Candlelight Prayer Vigil Held For Deputy; Benefit Fund Established
November 1, 2010
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office held a Candlelight Prayer Vigil Tuesday for Deputy Jeremy Cassady at Seville Square Park in Pensacola.
Cassady was shot in the line of duty Friday while responding to a home invasion in the 8000 block of Baywind Circle in Pensacola. Cassady is a four-year veteran of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
There has also been a benefit fund established to assist the Cassady Family during this difficult time. The “Benefit Account for Jeremy Cassady” is available through Gulf Coast Community Bank, and individuals interested in donating to the Cassady family can visit any of the Gulf Coast Community Bank locations in the area, including:
Nine Mile Branch — 1554 W. Nine Mile Road
Downtown — 40 N. Palafox Street
Cordova Branch — 1177 College Boulevard
Gulf Breeze Branch — 2871 Gulf Breeze Parkway
Pace Branch — 4885 Highway 90
Man Wanted For Texas Body In A Barrel Found Hanged In Escambia County
November 1, 2010
The convicted killer that federal authorities believed was in Escambia County was found hanged in a Pensacola motel room.
The Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office says Dennis Ray Anderson, 64, was found dead in the motel room on Friday. He was wanted for obstruction of an investigation by tampering with evidence of a human corpse and was a suspect in a woman’s murder in Texas.
The U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force and Texas authorities believed Anderson fled the Lake Charles, Louisiana area October 24 on a Greyhound bus and was headed to Pensacola due to arrive around 5:30 a.m. last Tuesday morning. Police and Marshals in Houston began their search for Anderson after a Crime Stoppers tip led authorities to find a woman’s body in a barrel at his Houston-area home last Thursday.
Anderson had been sentenced to life in prison for the 1972 slayings of a woman and her 3-year-old granddaughter during an antique shop robbery. In 1973, he was also convicted in Hardin County, Texas of arson, for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a theft, for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Anderson was paroled in 1989 and ordered to remain on parole supervision for life. In February of 2010 Anderson was charged in Harris County with robbery causing bodily injury after he was accused of choking a woman and threatening to kill her.
Mattie Elizabeth Armstrong
November 1, 2010
Mrs. Mattie Elizabeth Armstrong, 79, passed away on Saturday, October 30, 2010, at a Santa Rosa County hospital.
Mrs. Armstrong was a native of Lockhart, AL, a resident of Byrneville, FL, since 1949, a member of Beulah Chapel Assembly of God Church and was very devoted to her family.
Survivors include her husband of 61 years, Herman Armstrong of Byrneville; a son, Lawrence William “Dick” and Gail Armstrong of Mexia, AL; a daughter, Betty Ann and Louis Tharp of Byrneville; two grandchildren, Brandon Armstrong of Monroeville, AL and Kristi Johnson of Mexia, AL; and her dog Rowdy.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, November 2, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. Shelton Kindig and the Rev. Ronald Broadhead officiating. Burial will follow at Byrneville Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Monday, November 1, 2010, between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Gary Bailey, John White, Levon Little, Johnny Tharp, Jonathan Tharp and Brandon Armstrong.
Work Continues On New Molino Library, Community Center And Museum
November 1, 2010
Work is continuing toward the renovation of the old Molino School into a community center, library and museum.
The architects, DAG, have completed the programming and schematic design phases. Escambia County Facilities Management is reviewing the 50 percent construction documents.
The drawings show one section of the main building converted into a library with both a children’s and adult area, computers and thousands of linear feet of book shelving. The old auditorium will remain a community auditorium with available seating for 242 people. The rest of the building will include a museum, classrooms and meeting rooms.
In May, 2009, commissioners approved the $400,000 purchase of the building from the Escambia County School District. Commissioners have since approved a budget of $2,089,156 from Local Option Sales Tax monies for the renovation project. DAG Architects is being paid $214,580 to design the renovations.
The school campus includes 9.66 acres and four buildings — the largest of which is 16,630 square feet.
First opened in 1939, the Molino School closed in 2003 when the new Molino Park Elementary School consolidated Molino Elementary and Barrineau Park Elementary.
Friday Was 4th Time Deputies Have Been Fired On In One Month
November 1, 2010
The shooting of three Escambia County deputies on Friday was one of several incidents in the past few weeks in which deputies have been shot at, including one in North Escambia last week.
September 29 – Suspect Michael Lee, 21, was shot and killed by deputies at the Motel 6 on Pensacola Boulevard after he opened fire at deputies Jason Ates and Jennifer Lovley Gandy. Ates was hit in the upper thigh.
October 13 — Deputy Stephen Schaff took cover and did not return fire when a woman shot at him from her house on Walters Court. She told the deputy that she would “blow his brains out”. The woman, Alucia Dykes, 62, surrendered.
October 27 — Deputy Bobby Cook was shot at after a domestic violence suspect fled into a wooded area on York Road near Northview High School. Cook was not injured and did not return fire. Marvin Anthony Haynie, 46, was taken into custody on domestic violence charges on October 28 on the Poarch Creek Indian reservation north of Atmore. He has not been charged in connection with the shooting incident.
October 29 — Deputies Jeremy Cassady (pictured), Chad Brown and Sam Parker were shot during a home invasion and hostage situation on Baywind Circle in Pensacola. Brown and Parker were released later that day from the hospital. Cassady continues to fight for his life at Sacred Heart Hospital. Jackie Rosenbloom, 45, was also shot in the incident; she remains hospitalized in fair condition.
Fire Damages Cantonment Home: Neighbor Hears Smoke Alarms
November 1, 2010
Fire heavily damaged a Cantonment home Sunday night.
A neighbor heard the smoke alarms just before 7 p.m. at the home on Isabella Road in Cantonment. When she looked through a bedroom window, she could see flames and called for help.
The first fire units on scene reported flames coming though the roof of the wood frame home. There was no one home at the time of the blaze, and there were no injuries. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Traffic Delays On North Century Blvd.
November 1, 2010
Drivers can expect possible delays on North Century Boulevard (Highway 29) in Century just south of East Highway 4 as roadway improvements are made for new restaurant.
Crews from Northwest Development, Inc. will remove and replace curb and concrete and reconstruct the entrance to a new Chinese restaurant located across from Whataburger. During the construction phase, drivers can expect intermittent lane restrictions between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily for the next two weeks, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Results: Jay’s 5th Annual J.D. Mac Invitational Cross Country Races
November 1, 2010
The following are results from the 5th Annual J.D. Mac Invitational held Saturday in Jay.
High School Boys — Team Scores
- Navarre 41
- Escambia 86
- Pine Forest 92
- Milton 102
- Tate 135
- Catholic 156
- Jay 197
- Northview 199
- Central 273
- East Hill 279
High School Boys — Individual Scores
- John Davis (Milton) — 16:47
- Dominique Dalton (Pine Forest) –16:48
- Trent Beck (Navarre) –16:50
- Cody Haden (Navarre) — 16:59
- Nick Mascardo (West FL) — 17:06
- Aaron Neal(West FL) — 17:07
- Deke Blum (Escambia) — 17:24.11
- Micah Kemp (Jay) –17:24.38
- Seth Nydam (Navarre) — 17:53
- Michael Melendez (Milton) — 18:03
Northview — Individual Scores
- Josh Scott — 18:50
- AJ Lambert — 20:00
- Dustin Lewis — 20:22
- Dillian Crutchfield — 24:35
- Justin King — 27:55
High School Girls — Team Scores
- West Florida High 29
- Pine Forest 55
- Jay 79
- Navarre 90
- Milton 136
- Escambia 172
- Northview 208
- Tate 246
High School Girls — Individual Scores
- Darroneshia Lott (Pine Forest) — 18:09
- Crystal Wachob (Pine Forest) — 19:15
- Kaysi Roberts (West FL) — 19:42
- Elle Crouse (Navarre) — 20:16
- Jeronda Stringfield (West FL) — 20:24
- Bria Upsher (West FL) — 20:27
- Kyundra McCastle (West FL) — 20:34
- Jasmyne Branch (West FL) — 20:36
- Robin Blackman (Jay) — 20:45
- Taylor Gosseen (Pine Forest) — 20:59
Jay — Individual Scores
- Robin Blackman — 20:45
- Leely Trevino — 21:12
- Jessica Thornton — 21:21
- Allison Blair — 21:27
- Jenna Thornton — 23:52
- Ally Settle — 24:04
- Crystal Brown –27:03
Northview — Individual Scores
- Georgia Goetter — 21:39
- Sarah Killam — 24:38
- Misty Doran — 27:44
- Jazzlyn Franklin — 29:09
- Julia Thorpe — 29:10
- Kelsey Taylor — 30:20
- Madalyn Coon — 30:45
- Ashley Gunter 32:18
- Taylor Hubbard 32:47
Open Runners (5K for all ages)
- Jeff Oliver 16:13
- Jesse Lucio, 17:32
- Sam Cobb, 17:33.25
- Alec Clark, 17:33.95
- Austin Fortino, 18:18
- Hunter Sport, 18:36.
- Bryan Barrett, 19:24
- Drew Kennedy, 19:30
- Micah Kemp, 19:31
- Isaiah Kala, 19:39
Pictured top: Jay’s Leely Trevino (left) and Robin Blackman (right) during the 5th Annual J.D. Mac Invitational held Saturday in Jay. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Governor’s Race Contenders Rely on Prayer And Final Pitches
November 1, 2010
With polls showing Florida’s governor’s race heading to a down-to-the-wire finish, Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink over the weekend hit last minute campaign staples – church services, barbecues and plain old-fashioned stump rallies – both practically begging like-minded voters to go cast their ballots.
The Halloween final Sunday before Election Day found the candidates feverishly working their respective bases.
Scott opened his Sunday at the First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks in Largo, courting evangelical voters who, across Florida, have already been on the receiving end of 3 million voters’ guides by the state’s Christian Coalition that favor the Republican nominee.
Sink, too, capped a weekend of touching just about every Democratic-leaning base, on Sunday barnstorming at predominantly black churches in Jacksonville, accompanied by local Congresswoman Corrine Brown.
Earlier over the weekend, she attended women’s voting rallies, a state teachers’ union conference, a Puerto Rican-Hispanic voting drive, an NAACP dinner in Miami, and performed the coin toss for the Florida A&M University football game.
By Sunday night, she was campaigning with running mate Rod Smith in Palm Beach County, seeking support from unions, condo leaders and ranchers.
Scott didn’t get a chance to address the congregation during his church stop – but with barbecues and meet-and-greets with voters planned Sunday along Florida’s Republican-rich Southwest, his strategy of base-touching mirrors Sink’s.
“My job now is to get out the vote,” he told the News Service of Florida. “Most of it is just meeting as many people as possible.”
“People are anxious to get the election over because they want me to get up there and get to work,” he said.
Sink is appearing to need help as the campaign closes.
Registered Republicans have built a tremendous 275,000-vote advantage in early voting through last week, according to the state’s Division of Elections. And while Florida Democrats and Republicans have effectively tied in homestretch fundraising, with both sides raising just over $30 million since late-August, new reports show, Scott has poured an unprecedented $73 million of his own money into the race.
“Our grassroots is going to beat Rick Scott’s money every day, and we’re going to do it again Tuesday,” Sink confidently said during a campaign stop in Delray Beach on Sunday.
Democrats were working hard to counter the GOP early voting advantage, taking voters to polling places in some counties where early voting continued on Sunday. At the Supervisor of Elections office in Duval County, a line of voters snaked out the door and around the corner as Sink supporters rallied across the street.
Voter turnout was the theme of the day for both.
“What we need to do is be sure to get all our folks to the polls and take nothing for granted,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who has campaigned with Sink throughout the fall.
But a poll released Sunday by the New York Times Florida papers gave Scott a 5 percent advantage – although that is considered within the survey’s margin-of-error. The poll-tracking website Real Clear Politics gives Scott a 1.7 percent edge over Sink by averaging four recent surveys, but still rates the contest a toss-up.
Sink acknowledged the tightness.
“It’s a neck and neck race,” she said. “Right now, for the next 48 hours, it’s going to be all about getting our voters and our supporters out to the polls.”
In a time of high unemployment across the state, Scott’s campaign has been less centered around social conservatism, but a Quinnipiac University poll released last week found him leading Sink by a 67 to 22 percent margin among self-identified white, evangelical voters.
And while voters angry about the economy are thought to be already likely to support Scott, traditionally conservative voters in the religious wing of the party haven’t been as high profile during this campaign.
Scott sought this weekend to make sure those voters go cast ballots.
At First Baptist in Largo, senior Pastor Jeff Parish said he wasn’t going to tell voters who to vote for, it was clear where the congregation stood.
“Stand strong, don’t change,” First Baptist Deacon Eddie Hartwell, 61, told Scott as he shook his hand after the service.
In Jacksonville, at St. Stephen’s AME Church, one of the oldest black churches in Jacksonville, church leaders weren’t coy about who they want to win. Sink’s caravan got to the church late – after the service was over – but many congregants stuck around to wait for her and church leaders prayed that voters “check the right box.”
After the service he attended, Scott said it was important that he meets as many likely voters as possible, acknowledging the closeness of the race. He projected confidence he would come out on Tuesday, however.
At a barbecue in the rangeline west of Delray Beach, Sink supporters pushed turnout — with an air of desperation.
Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, said that as a state lawmaker, “without Alex Sink, – can’t imagine how bad it’s going to be.”
Likening Scott to the evil Valdemor character from the Harry Potter series, Pafford said the Republican nominee is “bad. He’s reckless. I don’t want to be insignificant. I want the Legislature to make good, common sense decisions.”
Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson also goaded the crowd of 200 retirees, union leaders and party activists, warning that Scott could not be trusted. He cited Scott having evoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 75 times in a lawsuit 10 years ago involving his former company, Columbia-HCA.
“I think Al Capone only pleaded the Fifth Amendment maybe 20 times,” Aaronson said.
Sink, speaking from a stage topped with hay bales, tried to use Scott’s massive spending as a weapon.
“The people of our state know it can’t be sold to the highest bidder,” Sink said, drawing cheers.
She also implored voters to overcome the GOP edge in early voting with a strong. Election Day turnout. “The stakes are so high, we know what to do,” she said.
The gubernatorial contenders were among several statewide candidates doing church stops Sunday.
Independent U.S. Senate contender Charlie Crist, who drew record-setting, double-digit support from black voters during his 2006 election as governor, attended services at two black churches in West Palm Beach and – even there – sought to emphasize his willingness to challenge President Obama, whose rising unpopularity has turned into the pivot-point of the midterm elections.
“I’m going to stand up to him when he thinks he’s right,” Crist told the Redemption Life Fellowship Church. “But I’m going to stand with him when I think he’s right.”
Democratic U.S. Senate contender Kendrick Meek, also swept through black churches in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where he was encouraged and told not to abandon the race despite such overtures from former President Clinton in an effort to help Crist.
Attorney General candidate Dan Gelber, a Democrat, stumped in Tampa with his wife and three children – and included some trick or treat time on his campaign schedule.
By Keith Laing
The News Service Florida
Weekend In Photos
November 1, 2010
NorthEscambia.com had photo galleries this weekend from several events. Click any of the items below to see more pictures.
