More Rain Possible Today
June 15, 2012
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Friday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South wind around 5 mph becoming east. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Saturday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. East wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south.
- Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Tuesday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Tuesday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Wednesday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Wednesday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Thursday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Transit Shuttle Service Proposed Between Jay And Century, Pace, Milton
June 15, 2012
A public transit shuttle service could one day run between Century and Jay, and between Jay and Pace/Milton two days per week.
It’s an idea explored Thursday by the Santa Rosa County Commission, with a vote to work with the town councils in both Jay and Century on the “Jay Public Transportation Shuttle Service.”
The Northwest Florida Rural Health Network wants the service to fill an identified need for transportation between Century and Jay, and the needs of citizens to travel to Pace and Milton. The service, as proposed, would run between Century and Jay three days per week and between Pace/Milton two days per week.
The operating cost is estimated to be $6,000 per month, with the Rural Health Network offering to pay $3,000 per month for six months and the other $3,000 coming from a grant. One or two vehicles would be needed at a 10-percent local cost match of $7,800 or $15,600. Eighty percent of the vehicle cost would be paid for by a Florida Department of Transporation grant, and 10 percent would come from the state.
Santa Rosa County staff will now move forward in requesting Jay and Century share the required 10 percent local match to purchase the vehicles. Santa Rosa County will also apply for the FDOT grant. If the grant is awarded, the vehicle could be purchased after July 1, 2013.
The public transportation program would be open to anyone, not just the economically or otherwise disadvantaged.
Blue Wahoos, BayBears Rained Out
June 15, 2012
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ contest with the Mobile BayBears on Wednesday evening was suspended due to inclement weather in the bottom of the fifth inning with the BayBears leading 3-1. The game will be finished as part of a doubleheader Friday evening, starting with a nine-inning conclusion of Wednesday night’s game, beginning at 6:00 pm, followed by a seven-inning contest approximately 30 minutes after the first game. Gates will be open at 4:30 pm.
Tickets for Thursday’s game can be exchanged at the Pensacola Blue Wahoos Box Office for future Blue Wahoos home game tickets of equal or lesser value, subject to availability. Each ticket must be exchanged at least 24 hours in advance of the desired game and exchanges must be made in person and cannot be processed via telephone, e-mail or facsimile.
The pitching matchups for tomorrow’s contests have not been announced.
UWF Approves Tuition Hike, Purchase Of Country Club
June 15, 2012
The University of West Florida has approved a tuition hike, and the university is moving forward with plans to purchase a nearby country club.
Thursday, UWF’s Board of Trustees approved a 15 percent increase per credit hour. If the tuition increase is approved at the state level, undergraduates will pay $28 more per credit hour while grad students will see a credit hour increase of $51.
The increase, according to the university, is to help offset a $12 million cut in state funding.
The UWF Board of Trustees also voted Thursday morning gave the go ahead to their property development company Business Enterprises, Inc., to purchase the Scenic Hills Country Club for $2.2 million. Business Enterprises, Inc. will make the final purchase decision in the coming weeks.
The purchase will not use any taxpayer dollars. It’s expected to generate additional income for UWF to stabilize the university’s future.
Free: Hurricane Preparedness Open House At Escambia Extension
June 15, 2012
A free hurricane preparedness open house will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon at the Escambia County Extension Windstorm Damage Mitigation Building at 3740 Stefani Road
in Cantonment.
The event will provide information about how to protect your family, pets, home and landscape from hurricane damage.
There will be tours of the Windstorm Damage Mitigation Demonstration Building, product vendors, and presentations from UF/Escambia County Extension agents and staff from Rebuild Northwest Florida.
For more information contact Carrie Stevenson at ctsteven@ufl.edu or (850) 475-5230.
Deputies Seek Armed Robbery Suspects
June 15, 2012
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying two suspects in the armed robbery of a Reddy Food Mart at 5500 Highway 87 North on June 10.
One suspect entered the store wearing a hoodie-style sweatshirt and mask, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money. The clerk ducked down behind the counter, and the suspect fled the store. Sheriff’s investigators believe a second man seen outside the store during the robbery is also a suspect acting as a lookout.
Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to contact Detective Scott Jones at (850) 981-1242 or Santa Rosa County Crime Stoppers at (850) 437-STOP.
Photos courtesy the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Republican Congressman: This Country Is In Trouble
June 15, 2012
Congressman Joe Bonner, R-Ala., says there is a dark cloud hanging across America and Congress must be bold in making changes to bail the country out of its current economic condition.
“Our country is in trouble,” Bonner said at a town hall meeting Thursday morning in Atmore. “There’s just a dark cloud that’s seemingly going across the country.”
He said he doesn’t expect Congress to make any sweeping changes before this year’s elections as the deficit continues to multiply.
But the current Congress must, he said, deal with several important issues before year’s end. One is the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts that if not extended will amount to a $500 billion tax increase. Other items that must be extended, Bonner said, are provisions for Medicare reimbursements for doctors, payroll tax cuts and a cap on the federal debt limit. The National Flood Insurance Program is also set to expire, Bonner said.
And end to the flood insurance program will force banks to call in mortgage loans of homes located in expanded flood zones that would no longer have flood insurance, Atmore banker Bob Jones said.
During Thursday’s town hall meeting, Jones also told Bonner that he worries about the potential end to a federal crop insurance program. “We can’t finance it (crops) unless there is a crop insurance program,” he said.
Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff Grover Smith (pictured left) expresses his concerns to the congressman about immigration laws and mandates to curb drugs from Mexico.
“We need to get together on immigration and get the burden off local law enforcement,” the sheriff said. “We are not equipped; we are not funded.”
“I believe immigration is not something we have to turn to the states to do,” Bonner said. “The federal government has failed the American people.”
Alabama Rep. Alan Baker, also in attendance at Thursday’s Atmore town hall meeting, said he felt the state was forced to implement tough immigration laws. “We felt like the federal government had not done their jobs,” Baker said. “It was out of frustration.”
In the coming months, Bonner said Congress “has got to have the courage to take on social security and medicare.”
“For the future of this country, we’ve got to turn this ship around,” he said.
Pictured above and below: Congressman Joe Bonner, R-Ala., addresses a small crowd during a town hall meeting Thursday morning in Atmore. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Gets Life Sentence In $2 Million Drug Conspiracy
June 15, 2012
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on federal drug conspiracy charges.
Leroy Jamal Lymons, 34, was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute in excess of five kilograms of cocaine in the Northern District of Florida and elsewhere. The testimony at trial established that Lymons was a supervisory-level conspirator in a multi-state drug operation and responsible, along with his co-conspirators, for distributing about 80 kilograms of cocaine between January 1, 2010, and April 21, 2010.
The wholesale value of the cocaine was estimated to be in excess of two million dollars.
The organization was identified and systematically dismantled by a federal task force comprised of federal, state and local officers. The investigation has resulted in multiple federal and state arrests and indictments in Florida and elsewhere, the seizure of additional kilograms of cocaine and thousands of dollars in illegal drug proceeds, and the seizure of vehicles and other assets connected with this conspiracy.
The case was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration in Pensacola, with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the
Pensacola Police Department, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department.
Top Early Childhood Educator Honors For Tate High’s Ralph, Student Honors For Reich
June 15, 2012
Linda Ralph of Tate High School has been recognized as the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Academy Instructor of the Year.
Ralph works with each student to ensure each child can achieve a national industry certification, a Child Development Associate (CDA). In her academy, students train in schools and daycare centers where the students get paid for their work. Ralph also had a group of ECE Academy students who won gold and bronze medals at the state SkillsUSA competition.
“We are very excited for Ms. Ralph and for the students,” said Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. “Linda has a great impact on preparing her students to enter the early childhood work force. Many of these students will eventually be teaching in Escambia District classrooms.”
A Tate High ECE on-the-job training student, Shelly Reich, was also honored as an Early Childhood Education Academy Student of the Year.
“She is an excellent student and employee,” Ralph said of Reich, who worked at the Creative School Age Child Care facility. “A real quality young person.”
Nettie Ophelia Chavers
June 15, 2012
Nettie Ophelia Chavers of Molino passed away Tuesday, June 12, 2012, at a local hospital.
Born in Brewton,she will be remembered as a loving mother and a wonderful friend who was always a joy to be around.
She is preceded in death are her parents, Dennis and Bessie Caine and her husband of 51 years, Francis Foy Chavers.
Survivors include her son, Michael Chavers (Amber); three granddaughters, Haleigh, London and Madelyn; a very large family including three sisters, Wilma Chavers, Betty Faye Chavers and Eula Mae Pugh and a loyal friend of many years, Mary Haas.
Funeral services will be at 1:00 p.m. Friday, June 15, 2012 at Pensacola Memorial Gardens Funeral Home.