Photos: Chinese Acrobats Perform At Byrneville Elementary
January 20, 2011
Students at Byrneville Elementary School recently enjoyed a performance by a group of Chinese acrobats. With plate spinning, impressive hula-hooping , basketball tricks and lots of acrobatics, the group amazed the BES audience.
Pictured above: Chinese acrobats perform a plate spinning demonstration. Pictured let: Chloe Smith from Mrs. Dunsford’s third grade class, gets quick instructions before hula-hooping with the group. Pictured below: A group of Byrneville students enjoy the show. Submitted photos by Candice Thornton for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Ernestine L. Poston
January 20, 2011
Ernestine L. Poston, age 87, died Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at Century Care Center in Century, Florida after a long illness. Mrs. Poston a long time resident of Pensacola and is best remembered as the owner of Ernestine’s Beauty Salon. She was active in several charitable and civic organizations in Pensacola.
Survivors include her sons; James E. Poston and Keith B. Merron, 1 grandchild, 2 great grandchildren and her sister and brother.
Funeral services will be held at 3:00 PM on Friday, January 21, 2011 at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North-Cantonment with Rt. Rev. Eric Long of St. Christopher Episcopal Church in Pensacola officiating.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home one hour prior to service time.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North, 1000 Highway 29 South Cantonment is in charge of arrangements.
Ag Comm. Introduces Forestry Resolutions
January 19, 2011
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Governor and the Cabinet, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam introduced a resolution in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Florida state forest system. Beginning this month and throughout the year, the Division of Forestry at the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will hold numerous special events in state forests to commemorate this milestone in Florida’s overall public land management program.
“For 75 years, Florida’s Division of Forestry has worked diligently to protect the forests of Florida from the dangers of wildland fire and to ensure our forests will be preserved for generations to come,” Commissioner Putnam said. “The Division of Forestry also plays an important role in educating the public of the value of Florida’s state forests and the steps we must take to preserve this natural resource.
In 1936, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Division of Forestry began managing state lands with the establishment of Pine Log State Forest near Panama City. Today, more than 1,250 dedicated employees across the state work together to manage 35 state forests, encompassing more than one million acres.
Each year thousands of people visit the state forests of Florida to enjoy a multitude of diverse outdoor recreational opportunities such as hiking, horseback riding, canoeing, camping, off highway vehicle (OHV) riding and hunting. The Division of Forestry also manages the popular Trailwalker and Trailtrotter programs, which reward participants who hike and/or horseback ride in state forests.
At the meeting, Commissioner Putnam also introduced a resolution declaring the fourth week in January as “Prescribed Fire Awareness Week.”
“Florida is the most progressive state in its use of prescribed fire to manage land,” Commissioner Putnam said. “Prescribed fire is a safe way to apply a natural process, ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk.”
Prescribed fire is used to reduce hazardous fuel buildups, thus providing increased protection to people, their homes and the forest. Prescribed fire provides better forage for wildlife and livestock, returns nutrients to the soil, helps to control certain plant diseases and reduces hazardous fuel buildups.”
Florida has the most extensive prescribed burning programs in the country. There are currently more than 1,500 certified prescribed burn managers in Florida helping to prescribe burn more than 2.7 million acres of agricultural and natural lands annually.
Escambia Student Drug Testing Plan Advances
January 19, 2011
The Escambia County School Board is moving forward toward a policy of random student drug testing next school year for students that take part in extracurricular activities or park on a school campus.
Tuesday night, school board members weighed in on the plan before voting unanimously to set a public hearing on February 17.
Jeff Bergosh, an outspoken proponent of the idea, said random drug tests would be part of a comprehensive plan to battle drug abuse in Escambia’s schools. “Will we win the war on drugs with this? I don’t think so,” Bergosh said. “But if we keep one student on the right path from making a wrong decision, it was worth it.”
Bill Slayton, District 5 board member, said he has concerns about testing middle school students due to their maturity level “handling the testing and the way it goes on”. He expressed concerns that young middle school students might not understand why they were singled out for testing. But Slayton said he supports the random drug tests at the high school level. “Anything we can do to make a student think twice, I am all for,” he said.
Describing the random drugs test as a “hard thing to consider doing”, Board member Patty Hightower said she believes the random testing will serve as a deterrent. She said that schools were being forced to step more and more into the role of parents.
“It is unfortunate that we are having to step more and more into the parental role and help the parents with these issues,” Linda Moultrie, District 3 member said. “We have to do our part as well. It is sad that we have to get to this point, but this is where we are in today’s times.”
Moultrie also expressed concern about students transitioning from elementary to middle school that could be effected by the tests.
Board Chairman Gerald Boone said, “we do have to take the role of parent in a lot that we do, sadly….if this policy can be yet another deterrent…to have a kid even think of trying it the first time, I think it’s great,” Boone said.
“If it just gives a reason to say ‘no’,” Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said Tuesday night that he supports the program, but does share some of the concerns about testing some of the younger students. “There may be some room there to carve out what we think is right,” he said. “It can be effective, and it will be a deterrent.”
The Proposed Plan:
Under the proposed policy first presented to the school board in December, students that participate in athletics, extracurricular activities or park on campus would be subject to the random urine tests. A signed parental consent form would be valid during the entire school year, not just for the duration of the athletic season or extracurricular activity period.
Students whose parents do not consent to the tests would not be allowed to participate in the activities — including any practice, tryout, rehearsal or even sit with the team, club or organization at a game or pep rally.
The drug tests will be conducted by the school health nurse or technician under the plan. If there is a positive result, the student would be required to take a follow-up drug test at a District-approved licensed laboratory within 24 hours. Failure to take the follow-up test would be considered a positive result, according to the proposed plan.
If a student refuses to participate in a random drug test, it will be considered a positive result.
A positive result would result in the student being removed from all extracurricular and athletic activities, including practices, for at least 30 days and would be suspended from driving on the school campus. The student would be referred to a District-approved drug assessment and rehabilitation program.
A student with a positive drug test result would be required to pass a second drug test before participation in future activities at the expense of their parents. They would be subject to additional random drug tests, and they would remain on probation for the rest of their school years in the Escambia County School District. The student would not be allowed to return to any leadership position — such as captain of a squad, club officer or class officer — for the remainder of the school year.
A second positive result would prohibit a student from participation in all athletics and extracurricular activities and from driving on campus for one full calendar year.
Before the random drug testing plan is implemented for the 2011-2012 school year, it must first be approved by the Escambia County School Board. That approval can come anytime after the February 17 public hearing.
(To read the full text of the proposed policy, click here.)
Rain Thursday Night, Turning Colder
January 19, 2011
Another cold front will bring rain Thursday night and much colder overnight lows near 22 for Friday night.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.
- Thursday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly before 3am. Cloudy, with a low around 39. North wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Friday: Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 51. North wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 22. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 53. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.
- Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 28. North wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 55. North wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 30. East wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 60.
- Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 41.
- Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65.
- Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.
- Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 56.
Area Flu Cases Increase
January 19, 2011
Hospitals across the area are beginning to see an increase in flu cases.
During the second week of January, 158 patients were tested for flu-like symptoms by Sacred Heart Health System, with 14 percent receiving positive results for influenza.
“Many patients are not officially tested for flu when they have flu-like symptoms,” says Donna Mayne, Microbiology Lab Manager at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. “That means the actual number of people suffering from the influenza virus could be much greater than our percentages indicate.”
At Sacred Heart’s Urgent Care Center on Highway 29 in Pensacola, family medicine physician Dr. Fred Mixon has noticed an increase in patients presenting with flu-like symptoms. “In December we were seeing on average five patients a day with flu-like symptoms. In the past three weeks we have seen that number increase to eight to 10 patients a day.” says Dr. Mixon.
January and February typically are the worst flu months, but the flu season can also drag into March. Although colds and flu seem to be more common in cold weather, the colder temperatures are not the culprit in making people sick. Many experts believe the increase is due to people spending more time indoors with others during the winter months, which increases the chance of spreading viruses.
This year, most of the flu cases seen in the U.S. have been due to a Type A virus called H3N2. This particularly virulent virus has been known to trigger more pneumonia and other complications than other forms of influenza. The 2010/2011 seasonal flu vaccine does offer triple protection — against last year’s “swine flu” (Type A H1N1), the prevalent H3N2 strain, and the Type B flu that tends to be less severe.
Influenza is caused by very contagious viruses which infect the nose, throat and lungs and cause symptoms such as fever, chills, dry cough, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, sore throat, headache and nasal congestion. A person can spread the flu as early as one day before he or she even feels sick, and can continue to pass the flu virus to others for five to seven days after symptoms start.
There is still an ample supply of this year’s flu vaccine available in the United States, but because it takes about two weeks for the vaccine’s protection to take effect, those interested in being vaccinated should do so right away. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends vaccine for most everyone, except infants younger than 6 months and people with severe allergies to eggs.
More Help Needed To Count Local Homeless
January 19, 2011
More volunteers are needed by the EscaRosa Coalition on the Homeless to count the homeless in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties later this month.
The organization needs at least 100 volunteers to help with the annual Escambia/Santa Rosa Point-in-Time Count and Homeless Survey to be conducted January 26 and 27. Volunteers are needed throughout the two counties, including the northern areas like North Escambia.
Some of the volunteers will help persons in homeless shelters complete the annual survey forms, while other volunteers will seek out the homeless in other areas, including the outdoors.
For more information, or to sign up to help, visit www.ecoh.org.
The complete count is used by area officials to obtain government and private foundation money to aid the homeless.
Groups Want To Eliminate Hurricane Surcharges From Insurance Bills
January 19, 2011
Several groups are seeking to eliminate assessments on your insurance bills for the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and Citizens Property Insurance.
Associated Industries of Florida is teaming up with the Florida Wildlife Federation and other non-profit groups in urging Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers to eliminate assessments levied on all property, casualty and automobile policyholders in the event of deficits to fund and Citizens, the state’s largest property insurer with 1.3 million policies in place.
In a letter to the newly elected governor, the group urged Scott to use his influence to reduce or eliminate the use of assessments to bail out both funds in the event a severe hurricane.
“It is inexcusable for Florida to continue to require our businesses and charities as well as other Floridians – even those who are not Citizens policyholders – to subsidize many of the state’s most fortunate living in expensive homes on the coast, the group wrote.
“Remarkably, this system results in charities subsidizing the owners of $3 million vacation homes.”
Other non-profits to sign on to the letter include United Way of Florida, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Big Bend, the Heartand Institute and the Florida Afterschool Network, a coalition of afterschool providers.
The insurance industry generally agrees that assessments should be reduced as much as possible or eliminated.
“Citizens can be much smaller if it once again covers only homeowners unable to get insurance on the private market,” the Florida Insurance Council said in a statement.
“This would reduce Citizens assessments following a major hurricane. Cat Fund premiums should be high enough to cash surplus in non-hurricane years. It should not compete with the private reinsurance market unnecessarily, as the Legislature instructed it to do following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. All of this will reduce the Cat Fund’s need for bonding and assessments.”
Council On Aging Caregiver Meeting Thursday
January 19, 2011
The Council on Aging of West Florida will host a Century Caregiver Support Group Meeting at 6:00 Thursday evening.
There is no cost and the public is invited. Reservations are not required. The meeting will be held at Century Care Center at 6020 Industrial Blvd. The group meets on the third Thursday of each month at the same time and location. County residency is not required to attend.
The support group is part of Council on Aging of West Florida programs designed to reduce stress, increase coping skills, provide strategies for effective management of care giving tasks and enable caregivers to provide high quality care in the home. The programs are sponsored by Council on Aging of West Florida, the State of Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging. For more information, call (850) 432-1475.
One Injured In Hwy 95A Rollover Crash
January 19, 2011
One person was injured in a two vehicle crash Tuesday night in Cantonment.
The accident was reported about 5:45 p.m. at Archer Road and Highway 95A. One person was transported to a Pensacola hospital by ambulance. Their condition was not available. The accident is still under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol; further details have not been released.
The Cantonment and Ensley stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded to the crash.
Pictured: One person was injured in this crash Tuesday night in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
