Farm Service Agency Accepting County Committee Nominations
June 21, 2010
Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers may begin nominating eligible candidates to serve on local Farm Service Agency county committees, announced Suzette D. Cooper, County Executive Director, of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).
“County committees play a vital role in the administration of federal farm programs and the positive effect they have on rural communities,” said Cooper.
FSA county committees make decisions on commodity price support loans, conservation programs, disaster programs, employing county executive directors and other significant agricultural issues.
To hold office as a county committee member, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and reside in the local administrative area in which the person is a candidate.
Individuals may nominate themselves or others as candidates. Additionally, organizations representing minorities and women may nominate candidates.
All nominees must sign nomination form FSA-669A, which includes a statement that the nominee agrees to serve if elected. Form FSA-669A is available at USDA Service Centers and online at: www.fsa.gov. All nomination forms for the 2010 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by close of business on Aug. 2, 2010.
The county committee nomination period begins June 15. Voting takes place in the fall.
Ballots will be mailed to eligible voters by November 5. The final day to return voted ballots to the local USDA Service Center is December 6.
Newly elected county committee members take office January 1, 2011.
Escambia Health Department Offers Hot Weather Advice
June 21, 2010
The Escambia County Health Department reminds residents that it is important to know the signs of heat exhaustion as residents and visitors begin spending more time outside in the summer heat.
Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can develop after exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement of fluids. Those most prone to heat exhaustion are elderly people, people with high blood pressure and people working or exercising in a hot environment.
Warning signs of heat exhaustion vary but may include the following:
- Heavy sweating
- Paleness
- Muscle cramps
- Tiredness
- Weakness
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fainting
- Skin: may be cool and moist
- Pulse rate: fast and weak
- Breathing: fast and shallow
If heat exhaustion is untreated, it may progress to heat stroke. Seek medical attention immediately if symptoms are severe or if the victim has heart problems or high blood pressure. Otherwise, help the victim to cool off and seek medical attention if symptoms worsen or last longer than one hour.
If you suspect heat exhaustion, cooling methods that may be effective include the following:
- Drink cool, nonalcoholic beverages, as directed by your physician
- Rest in an air-conditioned environment
- Take a cool shower, bath or sponge bath
- Wear lightweight clothing
- Prevent sun burn by wearing a sunscreen of 30 SPF. Sun burn damages the skin’s ability to dissipate heat.
Hot First Day Of Summer (With Cool Bee Photos)
June 21, 2010
Pictured: Bees enjoying our NorthEscambia.com crepe myrtles. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Swimming Lesson Registration Today
June 21, 2010
Registration for the second session of swimming lessons at the newly renovated city pool at Tom Byrne Park in Atmore will be this afternoon.
Registration will take place from 5-6 p.m., and will continue until each class is filled. The session will be July 28-July 15. Swimming and tennis lessons are $35 for a three week session.
Admission to the pool is just $1 for ages 17 and under and $1.50 for 18 and over.
For complete swimming and tennis lesson information and pool hours, click here.
Pelicans Go 5-4 On 9 Game Road Trip
June 21, 2010
The Cats (15-20) jump on Bryan Rembisz early in the game and end up topping the Pensacola Pelicans (15-20) 6-2 on Sunday.
Fort Worth got on the board first in the second inning when Cory Morales and Nick McCoola hit back to back RBI singles to make it a 2-0 lead for the Cats.
Pensacola would strike in the fourth inning when Alonso hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Antoin Gray and make it a 2-1 lead for Fort Worth.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cats opened up their lead when Cory Morales lined a three run homerun just over the left field to give Fort Worth a 5-1 advantage.
With the score 5-2 in the bottom of eighth inning, John Allen added an RBI single to extend the lead to 6-2.
Joel Kirsten (2-3) gets the win as he goes six innings and gives up only two runs off eight hits on the day.
Bryan Rembisz (0-2) takes the loss as he gives five runs off ten hits while striking out five batters.
The Pelicans will begin a six game homestand against the Shreveport Bossier Captains with first pitch at 6:45 p.m. Monday.
Rosa Lee Harris
June 20, 2010
Mrs. Rosa Lee Harris, age 82, of Cantonment, Florida passed away Tuesday, June 15, 2010.
Rosa Lee was born July 20, 1928, to the late Mr. Clarence Harris Sr., and Mrs. Jimmie Lou Harris in Cantonment, Florida.
She leaves to cherish her memories four brothers, , Houston (Mary) Harris, Clarence Harris Jr., of Pensacola, FL., Hubert Lee Harris, Johnnie (Kimberly) Pettaway of Cantonment, FL. one sisterin- law, Mrs. Barbara Harris, two sisters, Mattie Johnson, Bartow, Florida, Regina Bolerware, Cantonment, Florida, one aunt, Mrs. Jessie Lee Gable, Pensacola, Florida, a special friend, Mrs. Janie Godwin, Cantonment, Florida, and a host of other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be at New Hope Primitive Baptist Church at 11 am Monday, June 21st with Pastor Robert Lovelace officiating. Benboe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
ROSA LEE HARRIS 1928 – 2010 Mrs. Rosa Lee Harris was born July 20, 1928 to the late Clarence Harris, Sr. and Jimmie Lou Harris of Cantonment, Florida. She departed this life June 15, 2010.
She leaves to cherish her memories, four brothers, Clarence, Jr., Houston (Mary) and Hubert Harris and Johnny (Kimberly) Pettaway; two sisters; one sister-in-law; one aunt, Jessie L. Gables; and a host of relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be Monday, June 21, 2010 at 11am at New Hope Primitive Baptist Church. Burial will be in New Hope Primitive Cemetery. Viewing will be held Sunday at Benboe Funeral Home.
Boil Water Notice Continues For Some Bratt-Davisville Customers
June 20, 2010
The Bratt-Davisville Water System has issued a precautionary boil water notice for the residents of Highway 4, Bratt Road and Pine Barren Road following a water main break.
The Bratt-Davisville Water System advises as a precaution that all water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, or washing dishes be boiled. A rolling boil of one minute is sufficient. As an alternative bottled water may be used.
The precautionary boil water notice will remain in effect until the problem has been corrected and a bacteriological survey shows that the water is safe to drink.
What to do during precautionary boil water notice (PBWN):
- When a PBWN is issued, a rolling boil for a period of one minute is sufficient to render water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, or washing dishes microbiologically safe, free of bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.
- Tap water can be disinfected by adding 8 drops of unscented household bleach (4-6% active ingredients) to each gallon of water, then mixing the water and allowing it to stand for a minimum period of 30 minutes.
- Note: Cloudy water requires 16 drops of bleach and a 30 minute contact time. Also, other approved chemical disinfectants are available at stores that sell camping and hiking supplies.
A Father’s Day Miracle: Family Speaks About 3-Year Old’s Near Drowning
June 20, 2010
In the heart of every little girl, her daddy is her hero. For a 3-year old Walnut Hill girl found floating lifeless face down in a pool, her daddy truly is her hero.
“I can swim,” Maggie Scott, 3, proclaimed Saturday morning, as she showed off her new kittens Max and Ruby.
Like most adventurous children, Maggie thought she could swim, and she decided, when no one was looking, to try. It was a mistake that would alter the lives of her family in a major way.
The afternoon of May 27 was to be a family time. They were headed to a local creek to enjoy the water, but decided to stop at a someone’s home in the Bay Springs community to use the pool instead. Maggie had played in the pool with the rest of her family, wearing arm-floats.
When Maggie and her sisters — McKenzie, 13; Madison, 9; and Mary Paige, 7; were done in the pool, it was time for skateboards and Ripstiks. The girls hit the boards, while the adults sat around talking.
Life would change in the blink of an eye.
“Maggie’s dead!”
Those were the heart-stopping words that older sister McKenzie screamed when she saw Maggie, floating face down in the pool. Mom and dad, Blair and Chad Scott, raced for the pool. Blair dove in and pulled Maggie out. No one knew how long the little girl had been in the pool.
Chad started CPR.
“My mind went where it didn’t need to go while I watched him do CPR,’ Blair said, “knowing what could be happening.”
With every thrust on his daughter’s chest, Chad said he just prayed.
“I keep telling her to come back to us; I kept telling her she was fine,” Blair said. “I wanted the nightmare to end; I wanted God to bring my little girl back to me.”
Chad continued CPR. One. Two. Three..
“Then I realized I had three little girls standing there, not knowing what was going on. Hit your knees. And pray,” she told them. “They cried, they screamed, they prayed.”
Chad continued the CPR. Breathe. Chest compressions. One. Two. Three…
Then, there was a cough.
Volunteers from the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue arrived. Atmore Ambulance sped down the long driveway. LifeFlight landed. Maggie was quickly scooped up by a LifeFlight nurse who ran to the helicopter. Within minutes, she was at Sacred Heart. Blair and Scott were left behind in Bay Springs, not knowing what was happening with their little girl. A family friend drove them to the hospital, where Maggie was still in the emergency room. She was transferred to an intensive care room.
It was a serious situation. A ventilator breathed for Maggie for 28 hours, doctors and nurses standing nearby at the ready. It was a lot for a mom and dad to deal with.
Blair and Chad both knew at the time that Maggie could have permanent disabilities caused by the lack of oxygen to her brain.
“We just gave it to God,” Blair said. Their family, their church family…they all prayed. They were joined by perhaps thousands of people they will never know that prayed after reading Maggie’s story.
Miracles don’t just happen, Chad said. “God works miracles.”
There’s no doubt in Blair and Chad’s minds that there lives were changed in a big way by the whole ordeal. For Chad, it meant being saved and accepting his Savior all over again.
“I thought I got saved before, but I realized,” he said, “and I made a promise to do what He needs me to do.”
A few weeks after the accident, Maggie is a vibrant little girl, with no obvious lasting impact from her ordeal.
“We have blueberries,” she said Saturday morning as she walked through the family’s backyard in search of a cool, shady place for the photos on this page. “They are purple,” she observed. “They are not blue.”
She smiles and grabs a dandelion, blowing it into the wind toward Chad, very much to her delight. It was a prelude to her big Father’s Day plans.
“Guess what I am going to do to you for Father’s Day?” she asked Chad. Her grin grew bigger as she put her hands behind her back and twirled around. “I’m going to throw a flower at you!”
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
The family specifically asked us to offer their thanks to: the Walnut Hill Fire Department (Chris Brown, Kevin Mininger, Dennis Rigby, Gerry Steege, Tab Jernigan, Bill Eubanks, Brian Rolin, Chad Rigby, Johnathon Koehn, Diann Stewart); Atmore Ambulance (Dianna Chavers, Tom Benner); and the LifeFlight Crew (Tom Bruner, Angie Finkel, Norman Lacsamana).
Hot, Slight Chance Of Thunderstorms For Your Sunday
June 20, 2010
Most of the area had some thunder Saturday evening. Some of us will once again see afternoon storms on Sunday, but the rain will be much more widespread.
Before the storms, expect hot, muggy weather, with temps well into the 90’s.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 96. North northwest wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. West southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Partly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming southeast.
- Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. East southeast wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 91. Southeast wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 94. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast.
- Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 96.
- Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73.
- Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 95.
- Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
- Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 93.
Better Unemployment News
June 20, 2010
For the second month in a row, the jobless rate in the North Escambia area and the entire state was down.
Escambia County saw a slight in unemployment — down from 11.7 percent in April to 10.3 percent in May. That represented 604 unemployed people headed back to work in a month.
Santa Rosa County also recorded a slight drop in unemployment — falling from 9.4 percent in April to 9.2 in May. Santa Rosa County gained 308 jobs during the period.
The unemployment rate in Escambia County, Ala., dropped a full percentage point from 12.3 percent to 11.3 percent — a gain of 154 jobs.
Florida’s May unemployment rate dipped to 11.7 percent, only the second time state jobless levels have dropped in more than four years and a sign some say shows the economy is turning around.
The May rate was 0.3 percentage points lower than a revised 12.0 percent figure for April, but still remained higher than the 9.4 percent revised figure for May 2009. The state figure remains above the national average, which fell 0.2 percentage point in May from the previous month to 9.7 percent.
Alabama’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, at 10.8 percent in May,declined from April’s rate of 11 percent but was above the year-ago rate of 10 percent.
At least one economist says the monthly unemployment drop may not mark signs of a real economic rebound. More sustained improvement will be needed to gauge whether the easing unemployment will continue or if it’s the result of a short-term surge fueled by Census hiring.
“Those Census jobs are going to go away in a few months, and it’s ultimately going to be up to the private sector to drive job creation,” said Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “So far, we’re not seeing any indication that private growth has gotten underway.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink says the ongoing pressure put on by the BP oil spill may further slow economic recovery. The disaster is costing jobs in Gulf coast fishing communities, along with hotels and restaurants that are a critical part of the state’s $60 billion a year tourist industry.
“Today we learned Florida’s unemployment rate fell for the second consecutive month — and while this is encouraging, there are still unfortunately over one million Floridians who are unable to find work,” Sink said in a statement. “The disastrous BP oil spill threatens our economy even further at a time when many are already struggling, seemingly with no end in sight.”