Children’s Champions: Four Award Nominees From North Escambia
March 26, 2009
There are four nominees from North Escambia for the Children’s Champions of Northwest Florida awards.
Since 2003, has honored local groups and residents that have demonstrated service and advocacy on behalf of children in the area.
The seventh annual Children’s Champions Awards will be presented Friday morning at a Pensacola breakfast to honor individuals, organizations, businesses and youth that worked on behalf of children during 2008.
From North Escambia, the nominees are the Escambia County Farm Bureau from Molino, Adaem Estes from Molino, Escambia County Home Community Education from Cantonment and the Teaspoon Foundation from Century.
The following information on each nominee is taken from their nomination forms:
Escambia County Farm Bureau
Escambia County Farm Bureau has been instrumental through the years in youth development in: 4-H, FFA and Escambia County Schools. Escambia County Farm Bureau sponsors 4-Her of the Month and Year, livestock shows, natural resource programs and camps, public speaking programs, fairs, and AG Literacy in the Classroom (involving four schools and 250 students), Fall Harvest Day (nine schools and 500 students) and Food for America (12 schools and 1000 students). Farm Bureau is a major supporter of 4-H on the county and state levels.
The Escambia County Farm Bureau had contributed financially for the 4-Her of the Year Award for the past 50 years. The recognition starts with the 4-Her of the month recognized in the monthly 4-H newsletter with recognition of the top two Senior 4-Hers for leadership, citizenship, and project development. Monetary contributions for Fall Harvest Days – books for schools, AG in the Classroom and AG Literacy – books and programs, and Food for America – providing milk for over 1000 students. Also includes volunteering and support of local livestock shows, fair, exhibits and Ag in the Classroom.
Escambia County Farm Bureau is also responsible for the participation and coordination for the AG in the Classroom and AG Literacy Program, Fall Harvest Days, and Food for American programs. The 4-Hers of the Year Award is a very coveted award and a top award for Escambia County 4-H recognition. The desire of 4-H members to receive this award from Farm Bureau starts when they join 4-H as a major goal to achieve during their 4-H career.
Adam Estes
Adam Estes, member of the Escambia County 4-H, volunteers his time with the 4-H, which in turn serves many other community and non-profit organizations. Adam is also an Escambia County volunteer fireman.
Adam serves on two state 4-H committees and is district president. He has been involved in the steer meat project, Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, Food for America, Operation Military Kids, Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Florida, Lights of Hope Campaign and is a shooting instructor. He has applied for, and received numerous grants for the 4-H program. Adam is one of the teens of the first CERT team in Florida and is actively learning skills to help protect his community in the case of a natural disaster. These important skills filter over in the training he has received while becoming a volunteer fireman for Escambia County.
Adam learned many valuable lessons while raising his first steer for the Pensacola Interstate Fair in 2006. When it came to his 2007 steer he decided that he wanted to do it a little different. His decision started with a single idea of donating the meat of his steer to help other youth in the Escambia County Area. This idea evolved into a large project. Normally a steer project is completed through the course of a year by selecting a steer, halter breaking, daily feed care, grooming, clipping, and then showing and selling the steer. After the expense of the steer, feed and equipment, once the steer is sold there is profit for the youth. By donating his steer to the Ronald McDonald House, Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, and The Baptist Children’s Home, Adam knew that there was not much possibility for any profit.
While watching TV Adam saw a program on farm safety. He came up with the idea that Farm Safety 4 Just Kids would be a good program for our 4-H club. The 4-H club received a community pride grant to help fund the program. Adam leads the team of youth that go into the local schools to share the safety message. In March 2007 Adam and his team participated in the Food for America program at Northview High School. They brought the ATV and helmet safety program to over 500 youth from area schools.
Escambia County Home Community Education
Escambia County Home Community Education (HCE) has been instrumental through the years in youth development in the community, schools, day care centers, hospitals, community outreach and 4-H youth programs. In the past year HCE has donated 30,000 hours of community service at a value of $17.38 per volunteer hours for a total of $521,400.00. Several of their projects included Caps for Preemies at Sacred Heart Hospital, Ronald McDonald House Shower, Foster Care Program, “Ouch Dolls” for Health Department and local dentist and doctor’s offices, Sleeping Bags for the Homeless, ARC educational programs and Christmas Program for handicapped, UF Extension and 4-H programs, and a recycling program for St Judes Hospital. Contributions include monetary contributions for the 4-H Summer Camp Scholarships.
Escambia County Home and Community Education has provided leadership and motivation to club members from nine HCE clubs throughout Escambia County. They have been instrumental in planning, coordinating, and implementing programs in many areas to reach over 3,000 youth. Their dedication to outreach to the community in Escambia County shows diversity in programming and commitment.
Teaspoon Foundation
The Teaspoon Foundation invests in young people. The Teaspoon Foundation is involved in the investigation, locating, authenticating and preserving the artifacts, history, and heritage of Teaspoon as a Pre-Revolutionary period; facilitating and promoting cultural and heritage education in North Escambia County; and improving the quality of life in North Escambia County, especially the Century area.
The Teaspoon Foundation is involved with the Early Learning Coalition of Florida to put free books into the hands of children between the ages of zero and five through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. They found a way to completely sponsor every single child in Century to have these free books delivered right to their doorstep until they start kindergarten.
The group is involved in the Teaspoon Heritage Society where Children’s Heritage Parties are held where the experiences of the elderly are told to children in a “pizza party setting” and video taped during the process. They also host The Imagination Library Reading Party – a monthly reading party where the children bring their favorite Imagination Library books to a party and volunteers read to them, while their parents watch and learn how to read to and engage children in the learning to read process.
Carley Hetrick Wins NHS Got Talent Spring Edition
March 26, 2009
Northview High School junior Carley Hetrick was named the winner of the Northview’s Got Talent Spring Edition. This was Hetrick’s second straight year to win the competition. Pictured above: Carley Hetrick. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
New Hurricane Doors For Two Fire Stations
March 26, 2009
A contractor is installing new hurricane doors at the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue this week.
Two area fire stations will get the hurricane retrofits with grant money from the State of Florida.
The doors at the McDavid and Walnut Hill fire stations of Escambia Fire Rescue will be paid for with $35,543 in grants from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The grant provides $18,132 for the hurricane shutters at the McDavid Fire Station on North Century Boulevard.
Another $16,411 from the grant money is being used for hurricane shutters for the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97.
Escambia County applied for the grants back on May 1, 2007.
Pictured above: A contractor is installing new hurricane doors at the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue. The remaining white door in the photo above is scheduled to be replaced Thursday. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Anderson Pulls Out Of Bid To Be Escambia’s Assistant Administrator
March 26, 2009
Cindy Anderson, executive director of Team Santa Rosa, has withdrawn her name to possibly become Escambia County’s deputy administrator.
Anderson tendered a tentative resignation late Friday to Team Santa Rosa, an economic development council that promotes Santa Rosa County. She told NorthEscambia.com that she has tentatively accepted the position of deputy administrator and economic development coordinator for Escambia County — a position that pays $120,000 a year.
But due to public comments and comments from commissioners about the position being filled during a budget crunch, she withdrew her name from consideration Wednesday.
She is expected to remain director of TEAM Santa Rosa. Anderson also serves as director of Panhandle Fresh, a marketing cooperative that assists agricultural interests with marketing their products to retailers.
Anderson served as county engineer for Escambia County for nine years prior to joining Team Santa Rosa. She holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Oklahoma.
Report Card Day In Escambia
March 26, 2009
Moms and dads…check the book bags tonight. Today is report card day in Escambia County.
The third nine-weeks report cards from Escambia County Schools will be sent home today.
Just over two months are left in this school year, with the last day of school on May 29. Students will get a week out for Spring Break and Good Friday April 6 to April 10.
Tickets Still Available For ABC Host Robin Roberts Event
March 26, 2009
Tickets are still available for “An Evening with…Robin Roberts” Friday at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola.
The Good Morning America co-anchor will discuss a variety of topics including her love of sports, growing up in a military family, realizing her dream in broadcasting and facing the challenge of breast cancer. Roberts is also the bestselling author of From the Heart: Eight Rules to Live By.
Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the door while availability remains. Seating is limited.
Tickets are still available for $35 each and can be purchased now at BaptistHealthCareFoundation.org or by calling 469-7906.
All proceeds from this event will benefit future Baptist Health Care oncology patient programs and services.
Century To Spend $4,000 To Find Out Lawyer’s Fee And Reasons To Fight Carver/Century Closure
March 25, 2009
The Town of Century will spend $4,000 to find out how much it will cost to hire Crestview lawyer Jeffery Toney to fight the closure of Carver/Century K-8 School, and to find out what legal grounds he thinks the town has to fight the school board.
For about an hour, the Century Town Council, the town’s attorney, local residents and the press tried to get Toney (pictured left) say how much it will cost to have him take on the school board and for him to say what he thinks the school board has done to give the town legal standing to keep the school open. But he never provided the council with an answer, prompting them to accept his $4,000 offer for a memorandum to explain the legal basis upon which he would fight the board. The $4,000 letter will also let the council know how much he would charge to represent them.
Toney, arriving about 20 minutes late for a special council meeting Tuesday afternoon, began by telling the council, “This case involves a severe economic impact that will devastate your town. If there is no elementary school, you are not going to be able to attract any businesses.”
“You have a good opportunity here,” Toney told the council. “It will be a very difficult case…difficult and expensive.”
He said he planned to use his fees to hire other attorneys and experts from around the state to assist in the fight against the Escambia County School Board’s closure of Carver/Century K-8 School. The other attorneys and experts would be needed, he said, because “you are not going to find a lot of cases like this.”
The closure, approved March 17 on a 3-2 school board vote, will not make the Carver/Century kids comfortable, will make them ride 30-40 miles per day on a school bus and will not give them a place to “call home”.
Council President Ann Brooks asked Toney for the specific legal basis for taking the school board to court.
“The immediate impact is economics,” Toney replied, saying that vendors that deliver to the school would no longer shop at local businesses.
Matt Dannheisser, Century’s attorney, interrupted Toney’s response to reiterate Brooks’ question, again asking for the specific legal basis for a claim against the school board.
“We’ve got to exhaust all of your legal remedies,” Toney said.
“I’m not aware of any basis to pursue a claim based on economic impact,” Dannheisser (pictured left) said. “Is there a specific legal precedent that has been violated?”
“We think so,” Toney said, saying that there was an implied contract between the school board and the town to keep the school open. And he said there is “some civil rights stuff”.
Dannheisser again asked Toney to explain the facts related to the case and the basis for legal action. Toney replied that once he was hired by the council, he would explain. He told Dannheisser that his questions “really doesn’t help anything in this situation,” and to “joust on what the legal remedies might be is inappropriate”.
“Could you outline what this is going to cost us?” Council member Gary Riley asked.
Toney said he had an expense sheet and a retainer letter that outlined the financial information, but he did not provide any paperwork to the council during Tuesday’s meeting.
“We don’t have deep pockets, but we do have the desire to win,” Riley said. “We know that this is going to cost.”
“We are going to partner up and will be representing some of the citizens in Century,” Toney said. He said he had other attorneys with him Tuesday representing groups that would aid in the fight against the school board. He did not identify the other groups, but Edward J. Grunewald, executive director of the North Florida Center for Equal Justice in Tallahassee was in the audience and seen leaving the meeting with Toney. The group’s web site states that it was created “to provide primarily the services that will most effectively address the housing and consumer problems that affect large numbers of the eligible population in the region”.
Mayor Freddie McCall asked Toney for a “ballpark figure” on a cost for his services.
“You will definitely get a monthly statement when the retainer is exhausted,” Toney said. The retainer he had offered to the town was at $8,000, but he provided no hourly rate or explanation as to how the retainer would be exhausted.
Dannheisser asked Toney — again — for a cost.
He replied that it would not be a “couple hundred thousand”, but that he could “not honestly say”.
Dannheisser suggested that the school board would immediately mediate if the town could demonstrate any legal basis for a claim, and he said that mediation would be relatively inexpensive.
“I would not be here today if I did not believe this was a legal case,” Toney said, adding that the board would be willing to mediate the case rather than facing him in court.
Toney then said that he was “not here to anwer questions from people that are not professionals”.
“The real question is whether we have a basis,” Brooks said. “Is it worth the taxpayer’s money that we are stewards of?”
Dannheisser then suggested that Toney provide the mayor with a legal memorandum explaining all costs for his legal services and expressing the legal basis for an action against the school board.
“The problem is that if I am going to spend that type of resources and time, I need to be compensated,” Toney said.
“I want to try to answer your questions,” Toney said. “I don’t want anyone to leave here today thinking I did not answer their questions.”
As for providing specific answers, Toney said “I did not want to do that in front of everyone here.”
He later added, “I did not come here to have this forum…I came here to talk to this council in closed session.”
Dannheisser pointed out that Florida’s Sunshine Law — a set of statutes that essentially states that government business in Florida must be conducted in open meetings — would forbid a private meeting between an attorney and client except in a few circumstances once litigation had been filed.
Council President Brooks again asked for a cost.
“Apparently cost is an issue,” Toney said, about 40 minutes after he was first asked for a cost estimate. “You want me to commit to you; you have to commit to me.”
Toney said he would provide the council with the legal memorandum for $4,000, an offer the council accepted on a 4-0 vote with council member Nadine McCaw absent from the meeting. That memorandum is due at the council’s next meeting on April 6, but Toney said it might take longer to prepare.
“We don’t want to give the impression that we don’t want to fight,” Brooks said. But as stewards of the town’s money, she said, the council has a constitutional obligation to spend money wisely.
“I am fighting for my granddaughter right now,” council member Sharon Scott said. “I don’t plan on sending her anywhere but Century.”
Just before the council meeting adjourned, the mayor offered some insight on how the town first made contact with Toney through the activist group Movement for Change.
“A money man in town started this,” McCall said. “He called these people into town and started this; then he turned them over to us to pay the bill.”
Prior to Toney’s arrivel, Dannheisser offered advice to his clients — the town.
He advised that he had been told the suit could cost the town $150,000 “or better” and that he was unaware of any merit for a legal claim against the school board.
Dannheiseer advised the council not to enter an open-ended agreement with any attorney, and that the town could be required to post a bond in state court in order to have a suit heard. He said that bond could cost the town $10,000 or more.
The only possible claim, Dannheisser said, might be based upon the school board’s failure to follow some required procedure in closing the school, such as a missed public notice or hearing.
“The school board could simply jump back through the hoops that they missed,” he said. “They could end up making the same decision that they have already made.”
Flomaton Wreck Involved Man Free On Manslaughter Bond For 2007 Traffic Deaths Of Atmore Couple
March 25, 2009
The driver of one vehicle involved in a Sunday afternoon crash near Flomaton was free on bond at the time of the crash after being arrested for manslaughter in connection with the death of an Atmore couple in a Baldwin County traffic accident.
Authorities identified the driver of a pickup involved in a crash on Highway 31 east of Flomaton Sunday afternoon as George W. Hauer, 59, of Flomaton. Hauer’s pickup collided with a car occupied by a Flomaton family, critically injuring one.
Hauer was arrested March 7 and charged with manslaughter for the 2007 death of an Atmore couple in a Highway 31 wreck near Perdido in Baldwin County. Hauer was released on a $300,000 bond and remained free on that bond at the time of Sunday’s accident.
In the March 20, 2007, wreck, Dwight Eugene Nichols, 74, and his Wilma Ellavan Nichols, 77, of Atmore were traveling south in a Mercedes E320 on Highway 31, when they collided with a northbound sports utility vehicle driven by Hauer, according to Alabama State Troopers. The Nichols died a short time later at an area hospital.
Troopers said Tuesday that Sunday’s accident involving Hauer was still under investigation, and that no charges have been filed in connection with the accident.
Sunday’s accident happened just after 4:00 p.m. on Highway 31 at Old Fannie Road. Two people were transported to Pensacola by two different LifeFlight helicopters, one to Sacred Heart Hospital and one to Baptist Hospital.
Officials say the car, driven by David Smith of Flomaton collided with a truck driven George Hauer. Smith was transported to Baptist Hospital by ambulance was non-life threatening injuries. Hauer was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital by LifeFlight in serious condition.
Leigh Smith, a passenger in car, was transported by LifeFlight to Baptist Hospital in critical condition. Her condition was reportedly upgraded to stable Sunday night. Another passenger in the car, Samantha Bryant, a senior at Flomaton High School, was transported to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola with non life threatening injuries. Passenger Curtis Byrant refused treatment the scene.
Relatives tell us that Curtis Bryant suffered a broken wrist in the accident; Davis Smith suffered a broken jaw; and Samantha Bryant suffered just minor injuries. The mother, Leigh Smith remains hospitalized with broken ribs, a broken shoulder and a broken knee.
Pictured above: Rescue workers work to free a victim of a Sunday afternoon accident near Flomaton. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
No School Today
March 25, 2009
Students in North Escambia public schools will be out of school all day Wednesday. Teachers will be working as usual for a teacher planning day.
Tomorrow is report card day for Escambia County School District students.
EWMS Eighth Graders Learn Cyber Safety From Attorney General’s Office
March 25, 2009
The Florida Attorney General’s CyberCrime Office painted a picture of reality on the Internet for eighth graders and Ernest Ward Middle School during a Tuesday presentation.
As of last week, 127,390 students in Florida have heard the presentation on Internet safety this school year. Of those, 3,450 have reported that they have been victims.
“I want you to be safe. I want you to be knowledgeable of the hidden dangers when you post online, because some people out there are trying to lure you in and do you harm. These dangers are not limited to your computer. They are real, and some people will try to hurt you emotionally and physically. Be selective in the information you post or give out. “ASL” – Age, Sex, Location – are three of the most dangerous pieces of information to give out online,” Attorney General Bill McCollum wrote on the AG’s Cybercrime Unit MySpace page.
Anyone that requests a Myspace “add” from the CyberCrime unit, students will receive a badge to display on their MySpace page.
The CyberCrime Unit offers tips for students that believe they have been solicited online:
If you believe you have been inappropriately solicited online or find yourself in a situation that makes you uncomfortable, you should report it! There are different ways you can do this:
• Tell your parent or parents.
• Tell a trusted adult. This could be a friend, a teacher, a scout leader, a leader in your community, a coach, a member of law enforcement or a religious leader.
• Tell one of the Advocates or volunteers giving the Attorney General’s CyberSafety presentation at your school.
• Report the incident at the Attorney General’s anonymous tip line found at his SafeSurf Website.
• Visit the CyberTipLine Website.
• Call 1-800-THE-LOST.
To visit the CyberCrime Unit’s MySpace page, click here. For more information on Internet safety visit www.safeflorida.net/safesurf.