MSNBC ‘Lockup’ Shoot Back On At Santa Rosa Prison
August 26, 2011
The on-again, off-again MSNBC look at Santa Rosa County Correctional Institution is on again after Gov. Rick Scott signed off on a Department of Corrections plan to allow the network to film inside the prison for its series. “Lockup.”
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger on Thursday confirmed that taping would proceed after the Scott’s office signed off on the deal, which will net the state $110,000.
“The governor’s office did not get to vet that contract before,” Plessinger said. “We certainly understand the governor’s concerns. They have vetted that contract now and given us the go ahead so we’ll be working to get that done.”
Confusion over the filming was among a number of missteps that appear to have led to Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Buss’s resignation Wednesday. Staffers for Gov. Rick Scott said they were not told beforehand that the program was being taped. Buss went public, naming a list of staffers who he said had been informed of the contract.
The series of shows is expected to air on MSNBC in early 2012.
By The News Service of Florida
Heartfelt Homecoming: Fallen Marine Returns (Photo Gallery: Pensacola, Walnut Hill, Atmore)
August 25, 2011
The rain poured down at Pensacola Naval Air Station Wednesday afternoon as the body of Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Nelson, 19, arrived on the final leg of his journey home.
Outside the main gate of Pensacola NAS, people gathered to pay their respects to the young soldier killed last week in Afghanistan. The rain did not send them running; they stood silently — many holding American flag — as the hearse carrying an American hero departed on a 55-mile journey to Atmore.
Along the way, some of Pensacola’s busiest roadways came to a complete standstill as the motorcade passed. Many motorists stood outside their vehicles and paid their respects.
In Walnut Hill, just a few miles from Nelson’s boyhood home in Bratt, the motorcade slowed as it approached Ernest Ward Middle School. Nelson was Golden Eagle, attending Ernest Ward in the sixth and seventh grades.
Hundreds of Ernest Ward Middle School students and teachers dressed in red, white and blue lined Highway 97, American flags in hand, waiting for the arrival of the motorcade. Other families gathered along the highway, many at the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department where firemen stood at attention by their trucks, lights flashing as a show of respect.
Several of Nelson’s middle school teachers were among the crowd that suddenly grew silent as the first sirens could be heard. As the procession passed, the students stood with their hands over their hearts, waving Old Glory. The thunder of 127 Patriot Guard motorcycle riders vibrated the ground and echoed across the country fields near the school.
Six Florida Highway Patrol trooper vehicles led the hearse past the school. Many broke down in tears at the sight of a flag draped coffin. Others cried as they made eye contact with Nelson’s parents and their daughter — a sixth grader at Ernest Ward.
The motorcade continued into Atmore, where crowds stood along the route, waving Old Glory. At a local bank on Highway 31, people stood with large flags as the Northview High School NJTROC stood steadfast at attention. Across the way at the iconic Atmore train station, a group of local veterans stood proudly and saluted as Nelson’s remains passed.
Nelson’s body arrived a short time later at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home where Atmore Mayor Howard Shell stood alone and silent, his hand over his heart, next to an American flag at half staff in honor of the fallen Marine.
A Marine honor guard ceremoniously transferred Nelson’s remains inside the funeral home as a small group of family and friends gathered for a private service.
A public visitation will be held Friday from 12:30 p.m. until funeral time at the Atmore First Baptist Church on South Main Street.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at the Atmore First Baptist Church with Chaplain Lt. Commander Jeffrey Bornemann and the Rev. George Weaver officiating with military honors. Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in Atmore.
Nelson, a 2010 graduate of Pace High School, is the son of Scott and Beckie Nelson of Bratt. He is also survived by siblings Daniel Nelson, 28, Jenna McCall, 24, and Anna Nelson, 11. He was engaged to Madeline Cates, 21.
PHOTO GALLERIES
- Ernest Ward Middle School, NorthEscambia.com photos
- Pensacola NAS, courtesy Cheryl Casey for Northescambia.com
- Downtown Atmore, NorthEscambia.com photos
- Petty-Eastside Funeral Home, NorthEscambia.com photos
- Downtown Atmore, courtesy Abbie Rolph for Northescambia.com
- Highway 31, Atmore, courtesy Marcella Wilson for Northescambia.com
- Highway 31, Atmore, courtesy Charlie Code, Capt. USN(ret)
Pictured: The remains of LCpl. Travis Nelson pass Ernest Ward Middle School Wednesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Deputy Shot Last Year Gets Organ Transplant
August 25, 2011
Escambia County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Cassady, who was shot in the line of duty, received a pancreas and kidney transplant in Tampa Wednesday.
Family members said Wednesday night that the transplant appeared to be successful for both organs and Cassady was recovering well. The entire operation took over eight hours.
Cassady was shot by Phillip Monier, 47, on October 29, 2010. Monier remains in the Escambia County Jail on $2 million bond. He is charged with three counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and home invasion robbery.
State Worker Health Plan Enrollment Delayed
August 25, 2011
With HMOs waging a legal battle about new contracts, state employees will have to wait longer this fall to sign up for health-insurance benefits.
The Florida Department of Management Services on Wednesday said it pushed back the start of an open-enrollment insurance period from Sept. 26 to Nov. 7.
The move came as an administrative law judge gets ready to hear arguments next month about new contracts that could lead to three HMOs losing substantial chunks of their state-employee business.
UnitedHealthcare of Florida, Coventry Health Care of Florida and Florida Health Care Plan are challenging a Department of Management Services decision to only contract with one HMO in each county.
Meanwhile, two HMOs that would be winners in the new system — AvMed and Capital Health Plan — have joined the case to argue in support of the changes.
The losing firms say the state’s contracting process was flawed and that allowing only one HMO in each county will force tens of thousands of workers and retirees to switch health plans.
“It does not provide ‘best value’ to the state. … The (department) actions are clearly erroneous, contrary to competition, arbitrary or capricious,” Coventry said in its challenge in the state Division of Administrative Hearings.
But the Department of Management Services contends that the changes will lead to an estimated savings of $400 million over two years, in part because of competition for the contracts.
Capital Health Plan, which would have the HMO contract in seven North Florida counties loaded with state workers and retirees, defended the contracting process in a legal filing.
“The ultimate facts … are that CHP’s final offer provides by a wide margin the best value to the state in each county in CHP’s service area, as determined by the department reasonably and in good faith during a negotiation process,” the HMO said.
The Department of Management Services originally scheduled an open-enrollment period from Sept. 26 through Oct. 21. But the agency Wednesday postponed the period until Nov. 7 through Nov. 18 because of the legal case.
The changes, which are slated to take effect Jan. 1, apply only to employees enrolled in the HMO portion of the state insurance program. Employees enrolled in the state’s preferred-provider organization plan (PPO), which is administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, are not affected.
Currently, the state contracts with five HMOs. If the changes are upheld, employees and retirees in much of the state could see changes.
For example, United would go from providing coverage in 66 counties to 18. Similarly, Florida Health Care Plan would not cover state employees in the only two counties it serves — Volusia and Flagler.
Spokesman Kris Purcell said in an e-mail Wednesday that the department expects to use the PPO as a fallback for employees who face changing HMOs. If those employees don’t make the changes, they would go into the PPO to “ensure they have no lapse in coverage,” Purcell said.
AvMed would become the dominant HMO in the state plan, winning contracts to serve 38 counties, including major population centers such as Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Duval, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Orange.
The administrative hearing is scheduled to start Sept. 12. UnitedHealthcare, Coventry and Florida Health Care Plan have already indicated in filings that they likely will take aim at AvMed.
United and Florida Health Care Plan contend, at least in part, that AvMed does not have as large of a network of providers as they can offer to state employees. United also argues it can wring greater discounts out of providers because it is a larger insurer.
By Jim Saunders
The News Service Of Florida
Investigators Identify Body Found Sunday, Seek More Info
August 25, 2011
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigators are seeking information on an Escambia County man whose body was found Sunday in a wooded area near the Marcus Pointe Apartments.
John Daniel Hall was last seen Saturday August 20, 2011 at approximately 2:00 pm. The 68-year old was driving a light blue 2007 Kia Sorrento with an Alabama handicapped license plate and Blue Angel decals on the front and back windshield.
Anyone with information concerning Hall or his vehicle are asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crimestoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Nina Beck Weekes
August 25, 2011
Nina Beck Weekes passed away Sunday, August 21, 2011. She was born September 12, 1932, to Rankin and Myrtle Beck.
She was preceded by both her parents; her husband, Ernest O. Weekes; her brothers, Stephen E. Beck, Ollie Gene Beck and Ellis Gerald Beck.
She is survived by her son, Kenneth Beck; her brother, Dr. Burton C. Beck of Orange Beach; her sister, Nila Kimmons; her best friend, Johnny Giddins and numerous nieces and nephews.
Services will be private.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home, 1000 Highway 29 South, Cantonment is in charge of arrangements.
Meet The NHS Chiefs Tonight, Football Friday Night
August 25, 2011
The Northview High School Quarterback Club will sponsor the annual “Meet the Chiefs” at 6:00 tonight at the NHS stadium.
Planned festivities for the night include performances by the Northview Chiefs Tribal Beat Marching Band, the Northview High School cheerleaders, the brand new Northview Dance Team, and the introduction of the 2011 Northview varsity and junior varsity Chiefs. Admission is free. Hot dog plates and spirit items will be available.
The Chiefs will host a preseason Fall Classic against Bay High School Friday night at 7:00.
The Northview High Quarterback club is holding a membership drive during Meet the Chiefs on Thursday night and during Friday night’s football game. Membership is $10 per family.
“Come out and support the Chiefs,” said Alan Purvis of the NHS QB Club. “Its going to be a great year.”
Pictured: Two Northview defenders take down a Trinity Christian Conqueror in the Class 1A Semifinals last December. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Corrections Boss Quits, Deputy FDLE Leader Takes Over Prison System
August 25, 2011
Citing increasingly apparent “differences in philosophy and management styles” with the administration, Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Edwin Buss resigned abruptly on Wednesday, after less than eight months on the job.
Buss, who was lauded as one of the top prison administrators in the country when Gov. Rick Scott stole him away from Indiana in December, had sent subtle signals that he was wary of the degree to which the governor’s office was driving policy, from a very broad move to privatize prisons to personnel and contracting decisions in the agency.
Scott accepted Buss’ resignation – the second of the first term governor’s agency heads to leave – and quickly appointed deputy Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Ken Tucker to take over the agency, which while in the middle of a move to shed prisons remains the third largest in the country.
Buss’ Corrections Department ran afoul of Scott and others in the governor’s office at least twice in the last several days – and was also blindsided by bad publicity over an unexpected $25 million cost to planned prison privatization that was heavily criticized by a couple of lawmakers.
Sen. Mike Fasano said recently he would hold hearings on recent revelations that the privatization of 29 prison facilities in the southern part of the state would come with $25 million in costs related to the departure of agency employees, such as unused vacation and sick time.
Fasano said he should have been made aware of the cost – since he’s chairman of the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee.
Also, the agency this week terminated a contract with a woman brought to the agency by Buss to oversee the planned privatization of prisoner health care. Scott’s office reportedly pushed for the woman, Elizabeth Gondles, to be fired over concerns about a conflict of interest. Gondles was hired for $180,000 to work for 10 months overseeing bids to privatize medical services for prisoners. But her husband is the director of the only organization in the nation that accredits state prison medical services. Gondles was let go Monday.
Then, in another public disagreement between Buss and Scott, the secretary approved a contract to let a production company film part of the MSNBC series “Lockup” at a Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Milton, in the Panhandle. Buss had reportedly allowed the production company to film when he ran the Indiana prisons, but Scott canceled the contract, saying not only did he not approve it, he wasn’t aware of it.
Sources at the Department of Corrections told the St. Petersburg Times Buzz Blog earlier this week, however, that they did let officials in Scott’s office know about it, and named names of staffers who received information about it, likely further widening the wedge between the agency and the governor’s office.
“It was a combination of several things,” said Fasano, R-New Port Richey. “I believe this is not all Secretary Buss’ fault. I think it also has to do with the direction he was getting from his boss, the governor.”
Fasano threw his support behind Tucker, Buss’s replacement. “He is a very fine gentleman who is capable of taking over the reins and will do excellent.”
But Buss had sent signs even earlier that he was wary of the push for massive prison privatization, which while driven by the Legislature was clearly also being pushed by Scott, who signed the legislation approving the move.
Buss told the News Service earlier this year that the amount of privatization sought by lawmakers was enough – and that it needed to be evaluated to see if it was successful before more privatization was approved, questioning the generally accepted wisdom in Republican circles in Tallahassee that it would naturally be successful and more privatization would be the natural next step.
Buss met with Scott Wednesday afternoon and tendered his resignation.
Tucker, a 34-year law enforcement veteran, comes to Corrections from a job overseeing the FDLE’s seven Regional Operations Centers, Investigations and Forensic Sciences Program Office, Forensic Services, and Field Services. He joined FDLE in 1983 and has supervised agents in several offices in the agency. He’s also a former Daytona Beach police officer and a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
In a statement, Scott’s office said of Buss’ resignation that “differences in philosophy and management styles arose which made the separation in the best interests of the state.”
By David Royse
The News Service of Florida
Armed Robbery Charges: Man Stuffs Sausage Inside Pants, Pulls Knife
August 25, 2011
An Atmore man is charged with armed robbery after allegedly stuffing sausage inside his pants and pulling a knife at the Piggly Wiggly, before making his getaway across state lines on bicycle.
Charles Truman Davis, 62, remained in the Escambia County Jail on the armed robbery charge early Friday morning. His bond was set at $50,000.
An employee at the Piggly Wiggly on Highway 97 in Davisville reported seeing Davis place four packs of Conecuh Sausage — worth $4.29 each — into his pants. Before leaving, Davis reportedly pulled a four-inch pocket knife and told the store employee, “You don’t know me. I’ll cut your guts out”, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The store’s security guard and another employee tailed the alleged sausage thief’s bicycle into Atmore where he was detained by the Atmore Police Department. The stolen sausage was never found; authorities believe Davis disposed of it when he realized he was being followed.
Political, Economic Leaders Tour Century’s Assets
August 25, 2011
There’s a lot of potential in Century that Escambia County and the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce can help promote — that was the word Wednesday as political and economic leaders came together for a whirlwind tour of the town.
Century Mayor Freddie McCall led the tour for officials including Escambia County Administrator Randy Oliver, Pensacola Chamber President Jim Hizer, Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Kevin White and the town’s consultant, Debbie Nickles.
The tour included available spaces for economic development — such as the town’s “incubator” building on Pond Street, the old Alger-Sullivan Lumbermill and a vacant property in the Century Industrial Park. They also took at a look at some of what Century has to offer, such as Fischer Landing and Lake Stone.
The town’s business incubator, located on East Pond Street, is the former Century High School. Classrooms are converted into individual area for office space or other business uses. There is even a commercial kitchen available. But years after grant funding pair to renovate the buildings, the occupancy rate is exactly zero.
“There’s potential here,” McCall said. “We just need to get the right people in here.”
Pictured top: (L-R) Pensacola Chamber President Jim Hizer, Escambia County Administrator Randy Oliver, Century Mayor Freddie McCall and Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Kevin White discuss the future of the old Alger-Sullivan Lumber property. Pictured inset: McCall explains the facilities at the town’s Habitat Building. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.