Updated: Drowning Of Boy, Age 6, Ruled Accidental
July 28, 2010
The drowning death of a six-year old boy in Molino Wednesday afternoon has been ruled accidental, according to Sgt. Ted Roy, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said the child was found unresponsive at the bottom of an above-ground pool behind a home in the 6000 block of Chestnut Road just before 2:00. The child was reportedly brought to work by a woman that worked as a caretaker for a resident of the home.
Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia EMS, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department and LifeFlight responded to the home.
The identity of the young boy has not been released.
Pictured above and below: The scene of an accidental drowning on Chestnut Road in Molino Wednesday afternoon after the drowning of a 6-year old child. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Frontier Becomes Nation’s Largest Rural Telephone Company After Verizon Purchase
July 28, 2010
Frontier Communications has completed the acquisition of Verizon Communication’s local landline telephone operations in 14 states.
Frontier — which provides local telephone service in Walnut Hill, Molino and Atmore — became the largest pure rural telecommunications carrier in the United States with the purchase. The combined operations will provide voice, high-speed Internet, wireless Internet data access, satellite video, FiOS and other services to more than 4 million residential and business customers in 27 states using the Frontier Communications brand. Frontier currently employees about 14,600 people.
“Frontier continually defines its success in terms of customer and employee satisfaction, and it’s obvious they care deeply about the communities they serve,” said Ivan Seidenburg, chairman of the board and CEO of Verizon Communications.
The Verizon acquisition will have no direct impact on Frontier’s North Escambia area customers. Frontier did not acquire any Verizon Wireless customers.
Forestry Cops Catch Man Red-Handed With Stolen Trailer
July 28, 2010
An Evergreen, Ala, man was caught red-handed with a stolen logging trailer in Escambia County, Ala.
Law enforcement officers with the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) arrested Ricky Nolan, 51, on charges of receiving stolen property, first degree, and obscuring identity of a vehicle.
At the time of arrest, investigators observed Nolan picking up a stolen 2004 logging trailer in Brewton, according to the AFC. The trailer, valued at $15,000, was reported as stolen in Phenix City, Ala. in February, 2010.
If convicted, Nolan could face 20 years in prison and fines of $35,000.
The truck Nolan was driving was seized and will be subject to condemnation under a new Alabama law that went into effect July 1, according to AFC Law Enforcement Chief Craig Hill. The law, passed during the last legislative session, allows condemnation of vehicles used during the commission of any felony involving stolen timber-harvesting equipment.
The stolen equipment will be returned to its lawful owner. According to Hill, the AFC has investigated thefts of harvesting equipment valued at $558,964 and has recovered stolen equipment valued at $433,500 since October of 2009.
The AFC provides an “Arson/Forest Crimes Hotline” so that citizens can call and report wildland arson, theft of timber, and theft of harvesting equipment. The toll-free number is (800) 222-2927. Any information provided is confidential and the caller remains anonymous.
House Candidate Facing Drug Charges Will Remain In Race
July 28, 2010
Ricky Perritt, the Florida Florida House District 1 candidate arrest on felony. drug trafficking charges Monday night, said Wednesday afternoon that he will remain in the race.
Perritt made the announcement during a brief press conference at a park in Pace. He told reporters that he did not have the word “quit” in his vocabulary. He said that since the ballots with his name were already printed for the August 24 election, he would remain in the running for the seat.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement alleges Perritt, a former sergeant for the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, fraudulently obtained 1,200 hydrocodone pills through “doctor shopping” — visiting several physicians or the purposes of obtaining hydrocodone. Agents say Perritt did not disclose to any of the physicians that he had already been prescribed hydrocodone by another physician.
Click here to read the FDLE report.
“Ricky Perritt will remain in the race for the Florida House. Mr. Perritt asks that you continue all of your support and prayers for his family and himself during these trying times, and asks that when you vote on August 24th that you look at all the facts in all of the candidates,” Tommy Nichols, Perritt’s campaign manager, wrote in an email to NorthEscambia.com.
Perrit is facing felony charges of withholding information from a practitioner to obtain a controlled substance, obtaining a prescription by fraud, and trafficking in hydrocodone.
Fink said Perritt suffers from chronic pain in both shoulders and is recovering from a recent shoulder surgery. His arrest came after his wife Jennifer Perritt, 38, was arrested last week on the same charges. A statement issued after her arrest by Perritt’s campaign said Jennifer Perritt has suffered from a degenerative spinal condition for the past seven years, and that she became addicted to her prescribed pain medications.
In that statement, Ricky Perritt said he was “consulting with the appropriate professionals to evaluate the situation” with his wife, and he asked for prayers for her.
“While FDLE officials say that the Perritt’s fraudulently obtained approximate 1,200 pills over a nine month period, sources inside the campaign point out that since both of the Perritt’s had recently had surgery the number of pills in question boiled down to about two or three pills each for the time in question. For people dealing with chronic pain, those numbers are well within reason,” Fink said.
Blog: Brown Speaks About Campaign Sign Video; Story Travels Globally
July 28, 2010
A local Florida House District 1 candidate facing accusations around the world that he stole signs belonging to his opponent says he was “set up”.
Republican Greg Brown tells NorthEscambia.com that he was simply doing what he thought he had permission to do when he removed signs belonging to opponent Doug Broxson from the intersection of Highway 89 and Highway 87. It was after dark Saturday when Brown stopped at the intersection after leaving an old-fashioned political stump rally in Jay. Brown said property owner Don Dewrell gave him permission to remove Broxson’s signs.
What happened next became a local news sensation and then literally spread around the world. Click here to read the complete story and see the video.
(story continues below photograph)
Pictured: Candidate Greg Brown allegedly removes campaign signs belonging to his opponent Saturday night.
Using a night-vision camera, Broxson’s brother videotaped Brown and his wife Jennifer removing signs. Brown has not denied that he and his wife removed Broxson’s signs, but he calls the entire situation a “masterminded set up”.
“They knew what they were doing when the had the camera there,” Brown told NorthEscambia.com Tuesday afternoon. “How far did they go to plot this out?”
The story itself has gone far, making headlines around the world.
“Republican rival Greg Brown sprung removing campaign signs” is the headline in Wednesday morning’s Herald Sun, the largest selling daily newspaper in Australia.
“Geez, if you’re going to steal your political opponent’s campaign signs in the age of YouTube, at least wear a mask,” Internet news site newser.com wrote in their story “Hidden Camera Catches Political Foe Stealing Signs”.
On the popular national site The Huffington Post, the story “Sign-Stealing Candidate Greg Brown Caught On Tape” had accumulated nearly 550 comments by midnight Tuesday.
In a statement issued by Brown’s campaign, Dewrell said he granted exclusive permission for Brown to place signs on his property, and “Within that exclusive permission he had the authority to remove any of his opponents’ signs that appeared on my property”.
But Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser records show intersection where the signs were removed is nearly 200 feet from Dewrell’s property line.
Brown said he “was totally under the impression” that the signs removed from the intersection were on Dewrell’s property.
The Huffington Post ended their article with an interesting outtake on the alleged sign theft: “Anyway, it’s a good thing that Brown and his wife didn’t try to pull this crap in Alabama, where they have ways of dealing with sign-stealing thugs”.
And they posted the following YouTube video from Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture candidate Dale Peterson:
(Watch the video to the end to understand why it was included in The Huffington Post article.)
Our NorthEscambia.com blog presents a variety of topics, from opinion based editorials, to news stories that perhaps we would otherwise never cover, to inside information behind the scenes of our stories.
U.S. Marshals Arrest Century Man; Federal Agents Arrest Wanted Sex Offender In Escambia
July 28, 2010
The U.S. Marshals’ long arm of the law reached out to Brewton to arrest a Century man wanted in Florida, to Pensacola to arrest a Birmingham man wanted in Alabama on sex offender charges, and across the Gulf Coast to put wanted fugitives behind bars.
Eric Dean Vickers, 25 of Pine Barren Road, Century, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Brewton. Vickers (pictured top left) was captured by the Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force on outstanding warrants from Escambia County, Florida.
Vickers was wanted on charges of aggravated assault with a knife, battery, aggravated battery, aggravated stalking and kidnapping in connection with a domestic violence incident. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on $30,000 bond.
Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force also arrested Markies Terrell Cleveland, 23, of Birmingham, Ala. He was arrested after a felony car stop on Hollywood Boulevard in Pensacola. He was wanted in Jefferson County, Ala., on charges of sex offender failure to notify of change of residence. Cleveland (pictured bottom left) was also charged with being convicted felon in possession of a firearm, cocaine possession, marijuana possession with intent to sell, possession of drug equipment and driving while license suspended.
Marshals said when Cleveland and his vehicle were searched, they found a .357 revolver, crack cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He remains in the Escambia County Jail on $21,000 bond.
The Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force also arrested:
- Dewight Devaughn, 36 of Escambia County, arrested by USMS in Atlanta, GA, ECSO warrant for Aggravated Battery.
- Ira Alexander Randall, 32 of Walton County, a suspect in a Walton County homicide, arrested on Holmes County warrant, Dealing in Stolen Property/Firearm.
- Walter Edward Petty, 30 of Escambia County arrested on ECSO warrant Sexual Battery.
- Christopher Garrett, 21 of Okaloosa County arrested on WCSO warrants, VOP and Larceny.
- Delbert Nichols, 54 of Okaloosa County arrested on OCSO warrant, Child Neglect.
- Charles Cuchens, 21 of Okaloosa County arrested on OCSO warrant, Bail Jumping on drug charges.
- Charles Coleman, 50 of Okaloosa County arrested on OCSO warrant, VOP/Fraud.
No New Leads In Molino Man’s Murder
July 28, 2010
The murder of a Molino man in early May remains unsolved, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has released few details about how the man died.
The body of Torey David Jones, 20, was found last May 4 in his vehicle while it was in the parking lot of the Food World in the 4000 block of Barrancas Avenue in Pensacola. Sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Chris Welborn said the death appeared to be the result of foul play.
As of Tuesday, there were no new developments in the case, according to Sena Maddison, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 436-7867 or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
Image courtesy bing.com.
Florida Gets Second Chance For $700 Million ‘Race To The Top’ Education Funding
July 28, 2010
Florida is once again a finalist for the Race to the Top grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Education, after falling short earlier this year in its quest to bring more than $1 billion in federal education dollars to the state.
The U.S. Department of Education named Florida as one of 19 finalists in the competitive grant program that tasks schools with finding innovative ways to improve public education. Florida was considered a likely winner for the first round of competition, but finished fourth behind Delaware, Tennessee and Georgia after it failed to get local support from teacher unions and some school administrators who were uncomfortable with plans that linked teacher pay to student test scores.
The state is now competing for a slightly smaller pot of money – $700 million – for its schools. After losing out this past spring, a work group revamped the state’s application for the program in an effort to get the unions on board.
“Florida has worked diligently to bring together diverse support from superintendents, school board members, teachers and teacher associations for our Race to the Top application,” Gov. Charlie Crist said in a statement Tuesday. “I am confident our team will clearly communicate why Florida’s past and present success will ensure bold education reforms that are critical to Florida’s future.”
There’s no certainty that the state’s strong finish in round one is an indicator of a first or second place finish in this round of competition. Florida’s second round application has gotten some attention for side agreements where if unions object, districts might not impose changes to teacher pay and evaluations, something that some analysts said flew directly in the face of what Race to the Top was trying to accomplish.
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said that states should not sacrifice goals to get the unions on board, but has also said that Delaware and Tennessee received money in the first round because of widespread support for their agendas.
Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, called the announcement recognition of the state’s “commitment to bold reforms that are transforming education,” while Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said the announcement was due to the “cooperation and collaboration” of the working group that revamped the state’s application for the award.
Crist, Ford, Education Commissioner Eric Smith, public schools Chancellor Dr. Frances Haithcock and Miami-Dade County Superintendent Alberto Carvalho will travel to Washington D.C. in August to present the state’s plan to the department.
10 Indicted On Federal Drug Charges
July 28, 2010
A federal indictment has been returned charging ten Escambia County residents with conspiring to obtain pseudoephedrine in order to manufacture methamphetamine, United States Attorney Pamela C. Marsh, Northern District of Florida, announced Tuesday afternoon.
The federal indictment alleges that Eric Baker, 45, Soonduk Cassels, 28, Joseph Dimonte, 40, Ginger Farias, 36, Guy Farias, 38, Patrick Frazier, 30, Kathy Grubbs, 44, Donald Harmon, 44, Kevin Harvell, 22 and Nicholas Smith, 31, were involved in a conspiracy to possess pseudoephedrine to use in manufacturing methamphetamine. Dimonte and Harmon are also charged with conspiring to manufacture the methamphetamine itself.
The charges stem from a long-term investigation involving hundreds of purchases of pseudoephedrine from area pharmacies, residential search warrants, and cooperating witnesses. In addition to the federal indictment, state drug charges were also filed today against other individuals alleged to have been involved in the organization
The defendants began to make their initial appearances Tuesday in federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth M. Timothy. A trial date will be set in the near future. Each defendant faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment if convicted. Dimonte and Harmon, who face the separate charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, face up to life imprisonment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
This case was investigated by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.
Blood Drive Today At IP
July 28, 2010
Area residents will have the opportunity to give the gift of life today at International Paper in Cantonment
The Northwest Florida Bloodmobile will be at IP from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
When you donate to Northwest Florida Blood Services, you can save the life of a hospital patient in northwest Florida. Northwest Florida Blood Services is the exclusive provider of blood products to more than 24 area hospitals who need 175 blood donations a day. Each donation can save up to three lives.
Requirements for giving blood are below.
- Donors must be in generally good health
- At least 17 years of age, without permission. 16-year olds are now allowed to donate with permission granted by parents or legal guardians.
- Must bring picture ID
- Weigh at least 110 lbs
- Free of infection, fever or flu symptoms, for 3 days
- No cancer within the last 5 years
- No antibiotics within the last 48 hours
- No tattoos within the past 12 months
- No chest pain, heart disease, heart surgery (Requires written physician release with diagnosis)
- No history of viral hepatitis
- Cannot have lived in France for 5 years or more between 1980 and the present
- Cannot have lived or visited in the UK for a total of 3 months or more from 1980 to 1996
- Cannot have received a blood transfusion in the UK between 1980 and the present
- Military personnel (current and former), and their dependents, who spent time in military bases in northern Europe during 1980-1990, or southern Europe during 1980-1996, for 6 months or more
- All military personnel (active & reserve) that are returning from Iraq, are deferred for a period of 1 year after the last date on location in that country.