Swimming Health Alert For All Of Escambia County
June 11, 2012
Effective immediately, the Escambia County Health Department has issued health alerts for all inland swimming and water recreational areas in Escambia County, except those located on the Gulf of Mexico.
The health department advises against any water-related activities until a bacteriological survey reveals that the inland bathing areas are safe. Rainfall from this past weekend may have contaminated these waters with sewage and storm water that contains water-borne pathogens. Individuals, especially those with wounds and weakened immune systems, may be at risk of contracting a water-borne disease if they come into contact with these inland waters, according to the health department.
The Escambia County Health Department will assess the safety of swimming areas and notify the public when regularly monitored areas are safe for water-related activities. For more information contact the Escambia County Health Department at (850) 595-6786.
Latest Escambia Emergency Update, Including Road Closure List
June 11, 2012
Escambia County remains under a state of emergency as the task of cleaning up and assessing millions of dollars damages begins today.
Hundreds of cars, residences and businesses were flooded over the weekend as portions of the county received over 20 inches of rain in the second rainiest day ever in Pensacola.
“We have sustained significant damages to infrastructure,” a statement of the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center said Monday morning. “County staff has begun damage assessments and will continue throughout the week.”
Tens of millions of dollars worth of damage occurred to Escambia County’s roads and bridges and to several public buildings:
- Major damage was suffered at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Central Booking and Detention Center with a flooded basement. Click here for more.
- A corrections facility at 2251 North Palafox sustained heavy water damage to the first floor.
- The Warrington Tax Collector’s office on Navy Boulevard is closed until further notice due to water damage. Residents can visit the downtown office on Palafox or the Marcus Point office on “W” Street during normal business hours. The Tax Collector’s office can be reach at (850) 438-6500.
- Child support hearings in Escambia County scheduled for Monday June 11 have been canceled. Participants will be notified of a new hearing date. All other courts will be open for “business as usual”.
The Escambia Emergency Operations Center remains activated at Level 2 and will be monitoring conditions throughout the day. Ordinary county operations are resuming as normal on Monday. ECAT bus transportation has resumed as normal.
Warrington United Methodist Church, 301 East Winthrop Avenue in Pensacola is now the designated shelter. There are currently seven people in the shelter.
Residents with damage to their homes, cars or other property should contact their insurance company, according to the county.
Here is the latest road closure information:
· Little Creek Drive – closed between Lillian Highway and Black Oak
· Oak Valley – closed – bridge out
· Sandra Drive – closed – asphalt failure
· Coral Creek Drive – closed – crews are currently checking roadway
Flooded Jail Gets Temporary Power; Early Releases Considered
June 11, 2012
Temporary power has been restored to the Escambia County Jail after heavy rains flooded the basement of the facility on Saturday, and authorities are looking at early and pretrial release options to decrease the number incarcerated at the lockup.
The basement of the facility was completely flooded, taking out electricity to the entire jail. With the restoration of temporary power, lights and fans returned on Sunday. The basement of the building was completely destroyed with some interior walls collapsing. The basement houses the kitchen and laundry facilities for the main jail.
Food is being brought to the main jail form the nearby jail annex.
Representatives from the State Attorney’s Office and a judge are reviewing cases to see if anyone is eligible for pretrial or early release. Only those with misdemeanor non-violent charges are eligible for consideration.
Monday Weather: More Rain?
June 11, 2012
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- This Afternoon: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87. South wind between 10 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Tonight: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 10pm. Increasing clouds, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph.
- Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
- Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
- Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
- Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. East wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.
- Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86.
- Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 66.
- Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.
Cantonment Woman Busted For Planting ‘Cute’ Pot Plants
June 11, 2012
A Cantonment woman has been charged with planting three marijuana plants because, she told deputies, they were “cute”.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office discovered three marijuana plants growing near a no-name trailer park on Tate School Road not far from Tate High School.
Tommi Marie Schneider, 34, told deputies that she found the plants already pulled from the ground along nearby railroad tracks. She admitted to deputies that she knew the plants were illegal marijuana but planted them anyway near her mobile home lot.
According to an arrest report, Schneider said she did not know why she planted the marijuana plants other than she thought they were “cute”.
The marijuana plants were seized as evidence, and Schneider was booked into the Escambia County Jail on felony charged of producing marijuana.
IP Donates Lifesaving AED’s To Health And Hope Clinic
June 11, 2012
International Paper recently donated three automated external defibrillators (AED) to the non-profit Health and Hope Clinic. One of the AED units had already been installed in the Century location of the Health and Hope Clinic.
An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening heart rhythms and is able to treat them through defibrillation (shock), with the goal of restarting a healthy rhythm.
The Health and Hope Clinic quietly opened last October in the old Escambia County Health Department building at 501 Church Street in Century. It is the second location for the clinic, which was first established in Pensacola back in 2003 by the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association to meet the needs of uninsured and medically underserved in Escambia County. The clinic is entirely volunteer and donor supported.
Pictured top: The Health and Hope Clinic in Century. Pictured inset: A new AED installed inside the Century Health and Hope Clinic. Submitted and NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Tax Collector: Cantonment Office Closed; Warrington Office Flooded
June 11, 2012
The Escambia County Tax Collector’s Cantonment is closed starting today, as it is moved permanently to a new location in Molino. A newly constructed 7,000 square foot building for the tax collector and property appraiser will open in Molino on Monday, July 2.
The Warrington Tax Collector’s office on Navy Boulevard is now closed until further notice to due to water damage during weekend’s heavy rains. Tax collector Janet Holley said the building had about two inches of water inside.
The Molino service center on Highway 95A will process motor vehicle and vessel registrations and titles, hunting and fishing licenses, property taxes, and business tax receipts. Limited driver license and ID card services will be available by appointment only. The new office will continue to offer drive thru service and a 24-hour drop box. Office hours will remain the same — Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m
The county currently leases the Cantonment service center location in the old Winn Dixie Shopping Center for about $60,000 per year. That money, Holley said, will likely be saved and returned by her office to the county’s coffers at the end of the fiscal year.
The current employees at the Cantonment location will be transferred to the tax collector’s Marcus Pointe office during the move, and then moved to Molino on July 2.
The Escambia County Tax Collector offices remaining open are:
Marcus Pointe
6451 North W Street
Pensacola, Florida 32505
Downtown
213 Palafox Place
Pensacola, Florida 32502
All offices are open 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Pictured: The new Escambia County tax collector and property appraiser office in Molino. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Photos: Pensacola’s Wettest Weekend Ends On Bright Note
June 11, 2012
After one of the wettest weekends ever in the Pensacola area — with over 20 inches of rain in some areas, there was a bright ending in the skies early Sunday evening. At sunset, a full rainbow was visible across much of Escambia County.
Pictured top: Rainbow of Myrtle Grove, by Monica Nelson. Pictured left inset: Rainbow of Gulf Breeze Hospital, by Sheila Tucker. Pictured below: Rainbow over Pensacola Sunday evening, by Desere Downing. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Teamsters, Dept. Of Corrections Battle About Probation Visits
June 11, 2012
A state judge heard arguments last week about whether the Florida Department of Corrections acted improperly this year when it severely restricted probation officers from going to probationers’ homes to check on them.
The department placed travel restrictions on probation officers in March as a cost-cutting move. But the Teamsters union, which represents officers, contends that the department needed to go through a formal rule-making process before approving the change — and that the restrictions endanger public safety.
“I think we are putting the community at risk,” Miami probation officer Kimberly Schultz testified during a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth McArthur.
But department officials said the change has not compromised safety. If officers suspect wrongdoing, they can seek permission from supervisors to visit probationers’ homes and also have other ways to conduct monitoring, such as drug tests, the officials said.
“Nothing has been brought to my attention that we have jeopardized public safety,” said Jenny Nimer, a department assistant secretary who helped author the changes.
The case centers on past requirements that officers make periodic visits to the homes or workplaces of probationers, with the number of visits based on the offenders’ backgrounds and potential risks. Schultz said, for example, that such visits were required at least once a month for “maximum” cases — which she said can include people who have served long prison terms and have records of violent crimes.
The department approved the restrictions because it faced a $79 million budget deficit this fiscal year, Nimer said. In February, it paid $277,000 in probation-related travel reimbursements, a total that dropped after the change to $99,000 in March and $80,000 in April.
Nimer said the department intends to lift the restrictions when the 2012-13 fiscal year starts July 1. Some visits, such as to the homes of sex offenders, have not been restricted.
McArthur listened to nearly five hours of arguments and testimony about the issue and will likely rule this summer.
Offenders are required to go to probation offices once a month and provide information about such things as where they live and work. But Schultz said it is critical for officers to visit homes to verify the information, look for signs of possible criminal activity and make sure probationers are complying with requirements such as curfews.
“When the offender just comes into the office and fills out a report, he can say whatever he wants,” said Schultz, who has a current caseload of 43 people, with the majority either sex offenders or “maximum” cases.
The challenge in the Division of Administrative Hearings, however, centers on more-arcane questions of rule-making instead of whether restricting visits is a good idea or jeopardizes safety. State law often requires agencies to go through a public process of adopting rules when changing the way policies are carried out.
The department argues that documents outlining the travel restrictions are “internal management memoranda” that are not subject to rule-making. Also, it contends that such information is not subject to the state’s public-records laws because it involves “surveillance techniques.”
“Rulemaking in this area is not feasible, practicable or advisable,” the department said in court document. “Requiring the Department of Corrections to promulgate restricted surveillance techniques and procedures would violate the confidentiality required for effective surveillance and supervision of parolees and probationers.”
But Teamsters attorney Holly Van Horsten said that the department’s actions are a rule that significantly affects the jobs of probation officers. She also said the issue deals with officers making contacts with probationers — not surveillance — and that the department was trying to “fly under the radar” by describing it as a travel matter.
By The News Service of Florida
Flomaton Grad Named One Of South Alabama’s Brightest
June 11, 2012
A Flomaton High School graduate was one of just 12 students named to the 2012 Mobile Press-Register’s 2012 Top Academic Team.
Victoria Creamer was the only Escambia County (Ala.) student named to the prestigious list of South Alabama’s brightest grads. Honorees “have more than impressive resumes. They possess heart, talent and gumption,” according to the newspaper.
Victoria Creamer