Longtime Fire Chief Passes Away
January 16, 2013
A longtime area fire chief passed away Tuesday morning.
John Hilbert Martin served for decades as the fire chief for Brewton, AL. After his retirement, he continued in the fire services industry, working for a company selling fire equipment across several states.
Martin called Brewton his home for 55 years, becoming involved in the Mason, the Lions Club and the First baptist Church. He is survived by his wife, Leola Morris Martin of Brewton and numerous other relatives.
He will be laid to rest with full Fire Department Honors on Friday. For a complete obituary, click here.
Bobbie Jean Davis
January 16, 2013
Bobbie Jean Davis, 78 of Davisville, passed away Tuesday, January 15, 2013, at her residence. She was a homemaker, born in Escambia County, AL, on October 03, 1934, to the late Marion and Lottie Bell Wainwright.
Survivors are three daughters, Terri (Bud) Swift-Schumann of Gulf Breeze, Tammy Clark of Cantonment, Tina (Joey) Donald of Walnut Hill; five grandchildren, Toni, Bo, Christina, Anna and David; one great-granddaughter Evie; and one sister, Elizabeth Wainwright of Mobile.
Services will be Thursday January 17, 2013, at 11 a.m. from Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Ted Bridges officiating. Interment will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Active Pallbearers are Bud Schumann, Joey Donald, David Donald, Daniel Capers, Little John Davis and Frank Jay.
Family will receive friends Thursday, January 17, 2013, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel one prior to service time.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home in Atmore is charge of all arrangements
Health Plans Chosen For Florida Medicaid Makeover
January 16, 2013
In another step toward transforming Medicaid into a statewide managed-care system, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration said Tuesday it has chosen five health plans to provide coverage to seniors who need long-term care.
The announcement came after a months-long bidding process that included HMOs and other types of managed-care plans competing in 11 regions of the state. While losing plans can still launch bid protests, AHCA expects to start using the new long term-care system in August in the Orlando area — and would gradually expand to other parts of Florida.
The state also still needs federal approval of what is known as a “waiver” for the long-term care changes, but Medicaid director Justin Senior said he is optimistic that will occur by a Feb. 7 deadline.
“The Agency has selected plans that will be able to meet the needs of the recipients we serve and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” AHCA Secretary Liz Dudek said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to beginning to work with the selected plans and to finalizing negotiations with CMS (the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) for waiver approval within the next several weeks.”
Lawmakers in 2011 approved a far-reaching proposal to eventually shift almost all Medicaid beneficiaries into managed-care plans. The first phase would involve seniors who need long-term care, while a later phase would address the broader Medicaid population.
In both phases of the program, AHCA is required to contract with a limited number of plans in each of the 11 geographic regions. Along with HMOs, lawmakers called for contracting with another type of managed care known as provider-service networks.
The announcement Tuesday included selection of provider-service network American Eldercare to receive contracts in all 11 regions. The firm participates in already-existing state “diversion” programs, which are designed to help keep seniors out of nursing homes by providing services in their homes and communities.
Among the other selected plans, Sunshine State Health Plan, a subsidiary of the St. Louis-based health company Centene Corp., was selected to serve 10 regions. United HealthCare of Florida was selected for nine, while Coventry Health Care of Florida was chosen for four, and Amerigroup Florida was picked for two.
HMOs that were not chosen for contracts included prominent companies such as Humana and WellCare. If such companies want to challenge the agency’s decisions, Senior said they have 72 hours to file notices of bid protests.
“We are definitely preparing for it,” Senior said.
But Senior said he expects that the agency could continue moving forward with the selected plans even if bid protests are filed. In most regions of the state, AHCA did not choose the maximum number of plans allowed by the 2011 law. As a result, plans could be added to the system if they are successful in bid protests.
Supporters of the statewide managed-care system argue it will hold down costs while also improving the coordination of care for beneficiaries. In the long-term care portion, that includes health plans providing care that ultimately would help keep seniors from moving into nursing homes.
But Democratic lawmakers and some patient-advocacy groups have long said they fear statewide managed care will involve squeezing the services provided to beneficiaries.
“Their (supporters of the changes) motivation is money,” said Rep. Mark Pafford, a West Palm Beach Democrat who works on health-care issues. “It’s not access and quality.”
AHCA wants to gradually roll out the long-term care program, starting in August in a region that includes Orange, Brevard, Osceola and Seminole counties. It would follow in September in southwest Florida and in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, before gradually expanding later to other parts of the state.
During a presentation Tuesday to the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee, Senior said a key challenge is helping beneficiaries in choosing the most-appropriate health plans. He said it will involve elder-advocacy groups and others playing a role in helping with the decisions.
“This is not going to be an easy undertaking over the next seven or eight months,” Senior said. “But it is one we are committed to.”
By The News Service of Florida
Teen Jailed For 2012 Murder
January 16, 2013
An Escambia County teen has been arrested for a murder back during the summer of 2012.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office charged 18-year old Bennie Louis Robbins III with homicide, robbery and aggravated assault. He is being held without bond.
Investigators said Robbins shot and killed 19-year old Matthew Cox just before midnight on July 28, 2012, at 4415 Deauville Way. Investigators were able to link forensic evidence at the scene to Robbins.
Specific details have not been released, but the Sheriff’s Office said robbery appears to have been the motive for the shooting.
Northview Softball Standout Doran Signs With Wallace State
January 16, 2013
Northview High School senior Misty Doran signed a scholarship Tuesday morning to play softball for Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, AL.
The Wallace State fast pitch softball program won the 2008 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Championship, finishing national runner-up on two other occasions and third in 2012. Wallace State softball reclaimed the top spot in the state in 2012, winning its fifth Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC)/Region 22 state championship in six seasons and its seventh straight Northern Division title. The Lions finished with a 60-12 record and had a third-place finish at the NJCAA tournament.
Pictured: Misty Doran signs with Wallace State Tuesday morning at Northview. Looking on are her parents, Jerry and Suzanne Doran (seated), recruiter Freddie Kirby of Southeastern Athletics and Wallace State Coach Jayne Clem. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Police: Pensacola Man Had 100 Child Porn Movies On Computer
January 16, 2013
A Pensacola man was arrested on child pornography charges Tuesday morning after investigators determined he had downloaded sexually explicit movies involving children onto his
laptop computer.
Matthew Thomas Lee Burbank, 23, of 11000 Tanton Lane, Pensacola, was charged with 25 counts of possession of obscene material and three counts of distribution of obscene communications. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail on a $280,000 bond.
Detective Jeff Brown said agents with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force initiated a search warrant at the residence this morning after Burbank was identified via the internet as downloading child pornography.
Brown said approximately 100 movies containing child pornography were found on Burbank’s computer. An investigation is continuing to identify people who received child
pornography from Burbank via the internet.
Task force members who assisted the Pensacola Police Department with the investigation included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Office of Homeland Security and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Chiefs Beat Jay 55-43
January 16, 2013
The Northview Chiefs beat the Jay Royals Tuesday, 55-43. The Chiefs held a 36-31 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Neino Robinson led the Chiefs (9-6) on the court with 28 points.
Three Students Receive Minor Injuries When Two School Buses Collide
January 15, 2013
Three students received minor injuries when two Escambia County School District buses collided this afternoon at Pine Forest High School.
The Florida Highway Patrol said bus driver Steven T. Hilliard, age 50 of Cantonment, was traveling east on the Pine Forest High School access road when he rear-ended a bus driven by Joyce I. Fogie, age 60 of Pensacola.
There were 60 students total from both Pine Forest and West Florida high schools on the two buses.
The three injured students were transported by Escambia County EMS to Sacred Heart Hospital.
Police: Man Claims Mother Is Dead; Tries To Use Her Credit Cards For Bar Tab
January 15, 2013
A Cantonment man was arrested on five felony charges after allegedly trying to use his supposedly dead mother’s credit cards to pay a bar tab at an adult entertainment nightclub.
The Pensacola Police Department responded to the Babe’s Gentleman’s Club on North Davis Highway after 34-year old Noah Leigh Morris allegedly racked up a $347 bar tab and did not have a way to pay for it. Manager Sammy Smith told police that Morris was attempting to use his deceased mother’s credit cards to pay for the tab.
Morris told police he was going to pay with his mother’s credit cards, and that she had passed away two days prior. The officer reported Morris was highly intoxicated and showed his wallet containing seven credit cards with his mother’s name. He attempted to use his mother’s Discover Card to pay the tab. The card was denied, as was a card with Morris’ name on it.
As he was arrested, police reported finding several controlled prescription pills on Morris’ person in an unlabeled pill bottle.
Morris was charged with swindling or defrauding an innkeeper, fraudulent use of credit cards and two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $8,000.
Editor’s note: Family tells NorthEscambia.com that Morris’ mother is, in fact, alive and well.
Supervisors: Elections Were A ‘Perfect Storm’ Of Problems
January 15, 2013
Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford and state’s local elections supervisors told lawmakers Monday that a “perfect storm” of elections problems created the long lines and other issues that irritated Floridians in November. Stafford is past president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections.
Supervisors and lawmakers agreed that several factors converged in the November voting, from the length of the ballot to the number of early-voting days and the availability of early-voting sites, leading to Florida being the last state called in the presidential election. The state was eventually carried by President Barack Obama, but that result wasn’t known until days after he was projected to have won a second term.
“It was a combination of things that have contributed to our perfect storm election,” said Lee County Supervisor Sharon Harrington.
But Senate Ethics and Elections Chairman Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, pushed back on the notion that Florida was once again the problem child in presidential elections. Instead, the closeness of the state and the importance of its 29 electoral votes more often shine the national spotlight on Florida.
“These same issues, if they happened in others states, might not have the same focus that we have,” he said.
Seminole County Supervisor Mike Ertel went further.
“We had a good election statewide in Florida; we have to remember this,” Ertel said. As to late-night jokes at the expense of the state, he said: “I don’t care what Jay Leno thinks. I care what Florida voters think.”
The hearing focused on two of the issues that have taken up most of the attention in the wake of the election: Early voting and a number of proposed constitutional amendments blamed for stretching many counties’ ballots onto multiple pages.
Latvala told reporters after the meeting that he planned for the committee to begin work on an elections bill in February. In addition to the issues highlighted by the elections snafus, Latvala said the bill would address gaps in absentee ballot security pointed out by a grand jury report on absentee ballots in Miami-Dade County.
Most supervisors said the state should at least give them discretion to have more days of early voting, after a 2011 change in the law slashed the number of days before the elections that voters could cast ballots from at least 12 to no more than eight.
But lawmakers questioned whether supervisors had opened up enough early-voting sites to handle the crush of voters who tried to cast ballots on those early days. Miami-Dade County Supervisor Penelope Townsley, who conducted a thorough after-action report on the election in her county, admitted she had not.
“It we had to do that again, we would definitely increase the number of early voting sites that were used,” Townsley said.
Other supervisors said they needed more flexibility on where to place early voting sites, and said that not every eligible early voting site was a practical place to have voters to cast ballots because of concerns that range from parking to electrical capacity.
“To invite them to a facility that can accommodate them very efficiently is, I think, a better thing that to just have a lot of sites that are non-productive,” said St. Lucie County Supervisor Gertrude Walker.
Supervisors also pointed to the referendums placed on the ballot by the Legislature, and the exemption in state law that allows lawmakers to avoid the 75-word limit on amendment summaries that applies to citizen initiatives.
“If we can elect the president of the United States based solely on his or her first and last name, I believe that we can pass an amendment with 75 words,” Ertel said.
Even some lawmakers who voted for the exemption in 2000 — after the Supreme Court threw out a legislatively-proposed death-penalty amendment because of its summary — said they were ready to reverse course.
“I have to admit I was maybe part of the problem … about the language that appears on the ballot,” said Sen. John Thrasher, a St. Augustine Republican who was in the House at the time.
Latvala said he was less certain that was at the root of the problem, pointing out that the law has been effect for a decade now.
“I don’t think it’s the fault of the Legislature 100 percent that we had these lines,” he said.
By The News Service of Florida