Larry Clifford ‘Pee Wee’ Spicer
April 15, 2012
Mr. Larry Clifford ‘Pee Wee’ Spicer, age 56 of Brewton, died on April 13, 1956 at D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton.
Mr. Spicer was a native of Brewton and had worked 40 plus years as a truck driver in the transportation industry. He was of the Baptist faith and attended Ray’s Chapel in Bogia. He was preceded in death by his parents, B.C. and Ruthie Spicer and a brother, Billy Spicer.
He is survived by his wife, Pat Spicer of Brewton; daughters, Stephanie (Jason) Morgan of Byrneville; Mandi (Larry) Kinley of McDavid; Alicia (Harold) McGhee of East Brewton; brothers, Tom Spicer of Chumuckla, Mike Spicer of Chumuckla, Johnny Ray Spicer of Century; sisters, Mary Ard of Chumuckla, Shirley Thomas of Pensacola;and nine grandchildren.
Visitation will be held on Sunday evening, April 15, 2012, at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel from 6-8 p.m.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, April 16, 2012, at 11 a.m. at the Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Nathan Brown and Rev. Chip Barbas officiating. Interment will follow in Ray’s Chapel Cemetery in Bogia.
Kindergarten Registration Begins April 30 In Escambia County
April 15, 2012
Kindergarten registration for Escambia County students will begin on April 30.
Students who will be five years old on or before September 1, 2012, are eligible to register for the 2012-2013 school year. Registration will occur at the school which serves the student’s residence.
At the time of registration, parents/guardians should bring the following:
- Child’s birth certificate
- Child’s social security card
- Proof of residence (electric bill or rent receipt – telephone and cable bills are not accepted)
- Immunization record (Florida blue card provided by the health department or family physician)
- Physical form completed by family physician
To a child’s school, visit www.myescambiaschools.com and click on “Find Your School”.
East Kingsfield Re-opens
April 15, 2012
East Kingsfield Road was back open Saturday afternoon being closed for 10 days. It was closed April 3 from Highway 29 to Pompano Street for a construction project.
Pictured: Contractor Roads, Inc. works Friday to finish a project on East Kingsfield Road at Highway 29. Northescambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Michael Preston Goodlander
April 15, 2012
Michael Preston Goodlander, 62, of Cantonment, passed away Friday, April 13, 2012, after a brief illness.
Michael was a native of Harrisburg, PA. He resided in Gateswood, AL, until 1996 at which point he moved to Cantonment.
He was retired from Champion International. He proudly served our country in the U. S. Navy during Vietnam and has been a life time member of the American Legion Post 340.
Michael is preceded in death by his father, William Goodlander and his stepfather, Melvin Lee.
He was a loving and generous husband, Daddy and Paw Paw. He is survived by his mother, Dorothy Lee and his loving wife of 42 years, Beverly Jenks Goodlander. He is also survived by his one son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey M. and Heather Goodlander; one daughter and son-in-law, Mitzi and Michael Carrea and four beautiful grandchildren that he adored. He is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Peggy and David Williamson and a brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Kay Goodlander and many loving in-laws, nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Monday, April 16, 2012, at Pensacola Memorial Gardens Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, 2012, at the funeral home.
Pensacola Wahoos Cap Series With 6-1 Victory Over Mobile
April 15, 2012
Blue Wahoos right fielder Yordanys Perez cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fourth inning, while starting pitcher J.C. Sulbaran fired 5.2 shutout innings to give Pensacola a 6-1 win over the Mobile BayBears on Saturday night at Hank Aaron Stadium. The BayBears won the series 3-2, clinching the series with their 6-5 victory Friday night.
Sulbaran (5.2 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 SO) turned in the best outing for a Blue Wahoos starter thus far in 2012, limiting Mobile batters to just two hits while striking out four in his 5.2 innings of work as he earned his first win of the season. After giving up a lead-off walk, Sulbaran retired the next 11 hitters of the contest before yielding a free pass in the fourth. BayBears starter Tyler Skaggs (5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 0-1 on the year after allowing three earned runs on seven hits while fanning eight in five frames.
After shortstop Didi Gregorius scored on an error and second baseman Brodie Greene walked to load the bases, Perez brought in Greene, in addition to third baseman Henry Rodriguez and left fielder Joel Guzman with a double down the left field line to make it 4-0. Pensacola added two more scores in the seventh courtesy of an RBI double from Greene, and a run-scoring single off the bat of first baseman Mike Costanzo.
Gregorius led all hitters with three hits, while Rodriguez also recorded a multi-hit game. BayBears first baseman Kyle Greene led Mobile with two of the team’s three base knocks in the contest. Guzman extended his hit streak to nine games with a single in the second, while Costanzo has now reached base in nine straight contests with his seventh inning base knock.
The Blue Wahoos now return home to Pensacola for a five-game series with the Jacksonville Suns, the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, with the series opener set for Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm. Pensacola is scheduled to send RHP Pedro Villarreal to the hill, while the Suns have yet to announce a starter.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: Didi Gregorius recorded three hits in Penascola’s 6-1 win Saturday night. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Senate Argues For Its New Redistricting Map
April 15, 2012
The second draft of the Legislature’s redistricting plan for the state Senate answered all of the objections of the Florida Supreme Court to the first proposal and should get justices’ approval, according to a Senate brief in the case.
The brief, filed in response to complaints by the Florida Democratic Party, a coalition of voting-rights groups and the NAACP, came a week before oral arguments on the plan before the court. Also on Friday, the justices issued an order dividing two hours of arguments among the Senate and the groups opposing the plan.
Lawyers for the upper chamber argued in the 100-page filing that the new plan, approved by the Legislature after justices rejected the first draft, “addressed each of the flaws this Court found.”
The court threw out the Senate maps as part of its first review of redistricting proposals under the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts standards, approved by voters in a November 2010 referendum.
The brief also flayed the arguments raised by the opponents, saying that many of them attempt to draw the court into reconsidering districts that passed in the first review.
“The issue is whether the Legislature complied with the Court’s specific mandate, not whether other districts that this Court either did not find invalid or specifically found valid comply with constitutional standards,” the brief says.
The brief is signed by Raoul Cantero, a former Supreme Court justice who is representing the Senate.
Some of the arguments revolve around Central Florida, where the court specifically rejected an “appendage” to a district that would have prevented Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, from facing Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, in a primary.
Opponents have argued that the new plan simply adds the appendage to a different district. And while it would pair Gardiner and Simmons, critics say, that is an illusion because Simmons has said he would move to a different district to avoid the face-off.
“But the Senate cannot confine Senator Simmons to his current residence or disable him from seeking reelection,” the brief argues. “Indeed, a number of House incumbents who were paired in the House plan the Court approved will move and seek reelection in different districts.”
Senate lawyers also contend that there is no way to completely dismantle the appendage without blending the white voters who reside there into one or both of the minority districts that border it. That would weaken the ability of the minority communities in those districts to elect candidates of their choice, violating another constitutional standard.
The brief also lashes out at plans proposed by the coalition of voting-rights groups — which includes the League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause Florida and the Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza — and the Florida Democratic Party. Both plans, it says, are actually gerrymandered to give Democrats a better chance to take the Senate than they would have under the Legislature’s proposal.
And those proposals are unnecessary, the Senate argues, because its map is good enough.
“The voters who approved Amendment 5 never intended to transform redistricting into a tournament, or place every competitor that enters the arena on equal footing with the Legislature,” the brief says.
The court must rule by early May.
By The News Service of Florida
Martha Ann Cunningham
April 15, 2012
Mrs. Martha Ann Cunningham, age 73 of Flomaton, passed away on April 12, 2012, at her home.
Mrs. Cunningham was a native of Mobile and had been a member of the Flomaton community for the past four months. During her working years, she worked as a cosmetologist and she was of the Jehovah Witnesses faith. She is preceded in death by her parents, Ely and Louise Neidhart Bradley; her husband, Martin Otis Cunningham; her daughter, Cheryl Cunningham; brothers, Charles Edgar Bradley and Ely Joseph Bradley; and sister, Betty Lou Turner.
Mrs. Cunningham is survived by her brothers, Norman (Gladys) Bradley of Mobile, David (Dannie) Bradley of Atmore; sisters, Dell (Eddie) Frye of Mobile, Linda (Andre’) Deslonde of Flomaton.
Funeral services for Mrs. Martha Ann Cunningham will be held on Monday, April 16, 2012, at 11 a.m. graveside at Pine Crest Cemetery in Mobile with speaker Walter Crigler.
Interment will follow at Pine Crest Cemetery with Flomaton Funeral Home directing.
Escambia Special Olympics Held At Tate (With Gallery)
April 14, 2012
The big race was almost over. Everyone had crossed the finish line, except for a young lady named Kailee that had not even started. Kailee just sat in her wheelchair, not going along with plans of her Special Olympic “buddies”. They wanted her run the race. She wanted no part.
But the crowd began to chant her name. “Kailee, Kailee.” The confidence begin to build. Over and over, the crowd called her name louder and louder. “Kailee, Kailee!”
She, albeit cautiously, stepped up from her wheelchair with the help of a buddy.
She tapped her white cane on the track. That confident look disappeared from her face. Visually impaired, Kailee could not see what was ahead; she latched onto a buddy. Fear in her wandering eyes. The crowd continued their encouragement. “Kailiee! Kailee!”. She was center of attention in her corner of Pete Gindl Stadium.
Kailee picked her foot up high and stepped ahead. She felt around with her white cane. Solid ground, perhaps not so bad. She began to smile and went ahead. As she gained speed, her smile grew.
Her blond hair began to wave in the wind and she headed step after step toward the finish line. Beaming and grinning, she crossed the finish line. The crowd roared, smiles everywhere. A man watching the race wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
Kailee’s total time in the 30 meter? It really didn’t matter that it was probably five minutes. She was a big winner.
That’s the special part of the Escambia County Special Olympics held Friday at Tate High School — everybody, no matter their physical or mental disability, was their own winner.
Over 500 athletes from 18 schools took part in Friday’s event, showing off their competitive skills in a variety of events. Hundreds of Tate High students also took part, running event and serving as volunteer “buddies” for the athletes.
The day included track and field events, softball and tennis ball tosses, and other competitive events — plus fun events like fishing games, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, face painting and more.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top series: Kailee, a visually impaired student, takes part in the Escambia County Special Olympics Friday morning at Tate High School. Pictured inset and below: More scenes from the event. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pictured:
Bank Robbery Suspects Remain Behind Bars
April 14, 2012
Father and daughter bank robbery suspects — nabbed by federal agents in Bluff Springs and Brewton — remain behind bars this morning charged with a February 17 bank robbery in Brewton, Ala.
Robin Ann Godwin, age 42 of Century, was arrested by FBI agents Thursday night at a travel trailer on Bluff Springs Road just south of Century. She remains in the Escambia County, Fla., jail without bond as a fugitive from justice as she awaits extradition back to Alabama to face a first degree robbery charge.
As FBI agents arrested her in Florida, additional agents converged on a home on Pine Road in Escambia County, Ala. and arrested Norman Alvin Godwin, age 75, on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and first degree robbery. He remains in the Escambia County (Ala.) Detention Center in Brewton with bond set at $90,000.
As they executed search warrants, FBI agents recovered evidence at a both locations, including cash allegedly taken during the Brewton robbery.
NorthEscambia.com was there Thursday night in Bluff Springs as FBI agents searched the travel trailer of Robin Ann Godwin. For more on that search, click here for an earlier story.
A single suspect (pictured left) walked into the bank through a public boardwalk entrance at the rear of the building and demanded cash and fled out the same door. Authorities said at the time that they were not sure exactly how the bandit left the area following the robbery, but a few days later they said the bandit may have headed to Florida.
Pictured top and bottom: FBI agents executed a search warrant related to a Brewton bank robbery at this travel trailer on Bluff Springs Road south of Century Thursday night. FBI agents, who were just off camera, would not allow their photographs to be taken. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Tweedie Files For ECUA Seat
April 14, 2012
Republican Barry Tweedie has filed for the ECUA District 5 board seat currently held by Larry Walker.
Tweedie ran unsuccessfully for the office in 2000, 2004 and 2008. He has previously served on the ECUA Citizens Advisory Committee. Tweedie is a retired Navy flight officer.
Walker, a Republican, is seeking his sixth term on the ECUA board. He was first elected to the ECUA board in 1988 and served until he ran unsuccessfully for the Escambia County Commission in 2000. He has was re-elected to the ECUA board in 2004 and 2008.
Charlou Williams of Cantonment prefiled to seek the ECUA post in December.