High, Middle School Jazz Bands Rated
March 12, 2011
Area middle and high school bands from took part in the Florida Bandmasters Association District 1 Jazz Music Performance Assessment recently at Niceville High School.
Each of the nine bands were given an overall score based upon tone quality, timing and rhythm, technique and musical effect. Each band was rated on a superior, excellent, good, fair or poor scale.
- Northview High School Swinging Chiefs – Excellent
- Tate High School Varsity Jazz Band – Excellent
- Tate High School Concert Jazz Band — Excellent
- Tate High School Symphonic Jazz Band – Superior
- Ransom Middle School Jazz Band — Superior
- Escambia High School Jazz Band A — Superior
- Escambia High School Jazz Band B — Superior
- Ferry Pass Middle School Jazz Band — Excellent
- Bailey Middle School Jazz Band – Superior
Scores: Northview, Jay, Tate
March 12, 2011
Here’s a look at area high school softball and baseball action from Friday:
–SOFTBALL–
Northview 7 Ponce de Leon 4
Miranda Burkett pitched a full games against Ponce de Leon Friday, striking out six as the Chiefs picked up a 7-4 win.
Digmon when 2-4 for the Chiefs with a double; Emily Vickery was 2-3; Shawna Montgomery was 1-3 with a triple; Misty Doran was 2-4 and Haley Simpson was 1-3.
The Chiefs will travel to Baker next Tuesday, with the JV playing at 4:00 and the varsity at 6:00.
Jay 6 Baker 2
Jay remains undefeated in District 1-2A with a win Friday over the Baker Gators. Sidney Lowery pitched seven for the Lady Royals as she improved her record to 5-0 on the season.
Camille Driver went 3-4 with a run, 2 RBI and a double. Tessa Hendricks had two runs and a double; Alicia Ashworth was 2-4; Ashley Storkes was 2-4 with a RBI; Becca Calloway was 2-4 with a run and RBI.
Tate 4 Pace 3 (9 innings)
The Tate Aggies beat Pace Friday in nine innings, 4-3. Jamie Ujvari pitched all nine for the Lady Aggies, striking out 11 along the way for the win.
Maleah McCombs was 2-3 with 2 RBI; Shelby Myers was 1-4, with a run, an RBI and a double;0 Marina Cobbs went 3-4, with two runs and a double; Amy Waters was 1-3 with one run; and Rachel Dunsford went 1-4 with a RBI.
–BASEBALL–
Pace 4 Tate 0
The Pace Patriots defeated the Tate Aggies Friday, 4-0. Riley Hodge pitched five for the Aggies. Tyler Curtis was 2-2 at the mound for Tate.
Mary Louise Rigby Ward
March 12, 2011
Mary Louise Rigby Ward, 88, passed away on March 9, 2011 after a lengthy illness. She was born in Pace, FL on May 30, 1922 to Edward and Mary Elizabeth Chaffin. She graduated from the D.W. McMillan Nursing Program, Brewton, AL and earned her LPN nursing degree. She was a lifetime member of the Church of Christ.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Mary Elizabeth Chaffin; eight siblings; first husband, Joe M. Rigby, and second husband, Thomas J. Ward; daughters, Thelma Diane Rigby Brake and Eleanor Marie Ward, and son, Troy E. Ward.
Survivors include daughters, Gwendolyn (Leonard) Cook and Voncille (Joe) Silcox, and sons, Joe (Deborah) Rigby, Eugene (Connie) Rigby, Bill (Frances) Ward, Ronnie Ward; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends and family on Monday, March 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Eastern Gate Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, March 15 at 10 a.m. with Jeffery Orr, minister of the Cantonment Church of Christ, officiating at Eastern Gate Funeral Home.
Internment will follow at Bayview Memorial Park, Pensacola.
Escambia Man Refuses To Cooperate With Deputies After Being Shot
March 11, 2011
A 31-year-old Escambia County man refused to cooperate with responding deputies after being shot early this morning.
At around 1:29 a.m. deputies responded to the 700 block of Old Corry Field Road for a reported shooting. When they arrived they found Sylvester Dearil Moultrie lying on the ground, injured by a gunshot wound to his legs.
Deputies said Moultrie refused to say what happened or provide any information concerning the suspects.
According to a witness, Moultrie was sitting in a late 1990’s model white Ford Taurus, parked on Old Corry Field Road near Merito Street, and he was involved in a verbal argument with the other occupants.
The witness told deputies that he heard a gunshot and saw Moultie being pushed out of the vehicle. He said the vehicle then sped away, heading north on Old Corry Field Road.
“Whether the victim wants our help or not, we need to get these thugs off the street,” said Sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Chris Welborn. “The vehicle was said to be occupied by two black males wearing masks and armed with a high-powered firearm. If anyone can help identify these suspects, we’re asking them to contact us.”
Moultrie was transported to Baptist Hospital for treatment.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Massive Quake Hits Japan; Walnut Hill Resident Safe
March 11, 2011
The most powerful earthquake to hit Japan in over 100 years has killed hundreds and spawned tsunami waves across the Pacific. The massive quake was a magnitude 9.0, creating a 23-foot tsunami that hit northern coast of Japan.
Gavin Willis and his wife Amanda, stationed with the U.S. Air Force in Japan on the island of Okinawa-shi, Okinawa, are among the American military personnel and their families stationed in Japan. The U.S. military is reporting that all troops are safe.
“The quake was at the north end of mainland Japan. We are in the Ryukyu Islands south of the mainland so we didn’t feel a thing,” Amanda told NorthEscambia.com Friday morning. She is 1995 graduate of Ernest Ward High School and a lifelong resident of Walnut Hill.
The quake — which struck about 11:50 p.m. Thursday North Escambia time, 2:50 p.m. Friday in Japan — prompted a tsunami warning across Japan. When we last spoke to Amanda, about 7:45 a.m. North Escambia time, 10:45 p.m. in Japan, the tsunami warning had just been downgraded to a tsunami advisory.
“There is lots of damage from it and the tsunami that it caused on the mainland,” she said. “They are definitely in my prayers.”
Pictured: Amanda Willis of Walnut Hill is stationed in Japan on the Ryukyu Islands south of the mainland with her Air Force husband Gavin Willis and their children Zachary Dylan and Skyler Falon. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
NWS Team Finds EF1 Tornado Slammed McDavid With 105 MPH Winds
March 11, 2011
A National Weather Service damage assessment team determined Thursday afternoon that an EF1 tornado was responsible for a path of destruction through McDavid.
The weather service believes the tornado had winds of about 105 mph at its peak along a half mile long, 80-yard wide path. The tornado first touched down about 9:28 a.m. Wednesday near Highway 164 just west of Highway 29, skipped across Highway 29 before continuing down Main Street to Railroad Street.
NorthEscambia.com was along with the National Weather Service team Thursday afternoon as they made their decision that a tornado caused the damage, rather than strong thunderstorm winds.
While to some, it might not seem that it would matter if the damage was from straight line winds or a tornado, but the difference is important to forecasters.
“We learn from the storms,” Jeff Garmon, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service Mobile said. “What we learn makes us better forecasts, and better and getting warnings out to the public.”
At the time the storm hit McDavid Wednesday morning, McDavid was under a tornado warning.
That warning helped James Milstead know the urgency of the situation — moments before the roof came off his wood frame home on Main Street. The home was also lifted off its support piers and shifted about three feet away.
“I was in the front room there watching the storms on the TV,” Milstead said Thursday afternoon outside his destroyed home. “I knew the rain was not here yet; I expected there would have been rain. The power blinked off, and I punched the button on my weather radio. They said there was a tornado warning.”
That advance warning gave Milstead the time he needed to take shelter in a hallway, moments before the spiraling 105-mph tornado winds slammed his 60-year old family home.
As the group of meteorologists began surveying the damage along Highway 164, they first thought they were looking at damage from powerful straight line winds. At Joe Flower’s brick home, forecasters estimated that winds of about 90 mph had downed large limbs around the brick home.
At each stop along the way, Garman enters storm damage and GPS coordinates into his Blackberry to track the path of the tornado.
But as the group moved over to Main Street, they began to notice the tell-tale signs of a tornado.
Chimneys that fell in opposite directions. Debris scattered in different directions. A metal basketball goal post bent over to the north when the storm was moving east. Milstead’s home lifted and moved.
And, across the street, almost no damage whatsoever.
“If we are looking at straight line winds, wouldn’t that have had something?” meteorologist Jeffrey Cupo asked his colleagues about the undamaged properties across the street.
Exactly, those trees would have had damage,” Garman said.
“Now, I’m thinking weak tornado,” Cupo replied.
“EF1, I’m thinking upper bound EF1,” Garman said.
“Easily,” Cupo replied.
“It’s obvious we had something more here,” Garman said. “It’s official, we had an EF1.”
Pictured: TLate Thursday afternoon, a team from the National Weather Service Office in Mobile surveys the damage from an EF1 tornado in McDavid. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Lawmaker: Legalize Medical Marijuana
March 11, 2011
Use of marijuana for medical purposes would be legalized if approved by voters under a proposed constitutional amendment filed by a Democratic lawmaker on Thursday.
“There is no good reason for us to allow people to use synthetic drugs like oxycontin, methodone, percocet, and Prozac, but ban them from using a natural, safer drug,” said Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, the author of the bill.
The proposal would, if passed by the Legislature, go to the 2012 ballot for voter approval. The amendment would let patients use cannabis only if prescribed by a doctor and wouldn’t be able to smoke it in public places. The measure would also make clear that insurance companies wouldn’t have to cover it, and employers wouldn’t be required to let workers smoke pot on the job. The measure hasn’t been referred to any committees, and so far doesn’t have a Senate companion.
Hundreds Cram Public Hearing To Oppose Conecuh Woods Landfill
March 11, 2011
Hundreds of people turned out at Reid State Technical College in Evergreen Thursday to speak their minds against a proposed 5,100 acre landfill planned for near Repton, Alabama — about 35 miles upstream from North Escambia.1
The crowd was estimated at about 800 at an auditorium with a capacity of only about 430. Hundreds of people were forced to wait in line outside for their turn at the Conecuh County Commission public hearing on the landfill proposal.
Conecuh Woods was given the first 30 minutes of the public forum to make their case, while other residents and other speakers were give up to five minutes each.
“Conecuh Woods will be a 5,000 acre landfill, with 1,600 acres of active disposal area,” said Conecuh Woods developer Jimmy Stone. “The fact is, on any one day, Conecuh Woods will be no different from hundreds of other landfills.”
Stone said the landfill liner planned for Conecuh Woods would not leak — a concern that has been expressed by governments downstream, including the county commissions in Escambia counties in Florida and Alabama and the Town of Century.
“I suppose Conecuh Woods expects us to believe that a stinking garbage dump can transform an area and become the catalyst for economic growth. It is difficult for me to believe that somehow Conecuh Woods has stumbled onto an unprecedented scientific breakthrough and has developed a way to create what might the world’s first odorless and leak-proof garbage dump,” Melvin Cofield said in opposition to the landfill.
“I’m asking you to simply do the right thing and vote no to this landfill,” said Ruth Harrell of Flomaton.
“You may have all heard ‘we don’t want a dump’,” developer Stone said. “No worries, I don’t either. Conecuh Woods will not be a dump.” Stone said facility will be environmentally friendly, and it will provide much needed jobs for the area.
Many governments in South Alabama and Northwest Florida have spoken out in opposition to Conecuh Woods, including Escambia counties in Alabama and Florida, the Town of Century, Atmore and Flomaton.
Conecuh Woods’ landfill, would include a 1,600 acre “disposal cell” from Range to Repton to near the Big Escambia Creek. Big Escambia Creek flows southward into Escambia County, Alabama, through Flomaton and drains through a North Escambia swamp into the Escambia River and then Escambia Bay.
“Nobody knows more than we do that Florida’s rules on water quality are tougher than Alabama’s,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. “If it comes into our river, Florida is in trouble immediately.”
The public hearing in Evergreen wrapped up Thursday afternoon without a vote from the commission; they have 90 days to make up their minds. Even if they give their approval, the project may still remain on hold. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued an executive order declaring a moratorium on new landfills in the state.
Senate Approves Teacher Merit Pay, Cuts Tenure
March 11, 2011
The Florida Senate approved a major change to how public school teachers are paid on Thursday, amid questions from the statewide teachers’ union and Democratic legislators as to how the financially beleaguered state could afford to develop the new tests and pay increases the bill promises.
After nearly two hours of debate, the Florida Senate voted to approve Senate Bill 736, a measure that establishes a system in which 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation is based on student test scores. The long-standing tradition of basing salary on seniority also ends, with new teachers working under one-year contracts.
The 26-12 vote came mostly down party lines. An attempt to amend it to take into account socioeconomic status of students when evaluating teachers was defeated. Sen. Greg Evers, who represents the North Escambia area, voted in favor of the bill.
Republicans in the Legislature tout the bill as a way to provide an incentive to educators to do a better job and allow school districts to more easily fire bad teachers.
Sen. Bill Montford, a Democrat from Tallahassee who was a school superintendent, said many school supervisors approve of the bill. But he said similar attempts at merit pay have failed in the past.
“What concerns me the most is how we are going to fund this initiative,” Montford said. “I’m afraid it will collapse under its own weight because of funding.” School districts statewide are facing cuts in spending. Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget spends $16.5 billion on K-12 education, which cuts per-student spending by $703 to $6,196.
One of two Republicans who voted against the proposed merit pay system, Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, also said she doesn’t believe the state will end up finding the money.
“My major concern is we have not paid for this program,” Dockery said. “Some people estimate it will cost $2 billion, but we don’t know how much it will cost to implement it.”
The bill sponsor, Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, said some of the cost would come from the federal Race to the Top grant that Florida received.
The other Republican who opposed the measure was Sen. Dennis Jones of Treasure Island.
The measure’s quick passage was widely expected. A similar bill was approved by the Legislature last year and vetoed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist after thousands of teachers called and wrote to object. This year the bill was changed slightly, giving school districts more control over how teachers are evaluated.
Florida Department of Education Commissioner Eric Smith said in a statement he was pleased about the bill’s progress in the Senate. He called it “groundbreaking legislation” that requires a “fair and accurate evaluation of our teachers that links their performance to the academic achievement of their students.”
A similar measure (HB 7019) also progressed quickly Thursday in the Florida House of Representatives.
The House Education Committee approved HB 7019 in a 12-6 vote after nearly four hours of testimony and debate.
Like its Senate companion, the House bill does away with traditional teacher tenure for new employees and ties teachers pay more closely to student performance. “Excellent teachers know they don’t need tenure,” said Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna. “Excellent teachers don’t fear this bill.”
Republicans on the panel rejected a series of Democratic amendments to bolster protections for highly effective teachers by requiring their retention or giving a specific reason for their dismissal. Another unsuccessful amendment based a portion of a teacher’s evaluation on a student’s portfolio of work throughout the year.
Rep. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, said without the amendments, the bill puts teachers in the position of being without a contract at the end of each year, a lack of job security that will make it harder to recruit good teachers to the state and make even effective teachers vulnerable to the whims of their bosses.
“What this bill does now is allows you to be dismissed with no justification at the end of your year, not based on the performance of your students, not based on how effectively you teach, but simply based on the fact that the year is done,” Bullard said.
By Michael Peltier and Lilly Rockwell
The News Service of Florida
Good Times: Carnival Saturday In Flomaton
March 11, 2011
Looking for some weekend fun? The Tri-City Rotary Club and the Flomaton Area Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring a Spring Carnival Saturday.
The Spring Carnival includes rides, games and food for all ages. The carnival is located at the intersection of Highway 113 and Highway 31 in Flomaton. Gates will be open from noon until on Saturday.
Arm bands are available, or pay as you ride.
The Tri-City Rotary Club serves the Century, Flomaton and Jay areas.