Century Mayor, Pensacola Councilman Attend Regional Cities Meeting
February 15, 2012
Century’s mayor and a Pensacola city councilman attended the recent Northwest Florida League of Cities and Suwannee River League of Cities first annual Joint Board of Directors Meeting and Fellowship Dinner.
Mayor Freddie McCall of Century and Councilman P.C. Wu of Pensacola were among representatives in attendance from 70 member towns and cities from a 27 county area in the Northwest Florida and Suwannee River region. McCall and Wu serve on the board of directors from the Northwest Florida League of Cities.
Elected officials and municipal staff members were urged to strive for excellence through education.
Pictured: Pensacola Councilman P.C. Wu (near center holding white folder) and Century Mayor Freddie McCall (just to the left behind Wu) attended a joint board of directors meeting for the Northwest Florida League of Cities and Suwannee River League of Cities. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Dogs Seized After Authorities Find 90 Animals In Poor Conditions
February 15, 2012
Escambia County Animal Control officers seized about 20 dogs from a North Escambia property Tuesday after finding about 90 animals living in poor conditions.
Animal control responded to the property in the 2800 block of Lawson Lane off Jacks Branch Road in response to a dog bite complaint. When they arrived, they discovered 50 or more dogs, 20 hogs and about 17 goats, according to Kelly Cooke, spokesperson for Escambia County.
Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies stood by as county animal control officers seized about 20 of the dogs. “They were the ones that were in really, really bad health or bad shape,” Cooke said.
About a half dozen of the dogs were improperly tethered, while most of the 50 dogs had improper shelter or pens, according to Escambia County Animal Control.
Cooke said that the Escambia County Animal Shelter would head to court seeking custody of the animals, and criminal charges may be filed against the property owner.
Escambia County Animal Control officials believe the animals may have been involved in some type of hunting activity where the dogs were released to hunt the hogs. Cooke said most of the dogs were some sort of hound breed, while about 10 were possibly a bulldog breed. She said that animals did not appear to have been involved in any dog fighting activities.
The incident remains under investigation.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Driver Injured In Crash With Deer
February 15, 2012
One person received minor injuries in a collision with a deer Tuesday night in McDavid.
The wreck happened just after 11 p.m. in the northbound lanes of Highway 29 at South Pine Barren Road. The vehicle came to rest in a wooded area just off the roadway. The female driver was transported by ambulance to West Florida Hospital.
The accident was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol. The McDavid Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded to the crash.
PSC Approves Lower Gulf Power Fuel Cost Rate
February 15, 2012
The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a proposal that will lead to customers of Gulf Power Company receiving a break on their monthly electric bills.
The Pensacola-based utility will pass along savings stemming from lower-than-expected costs of natural gas. Effective March 1, a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month — a common measuring stick — would see a $3.34, or 2.6 percent, reduction. The electricity bill for a residential customer buying 1,000 kilowatt-hours decreases to $122.46, or less than the $124.10 cost for the same amount of electricity in 2009.
Costs of natural gas and other power-plant fuels are a major component of customers’ electric bills. The PSC approved projected 2012 fuel costs in November, but Gulf Power sought a revision last month.
“We have worked very hard to manage our fuel mix to provide affordable, reliable electric service to our customers,” said Jeff Rogers, Gulf Power Corporate Communication supervisor. “We wanted to pass these savings to customers now instead of waiting until the next scheduled filing at the end of the year.”
“The PSC’s authority to adjust the fuel charge protects customers from higher energy bills and allows consumers to stretch their dollars as Florida’s economy continues to improve,” commission Chairman Ronald Brise said in a prepared statement.
Gulf’s customer bills could change again this year, however, because the utility has proposed raising base electric rates. The PSC could make a decision on that request February 27.
The News Service Florida contributed to this report.
Drought Continues, Worries Area Farmers
February 15, 2012
Despite our recent rains, the North Escambia area remains in a drought as area farmers head toward spring planting season.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows the area in a moderate to severe drought — a drought that has persisted about a year. Most of Escambia County in Florida, except for an area along the Alabama state line, and Santa Rosa County are in severe drought. Escambia County, Alabama, and adjacent areas in Florida are in a moderate drought.
Less than half the normal precipitation fell across much of the are during the last 90 days with some areas with a deficit of as much as 10 inches in the past four months. The seasonal drought outlook for the period through April 30 does not show any improvement for the North Escambia area with overall dry conditions continuing.
Last year, Escambia and Santa Rosa counties were declared federal disaster areas due to the combined effect of excessive drought and the summer’s high temperatures. Many farmers lost a large percentage of their crops to the dry soils.
The U.S. Drought Monitor is published by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln using a variety of climatic data.
Pictured top: A field of corn is irrigated last May at Highway 4 and Dortch Road in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Prison Privatization Bill Dies
February 15, 2012
A bipartisan coalition of senators bucked the chamber’s Republican leadership Tuesday and rejected a proposal to privatize several prisons, but got warnings from leaders that it will have a cost in further budget cuts.
In a dramatic showdown with Senate President Mike Haridopolos and three other top leaders – one of whom controls the Senate’s budget, one who controls the calendar and one who will be the next president – opponents of the bill managed to kill it on a 19-21 vote.
The odd coalition that lined up against the bill included Republican populists who have become occasional mavericks, Democrats and some members of the GOP caucus that almost always vote with their party, but come from areas laden with corrections officers who opposed the idea.
The measure was sold as a simple savings measure by most of its backers. The bill (SB 2083) would have required bidders to guarantee 7 percent savings over what the Department of Corrections currently spends to run the prisons, which are spread across 18 South Florida counties. That would amount to about $16.5 million minimum in savings, supporters argued.
That “will buy a lot of textbooks,” said Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton.
But senator after senator rose on the floor to raise objections – some said the savings wouldn’t materialize, others argued the state could just as easily find 7 percent savings if pressed. Some said the companies that would bid couldn’t be trusted to run them well – or would skimp on safety, all arguments that backers rejected.
But most said they were opposed to the measure because it would do wrong by corrections officers who have a tough life as it is, working for little pay among some of the toughest working conditions imaginable.
Sen. Paula Dockery talked about the nasty working conditions faced by guards, and noted the private companies would likely find the required cost savings by cutting benefits.
“‘This is the way we’re going to treat them?” Dockery asked. “‘We should be thanking all those brave men and women … and not try to shunt you off on a private corporation who may or may not hire you.”
Sen. Dennis Jones, who voted against the measure, also spoke up for state-employed prison guards, with a little bit of a jab at his Republican colleagues, who aren’t generally well liked by many state government workers because of their zeal for shrinking the state workforce.
“You know, what’s wrong with state employees?” Jones asked. “They’re our employees. We should be taking care of them instead of kicking them under the bus.”
But defeating the measure would come with consequences warned Sen. Don Gaetz, in line to be the next president. The Republican from Niceville predicted caustically that many of those who voted against the bill would likely be the same people coming to the Senate’s budget chairman, Sen. JD Alexander, pleading for a few extra dollars here and there for various prized programs. The money already was tight and certainly isn’t there now, he said, with at least $16 million in savings passed up with the rejection of prison privatization.
“The burden lies heavy on those who vote no and then come to Sen. Alexander” to ask for money in the budget, Gaetz said. “At a time when we are stacking pennies to take care of the critical needs of Florida, is there not some way we can find to do our jobs better?”
In addition to Alexander and Gaetz, the bill was also backed by Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, rules chairman and the sponsor of the bill. He acknowledged the gallery full of corrections officers watching debate and said he appreciates them greatly. But he said he listened to the voters who sent him to Tallahassee.
“They didn’t tell me to come here and grow government, they told me to come here and limit government,” Thrasher said.
Two Republican opponents who don’t usually bolt their own party, but who vocally opposed the privatization measure were Sens. Steve Oelrich of Cross Creek and Charlie Dean of Inverness. Both are former sheriffs, and have run jails. Both also live in areas with huge numbers of corrections officers and other state workers.
Oelrich said that there are just some things that only government should do.
“I’m scared about the whole idea of private companies taking away someone’s freedom … with the primary notion that we expect them to spend less dollars, to save dollars,” said Oelrich. “I know there is a chance we could save some money…..If the governor wants to cut 7 percent out of the corrections budget then lo and behold let him to do that, he’s the chief executive.”
Dean agreed, saying savings should be found “on the back of the DOC employees.
“Jailing for profit is not the public good,” Dean said.
A few questions remain about the fate of the privatization effort this year. For one, backers say the governor has the authority to privatize prisons unilaterally, whether the Legislature wants them to be privatized or not.
Also, the Legislature passed the privatization plan last year, though it was stuck in the state budget in a way that lawmakers who opposed it couldn’t really vote against it because they supported the rest of the spending plan. A judge threw out that privatization requirement, which was the reason it resurfaced this year. A spokesman for the Police Benevolent Association, which sued over that law, said it wasn’t clear what would happen if the state prevailed in its appeal. Theoretically, it could probably move forward.
Thirdly, other efforts to privatize prisons remain – a couple of proposals for privatization are contained in other budget language filed this year.
Haridopolos said Tuesday after the vote that he isn’t sure where the money will come from to make up for the savings, but noted that education and health care, the two biggest parts of the budget, but also two of the most supported areas, are the likeliest targets.
By The News Service of Florida
AG Bondi Supports Evers’ Synthetic Drug Bill
February 15, 2012
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday urged lawmakers to pass legislation filed in both chambers that would add new drugs to the list of banned substances under the state’s drug law.
The bills by Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker and Rep. Clay Ingram, R-Pensacola, would make it a third-degree felony to sell, make, deliver, or possess with intent to sell new forms of “bath salts” and the synthetic cannabinoid K2 sometimes known as “Spice”.
Evers’ Senate bill is awaiting a hearing in the Health Regulation Committee, but Ingram’s House bill is ready for the floor.
“We will not allow chemists who are altering the components of these dangerous synthetic drugs to circumvent state law,” Bondi said in a statement. “Prompt action by the Legislature will help protect our communities from the growing threat of synthetic drug abuse.”
“People who sell and use these deadly drugs threaten their own lives and the lives of those around them,” Ingram said. “We must act now and remove these drugs from the shelves and out of the hands of abusers.”
“This legislation is essential in banning these dangerous substances that are wreaking havoc on the lives of Floridians across our state,” Evers stated.
Santa Rosa Inmates Can Again Send Regular Mail
February 15, 2012
Inmates in the Santa Rosa County Jail can once again send letters to friends and family.
In 2010, Sheriff Wendall Hall implemented a postcard-only policy which restricted inmates’ mail to postcards unless it was considered “privileged” mail to courts, attorneys, government officials or agencies or the news media. Because non-privileged mail is inspected before being sent out, the postcard-only policy was meant to reduce employee workload and expense.
The ACLU and the Florida Justice Institute filed a lawsuit in September, 2010 alleging that the policy restricting jail inmates’ ability to communicate with family and friends by limiting their mail to short, publicly viewable messages on postcards was a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech.
Under a settlement, inmates will now be allowed to send a limited number of letters in envelopes to non-privileged recipients.
According to the ACLU, the sheriff also agreed to pay $135,000 in attorney’s fees and costs associated with the case.
Here’s Your Sign: Happy Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2012
Nothing says “I Love You” on Valentine’s Day like construction equipment… at least not for the Jacksons of Barrineau Park.
Since Crystal Jackson is now a stay at home mom, Gabe Jackson couldn’t send flowers to her office this year. So the next best thing was a lighted construction sign across from Molino Park Elementary School where Crystal would be dropping off daughter Alyssa at school.
The sign proclaims for all traveling Highway 97 to see — “Happy V Day Crystal…I Love You”.
“I was definitely surprised; he had mentioned he was exited about something a few weeks ago so it took me a minute to put it together,” Crystal said.
The couple will celebrate their 11th anniversary in April. They were high school sweethearts, together now for 16 years.
“I am thankful God put us together,” she said.
Pictured top: Crystal Jackson’s Valentine’s surprise Tuesday morning in front of Molino Park Elementary School. Pictured inset: Crystal and Gabe Jackson. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bragging Leads To Arrest Of Man For Food Mart Holdup, Beating Clerk
February 14, 2012
A Cantonment man has been charged with the January robbery of a convenience store and the beating of the clerk.
Antoan Dekyl Fountain, 32, was charged with battery causing bodily harm, grand theft and robbery with a firearm for the January 7 holdup of the CMP Food Mart at the corner of North Highway 29 and Beck’s Lake Road in Cantonment.
According to Escambia County Sheriff’s Office reports, Fountain was dressed in all black when entered the store about 10:35 p.m., jumped over the counter and tried to get into the register. When Fountain was unable to open the register, he beat the clerk with a handgun to force him to open the cash drawer. Fountain then fled on foot in an unknown direction with about $300 in cash.
Fountain was busted after deputies received an anonymous tip that Fountain had been bragging about committing the robbery.
The clerk positively identified Fountain as the bandit from a photo lineup, according to an arrest report.
Fountain remained in the Escambia County Jail Tuesday with bond set at $85,000.
Pictured: The CMP Food Mart in Cantonment as seen a few hours before a January 7 robbery. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.