Blueberry Jamboree To Return
March 12, 2010
Mark your calenders — the Blueberry Jamboree is returning again this year.
About 5,000 people attended the first Blueberry Jamboree last year, and it will be back this year bigger and better on June 12 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Barrineau Park Community Center.
Artists and craftsmen are invited to showcase and sell their treasures at this family-friendly festival celebrating blueberries and bluegrass. The cost for a 10’ x 10’ space is $48.37. Registration and payment must be received by May 31.
To register or for more information, please contact the Brandi Daigle in Public Information at (850) 595-3476 or email brandy_daigle@myescambia.com.
The community center is located at 6055 Barrineau Park School Road in Molino.
Pictured below: About 60 vendors participated in the first Blueberry Jamboree last year. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
1,100 Buckets Of Hope Collected For Haiti, Still Time For You To Help
March 12, 2010
You have through the weekend if you would like to join area churches in helping Haiti with the Buckets of Hope program — an earthquake relief effort that is providing hope to the families of Haiti on 5-gallon bucket of food at a time.
As of Thursday, about 1,100 buckets have been collected, according to Drayton Smith, associate pastor at the First Baptist Church of Cantonment. The buckets contain specific food items, including beans, rice, sugar, flour, cooking oil and other essentials. It’s enough to feed a family of four for about a week, plus they have the bucket to reuse to haul water, store food items or even move rubble in the earthquake stricken land.
The First Baptist Church of Bratt is serving as a collection point for the north end of Escambia County, according to FBC Bratt Student Pastor Tim Hawsey. In the Cantonment and central portions of Escambia County, the buckets are still be collected by the First Baptist Church of Cantonment.
The deadline to drop off the filled buckets at the First Baptist Church of Bratt is Sunday, March 14. More information is available from through the student ministry of the church.
The deadline to drop off the filled buckets at the First Baptist Church of Cantonment is Monday, March 15.
Helpful Information: High School Registration
March 12, 2010
It’s almost high school course registration time in North Escambia, with Northview students and future students set to register next week for the 2010-2011 school year.
The Escambia County School District Education & Career Planner for High School Students is available on the Internet for viewing and download by clicking here. The Educational & Career Planner is offered to students to assist in their course scheduling selection, and provides guidance to students in their effort to identify required and elective courses needed for their chosen career/educational plan.
The Educational & Career Planner identifies course prerequisites, recommendations to develop personal four-year educational plans, policies, procedures, courses of study, and class scheduling information. The Educational & Career Planner includes information covering a variety of topics from registration to other information on course offerings.
An informational training video on the effective use of the Educational & Career Planner is available here.
Northview’s Hit-A-Thon Canceled
March 12, 2010
Northview High School’s annual Hit-A-Thon fund raisers scheduled for this evening has been canceled due to wet field conditions.
The junior varsity and varsity hitting exhibition will be rescheduled.
Above The Rim: Northview’s Sims And Gomez
March 12, 2010
Two Northview High School basketball players were recently selected to represent the Chiefs as recipients of the “Above The Rim” awards. Juniors Colton Sims and Laneicia Gomez were selected based upon their leadership and integrity. They received the awards at a recent Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Pensacola banquet. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Fire Destroys Molino Home
March 11, 2010
A Molino home was destroyed by fire this morning.
The double wide mobile home in the 6700 block of Sunshine Hill Road was fully involved when the first firefighters arrived on scene shortly after 10:15 a.m.
The occupant was not at home at the time of the blaze. There were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The Molino, Cantonment, McDavid, Century and Walnut Hill stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS responded to the call.
Click here for a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery.
Pictured above: Fire destroyed this Molino mobile home Thursday morning. Pictured below: Firefighters work inside the mobile home. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
More Child Sex Abuse Charges Filed Against Santa Rosa Sheriff Lieutenant
March 11, 2010
Additional child sexual battery charges were filed Thursday against a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant was that was charged Tuesday with 120 counts of sexual battery.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Pensacola Regional Operations Center and the Office of the State Attorney, 1st Judicial Circuit Thursday charged John Mitchell Tomlinson, 46, of Navarre, Fla. with five counts of sexual battery on a child under 12, a capital felony. Additional bond has been set at $500,000.
Tomlinson was arrested by FDLE on March 9 and charged with 120 counts of sexual battery on a child between the ages of 12 and 18. Tomlinson is a Lieutenant with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Earlier this week Tomlinson was transferred from the Santa Rosa County Jail to the Walton County Jail.
Updated: Northview Track Meet Canceled Due To Problems With The Track Itself
March 11, 2010
A track meet at Northview High School has been canceled due to problems with the track itself caused by recent rains.
“The track will need to be inspected by district personnel, because of the effect the rains have had on the track’s surface,” said Principal Gayle Weaver. “Our sincere apologies for this untimely cancellation to the coaches, track members, staff assistants, parents, and community members who support our track teams.”
The meet had originally been rescheduled for Friday afternoon, but was canceled after school officials inspected the track. A new rescheduled date has not been determined.
Updated: Bank Robbery Suspects Possibly Seen In Huxford, Atmore Woman Cleared
March 11, 2010
(Updated)Here are the latest developments in the search for two people that robbed a Flomaton bank on Monday:
An Atmore woman was apprehended and questioned last night as a suspect in the United Bank robbery, but she has been released and cleared of any involvement. And, a $5,000 reward has been announced for the capture and conviction of the suspects.
A vehicle with two suspects that matched the description of the suspects was spotted in Huxford, near the Escambia-Monroe County line on Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, a woman was picked up by authorities when they believed she was a suspect in the robbery.
“Numerous anonymous tips pinpointed Ms. (Wanda) Marshall to be the female suspect in the United Bank robbery,” said Jimmy Davis of the Flomaton Police Department. “Upon investigation of the tips with the FBI an arrest warrant was obtained.”
Marshall was apprehended in Canoe, Alabama, and questioned in the case. “Ms. Marshall was later cleared of any involvement in the robbery and released a short time later. At this time both suspects are still at large,” Davis said.
Flomaton Police and the FBI are still working to identify the man and woman that were involved in the robbery. The pair passed notes to different tellers demanding money. They did not display a weapon.Tellers at the Wachovia Bank in Florala, Alabama, were shown the surveillance video from the Flomaton robbery, and they believe the couple shown are the same two people that robbed their bank last week. The Florala Police Department had originally developed suspects in the Wachovia robbery, but all of their suspects were later cleared.
For more information about the bank robberies and suspect descriptions, click here for and earlier NorthEscambia.com story. Both suspects are considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Flomaton Police Department at (251) 296-5811 or the FBI at (251) 575-5395.
Pictured top: Authorities are continuing to look for suspects in the Monday holdup of the United Bank. Pictured below: Surveillance video from inside the bank. Submitted for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Woman Facing Over A Dozen Drug Charges After Passing Fake Prescriptions At Local Pharmacy
March 11, 2010
A Pensacola woman is facing a long list of drug charges after attempting to fill a fraudulent prescription at a Century pharmacy and deputies found a stash of prescription drugs in her car.
Bertha Y. Wright, 43, of Michigan Avenue, Pensacola, was charged with 11 counts of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, three counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, one count of trafficking in hydrocodone and one count of possession of a blank prescription.
When Wright attempted to fill three prescriptions at Century Pharmacy on Mayo Street, the pharmacist suspected that they were fraudulent. Julie Moran called the doctor that allegedly issued the prescriptions, Dr. David Smith in Jay, and determined they were indeed fraudulent, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
The first prescription was written for Phenergan and codeine. The second was for 180 methadone tablets, and the third was for 120 Soma tablets. All three were dated March 3, 2010. Deputy David Bashore contacted Dr. Smith by phone, and he advised that he last saw Wright in February and had written no new prescriptions for Wright.
Inside Wright’s purse, Bashore located an unlabeled prescription bottle containing methadone, a bottle with generic Lorcet and generic Soma mixed together, and a third bottle with methadone.
When deputies Michael Coburn and Tod Day searched Wright’s vehicle across the street from the pharmacy, they discovered a variety of medications — the sheriff’s office incident report lists about a dozen other medications by their identification numbers. The report identified 127 hydrocodone tablets and the muscle relaxer Carisoprodol. An ice-filled cooler in the vehicle also contained three bottles of an unknown substance, according to deputies. The vehicle and the medications were seized as evidence by the sheriff’s department.