Property Taxes Deliquent April 1
March 28, 2012
Real estate and tangible personal property taxes become delinquent on Sunday.
After the Saturday, March 31 deadline, a penalty of 3 percent for real estate and 1½ percent for tangible taxes will be assessed. Over $32.5 million (approximately 13%) of the Escambia County tax roll remains unpaid, according to Tax Collector Janet Holley.
Since the deadline falls during the weekend when the offices are closed, offices will still accept payments without penalty Monday, April 2 for in person payments only.
In addition, payments will be accepted without penalty if:
- mailed with a postmark by March 31
- left in any 24-hour drop boxes available at all offices by midnight March 31
- made on the tax collector web site by midnight March 31
- made on the after-hours automated telephone line (800) 601‑1055 by midnight March 31
Drive thru service and 24-hour drop boxes are available at all locations.
You may check the status of your taxes and pay online at www.escambiataxcollector.com. For more information, contact the tax collector’s office at (850) 438-6500, ext. 3252.
All tax collector offices will be closed April 6 in observance of Good Friday.
Fire Dept Rescues Swimmers Trapped On Sandbar
March 27, 2012
Two swimmers that were reported to be trapped on a sandbar near Molino Tuesday afternoon are fine.
The Molino and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were dispatched after two female swimmers reported that they were trapped on a sandbar on the west side of the Perdido River. They reported that they were unable to swim back to the shore due to increasing currents in the river.
Firefighters located the women at on a sandbar across from Fillingim Landing off Jack’s Branch Road near Molino. They were able to get the women back to shore without incident. There were no injuries reported.
Pictured: A sandbar at Fillingim Landing near Molino. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Former Flomaton Police Chief Says He’s Not Guilty
March 27, 2012
The former Flomaton, Ala., police chief says he is not guilty of kidnapping for allegedly making an unauthorized arrest across the state line in Century.
Geoffrey Ashley McGraw, 30, waived an arraignment hearing scheduled for this Thursday and filed a plea of not guilty through his attorney, Earnest Ray White, in Escambia County (Fla.) Circuit Court.
McGraw was arrested earlier this month on a third degree felony charge of kidnapping/false imprisonment. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $5,000 bond.
McGraw’s arrest stemmed from a joint operation by the Florida 1st Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
FDLE obtained the warrant for McGraw’s arrest for an August 14, 2011, incident in which Ronald Adam Barrow was arrested by McGraw at a home on Old Flomaton Road in Century — 0.177 miles from the Alabama state line. McGraw, without jurisdiction, allegedly took Barrow into custody in Florida on an outstanding Escambia County (Ala.) failure to appear warrant in misdemeanor case. Barrow was then transported back across the state line into Alabama.
McGraw was placed on leave by the Flomaton Town Council on February 27 and subsequently fired on March 12.
NRA: Nothing Wrong With Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law
March 27, 2012
National Rifle Association lead lobbyist Marion Hammer – one of the architects of the stand-your-ground law now figuring prominently in debates over the Trayvon Martin shooting death in Sanford, Florida – says she won’t be baited into arguing the merits of the law while the case is still being investigated.
In the wake of last week’s growing outcry over the fact that the acknowledged shooter, George Zimmerman, has not been charged, Gov. Rick Scott Thursday tapped an outside prosecutor to investigate the death and a task force to review the 2005 law.
Scott, too, says further action should await the results of the investigation.
And in any case, Hammer said Monday, “the law should not be on trial. The law did not do anything wrong.”
Members of the black legislative caucus have called for a review.
“I have seen the media predict that nothing will change,” Hammer said, “and that’s probably because the media understands that there’s nothing wrong with the law.”
The bill’s sponsors, Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, and former Sen. Durell Peaden, R-Crestview, say the law was never intended to cover pursuit – as may have been the case in Martin’s death – but rather the defense of one’s home, the so-called Castle Doctrine.
“It is difficult to give an opinion when you don’t know the facts of the case,” said Hammer. “But based on what I have read in the media, the Castle Doctrine does not apply in this case.” New facts emerged over the weekend, however, that may make the so-called stand-your-ground law applicable.
Zimmerman’s lawyer said it was Martin who attacked Zimmerman, broke his nose and was banging Zimmerman’s head into the ground when he fired in self-defense.
The lawyer, Craig Sonner, told ABC News that he will argue self defense and the stand-your-ground law will likely apply.
By The News Service of Florida
Cantonment Farmer’s Market Seeking Vendors
March 27, 2012
The Market at St. Monica’s is now accepting applications from vendors for another season.
The market will be held on the first and third Saturday of each month, May through October, at Saint Monica’s Episcopal Church at 699 South Hwy 95A in Cantonment.
Any vendor wishing to sell produce, plants, crafts or other items may obtain market rules and an application at www.st-monicas.org/market.html or by calling the church office at (850) 937-0001. The normal vendor fee is a cash or food donation to the Manna Food Pantry.
The all-volunteer ran farmer’s market was launched in May 2011 on an 8-acre site. The Market at St. Monica’s will celebrate its grand re-opening on Saturday, May 5 with a Cinco de Mayo theme.
Organizers said the purpose of The Market is to connect residents of the community with local farmers and producers dedicated to producing high-quality produce, crafts and other products.
Pictured: Scenes from last year’s Market at St. Monica’s in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
New Florida Senate Maps Headed For Passage
March 27, 2012
The Legislature’s second shot at drawing new districts for the state Senate is on the cusp of passing the House as early as Tuesday, setting up the next stage in the once-a-decade process of crafting Florida’s political boundaries.
Republican and Democratic leaders said Monday that they would likely go ahead and vote on the new Senate map on Tuesday, finishing up an extraordinary session called to address a Florida Supreme Court ruling nullifying the plan. This marks the first year justices reviewed the plans under the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts amendments, approved by the voters in a November 2010 referendum.
The House, which saw its map initially approved by the court, is expected to defer to the Senate and give the plan the go ahead, at which point the Supreme Court will again review the Senate proposal.
In a likely preview of the floor fight, the plan (SJR 2-B) passed the House Redistricting Committee on a party-line, 13-7 vote Monday. Republicans hailed the plan as a better attempt at following the Fair Districts plan than the upper chamber’s last effort.
“The Senate responded to what the court asked and it’s time to send this map on to the court,” said Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne.
Democrats were less impressed, saying that the Senate map still seemed to be aimed at protecting incumbents while pretending to comply with the new standards. They pointed out that only two incumbents appeared to be headed for a primary challenge under the Senate plan.
“While it is better, I’m not quite sure if it gets us over the hump at the Supreme Court,” said Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach.
Jenne offered his own plan, then withdrew it before a committee vote but promised to bring it back when the measure hits the House floor. That proposal would apparently give the GOP a smaller edge in the upper chamber; Gov. Rick Scott would have carried 22 of the 40 Senate districts in 2010 under Jenne’s proposal to the 18 won by Democratic CFO Alex Sink, though she would have carried one of the seats by less than 1 percent.
Scott would have won 25 districts to Sink’s 15 under the Senate proposal.
Even Jenne admitted that his plan, drawn with the help of Tallahassee Community College student Ryan Terrell, had little chance of passing the House and was aimed more at showing the Supreme Court another alternative, should justices choose to scrap the second Senate map and draw their own.
“If Republican members were allowed to vote the way they want to vote, I think the Jenne amendment would have an excellent chance of passing,” said House Minority Leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West.
All sides agree that the House is likely to do little more than approve the Senate plan, barring any unforeseen problems. Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, said some members of his county’s delegation were likely to raise concerns about the lack of a fourth district in Miami-Dade likely to elect a Hispanic senator.
But he also tamped down expectations that the concerns raised by members like House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami, would lead to an amendment that could break the “gentlemen’s agreement” between the two chambers.
House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said he was also working to ease the concerns of lawmakers with problems about the map — including Lopez-Cantera.
“Whenever you’re drawing maps, there’s always going to be concern,” he said. “Nobody ever gets what they want and that’s kind of part of the process.”
By The News Service of Florida
Supreme Court Rejects Big Tobacco Apeals, Including Escambia Case
March 27, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up appeals of four Florida lawsuits that will force R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to pay tens of millions of dollars to the families of dead smokers.
The cases, part of a flood of tobacco litigation moving through Florida’s courts, were the first of their kind to reach the Supreme Court. One of the cases involved a $28.3 million judgment in an Escambia County case, while another totaled $15.75 million in an Alachua County case.
John Mills, an attorney who worked on the $15.75 million case stemming from the death of Arthur Hall, described R.J. Reynolds’ appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court as a “last gasp.” While the company could seek a rehearing, Mills said that has little chance of success.
“As to whether these judgments have to be paid, it’s over, it’s final,” he said.
Robert Peck, a Washington attorney who represented plaintiffs in the Supreme Court in two of the cases, said justices did not explain their reasons for turning down the appeals.
That leaves questions about how the decisions could affect thousands of other Florida sick-smoker cases that have become known as the “Engle progeny” cases.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that such cases should be heard individually instead of as a class action. But the ruling also established critical findings that could be used in the cases — such as establishing that cigarettes cause a wide range of diseases, that nicotine in cigarettes is addictive and that tobacco companies concealed information about the health effects of smoking.
Tobacco companies have argued that the Engle findings are not being applied properly to individual cases. For example, R.J. Reynolds argued in state court that plaintiffs’ attorneys in the $28.3 million judgment were not required to prove that dead smoker Benny Martin relied on deceptive advertising about the dangers of smoking.
“The Supreme Court’s decision today does not represent a ruling on the merits of Reynolds’ constitutional argument,” Jeff Raborn, vice president and assistant general counsel for R.J. Reynolds, said in a prepared statement Monday. “We remain confident in our position that the Florida courts’ use of general findings in one case to establish specific claims in subsequent cases violates our bedrock constitutional rights.”
Jim Gustafson, a Tallahassee-based attorney whose firm has filed more than 400 lawsuits against tobacco companies, said he expects the industry to continue appealing Engle-progeny cases to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“They are genetically incapable of taking their medicine,” said Gustafson, whose firm, Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley, represented the surviving husband of smoker Betty Jean Campbell in one of the cases decided Monday.
R.J. Reynolds last year included what is known as an “accrual” in its third-quarter financial statement to account for the possibility of having to pay $53 million in damages in the lawsuits and another $11 million in attorneys’ fees and interest. That came after the Florida Supreme Court also turned down its appeals in the cases.
The most closely watched of the cases has been the $28.3 million judgment for Mathilde Martin, the widow of Lucky Strike smoker Benny Martin who died of lung cancer in 1995. The judgment includes $3.3 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.
While an Alachua County jury approved the $15.75 million judgment for Amanda Jean Hall, the widow of smoker Arthur Hall, the other two cases stemmed from Escambia County.
In one, R.J. Reynolds, was ordered to pay $6.2 million to Carolyn Gray, the widow of Charles Robert Gray. The company also would have to pay most of the $3.35 million verdict in an Escambia County case filed by Franklin Campbell in the death of his wife, Betty Jean. Cigarette makers Philip Morris USA and Liggett Group also would have to pay small parts of that judgment.
By The News Service of Florida
Flomaton ‘Canes On 12-Game Winning Streak
March 27, 2012
The Flomaton Hurricanes beat the Excel Panthers 10-4 Monday.
James Dean got the win for the Hurricanes and Chazhn Taylor took the lose for the Panthers. The ‘Canes are now 13-3 and are on a 12-game winning streak.
Flomaton’s next game is at home against the T.R. Miller Tigers Tuesday. The junior varsity begins at 4:00, and the varsity steps up the plate at 6:00.
Batting
Andrew Cash 1-4 1B
Hunter Bonds 1-4 RBI 2 runs
James Dean 2-4 2B, 3B 2RBI 1 run
Zack Watson 2-4 1B, 2B 2RBI
Jacob Newton 1-3 2B 1 run SB
Tyler Dove 2-4 HR, 3B 2RBI 2 runs
Cody Nolan RBI SB
Joseph Parker 1-1 2 runs
Pitching
James Dean 4IP 3ER 4K 7 hits allowed
Tyler Harris 3IP ER 3K 1W 2 hits allowed
New Restaurant Coming To Atmore
March 27, 2012
Construction will soon begin on a new restaurant in Atmore.
Waffle House will open later this year at the Rivercane development at I-65 and Highway 21. It will join McDonald’s, Hardee’s, Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn in the city’s 740 acre development adjacent to the Wind Creek Casino.
The Waffle House was announced at a Monday afternoon meeting of the Atmore City Council.
Maybe Fog Tonight, Sunny For Wednesday
March 27, 2012
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 58. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.
- Wednesday Night: Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 58. South wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
- Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming south between 5 and 10 mph.
- Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. South wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
- Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south between 5 and 10 mph.
- Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
- Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming southwest between 5 and 10 mph.
- Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 83.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60.
- Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 80.
- Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56.
- Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 77.