Four Face Sentencing Next Week For Billings Murders; Pamela Long In Court This Week
July 26, 2011
Four people will be sentenced next week for their role in the murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings in July 2009. Meanwhile, trial is underway for Pamala Long Wiggins who is charged as an accessory.
Leonard Patrick Gonzalez and Gary Sumner face a maximum of 20 years in prison under a plea agreement they reached with the state to testify against other defendants.
Frederick Thornton and Rakeem Florence both pleaded no contest to the charges against them. Thornton’s deal calls for a maximum of life in prison with no chance at getting the death penalty. The deal Florence made with prosecutors has him facing life in prison, but he will have the opportunity for parole.
Trial started Monday forPamela Long, the last person to head to court in connection with the Billings murders.
She is charged with accessory to murder after the fact and accessory to robbery after the fact. She faces up to 45 years if convicted.
WSRE Cuts SightLine Reading Service For The Visually Impaired
July 26, 2011
Funding cuts have forced WSRE TV 23 to eliminate the SightLine Reading Service as of July 31.
SightLine served the vision-impaired population of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Baldwin and Okaloosa counties and aired on WSRE’s Second Audio Program channel (SAP), in addition to being archived on the station’s website.
SightLine transmitted its first program on Oct. 25, 1992, as a joint effort of WSRE and the Northwest Florida Radio Reading Service, Inc. Volunteers have read local newspapers, magazines, short stories and interesting articles every day, 365 days a year on the SightLine service.
The state funds are no longer available to budget in the cost of SightLine’s broadcast production. Sandy Cesaretti Ray, general manager of WSRE, feels firsthand the effects of the state cuts.
“I am acutely aware of the impact the state cuts have on our viewers,” Ray said. “It is with deepest regret that I must discontinue valuable services to the community. However, it’s necessary to responsibly ensure the long-term sustainability of the organization and put WSRE on a realistic financial path for the future.”
WSRE recently enacted staff reductions as well as the removal of some programming from its TV lineup to cut costs.
“SightLine’s value lies in the fact that its service provided a tremendous improvement in the quality of life for the vision-impaired. This is an incredible loss for our community,” Ray added.
Florida Teacher Preparation Programs Receive Scrutiny
July 26, 2011
What makes a teacher successful is a vexing question that has fueled major education reforms in recent years, from increased emphasis on testing, to the promotion of charter schools and the newfound popularity of teacher merit pay to provide an incentive for better instruction.
While teachers have endured the brunt of this scrutiny, the attention is now turning toward teacher preparation programs. In Florida, the effort to grade schools and districts by student test scores has begun to extend toward the programs that teach the teachers. Three years ago, Florida quietly became one of four states that tracks how well private and public universities and colleges prepare teachers for the classroom, using student FCAT scores as the yardstick.
These scores have largely been embraced by colleges, which closely watch how they rank compared to other schools. The results are often surprising, with the bigger state schools sometimes being out-performed by teachers from small colleges or even district-led programs that offer certificates to teachers while working in the classroom.
Nationally, groups like the National Council on Teacher Quality have launched an ambitious project to rate university and college teacher training programs in U.S. News and World Report by letter grade.
Last week, the group released an exhaustive, but controversial, report that scored student teacher programs throughout the nation, with the three Florida programs that were studied by the group faring well.
But Florida universities are uneasy about efforts from groups like the National Council on Teacher Quality to grade them, saying they are held accountable by the state, through accreditation and certification exam results.
Julie Greenberg, a senior policy analyst with the Washington, D.C.-based National Council on Teacher Quality, said the group had encountered “quite a bit of resistance,” from universities and colleges, with some refusing to furnish documents requested by the council. The project won’t be completed for several years.
Greenberg said the intent behind grading teacher preparation programs is to understand which colleges do a better job of training teachers, so that other programs may mimic their success.
But colleges and universities say they are already judged on student performance. Tom Dana, an associate dean with the University of Florida’s Department of Education, said “we have always been accountable.”
“Every program for teacher education has to undergo a rigorous review by state Department of Education as well as nationally,” Dana said. “We are nationally accredited.”
Deans at colleges of education throughout Florida say that what makes a teacher a good one is part science and part something less easy to pin down. “The problem in education is there is a general perception that it is something easy to do,” said Larry Scharmann, assistant dean of Florida State University’s College of Education and director of the School of Teacher Education. “If you have been through it yourself, you should be able to do it. That is simply not the case.”
Administrators said they feel teacher preparation programs have been swept up in a national education reform movement that emphasizes test scores, accountability and a closer scrutiny of teacher performance.
“I wish I knew why (we are targeted),” said Lois Christensen, the associate dean for Florida Gulf Coast University’s education program. “It appears to be politically motivated. I think there is a group of people out there, primarily conservatives, who are looking at this in more of a bean-counter way.”
Christensen said education is more nuanced than what numbers reveal, with a host of factors that can impact a teacher’s success, such as a student’s background and parental involvement .
Greenberg disagrees, saying there is evidence that points to the impact of a good teacher preparation program.
“It has become increasingly clear that teacher quality is one of the aspects of education that we can actually manipulate to good effect, to good effect on student performance,” Greenberg said.
Florida has conducted its own analysis of how well its schools do in training teachers.
Greenberg praised Florida’s attempt to track this data and said if more states embarked on this type of data analysis, it would make it easier to understand which teacher preparation programs were better than others.
Florida examines FCAT scores from first-year teachers who went to a state college, university or through a school district program. Some districts offer certification programs that allow teachers to earn certificates while working in the classroom.
This year’s data on university teacher training programs, based on FCAT grades from the 2009-10 school year, shows Florida Atlantic University and the University of North Florida produced teachers whose students perform better on the FCAT than other state universities.
Florida State University and the University of West Florida’s teachers didn’t perform as well.
Similar to school grades, the data appears to motivate colleges to perform better.
“We do pay attention to those numbers,” Scharmann said. “I don’t like to apologize when I see numbers like that. If (teachers) are coming out of Florida or FSU, we ought to do things as well or better than (other schools).”
Scharmann said he has vowed to get to the bottom of why FSU-trained teachers don’t fare as well.
Teachers trained through special on-the-job certification programs at colleges and districts were also studied. Some colleges, such as Pasco Hernando Community College, produced teachers who did astoundingly well, with more than half of the students showing learning gains on the FCAT.
In fact, most college and district teacher training programs performed about as well as the universities, with a few exceptions. Teachers trained in Bradford County schools, for instance, performed worse than most colleges and universities, while Collier County-trained teachers performed better than most colleges and universities.
The huge variety in test score gains shows what a complex issue teacher performance is, administrators say.
“It’s such a complex profession and I don’t think people realize that,” Christensen said.
By Lilly Rockwell
The News Service of Florida
Area Travel Softball Team Wins World Series
July 26, 2011
A local travel softball team recently won the USSSA Fast-Pitch Girls 16U World Series in Gulf Shores.
14U Perdido Gators softball team is made up of players from Bratt, Jay, Milton, Pensacola, and Perdido.
The USSSA World Series started in Gulf Shores last Wednesday with pool games. Bracket games were played on Saturday and into early Sunday morning. The Perdido Gators, with one loss in the bracket games, pulled out the championship win about 4:30 Sunday morning by beating the Diamond Divas twice.
Members of the 14U Perdido Gators are Mallory Ryan, Ali Cutaio, Sara Spears, Kota Berry, Kristin Gunter, Brooke Lauter, Breana Rogers, Hannah Wakeman, Savannah Allen, Destiny Herring
Coaches: Jeff Cutaio, Eddie Ryan, Greg Spears, Jim Rogers
Photos: Aldersgate UMC Shake It Up Café VBS
July 26, 2011
The “Shake It Up Café” Vacation Bible School is underway this week at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Molino.
The VBS is open to children ages 3 through the fifth grade from 5:30 until 8:30 nightly through Friday. Dinner is served each evening.
“At Shake It Up Café, everyone will enjoy a kid-friendly café full of chef’s hats and aprons, pots and pans, checkered tablecloths, and chalkboard menus,” said Sandra Greenwell, Aldersgate’s VBS director. “We will explore the Bible as a cookbook filled with recipes for living out God’s Word.”
For more photos from the Aldersgate United Methodist Church VBS, click here.
Pictured above and below: VBS at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Molino. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Do you have news or photos you would like to share from your church? Email news@northescambia.com
Evelyn K. Moneymaker
July 26, 2011
Mrs. Evelyn K. Moneymaker of Panama City, FL passed away at the age of 81 on Sunday, July 24, 2011, at her home.
She was born in Knoxville, TN on Sept. 5, 1929, to the late Robert Towe and Fanny Mae Sanders Towe. Mrs. Moneymaker was a longtime resident of Panama City, moving from Knoxville in 1950 as a United States Air Force family stationed at Tyndall AFB.
Mrs. Moneymaker is dearly loved and is survived by her husband of 63 years, Earl Moneymaker; and her children, Raymond Moneymaker and wife Charlene of Panama City, Linda Moneymaker-Iversen of Pensacola, Sandra Moneymaker-Palma of Panama City, Edward Moneymaker and wife Sue of Panama City, and Roger Moneymaker and
wife Lynn of Panama City; nine grandchildren, Brandy and Joey Moneymaker; Erika, Nathan and Markus Iversen; Joshua and Kayla Palma; Jessica Moneymaker and Keith
Adams; and 14 great-grandchildren.
She will be missed very much by her family.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 28, 2011, in the Heritage Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Tilmon Ward officiating. Interment will follow at Evergreen Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers are Charles Terry, Larry Terry, Tim Zimmerman, Markus Iversen and Anthony Grasso. Honorary pallbearers are Joey Moneymaker and Rich Allen.
Visitation will be from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27, 2011, at Heritage Funeral Home in Panama City.
Full Text: Obama Addresses Nation On Debt Crisis
July 25, 2011
President Obama addressed the nation Monday night on the current debt crisis. Here is full text of his speech, as prepared for delivery:
Good evening. Tonight, I want to talk about the debate we’ve been having in Washington over the national debt — a debate that directly affects the lives of all Americans.
For the last decade, we’ve spent more money than we take in. In the year 2000, the government had a budget surplus. But instead of using it to pay off our debt, the money was spent on trillions of dollars in new tax cuts, while two wars and an expensive prescription drug program were simply added to our nation’s credit card.
As a result, the deficit was on track to top $1 trillion the year I took office. To make matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more -– on tax cuts for middle-class families to spur the economy; on unemployment insurance; on aid to states so we could prevent more teachers and firefighters and police officers from being laid off. These emergency steps also added to the deficit.
Now, every family knows that a little credit card debt is manageable. But if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could cost us jobs and do serious damage to the economy. More of our tax dollars will go toward paying off the interest on our loans. Businesses will be less likely to open up shop and hire workers in a country that can’t balance its books. Interest rates could climb for everyone who borrows money -– the homeowner with a mortgage, the student with a college loan, the corner store that wants to expand. And we won’t have enough money to make job-creating investments in things like education and infrastructure, or pay for vital programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Because neither party is blameless for the decisions that led to this problem, both parties have a responsibility to solve it. And over the last several months, that’s what we’ve been trying to do. I won’t bore you with the details of every plan or proposal, but basically, the debate has centered around two different approaches.
The first approach says, let’s live within our means by making serious, historic cuts in government spending. Let’s cut domestic spending to the lowest level it’s been since Dwight Eisenhower was President. Let’s cut defense spending at the Pentagon by hundreds of billions of dollars. Let’s cut out waste and fraud in health care programs like Medicare — and at the same time, let’s make modest adjustments so that Medicare is still there for future generations. Finally, let’s ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to give up some of their breaks in the tax code and special deductions.
This balanced approach asks everyone to give a little without requiring anyone to sacrifice too much. It would reduce the deficit by around $4 trillion and put us on a path to pay down our debt. And the cuts wouldn’t happen so abruptly that they’d be a drag on our economy, or prevent us from helping small businesses and middle-class families get back on their feet right now.
This approach is also bipartisan. While many in my own party aren’t happy with the painful cuts it makes, enough will be willing to accept them if the burden is fairly shared. While Republicans might like to see deeper cuts and no revenue at all, there are many in the Senate who have said, “Yes, I’m willing to put politics aside and consider this approach because I care about solving the problem.” And to his credit, this is the kind of approach the Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, was working on with me over the last several weeks.
The only reason this balanced approach isn’t on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of Republicans in Congress are insisting on a different approach — a cuts-only approach -– an approach that doesn’t ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to contribute anything at all. And because nothing is asked of those at the top of the income scale, such an approach would close the deficit only with more severe cuts to programs we all care about –- cuts that place a greater burden on working families.
So the debate right now isn’t about whether we need to make tough choices. Democrats and Republicans agree on the amount of deficit reduction we need. The debate is about how it should be done. Most Americans, regardless of political party, don’t understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare before we ask a corporate jet owner or the oil companies to give up tax breaks that other companies don’t get. How can we ask a student to pay more for college before we ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries? How can we slash funding for education and clean energy before we ask people like me to give up tax breaks we don’t need and didn’t ask for?
That’s not right. It’s not fair. We all want a government that lives within its means, but there are still things we need to pay for as a country -– things like new roads and bridges; weather satellites and food inspection; services to veterans and medical research.
And keep in mind that under a balanced approach, the 98 percent of Americans who make under $250,000 would see no tax increases at all. None. In fact, I want to extend the payroll tax cut for working families. What we’re talking about under a balanced approach is asking Americans whose incomes have gone up the most over the last decade -– millionaires and billionaires -– to share in the sacrifice everyone else has to make. And I think these patriotic Americans are willing to pitch in. In fact, over the last few decades, they’ve pitched in every time we passed a bipartisan deal to reduce the deficit. The first time a deal was passed, a predecessor of mine made the case for a balanced approach by saying this:
“Would you rather reduce deficits and interest rates by raising revenue from those who are not now paying their fair share, or would you rather accept larger budget deficits, higher interest rates, and higher unemployment? And I think I know your answer.”
Those words were spoken by Ronald Reagan. But today, many Republicans in the House refuse to consider this kind of balanced approach -– an approach that was pursued not only by President Reagan, but by the first President Bush, by President Clinton, by myself, and by many Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate. So we’re left with a stalemate.
Now, what makes today’s stalemate so dangerous is that it has been tied to something known as the debt ceiling -– a term that most people outside of Washington have probably never heard of before.
Understand –- raising the debt ceiling does not allow Congress to spend more money. It simply gives our country the ability to pay the bills that Congress has already racked up. In the past, raising the debt ceiling was routine. Since the 1950s, Congress has always passed it, and every President has signed it. President Reagan did it 18 times. George W. Bush did it seven times. And we have to do it by next Tuesday, August 2nd, or else we won’t be able to pay all of our bills.
Unfortunately, for the past several weeks, Republican House members have essentially said that the only way they’ll vote to prevent America’s first-ever default is if the rest of us agree to their deep, spending cuts-only approach.
If that happens, and we default, we would not have enough money to pay all of our bills -– bills that include monthly Social Security checks, veterans’ benefits, and the government contracts we’ve signed with thousands of businesses.
For the first time in history, our country’s AAA credit rating would be downgraded, leaving investors around the world to wonder whether the United States is still a good bet. Interest rates would skyrocket on credit cards, on mortgages and on car loans, which amounts to a huge tax hike on the American people. We would risk sparking a deep economic crisis -– this one caused almost entirely by Washington.
So defaulting on our obligations is a reckless and irresponsible outcome to this debate. And Republican leaders say that they agree we must avoid default. But the new approach that Speaker Boehner unveiled today, which would temporarily extend the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts, would force us to once again face the threat of default just six months from now. In other words, it doesn’t solve the problem.
First of all, a six-month extension of the debt ceiling might not be enough to avoid a credit downgrade and the higher interest rates that all Americans would have to pay as a result. We know what we have to do to reduce our deficits; there’s no point in putting the economy at risk by kicking the can further down the road.
But there’s an even greater danger to this approach. Based on what we’ve seen these past few weeks, we know what to expect six months from now. The House of Representatives will once again refuse to prevent default unless the rest of us accept their cuts-only approach. Again, they will refuse to ask the wealthiest Americans to give up their tax cuts or deductions. Again, they will demand harsh cuts to programs like Medicare. And once again, the economy will be held captive unless they get their way.
This is no way to run the greatest country on Earth. It’s a dangerous game that we’ve never played before, and we can’t afford to play it now. Not when the jobs and livelihoods of so many families are at stake. We can’t allow the American people to become collateral damage to Washington’s political warfare.
Congress now has one week left to act, and there are still paths forward. The Senate has introduced a plan to avoid default, which makes a down payment on deficit reduction and ensures that we don’t have to go through this again in six months.
I think that’s a much better approach, although serious deficit reduction would still require us to tackle the tough challenges of entitlement and tax reform. Either way, I’ve told leaders of both parties that they must come up with a fair compromise in the next few days that can pass both houses of Congress -– and a compromise that I can sign. I’m confident we can reach this compromise. Despite our disagreements, Republican leaders and I have found common ground before. And I believe that enough members of both parties will ultimately put politics aside and help us make progress.
Now, I realize that a lot of the new members of Congress and I don’t see eye-to-eye on many issues. But we were each elected by some of the same Americans for some of the same reasons. Yes, many want government to start living within its means. And many are fed up with a system in which the deck seems stacked against middle-class Americans in favor of the wealthiest few. But do you know what people are fed up with most of all?
They’re fed up with a town where compromise has become a dirty word. They work all day long, many of them scraping by, just to put food on the table. And when these Americans come home at night, bone-tired, and turn on the news, all they see is the same partisan three-ring circus here in Washington. They see leaders who can’t seem to come together and do what it takes to make life just a little bit better for ordinary Americans. They’re offended by that. And they should be.
The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government. So I’m asking you all to make your voice heard. If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of Congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message.
America, after all, has always been a grand experiment in compromise. As a democracy made up of every race and religion, where every belief and point of view is welcomed, we have put to the test time and again the proposition at the heart of our founding: that out of many, we are one. We’ve engaged in fierce and passionate debates about the issues of the day, but from slavery to war, from civil liberties to questions of economic justice, we have tried to live by the words that Jefferson once wrote: “Every man cannot have his way in all things — without this mutual disposition, we are disjointed individuals, but not a society.”
History is scattered with the stories of those who held fast to rigid ideologies and refused to listen to those who disagreed. But those are not the Americans we remember. We remember the Americans who put country above self, and set personal grievances aside for the greater good. We remember the Americans who held this country together during its most difficult hours; who put aside pride and party to form a more perfect union.
That’s who we remember. That’s who we need to be right now. The entire world is watching. So let’s seize this moment to show why the United States of America is still the greatest nation on Earth –- not just because we can still keep our word and meet our obligations, but because we can still come together as one nation.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
Escambia County Murder Under Investigation
July 25, 2011
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the homicide that occurred over the weekend.
At around 9:48 p.m. Sunday, deputies and investigators responded to a home in the 5000 block of Mitchell Lane, after the victims brother-in-law called 911.
“His brother-in-law drove over to check on the victim and found him lying on the living room floor,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Deputy Chris Welborn. “The victim was found with obvious injuries about the head.”
Emergency medical personnel responded and pronounced the man deceased.
The victim has been identified as 65-year-old Jerry Wayne Ledden.
“Our investigators are unable to release any more information concerning Mr. Ledden’s death,” said Welborn. “But they are looking into a few leads that have developed.”
Investigators are awaiting results of an autopsy before releasing the cause of death.
Anyone who may have information related to this case is asked to contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Hunt Continues For Alabama Prison Escapee Possibly Spotted In Florida
July 25, 2011
The search is continuing for an Alabama prison escapee, and authorities say he may have been spotted in Santa Rosa County.
William Paul Riley, 38, was reported missing about 8:05 a.m. Monday from a work crew in the area of Ridge Road in Brewton. It was later determined that Riley stole a red 1993 Nissan pickup with a distinctive white thunderbolt design on the side. The truck belonged to an employee who left the keys in the vehicle. According to an Alabama Department of Corrections news release, the tag number was 30AI7LS. The tag number 30A17L5 was also provide to law enforcement.
Late Monday morning, a resident reported seeing a man matching Riley’s description near Jay or Milton, but the information was sketchy.
Riley is a white male, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing 175 pounds, with brown eyes and blonde hair. He was seen in a white prison jumpsuit wearing an orange traffic vest.
His last known address before being incarcerated was in Orange Beach, Alabama, and authorities believe he may be headed to Orange Beach or Pensacola.
He was serving a 15-year prison sentence for theft and dealing stolen property at the Atmore Community Work Center near the Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore. Riley was convicted on the charges in Jefferson County, Alabama (the Birmingham area). He was due to be released in March 2015 and set for a possible parole hearing in March 2013.
Anyone with information is asked to call their local law enforcement agency or 911.
9 Locals Sentenced Up To 20 Years In Federal Drug Case
July 25, 2011
Nine North Escambia area residents have been sentenced to federal prison and three others are awaiting sentencing on federal drug charges stemming from an undercover operation that ended earlier this year.
The longest sentences were handed down to Matthew Ramsey of Duxbury Avenue in Molino, James N. Brown of Molino Road in Molino and Terry D. Wolfe of Robertsdale, Alabama. Ramsey will spend the next 20 years in federal prison, while Brown was sentenced to nearly 16 years and Wolfe received 10 years.
The 12 were indicted and arrested in February for conspiring to obtain pseudoephedrine in order to manufacture methamphetamine. They were arrested in a day-long law enforcement sweep on February 22 as part of a federal effort dubbed “Operation Blister Pack”. Ramsey and Wolfe were also charged with obtaining pseudoephedrine in order to manufacture methamphetamine and conspiring to manufacture the methamphetamine itself.
All of the dozen defendants entered into plea agreements with federal prosecutors over the past few months.
Those sentenced so far are:
- James N. Brown, of Molino Road, Molino– 188 months federal prison, three years supervised release.
- Tonya L. Foster, of Vaughn Street, Cantonment– 72 months federal prison, three years supervised release.
- Aarron V. Hendrickson, of Hwy. 95A, Cantonment — 36 months federal prison, three years supervised release.
- Raymond E. Love, of Highway 29, Molino — 54 months federal prison, three years supervised release.
- William T. Neal, of Williams Ditch Road, Cantonment – 40 months federal prison, three years supervised release.
- Terra C. Palmer, of Daylily Road, Cantonment — 60 months federal prison, three years supervised release.
- Matthew M. Ramsey, of Duxbury Avenue, Molino — 240 months federal prison, 10 years supervised release.
- Nicholas D. Scott, of Rumford Road, Molino – 87 months federal prison, three years supervised release.
- Terry D. Wolfe, of Robertsdale, Ala. — 120 months federal prison, five years supervised release.
Three people other people are awaiting sentencing. They are:
- Rebecca Jernigan, of Still Road, Century.
- Particia Love, of Eastman Lane, Cantonment.
- William Robbins, of Duxbury Avenue, Molino.
The case resulted from a long-term investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA).