Byrneville Elementary Celebrates With Literacy Luau
February 2, 2011
Byrneville Elementary School joined in the excitement of “Celebrate Literacy Week” with a “Literacy Luau”.
The goals of “Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida!” were to promote literacy throughout the state by raising awareness of the programs and projects offered by the Department of Education and its partner agencies and organizations, and most of all, to promote the enjoyment of reading for children and adults of all ages.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lots Of Power Outages, No Damage Reported
February 1, 2011
Tonight’s line of storms have caused several power outages across the area, but so far no damage has been reported.
A large portion Cantonment was in the dark tonight — from near Chemstrand Road north to Highway 95A. Outages were also reported near Flomaton, and scattered outages were reported across the area.
Have a weather report? Email news@northescambia.com
Evergreen Man Steals CSX Truck, Crashes It In Atmore
February 1, 2011
An Evergreen man is behind bars after stealing a CSX truck and crashing into a utility pole in Atmore.
Leamon Tucker, 50, of Evergreen, Ala., has been charged with theft of property first degree by the Evergreen Police Department and receiving stolen property first degree by the Atmore Police Department.
The Atmore Police Department responded to Second Street about 8:09 Tuesday morning where a CSX truck had collided with a utility pole, snapping it in half.
Atmore officers were met by a CSX worker that explained he was driving his company vehicle on Highway 31 east of Atmore when saw another CSX truck driving erratically. He said he attempted to contact the truck’s driver by radio, but received no response. He told officers he followed the truck west on Highway 31 until it turned off in Canoe. At that point, the suspect allegedly sped toward the CSX worker’s truck.
The driver of the stolen truck continued west on Highway 31 before turning right on Martin Luther King Drive. The CSX worker said Tucker then jumped out of the truck on Second Street, just before the truck hit the utility pole. Officers were unable to locate the suspect after a brief search of the area.
Minutes after recovering the truck, the Atmore Police Department learned that the truck had been stolen from the Comfort Inn in Evergreen.
About 12:44 Tuesday afternoon, Officer John Powers came in contact with a man matching the suspect’s description walking along Martin Luther King Avenue. Tucker was then taken into custody and transported to the Atmore Police Department were he was identified by two CSX employees that had observed him driving the stolen truck.
Escambia Deputy Charged With Felony Battery On Detainee (With Video)
February 1, 2011
An Escambia County deputy is facing felony battery charges for allegedly throwing a detainee into the jail floor and leaving there bleeding without medical attention.
According to State Attorney Bill Eddins, Deputy Zachary McArthur has been charged with one count of felony battery for the incident on December 9, 2010. According to Eddins, McArthur is alleged to have battered Justin Johnson while he was being detained at the jail. As a result of the incident Johnson received 11 stitches for an injury to his face. The entire incident was captured on video.
McArthur faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison if convicted.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, Johnson went to Chan’s Nightclub on December 8, 2010, a week after a deputy had told him to leave the business. Johnson said he did not see deputies at the nightclub during a four to five hour period until Deputy McArthur and a bouncer snatched him from his seat and taken outside where he was placed in the deputy’s cruiser.
Johnson told investigators that he was never told he was under arrest. He said that he remembered arriving at the Escambia County Jail where his head was slammed into something before blood poured down his face. Johnson said that while in the jail’s booking area, he made the statement that he wanted to kill himself just so someone would get him medical attention.
A State Attorney investigator said he viewed video from the jail’s booking area at the time of Johnson’s arrival with Deputy McArthur. According to the investigator, a black male and three other deputies, one of which was a sergeant, were also in the booking area.
The investigator stated that McArthur used his upper body to throw Johnson to the floor. “Deputy McArthur then grabs Justin Johnson by the handcuffs and drags him about 3-4 feet and leaves him lying on the floor bleeding,” State Attorney Investigator Richard Furmaniuk stated. “After Justin Johnson is dragged to the front of the bench, you can see the trail of blood on the floor, from Justin Johnson’s face.”
Furmaniuk said the video shows that Johnson is left on the floor for four minutes with no medical attention from McArthur or any of the other deputies in the booking area.
The incident was investigated by both the State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
(If you do not see a video at the top of this page, it is because your work, school or home firewall is blocking YouTube videos.)
Colder Weather Returns
February 1, 2011
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Cloudy, with a low around 32. Wind chill values between 25 and 30. West wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 45. Wind chill values between 25 and 35 early. North wind around 10 mph.
- Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Wind chill values between 25 and 35. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Thursday Night: Showers. Low around 34. North wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
- Friday: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 48. North wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
- Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 31. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 59.
- Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38.
- Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62.
- Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 51.
Windshield Buster: FDOT To Launch Investigation Into Hwy 29 Pavement
February 1, 2011
Sometimes Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies hand out three or four accident report forms a day to Highway 29 drivers with busted windshields. Some area residents are on windshield number two or three since “the rocks” began to appear over a year ago on Highway 29 from Pine Barren Creek to Century.
Now, the Florida Department of Transportation is taking notice.
Beginning Wednesday, weather permitting, a Florida Department of Transportation Geotechnical Foundation Investigation crew will perform pavement tests on Highway 29 from Pine Barren Creek north to the Alabama state line.
According to FDOT, north and southbound motorists can expect intermittent lane restrictions between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The test results will be used to determine what, if any, correction action FDOT will take along the 15.5 miles of roadway.
Paramedic Shooting Victim Out Of The Hospital, Suspect Still At Large
February 1, 2011
An Escambia County paramedic is out of the hospital after being shot Friday night, and deputies are continuing to search for a suspect.
At around 9:03 p.m. Friday night, deputies responded to the 1100 block of W. Hayes Street for an emergency assistance call from an Escambia County EMS unit.
When deputies arrived they discovered paramedic Brandon Richie, 28, of Pensacola, had been shot in the shoulder.
Richie told deputies that he was retrieving an item from a bag located inside his ambulance when someone tapped him on the back. As he turned around he was shot. According to Richie, the suspect was a either a light skinned black male or a white male wearing a lime green jacket. The jacket may have NASCAR type patches sewn onto it.
The incident occurred at an EMS staging post, just blocks from Baptist Hospital and very near the Escambia County Jail. One of the responding deputies rushed the injured medic to the emergency room at Baptist in a sheriff’s cruiser.
Richie began his employment with Escambia County on April 20, 2004. He became a fulltime paramedic on August 24, 2010.
“Our investigators are interviewing several people and following a number of leads,” said Sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Chris Welborn. “We have received a number of tips from members of the community and encourage anyone with information to call us.”
Anyone with information concerning the identity of the shooter is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Pictured above: An Escambia County EMS medic was shot Friday night at 1125 Hayes Street in Pensacola. Photo courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Resident Turning Love For Music Into Children’s Chorus
February 1, 2011
A Century native is transforming her love of music to a choir for children from the North Escambia area.
Holley Driver is founding the Tri-City Children’s Chorus for boys and girls in the second through fifth grades. Rehearsals began Tuesday afternoon and will take place every Tuesday from 5-6 p.m. at the Pentecostal Church at 8451 N. Century Boulevard.
Driver was born and raised in Century and grew up singing and playing the piano at church where her father, the late Rev. Bennie Driver, was pastor. She graduated with her Bachelors degree in Music Education from the University of West Florida, and her Masters degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities with an emphasis in Music, also from U.W.F. She has also received her National Board Teaching Certification.
Driver is currently a Music Educator at R.C. Lipscomb Elementary, teaches piano and voice lessons, and serves as the Choir Director at Aldersgate Methodist Church before coming to her church, First Pentecostal in Century, where she plays the piano and sings. Driver has given numerous piano recitals and solo concerts.
“It has been in my heart for some time that Century and the surrounding area needed a children’s chorus. This will provide an opportunity for children to excel in music and the performing arts and give a child an area where they can excel even if they are having difficulties in academics. Music is beautiful and it enhances life,” Driver said, adding that she gives all credit to the Lord.
For more information on the chorus, contact Driver at (850) 324-6182.
Century Seeks Grants For AEDs
February 1, 2011
The Town of Century is applying for a $100,000 grant on behalf of the Century Volunteer Fire Department to purchase up to $300,000 worth of automated external defibrillators (AED).
If awarded, the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Grant program from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would provide up to $100,000 per year for up to three years for the Century VFD to place the AED devices in public locations in the fire department’s district.
According to the town’s grant consultant, Debbie Nickles, the AEDs would be in public locations like town hall, parks and community center. The grant also provides for American Red Cross training for each device.
The American Red Cross advocates the placement of AEDs in public places where groups of people gather in order to increase overall survival rates. An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening heart rhythms and is able to treat them through defibrillation (shock), with the goal of restarting a healthy rhythm.
Spay, Neuter Financial Assistance Available For Escambia Residents
February 1, 2011
Throughout the month of February, Concerned Citizens for Animal Welfare, a local animal welfare organization, will celebrate and sponsor the 17th annual Spay Day at the Escambia County Animal Shelter, 200 West Fairfield Drive.
They will pay for half the cost of the surgery and hope to see 100 animals spayed or neutered for eligible low income pet owners during “Spay and Neuter Month”. The event will be Tuesday through Sunday from noon until 6.p.m. for the entire month of February.
“We’ve sponsored spay and neuter programs since 1988,” said Dorothy Kiser of Concerned Citizens for Animal Welfare. “It’s very important that we do everything possible to reduce the number of unwanted animals being born.”
The spay and neuter assistance program is available to qualified citizens year-round. Providing these services at half price during Spay and Neuter Month benefits not only the low income pet owner, but also all residents of Escambia County, according to organizers. It focuses on the need to have your pets spayed and neutered and that these services are available. These services will be open to low-income pet owners on a first come, first serve basis. The animal must have proof of a rabies vaccination before the surgery.
For information on low cost spay and neuter services, or to find out if you qualify, call the Escambia County Animal Shelter at (850) 595-3075 or visit the shelter, from noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. For more information on Escambia County Animal services, visit www.myescambia.com