Print And Post Amber Alert Flyer
February 9, 2011
Here is an Amber Alert flyer that you can print and post around your business or other public locations. The flyer is in pdf format and can be printed in black and white or color. You can also download it and forward to your email contacts.
Click here to download and print.
For more on the Amber Alert, click here.
Playoff Results: Northview Beats Jay, Tate Falls To Pine Forest
February 9, 2011
Northview 51 Jay 45
Number 4 Northview defeated number 5 Jay 51-45 Tuesday night. The Chiefs will advance in the District 1-2A Tournament to take on number 1 Freeport at 6 p.m. Friday at Baker High School in a semifinal game.
Lance Bushaw led the Chiefs (9-8) with 14 points, while Colton Sims added 12 and Austin Arrington contributed 11. Todd Laney led the Royals (4-15) with 18 points.
Northview — Lance Bushaw 14, Colton Sims 12, Austin Arrington 11, Dabney Langhorne 7, Derrick Portis 6, , Laderius Franklin 3.
Jay — Todd Laney 18, Tyler Prescott 11, Connor Weekes 5, Trent Sweeney 3, Keith Lisonbee 2.
Jay 9 10 11 15—45
Northview 10 16 13 12—51
Pine Forest 67 Tate 52
Pine Forest defeated Tate Tuesday night in the District 1-5A Quarterfinals, 67-52. Pine Forest will advance to play Milton on Friday. Josh Gray led the Aggies with 23.
Tate — Josh Gray 23, Shermone Jones 14, Spencer Taylor 7, Kenny Elliott 2, Tyler Hudson 2, Lawrence Colston 2.
Pine Forest 9 24 12 22—67
Tate 17 2 14 19—52
Century Looks At Security For Community Center, Council Meetings
February 9, 2011
The Town of Century is getting serious about security at community center events and town council meetings.
Mayor Freddie McCall said he is obtaining estimates from three private security companies for events held at the town’s community center. The move came after he reported to the town council two weeks ago about a possible shots fired incident inside the Ag Building on West Highway 4. [Read more...]
McCall also announced that arrangements have been made with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office to have a deputy present at town council meetings.
Pictured: Century’s Ag Building on West Highway 4. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Molino Neighborhood Association Forming
February 9, 2011
Residents of Molino are coming together to form a neighborhood association.
The association’s goals will include creating a crime watch, providing help to those in need and to bring neighbors, businesses and clergy together, according to organizers.
The meeting with David Craig of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at the Barrineau Park Community Center on Barrineau Park School Road. For more information, call (850) 587-2524.
Three Facing Charges After Active Meth Lab Discovered
February 9, 2011
Three North Escambia men are facing multiple drug charges after deputies discovered a meth lab at a home on Muscogee Road.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies located the active methamphetamine lab inside the residence at 1115 Muscogee Road during the early morning hours Sunday. They discovered Matthew Michael Ramsey, 38, of Molino; Robert Edward Raines, 48, of Cantonment; and a third man inside the residence with the meth lab. The third man, a Molino resident, was transported to a Pensacola hospital for an untreated burn on his hand; a warrant is being issued for his arrest.
Raines and Ramsey were charged with possession of methamphetamines with intent to sell, trafficking in methamphetamine , possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of listed chemicals with the intent to manufacture a control substance. Raines was also charged with possession of marijuana under 20 grams.
Ramsey was released from the Escambia County Jail on $25,500 bond, while Raines was released on $26,000 bond.
Scott’s Budget Proposal Under Heavy Scrutiny
February 9, 2011
Rick Scott’s $65.9 billion proposed budget drew reviews Tuesday ranging from tepid to downright mean as legislative committees dominated by fellow Republicans got their first look at the new governor’s first spending proposal.
House education, transportation and health care panels grilled Scott budget office staff dispatched to present portions of the budget rolled out Monday by the state’s chief executive at a Tea Party rally in Central Florida. For many lawmakers, the staff outlines were their initial look at the plan, with several pointing out the difficulties they faced in viewing a Web posting that has proved impossible to fully access for two consecutive days.
For a governor elevated by a campaign theme of ‘let’s get to work,’ his difficulties in conquering the Internet may pale against getting a wary Legislature to sign-off on his self-described ‘jobs’ budget.
Lawmakers who usually refuse to endorse even their own budget plans until they view county-by-county education financing, voiced deep concerns about Scott’s plan to slice per-pupil school spending by an average of at least $298 – part of an overall $3.3 billion cut to education spending.
A health care panel later held Scott’s budget up to the light, with lawmakers from both parties challenging his push to privatize three state mental hospitals and Florida’s half-dozen veteran’s nursing homes, with local governments left to pick-up services the state would no longer perform.
Jane Johnson, policy coordinator for Scott’s budget office, defended the governor’s spending choices saying, “government can’t do everything in the Health and Human Services sector that we would like it to do.”
But Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, said Scott’s approach will likely lead to thousands of Floridians losing health and social services completely, since local governments are in no position to close the gap.
“Do you realize that at the local level there’s not going to be any funds for some of the services you say need to be funded at the local level?” said Davis, who until his election last fall, served seven years on the Jacksonville City Council. “We need to be honest with ourselves and the local community.”
Scott budget officials are saying that the loss of federal stimulus dollars will result in that $298-per-student cut if expected pension savings are ploughed back into education and if school districts socked aside some federal jobs fund money that the Scott administration said could be used. But if pension savings aren’t realized, or the jobs money wasn’t reserved, some counties could lop off as much as $700 per student, a dramatic 10 percent cut.
Even Republicans blanched at that.
Rep. Marti Coley, chairwoman of the House Prek-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said lawmakers have known they’d have to make cuts with the end of the stimulus that has bailed them out the last couple years.
But “10 percent is pretty steep,” said Coley, R-Marianna. “So we will consider his proposals and we will make our own proposals as well.”
Democrats were more blunt.
“He’s a new governor and he’s new at a lot of this and I hope that as he matures as governor, he starts getting a better understanding of how important it is to provide our children with the best and most fully funded education possible,” said Rep. Marty Kiar, D-Davie.
Scott staffers generally stood their ground under the tough questioning from lawmakers. Johnson, of the budget office, began her remarks by pointing out that “there were no sacred cows,” in the governor’s approach to spending.
The governor’s iconoclastic view of budgeting has led him to recommend cutting 8,681 state jobs, draining $8.5 billion from 124 state trust funds for use across all areas of government, while also laying the groundwork for a 2012-13 spending plan that’s even smaller — $63.3 billion.
About $1.7 billion in tax cuts also would be handed out – part of a $4.1 billion, two-year reduction that also leaves about $700 million in reserves next year. Part of the 2012-13 budget trimming will be powered by an anticipated $1.2 billion reduction in Medicaid spending – savings earned by pushing Florida’s 2.7 million Medicaid recipients into managed care programs that Scott and lawmakers would still have to design and win approval for from the federal government.
“This is basically a visionary budget,” Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, told Johnson. “You envision these reductions occurring.”
Few budget areas were spared Scott’s cutting. But just as the governor beefed up economic development efforts – spending $800 million over two years – Scott was relatively generous toward transportation efforts, a potential job-creator.
Overall transportation spending would drop from just under $10 billion this year to $9.3 billion next year and then just under $8.8 billion the next year. But it allows the state’s five-year work program to remain fully funded the next two years – drawing some of the few words of praise Tuesday for Scott’s budget.
“By investing additional dollars in economic development, by preserving the transportation trust fund, I think (that) shows that he’s got an interest in job creation,” said Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, chairman of the House Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee.
Horner, however, was concerned about Scott’s proposal to eliminate nearly 40 highway patrol positions, because it could cost the state revenue, and maybe even lives.
“I think we need to be aware of the impact that these recommendations might have on the street, that’s my concern,” Horner said. “The rationale given was that the good news is that traffic fatalities are way down in Florida. We’ve done a great job. I think we need to be careful that we continue that path.”
Scott has also proposed to roll back about $235 million in increased driver fees that lawmakers used to prop up the sagging state budget two years ago. Horner conceded that the fee hikes have proved unpopular, but he said lawmakers are wary about committing to reducing them while struggling to close a budget shortfall of at least $3.6 billion.
Keith Laing and Kathleen Haughney of the News Service Florida contributed to this report.
Mardi Gras Masquerade Planned
February 9, 2011
You can celebrate Mardi Gras and help the American Cancer Society at the same time later this month.
Century’s Relay for Life team will hold a Mardi Gras Masquerade on Saturday, February 26 from 7-11 p.m. at the town’s Ag Building on West Highway 4. The featured entertainment will be the Will Inspire Band, a local favorite group with previous appearances at the 2009 Century Relay and the Teaspoon Festival.
The event will include red beans and rice, photo opportunities and a silent auction. Attire is Mardi Gras formal or costume. This is an adults-only event, but no alcohol is allowed on the community center property.
Tickets are $20 per person. Businesses or individuals can reserve a table for eight for $150. Tickets are available from any Relay for Life Century team, the Century Branch Library or the Century Town Hall. Tickets are limited.
For more information, call (850) 256-3842.
Pictured above: The Will Inspire Band. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Register Now For The 2011 Gulf Coast Agribusiness Conference
February 9, 2011
The 2011 Gulf Coast Agribusiness Conference will be held Thursday, February 17 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.
Drivers Beware: Smoke Possible On Area Roadways
February 8, 2011
Officials with Florida Division of Forestry’s Blackwater Forestry Center are advising motorists in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties to use caution if they should experience smoky conditions on local roads Wednesday morning.
An 1,100-acre prescribed fire 10 miles north of the state line near Brewton, Ala. has been identified as the source of smoke. Overnight conditions will continue to push smoke from the burn toward our area and there could be pockets of more dense smoke, especially in low-lying areas. The smoke has been reported as far south as I-10 and Milton.
If drivers do find smoke, the Division of Forestry urges the following steps:
- Slow down.
- Turn on low-beam headlights.
- If the smoke or fog is too thick to continue driving, pull all the way off the pavement and stop.
- The space between your vehicle and the roadway should be enough to allow you to safely exit the vehicle.
Hit And Run Crash Cuts Power
February 8, 2011
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a hit and run crash in Century Tuesday morning that left an unknown number of Gulf Power customers in the dark.
Witnesses told authorities that a full size maroon pickup truck with tinted windows hit a power pole on North Century Boulevard near the Food Giant about 11:40 a..m. Witnesses said the truck with a Texas tag then fled the scene, headed south on North Century Boulevard.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.