Early Morning Fire Destroys Highway 97 Home
January 19, 2012
There were no injuries reported in early Thursday morning fire that destroyed a home in Walnut Hill.
The fire at 9661 Highway 97, next door to Tichi’s Garage, was spotted by a passerby just before 2 a.m. The occupants were not at home at the time of the fire in the 2,000 square foot concrete block home.
For a photo gallery from the scene, click here.
The house was well involved when the first firefighters arrived on the scene, with flames shooting from roof and rear of the home. It took about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The Walnut Hill, McDavid, Century and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, Atmore Fire Department, Atmore Ambulance and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the fire.
Pictured: A fire about 2 a.m. Thursday destroyed this home on Highway97 in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Property Bordering Two Century Parks Could Be Contaminated
January 19, 2012
Escambia County is working to determine if there is any danger from environmental contamination on a parcel of land in Century that borders two of the town’s parks.
The county will use an EPA grant to conduct an environmental site assessment on a mostly vacant lot at 300 East Highway 4 to determine what level of contamination, if any, exists. The 23.87 acre property, which includes a vacant house, was home to B&B Enterprises from late 1984 to 1988.
The B&B operations included leasing portable storage tankers to oil companies for the temporary storage of drilling wastes, including well-drilling fluids, drilling mud and oil. When the empty containers were returned to the site, they were washed out into open waste ponds on the property, according to Cameron-Cole, the contractor that will survey the property. Reports also indicate that there were also petroleum storage tanks formerly located on the property.
The parcel just east of Highway 29 is bordered on the north by East Highway 4, on the west by the railroad tracks behind Whataburger, on the east by the road to the Anthony Pleasant Park, and to the south by Anthony Pleasant Park and Showalter Park. A portion of the Century Cemetery, located to the north of Showalter Park, actually sits on the suspected parcel of land.
Pictured above: Environmental contamination is suspected on this property on East Highway 4 in Century. Pictured inset: A vacant house sits on the property. Pictured below: This map depicts the location of the parcel. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Evers Backing Bills On School Prayer, Right To Address Government
January 19, 2012
State Sen. Greg Evers is co-sponsoring two free speech bills — one guaranteeing the right to student-led prayer and one guaranteeing the right of citizens to speak publicly to governing bodies.
Evers’ co-sponsored Senate Bill 98 allows students to lead or participate in prayer at secondary school events. The bill has passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, its second committee stop.
And Senate Bill 206 would give Floridians the right to make public comment at meetings of state local governments. The bill has passed the Rules Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections and is now heading to the Senate Committee on Rules for its second committee stop.
Could You Be Trespassing At Your Favorite River Fishing Spot?
January 19, 2012
It’s a murky line between really good fishing, and trespassing.
A measure moving in the House seeks to clarify just where that line is – more specifically, where the state’s waterways end and where abutting private property starts.
The issue is vital to those who own property that runs right up to a riverbank or lake shoreline – how much property they pay taxes on for example is a question depending on where their property stops. But it’s also highly important to boaters, hunters and fishermen who fear losing access to swamps – prime habitat for many of the things they’re looking for.
Sometimes those non-tidal swamps aren’t there in the dry season, but are in the wet – and whether the high water mark or the low water mark or something in between is used as the demarcation point has become a highly contested issue, and the subject of a bill that cleared a committee stop Tuesday, but only after conflicting testimony about what the change would do.
The measure (HB 1103), approved Tuesday by the House Agriculture Subcommittee on a 9-4 vote, seeks to set out the “ordinary high water mark,” which is where the federal government says the public’s sovereignty ends. The trouble is, the state law doesn’t define ordinary high water mark or spell out exactly how you determine where that is.
There have been a couple of court cases that tried to set that definition out – and backers of the bill say it tracks those court opinions. The measure says the ordinary high water mark is the “highest reach of a navigable, nontidal water body as it usually exists when in its ordinary condition and is not the highest reach of such water body during the high water season or in times of freshets.”
The bill also acknowledges that the ordinary high water mark is a moving boundary and spells out that officials must determine where it is based on a mark on the soil – a change in the soil from where it is usually wet to where it usually is dry.
As one might imagine, just what it will mean still isn’t agreed on.
Preston Robertson, of the Florida Wildlife Federation, says the new definition will allow the line to be marked lower – allowing more land to be considered private, rather than part of the publicly-owned waterway.
The measure would take “tens of thousands of acres that everybody now enjoys and put it in the hands of private land owners,” Robertson said. And there would be no public benefit for making the change – the benefit would go entirely to those private property owners.
Legislative staff acknowledges that the ordinary high water mark won’t be the highest water level. It doesn’t take in “swamp or overflowed lands,” according to the Agriculture Subcommittee’s staff analysis. “And the ordinary high-water mark is to be found between such lands and the area occupied by the water for the greater portion of each average year,” the analysis says. Also, if there’s water there much of the time, there generally won’t be ability to grow crops – if crops can grow in the soil, it’s beyond the ordinary high water mark, the staff analysis reasons.
The exact line is extremely important to land owners for several reasons, said Jim Handley, executive vice president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association. “You can’t use property as collateral,” if you don’t know if you own it, he told the committee this week. “It’s a concern of ours if somebody is trespassing and gets injured, who is liable?”
He rejected an assertion by hunters and fishermen, that agricultural landowners are simply trying to increase their holdings.
“This is not a land grab, this is an opportunity to show a clear definition of what folks have been paying property taxes on,” Handley said. “…Nobody’s trying to move the line, they’re trying to define the line.”
Trespassing is a major concern of boaters and sportsmen’s groups – which have for several days been sending around mass emails to draw attention to the issue.
Hunters carrying rifles, or even boaters simply legally carrying a concealed weapon, may be charged with trespassing for fishing on low water they’ve fished on for years.
“If they have to worry about a line that’s now moving, they’re subject to a third degree felony with armed trespass,” Robertson said.
Pictured: The Escambia River near Molino. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
By The News Service of Florida
Man Just Arrested On Drug Charges Found Smoking Pot In His Jail Cell
January 19, 2012
A Cantonment man just arrested on drug charges was allegedly found smoking marijuana in his jail cell a short time later.
David Lee Mason, age 32 of Quarters Road, was charged with resisting an officer without violence, possession of cocaine with the intent to sell or distribute, possession of cocaine without intent, possession of drug paraphernalia, introducing contraband into a detention facility, possession of marijuana and destruction of evidence.
Tuesday, deputies responded to an address on Doris Avenue in Ensley to arrest Mason on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear. That’s where they say they found Davis sitting in a white Cadillac in the driveway of a residence.
As deputies attempted to handcuff him, Mason allegedly pushed one of them and fled into the backyard of the residence where he was apprehended. According to an arrest report, deputies found 11.4 grams of powder cocaine and 10.5 grams of crack cocaine in the Cadillac. At the jail, detention deputies reported finding marijuana hidden in Mason’s sock.
A short time later, Mason was found by jail personnel in his jail cell smoking marijuana, according to an arrest report, that he had allegedly hidden inside a body cavity.
Mason remained in the Escambia County Jail without bond early Thursday morning.
U.S. Marshals Task Force Apprehends Sexual Predator
January 19, 2012
Wednesday in Escambia County, the U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested a convicted sexual predator who has been dodging law enforcement for months.
Timothy Lee Rentas, 31, was captured around 1:30 p.m. by the Task Force with the assistance of Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies from the Sexual Offender Unit and Warrants Division. Rentas was arrested without incident.
Task Force members had set up surveillance on a house on the 300 Block of Frisco Drive when Rentas left the home on foot and walked to Highway 98 where he was arrested.
In 1997 Rentas was convicted of sexual battery on a child under 12 years old. According to police reports, Rentas was babysitting a toddler when he performed the acts.
Although Rentas was 17 at the time he was tried as an adult. Rentas is wanted for failing to register as a sexual predator in Escambia County. Rentas was booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond.
Local Students Winners In ‘Masks!’ Exhibit
January 19, 2012
Several North Escambia students were winners in the fifth annual “Masks!” exhibit at Artel Gallery in Pensacola. The exhibit features masks created by students and teachers from across the school district. About 70 students from 15 schools took part in this year’s exhibit.
Winners were:
- Best of Show: Jennifer Sublett, PATS Center.
- Edgiest: Kiani Okahashi, Northview High School.
- High school: Taylor Dukes and Elizabeth Wright, Northview, first place; Kelli Brock, West Florida, second; Luna Zepp, Washington, third; Ashley McDowell, Escambia, honorable mention.
- Elementary school: Ariel Perry, McArthur, first; Abby Briese, Hellen Caro, second; Emma Parrish, N.B. Cook, third; and Cassidy Stevens, Jim Allen, and Makayla Thompson, Lipscomb, honorable mention.
Judge Changes Affiliation To Republican Party
January 19, 2012
An Escambia County (Ala.) judge has switched his affiliation to the Republican party. Judge David Jordan made the announcement Wednesday.
“I have reached this decision after months of thought and prayerful consideration. I do not take it lightly. I have made what I feel is the best decision at this time,” Jordan said.
“Judge Jordan is an outstanding public servant and we are excited that he has decided to join the GOP. His decision is just another sign that the liberal agenda being pursued by the Democrat Party is out of touch with the conservative values of Escambia County voters,” Jeff Peacock, chairman of the Escambia County (Ala.) Republican Party, said. “2012 will be a great election year for Republicans at every level of government from president to school board and we are happy that Judge Jordan is a valuable member of our team.”
Jordan has served as District Judge for Escambia County (Ala.) since January 2003. He was successfully elected in 2004 and subsequently re-elected to his current six-year term in 2010.
Warming Weather
January 19, 2012
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Thursday: Sunny. High of 69. East winds around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
- Thursday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening becoming mostly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Slight chance of rain showers after midnight. Low of 53. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of showers 20 percent.
- Friday: Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain showers. Highs about 75. South winds 5 to 10 mph becoming 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of showers 20 percent.
- Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. South wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
- Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. South wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
- Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming west between 5 and 10 mph.
- Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. South wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72.
- Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70.
- Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51.
- Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 70.
Detzner Named Florida’s New Secretary Of State
January 19, 2012
Gov. Rick Scott named Ken Detzner as the new secretary of state, replacing Kurt Browning, who is stepping down.
Detzner has filled in before as the secretary of state during the agency’s transition from an independent agency under an elected secretary to an agency that answers to the governor. Detzner has also served as chief of staff in the agency when Jim Smith was secretary from 2002-2003. He also worked for six years as director of legislative and policy affairs in the attorney general’s office.
By The News Service of Florida