Featured Recipe: Molino Homemakers’ Peanut Butter Cups
May 1, 2011
Today’s featured recipe is “Molino Homemakers’ Peanut Butter Cups” submitted by club member Terri Brown.
Molino Homemakers’ Peanut Butter Cups
Things you will need are mini baking cups, mini muffin pan, chocolate chips, peanut butter, plastic decorating bag, decorating tip #10, bowl for melting chocolate and two spoons.
Place mini baking cups in the mini muffin pan, melt chocolate and spoon into baking cups about 1/2 full. Next, spoon peanut butter into decorator’s bag which has tip#10 in the bottom. While chocolate is still melted insert tip of decorating bag into chocolate and squeeze peanut butter until the cup is about 3/4 full with chocolate covering the peanut butter. When all cups are filled, place pan in refrigerator for about 15 minutes until chocolate is hard. Remove from fridge and enjoy!
The next Molino Homemaker’s meeting will be on Wednesday June 1, 2011 at Aldersgate United Methodist Church at 10 a.m. The Homemakers will Tour the Ronald McDonald House May 4th in place of their regular meeting. Dues are $5 per year. Visitors are welcome.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Weekly Government Roundup
May 1, 2011
It wouldn’t be the last couple weeks of the legislative session without incessant speculation over whether lawmakers will leave on time, and this week the speculation was loud that there’d be no way of finishing by May 6.
But with the announcement on the broad outline of the budget in allocations announced early in the week, the doubting died down a bit, and most observers thought lawmakers soon will have done something previously thought at least very difficult – balancing a budget that erases a nearly $4 billion shortfall in just a couple months and ending the session on time.
The planned massive Medicaid overhaul remains to be done, but even on that, lawmakers are close to an agreement, House Speaker Dan Cannon said late Friday night. That proposal is one of the most far-reaching to be undertaken by the Legislature in recent years, envisioning a dramatic statewide change in the way health care services are delivered to the poor. The federal government sent the state notice this week that it won’t just rubber stamp whatever Florida does, either.
But much of the talk around the Capitol this week revolved around whether the sudden interest in the Senate of making changes to the Supreme Court, particularly adding three justices and then splitting the court into two divisions, one civil and one criminal, should get the credit for making everything seem to flow a little more smoothly.
Members quietly at first, and then more publicly, said that Cannon wanted the court overhaul as a going home present and not much would come to a conclusion without it. When the Senate Budget Committee brought up that Supreme Court measure early in the week, suddenly everything started to fall into place. The Supreme Court overhaul, still needs a Senate vote, but for now, anyway, it’s at least in play.
Only hours before it came up in the Senate Budget Committee, lawmakers had been openly saying that it looked nigh impossible to reach a budget deal. The buzz was a low, grim drone with repeated mentions of the words “special session” and “long summer.”
But just a short time after Senate Budget Chairman JD Alexander pushed Cannon’s court measure through the Budget Committee, there was Cannon, R-Winter Park, along with Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, saying they’d agreed on budget allocations and everything else was moving along quite nicely.
The budget remained not quite complete heading into this weekend, although several major issues were either off the table or left to leaders to decide. Late Friday, lawmakers said they’d gotten over a key hurdle, figuring out what the state’s pension plan changes will look like. Government workers in the retirement system will begin paying 3 percent of their salary into theire retirement plan starting July 1. The retirement age will go up, but the popular DROP program to encourage early retirement will remain. Backers claimed $1.1 billion in savings from the plan.
Another area that defied the suddenly friendly atmosphere was the immigration debate. The House has been more sure of itself all along in wanting to make it easier for local cops to do what lawmakers say the federal government won’t do – try to enforce the federal immigrtation law.
Haridopolos said late this week that the Senate is having a tougher time getting everyone on the same page, and the broad outline of the coming immigration bill in the Senate sounded softer. The Senate mainly is focused on a narrow increase in the use of the federal E-verify system for checking some workers’ immigration status, but seems less sure about whether police should have additional immigration power.
And there is still a ticking clock on the budget, with an agreement between the two chambers needed by late Tuesday to have the required waiting period before a Friday vote on the at least $66 billion budget.
SOCIAL ISSUES, PERSONAL FREEDOM, A BIG FOCUS
One of the big suprises of this legislative session – and in full evidence this week – has been the degree to which, despite pleas from the governor and legislative leaders to focus almost entirely on the economy and jobs, the Republican-controlled Legislature has wanted instead to delve into contentious social issues involving religion, abortion, and gun rights.
Of course Republicans have a bigger majority than they’ve ever had in the modern Legislature and so perhaps it’s no surprise that they’d want to press that advantage on issues that split the parties so starkly.
This week lawmakers in the House voted to tighten the state’s abortion controls, requiring more ultrasounds before abortions and, in the eyes of Democrats, otherwise reducing women’s freedom to consider ending a pregnancy. The ultrasound measure wasn’t new – it passed last year, but was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist. But the abortion bills, and several bills meant to give Florida residents more freedom when it comes to their guns, were a bit of a snub to those, including the governor, who said the focus of lawmakers should be entirely on getting the state back to work.
In fact several times during debate this week Democrats raised sharp questions – to the point of annoyance of nearly everyone in the chamber and those watching – about how many jobs each bill would create. Aside from possibly a few new ultrasound technicians, the measures aren’t likely to, and so Republicans, needing no help from Democrats on anything anyway, finally resorted to simply not answering the question.
Regardless of what the abortion bills actually do – GOP lawmakers argued that some of them actually don’t change much; most women seeking abortion already get an ultrasound anyway, for example -they opened up the legislative floor to several hours this week of emotional, and at times highly personal debate about issues that many thought would remain in the background until the economy recovers. And, as Democrats, pointed out, it was hours spent not debating what might be done to get the economy on track and Florida residents back to work.
Republicans also sent to Scott this week two gun rights bills, one a measure that tries to make the point to doctors that they shouldn’t delve too deeply into whether their patients own guns. While there was some agreement in the end that when a patient’s medical condition warrants it – if the patient is suicidal for example – doctors should still be able to ask whether there’s a gun in a patient’s home. But routinely, they won’t be able to anymore under the bill (HB 155), which Scott is expected to sign. Another bill puts penalties on local government officials who enact local laws on gun control that are more stringent than the state’s gun laws, such as trigger lock requirements.
SCOTT – HEY ‘CONSERVATIVES,’ HOW ABOUT SOME TAX CUTS?
Meanwhile, Gov. Scott continued to press lawmakers to build tax cuts, preferably a cut in the corporate income tax, into the budget. He had their attention, with both Haridopolos (in a Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat) and Cannon saying they were trying to accommodate the governor. Haridopolos actually said for the first time that there will be tax cuts in the budget, about $30 million worth, but he said that didn’t count any corporate income tax cut, which isn’t terribly high on his priority list.
Haridopolos said lawmakers will almost certainly return to taxpayers some money in the form of a school tax holiday, and some research and development tax breaks, and will also reduce some fees.
Scott said he couldn’t imagine that “conservative legislators” like Haridopolos and Cannon wouldn’t want to cut taxes.
MEDICAID
As talks neared completion in Tallahassee on how to complete the revamp of the Medicaid system, officials in Washington warned that the federal government will fully review whatever lawmakers come up with. The feds pay for more than half the program’s costs.
State officials had sought an automatic waiver to be able to put in place whatever they come up with, but Washington said late this week that Uncle Sam won’t sign off until officials in D.C. know exactly what it is Florida is planning to do. Washington also said it will require that the state set out certain requirements for HMOs that will be treating most Medicaid patients under the new plan spelling out how much money must be spent directly on health care, versus going to the bottom line of the private companies.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Another measure that went to Scott this week (HB 1231) would deregulate landline telephone service. The bill flew mostly below the radar screen this year and saw little of the controversy of previous effforts at deregulation in telecomm. The AARP was against it, saying it could lead to higher basic phone rates, but for many people the question about the bill was ‘what’s a land-line?’ Scott has until next Thursday to act on the bill.
BITNER HAS FIGHT AHEAD
In news unrelated to the legislative session, those who toil in Florida politics learned this week that former legislator and current Republican Party of Florida Chairman Dave Bitner has been diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. An upbeat Bitner told reporters he plans to keep on working.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Things started moving on the budget, with allocations for each part of the spending plan being agreed to, starting lawmakers moving toward conferences that ended late Friday night. Leaders still have to decide some major issues.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
A dual quote of the week this week, summing up the House’s long venture down the social agenda route for nearly two full days as legislative leaders and the governor yammered about tax cuts and getting the state back to work:
“Would this legislation result in any creation of jobs?” Rep. Charles Chestnut, D-Gainesville, asking about one of several abortion bills debated this week.
“You cannot put an economic study on life.” Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, in response.
Family Fights Parole To Keep Murderers Behind Bars
April 30, 2011
Several North Escambia residents are hoping to help stop the parole of two Nokomis men behind bars for the 1993 murder of a woman and 12-year old girl.
Shannon Dean Barlow, 33, and Franklin Lee Barlow, Jr., 37, are both serving life sentences with the possibility of parole for the murders of Kathy Victor Hall Barlow and Angel Marie Hall.
On October 10, 1993, the Barlow brothers went out with Albert Ganoe “Rocky” Beasley, consuming alcohol and smoking marijuana. They then went to the home of Kathy Barlow in Perdido, Ala., shooting her in the head with a .410-gauge shotgun when she opened the door. According to testimony, he then went to the room of Angel Hall, 12, raped her and shot her in the face.
Shannon Barlow was sentenced to three consecutive life terms, and Franklin Barlow was sentenced to two life sentences. Both are now eligible for parole from the Limestone Correction Facility in Alabama. Beasley remains behind bars, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
The Barlows will have a parole hearing Tuesday.
“Our family does not want them on the streets,” a family member wrote on a Facebook page protesting the paroles. “Our family lost two of our precious family members whom we miss dearly to this day.”
Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story, the family asked readers to send an email expressing opposition to the parole. The time limit for sending the email has now passed.
Pictured: This undated photograph shows murder victims Kathy Barlow and 12-year old Angel Hall. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Deputies Search For Clues After Attempted Home Invasion At Deputy’s House
April 30, 2011
An early morning manhunt turned up empty along the Alabama/Florida state line after an attempted home invasion at the residence of a law enforcement officer.
The wife of an Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Department deputy was at home with a toddler while her husband was at work when someone tried to enter their home in the 500 block of Pineville Road in Nokomis, Ala., just a few hundred yards north of the Alabama/Florida state line. There were no injuries in the incident just after 4 a.m.
She was able to describe the suspect only as a tall, slender, possibly white male wearing dark clothing. She was unable to provide a more detailed description. Law enforcement officers from Alabama and Florida surrounded the area, and a K-9 unit attempted to track the suspect. The search was called off just before 7 a.m.
Anyone in the area with information on the suspect or that sees anything suspicious is asked to call tje Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Department at (251) 368-4779 or (251) 867-0304, or call their local law enforcement agency.
This was the second manhunt for a home invasion suspect in that area in less than a month. In early April, deputies from the Escambia County (Ala) Sheriff’s Office responded to a burglary in progress call in the 600 block of Pineville Road in Nokomis, Alabama, just yards from Saturday morning’s incident. A woman told deputies she returned to her home to find a burglar inside. The suspect fled through the front door of the home as the woman entered from the rear. A manhunt for that suspect, described only as a while male, turned up empty.
Pictured top: A K-9 Unit from Fountain Correctional Facility took part in a early morning manhunt in Nokomis. Pictured inset: Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s investigators dust for fingerprints on the backdoor of the deputy’s home. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Prescription Drug Round-Up Today
April 30, 2011
A “Prescription Drug Round-Up” will be held today at locations across the county, including Century and Cantonment. It’s a a one-day effort between local and federal law enforcement to provide the pubic a site to voluntarily surrender expired, unwanted, unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications for destruction.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority and Walgreens, in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will appear at six local Walgreens Drug Stores, and four ECSO precinct locations, Saturday, April 30, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Prescription Drug Round-Up locations will be:
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office
- Precinct 1, Pensacola Beach, 43 Fort Pickens Road Pensacola Beach
- Precinct 2, Big Lagoon 12950 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola
- Precinct 5, Cantonment 5844 North Hwy 29 Molino, Florida
- Precinct 6, Century 7500 North Century Blvd. Century, Florida
Walgreens Locations:
- 20 West Nine Mile Rd
- 2237 West Nine Mile Rd
- 4497 Mobile Hwy
- 5995 Mobile Hwy
- 870 E Cervantes
- 6314 North 9th Ave
Girl, 7, Drowns While Swimming With Friends
April 30, 2011
The Escambia County Sheriff’s dive team located the body of a 7-year-old female in Bayou Grande near Fairfield Drive Friday afternoon. The victim drowned while swimming with friends, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The body was discovered shortly after 4 p.m. in the area where witnesses said she was last seen.
At around 1 p.m., the victim and two other friends were swimming in the bayou near a beach located at the dead end of South Fairfield Drive.
“The group was caught in tidal currents,” said sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Chris Welborn. “An 18-year-old male, who was watching the other two, heroically pulled one to safety but was unable to save the other.”
The victim was swept away and drowned in an area approximately fifty yards away from shore, where her body was later located.
The Sheriff’s Office was notified of the drowning at 1:04 p.m. and responded along with Escambia County Fire and EMS, Escambia Search and Rescue, Florida Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Office of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Sheriff’s Office will not release the victim’s identity until all of her family has been notified.
Jay Girls Set Record At State Track Meet
April 30, 2011
The Jay High School girls track team placed tenth in the 4×800 relay Friday in Winter Park.
Their time of 10:03:55 was a new school record, breaking the record of 10:12:00 set by the team a few weeks ago. Split times were Jessica Thornton 2:35, Caristyn Golden 2:32, Leely Trevino 2:28, and Robin Blackman 2:26. The split times were personal records for each of the girls.
Pictured: The Lady Royals’ 4×800 relay team Caristyn Golden, Robin Blackman, Leely Trevino and Jessica Thornton. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pen Air FCU Aids In Tornado Relief Effort
April 30, 2011
In response to the recent and devastating events that shook Alabama and other surrounding states, Pen Air federal Credit Union will be donating supplies to areas in Alabama that are in need.
Pen Air FCU President and CEO Ron Fields will be personally driving the first round of supplies collected – 1,200 bottles of water and 100 packs of baby wipes – to the areas affected this weekend. These are the primary supplies requested by rescue workers. All Pen Air FCU locations including Century will collect donations for the tornado relief efforts, as well as become drop-off points for additional supplies, through the coming weeks.
In addition, Pen Air FCU is lending one of its two Mobile Service Centers for use in the Rainsville, Ala., area, so local residents will have access to funds.
“Pen Air is just trying to help out those who need it during this terrible time,” Fields said. “The spirit of Pen Air’s members and employees has always been one of community and this is no exception.”
Sunny Weekend
April 30, 2011
A sunny Saturday is in store for the North Escambia area on Saturday. There’s a red flag warning in effect — so no outdoor burning.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 85. South wind between 5 and 15 mph.
- Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. South wind between 5 and 15 mph.
- Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. South wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. South wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
- Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. Southwest wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. West wind between 5 and 15 mph.
- Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78.
- Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 79.
- Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 81.
Newspapers Compile List Of Alabama Tornado Casualties
April 30, 2011
The Birmingham News and Huntsville Times have complied an unofficial list of the dead and missing from Alabama’s tornadoes.
The unofficial and incomplete list was complied by newspaper reporters from media reports from across the state.
To view the list, click here.