Flu Outbreak Continues Locally; Officials Still Urge Vaccinations
January 13, 2013
Local health officials say a flu outbreak arrived early in Escambia County this year and has lasted longer than a typical flu season.
The first signs of the flu outbreak appeared in late October and the number of cases kept climbing throughout November, December and into January.
For the October 28 through January 5, Sacred Heart Hospital ran lab tests on 1,923 people who had flu-like symptoms. Of those, 546 tested positive for influenza. Since the beginning of December, the Sacred Heart Urgent Care Center in Pensacola has seen 186 people with flu-like symptoms.
The Florida Department of Health in continuing to encourage residents to get the flu vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control says at this point in the flu season, the vaccine may be harder to find that it was back in the fall. Residents may, the CDC said, need to contact more than one provider such as pharmacies or doctors in order to find available vaccine.
“It is not too late to get vaccinated against the flu, and we encourage anyone age six months and older to get a flu shot,” said State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health Dr. John
Armstrong. “Influenza A is the most common flu type in Florida this season and is countered by the vaccine.”
The flu vaccine this season is overall 62 percent effective, according to CDC data released Friday. That means patients that were vaccinated were about 60 percent less likely to get the flu that required a visit to the doctor.
The Florida Department of Health recommends said residents should watch for symptoms of the flu, such as headache, fever, a severe cough, runny nose or body aches. Contact your primary care physician or a local hospital immediately if symptoms appear. This is particularly important for people at high risk for serious complications from flu.For those with the flu, antiviral medication may shorten both the duration and severity of illness.
State health officials urge the following preventive steps for the flu:
- Get vaccinated EVERY YEAR because as the flu types change, the vaccine changes.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, because germs spread this way.
- Avoid close contact with sick people.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- If you are sick with flu–like illness, contact your primary care physician to determine whether you need antiviral medication. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone (except to get medical care or for other necessities).
Pictured top: A graphical representation of flu activity in the United States. Pictured inset: A patient receives a nasal flu mist flu vaccine. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Power Cut In Walnut Hill As Part Of Major System Upgrade
January 13, 2013
A portion of Walnut Hill was without power about an hour Saturday morning during a planned outage as the Escambia River Electric Cooperative power delivery system was upgraded.
Escambia River Electric Cooperative and it power supplier, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, is in the late stages of construction a new Oak Grove Graham electric substation on Highway 99A near North Highway 99. The new facility will have a total power capacity of 20 MVA (megavolt ampere), over twice the capacity of the aging Oak Grove Substation with a total capacity of 9.375 MVA.
The new substation and new distribution lines were installed to upgrade the EREC system and meet the needs of the Genesis Rail Services Walnut Hill Station. At the facility the largest of its kind in the U.S., crude oil is transferred from the oils fields of North Dakota to Walnut Hill by train and offloaded.
The area without power Saturday morning included Arthur Brown Road, Pine Forest Road, Pineville Road, County Road 99A and connecting streets and roads.
Pictured top: Electric linemen work on County Road 99A at Highway 97, adjacent to Ernest Ward Middle School, during a planned power outage Saturday morning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia’s Stafford, Other Election Bosses To Ask For More Early Voting
January 13, 2013
Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford and state’s local elections supervisors set to testify Monday before a Senate committee about what went wrong with Florida’s 2012 elections. They are set to ask lawmakers to allow them to increase early voting after the snafus that produced long lines at polling places in November, according to a summary of their legislative package.
Stafford is past president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, which said it would request that the Legislature give county supervisors the option to allow up to 14 days of early voting.
Lawmakers reduced the number of early voting days to eight as part of a controversial elections bill approved in 2011; under the supervisors’ proposal, counties would still have to offer at least eight days of early voting.
The legislative package, released Thursday, also includes a proposal that would require lawmakers to limit the summaries of all potential constitutional amendments to 75 words. Currently, amendments sent to the ballot by the Legislature don’t have to follow that limit, which applies to citizen initiatives. Supporters of the limit say reading lengthy ballot summaries can slow down voters.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Fire Destroys Shooting House
January 13, 2013
Firefighters from the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to a reported brush fire late Saturday night to find that a Walnut Hill shooting house had been destroyed by fire.
A passerby reported seeing a brush fire several yards off Highway 97 south of Howell Road. When firefighters arrived, the shooting house was already a total loss and a small brush fire had been sparked by the blaze. The fire was quickly extinguished.
There was no word on the cause of the fire.
Rainy Days
January 13, 2013
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Showers. Low around 58. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
- Monday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64. East wind around 5 mph.
- Monday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 51. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 69. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Tuesday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 48. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 59. North wind around 10 mph.
- Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. North wind around 10 mph.
- Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 64.
- Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40.
- Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 62.
One Arrested In Shooting, Two Still Wanted For Questioning
January 13, 2013
One suspect has been arrested in connection with the shooting that left one person dead and two people wounded Thursday night on Escambia County’s Belair Road.
Freddie Dayshen Fountain III, 23, was charged with two counts of attempted homicide, a weapons offense of firing missiles into a dwelling, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $190,000.
About 10:10 p.m. on January 10, deputies responded to a shots fired disturbance in the 700 block of Belair Road in the Montclair area. Deputies found Aquarius Devaughn dead, and both Durall Sumler and Shawn Jordan suffering from gunshot wounds. Sumler and Jordan remain in Baptist Hospital.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigators released a list of seven people, including Fountain, believed to have information on the crime. Four of the people were questioned and released.
Investigators are still looking for Travaris J. Stallworth and Kwamane Q. Silas for questioning. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Charles “Terry” Griffis
January 13, 2013
Mr. Charles “Terry” Griffis, born on March 17, 1962, in Atmore, lifelong resident of Century and 1980 graduate of Century High School, died on January 9, 2013. He was a former employee of L & L Welding.
His parents, Glennis and Carol Jean (Johnson) Griffis, precede him in death.
He is survived by one daughter, April (Timbo) Cofield of Century; one sister, Renay Griffis of New Mexico; numerous aunts and one very special aunt, Jean Clark of Century.
Funeral services will be Monday, January 14, 2013, at 2 p.m. at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Bobo Bell officiating.
Burial will follow at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Johnny Mathis, Rodney Griffis, Steve Pace, Johnny Wayne Griffis, Billy Griffis and Brent Godwin.
Honorary pallbearers will be Bobby Mathis and Marty Griffis.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes, LLC is in charge of all arrangements.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Health Care, Elections And More
January 13, 2013
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and state health officials spent much of the week on their heels while the estimated price of the Affordable Care Act dropped faster than tree ornaments the day after Christmas.
What began Monday as a $26 billion millstone around the neck of Florida taxpayers was reduced eight-fold to a more manageable $3 billion expense after Agency for Health Care Administration officials fine-tuned their 10-year estimates for what expanding Medicaid would cost the state.
Beginning Monday with comments on a chilly street corner in Washington, D.C., Scott, — a vocal critic of Obamacare — took heat for citing figures that key legislative analysts questioned and the governor’s opponents said were downright inflated.
In contrast, groups eyeing election reforms came up with surprisingly similar remedies this week. Separate groups called on lawmakers to be a little more laconic on proposed constitutional amendments, saying the length of the 2012 general election ballot contributed to long lines at the polls.
The governor spent the remainder of the week traveling the state and touting a proposed tax break for manufacturing machinery while calling for performance pay for public employees.
AHCA ESTIMATES TUMBLE AMID SKEPTICISM
Following a meeting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Scott lamented to a small cadre of Washington reporters that the costs to Florida of the unfolding health care plan would be catastrophic — $26 billion over a decade.
“Growing government, it’s never free,” Scott said. “It always costs money.”
Scott’s lament did not go unnoticed and soon became the grist for critics who said the governor’s figures were inflated and inaccurate. Even the Agency for Health Care Administration, an agency under the governor’s eye, blinked.
Days after Scott’s initial estimates, which were based on earlier AHCA figures, the agency reduced its estimates to a lowball $3 billion over 10 years.
The revisions came after state budget analysts, including the top staff member on the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee, raised questions about the assumptions that AHCA had used in the earlier report.
Scott’s office continued to defend the higher estimate, which took into account the federal government’s historic financial support for Medicaid of about 58 percent. The Affordable Care Act calls for the federal government to fund a minimum of 90 percent of the costs for people who take advantage of expanded Medicaid eligibility.
Unless the federal law changes, House Appropriations Chairman Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, said lawmakers must base their calculations on what the law says.
“We must follow our process which requires estimates based on current law and practice,” McKeel said. “This is critical to the integrity of our budgeting process.”
ELECTION REFORMS EMERGE
Following a 2012 election cycle remembered for images of weary voters standing in late-night lines, a series of proposed election reforms appeared to coalesce this week as various stakeholders, from election supervisors to Scott, weighed in.
Among the top suggestions: Limit the length of ballot initiatives and allow local supervisors to offer more days of early voting in more locations.
Local elections supervisors say they’d like more flexibility in future elections to accommodate the growing number of voters who choose to cast ballots before Election Day. Scott also appears more amenable to extending early voting hours.
The Florida State Association of Supervisors of Election said it would request that the Legislature give county supervisors the option to allow up to 14 days of early voting. Lawmakers reduced the number of early voting days to eight as part of a controversial elections bill approved in 2011.
Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, filed a proposed constitutional amendment this week seeking to limit to three the number of proposed amendments the Legislature could put on the ballot in any one election. Clemens has filed another proposal to automatically register voting-age motorists who apply for Florida drivers licenses.
The ballot limitation, if not the sponsor, may have some traction this year. Senate President Don Gaetz has said lengthy amendments may have played a role in long lines and said the Senate would have a high bar for considering proposed amendments while he is president.
But in a state where the public and lawmakers have long used the constitution to get things done when the Legislature won’t, and in a famously decentralized state where locals have a lot of power, could officials really shorten the ballot? And would it actually make a difference?
SCOTT NAMES FIVE TO BOG
Gov. Rick Scott appointed five new members of the Board of Governors on Thursday, bringing him close to having named a majority of the 17-member panel responsible for overseeing Florida’s 12 state universities.
Scott’s office announced the appointments of Wayne Huizenga Jr., Ned Lautenbach, Alan Levine, Wendy Link and Edward Morton in a brief news release late Thursday. The five will join three other members of the board that Scott has appointed.
The five were named to seats that were either vacant or where the terms of current board members had expired and those members had not applied to be reappointed. Scott’s office has yet to announce what will happen with the seat currently held by Norman Tripp, who has asked for another term.
BILLS FILED
With the New Year behind them, lawmakers did what they do best, they filed bills. Among a handful of proposals this week is a measure by Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, to allow same-sex partners to receive some of the benefits –heath care, pension benefits, custodial rights – that are afforded married couples.
The legislation specifically states it is not an attempt to do an end-run around a provision in the Florida Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, but it would allow gay Floridians to get some rights approaching marriage.
MANUFACTURING TAX BREAK PROPOSED
Scott on Wednesday proposed eliminating the sales tax paid by manufacturers when they purchase equipment, part of his ongoing effort to cajole companies to move to Florida and get those already here to add workers.
There already is a sales tax exemption for new equipment but to qualify companies must prove they’ve increased their “productive output” by 5 percent after buying the equipment. Until Jan. 1, they had to show they’d increased output by 10 percent, but lawmakers reduced the requirement during last year’s legislative session at the urging of Scott.
The proposed break would save companies an estimated $45 million a year.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The Agency for Health Care Administration slashes the state’s estimated cost of Obamacare from $26 billion to $3 billion.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “In Miami-Dade County, the ballot read like the book of Leviticus – though not as interesting,” Senate President Don Gaetz in reference to the 12-page ballot that greeted voters in the South Florida county.
By The News Service of Florida
Jessie Dawson Lane
January 13, 2013
Mrs. Jessie Dawson Lane, 97, of Butler Street passed away January 11, 2013, at her residence. She was born in Butler County, AL, on December 27, 1915 to the late Edward and Lilla Jordan Dawson. She is preceded in death by her husband, E.C. “Boss” Lane and a granddaughter Mariah Wallace.
She is survived by her son, Danny Lane of Butler Street; two daughters, Bobbie Lane (Charles) Lynam of Monroville, and Mot Lane (Steve) Wallace of Prattville, AL. Three grandchildren; Tina Wallace (Keith) Johnson of Prattville, AL; Mitzi (Brian) Thomas of Butler Street; Stephanie Wallace (Kevin) Joiner of Prattville, Ala; our great -granddaughters and three great grandsons.
Funeral Services will be held Sunday, January 13, 2013. at 2 p.m. from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. C.L. Langford officiating. Burial will follow in Enon Baptist Church Cemetery in Enon.
Active pallbearers will be Keith Johnson, Kevin Joiner, Brian Thomas, Larry Ridgeway, Mark Murphy and Chris Lane.
Honorary pallbearers will be Michael Joiner, Reece Joiner, and Maddox Thomas.
Visitation will be held Sunday, January 13, 2013, from 12:30 p.m. until service time at 2 p.m. at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in Charge of arrangements.
Vegetable Producers Round Up Planned
January 13, 2013
A “Vegetable Producers Round Up” is scheduled for Tuesday, January 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jay Community Center at 5259 Booker Lane in Jay. The event features training topics for producers on marketing strategies, new pest management techniques, and the latest in food safety. Admission is free and includes lunch.
The event program includes speaker Sean McCoy, extension agent at the UF/IFAS Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center, who will discuss marketing strategies followed by a question and answer session with a panel of fresh produce buyers and distributors from Northwest Florida. Attendees will also have an opportunity to see a demonstration on laying plastic mulch mechanically and preview an example of a homemade packing cooler trailer at this training event.
To register: call (850)981-2082 or email bthaxton@ufl.edu.