified as Johnny Dozier, 52, of Milton; Roberta Bailey, 40, of Milton; Ryan Novak, 31, of Milton and Michael Clay, 58, of San Marcos, TX. None of the four drivers were injured.
Bartlett, the driver of the first vehicle hit by the semi, was transported to Santa Rosa Medical Center with minor injuries.
Hughes, the driver of the semi, was charged with careless driving, according to the FHP. His truck, loaded with oyster shells, caught fire in the crash, sending up a plume of smoke that was visible for miles.
Pictured top and inset: A fiery crash on the I-10 bridge over Escambia Bay Thursday afternoon. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Marine, Cop Stop Bank Robber With HisToy Gun
June 4, 2009
A man that tried to rob a Nine Mile Road bank this morning with a toy gun never had a chance thanks to the quick thinking of a United States Marine Reservist and an off duty Pensacola Police Department officer.
The suspect, later identified as William Jerry Strickland Jr. 49, was in the parking lot of the Whitney Bank at 200 East Nine Mile Road wearing a black trenchcoat, plastic gloves and a blondish wig covering his face.
Marine Reservist Jansen Smith and off duty PPD officer Jamon Johnson observed the suspect as he was approaching the bank, according to Investigator Jeff Van Camp with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department. Bank Branch Manager Christine Coulter secured the bank, and Strickland then fled the scene with the Marine and police officer in pursuit.
Strickland was apprehended about a block away, with a black toy gun in his trench coat pocket along with a note, Van Camp said.
Strickland was arrested for attempted robbery and transported to the Escambia County Jail where he was being held on $100,000 bond. He will face a judge on June 25.
Cantonment Man Arrested On Child Porn Charges
June 4, 2009
A Cantonment man was arrested Wednesday on charges of possessing and promoting child pornography, including images with children as young as two.
Michael James Whaley was taken into custody by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit and the U.S. Marshall Service’s Fugitive Task Force, according to Attorney General Bill McCollum.
A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber TipLine indicated Whaley, 34, had placed images of child pornography on a photo-sharing website. Investigators executed a search warrant at Whaley’s house in May and seized four computers as well as over 200 CDs and DVDs. Whaley admitted to possessing and uploading the images found on the photo-sharing site, some of which were of children no older than two years of age. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the execution of the search warrant.
Whaley is currently being charged with one count of promoting the sexual performance of a child, a second-degree felony, and two counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony. He was booked in the Escambia County Jail and released on bond.
Old High School Utility Bills Cut From $200K to $75K; Church Making Payments
June 4, 2009
For the first four years New Life Baptist Church leased the old Century High School for $1 a year from the Escambia School District while taxpayers footed the bill for nearly $200,000 in utilities.
After NorthEscambia.com uncovered the story on August 7 of last year, the school district went to work to sort out about $73,000 in Gulf Power electric bills and $124,000 in gas, water and sewage bills paid to the Town of Century. In an exclusive interview with NorthEscambia.com shortly after the story broke, New Life Pastor Irvin Stallworth acknowledged that the church had never paid any utility bills since moving into the building.
The problem, according to Ronnie Arnold, spokesperson for the school district, was that the space leased by the church at the old Century High shared utility meters with the rest of the complex. The school district continue to own and use, or allow use of, areas like the gym and football stadium where the utilities were not to be the responsibility of the church.
The district’s staff worked to determine what portion of the bills New Life owned, Arnold said. In that process, the associate superintendent said there were leaks and billing problems found with some of the meters.
The school district settled on $75,072,19 as the amount New Life Baptist church owed taxpayers. The rest of the approximately $200,000 in utility bills were either owned by the school district, a meter problem, or a billing problem, Arnold said.
Now New Life is current on a 10-year payment plan to pay back the $75,072.19. The church is paying the school district 119 interest free payments of $625.60, with the final 120th payment due in 2019 for $625.79. So far, the church has made seven payments, dropping the balance due to $70,692.99.
New utility meters serving the church’s leased portion of the old high school have been installed so that New Life will pay for its own utilities in the future, Arnold said.
The five year, $1 per year lease that New Life has on the building expires on October 1. That lease was negotiated by former Superintendent Jim Paul.
Current Superintendent Malcolm Thomas has told the church he won’t renew the lease at the current $1 term. Instead, he wants the church to pay a fair market rate of $5 per square foot. The 30,327 square foot building would cost the church $12,636.25 per month, or $151,635 per year of a five year lease.
Thomas has also offered to allow the church to lease a smaller portion of the building, or purchase it outright at an appraised price.
Under the lease, the school district has provided maintenance on the building, and the BOE has maintained property insurance.
Multiple DUI’s: Warrant Issued In Case Of Man That Threatened Deputy
June 4, 2009
An arrest warrant has been issued for a McDavid man arrested last month for drunk driving and threatening a deputy after court officials learned that he had violated his probation on a previous DUI convinction.
Michael Aaaron Killam, 29, was arrested in late May for driving under the influence, driving while his license was suspended, resisting arrest without violence and for threatening a deputy and his family. He was also issued traffic citations for an open container of alcohol and failure to drive in a single lane.
Escambia County deputy James Gilman was on Pine Barren Road the morning of May 20 at brush fire when Killam made a u-turn in the roadway to avoid approaching Gilman’s patrol car and fire trucks. He sped away, prompting Gilman to follow. After observing Killam cross the yellow center and side white lines of the highway several times, Gilman initiated a traffic stop on Highway 164.
That’s when Gilman said Killam headed for the passenger seat, reaching into the floorboard. After Killam was removed from the vehicle, he refused a field sobriety test and stated that his license was already suspended for DUI.
Killam was released on $6,500 bond.
The charges late last month prompted an arrest warrant to be issued this week for Killam for violating terms of his probation from a 2006 DUI case. In that case, Killam was charged with his third DUI in 10 years, refusal to submit to a DUI test and driving with his license suspended for the second time.
In 2005, Killam was convicted of his second DUI, refusal to submit to a DUI test and driving with a suspended license. His first DUI conviction stemmed from a 2003 accident, according to court records.
Century Businessman Wants Money Refunded For Sewer Service He Does Not Have
June 4, 2009
A Century business owner is vowing that he will not pay sewage bills that the town says he owes because he is not using the town’s sewer system.
James Bethea operates Panhandle Tire on North Century Boulevard where he has water service from the Town of Century.
“I don’t have no sewer service up there. I’ve been advised to come to the council and ask for my money back,” Bethea told the town council, saying that he wanted all of the money had paid for sewer service to be refunded.
But a town ordinance says that every water customer in the town is required to pay for sewer service whether they use the service or not, Council President Ann Brooks said.
Bethea told Brooks, “I can’t.”
She replied that he could use the service; he would just need to pull the appropriate permits and hook up to the system.
“Yes, I can; but, I am not,” Bethea replied.
The exchange continued between Bethea and Brooks.
“We will see,” Bethea said. “I will get my sewage money back.”
The council took no action on Bethea’s request.
New Principals And Assistants For Ransom, Tate And Others
June 4, 2009
Escambia’s top school boss has announced new principals and assistant principals for several schools, including Ransom Middle and Tate High.
School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas will recommend that the Escambia School Board approve the transfer of Brent Brummet from assistant principal at Escambia High to the principal position at Ransom Middle School.
Tate High School will get a new assistant principal if the board approves Thomas’ recommendation to transfer Terry Colburn from assistant principal at Washington High to assistant principal at Tate.
Those appointments are among several that Thomas will recommend to the school board on June 16. Here is the complete list:
- Dr. Karen Owen from principal, NB Cook Elementary to director, staff development
- Cherie Arnette from social studies instructor/department chair, Tate High to social studies specialist
- Pam Lewis from principal, Suter Elementary to principal, Beulah Elementary
- Russell Queen from principal, West Pensacola Elementary to principal, Suter Elementary
- Steve Schubert from principal, Edgewater Elementary to principal, West Pensacola Elementary
- Sue Soderlind from assistant principal, Tate High to assistant principal, Washington High
- Brent Brummet from assistant principal, Escambia High to principal, Ransom Middle
- Terry Colburn from assistant principal, Washington High to assistant principal, Tate High