Northview’s ‘Biggest Fan’ Almost Homeless And Needs Your Help
December 9, 2010
Northview Chiefs’ fans may not know his name. But they, without a doubt, know the distinctive voice and mannerisms of the man sometimes dubbed “Northview’s Biggest Fan”. If it’s Friday night Northview football, he’s the guy running around with the Northview flag loudly proclaiming his love for the Chiefs. You just can’t miss Jake.
Or if it’s a Saturday afternoon little league football game in Century, he’s the announcer’s voice that you know you’ve heard before with a style that’s just hard to put into words.
He is 33-year old Jake Livingston of Century. It’s obvious that Jake is a little different than most. But that’s why we all like him.
Born with special needs, Jake has lived with a relative all of his life. But due to a change in a family situation, Jake may be without a place to live. And that did not sit well with his neighbor Charlie Brown.
“I just could not see him without a home,” Brown said. “He does not deserve that.”
Brown has found a FEMA trailer for Jake, a half-acre lot of his own for the trailer and other items like a septic tank, plumbing and electrical wiring. But money is needed to help pay for the trailer and other necessities.
Since Jake has never lived on his own, Brown has even arranged for a state-assigned caregiver to teach him independent living skills. Plans are also being made to assist Jake with ordinary living expenses in the future like his electric and water bills.
“We have most everything we need to keep him from being homeless, but we need help,” Brown said.
The “Jake Livingston Fund” has been established at Pen Air Federal Credit Union in Century for anyone wishing to help.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Escambia Grandma Dies In Prison After Beginning Drug Sentence
December 9, 2010
The 87-year old grandma caught on video selling crack cocaine to undercover officers has died in prison.
The Florida Department of Corrections confirmed that Ola Mae Agee, 87, of Pensacola died Monday. She was just over a month into her 18 month prison sentence for selling cocaine.
Agee was arrested May 13 at her Dr. Martin Luther King Drive home. An undercover Escambia County Sheriff’s Office video shows Agee selling a $20 piece of crack cocaine inside her house to an undercover deputy.
In 1996, Agee was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to forfeit $1,971 seized at the time of her arrest for possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver and resisting arrest with violence. In 1999, she once again faced charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, but those charges were dropped.
Senior ‘Snow’ Picture
December 9, 2010
The yearbook photo for Northview High School Senior Class of 2011 turned out to be a little more on the memorable side Wednesday morning as snow flurries interrupted the photo shoot.
To see closeup images from the main picture, click here.
Pictured above: Snow interrupted the Northview High School Senior Class of 2011 picture Wednesday morning. Pictured below: A closeup from the photo. Submitted for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Jeff Miller to Lead House Veterans’ Affairs Committee
December 9, 2010
Northwest Florida’s Congressman Jeff Miller was elected Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Wednesday.
“It is certainly a great honor to have the opportunity to serve as chairman of an important committee that is so critical to our country,” said Miller. “I’m eager to work hard in this new capacity for our veterans and retirees.”
“I can’t think of anyone in the House more capable to serve as the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs than Jeff Miller,” said Boehner. “Jeff’s efforts for veterans are well documented and his credentials as a conservative leader are without question. Jeff will continue to work to ensure that all of our nation’s heroes receive the proper respect and care that they earned.”
The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is responsible for authorization and oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA.) VA is the second largest department in the federal government with over 300,000 employees and a budget of over $119 billion.
Since being elected to Congress in 2001, Miller has established himself nationally as a strong advocate for veterans’ concerns including his successful support for changes to concurrent pay receipt and his advocacy of a greater co-sharing between the military and veterans’ facilities. In 2004, Miller spearheaded a measure to remedy the inequity in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) for Social Security recipients.
A staunch fiscal conservative, Miller aims to bring efficiency and a streamlined approach to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Miller plans for a return to strict oversight, focusing on issues such as claims backlogs as well as safety and security breaches within the department.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to serve the more than 22 million veterans who have so proudly served this great nation,” Miller said. “I will work to ensure that we meet our veterans’ needs.”
Stay Warm, But Stay Safe
December 9, 2010
With cold temperatures forecast for the next several nights, Escambia County urges residents to take safety precautions while trying to stay warm, specifically when using space heaters. Heating equipment is a leading cause of home fires during the winter months, and trails only cooking equipment in home fires year-round.
According to the National Fire Protection Association annual fire department survey, heating equipment was involved in an estimated 64,100 reported home structure fires in the United States in 2006. These fires accounted for 16% of all home fires and were responsible for an estimated 540 deaths, roughly 1,400 injuries and $943 million in direct property damage. With this in mind, Escambia County would like to offer a few safety tips involving heating equipment:
- Properly inspect all heating equipment for frayed cords or exposed elements before use.
- Space heaters need space. Keep heaters at least three feet away from all furniture, drapes, clothing and other combustibles.
- Use only heaters designed for use in the home. Never use cooking appliances, such as ovens, or any heaters designed for outdoor usage indoors.
- Only use heaters with safety features such as cut-off switches that turn them off if they accidentally tip over and those units with heater element guards that prevent combustible materials from contacting the heating element.
- Never leave space heaters unattended. Turn them off when you leave the room or go to bed.
- Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
- Keep heaters and their cords along with extension cords away from high traffic areas.
- When buying a new space heater, make sure it carries the mark of an independent testing laboratory.
- Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home and outside every bedroom. Test the batteries every month and change them at least once a year.
- If you have gas appliances, install a carbon monoxide alarm in a central location outside each sleeping area.
Alternative Heating Fire Safety Life-Saving Tips
- Allow your heater to cool before refueling and only refuel outdoors.
- Fill your heater with only crystal clear, K-1 kerosene, not gasoline or camp stove fuel as both explode easily.
- Keep the fire in the fireplace with a screen large enough to catch flying sparks and rolling logs.
- Carefully follow manufacturers’ installation and maintenance instructions.
- Remember it’s always safer to add more blankets on your bed than to use a space heater while sleeping.
- Electric blankets can be a serious fire hazard if defected or used improperly. Check your electric blanket for any damage from fraying, creasing or general wear and tear. Electric blankets that are more than 10 years old should be replaced, and never use a wet blanket.
- In case of a fire, stay low to the ground, beneath the smoke, and crawl to an exit using your escape plan.
Actions should be taken to prepare for this and future cold weather events. Remember the “5 Ps” of cold weather preparedness:
- Protect People
- Protect Plants
- Protect Pets
- Protect Exposed Pipes
- Practice Fire Safety
Escambia County encourages everyone to follow these safety tips. For more information on cold weather hazards click here.
Florida Taxwatch Joins Scott In Calling For Prison Cost Cuts
December 9, 2010
Scaling-back spending in the state’s prison system was one of the top recommendations as Florida TaxWatch rolled out its annual roster of potential state cost-savings Wednesday – listing 124 proposals which could trim more than $4 billion from the recession-battered treasury.
With Florida facing a budget shortfall likely to exceed $3 billion, TaxWatch officials said their ideas will gain more loft as Scott and lawmakers seek to shrink state spending.
When Governor-elect Rick Scott unveiled his economic plan on the campaign trail this summer, there was a portion that caught law enforcement and corrections professionals by surprise, a proposed $1 billion cut to the state’s corrections’ budget.
Scott’s plan for the corrections system is setting up a potentially heated political fight between his new administration, coming in looking to make drastic cuts in what Scott believes is a bloated budget and on the other side law enforcement officials who say his plan is unrealistic and lawmakers who don’t want to be soft on crime.
Florida Taxwatch is recommending a commission to do a top-to-bottom review of the corrections system to identify savings. The group is calling for an expansion of faith- and character-based prisons, an expansion in work release programs, requiring justification for individuals with low sentencing scores, decreased state incarceration of local inmates and even changes in Florida’s marijuana and cocaine possession laws to reduce prison sentences.
Florida Tax Watch is also recommending revamping Florida’s public pension plan and steering more Medicaid patients into managed care, recommendations which generally match those advanced either by leading legislators or Gov.-elect Rick Scott.
Other TaxWatch measures clearly face longer odds. Efforts to extend the state’s sales tax to Internet sales has been proposed, and rejected, by lawmakers for several years. But with Florida facing a budget shortfall likely to exceed $3 billion, TaxWatch officials said their ideas will gain more loft as Scott and lawmakers seek to shrink state spending.
In unveiling the money-saving list, TaxWatch’s David Smith, pointed to the pension plan as a rich ground for state savings. Eliminating the state’s traditional, defined benefit plan and putting all Florida Retirement System employees into a defined contribution plan and requiring FRS members to contribute to their retirement are just some of the cost-savings.
“It’s unsustainable. It’s broken. But it’s not, not fixable,” Smith said.
Pictured: A guard tower rises above Century Correctional Institution. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Brrr! Cold Today, About 20 Tonight
December 8, 2010
Here is the official Nroth Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Mostly cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low around 20. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 52. Wind chill values between 20 and 30 early. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
- Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 27. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
- Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
- Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
- Saturday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 45. South wind 5 to 15 mph becoming northwest.
- Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 53. Breezy, with a northwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 27.
- Monday: Sunny, with a high near 44.
- Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 22.
- Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 51.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (With Photo Gallery)
December 8, 2010
(Updated 12:30 p.m.) Snow flurries were reported across the North Escambia area this morning, incluing Atmore, Walnut Hill, Bratt, Flomaton, Byrneville, Century, Brewton, Lambeth, Little River, Poarch and Huxford.
“I have field of flurries!” a reader on Carver Avenue in Atmore wrote.
Students at many area schools were allowed to go outside and experience the snow, including some students at Bratt Elementary, Byrneville Elementary and Northview High School.
There was no significant accumulation from the flurries; however a very, very small amount to snow accumulated briefly on vehicles, decks and even livestock (see the photo below).
If you have snow photos, email them to — news@northescambia.com and we’ll add them to our photo gallery.
For a photo gallery of reader photos from across the area, click here.
Pictured top: A snow flurry at Northview High School (from Vicki Cook). Pictured inset: Bratt Elementary Pre-K student Eli Stephens attempts to catch a snowflake with his tongue. Pictured below: Snow accumulates on “Sherlock” the horse near Byrneville (Robin Borelli). NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Former Helicopter Tech Building Listed For Sale; Town Gets Energy Grant
December 8, 2010
The Town of Century is putting the former Helicopter Technology building back on the market, and the town has received a quarter million grant to improve energy efficiency at the building and two others facilities.
The Town of Century purchased the 40,000 square foot building at public auction for less than $1 out of pocket back in August, 2009, following the town’s foreclosure judgment against the now defunct Helicopter Technology.
After attempting to lease or sell the building independently for over year, Century will now list the building on the open real estate market with DeeDee Ritchie of the commercial real estate firm NAI Halford.
“I told her we wanted jobs whatever we do,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said.
The building will list for $850,000 — the amount McCall said the town had been been previously offered for the property. That deal collapsed along with the Air Force tanker contract for Mobile, he said. The town will also consider leasing the building at a rate yet to be determined.
The real estate company will receive a 6-percent fee for the sale or lease of the building.
Energy Efficiency Grant
The Town of Century has received a $250,000 energy efficiency grant that will be used to upgrade the climate control systems at the former Helicopter Technology building, the Century Town Hall and the Century Ag Building (community center) on West Highway 4.
The grant will also fund the installation of energy efficient lighting at all three buildings.
Wedding Ring Lost In Christmas Trees Is Found
December 8, 2010
Unlikely little Christmas wishes do sometimes come true. Just ask Kari Doyle and her husband Greg of Cantonment.
Sunday, we first brought you the story of Kari Doyle’s lost wedding rings. She and her two children, Emma 4, and Olivia, 2, were shopping for a family Christmas tree Saturday at the Home Depot on Nine Mile Road in Pensacola. After picking up several trees, she realized that her wedding rings had fallen off. She searched and searched — but no rings.
Today, we can report that Kari Doyle’s diamon wedding ring is back on her finger. The band is still missing.
“We got a phone call earlier from a man that just bought his Christmas tree from Home Depot and his granddaughter found the ring in the tree,” she said.
The man would not leave his name and did not want to accept an offered cash reward. The Doyle’s gave the cash to the man’s five-year old granddaughter.
“I can’t say thank you enough,” Kari Doyle said. “This reaffirms my faith in people.”
And perhaps there was a bit of Christmas magic involved. It’s worth noting this post that Kari made on her Facebook page a few hours before the ring was found:
“(Emma) is having Santa visit her school today and she said ‘Mommy I’m gonna ask Santa for your rings’.”