Atmore Mayor Howard Shell Won’t Run Again
April 12, 2011
Atmore Mayor Howard Shell announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2012. Shell said Jim Staff, mayor pro-tem and District 5 councilman, had served the city well, and that he was “in training” for the future.
There are just under 21 months remaining in Shell’s current term as Atmore mayor. He was first elected to the Atmore City Council 1984 before being appointed mayor after the death of then-Mayor Patricia McKenzie. After winning the mayor’s race twice, he remained in office until being beaten in 1996 by Rodney Owens, an Atmore chiropractor. He returned to office in 2000 and is serving his third term since returning to office.
Byrneville Elementary Students Take On 20,000 Massive Math Problems
April 12, 2011
Byrneville Elementary students have taken on the Massive Math 20,000 Challenge. Kindergarten-fifth grade students are solving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fraction problems on a School 3×6 foot posters. Each poster has just over 4,000 problems.
“Not only are the students perfecting their math skills, they are proving by working together they can accomplish what looks like an impossible task,” according to the school.
Pictured above and below: Students at Byrneville Elementary School work on 20,000 Massive Math problems. Submitted photos by Candace Thornton for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Division Of Forestry Announced Longleaf Pine Restoration Program
April 12, 2011
The Division of Forestry at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced Monday that the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Restoration Landowner Incentive Program will be accepting applications from non-industrial private forest landowners Monday, April 11 through Friday, May 6.
“Longleaf pine forests once covered a vast range from Texas to Virginia, but have been reduced to less than four percent of historical area due to conversion to other land uses,” said Jim Karels, Director of the Division of Forestry. “Longleaf pine forests are highly valued for their resistance to damage by insects, disease, wildfire and storms and for their yield of high quality wood products, biological diversity and scenic beauty.”
The program, supported through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, offers incentive payments for completion of timber stand improvement, invasive species control, prescribed burning, planting longleaf pine, native plant understory establishment and mechanical underbrush treatments.
Its goal is to increase the acreage of healthy Longleaf pine ecosystems in Florida by assisting non-industrial private forest (NIPF) landowners with the necessary long-term investment required to establish and maintain this valuable ecosystem.
NIPF lands located in the historical natural range of Longleaf pine are eligible. All qualifying applications received during the sign-up period will be evaluated and ranked for funding approval.
To obtain application forms and more information on program requirements and procedures, visit a local Division of Forestry office or www.fl-dof.com.
Poll: Obama Wouldn’t Win Florida Today
April 12, 2011
Only a third of independent voters in Florida say they approve of President Barack Obama’s performance, according to a new Sachs/Mason-Dixon poll released Monday that also found Obama would lose to either Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee if the election were held today.
The phone survey found Republican Romney leading Huckabee among GOP voters 23 percent to 18 percent. In the poll, commissioned by Ron Sachs Communications, 43 percent of respondents approved of Obama’s performance and 56 percent disapproved. Among crucial independent voters 56 percent also disapproved of his performance, while just 34 percent approved.
Principal Arrested On DUI Charge
April 12, 2011
An Escambia County principal has been arrested on a DUI charge.
Sheree Diane Cagle, 49, of Cantonment was arrested over the weekend by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and booked into the Escambia County Jail. She was released on $500 bond.
Cagle is principal of both Hallmark Elementary and Allie Yniestra Elementary. The schools will merge with Spencer Bibbs Elementary this fall to form a 800-student, $17 million high-tech elementary in downtown Pensacola.
Deputies stopped Cagle just after 6 p.m. Saturday on Highway 29 just north of Nine and One-Half Mile Road. The deputy reported that he could smell alcohol on Cagle’s breath, and she failed both a breathalyzer and field sobriety test. She tested about twice the legal limit for alcohol — .176 and .178.
On the way to jail, Cagle told deputies “that she was going to be in so much trouble” and asked “is there anyway this could just go away”, according to the arrest report.
According to the report, Cagle told deputies that she had consumed three margaritas and a beer at a Pensacola Beach restaurant about two or three hours prior to the traffic stop.
Lawrence Madison Cooper
April 12, 2011
Mr. Lawrence Madison Cooper, age 84, passed away Sunday, April 10, 2011 at a local nursing home. He was a native of Bratt. He was a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church of Bratt for 46 years. He was a U.S. Army Veteran of WWII. He was owner of Lawrence Cooper Grocery Store from 1956 until 2010 and Corner Produce from 1955 until 1988.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ida and Marion Cooper; one sister, Wilma Brooks and his brothers, Albert Shirley, Ralph Lesley, Howard and Hubert Cooper.
Mr. Cooper is survived by his wife of 57 years, Doris Mae Troutman Cooper of Bratt; two sons, Carl and Shannon Cooper and Marion Cooper, all of Bratt; one daughter, Judy and Chip Gilmore of Pensacola and his grandchildren, Leslie Cooper, Lindsey Cooper, Austin Cooper, Bryant Cooper, Blake Gilmore, Haley Gilmore and Aaron; one great-grandson, Kendall Reed Cambell.
Funeral services were held Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 10 a.m. at First Baptist church of Bratt with the Rev. Gary Wieborg officiating. Burial will follow at Godwin Cemetery.
The family Received friends Monday, April 11, 2011 between 6 and 9 p.m. at Petty Eastside chapel funeral Home.
Pallbearers were Leslie Cooper, Austin Cooper, Bryant Cooper, Blake Gilmore, Scotty Flowers, Michael Weekley, Steve McGill, Clark Hill.
Honorary pallbearers were the deacons of the church and Sunday school class.
BP Kicks In $30 Million For Panhandle Tourist Marketing
April 11, 2011
The seven Northwest Florida counties deemed to have been hit the worst by last year’s oil spill will get $30 million from oil company British Petroleum to fund marketing campaigns to tourists, Gov. Rick Scott said Monday.
This comes on top of $32 million from BP that had previously been given to market Florida in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last year that dumped 4.9 million barrels oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The spill scared tourists away from Northwest Florida, which was nearest to the oil spill, just before the start of last year’s busy summer tourism season. As a result, local restaurants, shops and hotels lost millions in revenue.
“This grant will assist the seven counties hardest hit by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last summer,” Scott said at a press conference. He thanked BP, the company that leased the oil rig, for “stepping up.”
“It’s a very small step in the road to recovery,” Scott said, adding that “we will continue to hold BP accountable to Floridians.”
Within 15 days, $10 million will be given to the tourist development councils in Escambia, Walton, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Franklin, Gulf and Bay counties to spend on advertising.
The remaining $20 million will be dispersed in the next six months. Officials from the tourist development councils in these counties said the money will mostly be used to fund big-budget television, print and Web campaigns aimed at media markets in southeastern cities such as Atlanta, Birmingham and Nashville.
“One of the things that we recognize is how important tourism is to the economy of Florida, especially here in the Northwest part of Florida where there was a direct impact,” said BP executive Luke Keller.
Dawn Moliterno, head of the Northwest Florida Tourism Council, which is a coalition of all the area TDCs, said there will be efforts to track whether the BP grant money is actually bringing in more tourists. Moliterno said they will also closely watch bed tax revenues to see if they rise, fall or stay flat during this year-long marketing push.
Moliterno said many counties have already seen more tourism dollars this year than anticipated.
“We all have rebounded, and most of it has been because of what BP has done for us,” said Denis McKinnon, the head of the Escambia County Tourist Development Council.
Though BP has given Florida a total of $1.7 billion in payments, both to the state and tourism officials and to individuals through its claims process, the state is still mulling whether to file a lawsuit over the spill.
Florida and other states have until April 20 – the anniversary of the rig explosion – to decide whether to go to court to seek reimbursement from BP for costs and lost revenues brought on by the spill. Scott told reporters Monday that he’s hopeful it won’t come to that.
“I’m working with our lawyers and talking to BP,” Scott said. “My goal is to not have to go through litigation and make sure BP does the right thing.”
While BP was being praised for its $30 million grant to Panhandle counties, the administrator hired to handle reimbursement of individual claims against the oil company was bashed by Senate lawmakers on Monday.
Several state senators were unhappy that BP claims administrator Ken Feinberg turned down an invitation to speak at the Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday.
Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, said he was given a letter last week from Feinberg saying he couldn’t make it because his schedule wouldn’t allow it. Feinberg said in the letter he wouldn’t be in Florida the rest of the month of April.
Feinberg had appeared before a state House committee last month and was criticized for the slow pace of claims approvals. At that committee, Feinberg said there were more than 500,000 claims filed. But those claims have been slow to be filled in part due to insufficient documentation of lost revenue.
Feinberg promised at the meeting to speed along the claims process.
Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, called the snub “insulting,” and said it indicates “his lack of concern.”
Siplin said he would meet with Senate President Mike Haridopolos to discuss whether to subpoena Feinberg.
“It’s crucial to get him here,” Siplin said.
By Lilly Rockwell
The News Service of Florida
Tate High Sex Assault Suspect, 16, Pleads No Contest; Gets Probation
April 11, 2011
The 16-year old accused of the sexual assault of a another student at Tate High School pleaded no contest this morning to charges against him.
Raymond Eugene Teamer will remain on probation until he is 19-years old, must avoid contact with the victim, undergo counseling, perform 40 hours of community service, have at 8 p.m. curfew and was ordered by Circuit Judge Ross Goodman to write a two-page letter of apology to the 14-year old victim.
According to the arrest report, Teamer exposed his genitals to at least four people while attending a class at Tate High School on March 1. He is also accused of grabbing the girl by the neck and forcing her head down into his bare crotch. He was charged with felony sexual battery and indecent exposure.
Teamer had remained held in the Juvenile Detention Center since his arrest in early March.
Lawrence Cooper Of Bratt’s Cooper’s Grocery Passes Away
April 11, 2011
Longtime Bratt resident and businessman Lawrence Cooper passed away on Sunday. He was 84.
Lawrence Cooper and his wife Doris operated Cooper’s Grocery in Bratt for well over 50 years before announcing that it would close last October.
Funeral services for Lawrence Cooper were held Tuesday. at the First Baptist Church of Bratt with Rev. Gary Wieborg officiating. Burial followed at Godwin Cemetery in Bratt.
Lawrence and Doris Cooper were named 2010 North Escambia Persons of the Year. Reprinted below is an October story in which the Cooper’s announced the store’s closure.
A long chapter in the lives of many North Escambia residents is closing soon — Cooper’s Grocery at the Bratt Crossroads will soon be no more.
“I don’t know for sure when we will close it, but it won’t be long. Probably by the end of October,” Doris Cooper, 77, said Tuesday. She and her husband Lawrence Cooper, 84, have owned the country store at the heart of the Bratt community for 54 years.
Besides church, Cooper’s is, without a doubt, the center of the Bratt community. Mornings are a hustle and bustle of activity at “Coop’s”, with moms and children buying those last minute snacks for the school day at Bratt Elementary. Northview High students grab sugary snacks and caffeine to fuel their day.
The wooden front door creaks and moans as it opens and rings the bell to signal another customer. Wooden shelves are stocked with most everything imaginable. Cokes are sold in various sizes of plastic bottles like any other store. But there’s the sound of pure American nostalgia each time the top is popped on a glass bottle of Coca-Cola using the bottle opener located at the front counter. Glass bottles of Coke have been sold at Cooper’s since it first opened at the end of World War II.
The Coopers have offered credit to members of the community for decades. Customers were, and are still, able to add their purchase to their “ticket” for later payment. No credit checks needed, basically just residency in the community.
Some of the charge tickets are old and yellowed, waiting decades for payment. Tuesday morning, Mr. Lawrence located one from 1957. “3 doz. eggs $1.65. Gas $1.55. Groceries $21.35.” They know they will never be paid for the purchases 53 years ago. The gentleman that made the charges is long since deceased.
“But sometimes they will come back in here and make a payment,” Mr. Lawrence said. “I had a guy come in here and make a payment on an old one that I could not find right away. It wasn’t much, but he knew how much it was down to the penny that he owed.”
“I hope and pray that we’ve helped a lot of people,” Mrs. Doris said. “Sometimes that just what it is about.”
Anyone that has grown up around Bratt will happily tell you their memories about the candy counter. Well-stocked with all-time favorite candies, its the stuff dreams — and memories — are made of for little ones.
“Momma would give me 15 cents. We may have been poor, but I was spoiled with my 15 cents in here,” Donnie Bass, longtime Cooper’s Store customer said. “I would get a big candy bar, they were much bigger back then; a Coke and a honey bun.”
Bass, 64, has never really stopped going to Coopers. These days, it’s not uncommon to find Bass at the end of the counter, sharing his lighthearted outlook on most any subject that’s fit for discussion.
Known as the defacto mayor of Bratt, Bass and his buddies gather most mornings at the store to discuss the latest “news” of the day. They talk about the world’s problems, America’s problems and the local problems. And they always have a solution in mind.
“The world’s problems have been solved right here in this store,” Bass said, as he contemplated where he and his buddies will meet after the store’s closure. “I hate it when traditions are broken, don’t you? We might meet at my house, but I don’t know if that’s going to fly.”
It’s no secret that the solutions proposed by the men of Cooper’s Store have not solved America’s problems — the problems that have led to the demise of the store.
“It’s the economy really,” Mrs. Doris said as to why the store will close by the end of the month. And she said the couple hopes to do a little traveling. Then she started naming the trips taken through the years, all funded by the their little country store.
“We were blessed,” she said. “We able to do a lot with our children. We were probably one of the first families from Bratt to be able to go to Disney World.” Then there was the trip to California during which Mrs. Doris refused to get out of the car in Nevada because of legalized gambling.
“It was a Sunday and I wasn’t going to set foot on the ground in that state,” she said. As his wife continued to recount found memories of road trips with their children, Mr. Lawrence interrupted.
“We went to Wawbeek one day,” he said, bringing a chuckle from those around the counter. Even at 84, his humor is quick-witted.
Cooper’s Store adapted over the years to changing times. They once stocked a full line of groceries including fresh meats, hardware, clothes, shoes and animal feed. The store sold gasoline until just recently, and they also added a pizza/deli counter. “We would sell so much back then,” he said, from suppliers like J.U. Blacksher, Flomaton Wholesale and Lewis Bear.
The meat and cheese scale is still at the front counter — mostly used to weigh babies, she said.
Mrs. Doris’ own children are no strangers to the store, with all having worked behind the counter at one time or another.
“It’s been our family for all these years,” she said. “I’m going to miss seeing all the people in the community. They are like our family.”
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Storms Possible Tonight
April 11, 2011
Showers are likely tonight, with a few storms possible severe late. Here is your official North Escambia forecast:
- Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Showers and thunderstorms likely in the evening, then chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Some thunderstorms may be severe with damaging winds after midnight. Lows in the lower 60s. West winds 10 to 15 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.
- Tuesday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
- Tuesday Night: Cooler…clear. Lows in the upper 40s. North winds 5 to 10 mph becoming northeast after midnight.
- Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 82. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south.
- Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51. South wind around 5 mph.
- Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south between 10 and 15 mph.
- Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. South wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55.
- Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 75.
- Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 46.
- Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 72.