No More Saturday Service At Walnut Hill Post Office
April 2, 2011
Saturday lobby service at the U.S. Post Office in Walnut Hill is no more.
The post office retail lobby will now be closed on Saturday. However, mail will still be placed in post office boxes by no later than 9:30 each Saturday. The retail lobby will continue to be open from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.
The U.S. Post Office in Walnut Hill is a contract facility operated by Escambia River Electric Cooperative.
Pictured: The U.S. Post Office in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Overnight Fog, Sunny Sunday
April 2, 2011
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 52. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
- Sunday: Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 82. South wind between 5 and 15 mph.
- Sunday Night: Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 82. Breezy, with a south wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
- Monday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. North wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. North wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 73. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 79.
- Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65.
- Friday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64.
- Saturday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Found By TV’s America’s Most Wanted, Man Gets Life For Molesting Child
April 2, 2011
Joseph Christian Fontana, a registered sex offender, was found guilty Friday by a Santa Rosa County Jury of sexually molesting a child and sentenced to life in prison.
The 55-year old Fontana was charged with committing various sexual acts on the 11-year old son of a woman he met at church around 2001. After befriending the family, Fontana became a father figure to the child and later began to molest the boy, according to State Attorney Bill Eddins.
The crimes occurred during 2005 at a residence where Fontana was doing work as a handyman. Fontana would take the boy along with him under the guise of assisting Fontana with the work. In 2006 the victim and his older brother disclosed that Fontana had molested them.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation; however, Fontana fled from the country before being arrested. He was located after being featured on the television show America’s Most Wanted. After receiving a tip that Fontana was in the Dominican Republic, federal marshals located and arrested him there in June, 2009.
Friday, Judge David Rimmer sentenced Fontana to life imprisonment for sexual battery on a child and for lewd or lascivious molestation. He also received 30 years in prison for sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority and five years for soliciting a child for sexual battery. All sentences were ordered to run consecutively.
Fontana was also designated as a sexual predator. Fontana was previously convicted in 1988 of three counts of committing a lewd act upon a child in California. In 1995 he was convicted in Pasco County, Florida, of handling and fondling a child and of lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a child. He was designated a sex offender at that time.
Photo Gallery: Training Wheels Takes Part In St. Judge Trike A Thon
April 2, 2011
The pre-kindergarten class at Training Wheels of Northwest Florida in Jay took part in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Trike-A-Thon Friday.
Submitted photos by Michele Edwards for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Weekend Gardening: Remember Your Houseplants When Spring Cleaning
April 2, 2011
Warmer weather signals that spring is here. After months of being cooped up indoors, it’s finally time for gardeners to go dig in the dirt. It’s also time for cooped up house plants to be revitalized.
Locate a shady area for this work. Even if houseplants are to be left out for a short period, after being shut up all winter, leaf damage can occur with only brief exposure to direct sunlight.
First, give the houseplants a bath. Use a soapy solution made of two teaspoons of mild liquid soap mixed with one gallon of water. Wash the leaves and stems, being certain to clean both upper and lower leaf surfaces. Allow the solution to remain on the plants for a few minutes, but rinse it off thoroughly before it is allowed to dry. This not only cleans plants, making them more attractive, but the soap helps to remove aphids, mealybugs and other insects.
Next, see if your plant needs re-potting. Although some plants require being pot-bound in order to flower eventually all plants outgrow their containers and become root- or pot-bound.
Why repot in the spring? Plant roots grow most actively in the spring, which means the plant will be able to quickly overcome the shock associated with re-potting.
When repotting, start with a clean, appropriately sized pot. If you want the plant to grow larger, then you will need to repot it in a larger pot. If you want it to maintain its present size, you’ll have to prune its roots.
In general, the pot size should be increased by only about two inches per re-potting. Therefore, a plant whose root ball is in a six inch pot is normally transplanted to a pot with an eight inch diameter. For some reason, drastic changes in pot size when re-potting seems to be detrimental to some plants.
Watering the plant several hours prior will help you remove the plant more easily. Invert the pot and gently remove the plant by grasping the main stem. Give it a slight tug, and it should slip out of the pot. If it doesn’t, use a butter knife or other flat-bladed tool to loosen the sides of the pot and try again.
Once the plant is free of the pot, take the time to inspect the root system. Look for large, old circular roots which can strangle the plant and prevent much-needed nourishment. Sever or remove these old roots to allow new feeder roots to establish.
To re-pot, first add enough new soil mixture to the bottom of the pot to return the plant to its original depth. After the plant is replaced, fill in the sides with new potting soil.
Use a quality potting mix when re-potting. Gardeners generally rely on commercially available potting soil mixes for growing most types of houseplants. A lot of brands are out there and not all of them are especially good. In particular, avoid heavy, black potting soils. If the bag feels dense and heavy for its size, put it back.
The best potting mixes include vermiculite, bark and perlite in proportions that create a fairly light, loose mix that water penetrates readily but drains rapidly.
If you don’t want to change pots, there is a way of dealing with a pot-bound plant and keeping it in the same size pot. First, remove the plant from the pot and trim off one-quarter to one-third of the lower part of the root ball. Put a layer of fresh potting mix in the bottom of the original container equal to the amount of the root ball removed. Place the plant back in the pot, adding a little more soil around the sides. Water well, and place the plant in a shady location to recover.
House plants would also benefit from fertilization at this time of year. There are many commercial materials available for fertilizing indoor plants. Most are effective and safe if used as directed.
Theresa Friday is the Residential Horticulture Extension Agent for Santa Rosa County.
Escambia Man Gets 20 Years For Armed Robberies
April 2, 2011
An Escambia County man was sentenced Friday to 20 years in state prison for armed robbery. Anthony Russell Horn, 25, will be required to serve a 10 year mandatory minimum under the 10-20-Life law, according to State Attorney Bill Eddins.
On February 21, 2011, Horn pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery with a firearm.
Both robberies occurred on the early morning of September 3, 2010. First, Horn and his co-defendant entered the Circle K at 8000 Highway 98. Horn carried a pump shotgun, while the co-defendant carried a bag for the loot, and both wore orange ski masks. After entering, they demanded money and cigarettes from the clerks.
From there the two traveled to the Tom Thumb at 9199 Gulf Beach Highway where they committed a second crime. Sheriff’s deputies pulled over the suspects just 30 minutes after the second robbery. The masks, cigarettes, and money were found in the car with the suspects, according to Eddins.
Free Freshwater Fishing In Florida This Weekend
April 2, 2011
Grab a pole — both Florida residents and nonresidents can fish in public fresh waters across the state this weekend.
The Florida Legislature and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have designated the first full weekend in April each year as Florida’s Free Freshwater Fishing Weekend, coinciding with Children & Nature Awareness Month.
While the public freshwater fishing is free Saturday and Sunday with no license needed, all other fishing rules apply. For more information, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing.
Pictured: A new pier at the Lake Stone Campground on Highway 4 just outside Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Two-Day Festival On The Green Attracts Thousands
April 2, 2011
The 11th Annual Festival on the Green wrapped up Saturday on the campus of the University of West Florida.
Thousands of people took part in Friday and Saturday events including a fine arts show, handmade crafts, music, live performances, a book sale, food and a children’s craft festival. This year’s festival also included a Run with the Dogs 5K, a one mile fun run and the grand opening of UWF’s Olympic-size swimming pool.
The two-day Festival on the Green was a free event.
Pictured above and below: Scenes from Saturday’s Festival on the Green on the campus of the University of West Florida. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Meet WALL-E, Escambia County Sheriff SWAT
April 1, 2011
A robot nicknamed WALL-E is being credited with aiding in the peaceful end of an eight-hour standoff Thursday morning in Cantonment.
WALL-E is the newest member of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team. A grant from the Department of Homeland Security funded the purchase of the ICOR Caliber robot about three weeks ago.
“What you do of course in this instance is you make sure that we insert the robot into these areas so we don’t have to put someone in there and put a SWAT officer at risk,” Sheriff David Morgan said.
With two-way audio, a live video feed and a claw-arm, WALL-E allowed the SWAT team to have eyes and ears in each room of the Pauline Street home without putting an officer in danger. It is only about three feet long and weighs about 200 pounds. The little guy can drag about 250 pounds — enough to pull people out of harm’s way, climb stairs at a 40-45 degree angle and zoom along at five mph.
“I felt a lot safer and secure knowing that the robot had already cleared the place for us,” SWAT team member Sgt. Ted Roy said.
For more on Thursday’s SWAT standoff, with a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: WALL-E, the newest robotic member of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team. Pictured inset: WALL-E heads toward a house where a suspect refused to come out Thursday. Pictured below: WALL-E speeds down Pauline Street. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Federal Audit: ECUA Did Not Comply With Procurement Regulations
April 1, 2011
The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority did not comply with state and federal procurement regulations concerning contract awards to small, minority and women-owned businesses on the Main Street Wastewater Relocation Project funded in part by $149.2 million from Florida Division of Emergency Management, according to a recent report issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The noncompliant areas included a lack of solicitation lists; not using the services of the Small Business Administration and the Minority Business Development Agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce; and not requiring prime contractors to take affirmative steps on contracting with small, minority and women-owned business enterprises on the award of subcontracts.
The total cost of the Main Street Wastewater Relocation Project was estimated at $317 million, with FEMA providing $134.2 million of funding for the project for the new Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment.
To read the full report, including ECUA’s responses, click here.