F.P. “Skippy” White
October 21, 2010
Mr F.P. “Skippy” White, 69, passed away Thursday, October 21, 2010, at his Pollard residence. Mr. White served as a State Representative for a number of years and was a member of Pollard United Methodist Church. Mr. White was preceded in death by his parents Rufus W. and Mary Beth White, and a brother, Don White.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Clara White of Pollard; two sons, Todd White and Hugh White, both of Pollard; and a daughter, Sarah Ann Fountain of Pollard; two brothers, Mickey White of Pensacola, and John White of Brewton; and a number of grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, October 24, 2010, at 2 p.m. from the chapel of Flomaton Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Hillcrest Cemetery in Pollard.
Visitation will be held at Flomaton Funeral Home on Saturday from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Former Alabama Rep. Skippy White Passes Away
October 21, 2010
Former Alabama Alabama State Representative Frank Paul “Skippy” White passed away overnight.
White, a resident of Pollard, served in the Alabama Legislature from 1982 to 2006 representing House District 66 located in western Escambia County and in a portion of Baldwin County, Alabama.
During his 24-year legislative tenure, White founded the Legislative Law Enforcement Medal of Honor, which annually honors the brave men and women of law enforcement, and worked to improve the Alabama highway system through many years of service on the Joint Transportation Committee. He also worked to sponsored and helped to enact local legislation creating the Escambia County Oil and Gas Trust Fund.
White was a firefighter for the City of Pensacola for 12 years and a council member for the Town of Pollard for seven years before running for the legislature. He was also active with farming and forestry management, the Methodist Church and other local civic and charitable organizations.
“Representative White has been a tremendous advocate for all of south Alabama for over three decades,” Congressman Joe Bonner said on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives upon White’s retirement. “White worked tirelessly on behalf of south Alabama.”
“Skippy will be remembered for his generous spirit, keen sense of humor, and the long view of governing by statesmanship, which characterized his entire career,” the Alabama Legislature said in a joint congratulatory resolution in 2007 after White’s final term.
For funeral service information, click here for the complete obituary.
Firefighter Dies In Wreck Chasing Kids That Were Rolling Yards
October 21, 2010
A 34-year old Flomaton man was killed in a single vehicle accident Wednesday night near Flomaton after he reportedly gave chase to a group of high school students rolling a yard with toilet paper.
James Luther McRae, 34, lost control of his 2003 Chevrolet pickup truck about 7:50 p.m. in a curve on Stanley Road near Magnolia Church, about 15 miles northwest of Flomaton. Alabama State Troopers said McRae, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from his truck as it rolled over. McRae, a career firefighter with the Poarch Creek Fire Department, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities said McRae was chasing a group of high school students that were rolling a house. Officials said the teens were from Flomaton High School, which is celebrating homecoming this week. They believe McRae thought the teens were trying to break into a house. He called 911 as he gave chase, trying to get a tag number for deputies.
Authorities have determined that McRae was chasing four teens when he lost control of his truck, which was pulling a trailer. At least three of them –all under 18 — have been interviewed by the Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office.
McRae is survived by his wife of just a few months.
The incident is still under investigation by Alabama State Troopers and the rolling incident is still under investigation by other local law enforcement.
Pictured top: The site of a wreck that killed James Luther McRae, 34, Wednesday night outside Flomaton. Pictured inset: Toilet paper hangs from trees near McRae’s home. Images courtesy WEAR TV 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Verizon Wireless Service Returns After 5 Days Of Dropped Calls
October 21, 2010
After five days of dropped calls, Verizon wireless customers in the North Escambia area should now be able to make and receive calls on their cell phones as usual.
“In Davisville, the calls are dropping or not connecting,” one NorthEscambia.com reader posted on our Facebook page. “It took 19 tries to complete a five minute conversation on Monday evening from Walnut Hill,” another reader posted.
The service disruptions in North Escambia were the result of Verizon’s purchase of Alltel Communications and the integration of Verizon and Alltel equipment, according to Gretchen LeJeune, a media relations manager for Verizon Wireless.
The $28 billion deal closed in September 2009, but the equipment changes in the local Mobile-Pensacola Verizon market are being completed this month.
“The problems were the result of a database error that impacted the towers in your area,” LeJeune said. The database upgrade problem created customer problems in North Escambia beginning Friday and lasting through midday Wednesday.
She said none of the Verizon towers in the area were actually down during the period, but they were not properly processing calls.
Hundreds of NorthEscambia.com readers contacted us by email or on our Facebook page expressing their frustrations with the company. “They told me it was just me and my phone,” one reader wrote. “They said I was the only one having any problems.”
NorthEscambia.com experienced the same difficulties in making and receiving calls during the period on our multiple Verizon phones. We were told by multiple customer service representatives in regards to our account that there was no known issue in the North Escambia area. In fact, when we first contacted LeJeune Wednesday morning, she said Verizon was unaware of any problem.
“According to our system, everything is working perfectly,” she said Wednesday morning. But by Wednesday afternoon, LeJuene said the database problem had been isolated and corrected after our phone call.
“It’s a huge undertaking integrating the two networks,” she said. “Mistakes happen, and we are sorry for any inconvenience. Verizon Wireless still has the most reliable network.”
Pictured above: A Verizon Blackberry displays “Call Was Lost” while attempting to dial Verizon’s customer service number Tuesday. Verizon’s Walnut Hill tower can be seen in the background. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Grand Opening Tonight For Ernest Ward’s Electrical Academy
October 21, 2010
A grand opening will be held this evening for the new IBEW Electrical Academy at Ernest Ward Middle School. The academy, which began in August, is the first such program in the nation at the middle school level.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers worked with the school district to create the Electrical Academy. Middle school career academies are small, personalized learning communities within a school in which select students and teachers participate during a two or three-year span. A career academy involves teachers from different subjects working together as an interdisciplinary team.
The Ernest Ward Middle School Electrical Academy grand opening will be from 6-8 p.m, beginning in the school gym with an explanation of the program, introduction of the class and lab board demonstrations. Exhibits will included a residential training pod, bucket truck, digger/derrick truck, solar trailers and more.
Special guests will include Escambia County Superintendent of Education Malcolm Thomas, Deputy Superintendent Norm Ross and the five members of the Escambia County School Board.
Pictured top: Local IBEW Business Manager Reagan McDaniel explains solar panels capable of generating 2,000 watts of electricity during a presentation earlier this year at Ernest Ward Middle School. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Ribbon Cutting A Go For 500 Eventual Jobs
October 21, 2010
A symbolic ribbon is now set to be cut Friday for a group of new industries planned for Century that could mean up to 500 jobs, breathing life back into the old Alger-Sullivan Lumber complex that has sat idle for a number of years.
By Friday afternoon, Century Lumber and Land, LLC plans to go to work on renovating a portion of the old lumber mill site for new industries and new jobs.
The ribbon cutting was first tentatively set for September 18, then was delayed until October 16. Then, company officials have delayed the ribbon cutting a third time until Friday while they worked to finalize financing for their ventures.
Century Lumber and Land, LLC plans to join Railmark Holdings and Milton Timber to announce a total of five ventures slated for Century.
The companies will, over a course of time, be in the business of:
- treating railroad crossties
- dry kiln treating domestic lumber for the building industry
- building and selling lumber kilns
- repairing freight railcars, railroad track and maintenance
- processing and marketing Paulownia trees as biomass fuel and wood products
In addition, officials have announced that a methane generation plant operated by Integrated Energy Partners of Orlando may locate at the Century complex. IEP had previously announced plans to locate in Jay, but the company was unable to persuade the Santa Rosa County Commission to back an industrial bond issue. IEP has asked the Century Town Council for a memorandum backing a bond issue, but that council has referred the request to their attorney for review.
Century Lumber and Land unofficially announced the ventures at a September 2 meeting of the Century Chamber of Commerce. Century Lumber and Land Manager Jim Craft said at that meeting that the operations would eventually employee 300 to 500 people within a 36 to 42 month period.
The 38 acre Alger-Sullivan property was last sold in early 2006 to DMT Holdings, LLC in Navarre, according to the Escambia County Property Appraiser’s online records. The facility includes five buildings totaling just over 300,000 square feet, according to the property appraiser. The buildings on the property range in age from 11 to 54 years,with the largest 160,150 square foot building constructed in 1972.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
NorthEscambia.com Named One Of The Coast’s Best Local Websites
October 21, 2010
NorthEscambia.com has been named one of the best local websites in the 10th annual Pensacola Independent newspaper’s Best of the Coast issue.
2010 was the second year running that NorthEscambia.com was honored in the Best of the Coast issue. Last year, NorthEscambia.com was named the Gulf Coast’s “Best Local Blog” (a specific category that did not exist this year).
We join other media winners Best TV Station WEAR, Best Radio Station Cat Country 98.7, Best TV Personality Mollye Barrows and Best Radio DJ Mark the Shark of TK101.
The extensive “best of” lists are a who’s who of Pensacola, Escambia County and the rest of the coast as chosen by a vote of the Pensacola Independent’s readers.
Read “Best of the Coast 2010″ from the Pensacola Independent News by clicking here.
Editor’s note: NorthEscambia.com is on the “Complete Winners List” at the link above. And, by the way, we are big fan of the “Restaurants” list. Mmmm.
Adopt-A-Spot Program To Keep Escambia River Landing Clean
October 21, 2010
Members of the Northwest Florida Tree Hound Club are working to establish an Adopt-A-Spot program Fischers Landing along the Escambia River in Century.
Much like the Adopt-A-Highway program, volunteers in the Adopt-A-Spot program will work to keep sections of the landing and river banks clean of litter. According to club president Jim Huie, about 15 member of the group live in Century and will regularly work in the cleanup effort.
“We just want to give something back,” Huie told the Century Town Council.
“We don’t have anything to lose on this,” McCall said, as he applauded the group’s efforts.
Fun Bicycle Ride, Bench Press Contest Planned
October 21, 2010
A Bicycle Run Ride and a Bench Press Contest are planned for Atmore’s Williams Station Day on Saturday.
Williams Station Bike Ride
There will be three mapped routes — 14.30 miles, 19.78 miles and 28.36 miles. Everyone will ride the same route from Atmore to the Bratt Crossroads. Each group can set their own pace and have a lead rider. Printed maps will be provided. Water and Gatorade will be available during and after the ride. Helmet required.
For more information, contact Ellis Beachyat ebeachy@frontiernet.net or Natalie Nall at nnelson@escambia.k12.fl.us
Bench Press Contest
A bench press contest will being at 10 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Atmore Fire Department Substation on Pensacola Avenue.
Extreme Home Makeover Build’s North Escambia Foundation
October 21, 2010
The Extreme Home Makeover house under construction this week in Pensacola sits upon a uniquely North Escambia foundation.
The red dirt used for foundation was donated by Campbell’s Sand & Gravel in Century and owned by James Campbell. Four dump trucks and seven 18-wheelers each dumped two loads of dirt at the construction site on Rainbow Avenue.
American Concrete, located in Molino, donated the concrete for the foundation of the home, and lumber for the house was donated by Cantonment Building Materials. Both companies are owned by Billy Campbell.
Construction on the 3,500 square foot house started Monday and will be complete by this Sunday for Finis Gaston of Baker. The Pensacola episode of Extreme Home Makeover is scheduled to air December 12.
Pictured top: Campbell’s Sand & Gravel of Century dumps a load of dirt for the foundation of the ABC Extreme Home Makeover house under construction this week in Pensacola. Pictured below: Cantonment Building Materials donated lumber for the home. Shown with some of the lumber of Robert Rodgers. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
