Two Escambia Residents Get Life In Federal Drug Case
August 11, 2011
Two Escambia County residents have been sentenced to life in prison in a federal drug case.
Terrence L Watson, 30, and Senica C Herbert, 34, received a life sentence from Senior U.S. District Judge Lacy Collier following their convictions for participating in a narcotics conspiracy involving five kilograms or more of cocaine.
The sentences were the latest of more than 20 convictions stemming from related Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) prosecutions by the United
States Attorneys Office in Pensacola over the last two years. The convictions have resulted in four life sentences and five sentences of 20 years or more on charges involving narcotics, firearms and related violence.
Those convicted have been from Florida, Alabama and Texas, including several defendants with direct ties to organized crime in Mexico, according to Pamela C. Marsh, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Escambia Proposes $4.3 Million Cantonment Fire Training Facility With Ascend
August 11, 2011
A partnership between Escambia Fire Rescue and Ascend Performance Materials could lead to a new fire training facility worth over $4 million.
Escambia County officials are proposing the facility on 20 acres currently owned by Ascend at their Cantonment manufacturing facility. If an agreement is reached to build the fire training area, the property’s ownership would be transferred to the county.
Escambia County currently has $817,492.10 in the budget for a fire training facility; early estimates are the county will need another $3.5 to $3.75 million for the facility.
The facility, as proposed, would include a fire tower, a burn building, confined space training area, an area for structural collapse training, a rail car prop, an area for vehicle extrication training, industrial fire training, a helipad and classroom space.
The proposed fire training facility and a funding source must first be approved by the Escambia County Commission at a later date.
Pictured above: A proposed Escambia Fire Rescue training facility in Cantonment, click to enlarge.
New Jay High Won’t Be Ready For First Day Classes
August 11, 2011
Students won’t begin the first day of school in the new Jay High School later this month; instead, the school’s nearly 500 students will attend classes in the old buildings as crews work to complete the facility.
The new target completion date for the project is October, pushed back due to rain and unexpected construction delays.
Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis caused extensive cracks to appear in the walls of Jay High, prompting the installation of over five dozen braces in the school’s 48,000 square foot main building north of the gym.
The new phase one that will open in October will include classrooms and administrative areas. Once it opens, phase two plans call for the demolition of the old school building and the construction of more classrooms, a band room and cafeteria. Bids have not yet been accepted for phase two.
Jay High To Hold Royal Night
August 11, 2011
Jay High School will hold “Royal Night” next week to give fans the chance to come out and meet this year’s Royal football team and some future Royals.
Events begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, August 19 at Merle V. North Stadium at Jay High School. Admission is $3 with concessions available from the band.
There will be scrimmages between future Royals — Mini Mites at 6 p.m., Mites at 6:20, and Midgets at 6:40. The band will perform at 7 p.m., followed by a junior varsity scrimmage at 7:15. The varsity Royals will hold a scrimmage at 7:35.
Season passes are also on sale now in the front office for the Jay Royals. Family passes at $175 and individual passes are $100.
Ticket prices for football games this year will be $6 pre-sale and $7 at the gate. Junior varsity game tickets are $5 for home games.
More Hot Weather
August 11, 2011
Our hot, humid weather will continue through the weekend. Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Heat index values as high as 105. Calm wind becoming northwest between 5 and 10 mph.
- Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Heat index values as high as 107. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
- Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Saturday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Saturday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Sunday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming west between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Sunday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming northwest. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Monday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 93.
- Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Group Plans Lawsuit Over Florida Textbook Adoption Changes
August 11, 2011
A Boca Raton group that believes some Florida textbooks are slanted to favor Islamic beliefs plans to file a lawsuit against the state of Florida and Gov. Rick Scott for approving a new law that changes the state’s textbook adoption process.
Citizens for National Security will file its lawsuit Thursday in a Palm Beach County circuit court, saying the new law violates the state constitution’s promise of a “high-quality” education.
The dramatic changes to the textbook adoption process contained in SB 2120, a new state law tied to the education budget, eliminated the use of large statewide committees of public school teachers, administrators, school board members and private citizens to review textbooks.
Instead, the education commissioner hand-picks three state or national “subject matter experts” to examine the books, with only two people reviewing the books and the third acting as a tie-breaker.
“It is not possible for two people to review all the textbooks in Florida within a 4 month period of time,” the complaint says. “Prior to the passage of SB 2120, the selection/adoption process for history and geography textbooks required the reviews of more than 40 people, and took approximately one year to complete.”
Citizens for National Security Chairman William Saxton said his group believes the new law removes a valuable form of oversight from the textbook selection process.
“We need to have the new law repealed because what the new law does is totally disenfranchise the public from having any role in the selection of K-12 public textbooks,” Saxton said. “In the old law it wasn’t a significant role, but it was a role. There was oversight.”
Barry Silver, an attorney representing Citizens for National Security and a former Democratic state representative, said changing the textbook adoption policies opens the window to religious indoctrination of children.
He called textbook selection a “monumental undertaking” and the suggestion that three people could handle this task is “absolutely ridiculous” because it is so time-consuming.
“We need more people, not less, engaged in that task,” Silver said.
Saxton said his group has helped conduct a review of existing textbooks and found that some “embrace or embellish” Islamic values over Judeo-Christian values. Saxton said he believes through lobbying textbook adoption committees and textbook publishers, Islamic groups have gotten their point of view into textbooks.
“It’s another form of jihad,” Saxton said, with “hearts and minds of children” the target.
He said these concerns were brought to the Department of Education and Scott prior to his signing the bill.
Scott has become a popular target for lawsuits and this marks at least the eighth time he has been sued since taking office.
“This isn’t the first time Gov. Scott has been inappropriately added to a lawsuit where he’s not a proper defendant. It’s all just a ploy to get a splash in the media and any good lawyer would know better,” said Scott spokesman Lane Wright.
School districts can appoint a teacher or district curriculum specialist to review the recommendations by the reviewers. Ultimately, school districts must spend 50 percent of their textbook budgets on state-approved books.
In May, the Department of Education explained the change as a way of curing some problems with the existing adoption process. Mary Jane Tappen, who is in charge of curriculum for the department, said it had become difficult to find people to sit on the committees since it is a huge undertaking.
“We felt like going to a review process where first experts review the content to ensure it is error-free and factual, followed by every district in the state participating in a second review,” Tappen said.
The Department of Education said it has yet to select new textbook reviewers under the new law.
“We’re still in the process of getting volunteer experts from the universities, state colleges, national organizations other state agency social studies program specialists and private university systems,” said department spokeswoman Cheryl Etters. The next textbooks up for adoption are K-12 social studies books.
It’s not just groups like Citizens for National Security that are concerned about the new adoption process.
Teachers and school board members who had previously sat on the statewide adoption committees also sounded alarms earlier this year when the Legislature first passed the bill that made the changes.
“We are going to see what happened in Texas, with curriculum being challenged and changed,” said April Griffin, a school board member from Hillsborough County Schools, in a May interview with the News Service of Florida. “We are going to see favoritism for certain companies. I think we are going to lose the voice of the front lines in this process.”
By The News Service of Florida
Joe F. Dixon
August 11, 2011
Joe F. Dixon, 72, of Pensacola, loving husband, father, grandfather, was called home August 6, 2011.
Joe was born in Panama City in 1939 to Robert and Wilma Dixon. Joe graduated from Bay High School in 1957. Joe then joined the United States Navy where he served until 1961. In 1961, Joe joined the ranks of the Florida Highway Patrol as a state trooper. Joe served Florida for over 39 years and retired at the rank of captain. Joe graduated in 1976 with a bachelor of arts degree from the University of West Florida. Joe was a 40-year member of Gulf Breeze Lodge # 347.
Joe is survived by his wife of 49 years, Georgetta, son and daughter-in-law Jeffrey and Melody Dixon; grandchildren Jennifer and Wesley; brother Calvin Dixon and wife Sandy; niece Becky Bolton and husband Jeff, their children Cassidy and Natalie; nephew Scott Dixon and wife Lisa; sister-in-law Elaine Tilson, Highlands, North Carolina; and nephew and nieces David, Gabrielle and Jessica Tilson.
Joe enjoyed fishing, hunting, golf, Nascar and Five Flags racing, and he especially loved spending time with his family. “Paw Paw’s” heart and soul were his grandchildren Jennifer and Wesley, or His Honey and Little Buddy.
A memorial service was held Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at Faith Chapel Funeral Home. Procession followed to Barrancas National Cemetery. Joe was laid to rest with full military honors.
Serving as pallbearers were Jeff Dixon, Wesley Dixon, Scott Dixon, Robert Hendrix, Mike Kirby and Mark Cotton.
Ellafaire Luker Sasser
August 11, 2011
Ellafaire Luker Sasser, 86 of Atmore, died Saturday, August 6, 2011, in Chatom, Alabama, at the Washington County Nursing Care Center. She was a native of Freemanville, born on April 3, 1925, to the late Robert S. and Lucinda Elizabeth Digmon Luker.
Ms. Ellafaire was a devout Christian woman, a loving mother and grandmother. She demonstrated in her daily life the depth of her love for family and especially for children. She was a charter member of the Presley Street Baptist church of Atmore. She taught many Sunday school classes and was very involved in vacation bible schools. Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will miss her. She was an excellent cook and an artist producing many beautiful oil paintings.
She is preceded in death by her husband Dr. Ralph Gordon Sasser, who served as a Baptist minister and a psychologist. He was the director of the Mental Health Center in Crestview. Ms. Ellafaire was a dedicated wife, and set an example for the role of a pastor’s wife. She is also preceded in death by a Sister Lucille Centanni.
Survivors include three sons: Ray G. Sasser and wife, Joyce Elaine of Orange Beach; Rev. James Wayne Sasser and wife, Patricia Louise of Pensacola and Ronald Mitchell Sasser of Milton; one daughter, Martha Sue Townsend and husband Marty of Chatom; twelve grandchildren, Karen Davis, Kathy Jackson, James Sasser, Charles Sasser, Scott Ellis, Christy Sasser, Amy Given, Mindy Bobe, Brit Sasser, Carrie Phillips, Emily Townsend and Jenny Beech; 15 great-grandchildren, Ashley Davis, Shannon Davis, Tara Davis, Kevin Jackson, Sean Jackson, Julie Jackson, Hannah Jackson, Brett Wilson, Cade Sasser, Jake Sasser, Alex Given, Tyler Giver, Kyla Given, Sam Phillips and Eli Phillips.
Services will be Saturday, August 13, 2011, at 2:oo p.m. from the Presley Street Baptist Chruch in Atmore. Interment will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery. Family will receive friends Saturday, August 13, 2011, at the Presley Street Baptist Church from 1:00 p.m. until service time.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Afternoon Fire Destroys Abandoned Mobile Home
August 10, 2011
Fire destroyed an abandoned double wide mobile home this afternoon between Davisville and Nokomis.
The home had already burned to the ground by the time the first firefighters arrived on Miller Road east of Rockaway Creek Road, just south of the Alabama-Florida line. Firefighters said the home had no power, no gas and there was no obvious source of ignition. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
There were no injuries reported in the blaze, which happened about 2:15 p.m.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Atmore Fire Department responded to the blaze.
Pictured above: Fire destroyed this abandoned double wide mobile home on Miller Road Wednesday afternoon. Pictured below: Fire burns on the last wall standing in the structure. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Deputies Seek Help In Identifying Vehicle Related To Funeral Service Burglaries
August 10, 2011
Santa Rosa County investigators are seeking the public’s help in identifying and locating a vehicle that may have been involved in vehicle burglaries during a graveside funeral service last weekend.
The incident happened Saturday during a funeral service at Serenity Gardens Cemetery in Milton. When deputies arrived, they found that five vehicle burglaries had occurred while the owners were attending the funeral service only about 50 yards away.
Now deputies are working to identify a late model grayish green four-door Mazda Tribute with a Georgia tag seen at the Circle K at Dogwood Drive and Willard Norris Road in Milton shortly after the funeral service burglaries. The SUV was caught on camera as a credit card was used that was stolen during the burglary. Investigators need to speak with the individual in order to further the investigation.
Editor’s note: Earlier Wednesday, deputies were looking for the white pickup seen in the photos above. The truck was located and was not part of the incident.
Anyone with information concerning the burglaries is asked to contact Santa Rosa County Crime Stoppers at (850) 437-STOP or www.srccs.com.
For an earlier NorthEscambia.com story with more information about the vehicle burglaries during a nearby graveside service, click here.