Eight Homeless After Escambia Fire
December 17, 2010
Eight people are homeless after an overnight fire damaged two Escambia County homes.
At 1:31 a.m., a fire was reported in the 4300 block of Erress Boulevard. When firefighters arrived they found a heavy fire in the rear of two of the row houses. The fire was quickly spreading throughout one of the homes and was spreading into the attic of the other.
The fire, declared under control at 2:49 a.m., caused major damage to one home and moderate attic damage and smoke damage to the other one. An investigator from the Florida State Fire Marshal’s office determined an electrical problem in the rear of the house was the cause of the fire.
The American Red Cross was called to assist eight people from the two damaged homes.
The fire marked the 11th red bulb representing a residential fire in Escambia County’s “Keep the Wreath Green” fire safety campaign.
Quarter Million Dollar Roof Replacement For Ernest Ward Middle Gym
December 17, 2010
A nearly quarter million dollar roof replacement is on the way to two buildings at Ernest Ward Middle School.
The roof of the school’s gym and a small adjacent building will be replaced at a cost of $227,515 by Edwards Roofing of Pensacola. The Escambia County School Board was expected to approve the project at their December 14 regular meeting, but that meeting was postponed until January due to the lack of quorum.
The replacement roofs will have a standard 15-year warranty. The school gym was constructed in 1978. The smaller adjacent brick building, which housed a weight room and coaches’ offices, was constructed in 1955.
The project was one of many recommended by a district-wide roof survey that was conducted in 2009. The total $364,076 project set for school board approval also includes roof replacements on buildings at Workman Middle School ($23,826), A.K. Suter Elementary School ($33,980) and Oakcrest Elementary ($78,755).
Pictured: The roof on the gym at Ernest Ward Middle School is slated for replacement. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Audits Find Constitutional Violation At Bratt, Minor Problem At Tate
December 17, 2010
Internal audits conducted at Bratt Elementary and Tate High found that all of the audited accounts balanced. But the audits on internal accounts showed Bratt Elementary violated the Florida Constitution with improper donation letters, and both schools spent internal account funds when school district monies should have been used.
Each year, the Escambia County School District conducts limited audits on the internal accounts at each school in the county, while a percentage of schools receive full audits on internal accounts. The internal accounts represent monies that are controlled and dispersed at the school level.
Tate High and Bratt Elementary were the only North Escambia area schools to receive full internal fund audits for the last fiscal year.
Bratt Elementary
At Bratt Elementary School, an audit of an account with a $39,807.85 at the end of the last fiscal year was found to balance with no discrepancies, but the audit found that proper procedures were not followed regarding the utilization of budgeted funds and regarding donation letters.
The Bratt internal fund audit found that donation letters sent home to parents violated state and county policy. Under the Florida Constitution, the school is not allowed to assess fees to students as part of their free public eduction.
The Bratt secretary told auditors all donation letters during the last school year were approved by the principal, who has since retired. The new principal, Karen Hall, is aware of the requirement and will only approved donation letters that contain the proper language.
Since public schools are not allowed to assess any fees for consumable materials, workbooks, or activities for participation in any class, auditors recommended that donation letters contain language such as “If you are unable to pay, your child will not be prevented from attended next week’s outing” or “We want you to know that if for any reason you are unable to contribute, your child will not be discriminated against and still will participate in the class”.
The audit found that $1,017.20 in expenses were paid from the Bratt internal account when school district funds were available. The school is working to ensure that budgeted district funds are used when available instead of internal fund monies.
Tate High
At Tate High School, an audit of an account with a $291,389.03 at the end of the last fiscal year was found to balance with no discrepancies, but the audit found that proper procedures were not followed regarding the utilization of budgeted funds.
The audit found that $5,900.04 in expenses were paid from the Tate internal account when school district funds were available. The school is working to ensure that budgeted district funds are used when available instead of internal fund monies.
School’s Out For Christmas
December 17, 2010
Friday was the final day of school for students across the area before the Christmas holidays.
Santa Rosa County students will return to school on Monday, January 3, 2011.
In Escambia County, Alabama, teachers will return on January 3, 2011, for a professional development day, while students will return on Tuesday, January 4.
Woman Claims Winning Cantonment Lottery Ticket
December 17, 2010
A Florida Lottery ticket sold in Cantonment paid off for Pensacola woman.
Melissa Morton, 40, claimed $25,166 from the December 15 drawing at the Florida Lottery Pensacola District Office.
Morton’s ticket matched 5 of 6 winning numbers, which paid out $6,291.50. Morton chose to add XTRA for an additional $1, which multiplied her winnings by four, for a total of $25,166. She purchased her winning ticket at Tobacco Town, located at 4112 Highway 297a in Cantonment.
The winning FLORIDA LOTTO numbers for Wednesday night’s drawing were 3-4-21-25-35-40 and the XTRA multiplier was 4.
Pictured: Melissa Morton (center) was joined by Vernon Morton and Polly Carter in claiming her Florida Lottery prize. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Grab The Umbrella
December 17, 2010
A passing front will bring a chance of rain and cooler weather.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: A 50 percent chance of rain. Cloudy, with a low around 41. North wind around 5 mph.
- Saturday: A 50 percent chance of rain, mainly before noon. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 53. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 30. North wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 56. Wind chill values between 25 and 35 early. North wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 29. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Monday: Sunny, with a high near 62. East wind around 5 mph becoming south.
- Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 43. South wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north.
- Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.
- Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 34.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 59.
- Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 37.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 62.
Photos Gallery: Santa Claus Visits Century Library
December 17, 2010
The Century Branch Library held their annual Christmas event Thursday afternoon. Dozens of children had a chance to enjoy a story, presents for everyone and a visit with Santa Claus.
From dolls to video games, Santa heard all kinds of Christmas wishes — including a laptop and even a cow (as in the living, breathing, I want one for our pasture kind).
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from the event, click here.
Pictured top: Not everyone was willing to share their Christmas list with Santa as he visited the Century Branch Library Thursday. Pictured below: Other children were more than willing to get in their Christmas morning wishes. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
20 State Lawsuit Over Health Care Heard Before Escambia Judge
December 17, 2010
Combatants in the fight over national health care reform squared off Thursday in Pensacola federal court, the latest battleground over national health insurance requirements that will likely ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attorneys representing 20 states faced off with Department of Justice lawyers for the Obama administration over whether the new federal health insurance mandate oversteps constitutional limits on federal power.
Specifically, the states’ lawsuit claims the sweeping reform, pushed through by President Obama’s fellow Democrats in the Congress after months of bitter partisan wrangling, violates states’ rights in the U.S. Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.
“Congress can achieve many things in the public interest but it must always stand through and by its enumerated powers,” said plaintiffs’ attorney David Rivkin.”It certainly cannot exercise general police powers, however laudable the goal might be.”
The arguments come days after a federal judge in Virginia threw out a key component of the Affordable Care Act. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson said Congress did not have the power to require individuals to carry health insurance or face a tax penalty.
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson said he would rule on the Florida challenge quickly, but didn’t give a date.
Florida’s case includes a challenge to the individual mandate, but also charges that the expansion of Medicaid, which plaintiffs contend could add 18 million to the Medicaid roles – a 30 percent increase – is an unconstitutional expansion of the federal-state program that will cost states billions more to put in place.
State officials said their objection to the expansion of Medicaid the law appears to require was not just based on immediate cost concerns, but worries about the larger notion that the federal government could require different types of spending by states even when they don’t have money.
“In a grant program like Medicaid, there is only so far you can go,” said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who spearheaded the lawsuit. “There is some point when it turns into compulsion.”
“The ACA transforms Medicaid fundamentally,” said Blaine Winship, special counsel for McCollum, added.
Though originally crafted as a voluntary program for the states, Winship told Vinson that the health care system for the poor has become so large that states, in practical terms, have no alternative but to comply. The federal program, which on average pays about 55 percent of Medicaid costs, now pumps $251 billion a year to the states, the largest single federal grant and aid program to states.
“The states have no real choice other than to accept this new Medicaid regime,” Winship said – because without it, they lose federal funding and would never be able to provide care on their own. “The defendants claim the states can withdraw but the argument is outside of logic. The ACA, by its very structure… cannot function if states withdraw from Medicaid.”
Attorneys for the federal government argued that Congress has been given the authority to regulate the parameters of the Medicaid program and who qualifies for coverage. Since its creation, the courts have not struck down expansions of the safety net program required by Washington.
“That authority has repeatedly been upheld,” said Ian Gershengorn, attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.
The new healthcare law is a cornerstone of President Obama’s domestic agenda and aims to expand access to health insurance for millions more Americans while curbing costs. Obama officials have insisted it is constitutional and necessary to stem huge projected increases in health care costs that currently result, in part, from picking up the tab for the uninsured.
In regard to the individual mandate, plaintiffs’ attorney David Rivkin said requiring individuals to obtain medical coverage would be a “radical interpretation” of federal power by allowing individuals to be punished for not doing something.
“Commerce requires activity,” Rivkin said. “Individuals cannot be regulated under the Commerce Clause unless they at first voluntarily participate in some activity that Congress would otherwise (regulate.)” With the health care law, they don’t, but rather would be punished for not participating.
Gershengorn countered that the nation’s $2.5 trillion health care market is unique in that unlike other economic decisions, participants receive health care whether they pay for it or not.
“The decision to finance your health care services out of pocket or by insurance is not inactivity,” Gershengorn said. “The decision to run the risk of incurring health care costs without paying for them and… and relying on other people to pick up the tab is not inactivity.”
Throughout Gershengorn’s arguments, Vinson repeatedly returned to the issue of whether Congress can force individuals, in essence, to purchase a product or face penalties if they don’t. He also questioned whether Congress would be able to regulate other personal activities, a step that would open the doors for a wide range of legislation.
“It would be a giant leap,” Vinson said.
Following three hours of testimony, Vinson declined to lay out a timetable for deciding the case.
“I will make a decision as quickly as possible,” he said.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the National Federation of Independent Business, which describes itself as the leading association representing small U.S. businesses in America.
Apart from Florida, states joining in the lawsuit include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington.
Plaintiffs said they were encouraged by Vinson’s repeated questions as to what would stop Congress from requiring other activities if the courts approve the health care plan.
“Finally, it appeared as if they said there were no limits (on what the federal government might require people to buy) and that’s concerning, especially for small businesses,” said Karen Harned, executive director of NFIB’s small business legal center.
By Michael Peltier
The News Service Florida
Pictured top: Outgoing Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum does a television interview Thursday outside the Federal Courthouse in Pensacola. Photo by Michael Peltier for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos: Christmas Dance
December 17, 2010
Heather Leonard’s Danceworks students presented a Christmas program with ballet, tap and jazz Thursday night at the Byrneville Community Center.
For more photos from the event, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Oil Field Stake Sold To South Korean Company
December 17, 2010
South Korea’s state-run Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and STX Energy have agreed to purchase a 46.8% stake in an Escambia County, Ala., oil field for $55 million from Renaissance Petroleum.
The agreement will also give operation rights to KNOC’s U.S. affiliate Ankor E&P and STX Energry. The field, which currently produces 500 barrels a day has an estimated reserve of 12 million barrels. Production began in March.
US-based Renaissance Petroleum will retain the remaining share in the field. The deal is expected to be finalized on December 28.
The South Korean companies plan to boost production ten-fold to 5,000 barrels a day, increasing 15-year revenue to an estimated $130 million.