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Tropical Storm Bret: No Worries Here

Tropical Storm Bret formed Sunday afternoon near the Bahamas The forecast path takes the storm over the Atlantic Ocean, posing no threat to the Gulf Coast. The latest information is in the graphic above, click to enlarge.

Bret is not expected to reach hurricane status.

Sharon “Sherry” McCaskill Ciampini

Sharon “Sherry” McCaskill Ciampini, 61, of Pensacola passed away Saturday, July 16, 2011.

Sherry had a passion for flowers and floral design. She is preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Ruby McCaskill.

Survivors include her son, Sky Silcox; sister, Pat Settles; brother, Jackie McCaskill; nephews, Taylor Crabtree and Justin Settles; also aunts and uncles, Van and Evelyn McCaskill, John and Joy Kemble, Mary Godwin Ward and Vernell McCaskill.

A emorial service will be held 1:00pm Wednesday, July 20, 2011, at Aldersgate United Methodist Church.

Honorary Pallbearers will be Joan and Wayne Whitehead, Jackie Olbs, Suzie Powell, Barbara Carroll, Donnie Nicholson, Travis Silcox, Opal Anderson and James McCaskill. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Aldersgate UMC Cemetery Fund, 6915 Hwy. 29 N., Cantonment, FL 32533.

Harper Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Park Dedicated In Honor Of Century’s Super Bowl Son

Two-time Super Bowl champion Anthony Pleasant returned home to Century Saturday night as the town dedicated a sports complex bearing his name.

Pleasant was honored at the dedication of the Anthony Pleasant Park by three of his former coaches – former Century High School Blackcat football coach Joe Cardwell, former Century basketball and football coach Lorenzo Jones, and his former Midget football coach Bobby Johnson.

For a photo gallery, click here. For a video, click here.

“Those men really played an important part in my life and caused me to be the person that I am today,” Pleasant said of his former Century coaches. “Character, discipline, hard work…all of that was instilled in me as a young boy.”

The NFL great reminisced about his days in Century – some of which would certainly have keep him out of professional football.

Quit the Century High Blackcats? There was no way, Pleasant said, that would be a good idea.

“Coach Cardwell had that little green Pinto and would come to the community center and pick guys up. If you quit, he would come by your house, kick his shoes off and make himself at home,” he said. “He would talk to your mom.”

Football was not Pleasant’s dream at one point during his high school career. He preferred to be on the basketball court under the leadership of Coach Jones. His mind was made up to shoot hoops, not play on the gridiron.

“Coach said I was better at playing football that I was basketball. My heart was sold out on basketball,” he said. “Think about that and if I hadn’t listened…what it comes down is people see things in you that you don’t see in yourself.”

“By listening to him, because he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself, I ended up being drafted in the third round by the Cleveland Browns.”

Pleasant, who is entering his second season as the defensive line coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, told the youth of Century that the adults and mentors in their lives are not out to hurt them; they are just trying to help.

“Because of his character, because of the person he was able to accomplish a great deal for Century, for himself and for his family,” Jones said.

Cardwell attributed Pleasant’s “great character” to his late mother Betty.

Johnson, who was coaching a Midget team with Pleasant at 12 and 14 years old, remembers a boy that pushed the weight limits and pushed himself to do his very best.

“I’ve never coached anyone like him,” he said. “He knew what he was doing, and he taught me a few things.”

But being outstanding on the youth league field did not earn a lot of a glory for Pleasant.

“I treated him like all the rest – like dogs. He was good sport about it,” Johnson said. “I’m so proud that he went as far his he did.”

“It means a lot to me that Century named something after me,” Pleasant said. “It was a great thing.”

The 22-acre Anthony Pleasant Park on East Highway 4 in Century includes a full-size  football field with bleachers and press box and a playground. .

Pleasant was selected in the third round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.  During his 14 year NFL career, Pleasant played for the Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Jets, the San Francisco 49ers and the New England Patriots. He played a total of 202 NFL games and racked up 58 sacks.

The 1986 Century High School graduate earned two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots.

For a photo gallery, click here. For a video, click here.

Pictured top: Century Mayor Freddie McCall (right) congratulates two-time Super Bowl champ Anthony Pleasant Saturday evening in Century. Pictured top inset:  Pleasant’s former Midget team coach Bobby Johnson (left) and former Century High School Coach Joe Cardwell (right) look at a plaque in Pleasant’s honor. Pictured bottom inset: Pleasant’s former Century High School basketball and football coach Lorezno Jones. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Video: Anthony Pleasant Park Dedication

The Anthony Pleasant Park was dedicated Saturday evening in Century. For the complete story, click here.

If you do not see the video below, it is because external videos are being block by your work, school or home firewall.

Photos: First Baptist Bratt Youth Activities

Youth from The First Baptist Church of Bratt recently enjoyed another session of Y.A.H.W.E.H. — Youth Activities Happening Wednesday Evenings in Homes.

Youth Minister Tim Hawsey along with college and career leaders Denver Hawsey, Casey Bagget, Matthew Wilson, Jeremy Bardin, and Brad and Melanie Faulk led a session that included riding a Harley and wading in Canoe Creek.

“Y.A.H.W.E.H. allows Hawsey and his leaders to present the Holy Bible to the youth in our community in a real way and show them how to apply this teaching to their everyday life,” event host Marcella Wilson said.

Hawsey says he has seen the lives of many youth transformed thru Y.A.H.W.E.H. and he invites the youth of Bratt and surrounding communities to join the group.

For more photos, click here.

Do you have news or photos you would like to share from your church? Email news@northescambia.com

Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

More Rain Possible Tonight

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

• Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 7pm. Cloudy during the early evening, then becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
• Monday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
• Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
• Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 95. North wind around 5 mph becoming south.
• Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 73. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.
• Wednesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
• Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 96. Calm wind becoming south between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
• Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
• Friday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Saturday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
• Saturday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Sunday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Chance of precipitation is 40%

Featured Recipe: Summer Perfect White Chocolate Apricot Swirl Cheesecake

This delightful cheesecake recipe was the winner of the first-ever Eagle Brand Signature Recipe Contest, and earned home baker Rebecca L. of Virginia a $10,000 kitchen makeover. Smooth white chocolate, sweet apricot and rich cream cheese come together to create the perfectly refreshing summer dessert.

White Chocolate Apricot Swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crisco Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 14-ounce can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups white baking chips, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 15-ounce can apricot halves, drained

Preparation

HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat bottom of 9-inch springform pan with no-stick cooking spray. Stir graham cracker crumbs, almonds, sugar and butter in small bowl until evenly moistened. Press firmly into bottom of prepared pan.

BEAT cream cheese until fluffy. Blend in sweetened condensed milk. Add eggs, melted white baking chips and vanilla; blend until smooth. Pour over crust.

PLACE apricots in food processor or blender. Cover and process until smooth. Spoon small dollops of apricot puree over top of cream cheese mixture. Swirl with tip of knife to make marbled appearance.

BAKE 50 to 60 minutes or until edges are puffed and golden. (Center will not be completely set.) Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Chill thoroughly before serving.

Serves
Yield 12 servings

Preparation Time:
25 Minutes

Cook Time:
50 Minutes

Tammie’s Cuttin Loose Salon Relocates

Tammie’s Cuttin Loose in Atmore has relocated.

Tammie’s is now located inside Jean Daniel’s Salon at 1901 South Main Street in Atmore, right on the Alabama/Florida line.

Walk-ins are welcome for any of the shop’s services, including cuts, perms, foils and color. For more information or an appointment, call Tammie’s Cuttin Loose at (251) 446-7386.

Florida Weekly Gov’t Roundup: Scott’s Popularity, Citizen’s Insurance

In a number of not-so-surprising revelations this week, Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp. is too big, Panhandle business owners are frustrated over the pace of BP payments and Gov. Rick Scott remains unpopular, despite recent efforts to get his message out in a flurry of radio interviews around the state.

But even as Floridians continued to be unimpressed with Scott – they, and the governor, learned this week that policies the state has undertaken to reduce spending and pump up reserves are having a positive effect on the state’s creditworthiness. Standard & Poor’s this week upgraded its credit outlook for Florida, citing Republican belt tightening and the frugal budget Scott signed into law.

While Scott and his GOP cohorts may not have much desire to borrow money – they’re preaching staying within our means, after all – it was still positive acknowledgment from an independent source that reducing spending has an upside.

But with 10 percent of Florida residents still out of work and a governor focused almost entirely on that, Scott has had a hard time getting people to like him.

Meanwhile, financial disclosures filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics show that despite tough economic times, many lawmakers remain millionaires, though some have been caught in the real estate downturn that leaves them, on paper at least, underwater just like many of their constituents.

On the national level, Florida events continue to influence the agenda. The Congress this week took a vote to water down federal clean water standards that have stymied and enraged Florida businesses and environmental officials. And following through on Florida efforts following a much-watched trial, at least 20 states have filed versions of Caylee’s Law in response to the recent acquittal of an Orlando mother, Casey Anthony, in the death of her two-year-old daughter.

Also this week, lawmakers traveled the state to get input on upcoming efforts to redraw political boundaries, holding a series of public hearings in preparation for the once-a-decade redistricting effort made more contentious by the addition of two congressional seats and a pair of untested constitutional amendments aimed at reducing the political shenanigans inherent in the process.

Panhandle business owners, meanwhile, continue to cry foul as they battle BP over payments they say are due them from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that on Friday marked the first anniversary of the well being capped, after spewing 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.

CITIZENS’ RANKS SWELLING, IS SELL-OFF AN OPTION?
With the state-backed property insurer expected to eclipse 1.4 million policyholders within the next few weeks, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. chairman Jim Malone gave a parting shot this week, saying the insurer should consider selling off a large chunk of its business to private interests to reduce its exposure while continuing to cover the state’s riskiest property.

Critics questioned whether there would be any companies willing to take most of the policies Citizens wants to shed – because they’re still risky.

Up to 900,000 Citizens policies are likely uninsurable in the private market because they cover older homes, mobile homes, and residences along the coast. But Malone estimated that the remaining policies could be marketed to some private entity because they involve billions of dollars in assets and a widely dispersed premium base, envisioning a return to Citizens’ roots as the true insurer of last resort.

“That has a value someplace in this open market,” Malone said. “The state of Florida needs money and this could be turned into an asset that had a value that people were willing to purchase in the private sector.”

Created as the insurer only for those who couldn’t get policies from private companies, Citizens has gone beyond that role to become the largest property insurer in the state. Malone laid that development squarely at the feet of lawmakers who despite warnings from insurance experts lacked the political courage to make the tough call. After the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes, when Floridians were complaining about major increases in premiums, lawmakers decided to artificially reduce rates, against the advice of actuaries.

“If the right decision had been made politically, let’s say five years ago… we wouldn’t have this exposure,” Malone said. “We could have (had) a huge event and everybody in this state could feel comfortable that resources were available to take care of the loss.”

Malone made the comments at the second to last board of governors meeting before all board members are removed from office July 31. After Aug. 1 a new governing board will be seated.

While Citizens’ sees its popularity soar, Florida’s elected officials do not share such fortune. A Sunshine State News poll released Thursday shows former Gov. Charlie Crist as the only big-name politician in Florida with a favorable rating over 40 percent. The former governor has a 42 percent favorable rating, despite having quit the Republican Party in an near the end of his term – angering many GOP faithful.

Crist’s approval rating is higher than that of Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who has a 38 percent favorable rating, Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who has only a 32 percent approval rating, and Gov. Rick Scott, whose favorable rating is 27 percent, according to the poll conducted July 5-7 by Voter Survey Service.

Dogged by low approval ratings in multiple polls, Scott has hit to the road to take his jobs message to the people in local talk radio interviews.

MANY FLORIDA LAWMAKERS DOING ALL RIGHT.

The Florida Legislature is home to more than 50 millionaires, according to a News Service review of financial disclosures filed by legislators for 2010. The 160-member Legislature tends to attract wealthy individuals due, in part, to its heavy time commitment and low salary. Legislators receive $29,697 a year, with presiding officers making $41,181 a year.

The Legislature meets once a year for two months for its regular session, but lawmakers are often called in for committee weeks or special sessions – and they also have to spend a lot of time campaigning and fundraising.

“It’s a difficult position if you are working a nine-to-five job to say ‘Hey, I’m going to give up my clients for four months,’ and then come back to that world for six months,” said Rep. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, one of the wealthiest legislators, who is worth $11.8 million. “Most people can’t do that

Freshman Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-Lehigh Acres, has the distinction of having the lowest net worth in the Legislature. Caldwell, 29, is a real estate appraiser who purchased his home at the height of the housing boom. He watched as the value of his $144,000 investment shrank to about $25,000 as hard-hit Lehigh Acres became the epicenter of the national housing bust.

“I tell people I’m nothing special, I’ve experienced the same types of challenges that many other people have gone through,” said Caldwell, whose net worth as of Dec. 31 was negative $125,000.

Florida’s part-time legislators next year must redraw their district boundaries, and those of Congress, and lawmakers are beginning to come face to face with restrictions imposed by recently approved constitutional amendments aimed at reducing gerrymandering.

During hearings held this week at The Villages, residents worried publicly that Amendment 5 and 6 will make it difficult for the sprawling development that straddles county boundaries to be represented by a single representative.

The Villages has ballooned since the early 2000s, growing from an octogenarian outpost of 22,000 to a teeming community of 84,000 that will continue to grow by 25,000 by 2020.

Concerns by Villages’ residents have been echoed by others, but lawmakers said their ability to match the requests could be made problematic under the Fair Districts amendments overwhelmingly approved by voters last November.

Also this week, Rep. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, said Florida needs to accelerate tuition increases at a few of the state’s 11 public universities.

Proctor, who chairs the House Education Committee and is Chancellor of Flagler College, said in an interview with the News Service of Florida that shrinking state revenues have made universities rely more heavily on tuition dollars. But with a 15 percent annual cap on how much tuition can go up, universities are finding it hard to get close to the national average.

Without bigger tuition increases, Florida risks losing ground in higher education, with faculty abandoning state universities for higher-paid positions elsewhere in the country, Proctor said.

ENVIRONMENT: WATER WAR CONTINUES:

The U.S. House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would restrict the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to require tougher water-quality standards. U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Florida, was a key sponsor of the measure, which passed 239-184. Mica and other supporters said the EPA has overstepped its authority in Clean Water Act disputes with states.

The Obama administration has signaled the bill likely will be vetoed if it gets to the White House.

Water-quality standards have been a major issue in Florida during the past couple of years, as business groups and many state and local leaders have fought EPA efforts to impose strict standards through what are known as “numeric nutrient criteria.”

Opponents contend that the criteria would force costly upgrades of facilities such as sewage-treatment plants, which discharge water into rivers and streams. But supporters say the standards would help clean up the state’s waterways, preventing harmful algal blooms and other health and environmental problems.

STORY OF THE WEEK:
Gov. Scott continues to be plagued by low approval ratings – lower even than the former governor who was disgraced in the eyes of his own party just a year ago – even as he got the news that the state’s efforts to reduce spending are music to the ears of outside analysts.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“Oh, that’s good. That is great.” Gov. Rick Scott reacting to Standard & Poor’s upgrading the state’s credit outlook at the end of a 24-hour cycle during which the other major Tallahassee story was about how unpopular he has become.

By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida

Interested In Santa Rosa County’s Budget?

The budget workshops for Santa Rosa County Constitutional Officers and the Board of County Commission departments for the fiscal year 2011/2012 are scheduled for Tuesday, July 26.  The workshop for the constitutional officers will begin at 9 a.m. with the workshop for the commission departments following at 1:30 p.m.

Both meetings will be held in the Santa Rosa County Commission Meeting Room, 6495 Caroline Street in Milton.  The public is invited to attend or view the meeting live online at www.santarosa.fl.gov/bocc/meetings.html. The meeting replay will also be available at the same link by the next business day.

A public hearing on the tentative FY 2011/2012 budget is scheduled for Tuesday, September 6 at 6 p.m.  The final public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on Monday, September 19 at 6 p.m.  The public hearings will also be held in the Santa Rosa County Commission Meeting Room in Milton and available online during and after the meetings.

According to Santa Rosa County Administrator Hunter Walker’s budget message, the total operating budget is $100,179,644; a reduction of $142,489 from the overall FY 2010/2011 budget.  The tentative budget uses no reserves to balance the operating budget and proposes no increase in the millage rate.  The county administrator’s full budget message and proposed budgets can be found online at http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/budget/index.html.

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