Cantonment Man Charged With DUI, Stealing Copper Wire
March 1, 2012
A Cantonment man charged with DUI was also arrested for his alleged role in stealing items including copper wiring from a home on 10 Mile Road.
Brandon Lee Cobb, age 22 of Cantonment, was charged with burglary of a structure, grand theft and dealing in stolen property from a home that had previously burned on Bison Road. Cobb allegedly participated in removing copper wiring from the home along with stealing a chainsaw, power drill, socket sets and other items.
Cobb’s arrest came after a traffic stop at the Whataburger in Cantonment. Cobb was stopped after a deputy observed him traveling in excess of 70 mph on the two-lane North Palafox parallel to Highway 29. According to an arrest report, Cobb ran off the road and nearly hit a pedestrian. Following the traffic stop, Cobb reportedly tried to flee from deputies during a DUI test but was quickly apprehended after a brief foot chase. He was charged with driving under the influence and resisting an officer without violence.
Cobb was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
State Changes School Grading Methods
March 1, 2012
The state Board of Education has approved a series of changes to Florida’s process for grading schools. The changes come after the federal government allowed the state to break free from the No Child Left Behind school accountability law.
The exemption means that Florida can use its own school accountability system, its A-through-F school grades, to rate the state’s public education system. But the waiver comes with strings attached, a requirement that children who are learning English and students with disabilities be included in the grading.
The Florida Association of District School Superintendents was one of several groups opposed to the new system that would include students not previously factored in, particularly the newest learners of English.
“While we agree with the need to include students with disabilities and more (English-language learners) in the performance components for reading and math, we are concerned that the proposed rule is contrary to research-based evidence that demonstrates one year is insufficient for a child to acquire native language proficiency,” the association wrote to Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson.
While approving the inclusion of new English speakers, they won’t be counted for their first year under the plan approved Tuesday. And, under an amendment to the rule by Board member Gary Chartrand, the state Department of Education will convene a task force to come up with recommendations on how to include students with disabilities into the accountability system.
The number of foreign children who may struggle in English will obviously affect some school districts more than others, raising the possibility of inequality in the measurement system.
Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the Board of Education that in his school district alone, there are more than 63,000 students whose first language isn’t English.
“You would need to put 30-40 Districts together in the state of Florida to come up with that number comparable to Miami-Dade,” Carvalho said. ‘We know we have students in their second year of language instruction who only achieve a 1-2 in FCAT Reading. But they’re learning. You know how we know that? Because in math, they are getting three’s, four’s and five’s.”
Carvalho, who also speaks several languages, said it would be hard for him to pass the state’s test.
“The issue is reading proficiency. If I were asked to sit for an exam given entirely in Spanish and expected to perform as well as a native Spanish speaker, I would fail the exam. I speak it beautifully, but I would fail the exam.”
The panel also backed down from another rule change that would have granted automatic “F” grades to schools with fewer than 25-percent of students reading on grade level. That proposal was softened to say that says schools with a grade of “D” or higher must have at least a quarter of their students’ scoring at or above a Level 3 on FCAT reading test. Schools that don’t meet the 25-percent threshold could see their grade drop down a letter. The change also affects the lowest 25-percent of student performers.
That too, won’t account against schools in the first year.
The Board of Education also voted to remove high school science from the list of things calculated in a school’s grade. Science is being removed because the state eliminated its 11th grade Science FCAT test-and its replacement-the Biology end-course exam, hasn’t been fully implemented yet.
By The News Service of Florida
Today Is Deadline For Landowners To Apply For Share Of $50 Million In Gulf Restoration Funds
March 1, 2012
Today is the final chance for landowners and producers in the area to apply for a share of $50 million in funding from a Gulf Coast restoration effort.
The $50 million will be spent over three years in conservation assistance to farmers and ranchers in priority areas along seven major rivers in five states that drain into the Gulf.
In Escambia counties in both Florida and Alabama, funds will be focused on the Canoe Creek watershed and the Sandy Hollow-Pine Barren Creek watershed in the Escambia River basin. Also, in North Escambia, funds will provide conservation assistance in the Little Pine Barren Creek Watershed in the Escambia River Basin. (Click map to enlarge.)
Financial assistance is available to help producers apply sustainable agricultural and wildlife habitat management systems that will focus on reducing soil erosion, improving water quality, and improving wildlife habitat on cropland, pastureland, and forestland.
Practices may include:
- Installing grade control structures to stabilize eroding gullies
- Implementing precision agriculture to reduce chemical application overlap and protect sensitive environmental areas
- Increasing adoption of residue and tillage management, cover crops, and conservation crop rotations to reduce sheet and rill erosion and improve soil organic matter, which will result in cleaner runoff and improved water quality
- Planting grass and trees to stabilize eroding areas
- Installing cross-fences and watering facilities to facilitate grazing distribution
- Controlling cattle access to streams to improve water quality and stream bank stability
- Planting and managing native plant species to improve wildlife habitat and to assist with restoration of a multitude of declining species
- Promoting energy conservation by eliminating the need for annual mechanical removal of sediment from split ditches
- Implementing grazing management
For information on how to apply for the funding, contact the NRCS Molino Service Center at (850) 587-5345 or the Brewton NRCS Service Center at (251) 867-3185. Application cutoff date for GoMI 2012 funds is March 1, 2012.
Spelling Counts: Can You Spot What’s Wrong With This Sign?
March 1, 2012
The sign over the entrance at the county-owned Byrneville Community Center was recently repainted — with a spelling error. Can you spot what’s wrong with the sign in these photos?
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Drug Felon Assistance Restrictions Set For Final Votes
March 1, 2012
A measure preventing convicted drug felons from collecting Temporary Assistance to Needy Family help and food stamps unless they complete drug treatment was given preliminary approval late Wednesday.
Sponsored by Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, the bill allows applicants to designate someone else to collect the assistance. The House then gave preliminary approval to another measure that would prevent the out-of-state use of debit cards for TANF and food stamps.
Deputies, U.S. Marshals Bust Robbery Suspect
March 1, 2012
A manhunt by deputies and U.S. Marshals ended with the capture of a taxi robbery suspect in Escambia County Wednesday.
Phillip Earl Crenshaw Jr., 20, was arrested in the 6800 block of Tiki Lane on multiple robbery charges and one count each of petit theft and grand theft.
Crenshaw was also the suspect in an early morning robbery Wendesday and was charged with that crime in addition to burglary unarmed of an occupied structure, false imprisonment, and resisting arrest without violence after he entered an occupied apartment trying to flee authorities, holding the occupants inside the apartment.
Crenshaw is being held in the Escambia County Jail without bond.