New 3-Year Trash Contract Begins Between Century, Allied Waste
December 1, 2010
Wednesday was the first day of a new three-year franchise agreement between the town of Century and Allied Waste, and for the average resident there will be no major change.
Century’s 700 residential customers will continue to pay $15.04 per month for trash collection. Allied will continue to pick up household waste on Wednesdays, but Allied will no longer collect yard waste and items like discarded furniture. The Town of Century will collect those items on the first and third Tuesday of each month.
The town will save $3.58 per customer per month by self-collecting yard waste, or about $30,000 per year.
Under the new three year deal Century will also receive a $400 per month — $4,800 per year — discount on dumpsters at city facilities, and trash at the town hall will be collected at no charge.
The bottom line for residential customers, according to Mayor Freddie McCall, is that service will remain the same for Century’s residential household waste customers.
In addition, most of Century’s 35 business trash customers will see a five percent decrease in their monthly bills, according to Seren Ainsworth, municipal services manager for Allied Waste.
FFA Citrus Sale Ends Today
December 1, 2010
The Northview High School FFA Fruit Sale ends today with delivery just in time for Christmas.
The NHS FFA is selling citrus in attractive 2/5 or 4/5 bushel boxes perfect for gift wrapping. The Florida citrus is from RiverBrite in Vero Beach.
Orders must be made by Wednesday, December 1. The delivery date is Tuesday, December 14.
For an order form click here. Order forms and payment can be returned to Northview by mail (the address is on the order form), or dropped off at the school office. Fruits available include red apples, grapefruit, navel oranges, tangelos and Hamlin oranges. Mixed trio half bushels are also available.
For more information, call (850) 327-6681, ext. 248.
Keep The Wreath Green Campaign Begins Today
December 1, 2010
Today, Escambia County Fire-Rescue and the City of Pensacola Fire Department begin the “Keep the Wreath Green” holiday safety program designed to promote fire safety during the month of December. With this program, officials hope to reduce the number of fires during a time of serious fire danger with simple, life saving tips.
This year, the seventh year of the campaign, five-foot wreaths will be on display at 30 different locations throughout the holiday season. These sites are the Old Escambia County Courthouse on Palafox Place, the Public Safety Building on W Street, the Central Office Complex on West Park Place, all 18 primary county fire stations, seven stations within the City of Pensacola, Cordova Mall and one mobile display. Every time firefighters respond to a residential fire a green light bulb will be replaced with a red one to remind citizens of the dangers posed by holiday decorations.
To help citizens stay safe and “keep the wreath green,” officials are providing a holiday safety tip for each day of the month; visit www.keepthewreathgreen.com for a complete list.
Pictured above: The wreath at the Century fire station. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Florida Escapes: Active Hurricane Season Ends
December 1, 2010
Florida property owners again dodged a bullet as the 2010 hurricane season officially ended at midnight Tuesday.
But lawmakers are already eyeing changes to reduce the state’s exposure and shore up the fund that helps pay claims in the event of a major storm, a package of which was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist earlier this year. It’s been five years since a hurricane made landfall in Florida, a historic hiatus that David Halstead, director of the Division of Emergency Management, said Tuesday should not lull Floridians into a sense of complacency.
The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season was actually one of the most active on record, with 19 named storms. Climatic conditions brought on by a La Nina weather pattern helped protect the United States from landfall.
But, to the chagrin of both homeowners and insurers, state officials cautioned Tuesday that there’s a downside to that – those same conditions could make already dry Florida a tinderbox over the next several months, ripe for wildfires.
In the Atlantic Basin a total of 19 named storms formed – tied with 1887 and 1995 for third highest on record. Of those, 12 became hurricanes – tied with 1969 for second highest on record. Five of those reached major hurricane status of Category 3 or higher.
These totals are within the ranges predicted in NOAA’s seasonal outlooks issued on May 27 (14-23 named storms; 8-14 hurricanes; 3-7 major hurricanes) and August 5 (14-20 named storms; 8-12 hurricanes; 4-6 major hurricanes). An average Atlantic season produces 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
Pictured above: The storms of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. Click to enlarge into a more detailed map.
Highway 31 Crash Injures 2
November 30, 2010
A two vehicle accident injured at least two people this afternoon on Highway 31 in Escambia County, Alabama.
A passenger car and a SUV collided about about 1 p.m. on Highway 31 just east of Old Atmore Road, about four miles outside Flomaton. One of the injured was reported to be trapped in their vehicle for a short time. Both of the injuried were transported to area hospital by ambulance. Their names and conditions were not immediately available.
The Wawbeek Volunteer Fire Department, Flomaton Fire Department and the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue were among those responding to the scene.
The accident is under investigation by Alabama State Troopers.
Friends Turn To The Internet To Remember Hunter Fromm, 11
November 30, 2010
Friends of 11-year old Hunter Fromm turned to the Internet to remember and memorialize the Ransom Middle School student after his sudden accidental death on Friday.
Fromm struck his head on a tractor Friday morning after jumping from a horse at a relative’s Molino home. He was transported to a Pensacola hospital where he later died.
Within hours, word spread of Hunter’s death, with hundreds of Ransom students expressing their thoughts in the comments section of a NorthEscambia.com about the incident and on Hunter’s Facebook page.
“Hunter. I hope you can check FB (Facebook) in heaven!! I miss you like crazy,” one girl wrote on his Facebook page. “I wish I would have seen you more because now thats all I can think about. Your one loved kid and we will never forget you!!”
Students have created and posted memorial YouTube videos, and posted their memories about the boy with spiked hair. Ransom students even used Facebook over the weekend to organize spiked hair at the school Monday in his memory.
“You always made me laugh when I was around you. We will all miss how goofy you were and you’re smile and laugh. Rest in peace Hunter. You will always be in are hearts and in mine,” another student wrote.
Goofy. Funny. Smile. Laugh. Those words appear often. Friends also used the Internet to quietly express their grief over the sudden death of a classmate.
“This is horrible, I’ve been crying all night,” a person that identified themselves with just a frown wrote on NorthEscambia.com “God knew it was his time and he took him for a reason. If God put the family to this then God will bring the family through it.”
“We will all miss you coming down the halls of Ransom where everyone loved you alot,” another student wrote on NorthEscambia.com.
- To read the comments on a Saturday NorthEscambia.com story about Hunter Fromm’s death, click here.
- To visit Hunter Fromm’s Facebook page, click here.
Friends say that the Fromm family did not have burial insurance for Hunter. Donations are being accepted at any Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union location to the Hunter Fromm Memorial Account. Also, a benefit concert is being organized for Saturday, January 15. Details will be posted here on NorthEscambia.com.
Our Forecast: Turning Colder
November 30, 2010
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers before midnight. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 32. Northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 54. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 29. North wind around 5 mph.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 60. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 36. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 66. North wind around 5 mph.
- Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 64. North wind around 5 mph becoming south.
- Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 67.
- Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.
- Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 62.
- Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 32.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 56.
State Wants Sales Tax On Your Online Purchases
November 30, 2010
Many Floridians made purchases over the long Thanksgiving weekend, but many did not pay sales tax. And that has the attention of Florida lawmakers.
With Florida facing a $2.5 billion budget gap, rising Internet sales over the Thanksgiving holiday renewed calls Monday for the state to join others looking to make it easier to collect sales taxes from out-of-state and mail-order merchants.
Retail sales reached $45 billion nationally over Thanksgiving weekend, a $4 billion boost over 2009 levels. But equally remarkable, analysts said, was that the proportion of online sales rose to one-third of the holiday total, the highest ever, according to the National Retail Federation.
Monday — promoted as CyberMonday — the past five years by the Retail Federation, was expected to drive another round of heavy online sales.
But with many of these transactions not subject to state sales taxes, Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, said Monday the trend bolstered her push for Florida to join the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which currently includes 24 states pushing to collect tax on remote sales.
Rehwinkel Vasilinda said the state would likely lose about $10 million in uncollected sales tax Monday, alone.
“Ten million dollars would hire at least 300 new teachers, help our universities remain competitive, create incentives for bringing jobs to Florida, or for much needed social services still reeling from an almost 12 percent unemployment rate,” she said.
Online retailers that also have brick-and-mortar stores, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, are required to collect Florida’s 6 percent state sales-tax online. But Rehwinkel Vasilinda, who is backed by Florida TaxWatch and the Florida Retail Federation, say a huge number of purchases also come from such online-only retailers as Amazon and eBay, who are not required to collect.
“We’ve certainly got a lot of needs in this state and as we shift more to e-commerce, our tax structure should, too,” said Robert Weissert, a Florida TaxWatch spokesman. “Internet sales give a competitive advantage to some companies over other stores and businesses that do the bulk of hiring in this state. That’s something we should keep in mind, too, when we have more than 1 million people unemployed.”
States began working on the sales tax agreement in response to a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Internet sellers, mail-order merchants and other “remote” sellers cannot be required to collect sales tax from out-of-state customers unless they have a physical presence in the customer’s state. The court held that sales tax systems across the country were too complicated for a merchant to know what tax to charge, otherwise. The multi-state compact provides a uniform set of rules to streamline collection and more than 1,000 retailers have begun remitting tax to participating states.
More important, though, supporters say increasing the number of states involved would nudge Congress toward clearing the way for Internet taxation.
Rehwinkel Vasilinda and Sens. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, and Nancy Detert, R-Venice, have proposed sales-tax legislation in recent years – but the measures have drawn little traction in a Legislature where many see the step as a tax increase. Rehwinkel Vasilinda said she will sponsor a bill again this year, although House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, and Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, have shown no interest.
“Florida has many needs and letting revenue already owed to the state slip through our fingers is simply not good business,” she said.
By John Kennedy
The News Service Florida
Resurfacing To Begin On Chumuckla Highway
November 30, 2010
Santa Rosa County has begun construction of a 12.5 mile widening and resurfacing project on Chumuckla Highway, also known as County Road 197, between the Chumuckla crossroads and State Road 89 near Jay. No road closures are anticipated but some delays should be expected. The project is expected to be completed by mid-December unless there are significant weather delays.
Currently the road is being widened, followed by the placement of asphalt leveling courses with a motor grader to fill depressions and wheel ruts. For safety purposes, a temporary centerline stripe is painted as needed each day. Motorists may mistake one of the leveling courses as the final pavement surface, according to Santa Rosa County. However, the roadway leveling is an intermediate phase of the project and the final pavement surface will be placed by a paving machine, resulting in a much smoother surface.
The project cost is expected to be $2.7 million with 75 percent funded by the Florida Department of Transportation through a Small County Outreach Program grant. The county will be responsible for the remaining 25 percent, much of which will be met with in-kind services such as labor, equipment and materials for drainage and shoulder work performed by the Santa Rosa County Road and Bridge Department.
Area Art Students Recognized
November 30, 2010
Several North Escambia area students were among a group of high school and middle school students from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties that were recognized for their art entries in the School Art Exhibit at the Pensacola Interstate Fair.
(Names of winners from North Escambia area schools are in bold below.)
HIGH SCHOOLS
ART PROGRAM AWARD OF EXCELLENCE – — Escambia High School
Educators: Kymberly Rejda, Marie Henderson, Ruth Fidler
Category – Beginning Art
First Place — Peyton Chavers – Northview
Second Place — Kimberly Caldwell — Escambia
Third Place — Buu Tran Duong — West Florida
Category – Ceramics
First Place — Aaron Scheller – Washington
Second Place — Alexa Robbins – Tate
Third Place — Alexa Robbins – Tate
Category – Digital Arts
First Place — Danielle Skaggs – Jay
Second Place — Courtney Somerset – Milton
Third Place — Katie Borders – Jay
Category – Drawing
First Place — Michael Brusoki – Pensacola
Second Place — Alexandria Quinn — Tate
Third Place — Dominik English — Escambia
Category – Jewelry/Textiles
First Place — Josey Zipfel – Escambia
Second Place — Brandon Sellers – Escambia
Third Place — Gina Tamborella – Central
Category – Mixed Media
First Place — Group project – Washington
Monika Barshun, Kenzie Kelly, Courtney Bodie, Lauren Bartnikowski, Anna Lewis, Brooke McKinney, Hayes Mixon, Rachel Medley, Annah Dubose
Second Place — William Searcy – Pensacola
Third Place — Trey Searcy — West Florida
Category – Painting
First Place — Tyler Hill – Escambia
Second Place — Andrew Johnston — Northview
Third Place — Avery Gaal — Tate
Category – Photography
First Place — Sebastiane House – Pensacola
Second Place — Steven Spiegel, Phillip Fritz, Tec Torres – West Florida
Third Place — Josey Zipfel – Escambia
Category – Printmaking
First Place — Addie Peteranecz – Pensacola
Category – Sculpture
First Place — Katelyn Watska – Pace
Second Place — Mariah Fitch — Pensacola
Third Place — David Sutton – Pace
BEST-IN-SHOW
Justin Gibson, Photography — Escambia High School Educator, Kymberly Rejda
Honorable Mentions:
Zachary Hathaway, Beginning Art – Pine Forest
A J Harris, Beginning Art – Pine Forest
Christian Connor, Ceramics – Pace
Keondre Hull, Drawing – Tate
Addie Peteranecz, Drawing – Pensacola
Karlee Pillan, Drawing – Milton
Michelle Henderson, Mixed Media – West Florida
Caitlin Bibza, Mixed Media – Pace
Chanda Hawthorne, Mixed Media – Jay
Kiana Okahashi, Mixed Media – Northview
Elizabeth Wright, Mixed Media – Northview
Amber Francis, Mixed Media – Northview
Taylor Ro,i Mixed Media – Pace
Caitlin Bibza, Mixed Media – Pace
Kinsey Patterson, Mixed Media – West Florida
Brittany Prince, Painting – Tate
Joseph Cecil,Painting – Washington
Madison Todd, Photography – Pensacola
Taylor Weldon, Photography – Pensacola
Brittany Abercrombie, Photography – Escambia
Chelsea Rinderneck, Photography – Pine Forest
Kinsey Patterson, Sculpture – West Florida
Isabelle Murphy, Sculpture – Escambia
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
ART PROGRAM AWARD OF EXCELLENCE – — Woodham Middle School
Art Educator: Winston Foster
Category – Drawing
First Place — Samantha Ellis – PATS Center
Second Place — Rowan Carroll-Christopher – PATS Center
Third Place — Cheyanne Norrell – PATS Center
Category – Mixed Media
First Place — Jacob Houghton – PATS Center
Second Place — Elizabeth Smith – PATS Center
Third Place — Autumn Helton – PATS Center
Category – Painting
First Place — Sierra Yors – Woodham Middle
Second Place — Sakura Kawasaki – Woodham Middle
Third Place — Dane Stolsig – PATS Center
Category – Printmaking
First Place — Celeste Bishop – Woodham Middle
Second Place — Kenard Cook – Woodham Middle
Third Place — Liindsey Mitchell – Workman Middle
Category – Sculpture
First Place — Stephanie Rosemore – Woodham Middle
Second Place — Jennifer Sublett – PATS Center
Third Place — Hannah Holden – Woodham Middle
BEST-IN-SHOW
Stephanie Rosemore – Painting
Winston Foster, Educator, — Woodham
Honorable Mentions:
Sierra Yors, Drawing – Woodham Middle
Madison Lockman, Drawing – Ransom Middle
Tessa Wihtel, Drawing – PATS Center
Dalton Young, Drawing – Ransom Middle
Cheyanne Crain, Painting – Ransom Middle
Lee Brown, Painting – Ransom Middle
Jessica Elliott, Sculpture – Woodham Middle