Video: Northview Beats Vernon
November 7, 2010
Here are video highlights by Keith Garrison from Northview’s win Friday night over Vernon.
For game details, click here for the NorthEscambia.com story. For a photo gallery, click here.
(If you don’t see the video, it is because a firewall setting at your home, work or school firewall or computer is blocking YouTube videos.)
Featured Recipe: Steak Parmesan With Grilled Vegetables
November 7, 2010
This weekend’s featured recipe from Janet Tharpe is a Steak Parmesan with Grilled Vegetables. Fire up the grill, because this will be an instant hit at your next tailgate party. This dish’s blend of Parmesan, spices and a smoky-grilled flavor will score a real touchdown.
To print today’s “Just a Pinch” recipe column, you can click the image below to load a printable pdf with a recipe card.
In Depth: Senate President On Fla. Legislature’s Right Turn, And More
November 7, 2010
Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos reaffirmed Friday that the newly elected, more conservative Florida Legislature will primarily set its sights on creating jobs, cutting regulations and reducing lawsuits.
But he’ll also give a green light to lawmakers seeking stricter abortion laws and other social changes, the Merritt Island Republican said.
“I feel that the Senate was not as conservative as it should be,” said Haridopolos, arguing that Tuesday’s election sweep by Republicans gives the Legislature a clear mandate to continue moving to the right.
With Republicans capturing two new seats in the Senate and five in the House – building veto-proof, two-thirds majorities – political moderation is out the window, although the new leader said he continued to plan to work with Democrats and give party members a significant role on committees.
“The overall body was moderate,” Haridopolos said of the pre-Tuesday Senate. “It was very sympathetic to unions, very sympathetic to trial lawyers, very sympathetic to the idea that big government maybe doesn’t need to go on a diet…I think you’re seeing right now the most conservative Senate…in your history.”
In a wide-ranging sitdown with reporters, Haridopolos framed Florida’s two-year future, in which he said he’ll team with incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, and Gov.-elect Rick Scott to revive the state’s gasping economy with an injection of conservative policies.
On jobs:
“Our goal is to produce two basic items: Increase predictability and certainty. Predictability that there’s not going to be a new tax or new regulation that’s going to limit job opportunities in this state. That certainty will then, I think, come….When we send that very clear message that we’re open for business, it will attract those people who didn’t come here in years past.”
While Scott has talked about creating 700,000 jobs in Florida over the next seven years, Haridopolos said his own job-creation benchmark isn’t set. But lowering the state’s almost 12 percent unemployment rate is a logical measurement, he said.
On immigration reform:
“If we choose to go this direction, we’re going to create a Florida-style plan that works for Florida. Arizona’s a different state.”
On cutting prison spending:
“One of the things we are openly looking at is means-testing prisoners. If they qualify for Medicaid, let them in. If they are really wealthy, make them pay. We are looking at all options.”
Haridopolos also said that he would be looking for pay and benefits concessions from the state’s correctional officers’ union, the Police Benevolent Association, which backed losing Democrat Alex Sink in the governor’s race. “We all saw the ads in the campaign,” Haridopolos said. “They clearly didn’t want Rick Scott. Rick Scott won.”
On the Department of Management Services:
Haridopolos stands by his demand that DMS Secretary Linda South quit, in the wake of a Sink audit of lavish spending at the new First District Court of Appeal building. “If she’s choosing not to resign, the Governor is (working on transition) in Fort Lauderdale and the good news is that we’ll have a new person at DMS.”
On state government and its workforce:
“Do what every business is doing across this state and say, `how do we right-size our organization? Can you consolidate? Can you do things better? I think there’s prime opportunity for it.”
On using stimulus money for energy programs after attacking it in campaigns:
“Consumers are in a spot where they were being told they would receive a $1,500 rebate…we felt that was the best policy. We have about a $2.5-$3 billion shortfall…I think it’d be a fair argument that we’re facing more challenges that have been handed down to us from Washington.”
On reviving teacher-tenure ending, merit-pay legislation:
“There’s a lot of misconceptions about it….We’ve got to get this right because teachers are so important to us. We’re going to take our time…we’re going to have a thoughtful discussion. Have two or three or four committee meetings, whatever it takes….Let’s have a full debate on it.”
On supporting Nebraska-style abortion limits
“If this bill is pursued by a member, it will be given the normal committee structure and it will have to work through it, and get an up or down vote. But what I can promise you is that where my focus is, and where Dean’s and Rick’s is, is on the economy. Folks who have all kinds of social issues, can work through the process. If you can get it through the process, you’ll get an up or down vote…I want us to make fact-based decisions.”
On supporting Rick Scott, after backing his defeated primary opponent
“I’ve known Bill McCollum for over 10 years, and when he chose to run for governor, I supported him….But when I get behind someone…I go whole hog for them. I think that’s why I became Senate president….When the voters spoke on Election Day, that’s where the voters are, and I supported the nominee….We all share the same philosophy he espoused on the campaign trail And now we all have the opportunity to lead.”
On outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist
“I’m not going to get into Charlie Crist. I’d be happy to talk about the elections and a good night for our team. Charlie Crist has been our governor, he’ll no longer be our governor in a couple of months. It’s not that interesting to me.”
By John Kennedy
The News Service Florida
Police Officer Shoots Man During Murder Investigation
November 6, 2010
A Pensacola Police officer is on paid administrative leave after he was involved in a shooting incident early Saturday morning.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the murder at 100 East Texar Street, near the School District’s Hall Center, about 3:15 Saturday morning.
According to witnesses who were on Texar Drive at the time of the incident, the victim was traveling on Texar when someone in dark colored vehicle fired several shots into the victim’s Buick Lacrosse. The victim, identified as Joel R. Harris, 20, of Pensacola, crashed into a concrete support on a pedestrian overpass. Harris was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Officer Justin Roedel was in the area of Davis Street and Texar Drive around 3:30 a.m. assisting the Sheriff’s Office for suspects involved in the homicide when he tried to contact occupants of a maroon Chevrolet truck in a parking lot at Davis and Baars streets, one of the occupants fled on foot. Roedel chased the male through a grass lot between Leonard and Baars streets to Sixth Avenue where the suspect ran behind a large oak tree.
Rodel pursued the suspect around the tree and when he reached him, the suspect was pointing a handgun at him. Rodel fired several rounds and struck the suspect, who was taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to a news release from Pensacola Police,
The suspect was later identified as Anthony Michael Smith, 22, of 1725 Dauphine St., Pensacola. He was listed in critical condition Saturday afternoon.
Soon after Smith arrived at the hospital, two bags of marijuana fell out of one of his pants pockets while he was undergoing treatment. Smith will be charged with aggravated assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer and additional charges are pending, according to PPD.
As Roedel chased Smith, the other occupants in the truck fled the scene with the vehicle and have not yet been identified.
Roedel, 26, has been employed by the Pensacola Police Department since December 2008. He was not injured in the shooting.
In addition to an internal department review of the incident, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement also is conducting an investigation. No additional information will be released by Pensacola Police until the FDLE investigation concludes.
The Sheriff’s Office, in a written statement, said the Pensacola Police shooting was not believed to be related to the homicide on Texar Drive.
Early Morning Mobile Home Fire Leaves 3 Homeless
November 6, 2010
An adult and two children were left homeless after an early morning fire in Walnut Hill.
They were able to escape the blaze on North Cypress Street without injury about 2:20 a.m. Saturday. The first firefighters on scene reported a working fire in the kitchen of the single-wide mobile home. They were able to quickly knock down the flames; however, it took until 3:12 a.m. before the smoldering fire was declared out. The home sustained smoke damage throughout.
The American Red Cross was called to the scene to assist the family.
The Walnut Hill, McDavid, Molino and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, the Atmore Fire Department and Atmore Ambulance were dispatched to the fire.
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Pictured above and below: Fire damaged this mobile home early Saturday morning on North Cypress Street in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Beats Vernon, Earns Playoff Berth
November 6, 2010
With a powerful 47-19 win over Vernon, the Northview Chiefs earned a playoff berth Friday night.
The Chiefs (8-1, 7-1), as runner ups in District 1-A, will travel during the first round of the playoffs to face Blountstown (8-1, 5-0) on November 19. Freeport (7-2, 7-1) took the district championship despite a 21-6 loss Friday night to Holmes County (5-4, 4-4).
For a photo gallery from the game, click here.
It’s a great feeling,” Northview Head Coach Sid Wheatley said after the win Friday night in Bratt. “They seized the moment.”
“It was like a playoff game where the winner goes on and the loser goes home. It was huge. It meant a lot to this kids, and I am proud of the win,” he said.
Sophomore Roderick Woods had four touchdowns for the Chiefs Friday night, rushed 107 yards on 16 carries and completed two passes for 29 yards. The Chiefs racked up a total of 327 yards on 49 carries, and had 99 yards in the air from quarterback Brandon Sheets who completed 4 of 12 passes.
After a scoreless first quarter, Woods’ first TD came with 11:54 on the clock in the second on a one yard run. A good kick from Lance Bushaw, and the Chiefs were up 7-0.
La’Mikal Kyles added an 11-yard touchdown run with 5:51 to go in the half. Another good Bushaw kick, and the Chiefs expanded their lead to 14-0.
With 2:47 remaining in the half, the Yellow Jackets had a 21-yard touchdown pass and a good point after to narrow the score to 14-7 headed to the lockers.
Ahead by just seven at the half, Wheatley said he told the Chiefs in the locker room that they had to focus on the win, not the fact that the were up on the scoreboard.
“I told them we had to treat it like it was zero to zero,” he said. “We knew everything hinged on this ballgame. It was cut and dry.
In the third quarter, the Chiefs scored on a 28-yard quarterback keeper from junior Brandon Sheets and a two yard run from Woods. The Yellow Jackets also scored in the third, with a 73-yard kick off return. Headed into the fourth, it was 27-13 Chiefs.
Northview scored three consecutive touchdowns — a 13-yard pass to Woods from Sheets, a 12-yard run from Montaio Mitchell and a 24-yard run from Woods. Vernon, trailing 47-13, scored the final TD of the game with 4:06 to go on a 24-yard pass. Vernon’s two point conversion failed with stop by senior Tyler Brooks.
Northview will host West Florida High School next Friday night at 7:00 in a non-district game.
For a photo gallery from the game, click here.
Pictured top: Roderick Woods (#25) had four touchdowns Friday night at the Northview Chiefs beat Vernon. Pictured bottom: La’Mikal Kyles (#17) gains yardage for the Chiefs. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blood Drive For Deputy, Annual Walnut Hill VFD Catfish Fry Today
November 6, 2010
A blood drive will be held Saturday in honor of wounded Deputy Jeremy Cassady, who was shot a week ago during a home invasion hostage situation in Pensacola.
The Northwest Florida Blood Services blood drive will take place from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. during the annual Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department Fish Fry at the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97.
Cassady, who remains in critical condition at Sacred Heart Hospital, has used well over 200 units of blood since Friday.
Catfish and chicken plates will be sold during the event. Each $7 plate will include catfish fillets or grilled chicken, hush puppies, baked beans, cole slaw, homemade bread and dessert. There will also be door prizes, with the drawing at 1 p.m. Baked goods will also be for sale.
All proceeds from the catfish fry benefit the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department.
Friday Night Football
November 6, 2010
Here are Friday night finals from across the North Escambia area:
Florida
Northview 47 Vernon 19 [Read more...]
Navarre 41 Tate 6 [Read more...]
Baker 50 Jay 14 [Read more...]
Holmes County 21 Freeport 6
P.C. Rutherford 25 West Florida 21
Pine Forest 35 Escambia 8
P.C. Arnold 42 Washington 14
Choctaw 28 Gulf Breeze 26
Catholic 14 Chipley 7
Pace 35 Milton 14
Alabama Playoffs, Round One
Escambia County (Atmore) 19 Andalusia 6 [Read more...]
T.R. Miller 41 Daleville 24
A Look Back At Election Week In Florida: Republican Romp
November 6, 2010
A red tide swept over Florida and most of the nation this week as Republicans romped in an Election Day repudiation of Washington that trickled down to Tallahassee, leaving Democrats singing the blues.
The GOP kept a U.S. Senate seat by beating an incumbent governor who had appeared untouchable a year ago, elected a governor, easily won all three seats on the Cabinet, knocked off four Democratic incumbents in Florida’s congressional delegation, picked up five seats in the state House and two in the state Senate.
Scott By A Hair
The only bad news for Republicans on Tuesday was that they had to wait until Wednesday to find out they’d run the table.
The race for governor was the closest in modern Florida history, with Democrat Alex Sink getting a boost from voters’ discomfort with Scott. Polls showed that while they were going to vote for a lot of Republicans, Florida voters had reservations about the thin, bald guy who barged into their living rooms every three minutes this summer proposing that we get to work. Scott’s past connection to a health care company that paid $1.7 billion in fines for bilking the government gave voters enough concern that he barely was able to beat Sink despite spending nearly as much to get himself elected.
OK, not really, he only spent $73 million, which amounts to just $28.01 for every vote that he got, a bargain really, but enough to make it the most expensive governor’s race in the state’s history too.
Scott comes in as something of a mystery, having never held political office, and taken the approach that the only good news coverage was no news coverage. He did a couple of debates – with the most memorable moment of either of them being when he busted Sink for getting some coaching by text message from the sidelines.
Like a kid complaining to the teacher that the girl in the next desk is copying, Scott came off as a bit petty in making Sink Cheats the theme of the last couple weeks of his campaign, but it was a fitting end to a negative campaign in a particularly negative year.
In the end, Scott got just enough votes and so now must get to work.
Rubio Gets It Right, Charlie Crist Exits Stage Left
Marco Rubio’s win in the U.S. Senate race was called before voters at some Panhandle polling places even got back to their cars. About 41 seconds after the polls closed, networks were declaring Rubio the winner and, just like that, Charlie Crist, rising political star who was on a vice presidential short list two years ago, has plenty of January free time.
Rubio heads into the Senate as a standard-bearer of the fiscal far right and the tea party movement, though because some of his compatriots didn’t win (the Not a Witch Lady, for example), Rubio still goes in as a member of the minority party. While it may seem that would make him less of a star because he won’t be in power, it likely could increase his visibility because he’ll immediately become an articulate and telegenic Sunday show counterpoint to the Obama administration.
Crist’s gambit, to leave the Republican Party and run as an independent when he figured out that he couldn’t legitimately out conservative Rubio, and to seek middle-of-the-road and Democratic voters didn’t pay off, in part because the actual Democrat in the race, Rep. Kendrick Meek declined to drop out. Meek’s quixotic effort to convince voters that Crist was a Republican in new Democrat clothing also didn’t pay off, as he and Crist split the moderate and liberal vote.
The election ends, though likely only temporarily, Crist’s remarkable political rise. It was remarkable not as much for how far he went, but for the manner in which he did it, shape-shifting politically through the years, changing his outlook on various issues dramatically as he sought – and often found – the cresting political wave just in time to give it a ride. Excoriated by true believers as a flip flopper, Crist in the last couple of years had a refreshing embrace of his back-and-forth world view. “Things change,” Crist said a few times when asked how he could change his position so much.
In many ways, Crist’s willingness to flip flop, or to respond to the whims of “The People,” that he so often reminded critics he served, undercut his ability to do the other thing he truly wanted to do – to walk both sides of the political aisle as a raging moderate, willing to listen to people on either side when the idea was good. It made for a couple of great commercials this year – Crist spelling out the word American in red and blue letters, and Crist walking on a beach straddling the line in the sand drawn by the two parties. But ironically, despite his past ability to read political tea leaves, it was the wrong year to take a moderate stance. The conservative wave crashed over Crist’s head and spit him up on the beach. Also caught in that wave was Meek, who got kicked by the struggling Crist and drowned.
Will The Last Senate Democrat Take Down The Lawton Chiles Painting
Seeing Democrats lose five seats in the state House isn’t really that surprising in such a big Republican year – after all in the first big Democratic year of 2006 (when Democrats took control of Congress) they had gained seven, so this in a way just reverses most of those gains.
And to lose two seats in the 40-member Senate doesn’t really seem like that big of a deal either, except when you consider that the Democrats in the Senate are getting dangerously close to single digits. The old joke about holding caucus meetings in a phone booth wasn’t ever really very funny, but it’s even less so when it’s actually a possibility.
Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos stated the obvious on Friday when he said that the Senate is moving to the right and will be the most conservative “in your history.”
Other Electoral Passings OF Note
Members of Florida’s congressional delegation who said involuntary good byes this week – all Democrats – were Rep. Allen Boyd, beaten by Steve Southerland; Rep. Alan Grayson, beaten by Daniel Webster; Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, beaten by Sandy Adams and Rep. Ron Klein, beaten by Allen West. The Republican wave also carried to victory two other Republicans who held on to open GOP-held seats that the Democrats had targeted: Dennis Ross, who will replace new Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and David Rivera who takes the seat vacated by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.
Perhaps the most far reaching result of this year’s Florida election may be the passing of Amendments 5 and 6, which is supposed prevent Republicans from protecting their seats for themselves when they do redistricting in 2012.
If it actually does, Democrats may be able to take back some of those seats in the Legislature before they’re all gone.
Erasing More Of The Crist Years
As if sending Crist into political oblivion wasn’t enough, Republicans did a bit of piling on this week, calling a special session for later this month to override some of Crist’s vetoes from earlier this year. The GOP has super majorities in both chambers now and can override to its full content, but Haridopolos and incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon said they’ll exercise some restraint and not revisit the most controversial bills the governor vetoed, like hotly contested teacher merit pay legislation.
Story Of The Week
Republicans sweep into office, bringing their least impressive performer, Gov.-elect Rick Scott along with them.
Quotes Of The Week
“Let’s get to work….. Today is the end of politics as usual in Tallahassee.” Rick Scott.
“We lost because of forces beyond our control,” Alex Sink.
By David Royse
The News Service Florida
Fall Back: Time Changes Tonight
November 6, 2010
Tonight is time to “fall back” as Daylight Savings Time comes to an end. And, don’t forget to change the batteries in your fire alarm.
To save lives and prevent needless injuries in Escambia County, Escambia County Fire Rescue and the City of Pensacola Fire Department have joined forces with the Energizer Battery Company and the International Association of Fire Chiefs for the 22nd year of the Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery campaign. The program urges everyone to adopt a simple, lifesaving habit — change smoke alarm batteries when changing clocks back to standard time each fall.
“The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most families are sleeping,” says Jim Sanders, Escambia County Interim Fire Chief. “Smoke alarm maintenance is a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths. Children and seniors are most at risk. A working smoke alarm gives them the extra seconds they need to get out safely.”
Additionally, Pensacola Fire Chief Russell Beaty recommends residents use the “extra” hour they save from the time change to test smoke alarms by pushing the test button, planning “two ways out” and practicing escape routes with the entire family. Families should also prepare a fire safety kit that includes working flashlights and fresh batteries.
For more information about fire safety, call Escambia County Fire Rescue at(850) 475-5530 or visit the county’s web site at www.myescambia.com
For information about obtaining a free home smoke alarm call (850) 595-HERO (4376).