Century Expands Advertising, Extends Deadline For Town Clerk Job
April 21, 2010
The Town of Century is extending the application deadline for a new town clerk, deciding to advertise the position on NorthEscambia.com and in the Pensacola News Journal.
The position was first advertised in the Tri-City Ledger on April 1, and the town received no applicants.
The council then voted April 5 to set higher standards for the job. An advertisement with the more stringent requirements ran April 8 and April 15 in the Tri-City Ledger, and the town received about a dozen applications.
“There are some good ones in there,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said.
Council member Ann Brooks questioned why the ad was only placed in the Tri-City Ledger when the town normally places bid notices in News Journal, which has a much broader circulation.
The council voted to increase the reach of their advertisement and attract a wider application base by expanding their recruitment efforts to NorthEscambia.com and the News Journal.
The deadline to apply for the Century Town Clerk position was Thursday, April 22, but that date will be extended one week from time the ad first runs in the News Journal. As of this morning, NorthEscambia.com had not received the ad from the Town of Century.
Current Century Town Clerk Dorothy Sims is retiring at the end of April, but will remain available to help train her replacement.
The new town clerk will be required to hold at least an associate’s degree with a minimum of three years experience in records management, data processing or experience in municipal government including supervisory experience and any equivalent combination of education and experience.
The applicant will also be required to have working knowledge of state statutes and bylaws relating to the duties and responsibilities of the town clerk, local government procedures and office procedure requirements, as well as other office and financial record keeping experience.
‘Squirrel Boy’ Busted After Selling Pot To Informant
April 21, 2010
A Century man known as “Squirrel Boy” was arrested after selling drugs to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office confidential informant.
Eric Quincy Allen, 41, was charged with two counts of marijuana possession with intent to sell after allegedly selling marijuana to the informant outside of a Salter’s Lake Road residence in Century.
According to the sheriff’s office arrest report, the informant told deputies that “Squirrel Boy” sits outside the residence and sells marijuana. Using their computer systems, the sheriff’s office was able to determine that Allen is sometimes known as “Squirrel Boy”. Allen was positively identified by the informant when shown his photograph.
Wearing a listening and recording device, the confidential informant traveled to Allen’s residence on Salter’s Lake Road. The informant made contact with Allen who was sitting outside the residence and purchased marijuana with funds belonging to the sheriff’s office, the report states. After the drug buy, a warrant was prepared for Allen’s arrest.
Allen was arrested and booked into the Escambia County Jail. He was later released on $10,000 bond. He is due to appear in court on May 7.
Northview Falls To West Florida
April 21, 2010
The Northview Chiefs suffered a tough 7-1 non-district loss to the West Florida Jaguars Tuesday evening in Bratt. West Florida took an early 3-0 lead in the first and added two each during the second and fourth. Trailing 7-0, the Chiefs added one run in the sixth.
For more NorthEscambia.com photos from the game, click here.
Pictured: Action from Northview versus West Florida Tuesday in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Deputy Accused Of Child Molestation Pleads Not Guilty, 117 Charges Dropped
April 21, 2010
Bond has been set at $465,000 for the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant that was first charged with over 120 counts of molesting two children.
Tuesday, the state dropped 117 sexual battery counts and three sexual battery by a custodial authority counts against John Mitchell Tomlinson, 46. He pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges against hime –three counts of capital sexual battery on a child less than 12 years old and three counts of sexual battery by a custodial authority.
The state dropped the vast majority of the charges to make Tomlinson’s trial proceed faster; a conviction on any one of the remaining sexual battery charges carries a life sentence.
Tomlinson was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on March 9 and charged with 120 counts of sexual battery on two girls between the ages of 12 and 18. One of the girls alleged abuse from when she was age nine to 18.
At the time of his arrest, Tomlinson was a Lieutenant with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. He remains in the Walton County Jail, but will be transferred back to Santa Rosa County one week prior to his trial.
Watch The Video: Century Mayor Explains Equipment Use
April 20, 2010
Century Mayor Freddie McCall recently used town equipment and a town employee to complete work at his privately owned Flomaton Speedway in Alabama.
To read the story from Monday night’s council meeting, click here. To watch the video, click play below.
If you do not see the video above, it is because your personal firewall, employer or school is blocking external videos.
Shots Fired: Teen Steals Deputy’s Gun, Threatens To Shoot Him, Fights For Another Deputy’s Gun
April 20, 2010
An Escambia County teen is jailed after taking a deputy’s gun, threatening to shoot him and trying to take a weapon from another deputy. A deputy fired shots at the teen during the incident, but missed.
According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a suspicious vehicle in a ditch in the area of 80th Avenue and West Jackson Street early Tuesday morning. When Deputy Brandon Minor arrived on the scene, the vehicle was not occupied, so he proceeded to contact the owner of the vehicle who lived nearby.
The owner of the vehicle discovered that keys to another vehicle he owned — a blue Chevrolet truck — were missing, and he told the deputy that he believed his 14-year old stepson, Tracey E. Squaire, had taken both vehicles.
When Deputy Minor and the owner returned to the scene of the abandoned truck in the ditch, they found Squaire removing items from the vehicle and placing them in the second vehicle reported stolen.
“Deputy Minor exited his patrol car and ordered Squaire to place his hands behind his back and which time Squaire refused and tried to distance himself from Deputy Minor. Deputy Minor then attempted to handcuff Squaire, but Squaire was able to forcibly resist the officer’s attempts, causing the officer to pull his taser. Squaire then grabbed Deputy Minor’s taser and began to fight with the officer trying to gain control of the taser. At this time Deputy Minor drew his gun on the suspect and ordered him to get on the ground. Square once again refused the officers commands and lunged for Deputy Minor’s gun. During the struggle over the gun, Squaire pulled the weapon from Deputy Minor’s hands and pointed the gun at the officer threatening to shoot him if he moved or tried to call for help,” according to Melissa Aiken, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office.
Squaire then fled the scene with the deputy’s weapon in the stolen Chevrolet truck. Additional deputies responded and began searching the area for Squaire. Deputy Kelly Hall located the truck in the area of 65th Avenue. When he pulled in behind the truck, the suspect accelerated and fled before wrecking with a traffic island on 65th Avenue.
“Deputy Hall then approached the suspect’s vehicle with his weapon drawn at which time the suspect raised the firearm stolen from Deputy Minor and pointed it at Deputy Hall ordering Hall to put his hands up. Deputy Hall took cover at the rear of the vehicle and fired one round into the suspect’s vehicle. Squaire then put both hands in the air in an attempt to give up. Deputy Hall ordered Squaire out of the vehicle and Squaire complied by exiting the vehicle and walking toward the deputy,” Aiken said.
“Deputy Hall then ordered the suspect to get on the ground at which time the suspect refused and lunged toward Deputy Hall grabbing his gun with both hands. The suspect fought with the deputy attempting to turn the gun’s muzzle toward the deputy. In fear for his life, Deputy Hall fired one round from his weapon in self defense, but missed the suspect. As the fight continued, Deputy Hall was eventually able to force the suspect to the ground at which time the suspect preceded to bite Deputy Hall on the wrist. Deputy Hall persevered and was able to free his weapon from Squaire’s grasp and handcuff the suspect,” Aiken continued.
Squaire was booked into the Escambia County Jail on a list of felony charges:
- Committing a first degree felony with stolen law enforcement firearm
- Aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony
- Aggravated battery with a deadly weapon
- Battery on law enforcement officer
- Grand theft of vehicle
- Obstruction of police
He is also facing misdemeanor charges of larceny and resisting a law enforcement officer.
Sunny Until Friday; Storms Possible For Saturday
April 20, 2010
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 79. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Wednesday Night: Patchy fog after 3am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 53. West southwest wind around 5 mph.
- Thursday: Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming south southwest between 10 and 15 mph.
- Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. South southeast wind between 5 and 15 mph.
- Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South wind around 10 mph.
- Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. South wind around 10 mph.
- Saturday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. South southwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy and breezy, with a high near 83.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.
- Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 82.
- Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77.
Century Mayor Uses Town Employee, Equipment For Work At Private Speedway (Updated With Video)
April 20, 2010
Century Mayor Freddie McCall recently used town equipment and a town employee to complete work at his privately owned Flomaton Speedway in Alabama.
“I had something come up, and I want to fess up,” McCall said as he explained his actions to the Century Town Council Monday night.
On Friday, April 2, McCall was preparing for the opening of Flomaton Speedway, which he recently purchased. He was in the middle of renovations, and he needed a ditch digger to bury a wire across the dirt track. The only one available at Bondurant Lumber in Century would not dig the size trench he needed, so McCall said he used a Town of Century employee and town equipment to dig the trench at his Flomaton, Ala., racetrack.
“I wouldn’t trying to pull nothing on nobody,” the mayor said. “I asked him (the Century Town employee) could he get the machine and come up there and pull that wire for me…and he did.”
On the Monday morning following the use of the town employee, McCall paid the town $125 for use of the equipment for about 20 minutes work — the same rate the mayor said Bondurant Lumber receives for a half-day rental for similar equipment. He also paid the town employee $20 and hour for two hours for his labor. The town employee was off for the Good Friday holiday the day he performed the work for McCall.
Monday night, McCall presented the town council with copies of checks where he paid the town.
“I just want to let y’all know what I done, and I wasn’t trying to pull nothing fast,” the mayor told the council. “We’ve done this on several occasions before for different people that needed some help to pull their service line in.”
He said that when the town has done such work for private citizens in the past, they have charged 35 cents per foot. He said that if he had paid the 35 cent rate, he would have only reimbursed the town about $35.
“I wanted to pay the bigger amount to keep me in the clear,” he told the council. “I don’t feel like I’ve done nothing wrong.”
The council made no comment and took no action on McCall’s actions.
To watch video from the council meeting, click here.
Pictured top: Century Mayor Freddie McCall (left) explains his use of town equipment and a town employee to at Monday night’s meeting of the Century Town Council. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Career Academies, Students At Jay, Tate Honored By Ford
April 20, 2010
Career academies in Escambia and Santa Rosa County were honored on Monday, including programs and students at Jay and Tate high schools.
At a Monday luncheon, the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and the Northwest Florida Next Generation Learning Community were honored by the Ford Partnership in Advanced Studies and the Ford Motor Company Fund as they were designated as one of just three Professional Development Resource Hubs in the country.
In the North Escambia area: The Jay High School Health Academy was named the High School Academy of the year. The Pre-Nursing Academy at West Florida Technical High was named as an Industry Certification Achieving Career Academy. And Emma Grace Farthing of Tate High School was named as a Career Academy Student of the Year.
There are 43 career academies in Escambia County and 16 in Santa Rosa County. The career academies, according to the Pensacola Chamber, currently have a 90 percent graduation rate
The Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies is an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum and program that provides students with content knowledge and skills necessary for future success—in such areas as business, economics, engineering, and technology.
Rick’s Blog contributed to this report and has a complete list of winners.
Century Relay Moving Indoors Due To Rain Threat
April 20, 2010
A chance of rain won’t dampen plans for this weekend’s Relay for Life in Century.
Plans are being made to move the Century Relay for Life into the old Century High School in the event of rain, Susan Diamond, event chair, said Monday.
The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are usually overnight events.
Teams are made up of businesses, churches, friends and families working together to raise money for, and awareness of, cancer research.
Relay offers great family fun for those not directly participating on a team — with tent campsites offering lots of food for sale, arts, crafts, fun and games.
NorthEscambia.com will publish a complete Century Relay schedule in the coming days.