Ray Sansom Probe Continues
June 15, 2011
The continuing investigation into Former House Speaker Ray Sansom involves allegations that he used leftover campaign money to reimburse himself, the Florida Current reported Tuesday.
Sansom was cleared in a criminal case involving a project he shepherded into the budget before he was speaker. The House confirmed last week that investigators have continued to ask for documents related to Sansom, and a northwest Florida paper reported that at least one Sansom aide has recently been subpoenaed.
Sansom resigned as speaker in 2008 before he had presided over a session.
It’s not clear what the full aim of the Sansom probe is now – it is legal for lawmakers to use up to $10,000 in leftover campaign funds for certain expenses of the office, including travel. The Current reported Tuesday that some records show Sansom appeared to use some campaign money to reimburse himself directly, though it’s not clear what for. Sansom’s attorney Steve Dobson told the Tallahassee Democrat earlier this week that he doesn’t know anything about the new action in the investigation.
Home Insurance Companies Seek Rate Increases
June 15, 2011
Seven home insurers have asked for rate increases since a new property insurance law went into effect last month but none are using the provision of the law that allows them to raise rates to recoup higher reinsurance costs, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
The newspaper cited an online database of rate requests filed with the Office of Insurance Regulation in reporting that the seven companies – with nearly a half million policies statewide – are requesting the insurance. Primary reasons for the rate hikes range from higher sinkhole claims to projected increases in reinsurance costs.
The largest requested increases are from Castle Key Insurance Co. and Castle Key Indemnity Co., subsidiaries of Allstate. The two companies – with more than 260,000 Florida policyholders – are seeking rate requests of 31 percent and 36 percent on average statewide.
14-Year Old Charged With Carjacking SUV
June 14, 2011
A 14-year old Escambia County teen was arrested Tuesday for carjacking a sport utility vehicle.
About 12:20 this afternoon, Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 8000 block of Pittman Avenue for the reported crime. They were told by the 17-year-old victim that his mother’s vehicle had been taken by two young men, one of which was armed with a handgun.
The victim stated that he was cleaning out his mother’s 2005 Buick Rendezvous when he was approached by the two suspects. One of the suspects, described as a young black male wearing a white shirt and black shorts, displayed a handgun before driving the vehicle away.
The other suspect, later identified as 14-year-old Montevious M. Broadnax (pictured), jumped into the passenger seat, before the vehicle was driven away at a high rate of speed.
“Responding deputies were circulating in the area when they found the stolen vehicle parked on Hope Drive,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Deputy Chris Welborn. “We deployed a K-9 and the suspected passenger was tracked to his residence at 1129 Hope Dr.”
The victim was able to identify Broadnax as one of the suspects; deputies are still trying to identify the second suspect.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Escambia Deputies Investigate Shooting, Arson
June 14, 2011
Escambia deputies are looking for leads in a shooting and vehicle arson early Tuesday morning.
The shooting took place about 1:45 a.m. at 840 Limoges Way. Deputies were called after residents heard a number of gunshots in the area.
Deputies were told by the homeowner, Wanda Calland, that she woke to the sounds of gunfire but went back to sleep, thinking nothing of it. Several minutes later Calland was awaken by fire department personnel informing her that her vehicle was on fire.
Crime scene technicians found several bullet holes in the walls of the residence and shell casings on the street.
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s office was called to investigate the fire that destroyed Calland’s 1990 Mazda MX6.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP
In Escambia, Santa Rosa, Welfare Change May Be More Complicated
June 14, 2011
Pensacola resident Julia Pearsall says she knows glitches will happen as Florida transforms Medicaid into a mandatory managed-care program.
But Pearsall particularly worries about glitches in the Pensacola area — where, unlike most of the state, HMOs aren’t already serving Medicaid beneficiaries.
“What happens in the short run can be a matter of life and death to the recipients,” said Pearsall, who has long worked on social-service issues.
Pearsall and an estimated 125 other people turned out Monday for a public hearing to discuss the massive Medicaid overhaul that lawmakers passed last month. It was the first hearing outside Tallahassee, as the Agency for Health Care Administration barnstorms across the state to take public comments about the overhaul.
“I am their most accessible health care provider,” Kim Cadenhead, owner of Kim’s Family Pharmacy in Cantonment, said. “Mailorder pharmacies are not, and never can be, a good health care provider. Any managed care program that incentivies mail-order prescriptions will be detrimental to my patients and to my business.”
For an earlier NorthEscambia.com story and additional comments from area pharmacists, click here.
Many of the Pensacola concerns echoed those in a Tallahassee hearing Friday. The loudest came from community pharmacists worried that managed-care plans will shut them out of the Medicaid business.
But questions have long swirled about how the Medicaid overhaul will work in the Panhandle. Many Medicaid beneficiaries throughout the state already enroll in managed-care plans — either voluntarily or in a five-county pilot program — but not in most of the Panhandle.
The lack of managed-care plans in the region, however, could change. Jennifer Robertson, a lobbyist for WellCare Health Plans, said during the hearing that her company plans to enter the Pensacola market.
Charles Brewer, president of Health First Network, a 600-physician network that contracts with managed-care plans in the western Panhandle, said his company expects to work with WellCare.
Brewer said his network contracted with a WellCare subsidiary, Healthease, from 2004 to 2009. But he said state cuts in Medicaid payment rates to HMOs led both companies to pull out of the program in the Panhandle.
The Panhandle and rural areas could be a key issue during the next few years as the state tries to carry out the overhaul. As an indication of the concerns, lawmakers took steps to make it easier to move forward with mandatory managed care in Northwest Florida.
The overhaul carves the state into 11 regions, with managed-care plans competing for contracts in each region. Northwest Florida has two of the regions — one going from Escambia to Walton counties in the western Panhandle, and the other including 14 counties that go all the way east to Madison County.
The law calls for the state Agency for Health Care Administration to contract with two managed-care plans in each of the Northwest Florida regions. Each of the other regions throughout the state could have more managed-care plans, with a region including Miami-Dade and Monroe counties having as many as 10.
Also, each plan that wins a contract in a Northwest Florida region will be awarded a contract in another region as something of a bonus.
The Pensacola hearing is one of 11 that AHCA is holding over a week-long period, as it prepares to meet an Aug. 1 deadline for submitting details of the proposed overhaul to the federal government.
With Republican leaders looking for ways to hold down costs in the $20 billion Medicaid system, Gov. Rick Scott signed the overhaul into law June 2. If approved by federal officials, almost all Medicaid beneficiaries statewide would be required to enroll in managed-care plans by Oct. 1, 2014.
During Monday’s hearing, managed-care industry officials told the audience that the changes, in part, will lead to better care that will improve the health of beneficiaries.
“We’re not managed costs,” said William McHugh, president of Amerigroup Florida. “We’re managed care.”
Steve Snider, an official with Molina Healthcare, acknowledged that the change faces questions in the Panhandle. But he also said he thinks it is the best alternative.
“Please keep your minds open,” Snider said.
Other speakers, however, raised repeated concerns about how the overhaul would affect community pharmacies and seniors.
Mom-and-pop pharmacies worry they will get elbowed out of the Medicaid business by managed-care plans that will use mail-order prescriptions or divert patients to other pharmacies. A steady stream of pharmacy operators asked for help during the hearing.
“With unemployment and the economy the way it is, it seems illogical to put more stress on independent business,” said David Enfinger, of A&E Pharmacy in Pensacola.
But Michael Garner, president of the Florida Association of Health Plans, said the overhaul will allow patients to have choices about the best way to get prescriptions.
Some speakers also said they were worried about requiring Panhandle seniors to enroll in Medicaid managed-care plans. The state plans to start moving forward with that requirement in July 2012, making it the first part of the overhaul to take effect.
Jason Waddell, a Pensacola elder-law attorney, said state officials should look at whether such a requirement is even feasible in the Panhandle, instead of putting it in place statewide.
“There’s not been any data that shows this will work,” Waddell said.
Managed-care officials, however, contend the overhaul will lead to seniors getting care in their homes and communities instead of going into more costly nursing homes.
By Jim Saunders
The News Service of Florida
Hot Weather Continues
June 14, 2011
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight…Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph becoming west 5 to 10 mph after midnight.
- Wednesday…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 90s. West winds 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20 percent. Highest heat index 105 to 107 in the afternoon.
- Wednesday Night…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph becoming around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of rain 20 percent.
- Thursday…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in the morning…then scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 90s. West winds 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 40 percent.
- Thursday Night…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
- Friday…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
- Friday Night…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
- Saturday…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
- Saturday Night…Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s.
- Sunday…Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 90s.
- Sunday Night…Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s.
- Monday…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
- Monday Night…Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 70s.
- Tuesday…Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Molino Park Elementary Library Open During Summer
June 14, 2011
Molino Park Elementary is opening their school library this summer to promote summer reading.
The Molino Park Library will be open for Molino Park students on June 15, June 29, July 13, July 27 and August 10. The library will be open from 9 a.m. until noon. On June 29, students are encouraged to dress in red, white and blue for the Fourth, and August 10 will bring a back to school summer surprise.
There will be guest readers each day, along with activities related to the stories that are read. Parents and students can check out books, and students can take Accelerated Reader tests.
For more information, contact the school at (850) 587-5265.
Parents are required to stay with their children, and books that are checked out are due back August 10.
Escambia To Hold Public Hearing On Fire Tax Increase
June 14, 2011
The fire fee tacked onto your annual property tax bill may be going up if you are a resident of Escambia County.
The Escambia County Commission has scheduled a Thursday public hearing to consider hiking the Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU) fee by $5 per year for the next couple of years.
The current fee, assessed to Escambia County residents outside the city limits of Pensacola, is $75 per year. If the county commission passes the proposal, the fee would be $80 in 2012 and $85 in 2013.
Commercial property owners would also see an increase in the their fire tax, jumping about $60 per 10,000 square feet.
The increase fees, estimated at about a half million from residential property owners, will go toward funding 12 paid firefighters. The firefighters were first hired under a 2009 grant that decreases yearly before ending.
The public hearing on the increase will be June 16, 5:30 in the commission chambers at the Escambia County Governmental Complex on Palafox Place in downtown Pensacola.
Atmore, Escambia County (Ala) Join Lawsuit Against Conecuh Landfill
June 14, 2011
Escambia County (Ala.) and Atmore both voted Monday to join the tiny town of Repton, Ala., in a lawsuit aimed at blocking the proposed Conecuh Woods landfill.
In late April, attorneys filed the suit in Conecuh County Circuit Court on behalf of Repton (pop. 280) and Mayor Terri Carter seeking an injunction to block the 5,100 acre Conecuh Woods landfill. The landfill was approved 3-2 by the Conecuh County Commission just a week before the lawsuit was filed.
Conecuh Woods’ landfill, 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 and then Escambia Bay.
Many other governments in South Alabama and Northwest Florida have passed resolutions in opposition to Conecuh Woods, including the Escambia County (Fla.) Commission, Century and Flomaton. The City of Orange Beach has also authorized their town attorney to file a petition to intervene in the suit.
The lawsuit claims there are “numerous factual errors” in the landfill application and it disregards threatened or endangered species in the area, ignores the water table that can approach withing 25 feet of the surface and numerous other items.
The lawsuit also claims the Conecuh County Commission ignored the public outcry against the facility and that they ignored several potentially negative aspects of the landfill.
Pictured top: Repton, Alabama, Mayor Terri Carter addresses the Century Town Council recently in opposition to a proposed 5,100 acre landfill in Conecuh County, Alabama. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Mississippi Murder Suspect’s Weapon Found In Escambia
June 14, 2011
The Escambia County Sheriff’s dive team found a handgun Monday afternoon that was used in the murder of a Mississippi woman.
Last Friday, 56-year-old Dennis Hurley walked into the Pascagoula Police Department and confessed to killing his girlfriend, Diana Davis.
Deputies in Jackson County, Mississippi, went to Davis’ apartment and found her body. She had suffered from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Hurley told investigators that he had driven from Mississippi to Pensacola, Florida where he threw the handgun used in the crime off a pier.
“We were contacted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi and asked for help in locating the gun,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Deputy Chris Welborn. “Our dive team, with the assistance of the Jackson County Sheriff’s dive team, found the gun this afternoon in the Santa Rosa Sound.”
The gun, a Browning .32, had been thrown from the fishing pier that lies alongside the Bob Sikes Bridge that connects Gulf Breeze to Pensacola Beach.
Deputies also found bloody clothing that belonged to Hurley in a trash can on the pier.
Jackson County, Mississippi investigators have charged Hurley with murder. He was out on bond after an arrest last year on domestic violence involving Davis.