NHS Opens Varsity Softball Season With Loss; Win For JV
February 16, 2011
The varsity Northview Lady Chiefs dropped their regular season opener Tuesday, while the junior varsity picked up a big win.
The Pine Forest Eagles defeated Northview in varsity softball action, 5-2. In the season opener for the junior varsity chiefs, Northview beat Pine Forest 20-4.
The varsity team will be in action Friday at 5:00 as they host Pensacola Catholic. The JV and varsity will travel to Jay on February 22.
Charlie Lane Sr.
February 16, 2011
Mr. Charlie Lane Sr., 70, passed away on Saturday, February 12, 2011, in Atmore.
Mr. Lane was a native of Huxford, a lifelong resident of Atmore and attended the Enon Baptist Church in Enon.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley Lane; a son, Randy Lane; his parents, Clifford and Bessie Mae Lane and five brothers.
Survivors include his son, Charles Edward and Ronna Lane Jr. of Mobile; two brothers, Jack Lane of Milton, Fla. and Wayne Lane of Goodway; three sisters, Joyce Davis of Fayetteville, NC, Delois Summerlin of Atmore and Shirley Conway of Pensacola; 15 nieces; 13 nephews and a host of great nieces and great nephews.
Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. John Stacey and the Rev. Michael Wilson officiating.
Burial followed at Enon Cemetery in Enon.
Visitation was held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday, February 14, 2011, at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers were Allen Etheridge, Bryant Lane, Kenny Conway, Timmy Conway, Chris Lane and Jimmy Lane.
One Dead, One Injured In Escambia House Fire
February 15, 2011
An Escambia County house fire claimed the life of an elderly man this morning.
Kenneth Trehern, 78, died in the fire that was reported just before 6:30 a.m. in the 6600 block of Suwanee Road. His body was found in the living room of the home after the blaze was extinguished. His wife, Laurie Trehern, 58, was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital and then transferred to the UAB Burn Center in Birmingham for treatment of her injuries. Her condition was not available.
The fire is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Suwanee Road is located between West 9 Mile Road and Frank Reeder Road in the Beulah area.
Pictured above and below: An Escambia County man died in this mobile home fire this morning in Beulah. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Planned New Molino Library May Never Open
February 15, 2011
A library planned for a portion of $2.1 million renovation of the old Molino School may not become a reality.
In May, 2009, commissioners approved the $400,000 purchase of the Old Molino School 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, including $214,580 to DAG Architects to design the renovations.
But the library may never open, NorthEscambia.com has learned, due to inadequate funding for day to day operations. Instead, the county is now considering a “library kiosk” where patrons can check out and return books in an automated fashion.
The challenge is that LOST funds cannot be used to operate the library,” Sonya Daniel, Escambia County public information manager, said. “A ‘library kiosk’ or a means to offer computerized library services is one option that the BCC talked about during their last workshop on the library.”
The original plans for the renovation of the Old Molino School called for one section of the 15,600 square foot main building to be converted into a library with both a children’s and adult area, computers and thousands of linear feet of book shelving. The old auditorium is to remain a community auditorium with available seating for 242 people. The rest of the building will include a museum, classrooms and meeting rooms.
Pictured: The front hallway of the old Molino School. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
2010 Hit And Run Lands Century Man Behind Bars
February 15, 2011
A Century man is now jailed on several traffic charges in connection with a hit and run crash near the Century Piggly Wiggly last year.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Steven Allen Lashley, 53, was westbound on Ivey Street at Highway 29 in a 1995 pickup truck when he turned into the path of a 2006 Chevrolet car that was eastbound on State Line Road onto Highway 29. The driver of the Chevrolet, Kelly R. Morgan, 17, of Century, was not injured in the August 21, 2010, crash.
Lashley fled the scene, headed west on State Line Road.
Lashley was arrested early Monday morning on outstanding warrants related to the crash. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $17,000 on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, no valid driver’s license, driving with a suspended license, expired driver’s license and using an out-of-state driver’s license while suspended in Florida.
5,100 Acre Dump Planned Upstream From North Escambia Draws Protests
February 15, 2011
Protesters gathered at a county commission meeting in Evergreen, Ala., Monday to show their solidarity against a 5,100 acre landfill.
Conecuh Woods LLC has formally applied for the landfill, which will include a 1,600 acre “disposal cell” from Range to Repton to near the Big Escambia Creek. Big Escambia Creek flows southward into Escambia County, Alabama, through Flomaton and drains through a North Escambia swamp into the Escambia River.
Holding signs that proclaimed “No Dump!”, the protesters gathered as the Conecuh County Commission met to discuss plans for public hearing next month on the landfill, which will accept about 15,000 tons of waste per day from across the country.
Many local governments downstream from the proposed Conecuh Woods, including Atmore, Escambia County (Ala.), and the Poarch Creek Indians, have adopted resolutions opposing the landfill.
The Citizens for a Clean Southwest Alabama has hired a law firm to fight the proposed dump.
The public hearing for the Conecuh County Commission to consider approval for Conecuh Woods is set for March 10, 9 a.m., at Reid State Technical College in Evergreen. The commission has until April 2 to make a decision on the proposal.
Pictured top: Residents gather Monday in Evergreen, Ala., to protest a planned 5,1000 landfill. Photos courtesy WALA FOX 10 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sacred Heart Ranked Among Nation’s Top 5 Percent Of Hospitals
February 15, 2011
The nation’s leading independent health care ratings organization has ranked Sacred Heart Hospital among the top 5 percent of all U.S. hospitals for clinical excellence.
As part of its ninth annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study, HealthGrades identified those hospitals performing in the top 5 percent nationwide across 26 different medical procedures and diagnoses.
Based on the results of the national study, HealthGrades recognized Sacred Heart by presenting hospital leaders with the Distinguished Hospitals for Clinical Excellence Award™. The rankings are based on a comprehensive study of patient death and complication rates at virtually every hospital in the country.
“Sacred Heart Hospital is among an elite group of hospitals in the United States,” Lisa Esch, vice president of professional services for HealthGrades, told an audience at the hospital. ”There are 268 hospitals in the nation and 26 in Florida that are recipients of this year’s award. Our study showed that those top-rated hospitals had a mortality rate among Medicare patients that was almost 30 percent lower than all other hospitals.”
In presenting the award to Carol Schmidt, president of Sacred Heart Hospital, HealthGrades also recognized Sacred Heart’s quality in specific categories of care, noting that Sacred Heart ranked among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for treatment of stroke. The study showed Sacred Heart’s risk-adjusted inpatient mortality rate for Medicare patients diagnosed with stroke was 51 percent lower than the average nationwide.
Based on the data, HealthGrades awarded special Excellence Awards to Sacred Heart in the areas of:
- Stroke Care
- Critical Care
- Pulmonary Care, and
- Bariatric Surgery
In comparing the performance among hospitals for specific medical conditions and treatments, HealthGrades assigns a rating of 1-star (poor), 3-star (as expected) or 5-star (better than expected.) HealthGrades gave Sacred Heart a 5-star rating in 14 categories that included: treatment of heart attack, heart failure, hip fracture repair, pneumonia, gastrointestinal bleeds, peripheral vascular bypass, and respiratory failure.
“This award is a milestone in our journey toward excellence in clinical care that began more than seven years ago at Sacred Heart and continues today,” said Laura S. Kaiser, president and CEO of Sacred Heart Health System. “This achievement is the result of an unwavering focus on the quality of care provided to our sickest patients at the most important times. It truly has been a team effort by many physicians and clinical staff across multiple departments.”
Unlike other hospital quality studies, HealthGrades evaluates hospitals solely on patients’ clinical outcomes: rates of deaths and complications in hospitalized patients. HealthGrades’ analysis is based on approximately 40 million Medicare patient discharges for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Survey Says: Floridians Are Just Fed Up
February 15, 2011
Close to half of Floridians surveyed say the state is worse off than it was five years ago, while one-in-five say they are seriously considering moving elsewhere, a new poll by Leadership Florida shows.
The survey of 1,220 Floridians was conducted last month by the Nielsen Company for Leadership Florida, an arm of the state Chamber of Commerce.
It found that 69 percent of Floridians believe business community leaders rarely do what’s right for the state. Another 65 percent said state government wastes taxpayers’ dollars. About three-fourths of those polled gave “fair” or “poor” marks to the performance of the state and federal government, while 65 percent gave similar grades to county government.
“The public is very wearisome of the slow economic recovery and the high frustration level of Floridians is impacting their opinion of government at every level,” said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political scientist. “At the same time, people have an expectation of what they want the governor and the Legislature to do: to create jobs and remove major barriers to doing business in the state of Florida,” she added.
Floridians gave Gov. Rick Scott a mixed message in the survey. While 52 percent of Floridians supported firing ineffective teachers, a signature issue for Scott, only 3 percent of Floridians believe tax relief should be the governor’s top priority. Scott has championed a $2 billion tax cut for property owners and businesses. While Scott also campaigned heavily on cracking-down on illegal immigration, only 1 percent of respondents said that should command the governor’s focus this year.
EREC Sends Area Juniors On Tallahassee Youth Tour
February 15, 2011
Fourteen high school juniors were guests of Escambia River Electric Cooperative last week in Tallahassee as they learned more about their state legislature and electric cooperatives.
Participants included Ashley Brazwell, Crystal Davis, Myranda Jernigan, and Taylor Mitchell from Central High School; Crystal Brown, Cody English, Caristyn Golden, Sawyer Hudson, Meredith Owens, and Sara Stokes from Jay High School; and Taylor Byrd, Holly Dickson, Nolan Taylor, and Elizabeth Wright from Northview High School.
While in Tallahassee, the students met with nearly 100 other high school juniors from electric cooperatives throughout the state of Florida. EREC delegates enjoyed visiting the Challenger Museum and viewing the IMAX movie, Hubble (3D). Youth Tour participants observed court in session in the Florida Supreme Court and participated in a mock session in the senate chambers where various members of the Legislature addressed the group.
The Youth Tour program provided students an opportunity to learn more about their state government and electric cooperatives and also gives them a chance to interact
with other students from co-ops throughout the state.
“It was a great educational experience and a lot of fun for the entire group,” according to Sabrina Owens, EREC’s marketing director.
Pictured top: 2011 EREC Youth Tour delegates with Florida State Representative Doug Broxson. Left to right: Ashley Brazwell, Taylor Mitchell, Sawyer Hudson, Elizabeth Wright, Cody English, Taylor Byrd, Holly Dickson, Rep. Broxson, Nolan Taylor, Crystal Davis, Sara Stokes, Myranda Jernigan, Crystal Brown, Caristyn Golden, and Meredith Owens. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
The 2011 Gulf Coast Agribusiness Conference Is Thursday
February 15, 2011
The 2011 Gulf Coast Agribusiness Conference is this Thursday at the Chumuckla Farmers’ Opry.
Speakers from the Southeast will provide farmers with ideas for new crops and business models. A trade show will be held at the conference, with space for vendor booths and equipment displays.
The target audience for this conference includes producers of all types of livestock and specialty crop production in the Western Panhandle of Florida and Baldwin and Escambia counties in Alabama. The conference is also an informational seminar for existing and prospective ranchers and specialty crop producers.
Conference topics will include “Keys to Successfully Choosing Enterprises That Suit Your Small Farm,” “Small Farm Livestock Production,” “Beef Cattle and Goat Production,” “Small Farms Poultry Management,” and “High Tunnel Production”.
For more information, contact Robin Vickers at rvickers@ufl.edu or (850) 983-5216, Ext. 113. For a schedule and registration form, click here.