Jury Picked In Double Murder Trial Of Cantonment Man
August 16, 2011
A jury was seated Monday morning in the double murder trial of Phillip Arnold, the Cantonment man accused in the stabbing death of a pregnant Cantonment woman and her baby last summer.
The 66-year old Arnold, is facing two first degree premeditated murder charges for the stabbing deaths of Angela Castella Brown, 44, and her newborn child on July 5, 2010, in Cantonment. Arnold’s trial is set to begin Thursday and is excepted to last two days.
Brown, who was six months pregnant, underwent an emergency C-section after she was stabbed. The newborn, later named Angela Chambers, died just over seven hours after being delivered.
Arnold, 65, of 349 South Chipper Road, fatally stabbed Brown in the chest, according to the State Attorney’s Office. Arnold and Brown were neighbors, and that was their only known connection, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were dispatched to the stabbing at a mobile home at 349 South Chipper Road about 8:35 p.m on July 5. When they arrived, witnesses told deputies that Arnold fled into a nearby wooded area. As deputies were arriving in the area, EMS personnel advised they had seen a black male running down the railroad tracks on South Chipper Road.
Witnesses at the scene reported observing a black male known to them as Arnold running from the scene moments before they discovered the victim, according to the Sheriff’s Office. K-9 officers attempting to track Arnold discovered a knife that was believed to be the murder weapon. As deputies were surrounding the area to search for Arnold, he called sheriff’s dispatchers about 9:10 p.m. Arnold said he was at a home at 2473 Stacey Road and that he wanted to turn himself in. He was taken into custody without incident.
Brown was the mother of seven other children ranging in age from an infant to 18-years old.
Arnold remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond.
Escambia Parents Can Apply Online Now For Free, Reduced Lunch Benefits
August 16, 2011
School does not start in Escambia County until next week, but parents and guardians can apply online now for free and reduced prices meals and speed up the approval process.
Online applications for the 2011-2012 school year can be completed at:
http://mealapp.escambia.k12.fl.us/
There are no charges or fees to use the online free and reduced meal application.
For parents without internet access at home that wish to apply for meal benefits, Northview High School will make computers available in their Media Center this week. The computers will be available August 17, 8:30 a.m. -noon. and 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.; and August 18, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Parents will need to sign in at the school’s attendance office window.
To view the income guidelines for the free and reduced price meal program, click here.
Century To ‘Support” NHS Football With $450 Newspaper Ad, $50 To Quarterback Club
August 16, 2011
The Town of Century voted Monday night to “support” Northview High School football by spending hundreds to purchase an ad in a Flomaton newspaper, while spending just $50 with the Northview Quarterback Club.
The council voted 5-0 to purchase a $450 full page ad that will be published one time in the Tri-City Ledger, a weekly newspaper.
The council also voted 5-0 to purchase a $50 quarter page ad in the Northview High School Football Program. The football program is distributed at every home Northview game, and all proceeds from the football program support the Northview football team through the school’s Quarterback Club.
The ads will be funded out of the town’s gas department budget.
Scott: Hundreds, Including 17 Doctors, Arrested In Florida Pill Mill Crackdown
August 16, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday touted Florida’s efforts to shed its reputation as a pill-mill capital, pointing to 937 arrests since a law-enforcement “strike force” began working in March.
The strike force has arrested 17 doctors and seized 252,410 pharmaceutical pills during that time, Scott’s office said in a news release after the governor made an appearance in South Florida with Surgeon General Frank Farmer and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey.
“Florida law enforcement has launched a focused attack,” Bailey said in the news release. “We have major investigations open in every region of the state and we are systematically taking down pill mills, rounding up street traffickers, and putting over-prescribing doctors out of business.”
Florida has gained a deadly reputation in recent years as a magnet for prescription-drug abusers and traffickers. Notorious clinics in South Florida and other areas of the state have drawn people from as far away as Ohio and Kentucky.
State officials Monday also discussed a report that cited oxycodone as a cause of 1,516 deaths last year in Florida. That was most of any type of drug, according to the report, which used data from drug-related autopsies conducted by medical examiners.
By The News Service of Florida
Century Won’t Regulate Guns Or Ammo
August 16, 2011
The Town of Century is considering an ordinance that will ensure the town won’t regulate guns or ammunition in any manner, in accordance with a new state law.
The new ordinance under consideration by the town council would eliminate anything in Century’s Code of Ordinances that regulates firearms or ammunition in any manner. A new Florida law passed last legislative session and dubbed the “Joe Carlucci Uniform Firearms Act” makes gun control the state’s domain.
Town Attorney Matt Dannheisser said there were no laws currently on the books in Century that regulated guns, according to Council President Ann Brooks, so the ordinance is a formality to ensure the town complies with the new state law.
All state regulations regarding firearms and ammunition will remain in effect in Century.
The state law provides potential stiff penalties for those in violation — including civil fines up to $5,000 for elected or appointed government officials and immediate termination of government employees responsible for a willful violation. It also allows person or organizations that believe a violation of the state law adversely affected them to sue for damages up to $100,000.
Pictured above: Century council members Ann Brooks (left) and Sandra McMurray Jackson read an ordinance at Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
BP Oil Spill Trials To Begin Next Year In Three Phases
August 16, 2011
The trial over last year’s BP oil spill, set for next year in New Orleans, will be split into three phases.
More than 100,000 plaintiffs are part of the case, which consolidates more than 500 lawsuits over the blowout of the Macondo well, the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ensuing 86-day Gulf of Mexico oil spill — the worst in the nation’s history.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said late last week that he’ll issue a formal trial plan later, but that an initial phase dealing with the actual explosion and sinking of the drilling platform, will begin on February 27, 2012. A second phase is expected to deal with the oil discharge itself, and a third phase would deal with the effort to clean it up.
By The News Service of Florida
Classes Begin As Work Underway To Replace School Media Center Destroyed By Fire
August 16, 2011
Students at Pollard-McCall School headed back to class Monday without a media center, but plans are underway to replace the building that was destroyed by fire back in mid-June.
The burned out building has been torn down, and officials hope to have a new media center and classrooms completed by the end of the school year.
The entire 23-year old media center at the Pollard-McCall School was totally destroyed in the June 15 blaze, including books and computers. Adjacent structures, including the main school building, were not damaged.
There were about 30 students and 15 employees at the school when the fire started. Very few were in the library, and all were evacuated without incident. There were no injuries reported.
Firefighters responded to the blaze from across the area, including Flomaton, Friendship, McCall, Lambeth, Jay, Century, McDavid and Molino. Pollard-McCall School is located about three miles north of the Alabama-Florida line, just northeast of Flomaton.
For a photo gallery from the scene, click here.
Pictured top: This is all that remains of the Pollard-McCall Media Center after a June 15 fire. Pictured below. An adjacent classroom in the same building suffered heavy smoke and water damage. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Learn About Northview, Ernest Ward Cross Country Teams At Meeting
August 16, 2011
A meeting for students and parents interested in cross country at Ernest Ward Middle or Northview High schools will be held this week.
“It develops patience, determination, and self reliance,” Coach Natalie Nall said about cross country. “The mission of the program is to develop a lifelong wellness through distance running and nutrition.”
The meeting will take place Thursday, August 18 at 6 p.m. in room 201 at Northview High School.
Sports Briefs: Flomaton Football, Jay Royals
August 16, 2011
There are several sports related items of interest this week:
Flomaton Football League Signups
Flomaton Football League signups for football and cheerleading, August 18 from 5-7 p.m at Hurricane Park. $50 signup cost. (251) 727-1391.
Jay High Royal Night
Jay High School Royal night will be Friday, August 19 beginning at 6 p.m. Admission $3, concessions available. Scrimmages with future Royals, JV and varsity teams.
Health Advisory In Effect After 1.4 Million Gallons Of ECUA Sewage Dumped
August 16, 2011
A health advisory has been issued after an ECUA pipe failure released about 1.4 million gallons of untreated sewage into the wetlands of Thompson Bayou near the University of West Florida this morning — the second such failure this summer.
A health alert has been issued for Thompson’s Bayou where it meets the Escambia River. The Escambia County Health Department is advising against any water related activities in the area due to the potential for high bacteria levels.
At 9:50 a.m. Monday, ECUA staff noticed a discrepancy in flows between the major lift stations and the influent flow meter at the Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment. An old 12-inch “force main” was found ruptured near Greenbriar Boulevard. Emergency crews and tanker trucks were immediately dispatched to the affected site to help contain the spill, according to ECUA.
Operators initiated steps to minimize the wastewater being pumped to the CWRF and to minimize the untreated sewage leaking from the broken force main. At 10:40 a.m. an isolation valve was closed at the connection between the old force main and the new transmission system to the Cantonment facility. At 11:50 a.m., a temporary bypass line was complete from a lift station to ECUA tanker trucks and the discharge was stopped, ECUA said.
The spill was reported to local and state authorities, including the Escambia County Health Department and the Department of Environmental Protection.
In late June, an ECUA pipe failure dumped 2.2 million gallons of untreated sewage into Thompson’s Bayou.