Caregiver Support Meeting Scheduled
September 17, 2012
The Council on Aging of West Florida will host a Century Caregiver Support Group Meeting on Thursday, September 20 at 6 p.m.
There is no cost and the public is invited. Reservations are not required. The meeting will be held at Century Care Center located at 6020 Industrial Blvd. The group meets on the third Thursday of each month at the same time and location. County residency is not required to attend.
The support group is designed to reduce stress, increase coping skills, provide strategies for effective management of care giving tasks and enable caregivers to provide high quality care in the home. The programs are sponsored by Council on Aging of West Florida, the State of Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging. For more information, call (850) 432-1475.
Forecasters See Budget Surplus, Lawmakers Are Cautious
September 17, 2012
State lawmakers will have about $71.3 million of breathing room when they begin crafting the budget for the coming fiscal year, according to forecasters, but some legislators are already beginning to wonder how long the good news will last.
Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, told the Legislative Budget Commission that current forecasts would give the state enough money to cover expected spending and have some money left over for the 2013-14 fiscal year, after years of lawmakers facing shortfalls that often ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
But the relatively small amount of money, in the context of a state budget of close to $70 billion, left lawmakers looking warily at the numbers as they prepare for the 2013 legislative session. Forecasters produced similar sunny projections last year but quickly started downplaying them when the economic recovery began to slow.
“It is very good news in terms of the fact that there’s no budget gap, but we would give you the warning that there’s not much of a cushion there,” Baker said Wednesday.
There are also still risks to the fragile recovery, Baker said. There is still the potential for a monetary crisis in the European Union, which could plunge the global economy back into recession. In Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama and Congress — and potentially a President-elect Mitt Romney — have until the end of the year to come to a wide-ranging deal on spending and taxes before the nation plunges off a “fiscal cliff.”
That cliff is the result of a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases that economists say could cause the economy to slow again unless they are better managed.
“It’s better, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” said outgoing Senate Budget Chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales. “I wish we were.”
There were also potential problems with state spending, lawmakers said. Some are concerned that the cost of the state-federal Medicaid program, which provides health-care services for the poor, could grow more quickly than forecasters expect.
“Unless we can get Medicaid costs to a predictable level, and we haven’t done that yet … we will very likely find ourselves not in a plus position of a marginal amount but in a negative position yet again,” said incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville.
Alexander also said tepid growth in the state’s pension investments could force the state to provide more money to cover liabilities in that fund, draining dollars away from other programs. He noted that the pension fund is lagging behind the return rates that it generally expects, and the state’s obligations are still less than 90 percent covered.
“It does make me wonder whether or not we’re really going to close that gap,” he said.
By The News Service of Florida
Week Three: Prep Football Standings
September 17, 2012
Another week with big winners, and big losers, is in the history books, but there still have been no district games for real standings in the playoff hunt.
That will change this Friday night in District 1-6A and District 1-5A with most teams meeting district opponents. For District 1-1A, Friday night will be another week of playing non-district games.
Here’s a look at last week’s results and this Friday night’s schedule:
Northview To Host Mini-Majorette Clinic
September 17, 2012
The Northview High School majorettes will host a mini-majorette clinic.
Practices will be held September 29 and October 1, with the mini-majorettes performing during the pregame and halftime festivities during the November 5 Northview game at home against Jay.
For complete details and a registration form, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Photos: Molino Back To School Splash
September 17, 2012
Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Molino held a “Back to School Splash” Sunday afternoon with water and other activities for children of all ages.
Pictured: A “Back to School Splash” event Sunday afternoon at Aldersgate UMC in Molino Sunday. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Have news from your church? Email news@northescambia.com with the details.
FBI: ‘Bucket List Bandit’ Was Escambia County Man
September 16, 2012
The FBI says a bank robber known as the “Bucket List Bandit” is an Escambia County man, 54-year old Michael Eugene Brewster.
Brewster is suspected of robbing 10 banks in nine states from North Carolina to Arizona during the last three months. He was dubbed the Bucket List Bandit because of statements made to bank tellers that he only has months to live. Last week, the FBI launched a nationwide publicity campaign which ultimately led to a tip that identified Brewster as the bandit.
He was arrested by the Roland (Oklahoma) Police Department after running a stop sign near the Arkansas border. At the time of the arrest, Brewster was driving a vehicle reported stolen out of Florida, with a fictitious Utah license plate.
The bank robberies began after Brewster was evicted from the Torrey Village Apartments near I-10 and Davis Highway in Pensacola back in June.
During each of the robberies, the FBI said Brewster would approach bank teller, sometimes presenting a demand note. Sometimes he would allude to having a weapon, but a weapon was not seen in any of the robberies. The last robbery in which he was a suspect was September 10 in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Approaching Cold Front Brings Scattered Showers
September 16, 2012
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. East wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: Showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. High near 85. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
- Monday Night: Showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Low around 70. South wind around 5 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
- Tuesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 79. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 52. North wind around 5 mph.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 83. North wind around 5 mph.
- Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 86.
- Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61.
- Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.
Back to School Splash This Afternoon In Molino
September 16, 2012
Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Molino will host a “Back to School Splash” today from 2-6 p.m.
There will be waterslides, a moon walk and more for children of all ages at the free event. A family cookout at 5 p.m. will conclude the afternoon of fun. Everyone is welcome.
The event will take place at the church, located on Highway 29 just south of Highway 97. For more information, call (850) 587-2489.
Thousands Worth Of Equipment Stolen From Disabled Adult Employer
September 16, 2012
About $4,000 in equipment was stolen last weekend from ARC Gateway’s manufacturing division, which provides a variety of employment opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities from assembly, concrete manufacturing and subcontract maintenance work for the I-10 welcome station and weigh stations.
Items stolen consisted mainly of landscaping equipment including a lawn mower, trimmers, edgers, blower, lawn batteries, a compressor and a variety of tools.
“It’s disheartening to have something like this happen when our people are so eager to work and so willing to share what they have,” said Donna Fassett, executive director for the agency. “It is a hardship for the crew as they are without their regular tools and they miss their personal items that were taken as well.”
ARC Gateway offers a variety of products and services to provide people with developmental disabilities with job training, meaningful work, and the opportunity to earn their own income. In addition to providing work for disabled persons, businesses that partner with ARC Gateway are also helping to provide the agency with revenue that sustains programs for more than 850 children and adults in our community.
To help ARC Gateway, visit click here for their website and look for the “Donate” button.
Weekend Gardening: Irresistible Hummingbird Plants
September 16, 2012
This time of year, it’s nice to be able to sit outside on the cooler afternoons and enjoy the antics of the hummingbirds.
For many people, attracting hummers is as easy as hanging a feeder. But, that is not always successful because many hummingbirds are not accustomed to using feeders. I know from experience how frustrating it can be to put out a feeder and never see a hummingbird.
Numerous people have found that planting a garden full of hummingbird-attracting plants, in addition to maintaining feeders, is a more reliable method for successfully attracting hummingbirds.
One plant that is sure to attract the hummingbirds and the “oohs and ahhs” of fellow gardeners is the pagoda plant. The flowers grow in pyramid shaped clusters which are tiered, like a Japanese pagoda, thus its common name. This sizeable floral display sitting atop large leaves makes this such a visually-striking plant.
The red-orange flowers are funnel shaped and tubular, making it irresistible to the hummingbirds. Each slender, tubular flower is about a half-inch long with five small lobes, these usually being slightly paler than the tube.
Butterflies are the main pollinators. As they extend their long, thin proboscides into the flower tubes pollen adheres to their bodies from the long protruding stamens. Flowers of cultivated plants are usually sterile and typically do not produce fruits.
The pagoda flower is one of about 150 species of Clerodendrum, a large genus which is native to Africa and Asia. Known botanically as Clerodendrum paniculatum, it was first described in 1767 by the ‘father’ of modern biological nomenclature – the Swedish botanist, Carl Linnaeus. The species epithet refers to the large ‘paniculate’ clusters of flowers (inflorescences).
The leaves of the pagoda plant are bright green, rounded to heart-like in shape and can get very large. The shrub has an open branching habit and can grow up to eight feet tall. Their ability to produce root suckers allows pagoda flowers to spread vegetatively and they can form clonal stands of several plants together. Although an aggressive plant, it is not as invasive as other species of Clerodendrum.
It grows best in partial sun to light shade and prefers a moist, but well-drained soil. It does well with minimal fertilizer and requires little care. Insects may occasionally chew on the foliage, but this plant really has no major insect or disease problems. Plants grow rapidly and send up shoots that might need removal during the growing season.
The one shortcoming of this plant is that it is tender and will die back with a freeze. While it has returned reliably over several years in Northwest Florida, some years it takes a very long time to reappear the following summer. Be sure to remove the freeze-damaged foliage, or cut back to the ground entirely, only after you see new shoots begin to appear in the spring. This is one plant that I would suggest that you remove some rooted underground shoots and pot up to overwinter in a protected location.
Be patient if you don’t see hummingbirds the first year. Remember, a hummingbird garden is an invitation to these delightful creatures, not a command performance. The longer you stick with it the more likely they are to show up.
Theresa Friday is the Environmental Horticulture Extension Agent for Santa Rosa County.