Douglas Indicted In Death Of Woman Found In Woods
December 22, 2010
A grand jury has indicted a Pensacola man for the brutal rape and murder of a woman whose body was found in wooded area off Nine Mile Road.
Joshua Wayne Douglas, 22 , was indicted Wednesday for first degree murder and sexual battery with a deadly weapon or force likely to cause serious personal injury for the death of Jamie Broxson, 25.
According to the state attorney’s office, Douglas was interview by investigators on December 7, at which time he admitted to placing duct tape on Broxson and having sexual contact with her.
Broxson and Debra Jones, 19, were found dead in a wooded area off Nine Mile road on November 29. Broxson has not been charged with Jones’ death.
Both bodies were found near a Gulf Power substation on Jernigan Road, just south of Nine Mile Road. Douglas’ home address, according to jail records, is directly across from the power substation.
Douglas is being held in the Escambia County Jail without bond.
Christmas Recipes: Sweet Potato Casserole, Cameo Cake
December 22, 2010
The holidays are a time when a lot of people head into the kitchen to cook for family and friends. Over the next few days, NorthEscambia.com will share some submitted holiday favorite recipes.
You can save your marshmallows for S’mores. Today, we are featuring a scrumptious sweet potato casserole with a traditional crunchy pecan topping. We are also featuring a Cameo cake. With white chocolate and plenty of cream cheese, this one is sure to be a family favorite this Christmas.
To submit your recipes to share with our readers, email them to news@northescambia.com.
Today’s recipes are from the Molino Homemakers Club.
Sweet Potato Casserole
by Terri Brown
- 3 cups sweet potatoes
- 1 heaping cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ stick Parkay margarine
- 1 cup milk
Mash potatoes, add remaining ingredients mixing well. Pour into a greased 9 inch square pan.
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup granulated brown sugar
- ½ cup plain flour
- ½ stick melted margarine
Mix ingredients. Sprinkle over potatoes. Bake 30-40 minutes at 325 degrees.
Cameo Cake With White Chocolate Frosting
by Mary Elizabeth Corley
CAKE
- 3-1/2 cups plain flour divided
- 1 cup chopped toasted pecans
- 2-1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (cut up, no substitutions)
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 ounces white chocolate squares, coarsely chopped
- 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
- 4 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour three 9-inch round cake pans: tap out excess flour. Line bottoms with wax paper. Combine 1/2 cup flour and pecans in small bowl. Combine remaining 3 cups flour, granulated sugar, soda and salt in large bowl. Set both aside. Bring butter and water to a boil in medium saucepan, stirring occasionally until butter melts. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate until melted. Stir in buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until blended. Gradually whisk chocolate mixture into dry ingredients until smooth: Fold in pecan mixture. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Unmold cakes onto racks and cool completely.
WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING
- 4 ounces white chocolate squares, coarsely chopped
- 8 ounce pkg. cream cheese, softened
- 3 ounce pkg. cream cheese, softened
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, cut up
- 3 cups confections sugar, sifted
- 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans or
- Chopped toasted pecans for garnish
Microwave chocolate in small bowl on high 1-1/2 minutes until almost melted: Stir until smooth. Cool slightly 10 minutes. Beat cream cheese and butter in large mixing bowl on medium/high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in melted chocolate. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla: beat scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, until frosting is completely smooth: add pecans, refrigerate 1 hour until frosting is firm and spreadable.
Place cake layer on serving plate and spread with about 3/4 cup frosting: top with second adding frosting then third layer and sides of cake using all frosting. (Optional: Garnish with pecans around edge if desired.) Cover cake loosely and refrigerate overnight. (Can be made ahead. Wrap well and freeze up to 1 month. )
Work Continues On New Molino Library, Community Center And Museum
December 22, 2010
Work is continuing toward the renovation of the old Molino School into a community center, library and museum, with construction work slated to begin in 2011.
The architects, DAG, have completed the design documents and are at the 90 percent stage on the construction documents. Escambia County Facilities Management is reviewing the 90 percent construction documents.
The drawings show one section of the 15,600 square foot main building converted into a library with both a children’s and adult area, computers and thousands of linear feet of book shelving. The old auditorium will remain a community auditorium with available seating for 242 people. The rest of the building will include a museum, classrooms and meeting rooms.
In May, 2009, commissioners approved the $400,000 purchase of the building from the Escambia County School District. Commissioners have since approved a budget of $2,089,156 from Local Option Sales Tax monies for the renovation project. DAG Architects is being paid $214,580 to design the renovations.
The school campus includes 9.66 acres and four buildings — the largest of which is 16,630 square feet.
First opened in 1939, the Molino School closed in 2003 when the new Molino Park Elementary School consolidated Molino Elementary and Barrineau Park Elementary.
Pictured: A front hallway of the old Molino School. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Two Held In North Santa Rosa Shooting
December 22, 2010
Two people are behind bars charged with shooting at a pickup at a Highway 4 home near Berrydale.
A truck with six people was driving past Gary Phillips home in the 7000 block of Highway 4 west of Jay when something hit their truck. They stopped to investigate, and that’s when they said gunfire erupted. The victims told the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office that Phillips threatened them and fired his rifle, hitting the truck.
Phillips told deputies that he fired into the air to threaten the people in the truck after one of them fired a gun into the air first.
Gary Phillips was charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Jerry Phillips of Navarre was also charged with aggravated assault in connection with the incident. Both men remain in the Santa Rosa County Jail without bond.
Scott Team Wants School Vouchers, Teacher Merit Pay
December 22, 2010
Florida schools should enact a number of changes championed by former Gov. Jeb Bush, including expanding school choice, eliminating teacher job protection and basing educators’ pay on student performance, members of Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s transition team said Tuesday.
The governor-elect’s education transition team released briefing documents of recommendations that it was making to the incoming governor, who will take office in two weeks. The documents included ideas that have been tossed around by the Legislature for years, but have failed to gain traction or have been knocked down by the Florida Supreme Court.
One of the biggest priorities for elementary and high school education is letting children go to any school they want to, whether it be public, private, a charter or virtual school – and possibly even a school in another county’s school district. Scott, throughout the campaign, maintained his support for school choice efforts and also appeared recently with advocates for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program, which sends low income students to private schools.
The biggest issue is how to pay for it. Scott has proposed eliminating the corporate income tax, which funds the scholarship program. Corporations who give donations to the scholarship are given a tax credit. Scott’s team’s solution is to find a “constitutionally-defensible” funding source to continue and expand the program. In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court struck down Bush’s statewide voucher program creating an obstacle for school choice advocates.
One option being forwarded by Bush’s education foundation is an education savings account that allows parents to request and receive funds equal to 85 percent of what the state earmarks for students in the public system. Currently, the state’s per pupil funding rate is $6,843.
The money could be used for private school tuition and fees, online “virtual” school, tutoring, books and tuition for dual enrollment programs, textbooks or curriculum for a home schooling program or contributions to a child’s higher education savings plan.
Florida university system chancellor Frank Brogan, who is a former state education commissioner and school principal, told reporters last week that many people in the school system would see the school choice expansion as an “assault” on public education, but defended the transition team’s rudimentary plans, saying it was simply an “opportunity” for parents and children to go to better schools.
Brogan, who served as Bush’s lieutenant governor and is also on Scott’s transition team, said there was no way to know, however, it if a plan could be upheld in court.
“But I do believe the reality of the thing is it will be court tested if it is passed and signed into law,” he said.
Another major component of the Scott transition team’s proposal is a merit pay system for teachers that would base half of what teachers make on student performance. The issue was a major part of last spring’s legislative debate in which the Republican-led Legislature passed a merit pay bill only to have it vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist.
Key lawmakers have already said that the bill will be reintroduced this coming spring with some changes from last year’s proposal. A draft is already being circulated by Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education and foundation director Patricia Levesque briefed the Senate Prek-12 Education committee on details this past month.
Levesque is the chairwoman of Scott’s education transition team.
“The transition team was a very wide variety of individuals from a teacher all the way to an education advocate,” said Bush foundation spokeswoman Jaryn Emhof. “And the report, we find most encouraging because it continues talking about the bold reforms he talked about on the campaign trail.”
A state teachers’ union spokesman said the organization would withhold comment until union officials can review the plan in more detail.
The report also contained several other suggestions including a broad, but still vague idea for developing a new funding system for public schools.
The transition team also suggests investing in mentoring initiatives, recruiting teachers in science and math and developing an autonomous charter school authorization body.
In higher education, the team suggested full support of the university system’s effort to ramp up degree production and increased emphasis on science and math. It also suggested a look at changes to the Bright Futures Scholarship program, including upping the SAT score requirement.
By Kathleen Haughney
The News Service Florida
Not Down The Drain: ECUA Offers Free Holiday Grease Pickup
December 22, 2010
The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority is offering free holiday grease pickup.
As the winter temperatures drop, waste water from homes and other sources tends to flow more slowly in sewer lines. The primary reason is because the fats, oils, and grease which are discharged into the sewer system tend to harden and collect in the relatively cold sewer pipes. As these blockages build, sewer lines can become clogged and back up into homes and businesses, causing an unsightly and unsanitary situation.
ECUA residential customers are asked to take used cooking grease, place it in a can, let it cool, and then throw it away. The grease, according to ECUA, should not be dumped down the sink.
“As the winter temperatures get colder, grease entering into the sewer system congeals in the interior of the pipes, which causes clogs or chokes. The pipe wall becomes so cold it solidifies the grease particles, requiring removal of the blockage and even sections of pipe,” said Jim Roberts, spokesperson for ECUA. During the first 11 months of 2010, almost 100 “grease chokes” requiring costly repairs were reported in the ECUA system.
ECUA will pick up used holiday cooking grease from sanitation customers for free as part of their Household Hazardous Waste recycling service. The service also includes free pickup of items like pool and household chemicals, automotive fluids, pesticides, paint, fertilizers and cleaners.
Household Hazardous Waste is normally collected on the first Saturday of the month, but due to the New Year’s holiday, the next pickup will be January 8. To request a pickup, ECUA sanitation customers should call the ECUA Customer Service Line at (850) 476-0480.
For more information on the Household Hazardous Waste program, click here.
All Of Alabama, Plus Escambia And Santa Rosa, Declared Natural Disaster Areas
December 22, 2010
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated the entire state of Alabama as a natural disaster area due to losses caused by drought and excessive heat that began March 1, 2010. The disaster declaration also qualifies farmers and ranchers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida for natural disaster assistance.
“President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to a wide variety of crops and prevented farmers from harvesting these crops,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses.”
All qualified farm operators in the designated areas are eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met.
Farmers in eligible counties — including all counties in Alabama and Escambia and Santa Rosa in Florida — have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover.
Person Of Interest Named In March Murder
December 22, 2010
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a man for questioning in connection with a homicide on March 21.
Sheriff’s investigators are looking for Anthony Clayton Bell, Jr., 19, for interrogation about the death of Donald Diego Turner, 24. Turner was found shot to death inside a mobile home on Augusta Avenue near Gulf Beach Highway. There have been no arrests in the case.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Bell is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Florida Grew 17 Percent In Decade, Gains 2 New Seats In Congress
December 22, 2010
Even with the boom slowing, Florida still grew 17 percent in the last decade and will gain additional congressional clout, getting two more seats in Congress, Census officials announced Tuesday.
Now slated to hold 27 seats in the 435 member House, Florida continues a trend that began in 1930 by gaining at least one congressional seat during each of the past nine decennial redistributions of political power in a nation that continued to grow to the west and south.
Florida, with 18,801,310 residents as of April 1, remained the fourth most populous state. It will have the same number of seats in Congress as No. 3 New York, behind No. 2 Texas, which gained four seats – the most of any state – and California which saw no gain in congressional power, but remains the nation’s largest state.
The biggest growth over the decade was in Nevada, which grew 35.1 percent, Census Director Robert Groves said in a conference call. Michigan was at the other end of the spectrum, with declines in auto making and other industries making it the only state to decline in population in the decade, losing at 0.6 percent of its population.
Nationally, the population revelation looked like continuing good news for Republicans, who made major gains in the November election, and now will gain congressional seats in several Southern and Western states that are generally considered more red than blue. The states losing population are mostly northeastern and Rust Belt states that have traditionally voted more Democratic.
The exact location of Florida’s two new congressional seats – and what they will look like and who they will include – now will be up to state legislators, who are scheduled to redraw the districts during the 2012 legislative session. How, exactly, the process will work this time around isn’t totally clear because of a new constitutional requirement that lawmakers not create districts that favor incumbents or a particular political party.
“Now the work begins in the Florida Legislature as we draw new congressional districts as well as seats in the Florida House and Senate,” said Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island. “This will be a deliberative process and all Floridians will have a voice.”
The change also has implications for future presidential elections, because it increases the clout of growing states – Southern and Western states – in the Electoral College, while reducing the strength of traditionally Democratic states like New Jersey, Michigan and New York.
Florida will now have 29 Electoral College votes.
“Already a ‘must win state’ for presidential candidates, Florida becomes even more important with the addition of two more electoral votes as a result of gaining two more U.S House seats,” Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and the chairman of the Senate Reapportionment Committee, said in a statement.
The U.S. population on April 1 was reported as 308.7 million, reflecting a 9.7 percent increase since 2000. That’s the slowest growth since the 1930s, according to the Census Bureau.
New York and Ohio each lose two congressional. States losing single seats are Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey.
The Census Bureau is constitutionally required to reapportion congressional seats every 10 years to give all 435 congressional districts roughly the same population. Under the new apportionment, the average population of a congressional district will be 710,767, compared with 646,942 in 2000.
By Michael Peltier
The News Service Florida
Donald Douglas Hatfield
December 22, 2010
Mr. Donald Douglas Hatfield, age 73, passed away Wednesday, December 22, 2010 in the Brewton hospital.
Mr. Hatfield was born in Long Beach, CA and had been a resident of Century, FL since 2001, coming from San Antonio, TX. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and was an Accountant for H E B Groceries in San Antonio, TX for a number of years. Mr. Hatfield was a member of Masonic Lodge #699 in Tuscaloosa, the Disabled American Veterans, and was of the Protestant faith.
He is survived by his wife, Charlene Cunningham of Century, FL; his mother, Vivian Stumpf of Phoenix, AZ; his step-mother, Olive Hatfield of Cassville, MO; one son, Paul David Hatfield of Fairhope, AL; step-son, Michael Cunningham of Orlando, FL; two brothers, Dewight Hatfield of Houston, TX and Darrell Hatfield of California; and four grandchildren.
No public services will be held.