Deputies: Drunk Teen Drives For Intoxicated Relative
August 21, 2012
A Milton man and a juvenile relative were both arrested after authorities said he was drunk and had the drunk juvenile drive for him.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to public reports concerning an erratic vehicle on Highway 90. When deputies stopped the vehicle, they reported an overwhelming odor of alcohol.
Deputies reported that the driver was a heavily intoxicated, belligerent 15-year old driving for 47-year old Christopher Stone who said he was too impaired to drive. Stone was too intoxicated to remember the birthday of the juvenile, authorities said.
The 15-year was charged with driving under the influence and driving without a license. The juvenile had a blood alcohol level of .18, which is nine times the legal limit for drivers under 21, the Sheriff’s Office said, and more than twice the legal limit for adults.
Stone was charged with allowing an unauthorized minor to drive and felony cruelty to a child.
The teen was booked and released to a guardian. Stone was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail and released on a $3,000 bond.
Century Begins $650,000 Housing Rehab Grant Application Process
August 21, 2012
Monday night, the Town of Century started the application process for $650,000 in housing improvement grants.
If awarded, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) will be used to rehabilitate or replace homes that are currently occupied by persons of low or moderate income. Century’s current guidelines do not allow mobile homes to be included in the program, but the council will consider changing that at an upcoming meeting. If Century receives the grant and includes mobile homes, they will only be eligible for replacement, not repair.
The town hopes to learn if their grant application is approved by the end of the year. Applications for assistance will not be accepted until grant approval.
Work is currently wrapping up in the Century on a $650,000 CDBG grant and a $100,000 hurricane retrofit grant that was awarded last year. About a dozen private homes were rehabilitated under the program. [Read more...]
The town has already been awarded $155,000 in grant money to harden homes against hurricanes. The Florida Division of Emergency Management awarded Century $105,000 in Residential Construction Mitigation Program Funds. The Community Action Program Committee will provide an addition $50,000 in grant money, bringing the total dollars for hurricane retrofits to $155,000.
Pictured: One of about a dozen homes rehabilitated in Century last year using grant funds. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Jay Library To Close For Renovations
August 21, 2012
The Jay Library will be closed Thursday, September 6 through Saturday, September 16 for renovation.
Other Santa Rosa County libraries in Milton, Pace, Gulf Breeze and Navarre will remain open during the period.
No materials will be due at the Jay Library during the time the library is closed. Library officials request that no materials be returned to the Jay Library during the closure period.
The Jay Library at 5259 Booker Lane will reopen on Monday, September 17 at 9 a.m. and resume regular hours.
Convicted Sex Offender Busted After Removing GPS Monitor
August 21, 2012
A convicted sex offender from McDavid is back behind bars without bond after allegedly removing his GPS monitoring device and wandering away from his home.
Nathan Arron Mack, age 21 of Rail Road Street, was charged with tampering with an electronic monitoring device and violation of probation.
An Escambia County deputy spotted Mack walking on train tracks near Bluff Springs Road and Dawson Road. The deputy discovered that Mack had removed his court-ordered GPS ankle monitor. Mack told the deputy he had thrown it in the woods in the area of Mystic Springs about two weeks earlier and that his probation officer was aware. According to an arrest report, he said he was “going to hide out until the warrants became active”.
In January 2011, Mack was convicted of the sexual battery of a 14-year old girl. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with credit for time service awaiting trial, followed by 18 months probation. Under the terms of his probation, he was forbidden to have unsupervised contact with any minor and enter a sex offender counseling program.
Mack, a registered sex offender, was released from the Okaloosa Correctional Institution on November 30, 2011. His probation required that he wear the ankle monitor at all times.
The victim’s stepfather told Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies that the 14-year old, who had been reported as a runaway, was at Mack’s residence on Railroad Street. When deputies arrived at the residence, they found Mack and the teen girl.
According to a Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Mack admitted to having intercourse multiple times with the 14-year old. He admitted that he had picked up the Pensacola girl at the Winn Dixie on Nine Mile Road because he knew the victim’s mother would not allow the two to be together. The young girl corroborated Mack’s story, according to the report.
When deputies contacted the victim’s mother, she advised that she wanted to pursue criminal charges against Mack. The mother stated that she had retrieved her daughter from Mack at the McDavid Mini Mart the week prior and had forbidden him from having any contact with her daughter.
Photo Galleries: Back To School
August 21, 2012
Tens of thousands of students in the North Escambia area headed back to class on Monday. NorthEscambia.com invited parents to submit their back to school photos. Click a gallery name below to see some of the reader submitted photos.
Pictured top: Aubree Jordan on her first day of kindergarten at Molino Park Elementary School. Pictured inset: Mike, second grade, and Emily, first grade, are ready to head to Jim Allen Elementary School. Pictured below: Christopher, Hope and Blayne Miller all buckled up on the way to Jay High School. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
HS Football: Meet The Chiefs Thursday At Northview
August 21, 2012
The Northview High School Quarterback Club will sponsor the annual “Meet the Chiefs” at 7:00 Thursday night at the NHS stadium.
Planned festivities for the night include performances by the Northview Chiefs Tribal Beat Marching Band, the Northview High School cheerleaders, the Northview Dance Team, and the introduction of the 2012 Northview varsity and junior varsity Chiefs. Admission is free. Spirit items will be available.
The Chiefs will host a preseason classic against Bay High School Friday night at 7:00.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
2012 Escambia County Youth Farm Bureau Speech Contest To Be Held
August 21, 2012
The Escambia County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, in collaboration with Escambia County Extension, EscaRosa Young Farmers and Ranchers and the Escambia County Women’s Committee will hold the 2012 Escambia County Youth Farm Bureau Speech contest next month.
The topic of this year’s speech is “What role, if any, should agriculture play in addressing health and obesity issues?” The speech time limit is five minutes (plus or minus 30 seconds) and must be personally crafted. Competitors must be at least 14 years old and not over 18 years old on or before September 14, 2012, and must be a resident of Escambia County, Florida, but do not need to be a member of Farm Bureau. Judges reserve the right to ask questions not to exceed more than three minutes per contestant.
The Escambia County contest will be held Wednesday, September 5, at 4:00 p.m. at the Farm Bureau Building, 153 Highway 97, Molino. The winner of the county contest will be asked to compete in the district contest that will be held on September 12.
To participate contact Katrina Sanford at (850) 587-2135 by 4 p.m. on September 4 to schedule a time for the competition. To access the application and more information, along with resources that can be used for the speech contest, visit http://www.floridafarmbureau.org/programs/youth_speech_contest.
For more information contact Libbie Johnson, Escambia County agriculture extension agent, at (850) 475-5230, or libbiej@ufl.edu.
Man Charged With Multiple Burglaries, Attacking 70-Year Old Clerk
August 21, 2012
A 51-year old Escambia County man is now behind bars on numerous burglary and theft charges and for allegedly beating a 70-year old store clerk.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Craig Lasalle Rutledge of Pine Forest Road made forced entry into the businesses — including Publix on University Parkway, Winn Dixie on Mobile Highway, and Murphy’s Gas on Pensacola Boulevard –to steal large quantities of cigarettes and liquor.
During one of these thefts he resisted the employee of the store, at which time he committed a battery on the 70 year old store clerk in an attempt to get away, deputies said.
In another business burglary, Rutledge allegedly entered David Bowen Sporting Goods and stole 20 pairs of tennis shoes.
“Rutledge even resorted to pretending to use a walking cane in order to appear disabled distracting the clerk’s attention and enabling him to commit the thefts,” Deputy Matt Baxter, spokesman for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said.
Rutledge is charged with six counts of grand theft, five counts of burglary, battery on a person 65 years of age or older, resisting operator, knowingly driving while license suspended, and for bad checks. He is being held in the Escambia County jail with a total bond of $116,159.56.
‘10 Commandments Judge’ Roy Moore Addresses GOP Group
August 21, 2012
Roy Moore, conservative Republican candidate for the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, addressed the Escambia County (Ala.) GOP Monday evening in Brewton. Moore was elected chief justice of Alabama’s highest court back in 2000, but he was removed — and made national news — in 2003 when he refused to follow a federal judge’s order to remove a granite Ten Commandments monument that he had placed in Alabama’s judicial building. Photos by Jodi Peacock for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Postponed; Will Double Up With Biscuits Tuesday
August 21, 2012
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ contest with the Montgomery Biscuits on Monday evening has been postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Tuesday night consisting of two seven inning games, with the first contest beginning at 6:00 p.m. Tickets for tomorrow’s game are valid for both contests, with gates opening at 4:30 pm.
Blue Wahoos SS Billy Hamilton remains at 143 steals, which is two away from tying Vince Coleman’s record of 145, which was set in 1983. Tickets are still available for tomorrow and the remainder of the series, and can be purchased online at BlueWahoos.com or at the Hill Kelly Dodge Pickup Window at the front of the stadium.
Tickets for tonight’s game can be exchanged at the Hill Kelly Dodge Pickup window 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.
LHP Tony Cingrani is expected to get the start in game one for the Blue Wahoos, while RHP Chad Rogers is slated to get the nod in the second game. LHP Kyle Lobstein is scheduled to toe the rubber in the first game for the Biscuits and RHP Matt Buschmann is expected to start for Montgomery in the second game of the twinbill.
By Andrew Green