Good Business: Northview FBLA Students Place At District
January 30, 2010
Several Northview High School students placed at the Future Business Leaders of America District I Leadership Conference held at the University of West Florida recently.
The Northview High students that placed in the FBLA competition were:
- Kassandra Lett—2nd in Business Presentation team event
- Courtney Merritt–2nd in Business Presentation team event
- Katie Wieborg–2nd in Business Presentation team event
- Taylor Byrd—2nd in Introduction to Business Communications
- D. J. Robinson—2nd in Introduction to Technology
- Elizabeth Wright—2nd in Public Speaking I
- Brittany Pete—3rd in Business Procedures
- Jessica Bloodsworth—3rd in Job Interview
- Erin Fremin—5th in Business Calculations
- Lindra Street—6th in Business Math
Pictured above: (front, L-R) Courtney Merritt, Erin Fremin, Lindra Street, (back) Katie Wieborg, Jessica Bloodsworth, Elizabeth Wright, D. J. Robinson and Brittany Pete. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cool, But Otherwise Great Weekend
January 30, 2010
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 28. Wind chill values between 20 and 25. North wind around 10 mph.
- Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 54. Wind chill values between 20 and 30 early. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 32. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: Sunny, with a high near 63. East wind around 5 mph.
- Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. East wind around 5 mph becoming north.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63. North wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. North wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 62. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39. East wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 58.
- Thursday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 44.
- Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60.
- Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38.
- Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a high near 58.
Ball Registration Ends Today For NWE, Continues For Molino, Century
January 30, 2010
Northwest Escambia has extended their ball registration through today, and registration is continuing this weekend in Century and Molino.
Northwest Escambia
Registration for Northwest Escambia baseball and softball ends Saturday, January 30 for ages 3 to 18 for Wee ball to big league.
Registration fees are: 1st child, $35, 2nd child: $25, 3rd child: free. Children will be measured and a $20 uniform deposit collected at registration. A copy of each child’s birth certificate is required. There will also be a cleat swap…bring a pair of outgrown cleats and trade/swap while supplies last.
NWE registration will be held from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill. Tryouts for boys and girls ages 3-12 will be Saturday, February 6 beginning at 10 a.m.
Junior, Senior & Big League boys 13-18 deadline for registration will be March 20th.
Molino Recreation Association
The Molino Recreation Association will hold registration Saturday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Registration will continue through last Saturday in February for Wee Ball, tee ball, baseball and softball.
The cost is $50 for the first child, $45 for the second, $40 for the third and free for the fourth. The softball draft will be February 20 only.
Century Little League
Registration will be held January 30 and February 6 and 13 for Century Little League.
The registration fee is $30 for the first child and $20 for each additional child. A copy of each child’s birth certificate is required.
Anyone interested in coaching can fill out an application on any of the registration days. For more information, contact Wes Sims at (251) 370-0246.
Basketball: Jay, Tate; Flomaton’s One Second Loss In Overtime
January 30, 2010
Jay 48 Aletheia Christian 37
Jay improved to 12-9 on the season with a 47-35 defeat on the road against Aletheia Christian.
Jay (12-9) — Ginger Jennings 6, Tessa Hendricks 14, Danielle Skaggs 4, Candace Mulford 2, Shelby Thomas 1, Amber Steadham 8, Taylor Moore 2, Becca Calloway 10.
Catholic 47 Tate 35
Tate — Kelker 8, Lobbs 10, Cobb 4, Hall 4, Olsen 2, Thompson 1, Brown 6.
Catholic 14 9 14 11-47 Tate 10 9 6 10-35
Flomaton 35 W.S. Neal 23
The Flomaton Hurricanes girls beat W.S. Neal 35-23 Friday. Tara Gafford had 15 and Frida Folmar added 14 for Flomaton’s win on the road. The Lady Hurricanes are 24-10.
BOYS BASKETBALL
W.S. Neal 47 Flomaton 46 (OT)
The Flomaton Hurricanes lost by a single point in overtime to W.S. Neal Friday, 47-46. Neal’s win came on a jumper with just one second on the clock in overtime. The ‘Canes were led by Dalvin Craft with 15.
Flash Flood Watch; Heavy Rain Possible Tonight
January 29, 2010
A flash food watch is in effect for the North Escambia area for tonight. Some of the overnight thunderstorms could produce heavy rainfall. With our already saturated ground, just a few inches of rain would be enough to cause flooding.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 46. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph becoming west. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
- Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50. West wind between 10 and 15 mph.
- Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 30. North wind between 10 and 15 mph.
- Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 54. Wind chill values between 25 and 35 early. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 30. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. East wind around 5 mph.
- Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. Calm wind becoming north between 5 and 10 mph.
- Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63.
- Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 44.
- Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 67.
- Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.
Highway 97 Lane Closures, Road Work Begin Monday
January 29, 2010
Lane closures will begin Monday morning on Highway 97 as a $5.7 million resurfacing project gets underway.
The project will begin with a major clearing of the right of way in select locations, according to Shawn Joseph, project administrator for Panhandle Grading and Paving, Inc. All of the lane closures beginning Monday will be south of Highway 4 and north of Highway 29.
The next major phases of the project will be guardrail replacements, Joseph said.
Once work begins on the actual highway, work crews will restrict traffic to one lane through the work zone. Weather permitting, the project should be completed in September 2010.
“They will maintain accesses to businesses and residences during the process,” according to Tanya Branton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation.
The entire 22.5 mile length of Highway 97 will be repaved from County Road 95 in Molino across Highway 29 to the Alabama state line.No major drainage changes are expected to the route’s 55 cross drains under the highway, with the exception of changes near the intersection of Highway 97 and Crabtree Church Road. There will also be new and replacement guardrails installed along the state highway.
Existing 12 foot wide travel lanes and five foot paved shoulders will be milled and resurfaced. This project does not include the four-laning of Highway 97. A four lane highway is not in any of the state’s current plans for Highway 97.
During the entire 270 day project, NorthEscambia.com will provide the most current Highway 97 lane closure and construction updates to help you avoid delays.
Pictured above: Highway 97 (running left to right in the photo) in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Pajama-Rama Reading
January 29, 2010
Byrneville Elementary School celebrated Literacy Week in a variety of ways, including a Family Pajama-Rama Night Thursday evening. Parents and students spent the early part of the night at the school with blankets and pillows, bedtime snacks and lots of good bedtime stories.
During the week, guest readers also stopped by the school to read to the students. Thursday morning, NorthEscambia.com visited with Mrs. Thorton’s first grade class to read “If You Take A Mouse To School”.
Pictured above: Mrs. Thorton’s first grade class at Byrneville Elementary School after a Thursday morning story time. NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Investigation Continues Into Fatal Fire (Photos: Inside And Outside Of Home)
January 29, 2010
Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire that claimed the life of Verda Mae Gandy Abrams, 91, early Thursday morning.
Abrams was unable to escape the blaze at her home on Tulip Street, located on the Alabama/Florida state line just west of Flomaton and Century.
Verda Mae’s son Jimmy Abrams told fire investigators that he awoke to the smell of smoke just after 1 a.m.. He left his bedroom and went toward the kitchen of the home, looking for the source of the smoke, according to Alabama Deputy State Fire Marshal Ken Smith. He opened a sliding glass door on the rear of the home to get some air and relief from the smoke.
Jimmy was unable to reenter the home due the smoke. He ran around the outside the home to his son’s window and managed to wake him. The son escape through the window.
However, Smith said, Jimmy Abrams pounded on the windows of Verda Mae’s window, but he was unable to get his mother out of her bedroom located on the rear corner of the house. Unlike the large windows on the front of the home, the windows on Verda Mae’s bedroom were smaller and located higher off the ground. That may have contributed to her inability to escape, Smith said.
“It’s really hard,” Flomaton Fire Chief Steve Stanton said. Flomaton had not had a fire death in at least 34 years.
Smith spent Thursday morning carefully sifting through the remains of the brick home, looking for any evidence that might help him pinpoint the cause of the blaze, documenting everything with photographs.
There no working smoke detectors in the home, according to Jimmy Abrams.
“Please, please let his be encouragement to people that they need good, working smoke detectors,” Smith said.
For our original story, with photos as the home burns, click here.
Pictured top and bottom: The scene of a fatal fire on Tulip Street early Thursday morning. Pictured bottom inset: Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Smith photographs the inside of the home. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
It’s Official: City Does Not Endorse Consolidation Plan
January 29, 2010
With a failed motion, the City of Pensacola reaffirmed a previous workshop committee decision not to support the consolidation plan developed by the Escambia County Consolidation Study Commission.
A motion by Councilwoman Jewel Canada-Wynn to encourage the legislative delegation to schedule a public vote on the plan failed by a 6-4 vote. A seven vote majority was required for passage. Council members Diane Mack, Maren DeWeese, P.C. Wu and Sam Hall voted against.
The vote affirmed a vote taken Monday during a council workshop meeting.
The Escambia County Commission recently voted to ask the legislature to delay any vote on consolidation until at least 2012. The Town of Century has withdrawn all support for the plan.
The consolidation plan is in the hands of the Northwest Florida legislative delegation. They will continue to review the plan until as late as February 25 before potentially submitting it to the legislature to set a referendum vote of the public as early as November 2010.
To read the consolidation plan in its entirety, click here (pdf).
Announcement Next Week: Big Concert Coming To North Escambia
January 29, 2010
Next week on NorthEscambia.com, we will be announcing a big concert coming to North Escambia in about two months.
The headliner artist is a secret until next week, but we can tell you he is the former lead singer of a Vocal Group of the Year, a Grammy Award winner and has had over a dozen number one singles. It’s a show you won’t want to miss.
We will have complete details on the concert next week here on NorthEscambia.com.