State To Hold Public Meeting On Fannie Road Bridge Replacement
October 19, 2011
The Florida Department of Transportation will hold a public information meeting concerning the bridge replacement on Fannie Road over Dead Lake in Century Thursday from 5:30 until 6:30 p.m. at the Century Ag Building at the corner of West Highway 4 and Industrial Boulevard.
Construction for this project is currently funded in 2014. Proposed improvements include replacement of the current bridge at Dead Lake with a new concrete structure consisting of two 12-foot travel lanes and 8-foot shoulders. The roadway pavement will be reconstructed as necessary to accommodate the new slightly taller bridge. The roadway will be closed and through traffic detoured onto Highway 31/29 in Alabama and onto Highway 4 in Florida.
Maps, drawings and other project information will be on display. The meeting will be an open-house format with project team representatives available to address your questions and explain the proposed improvements. There will be no formal presentation.
Pictured above and below: The Florida Department of transportation is set to let the contract to replace this Fannie Road bridge over Dead Lake in 2014. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Byrneville Students Collect Hats, Cash For Kids With Cancer
October 19, 2011
Byrneville Elementary School recently held a “Hats Off For Cancer” program, collecting money and new hats to donate to children who lose their hair due to cancer treatments. The school collected 29 new hats and $310, according to Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan.
“We may be a small school, but our families have big hearts,” Wolfe-Sullivan said.
Since 1996, over one million brand new hats have been collected nationwide through the program for children with cancer.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured: “Hats Off For Cancer” day at Byrneville Elementary School. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Teacher Needs Votes For National Technology Grant
October 19, 2011
A Northview High School teacher is in the running for a technology grant, and he needs your help to win.
Language arts teacher Raja Atallah wants to replace the traditional research paper with a digital documentary for his students. If his grant proposal wins, the students will research a current issue using a variety of media resources, gather their findings and create a research digital documentary video with student reporting, student interviews and more.
As part of the process, the students will learn about copyright laws, plagiarism, online research as well as traditional research — all while learning how to use the software to create the video projects.
At last report, Atallah’s proposal was ranked fifth out of 200 nationwide submissions for the We Are Teachers grant. The grant includes a video camera and $200 toward classroom technology for top-five teachers in online voting. The winner will also include 10 Nook Color tablets.
To vote for Atallah’s project at Northview High School, click here. Voting ends Thursday.
Finally Fall: Sunny, Windy And Much Cooler
October 19, 2011
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Clear, with a low around 39. West wind between 5 and 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 66. West wind between 5 and 15 mph.
- Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 37. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 70. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 42. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 73. North wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 42. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 48.
- Monday: Sunny, with a high near 79.
- Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54.
- Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 80.
Pictured above and below: Sunflowers growing in the Walnut Hill area. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Dorothy Lou Cash McCurdy
October 19, 2011
Mrs. Dorothy Lou Cash McCurdy, age 77, of Century passed away on Wednesday, October 19, 2011, at her home.
Mrs. McCurdy was born in West Point, GA and spent the last 60 years in Century, after moving from Pineview, AL. During her working years, she worked as a secretary for Exxon.
Mrs. McCurdy was preceded in death by her husband, William Edwin McCurdy and their daughter, Karen Joan Brown. She was a member of Faith Bible Church in Century.
She is survived by her sons, Donnie Allen (Ruby) McCurdy of Pineview, AL and James Benny (Jennifer) McCurdy of Orange Beach, AL; brothers, Barney (Irene) Cash of Century, O.D. (Betty) Cash of Flomaton, George (Ann) Cash of Bay Minette, Gene (Aggie) Cash of Franklin, TN, Odell (Linda) Cash of Huntsville,William Cash of Mobile, Milford Cash of San Antonio, TX; sisters, Joyce (Al) Erskin of Chattory, WA, Shirley (Wayne) Owens of Flomaton, Rebecca Cash of Pensacola. Linda (Roy) Batie and Wanda Cash, both of Brewton; four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Thursday, October 20, 2011, at the Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel from 5 until 8 p.m. Funeral services will be Friday, October 21, at 11 a.m. at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Gene Stokes officiating. Burial will follow in McCurdy Cemetery in Century.
Pallbearers will be Michael Cash, Anthony Cash, Jimmy Cash, Billy Owens and Kenny Coleman. Honorary pallbearers will be Barney Cash, Osborne Cash, George Cash, Gene Cash, Odell Cash and William Cash.
Spooky: Kids Enjoy Stories, Treats In Barrineau Park
October 19, 2011
Children enjoyed a “spooky” story, cookies and other treats Tuesday evening at the Barrineau Park Community Center. Submitted photos by Teresa Andress for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott Posts University Salaries Online
October 19, 2011
Amidst a push to reform higher education, Gov. Rick Scott has posted the salaries of all state university employees online, prompting pushback from faculty.
The salary information for all 11 state universities was already publicly available, but Scott’s office last week took the extra step of compiling the information, putting it into a searchable spreadsheet and posting it online on the “Florida Has a Right to Know” website.
The website allows Florida faculty and administrators, and anyone else, to easily glimpse the salaries of their colleagues, supervisors and rival academics for the first time.
Salaries of professors vary widely, from the $30,000 a year made by an English instructor at the University of Central Florida to $1.2 million paid to a medical professor at the University of South Florida. The highest professor salaries came primarily from medical school professors at the University of Florida and USF.
The effort to publish university salaries comes during a time that Scott has pressed for changes in higher education, touting an effort in Texas to scrutinize faculty productivity and tenure. This has made some faculty nervous that Scott is publishing salaries as part of a maneuver to galvanize public opinion against university faculty in a push to tie pay to performance, or change other benefits such as tenure.
Scott has also posted the salary information of state employees and information on public employees who receive state pensions worth more than $100,000 a year on the same website.
“Just as salary information for all the Office of the Governor workers and the state agencies are posted online, Florida has right to know about university salaries as well because they are paid for by taxpayer dollars,” said Scott spokesman Lane Wright.
But faculty say salaries are not always paid for with state taxpayer dollars.
“My reaction is not a privacy concern, this is public knowledge anyway,” said Tom Auxter, a philosophy professor at the University of Florida and the president of the United Faculty of Florida. “But when the governor just publishes this, it makes it look like it is something other than it is.”
For example, some professors have part of their salary paid for through endowments or grants, not state funds.
“They are not necessarily all state dollars and it is somewhat misleading as to how the categories are arranged,” said University of Florida spokeswoman Janine Sikes.
For instance, the highest-paid professor in the university system is Dr. Neil Fenske, a renowned dermatologist and professor who is paid $1.2 million. But a USF spokeswoman said his salary is mostly paid for through clinic fees from patients. A USF statement said Fenske is considered “one of the nation’s leading cancer specialists in melanoma.”
Faculty are also concerned the online database will draw attention to the six-figure salaries paid to a few superstar professors and administrators, versus the more typical five-figure salary of an assistant or associate professor.
The database also doesn’t include some forms of compensation. Figures posted for university presidents, for example, list just their base salaries and not bonuses. For instance, University of Central Florida President John Hitt made $673,500 in the 2009-10 fiscal year, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The salary database shows his salary was $463,500.
Auxter, the UFF president, said Scott is motivated to cut costs at universities. Toward that end, Auxter said the governor has chosen to “vilify” faculty rather than find new revenue sources.
“(Scott) has boxed himself into a strategy where he has to be constantly claiming to expose government waste,” Auxter said. He said professors, on average, make less in Florida than in most other states.
Florida universities are already struggling to keep talented professors in the state, Auxter said, a by-product of tough budget years in which universities have seen funding cut from the state.
“You can’t pay the talent you want to keep and the talent you want to attract,” Auxter said.
By The News Service of Florida
Volleyball: Northview, Escambia Split Games
October 19, 2011
The Escambia Gators defeated the Northview Chiefs Monday in varsity high school volleyball action, while the junior varsity Lady Chiefs beat Escambia in the final games of the regular season.
Varsity
Escambia defeated Northview 19-25, 13-25, 17-25.
Senior Jose Docuette had one ace, two kills, one block and two digs for the Lady Chiefs, while Morgan Payne added one ace, two kills, one block and dig. Shelley Motherside contributed three assists, one block and two digs, as Misty Doran Posted one ace, four kills, one block and a dig.
Northview finished the regular season at 4-18, 3-5 in the district.
Junior Varsity
The JV Lady Chiefs defeated the Escambia Gators 25-12, 25-19.
Danielle Steadham had five aces and two kills for the JV Lady Chiefs, as Hannah Fiellin posted four aces, three kills and two assists. Tiffani Pritchett added two aces and seven assists, and Rebecca Grim had five kills for Northview.
The JV Lady Chiefs finished their season at 11-8, 4-2 in the district.’
Pictured top: The Northview varsity volleyball team. Pictured below: The junior varsity Lady Chiefs. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Kenneth Johnston
October 19, 2011
Mr. Kenneth Johnston, 24, passed away on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, in Bay Minette.
Mr. Johnston was a native and resident of Bay Minette for the past year, and a former longtime resident of Uriah . He was an avid sports fan, fisherman, and guitarist. He attended the Baptist church.
He is survived by his mother, Freida Johnston of Rabun, AL; his father and stepmother, Mr. and Mrs. Rickey Johnston of Uriah; three brothers, Kevin Stacey of Flomaton, Randall Johnston and Joshua Johnston, both of Uriah; and his grandmother, Clinine Stacey of Rabun.
Funeral services will be Friday, October 21, 2011, at 10 a.m. the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. Tony McMillan and the Rev. Bubba Rolin officiating. Burial will follow at Mineola Cemetery.
Visitation will be Thursday, October 20, 2011, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Larry Ray Johnson, David Nelson, Jr., Daniel Nelson, Chris Lambert, Randall Hadley and Wesley Harris. Honorary pallbearers will be Thomas Larry Amos and Ray Johnson.
Tracy Ramer
October 19, 2011
Tracy Ramer 38 of Atmore, died Tuesday October 18, 2011 in Atmore.
She was a homemaker, born in Atmore on March 08, 1973, to Vernon and Sheila Weekley Ramer.
She is survived by her parents, Vernon and Sheila Ramer of Perdido, AL; two sons, Christopher Ramer and wife Miranda and Holland Justin Hayes; two daughters, Jennifer Luker and husband Jerry, Brianna Ramer; one sister, Shannon Ramer; and two grandchildren, Bryant Luker and Christopher Bently Ramer.
Services will be Thursday, October 20, 2011, at 2:30 p.m. from Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Rev.Wendell Hadley. Interment will follow in White Cemetery in Perdido.
Family will receive friends, Thursday October 20, 2011 at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 1:30 p.m. until service time.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home in Atmore is in charge of all arrangements.