Construction To Begin At ‘Five Points’ Intersection
July 21, 2012
Construction on a “Five Points” intersection improvement project will begin next week in Pace.
The improvements include realigning Berryhill Road from Ashmore Lane to Chumuckla Highway. The realignment will move the current intersection approximately 500 feet to the north and create a two lane rural roadway section north of Berryhill Road connecting to Chumuckla Highway. Other project features include creation of a new retention pond and widening of the right turn and merge lanes on both Quintette Road and Chumuckla Highway.
Once complete, the project will greatly improve safety and traffic flow to the area, officials said.
The following areas will be construction zones and motorist, bicyclist, and pedestrians should anticipate changing traffic patterns and minor delays:
- Berryhill Road from Ashmore Lane to Chumuckla Highway
- Quintette Road from Pigeon Forge Drive to Chumuckla Highway
- Chumuckla Highway from Ashmore Lane to Quintette Road
- Woodbine Road from Vinewood Lane to Chumuckla Highway
- Vinewood Road from Southgate Drive to Woodbine Road
No lane closures are anticipated and residents and businesses will have full access to their property. Construction is anticipated to be ongoing for approximately nine months.
The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners approved the project in January 2011. The project is estimated to cost $1.9 million and will be funded 50 percent, not to exceed $1 million, by the Florida Department of Transportation for construction, engineering and inspection. The county will match 50 percent of project costs.
Weekend Gardening: Some Veggies Can’t Take The Heat, But Others Thrive
July 21, 2012
When it comes to vegetable gardening in Northern Florida, gardeners should take advantage of our year-round growing season. Yes, even in the torrid depths of summer there are delicious, heat-tolerant vegetables you can plant now to keep your garden productive.
Popular vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and squash generally need warm-but-mild daytime temperatures – in the 70s and 80s – to produce well. The scorching heat we experience in midsummer seriously reduces the numbers of flowers these plants produce, and always remember that it is the flowers that ultimately become the fruit (vegetable). In addition, high populations of many pests, such as spider mites, leaf miners, beetles and caterpillars, are present now and will cause increasing amounts of damage through the summer.
Once they are past their prime and production dwindles, remove early summer vegetables and replant your garden with a wonderful selection of vegetables that thrive in midsummer heat.
The University of Florida – IFAS recommends a wide variety of vegetables that can be planted now. Most of these vegetables are near and dear to Southerners and form an important part of our regional cuisine. Among them are okra, eggplant, Southern peas, hot peppers, sweet peppers and more. It’s also a good time to start growing your own transplants for fall tomato production.
I’ve pulled out a few gardening vegetables that do well here but this is just the tip of the iceburg:
Okra
Native to tropical Africa, it never gets too hot for okra to thrive here. Direct-seeded into the garden now, okra will come into production in late August or early September (even sooner if you plant transplants) and produce until the weather cools down in late October or early November.
Reliable okra varieties include Clemson Spineless, Cajun Delight, Emerald and Burgundy.
A common mistake gardeners make is growing okra plants too close together. Once the okra seedlings are a few inches tall they should be thinned to provide 12 inches of space between plants.
When the plants are about knee high to waist high they begin to produce their pale yellow, hibiscus-like flowers. Harvest okra pods frequently when they reach a length of about 3 inches for best quality, although some varieties stay tender if harvested when the pods are larger.
Eggplant
Unlike their relatives, the tomatoes, eggplants thrive in the heat of mid- to late summer, and you can purchase transplants to plant into the garden now.
I generally have found the oriental types, such as Ichiban or Tycoon with long, narrow fruit are especially productive during stressful summer weather. Large-fruited cultivars such as Blackbell, Classic, Midnight and Florida Hi Bush, as well as green, white, lavender and pink cultivars also are recommended.
Plant eggplant transplants 18 inches to 24 inches apart in well-prepared beds. Production should begin in early September and increase through late October or early November.
Do not go by the size of the fruit when harvesting eggplants. Eggplants are eaten immature and should not be allowed to become old and bitter before harvest. The skin should be shiny and tender. Once the skin starts to dull you should harvest the eggplant immediately – no matter what the size – because that indicates it is getting past its prime.
Legumes
Although it is too hot for reliable production from legumes like snap beans and lima beans, Southern peas such as purple hulls, crowders, cream peas and blackeye peas produce abundant crops during the summer.
Direct-seed these peas in rows about 18 inches apart, and thin young seedlings to stand 4 inches to 6 inches apart. Most cultivars produce short, somewhat bushy vines and do not require a trellis to grow on. Other legumes that could be planted now include yard-long beans, winged peas (these need trellises to grow on) and edible soybeans.
Peppers
Bell peppers often produce poorly during high temperatures, but hot peppers and sweet peppers such as Sweet Banana, Gypsy and Pimento produce very well despite the heat.
Plant transplants now spaced about 18 inches apart. Bell pepper transplants also can be planted now through August for production this fall when the weather cools down.
Tomatoes
Spring-planted tomatoes are about finished with their main crop, and if the plants are in poor condition, they should be removed to make way for heat-tolerant crops. On the other hand, cherry and Roma types may still be producing well and could be left in place.
If you want to grow your own transplants for fall tomatoes, seeds should be planted now. Transplants for fall tomatoes will be available at area nurseries in late July and August and should be purchased and planted into the garden then. Good cultivars for fall production include Hawaiian Hybrid, Solar Set, Heatwave, Bingo, Celebrity and Pelican.
Others
Other heat-tolerant vegetables that may planted now include cantaloupe, pumpkin, watermelon (these three are a bit of a challenge in the home garden), peanuts (easy to grow and a great crop for kids) and sweet potatoes (plant rooted cuttings or “slips” as soon as possible for harvest in November).
Mobile Evens Series With 6-2 Win Over Pensacola Wahoos
July 21, 2012
Mobile shortstop Chris Owings collected three base knocks and second baseman David Nick’s two-run double in the fourth proved to be the game-winner, while Pensacola shortstop Billy Hamilton recorded his 112th steal of the year as the BayBears defeated the Blue Wahoos 6-2 on Friday night at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.
The victory for Mobile evens the series at 1-1 and improves the BayBears to a 13-15 record in the second half, while the Fish fell to 16-12 with the loss. A large contingent of Blue Wahoos fans were in attendance, many season-ticket holders who took advantage of a free bus trip and tickets for them from Pensacola.
The BayBears began the scoring in the opening frame, taking an early 2-0 advantage. Nick drew a free pass and Owings doubled before Nick came across on a groundout, while Owings scored on a sacrifice fly to center from 3B Matt Davidson.
The contest would be drawn even in the third, when Pensacola plated two tallies. Hamilton led off with a walk and stole second, ahead of CF Ryan LaMarre reaching on a hit by pitch, which was followed by back-to-back RBI singles from 1B Beau Mills and LF Donald Lutz.
The theft was the 112th of the year for Hamilton, placing him alone in seventh for the highest total in a single-season as the speedster continues to chase Vince Coleman’s Minor League Baseball record of 145. It was also the eighth steal for Hamilton with Pensacola after swiping 104 with High-A Bakersfield before his promotion late last month.
Mobile however, would answer back in the bottom of the frame and by taking advantage of a pair of Blue Wahoos errors. Owings reached on a base hit and RF Marc Krauss’ walked before Davidson reached on an error, with Owings scoring on the play, while Krauss came plateward on a second fielding miscue.
Owings ((3-4, 2 R) and 1B Ryan Strieby (3-4) each collected three base knocks in the contest for the BayBears, while LaMarre (2-3, 1 R) and Mills (2-4, 1 RBI) each tallied multi-hit efforts in the defeat. Mills with his hits has now reached base in all 25 of his games with Pensacola this year since being acquired on June 22 from the Cleveland Indians organization.
BayBears starting pitcher Chase Anderson (5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) earned the win after yielding two earned runs on six hits in his five innings of work. The bullpen trio of Frank Santana (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 SO), Eury De La Rosa (1.2 IP) and Evan Marshall (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) followed Anderson by combining to allow only one hit in the final four frames.
Blue Wahoos RHP Daniel Corcino (5.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) suffered the loss to fall to 7-5 on the year, while relievers Wilkin De La Rosa (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) and Brian Pearl (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 SO) combined to fire the final three scoreless innings in support of Corcino.
With the series even at 1-1, Mobile and Pensacola will face off again Saturday night, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. at Hank Aaron Stadium. RHP J.C. Sulbaran is scheduled to get the nod for the Fish, while Mobile is expected to send LHP Chase Holmberg to the hill.
By Andrew Green
Pictured: Ryan LaMarre tallied two hits in the Blue Wahoos’ 6-2 loss Friday night. Photo by Chris Nelson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge
Viacom Networks Return To DIRECTV
July 20, 2012
DIRECTV has reached a new long-term agreement with Viacom to restore 17 channels that were removed from the satellite service on July 10. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Channels that have now returned include including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Spike, CMT, TV Land and 10 other channels.
In addition to the channels’ return, DIRECTV customers will also gain the ability to see Viacom programming on tablets, laptops, handhelds and other personal devices via the DIRECTV Everywhere platform.
. “We are very pleased to be able to restore the channels to our customers and thank them for their unprecedented patience and support,” said Derek Chang, executive vice president of Content Strategy and Development for DIRECTV. “It’s unfortunate that Viacom took the channels away from customers to try to gain leverage, but in the end, it’s clear our customers recognized that tactic for what it was.”
“Viacom is extremely pleased to bring its programming back to DIRECTV subscribers, and thanks everyone affected by the disruption for their patience and understanding during this challenging period,” Viacom said in a released statement.
12 Dead, 59 Injured In Colorado Theater Shooting, Suspect Named
July 20, 2012
Police in Colorado say 12 people were shot to death and at least 59 wounded in a shooting at a movie theater the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Authorities say the midnight premier of “The Dark Knight Rises,” the latest Batman movie, had just begun at the Century 16 theater in the city of Aurora, when a masked man dressed in black and wearing a bulletproof vest faced the packed crowd from the front of the theater. They say he set off canisters spewing an irritant and smoke and then started randomly shooting. Witnesses say he fatally shot an infant at point-blank range.
Police say they arrested the shooter a short time later in the parking lot outside the theater, and recovered an assault rifle, a shotgun, a handgun and a gas mask.
Booby-trapped apartment
Hours after the incident unfolded Friday in the darkened movie theater, police said they found the gunman’s apartment residence “booby-trapped” with explosives and chemical devices. They evacuated nearby residents.
Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as James Holmes, a 24-year-old American who was in the process of dropping out as a neuroscience graduate student at a nearby university. They said there was no indication the shooting was tied to any terrorist group.
Lone shooter
The movie theater attack was the worst mass shooting in the United States since 2009 when an Army psychiatrist killed 13 soldiers and civilians at a military base in Texas.
Aurora Chief of Police Daniel Oates told a news conference police are “confident” that only one man was involved, contrary to initial reports that there may have been an accomplice.
The police chief said the suspect told investigators he had multiple explosives at his residence in a North Aurora apartment building, and investigators later found the apartment booby-trapped with flammable and explosive materials. Residents at five nearby buildings were ordered out of their residences as authorities sought to disarm the dangerous site.
“The suspect who’s in custody, made statements about possible explosives in possession of his residence. At this time, there is a residence in North Aurora — its an apartment apartment building — that we have evacuated and we are dealing with as potentially there are explosives inside there,” Oates stated. “We’re also concerned about explosives in the parking lot, hence the parking lot is completely sealed off. We have all the area bomb squad teams.”
Eye witness account
Jaime Marshall, a theater patron, described a chaotic scene in the moments after the shooting, and said she saw a girl with a bullet wound in her leg.
“So we went up those stairs and we looked to the wall, to the side of the theatre where we heard the sounds from and there were bullet holes and so that’s when we started screaming for all our friends just to get out,” she recalled. “We went up the stairs and we were looking over the lobby and police were out there. There was one officer in a gas mask holding a huge rifle and they were just waving people, trying to get people through the lobby as fast as possible so we ran down the stairs, we ran out of the theatre. We walked out, I saw a girl with a bullet in her leg.”
Obama, Romney react
President Barack Obama, abandoning a planned re-election campaign rally in Florida, called on Americans to support the victims of the carnage. He said “such violence, such evil is senseless” and that the nation is “heartbroken.”
Obama said the mass shooting was inexplicable.
“We may never understand what leads anybody to terrorize their fellow human beings like this,” the president said.
Obama’s Republican presidential challenger, Mitt Romney, said he and his wife Ann were “deeply saddened” by the shooting, which he called “senseless violence.”
[VOA]
Pictured: A witness Twitter photo from the shooting scene at the Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colorado. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Rain Possible Friday Night, Saturday
July 20, 2012
Showers and thunderstorms are likely for Friday night and Saturday. Some of those storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, heavy rain and frequent lightning.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds, heavy rain, and frequent lightning. Low around 73. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
- Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds, heavy rain, and frequent lightning. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Saturday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds, heavy rain, and frequent lightning. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Sunday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Sunday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Monday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 93. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Monday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Tuesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Tuesday Night: Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
- Wednesday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 95. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
- Thursday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
- Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
ECUA Expanding Weekly Garbage Pickup Services
July 20, 2012
The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority is adding services to weekly garbage service beginning August 1
Big items that won’t fit the garbage can — things like furniture and appliances — will be picked up as part of the regular weekly service August 1 with no need to call-in. Until now, bulky waste pickups have been limited to once a month with customers required to call in advance.
Bulk waste items need to be placed at the curb by 5:30 a.m. on a customer’s regular pickup day.
ECUA will also significantly increase the amount of yard waste that can be put out for each week’s collection. After August 1, ECUA will accept two piles six feet wide, six feet deep and six feet high. In addition to the two piles of yard waste, ECUA will also accept up to 20 plastic trash bags or cans of vegetative matter such as leaves, pine straw, grass clippings and small prunings.
Yard waste items should be place at the curb by 5:30 a.m. on a customer’s regular trash day.
For more information, see the insert in your July ECUA bill, visit www.ecua.fl.gov, or call ECUA customer service at (850) 476-0480.
Cantonment Man Sentenced For Forged Checks At Walmart
July 20, 2012
A Cantonment man charged in April with passing forged checks at two Pensacola stores has been sentenced.
Jourdan Alexander Truitt, 21, pleaded no contest this week to felony grand theft, three felony counts of uttering forged instrument and one misdemeanor count of petit theft.
Adjudication was withheld. He was sentenced to 36 months probation and 100 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $1,185.99 in restitution to Pen Air Federal Credit Union. He was also ordered to seek a job with more than 35 hours per week.
Truitt allegedly wrote four checks totaling to two Pensacola Walmart stores. According to an arrest report, he was seen on Walmart survelliance video using the checks for purchases.
The victim in the case was listed as Pen Air Federal Credit Union because they reimbursed their account holder for the money lost from her account.
Beulah Clean Sweep: 38 Tons Of Debris, Two Arrests
July 20, 2012
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office along with the Windy Hill Neighborhood watch, partner agencies and volunteers worked to clean up in Beulah Thursday.
The Operation Clean Sweep removed 38 tons of debris. Two outstanding arrest warrants were served, and 23 citations were issued at traffic checkpoints. In addition, the ECSO Sex Crimes Unit made seven address verifications.
NJROTC Cadets Complete Basic Leadership Training
July 20, 2012
Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps cadets from across Escambia and Santa Rosa counties took part in a Basic Leadership Training camp last week that culminated with graduation exercise about Pensacola NAS.
Eight cadets from Northview High School took part in the Basic Leadership training camp — Lane Carnley, Sean Allister, Joshua Borelli, Elijah Harbinson, Jeniya Odom, Talia Syria, Andrea Miles and Deidre Steele.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The week-long camp included academics, drill, physical training and tours of Pensacola Naval Air Station facilities. Highlights of the week were running the Marine Corps obstacle course, observing Navy Fire Fighting training, aircrew survival swimming training and a tour of the Naval Air Technical Training Center.
Two two other Northview cadets, Jonathan Moretz (executive officer for the BLT company) and Zacarra Davis were graduate assistants during the week, helping the NJROTC instructors run the camp. Their responsibilities included assignment as platoon leaders, watchstanders, barracks staff and administrative duties. Their duties were essential to the success of the camp and ensured the cadets were properly trained during the camp and moved from one location to another throughout the week.
There were a total of 73 NJROTC cadets that participated and graduated from the camp from Northview, Pine Forest, Escambia, Washington, Milton, Pace and Navarre high schools. An additional 23 cadets were assigned as graduate assistants from the seven schools.
Pictured top: There were 73 NJROTC cadets from seven schools that graduated from a week of Basic Leadership Training at Pensacola NAS. Pictured inset: Northview’s Jonathan Moretz, standing by to receive the Cadet Achievement Award. Pictured below: Northview cadets (L-R) Talia Syria, Deidre Steele, Andrea Miles Elijah Harbinson, Lane Carnley, Jeniya Odom, Sean Allister, Zacarra Davis (graduate assistant) and Joshua Borelli. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
