New Playground For Bradberry Park In Walnut Hill
September 6, 2011
Escambia County Parks and Recreation recently completed installation on a new playground at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Weekend In Photos
September 6, 2011
From tropical weather to football and much more in between, NorthEscambia.com had the photos from across the area. Click an item below to read the story and see the photo gallery.
Velma Grace Wenger
September 6, 2011
Velma Grace Wenger, 81 of Walnut Hill, died Sunday September 4, 2011, in Century.
She was a homemaker, born in McPherson County, KS, on March 10, 1930, to the late Henry and Marie Ratzloff Schneider. She was a member of the Walnut Hill Mennonite Church.
She is survived by her husband, Ervy Wenger of Walnut Hill; one son, Dale Wenger and wife Carol of Nashville, TN; one daughter, Rachel Holderman and husband, Kim of Walnut Hill; two sisters, Evelyn Rutschman, Moundridge, KS and Carolyn Regier of Hesston, KS; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
Services will be Wednesday, September 7, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. from the Walnut Hill Mennonite Church. Interment will follow in the Walnut Hill Memorial Gardens.
Family will receive friends, Tuesday, September 6, 2011, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 6-8 p.m.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home in Atmore is in charge of all arrangements.
Bratt, Molino Park, Jim Allen Open Houses This Week
September 6, 2011
It’s time for parents to meet their child’s teacher in North Escambia, with three schools having open houses on Thursday night.
- Bratt — September 8, 6:30 p.m.
- Jim Allen — September 8, 6-7 p.m.
- Molino Park — September 8, 6:30 p.m.
For more information, contact your child’s school.
ECUA’s Cantonment Wastewater Facility In Operation For A Year
September 6, 2011
The $320 million Emerald Coast Utilities Authority’s Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment has now been in operation for a year.
Six years after Hurricane Ivan’s devastating impact on Northwest Florida and the ECUA’s Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant in downtown Pensacola, the new CWRF in Cantonment began accepting minimal wastewater flows on August 30, 2010.
A dedication and symbolic turning of a valve took place on December 2, 2010, marking the completion of the largest public works project in the history of Escambia County. The Main Street plant ceased operations on April 28, 2011, marking the day when all of ECUA’s wastewater was processed in Cantonment.
The Cantonment plant sits on 2,000 acres of land adjacent to Ascend Performance Materials (formerly Solutia) on Old Chemstrand Road. A full 15 miles north of the existing Main Street Treatment Plant, the facility is well above the flood plain and is built to resist hurricane-force winds. Redundant power and storage systems help to ensure that the facility can remain operational during conditions that crippled the Main Street plant during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
The plant uses a highly developed biological treatment and disinfection process to clean water and provide up to 17 million gallons a day of reclaimed water to Gulf Power’s Crist Plant and up to six million gallons a day of reclaimed water to International Paper.
The CWRF has been honored as a top three finalist for the 2011 Global Water Reuse Project of the Year by Global Water Intelligence.
Pictured: The Central Water Reclamation Facility in Cantonment. Submitted file photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
DJJ Wants Shorter Jail Time For Juvenile Offenders
September 6, 2011
The Department of Juvenile Justice could likely make procedure changes that would allow it to reduce the average length of time youths are locked up in detention by a week on average and save the state more than $4.6 million and reduce beds by 120, according to a new report by a Senate committee.
The agency could make bigger reductions in the average length of stay if lawmakers were willing to change the law to give the agency the ability to release kids who have completed requirements of their program without first getting approval from a judge, notes the interim report, released Thursday by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
The committee looked at outside reports by Florida TaxWatch the Southern Poverty Law Center, which said earlier this year that Florida keeps juvenile offenders locked up longer than other states with no corresponding benefit – and in fact may actually increase the chances that kids will commit crimes again by keeping them long after they should have been released.
The committee was charged with trying to reconcile the outside recommendations with opinions about their feasibility for implementation inside the agency and found general agreement in DJJ that the length of stay for many juveniles should be reduced.
“The DJJ supports the Florida TaxWatch/(Southern Poverty Law Center) recommendations to modify the length of stay, especially based upon current research indicating that longer stays in juvenile facilities do not appear to reduce offending and for low-risk offenders, institutional placement increases recidivism,” the report said. “In addition, longer lengths of stay produce little or no marginal benefit and there is no marginal gain from residential placement in terms of averting future offending.”
While the DJJ is proposing that lawmakers remove the requirement that a judge sign off on the department’s release of juveniles who have completed their required program, the committee staff didn’t make any recommendations to lawmakers on the question. Interim reports, however, often form the basis for committee legislation.
By The News Service of Florida
Maggie I. Blevins
September 6, 2011
Maggie I. Blevins, age 91, of Cantonment, left for her heavenly home September 4, 2011. There she met her husband Everett; son-in-law, Malcolm; granddaughter DaLana.
She was a member of Windy Hill Baptist Church. Maggie is survived by her daughter, Lois “Pat” Pevahouse; grandson, Michael Pevahouse; granddaughter, Daphne (Robbie) Madden.
Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6, 2011, at Eastern Gate Funeral Home. Services will be on Wednesday, September 7, 2011, at 11 a.m. at the funeral home Chapel with Pastor Ricky Skaggs officiating. Burial will be at Pensacola Memorial Gardens.
The family would also like to thank everyone at Specialty Care of Pensacola. Arrangements under the direction of Eastern Gate Memorial Funeral Home, Pensacola.
Gulf Power Reports 7,000 In The Dark; Repairs By Tuesday Night
September 5, 2011
About 7,000 Gulf Power customers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were without power as of 7:00 Monday night.
“We have been working all weekend to restore power but the high winds have caused a large number of outages,” said Jeff Rogers, spokesperson with Gulf Power. “We appreciate everyone’s continued patience as we patrol and repair the downed lines.”
As of 7 p.m. Monday, the utility reported that approximately 19,500 customers were without power throughout its service territory.
“Those outages represented 800 different locations across the area we serve,” said Rogers.” Our crews will be working through the night, and we’re using all available resources including contracted crews. We hope to have everyone’s power restored by tomorrow evening.”
Escambia River Electric Cooperative reported all customers across their service territory in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were back on by 8:10 p.m Monday. An exact number of EREC customers that lost power Monday was not available.
Wind Advisory Issued
September 5, 2011
Wind Advisory
Statement as of 6:57 PM CDT on September 05, 2011
…Wind Advisory now in effect until 10 PM CDT this evening…
* event…frequent winds gusts of 25 to 35 mph.
* Timing…through 10 PM CDT this evening.
* Impact…winds this strong can also blow around small unsecured
objects and make driving of high profile vehicles difficult.
Precautionary/preparedness actions…
A Wind Advisory means that winds of 25 to 39 mph are expected.
Winds this strong can make driving difficult…especially for
high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.
TD Lee: Moving Closer; Winds Gust 50+ Recorded
September 5, 2011
At 1 p.m. the remnants of the center of Tropical Depression Lee was about 40 miles west of downtown Mobile and moving east at 22 mph. Maximum sustained winds were about 40 mph.
The extratropical system will continue to move east and northeast with gusts up to 50 mph. Heavy rainfall is still possible, along with high winds. There is a wind advisory in effect for frequent wind gusts in the local area from 30 to 35 mph with occasional gusts to 45 mph.
A peak wind gust of 48 mph was recorded so far this afternoon in Walnut Hill, while Jay had a peak gust of 57 mph.