Decreasing Rain Chances
September 5, 2012
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms through the night. Lows in the lower 70s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
- Thursday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
- Thursday Night: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the lower 70s. Southeast winds around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
- Friday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s. East winds around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
- Friday Night: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
- Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 90. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
- Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy. Chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.
- Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 80s.
- Sunday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 60s.
- Monday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s.
- Monday Night: Clear. Lows in the mid 60s.
- Tuesday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s.
Group Claims High School Prayers Illegal; Students Take A Stand
September 5, 2012
The Escambia County (Ala.) School District has banned prayers at events like football games, but that did not stop a group of Flomaton High students from taking a stand on the football field last Friday.
The students stood hand-in-hand along the sidelines before the game in prayer. No faculty or staff took part in the student led, student initiated prayer.
Prayers led over the public address system at Flomaton High School football games was common prior to this year, as was the recital of the Lord’s Prayer by both players and coaches following Hurricane football games.
But that all came to an end prior to Flomaton’s Friday night season opener against Monroeville after the school district received a letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation that claimed such prayers were illegal.
“A local complainant has reported to us that Flomaton High School has a local pastor, often a Baptist minister, pray before each home football game. This practice is unconstitutional,” FFRF attorney Andrew L. Seidel wrote in a letter to Escambia County (Ala.) School Superintendent Randall Little and Flomaton High Principal Scott Hammond. “It is illegal for a public school to organize, sponsor, and lead prayers at public school events. The Supreme Court has continually struck down formal and teacher or school-led prayer in public schools.”
The Freedom from Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit group with about 19,000 members with the purpose to “protect the constitutional principal of separation between state and church”.
“We ask that Escambia County Public Schools commence an immediate investigation into the complaint alleged, and take immediate action to stop any and all prayers occurring before all Escambia County Public Schools athletic events, including those at Flomaton High School,” Seidel wrote.
The school district responded to the letter by enforcing a ban against facility and students from participating in or leading prayer at school sponsored events.
Century Council Decides New Fence Height Restrictions
September 5, 2012
The Town of Century has developed a plan for cutting back the height of fences allowed in front yards around the town — a plan that is a mix of Century’s current code and regulations that are already in place in the unincorporated areas of Escambia County.
The Century Town Council introduced an ordinance Monday night that would adopt Escambia County’s current standards that limit the height of a solid fence in front of a single family residence to three feet and a chain link or other transparent fence to a four foot height. The fence height for a corner lot would be limited to two feet as to not obstruct the view of traffic. For the purposes of the ordinance, the height of a hedge or shrubbery will be regulated as a solid fence.
Fences in the side, or rear yard of a home may not exceed eight feet, which is no change from Century’s current restrictions.
The ordinance will be up for a second reading and a public hearing on September 17. If adopted, the new fence law becomes effective immediately. To read the complete proposed ordinance, click here.
Mayor Freddie McCall said residents with existing fences that violate the new ordinance, if passed, can ask the town council for a variance.
“We need to make sure we treat everybody fairly,” council members Sandra McMurray Jackson said. “We’ve just got be sure that we don’t have anything to come back and slap us in the face…everybody that has got a high fence in front of their house is going to think that my fence is just like his (the one approved for a variance).”
Pictured top: (L-R) Mayor Freddie McCall and council members Gary Riley, Ann Brooks and Sandra McMurray Jackson at Monday night’s Century Town Council meeting. Council members Jacke Johnston and Annie Savage were absent from the meeting. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Get Green Thumb Certified With Master Gardener Training
September 5, 2012
Certifications are available for your hard-earned green thumb – Escambia County Extension is accepting applications through Friday, September 7 for a Master Gardener training class.
Class sessions begin Wednesday, September 26 and continue every Wednesday through November 14, with one Friday class on October 26. Classes resume on Wednesday, January 2 and run continuously through February 6. Normal class hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost for the program is $125 and includes all book and class materials.
Those with a passion for gardening and are interested in serving as a volunteer to assist with community horticulture education programs and activities, are encouraged to apply for training as a Master Gardener. Trainees will complete approximately 60 hours of horticulture training and donate 75 hours of service as an Extension volunteer. Volunteers gain service hours through numerous projects including school and community gardens, community outreach demonstrations, and adult and youth horticulture programs.
For more information, contact Beth Bolles at (850) 475-5230 or email bbolles@uwf.edu with any questions about the program or application process.
For more information, please visit http://escambia.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/master-gardeners.shtml.
Volleyball: Northview Wins First District Contest With Laurel Hill
September 5, 2012
The Northview Lady Chiefs defeated Laurel Hill Tuesday to win their first district match.
Misty Doran had seven kills, while Morgan Payne recorded five kills for Northview. Lilly Townsend and Shelly Mothershed added six assists each for the Lady Chiefs.
Northview lost their first game at Laurel Hill 25-23 but rebounded with wins of 25-16, 25-22, 25-19.
In junior varsity action, Northview defeated Laurel Hill 25-11, 25-18.
The Lady Chiefs will host Central High School on Thursday, with the JV taking the court at 4:30 and the varsity playing at 5:30 p.m.
Pictured: The varsity Northview Chiefs. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
First Lady: Issues Aren’t Political, They’re Personal For Barack Obama
September 5, 2012
First lady Michelle Obama was the headline speaker at the opening day of the Democratic National Convention Tuesday in Charlotte, NC, making a forceful pitch to give her husband more time to complete the job they had elected him to do four years ago.
“In the end, for Barack, these issues aren’t political — they’re personal,” Michelle Obama said. “Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it, and he wants everyone, everyone in this country to have the same opportunity.”
In a speech that alternately stilled and electrified delegates, the first lady said President Barack Obama was continuing to push forward with his agenda for change despite setbacks in his first term.
“And he reminds me that we are playing a long game here — and that change is hard, and change is slow, and it never happens all at once,” Michelle Obama said. She also said that her fears that the White House might change Barack Obama had proven unfounded. “Well, today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I never could have imagined, I have seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are,” she said. “No, it reveals who you are.”
Her speech presented a behind-the-scenes look at life in the White House and at the early lives of the Obamas.
“Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it…and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we’re from, or what we look like, or who we love,” she said. “And he believes that when you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity…you do not slam it shut behind you…you reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”
Former president Bill Clinton will formally place Barack Obama’s name up for nomination on Wednesday night. Barack Obama will accept his nomination Thursday night during a nationally-televised speech. The speech was planned for the city’s 74,000-seat outdoor football stadium, but the threat of severe weather has moved the event back inside the Time Warner Cable Arena, the site of the rest of the week’s activities.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
GOP Platform Includes ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws
September 5, 2012
Controversial “stand your ground” laws that have come into the spotlight since the shooting of Trayvon Martin have found their way into the Republican Party’s national platform.
Nestled in the massive document, which outlines in minute detail the national party’s agenda for the next four years, is a provision that expands earlier support for Second Amendment rights to specifically include self-defense outside the home.
“We support the fundamental right to self-defense wherever a law-abiding citizen has a legal right to be…” the plank reads.
Marion Hammer, executive director of United Sportsmen of Florida and past president of the National Rifle Association, said the language more clearly articulates the party’s long-standing support of gun owners’ right to protect themselves without fear that their self-defensive actions would come back to haunt them.
“It does what it is intended to do,” Hammer said of Florida’s 2005 version of the law, which has since passed in a couple other jurisdictions. “It protects law-abiding people who are defending themselves and their families in a lawful manner from the criminal element.”
Recently enacted stand your ground laws are logical extensions of the “Castle Doctrine,” Hammer said, which provides some immunity for residents to defend themselves in their homes against an intruder.
Florida’s law was changed in 2005 to remove a duty to first try to avoid killing an attacker and expanding the protections beyond their homes and into public spaces.
“The ‘Castle Doctrine’ allows law abiding people to protect themselves without being hassled by the criminal justice system,” Hammer said. “That is what the Castle Doctrine, or the stand your ground law, is all about.”
Though law in Florida for several years now, it wasn’t widely discussed until it gained new attention after the February fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford.
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, faces second degree murder charges in Martin’s death, which has sparked national debate over racial profiling and ’stand your ground’ protections. Martin, who is black, was unarmed.
Zimmerman’s lawyers, have said they would likely use ’stand your ground’ as a defense, though it’s not certain. But they say Zimmerman feared for his life after a scuffle with Martin.
A Quinnipiac University poll taken in May showed registered voters in Florida by a 56-35 percent margin support the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. The support is strongest among Republicans, who back the current law 78-15, though independent voters also support the law, by a 58-35 percent margin.
Democrats more often oppose it, by a 59-32 percent margin, the poll found.
By The News Service of Florida
Hubert Wade Dunsford
September 5, 2012
Hubert Wade Dunsford, 81 of Byrneville, passed away Tuesday, September 4, 2012, in Pensacola.
Funeral services will be held Friday, September 7, 2012, at 2 p.m. from Faith Bible Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Byrneville Methodist Church Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Thursday, September 6, 2012, from 6-9 p.m. from Faith Bible Baptist Church.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Northview Schedules JV Football Game Vs. Catholic For Thursday Night
September 5, 2012
The junior varsity Northview Chiefs have added a football game this Thursday to their schedule.
The JV Chiefs will host Pensacola Catholic at 6:30 p.m. in Bratt.
The season opener for the junior varsity Chiefs last week at West Florida High School was canceled due to Hurricane Isaac.
Late Season On Farm Peanut Field Day Planned
September 5, 2012
A late season on-farm field day program is planned for Friday at Mickey Diamond Farms in Jay, sponsored by the Santa Rosa County Extension Service, on Friday, September 7.
The event schedule includes:
- 10:30 – 11:30 Meet in the field to discuss and evaluate plots.
- Peanut Fungicide Trial: Visually evaluate 14 different fungicide treatments in large side by side plots.
- Cotton Variety Trial: Visually evaluate 24 different varieties under the same management/production practices of this long-running trial.
- Speakers will include UF IFAS Extension faculty, agribusiness chemical representatives and seed representatives.
- 11:30 – 12:00 Convene at Mickey Diamond’s barn for an industry sponsored meal
For information or meal reservations, contact Janis Simmons at the Santa Rosa County Extension Office at janiskay@ufl.edu or (850) 675-6654