Doris Eloise Gideon
May 16, 2012
Mrs. Doris Eloise Gideon, age 84 of Century, passed away on May 15, 2012, at a local health care facility.
Mrs. Gideon was a native of Century and had been a member of the Monroeville and Repton communities. She was of the Pentecostal Holiness faith and was a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Carlene and sister, Paulene Travis.
She is survived by her sons, Jamie Gideon of Pensacola and Glenn Burleson of Century; daughter, Tondalea Dubose of Repton; sister, Delorse Darby of Century; four grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday evening, May 16, 2012, at the Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel from 6 until 9 p.m.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 17, 2012, at 10 a.m. at the Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Doug Colburn officiating. Interment will follow in Crary Memorial Cemetery, Bluff Springs, FL.
Pallbearers will be Levi Dubose, Jimmy Dubose, Eric Wiggins, Alston Wiggins, Coltin Williams and Hunter Williams.
Flomaton Funeral Home directing.
State Moves Prison Privatization Oral Arguments
May 16, 2012
The First District Court of Appeal has moved back by two weeks oral arguments in the state’s appeal of a prison privatization ruling.
The court will now hear the case at 9 a.m. on June 27, instead of the original time, 2 p.m. on June 13.
The state is appealing a ruling by Circuit Judge Jakie Fulford that struck down an privatization plan approved by the Legislature after the the Florida Police Benevolent Association sued to block the initiative. Fulford said lawmakers improperly folded the privatization plan into the fine print of the budget.
Pensacola Shuts Down B’ham 2-0
May 16, 2012
Pensacola starting pitcher Tim Crabbe, along with relievers Curtis Partch and Donnie Joseph, combined for the team’s fourth shutout win, while pinch hitter Josh Fellhauer launched an eighth inning two-run homer to give the Blue Wahoos a 2-0 win over the Birmingham Barons on Tuesday night at Pensacola’s multi-use stadium.
The win gives the Blue Wahoos a 3-2 series victory and improves their record to 19-21, while the defeat drops Birmingham to a 21-19 mark in 2012.
Crabbe (7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO) tossed his best outing of the year despite not receive a decision after yielding six hits in seven scoreless frames, while Partch and Joseph combined for two perfect innings of relief. Partch (1.0 IP, 2 SO) earned the win and struck out two before Joseph (1.0 IP, 3 SO) notched his seventh save of the year after striking out the side in the ninth. Barons starter Jose Quintana (7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 SO) did not factor in the decision either despite allowing just two hits in addition to eight strikeouts in seven scoreless frames, while RHP Henry Mabee (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO) suffered the loss after allowing the two earned runs on two hits in one frame.
Both offenses were held quiet until the eighth, when Fellhauer broke the scoreless draw with his second homer of the year. DH P.J. Phillips reached with a one out single up the middle before the pinch hitter came to the plate and launched the 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to make it 2-0.
Birmingham had a runner past second base once, with a solid defensive play in the fourth keeping them off the scoreboard. After Barons 1B Seth Loman led off the frame with a double, C Damaso Espino lined a single up the middle to Pensacola CF Ryan LaMarre. Loman was waived home on the play as LaMarre fired a strike home to C Mark Fleury, who held on to the ball after colliding with Loman to end the inning and prevent the run.
Loman and Espino were the lone batters to record multi-hit efforts for either side, while SS Tyler Saladino reached base three times via a free pass. No Blue Wahoos batters collected two or more hits, though LaMarre and SS Didi Gregorius each did make it on base twice.
Pensacola has an off-day Wednesday and will travel to Jacksonville in preparation for their five-game series with the Suns, with the opening game set for Thursday night at 7:35 ET.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: Tim Crabbe fired seven shutout innings in the Blue Wahoos’ 2-0 win Tuesday night over Birmingham. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Davisville Business Burglary Under Investigation
May 16, 2012
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary of a business in Davisville, just south of Alabama/Florida state line.
Deputies responded to a burglar alarm just before 10 p.m. Monday night at 11216 Highway 97 in the Piggly Wiggly shopping center. When they arrived, they discovered that the retail business “Seven J’s” had been burglarized. The story offers a variety of merchandise, including movie rentals, hair accessories, jewelry and wigs.
The were no arrests made in the burglary, according to Deputy Matt Baxter, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. Due to an ongoing investigation, further information was not released.
Anyone with information on the burglary is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Pictured above: This business in the Davisville Piggly Wiggly shopping center was burglarized Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Mrs. Doris Stokes Keese
May 16, 2012
Mrs. Doris Stokes Keese, age 83, of Century, passed away on May 14, 2012, at a local hospital after an extended illness.
Mrs. Keese was a native of Brewton and had been a member of the Century community since 1947 coming from Brewton. She was a graduate of T R Miller High School and had attended Jefferson Davis Community College. Mrs. Keese was a homemaker and a member of the First Baptist Church of Flomaton. She was preceded in death by her twin sister, Lois Idell Stokes; brothers, Benjamin Franklin Stokes, III, William Roy Stokes, Charles Fred Stokes, and her husband, John Martin Broomes, Sr.
Mrs. Keese is survived by her husband of 35 years, Rev. Jerry Keese of Century; son, John Martin Broomes, Jr. of Century; daughters, Jan Broomes Sales of Pensacola, Irene Broomes (Dewey) Bondurant, Jr. of Flomaton, Michele (Terry) Keese-Burchett and Whitney Keese Wheeler, both of Gulf Breeze; sisters, Carolyn Stokes Jennings and Mary Catherine Stokes Baker, both of Brewton; nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
Visitation will be held on Tuesday evening, May 15, 2012, at the Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel from 6 until 8 p.m.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Flomaton with the Rev. Dustin Stockstill and Dr. David Gardner officiating. Music will be provided by organist, Ann Florie and pianist, Susan Adkinson.
Interment will follow in Flomaton Cemetery, Flomaton, AL.
Pallbearers will be Jim Bondurant, Scott Myers, Jack Broomes, Hunter Broomes, Wes Sales and Alan Baker. Honorary pallbearers will be Jack Carden and Dr. Gary Silbernagel.
In lieu of flowers donations or contributions may be made to the Memorial Fund First Baptist Church P.O. Box 765 Flomaton, AL 36441 or to Alzheimers of Central Alabama P.O. Box 2273 Birmingham, Al 35201.
Mobile Home Kitchen Fire Causes Minor Damage
May 15, 2012
A kitchen fire Tuesday evening at a Davisville mobile home caused minor damage.
The fire was reported in the home on Highway 97 just south of West Highway 4 about 6:30 p.m. Firefighters were able to quickly contain the fire. There were no injuries reported.
The Walnut Hill, Century, McDavid and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to the call.
Pictured above: Smoke pours from the front of the mobile home before the first fire trucks arrive at a kitchen fire Tuesday evening in Davisville. Pictured inset: Firefighters pull a hose into the mobile home. Pictured below: The fire caused minor damage. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Planning Board Approves Walnut Hill Crude Oil Transfer Station
May 15, 2012
The Escambia County Planning Board gave its blessings Monday to a rezoning request for property in Walnut Hill where an energy company proposes to build a crude oil transfer station that could mean about 30 new high paying jobs.
Genesis Rail Systems, LLC wants to build the facility on 20 acres off Corley Road, near Arthur Brown Road. The property was chosen because it is at the intersection of an existing crude oil pipeline and the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway.
The Planning Board gave the go-ahead to rezone the property from “village agricultural” to “general industrial”, despite original findings that the plan was not consistent with the Escambia County Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Code.
The Planning Board decision will go to the full Escambia County Commission on Thursday. The BOCC will review the decision and will either adopt, modify or overturn the Planning Board’s recommendation on the rezoning request.
If the facility is constructed, crude oil will be shipped from the north by rail, offloaded in a large storage tank and then injected into an existing crude oil pipeline.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Gruesome Sight: Why Did Dead Horse Remain Along Hwy 29 For Hours?
May 15, 2012
A sight so gruesome we can’t show you pictures greeted drivers in Molino Tuesday morning, prompting dozens to ask NorthEscambia.com “why?”.
A Pensacola man was killed about 8:30 Sunday night when he hit a horse on Highway 29 near the Victory Assembly of God. Sunday night, the remains of the horse were removed from the southbound lane of the highway and pushed into the grassy median. The gruesome remains of the horse were not removed from the median until about 10 a.m. Monday.
“Very sad, but don’t you think they could have removed the mangled horse out of the median?”, one resident wrote in a comment to NorthEscambia.com. “That was awful.”
Lt. Steve Preston of the Florida Highway Patrol said his agency notified the Florida Department of Transportation and their contractor Transfield Services on Sunday night that the horse needed to be removed.
“We were not able to get it removed that night,” Preston said. He said the FHP started making arrangements first thing Monday morning for the removal.
“I believe the problem was miscommunication,” Preston said. “I am not blaming DOT, the county or anyone else.”
Ian Satter, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, said that he believed his department was waiting for the FHP to finish their investigation before removing the horse.
“There was an effort to try to find and see who was the owner,” Satter said.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has a livestock officer that responds to incidents on county roads, but not state roads like Highway 29, according to Sena Maddison, ECSO spokesperson.
Preston reiterated that the problem was to be blamed on “miscommunications”.
Pictured above: Emergency workers on scene of a fatal accident Sunday night in Molino where multiple vehicles hit a horse. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Scott Backs Down On Plan To Rank Elections Officials
May 15, 2012
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has backed down from his plan to publish scores ranking the state’s elections officials. Scott administration scored Elections Supervisors after the January presidential primary on various performance measures, such as how quickly they reported results.
The charge against the rankings was led by Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford, acting on behalf of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections. A letter to the governor by Stafford said the measurements don’t accurately reflect how good the supervisors are at their jobs – and that the supervisors didn’t learn the purpose of the questions they were asked until the Division of Elections put out the results.
Stafford reminded Scott in a sharply-worded letter that the governor doesn’t actually have much control over the supervisors – they’re constitutional officers who are elected independently. And the measurements are flawed, he said.
“Unfortunately, the items used in the survey are not, by themselves, true indicators of a supervisor of elections’ office,” Stafford wrote. “Furthermore, the data is flawed in certain instances, thereby yielding a result which is inaccurate….”
Stafford said the survey – if used to produce a public ranking of each supervisor – “has the potential to undermine confidence in Florida’s elections, which we work tirelessly to instill in the public.
“As you are well aware,” Stafford wrote, “we are responsible for carrying out our duties and the citizens and voters in our counties are the persons best able to evaluate that performance.”
The rankings are hard to decipher, but include seven metrics, such as when results were first uploaded on election night, when early voting dates were announced and when absentee ballots were mailed. An eighth “extra credit” category was for returning the survey early.
The rankings went from 1 point for submitting a particular type of data early to negative 1 for submitting it late, and negative 2 for not submitting it at all. For submitting data “on time,” but not early, counties got a 0.
While no county supervisor got the maximum score of eight, several registered a seven. Several supervisors scored at each level all the way down to three counties that received scores of negative 4, the lowest recorded. Those were Brevard, Palm Beach, and Seminole counties.
While the scores made it out – the state sent them to supervisors and they were subsequently leaked. But Scott’s office now says they won’t be published.
In addition to the complaints from the supervisors, Democratic lawmakers also criticized Scott on the survey.
“Gov. Scott still hasn’t figured out that there are limits to his authority,” said Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg. “Florida’s elections supervisors deserve support from statewide officers and they shouldn’t have to succumb to meddling by the governor. I am confident that county elections supervisors are willing to participate in meaningful surveys, but I am sure they are opposed to the governor meddling in and undermining both their work and the confidence of voters.”
2012 FCAT Writing Scores Fall Dramatically; State BOE Lowers Standards
May 15, 2012
[Updated Noon] Preliminary grades on a ramped up statewide writing assessment were so bad that state education officials decided Tuesday to lower the standards for a passing grade.
According to results released Monday, passing scores on the FCAT writing assessment plummeted from 81 percent to 27 percent for fourth graders and showed similar drops in eighth and 10th grades.
Tuesday, the board unanimously lowered the passing grade on the writing assessment from 4.0 to 3.0 on a 6-point scale in an effort to insulate schools from changes in how the test was scored. State educators said they share some of the blame by not properly preparing schools and parents for the heightened standards, which included more emphasis on grammar and punctuation.
Education officials Monday blamed the plummeting scores on a handful of factors including more rigorous standards. Now, the State Board of Education has to determine what to do with the scores, which have been used to determine school grades.
Failing schools are required to put in place certain remedial programs that cost more to provide in already tight budget times.
Among the changes made over the past two years, this year’s tests were graded by two reviewers. Test standards were also raised to include more attention to writing conventions like punctuation, capitalization and grammar. The pool of test takers was also expanded to include lower performing students.
The combination proved problematic.
“When the increased threshold of 4.0 was established by rule, the State Board of Education did not have, and could not have had, impact data that would reflect how the scoring rules changes would impact student results and the school grade calculations,” the Department wrote in a justification for holding an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss a plan of action.
“Based on preliminary results of the 2012 writing assessment, applying the 4.0 threshold in addition to the heightened scoring rules may have unforeseen adverse impacts upon school grades, warranting emergency review by the State Board of Education.”
Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association, said the dramatically lower scores point to the shortfalls of relying on such high stakes tests for funding and student assessment.
“There have been a lot of parents over the years who have been unhappy with the assessments,” Pudlow said. “Hopefully this will give us a real opportunity to see how we should evaluate students and evaluate teachers”
The advocacy group FundEducationNow.org slammed the state education bureaucracy, saying the swing in grades shows that the FCAT is a “multi-million dollar sham.”