Gulf And Alabama Power Companies Report Increased Quarterly Earnings
November 4, 2010
Southern Company — the parent company of Gulf Power and Alabama Power – reported increased third quarter profits due to a hot summer.
The Atlanta-based company reported third quarter earnings of $817.2 million, or 98 cents a share, compared with $790.0 million, or 99 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Southern Company’s earnings were $1.82 billion, or $2.20 a share, compared with $1.39 billion, or $1.77 a share, for the same period a year ago.
Revenues for the third quarter were $5.32 billion, compared with $4.68 billion for the same period a year ago, a 13.6 percent increase. For the first nine months of the year, revenues totaled $13.68 billion, compared with $12.23 billion for the same period a year ago, an increase of 11.9 percent.
Warmer-than-normal weather for the period and a stronger-than-expected recovery in the industrial sector positively influenced third quarter earnings, as evidenced by increases in electricity usage and sales. Industrial sales benefited from an increase in exports, with those sales performing at 94 percent of pre-recession levels during the third quarter of 2010.
“While our residential and commercial customers continue to face challenges, the growing strength of our industrial base confirms the Southeast as one of the strongest economies in the U.S.,” said Southern Company Chief Executive Officer David M. Ratcliffe. “As the region begins to make slow strides toward recovery, we will continue our emphasis on exceptional service, industry-leading reliability and prices below the national average.”
Fla. Governor-Elect Rick Scott: Let’s Get To Work
November 4, 2010
The Republican outsider largely unknown a year ago overcame a past tied to a massive health care fraud case with personal wealth that allowed him to run the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in state history, and on Wednesday won with the help of a national conservative tide.
Scott, whose catchy signature phrase of “Let’s Get to Work,” ran ubiquitously on television thanks to the $73 million he spent, convinced just a tiny bit over half those who voted that he has the best plan for putting the state back to work as unemployment continues to hamper Florida’s recovery.
But he had to wait a day to claim victory over Democrat Alex Sink as votes trickled in overnight with the candidates nearly deadlocked. It finished as the closest governor’s race in state history after Sink conceded early Wednesday, saying the voters weren’t going to be there.
In a 10-minute victory speech, Scott was relatively conciliatory toward Democratic supporters of the vanquished Sink, who he had lashed to President Obama throughout the campaign.
He also indirectly acknowledged that his razor-thin win – on a night when most other Republicans breezed to victory – was far from a clear mandate.
“To everyone watching who voted for my opponent, I know I have some work to do to earn your support,” Scott said at the Fort Lauderdale waterside hotel where he’d encamped since Election Night.
But he assured, “Starting today, I work for every Floridian. And today is the end of politics as usual in Tallahassee.”
Winning his first bid for elected office, Scott, 57, will likely get little time to begin making good on his promises to create jobs, freeze state regulations, lower property-taxes and launch another round of lawsuit-limiting civil justice changes.
In a state with unemployment near 12 percent and the state’s foreclosure rate among the nation’s highest, Republicans say they know they have to embrace Scott’s “let’s get to work” campaign theme.
Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, said Tuesday’s elections made it plain that Floridians want changes – fast.
“People have given us the keys to the car,” Richter said. “They want it put in drive. If we leave it in park, they’re going to come back and say, `give us the keys back.’”
Scott also tried to reach out to those voters Wednesday.
“As I’ve traveled this state, I’ve talked to so many people who have lost their jobs, who have lost their homes, and many who’ve just lost all hope,” Scott said. “Some are beginning to wonder if anyone in Tallahassee can turn things around.
“To them, and to thousands of Floridians who are hurting, I say, `Don’t give up.’ I give you my word, better days are coming,” Scott said.
Voter turnout statewide on Tuesday was 48 percent, about the same as the last governor’s race in 2006.
Of the 5.2 million votes cast,, Scott got 49 percent, and Sink 48 percent.
The keys to Scott’s victory on Election Day were in lower than usual voter turnout in traditionally Demcoratic Broward County – where Sink won by a nearly 2-1 margin but didn’t get enough overall votes there – and in Sink’s home county of Hillsborough, which she barely won.
Sink got just 50.07 percent of the vote in Hillsborough County, to 46.7 percent for Scott, whose hometown is relatively remote Naples, a small Republican enclave in southwest Florida.
Democrats said they just couldn’t excite voters in a year in which national pundits have been saying for months that conservatives would sweep the November elections. The ebbing popularity of President Obama didn’t help either.
Scott’s showing in her hometown and low turnout in Broward cancelled out the fact that Sink won easily in populous Miami-Dade County, 56 percent to 42 percent. The county’s heavy Hispanic population generally is reliably Republican, but Scott may have had trouble with Hispanic voters because of his strong rhetoric on immigation enforcement. Sink also won Osceola County, which has a large Hispanic population and easily won Orange County, which includes Orlando, and has a large Puerto Rican population.
Voters also apparently weren’t overly concerned about Scott’s past – which was a major theme of the Sink campaign. Scott was the CEO of hospital chain Columbia/HCA, which paid $1.7 billion in fraud fines and settlements three years after he left. Another company in which he is an investor, Solantic, has also been under investigation.
Scott is expected to return to his Naples home Wednesday night, but by Thursday plans to be back in Fort Lauderdale, where he is setting up his transition office. Advisors say he plans to reach out to private sector executives and government leaders in other states to fill the dozens of agency and administration posts he’ll be filling in the weeks leading to his January inauguration.
Some members of his campaign staff expected to join state government. Jen Baker, who led his communications team until departing for maternity leave around the time Scott won the Republican primary, is likely to serve a similar role with the new administration.
Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City, acknowledged that he’s interested in working in the new administration – possibly in a role with the state’s Transportation Department, although he said he’s had no such discussions with Scott.
“I think a lot of us share the same thinking when it comes to improving state government,” Glorioso said.
The $73 million that Scott spent to blanket the airwaves in an effort to bypass traditional news media and appeal directly to voters was too much to overcome, Sink acknowledged Wednesday.
“We lost because of forces beyond our control,” Sink said. “Between the money and the mood of the country, those were the two forces beyond our control.”
Scott made light for the first time of the massive amount of money he spent on the race on Wednesday when he introduced daughters Allison and Jordan to the crowd watching his victory speech.
“They might have lost a little bit of their inheritance,” Scott said, drawing the speech’s biggest laugh and applause.
By John Kennedy and David Royse
The News Service Florida
Pictured top: Rick Scott addresses supporters last Friday in Molino. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Century Police Department Cruiser Back On The Road
November 4, 2010
A Century Police Department cruiser is back on the road, thanks to the handiwork of a North Escambia man.
Jason Stein of Cantonment purchased the inoperable 1991 Ford LTD cruiser for $300 from the Town of Century, and he has restored it to be a near-replica of the original, complete with a Century Police door decal and the original blue flashing lights.
When the Century Police Department was disbanded in the early 1990’s, the car and law enforcement duties were turned over to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office repainted the car and used it until about 1994, Stein said, before giving it back to the town where it was used as an administrative vehicle. By the time Stein purchased the car in 2008, it had been sitting for four or five years.
“I am very pleased with the results so far, but it’s not complete,” he said. “I have really enjoyed working on it.”
The number “26″ on the car is the original Century Police Department fleet number, and the door shield logo is as correct as possible he said. The blue lights are original and restored.
The blue light bar is removable, he said, while the police department markings on the car are removable magnetic signs to keep the car street legal.
Stein, who is a law enforcement dispatcher at Pensacola NAS, recently displayed the car in the Chicagoland Emergency Vehicle Show, and it will be on display this Saturday at a car show at the Marcus Pointe Baptist Church in Pensacola. In addition, Stein is a member of Panhandle Cruisers and participates in their car show most Saturday nights from 7 until 9 at the Burger King at Nine Mile and Chemstrand roads.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Byrneville Elementary Release First Nine Weeks Honor Roll
November 4, 2010
The following students were named to the first nine weeks honor roll at Byrneville Elementary School:
First Grade: Mrs. Rogers
A’s:
Tessa Flowers
A’s and B’s:
Cody Adams
Hunter Borelli
Nevaeh Brown
Kaleb Ellis
Dalton Hanks
Alyssa Jordan
Julianna Moore
First Grade: Mrs. Thornton
A’s:
Shelby Cotita
Taylor Levins
Dillon Spears
A’s and B’s:
Grace Blackmon
Bama Coburn
Kaitlyn Gafford
Lillie McCall
Torka Mills
Second Grade: Mrs. Lambeth
A’s:
Luke Watson
A’s and B’s:
Logan Bryan
Sophia Cotita
Maggie Mae Cufr
Maille Kilcrease
Tyler Merchant
Ty Rolin
David Wiggins
Third Grade: Mrs. Dunsford
A’s and B’s:
Skyler Busbee
Hannah Merchant
Waylon Milstead
Lea Nall
Cloe Smith
Third Grade: Mrs. Weaver
A’s:
Alex Glidewell
Nicholas Trump
A’s and B’s:
Madicyn Bell
Jacob Coleman
Valorie Padilla
Savannah Steadham
Olivia Watson
Fourth Grade: Mrs. Gilmore
A’s:
Kris Baxter
Seth Killam
Tanner Levins
Destiny Payne
A’s and B’s
Austin Adams
Olivia Porter
Faith Watters
4th grade: Ms. Levins
A’s
Courtney Payne
A’s and B’s
Jacob Borelli
Matthew Caine
Rebecca Diamond
Colby Graham
Paige Killam
Sarah Nelson
5th grade: Mrs. Johnston
A’s
Anna Belle Barberree
Kayla Galvan
Abby Hammond
Shellie Harrelson
Beau Henderson
Bailee Hinote
Alaina Rolin
Jayda Warner
A’s and B’s
Jenna Black
Cole Hassebrock
Tori Lee
Jessica Muse
Patience Newsome
Meagan Reid
Destiny Watson
Ernest Ward Middle Names Students Of The Month
November 4, 2010
Students of the month for September and October have been named at Ernest Ward Middle School.
September students of the month are (pictured above, L-R) Hunter Cofield, Ben Linam, and Trevor Levins. October students of the month are (below, L-R) Kayleigh Linam, Penny Banda, and Liberty Peebles.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Complete Election Results From Florida And Alabama
November 3, 2010
NorthEscambia.com is your source for complete local and state election coverage.
We have complete post-election coverage from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida, Escambia County in Alabama, as well as the big state issues and races in Florida and Alabama.
For results and analysis, click a link below.
- Florida
- Complete Escambia Florida Results; Commisison, ECUA Incumbents Re-elected
- Evers Takes Senate District 2, Defeats Tea Party Candidate
- Broxson Easily Wins House District 1 Race
- Alex Sink Concedes Florida Governor’s Race To Rick Scott
- Hayward Pensacola Mayor, Council Results
- Amendment 8 Fails; Class Size Rules Stand
- Bob Cole Returned To Santa Rosa Commission
- Rubio Rides Republican Wave, Puts Crist Out Of Work
- Charlie Crist Sees Career Halted On GOP’s Night
- Republicans Pick Up Seats In Fla. House, Senate
- Amendments 5 And 6 Poised To Pass
- Putnam Wins Ag Commissioner
- Pam Bondi Wins AG Spot
- Atwater Elected Florida CFO
- Land-Use Amendment 4 Rejected
Alabama
- Complete Results: Escambia County Alabama
- Escambia (Ala.) Sheriff: Smith Defeats Jackson
- Robert Bentley Defeats Ron Sparks For Ala. Gov.
Rick Scott Elected Governor
November 3, 2010
Democrat Alex Sink has conceded the Florida governor’s race to Republican Rick Scott.
“Unfortunately we just fell less than 100,000 votes of victory,” Sink said during a morning news conference in Tampa. “The fact that we came so incredibly close is really a remarkable statement that so many people believed in me.”
“”He will need to work very hard to bring our state together,” a teary-eyed Sink said. “There are 2.5 million Floridians who did not vote for him, and his highest priority needs to be to bring the people of the state of Florida together.”
She blamed Scott’s record-setting spending for her loss. Scott poured about $73 million of his own money into the race, more than any other politician in Florida history.
The unofficial tally has Scott ahead of Scott by 68,277 votes. The unofficial results this morning as Sink conceded were
Rick Scott 2,588,415 (48.94%)
Alex Sink 2,520,138 (47.65%)
The difference was outside the one percent threshold that would automatically trigger a recount. Over three percent of the total vote went to no or minor part candidates.
Palm Beach County election officials finished tallying up ballots shortly after 4 a.m. Democratic candidate Alex Sink tallied 216,438 votes in the Democratic stronghold compared to 146,786 votes recorded for Republican challenger Rick Scott.
Late additions to the troubled Palm Beach numbers added about 12,690 votes to Sink’s earlier tally but she remained about 60,000 votes behind Scott, more than double the number, about 26,500, that would trigger a recount. Palm Beach again became the focus of election night drama when returns were delayed with little explanation for Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.
Pictured above: Now Florida’s governor-elect, Republican Rick Scott campaigns at Fran’s Country Grill in Molino last Friday. Pictured inset: Scott greets supporters at Fran’s. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Amendment 8 Fails; Class Size Rules Stand
November 3, 2010
Florida voters Tuesday narrowly struck down a lawmaker orchestrated attempt to alter the laws dictating how many kids can sit in a Florida classroom.
Amendment 8, a proposal that would have tweaked the existing class size law to eliminate the hard classroom size caps set in place by voters in 2002, garnered 54.6 percent of the vote, short of the required 60 percent for proposed constitutional amendments to be enacted.
The vote means that caps on school classroom sizes that voters put in the Constitution eight years earlier will stay in place. The 2002 Constitutional amendment caps classes at 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 in fourth through eighth grade, and 25 in high school. The limits have been phased in since the amendment was passed. The hard numerical caps went into effect this year.
But shrinking class sizes is pricey — it requires putting more teachers in the classrooms. And lawmakers have struggled to give schools the amount of money needed for them to adequately meet the caps.
Districts began clamoring for flexibility to meet the caps when the economy spiraled downward and lawmakers couldn’t budget the necessary dollars to keep pace. The cost has been a major concern since before the original amendment was even passed. Its highest profile opponent back in 2002 was then- Gov. Jeb Bush, who said the cost of it would “blot out the sun.”
The proposed amendment would have allowed schools to calculate the class size at a grade wide average, rather than at the individual classroom level.
The state teachers’ union has staunchly defended the original class size provision, arguing that the softening of the law is merely the Legislature backing out of a promise to fund the schools to meet the hard caps. The group challenged the proposed amendment in court, but the Supreme Court ultimately ruled to keep it on the ballot.
The group has argued that there was no need to amend the Constitution and that flexibility could be achieved via statutory changes.
By Kathleen Haugney
The News Service Florida
Update: Florida Gov’s Race Still In Doubt
November 3, 2010
Despite an unprecedented wave of Republican victories across Florida and the nation, the state’s governor’s race fell into the too-close-to-call category by sunrise Wednesday.
The current tally is not enough to close the gap between the two. Statewide totals with the Division of Elections show Scott with more than a 1 percentage point lead over Sink, a margin of victory that would not trigger a machine recount.
“We look forward to finishing the count, we know we will win and look forward to putting our state back to work,” Scott said. “Nothing in my life has honored me as much as the willingness of Florida voters to put their faith in my plan for Florida.”
Palm Beach County election officials finished tallying up ballots shortly after 4 a.m. Democratic candidate Alex Sink tallied 216,438 votes in the Democratic stronghold compared to 146,786 votes recorded for Republican challenger Rick Scott.
Late additions to the troubled Palm Beach numbers added about 12,690 votes to Sink’s earlier tally but she remained about 60,000 votes behind Scott, more than double the number, about 26,500, that would trigger a recount. Palm Beach again became the focus of election night drama when returns were delayed with little explanation for Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.
“This is turning out, as we suspected, to be a nailbiter, a classic Florida election,” Sink said. “We’re coming down to the wire in what looks to be a dead even race.
Scott, who was sequestered with his family on an upper floor of a Fort Lauderdale waterside hotel, made no public statements. But a crowd of several hundred listened to live music, enjoyed an open bar and steamships of beef as they awaited what most expected to be Scott joining U.S. Sen.-elect Marco Rubio and three Republican Cabinet victors in the winner’s circle.
Scott spent more than $70 million of his own money on the race, only to see it go to Election Day as a toss-up.
With a pick-up of two state Senate seats and five Democratic House incumbents appearing headed toward defeat, Republicans also looked like they’d secured veto-proof, two-thirds majorities in both legislative chambers.
But the governor’s race remained perhaps the night’s biggest prize – still in doubt.
Dave Beattie, a Sink advisor, said of the remaining votes, “the biggest chunks are in Democratic places, and the more outstanding there is, the better there is.”
Heading into the election, polls showed the race tied, and Tuesday’s balloting seemed to only affirm the deadlock. Sink won by a wide margin in Democratic-rich Broward County, was carrying Miami-Dade County with most of the vote in, and narrowly won her home Hillsborough County, where she had campaigned hard for a potentially larger margin.
Scott ran strong across the Panhandle, the Jacksonville area and across most of Central Florida, although Sink carried Orange County by a wide margin.
Rubio Rides Republican Wave, Puts Crist Out Of Work
November 3, 2010
Republican Marco Rubio rode a rising national GOP tsunami to an easy trip to the U.S. Senate Tuesday, getting help from a divided Democratic electorate split by Charlie Crist’s independent bid.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a former speaker of the state House, was one of several conservatives swept into office Tuesday as an angry electorate protested the policies of President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress. While Republicans were poised to take control of the U.S. House, it wasn’t clear yet whether they’d take the Senate. The Florida seat that Rubio was taking had already been in GOP hands.
Rubio, 39, ran as a fiscal conservative who will fight against Obama’s policies, and was a Tea Party favorite. He was so popular with conservative Republicans that Crist, an extremely popular governor, quit the GOP primary when it became apparent he would lose to Rubio.
While running as an independent, Crist clearly staked out Democratic positions, posing himself as an alternative to Rubio with a legitimate chance to win, unlike, he said, Meek.
Meek, who left a safe U.S. House seat for the run, was in third place in most polls for much of the race – and it got worse for him as time went on, as Crist began telling Democrats they should go with him if they wanted to keep Rubio out of Congress.
The race got heated, but both Crist and Meek offered gracious concessions early in the evening Tuesday, Rubio said.
And as he did during the campaign, Rubio said he wanted to return the GOP to promises it has made but not kept, to control spending and lower taxes.
“We make a grave mistake if we believe these results are an embrace of the Republican Party,” Rubio said at a victory party in Coral Gables. “What they are is a second chance.”
The seat is being vacated by caretaker U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to fill a vacancy – but supported Rubio in the race. The seat became vacant when former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez quit early.
Several Republicans praised Rubio with backhanded final slaps at Crist, who Republicans derided as willing to compromise principle to get elected.
“Through it all Marco never compromised his beliefs for momentary fame, he never traded his take on the issues for votes from interest groups, and as a result voters are sending a United States senator to Washington who they can trust to stand up for Florida regardless of the circumstance,” said incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon.
Meek lamented the role Crist played in the race, saying that his willingness to float between the two parties was not a virtue, as Crist had argued, but a vice.
“The lifelong bedrock that makes our party great and this nation flourish is rooted in principles of equality and social justice, of protecting our environment and defending a woman’s right to choose,” Meek said in a short concession speech. “These are not sometime Democratic values, but all-the-time Democratic values. On our essential beliefs, we can never compromise because too many people in the generations preceding us have toiled and struggled for the liberties we now enjoy and the way of life we deserve.”
Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, mourned the third-place finish by his friend Meek, with whom he had a sit-in in former Gov. Jeb Bush’s office with when the pair opposed Bush’s “One Florida” anti-affirmative action hiring proposal.
But not only did Meek and Crist split the vote – both ran into a buzzsaw in Rubio on a night when conservatives around the country were enthusiastic to send a message to Washington. And Rubio was a formidable messenger, Hill said.
“We were hoping the numbers would’ve been a little closer, but you have to remember the guy (Rubio) ran a sitting governor out of his own party,” said Hill.
By David Royse
The News Service Florida