Local Bachelor On CMT’s New Season Of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’
October 10, 2013
A Flomaton man will be among 22 bachelors competing to win the heart of a Southern belle when CMT’s “Sweet Home Alabama” begins a new season.
Jacob Lambert, an Atmore fireman and rescue diver, will be among 11 country guys joining 11 city slickers living together in a house in Fairhope while vying for the attention and affection of Kelsey Smith. A former Marine, Lambert looks up to his grandparents as an example of real love, and he cannot wait to start a family and life like theirs. Jacob believes real American living happens out in the country.
In each of the 10 one-hour episodes, Kelsey will say goodbye to more of her suitors as she searches for her one true love.
Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Kelsey considers herself a romantic and is ready to find the love of her life. She is currently studying elementary education at Shelton State Community College and has volunteered at a local school for the past four years. In 2012 she was crowned Miss Motorsports Hall of Fame, and with this title she was able to serve the community of Talladega and volunteer with children across the state. In her spare time, Kelsey enjoys watching SEC football and spending time with her family, including her three sisters.
Sweet Home Alabama airs beginning Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m. on CMT.
Photos courtesy CMT for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
High School Football Standings, Upcoming Schedule
October 10, 2013
Here is a look at local high school football district standings, scores from last week, and this Friday night’s schedule:
Juvenile Justice Revamp Would Focus On Prevention, Diversion
October 10, 2013
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice is proposing a major overhaul of its mission, emphasizing prevention while keeping the most dangerous offenders from committing more crimes.
DJJ Secretary Wansley Walters on Wednesday told the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee that by revamping the laws governing her agency, dwindling dollars could be applied more strategically.
“We have hurt the future of many children by moving them deeper in the system than they needed to be,” Walters said. “On the other hand, we have had other children who have wreaked havoc in our communities and moved on into the adult system that we haven’t done a good job on.”
Walters said DJJ possesses the tools and ability “to do a much, much better job and to protect not only public safety but these children’s futures.”
Her draft legislation includes using risk-assessment tools and alternatives to detention in order to keep low- to moderate-risk offenders out of the deep end of the juvenile justice system, where the likelihood of recidivism is highest.
“It really puts into statute the prevention piece, which is a very critical part of the reforms,” Walters said.
Getting the Legislature’s approval would require the support of prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies, but on Wednesday the proposal got significant backing before the subcommittee.
“It has truly been a collaborative, consensus-building process,” Duval County Sheriff John Rutherford said.
“The police chiefs are wholeheartedly committed to prevention,” Winter Haven Police Chief Gary Hester said.
A key tenet of Walters’ plan is the use of civil citations, a method of sanctioning juveniles for non-violent first offenses rather than detaining them. Law enforcement has opposed civil citations in the past, preferring to keep its discretion in charging juveniles, but during Walters’ tenure as secretary the civil-citation practice has spread from 17 to 51 counties.
She told lawmakers the success rate for juveniles who get civil citations was 94 percent, meaning that they complete their legal obligations and don’t commit additional offenses within a year.
But House Criminal Justice Chairman Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican, didn’t let that pass unchallenged.
“So if a juvenile offender were to receive a civil citation, complete their program and then be re-arrested 12 months and one day later, statistically we would define that as success?” he asked.
The answer was yes, according to DJJ’s research director, Mark Greenwald — “but most of the kids who re-offend do so fairly quickly.”
Rep. Gayle Harrell, a Stuart Republican and a member of the panel, backed the DJJ revamp and the use of civil citations.
“Most of the sheriffs have come around,” Harrell said. “They’re seeing it work. You can’t argue with success.”
But Duval’s Rutherford warned that increased use of civil citations could lead to more prosecutions, because officers who previously let juvenile offenders off the hook would now be forced to take action.
And Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, president of the Florida Sheriffs Association, said civil citations should be an option — but not mandatory.
“We do more in our county without the civil citation than the civil citation would allow,” Judd said. “I think it is a good alternative if you don’t have a successful program in your county or judicial circuit.”
Yet according to former Monroe County Sheriff Allison DeFoor, who backs civil citations, statistics are driving the change Walters is proposing.
“If everyone will look at the data, the data will carry the day,” he said.
During the 2013 session, lawmakers took a more hard-line approach to juvenile justice than Walters’ revamp would create.
A proposal (SB 660 and HB 603) that would have required law enforcement to issue civil citations to first-time misdemeanants instead of arresting them never got a hearing in either chamber.
Neither did a proposal (SB 1374 and HB 1039), which was intended to reduce what backers called the “school-to-prison pipeline.” It would have required schools with zero-tolerance policies to report to law enforcement only serious threats to school safety.
But two recent developments dealt a $54.5-million blow to DJJ’s budget, Walters told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Monday.
The first was a June 2013 ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal, agreeing with counties in a dispute with DJJ about paying for juveniles’ “pre-dispositional” detention — an additional $35.5 million cost for the agency this fiscal year, with an increase to $39.3 million expected next year.
Also in June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services discontinued Medicaid funding for youth in non-secure residential facilities, with the fiscal impact to DJJ estimated to be $19 million for 2013-2014.
Walters on Monday asked the Senate panel to make up $19 million of DJJ’s $54.5 million deficit, but on Wednesday said her agency’s legislative overhaul wouldn’t cost the state more.
She said keeping less-dangerous juveniles out of deep-end detention facilities would save money that could be applied elsewhere.
“So that we know we are taking children who are just doing kid things and never going to be serious offenders and not use resources on them, but be able to be very strategic with our resources so we can do a better job with serious offenders,” she said.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Annual Green Thumb Festival Is Saturday In Cantonment
October 10, 2013
The annual Green Thumb Festival will take place this Saturday at the Escambia County Extension Office.
Attendees are invited to take part in the Master Gardeners Plant Sale, learn to build a raised bed garden, attend a plant clinic, visit plant vendors and more. Activities are available for children, and the McGuire’s Pipe Band will provide the entertainment. Animals are not permitted at the event.
The event will take place Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon at 3740 Stefani Road in Cantonment. The program is presented by Escambia County Extension and Master Gardeners. For more information, call (850) 475-5230.
Man Throws Beer Bottle Through Car Window At Whataburger
October 10, 2013
A Flomaton man was arrested this week on outstanding charges for an alleged domestic violence incident in the parking lot of Century’s Whataburger.
Daniel Dontavious Woods, 22, was charged with felony deadly missile weapons offense, criminal mischief property damage and battery.
During the early morning hours of September 22, Woods allegedly used his gold Cadillac to block in the vehicle of his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child. He then threw a beer bottle through the passenger side widow of the victim’s vehicle, according to an arrest report. She was not injured.
Woods was booked into the Escambia County Jail this week and later released on a $9,000 bond.
Scott Calls On Obama To Hold Back Flood Insurance Hikes
October 10, 2013
Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday that President Barack Obama needs to delay pending rate increases confronting Florida homeowners who are subsidized through the National Flood Insurance Program.
“The president signed the bill. He can have an impact by stopping this,” Scott said when asked about the possibility of the state getting in the flood-insurance business.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Scott’s answers, during an appearance at the Tallahassee City Hall, remained clear of the question about Florida providing the coverage.
A day earlier, a Senate committee floated the idea that Florida could withdraw from the federal program, either by altering regulations to attract more private insurers to provide the coverage or through a state-backed agency — similar to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.
Senate Banking and Insurance Chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, said hopefully the threat of Florida’s withdrawal from the program will spur the federal government to take action.
Two weeks ago, the state House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee looked at similar proposals to ward off the potential impact of the federal Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, which phases out subsidies on older properties in flood zones.
However, those state House members weren’t as keen on the idea of creating another state agency.
The 2012 act calls on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to make a number of changes to the way the National Flood Insurance Program is run, including raising rates to reflect true flood risk and to make the program more financially stable.
Scott had previously requested the U.S. Senate act to delay the increases.
“We’re a significant donor state, my understanding is we’ve paid $16 billion in since it got started and we’ve only gotten $4 billion back,” Scott said Wednesday. “So it’s hard to believe these rates should be going up like they are.”
About 270,000 Florida homeowners could be impacted by the rate adjustments, many in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Miami-Dade counties.
Realtors and bankers have expressed concerns about the effects that phasing out of the federal subsidies on older properties in flood zones could have on the housing market and the state’s economy.
In June, the U.S. House voted to delay parts of the act, including putting a one-year hold on the rate changes that FEMA is rolling out. The House also approved a delay in the removal of a longstanding grandfather clause that has allowed subsidies to be carried over when properties are sold.
A bipartisan Senate proposal to delay the rates remains on hold. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has claimed that the federal showdown over Obama’s health care law has become a roadblock.
The Mississippi Department of Insurance has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to block the increases.
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Berta Molly Carr
October 10, 2013
Berta Molly Carr 83, of Atmore, passed away October 8, 2013, at her residence. She was born July 25, 1931, in Perdido. She was a devoted member of Trinity Episcopal Church of Atmore and to her community. She was a volunteer with Covenant Hospice where she won an award for her service. Her mother, Gladys Vaughn Stacey, husband Charles H. Carr and her brother Joseph Flowers precede her in death. She was an assistant administrator at Oschner Clinic in New Orleans and was known for her gardening and floral designs.
She is survived by her daughter, Cheryl Carr of Atmore; granddaughter, Gabrielle Anne; brothers, James (Pat) Flowers of Warren Robbins, GA, Frank (Pat) Flowers of Everett, WA; sister, Reevis Merritt of Atmore; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 12, 2013, at 2 p.m. from the Trinity Episcopal Church with Rev. Mark McDonald officiating.
Interment will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Saturday, October 12, 2013, from 1 p.m. until service time at 2 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations to be made to Trinity Episcopal Church, 202 South Carney Street, Atmore, AL 36502.
Carnley Graduates From Basic Training
October 10, 2013
Air Force Airman Dixie L. Carnley graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Carnley is the daughter of Shannon Burkett of Cotton Ridge Road, Flomaton and Mike Carnley of Carnley Road, Century.
She is a 2011 graduate of Northview High School.
Suspect Named In Shooting Death Of 14-Year Old Girl
October 9, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has named a suspect in the September 19 murder of 14-year old Kenteyonna Anderson.
Deputies are se qarch for 22-year old Zachary Antonio Brooks. described as black male, about 5’10 and 160 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes. He may be armed and should be considered dangerous, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Anderson was outside on West Maxwell Street with friends when a fight erupted nearby and shots rang out, according family members. She was hit by a stray bullet. Anderson was transported by ambulance to Baptist Hospital where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
Anyone with information on Brooks’ whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620. Callers are not required to provide their name and may be eligible for a cash reward. Citizens, according to the Sheriff’s Office, should not approach Brooks.
Teen, 16, Gets 10 Years In Prison For Violent Attack During Molino Burglary
October 9, 2013
A 16-year old has been sentenced to spend a decade in prison for a violent attack on a Molino woman as he burglarized her home.
Aquanis Javon Brown of Richardson Road convicted as an adult for burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery and aggravated battery using a deadly weapon. As a juvenile, he was also charged with battery by strangulation and attempted sexual assault with a weapon at the time of his October 2012 arrest at age 15.
Judge Linda Nobles sentenced Brown to 10 years in state prison following by five years probation. He was ordered to pay restitution to the victim; the amount of which will be determined within 90 days.
The 54-year old victim told the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office that she returned alone to her home were she found Brown standing in a bedroom wearing gloves. Brown physically attacked her, punching her in the face and body with his fists, according to an arrest report, before attempting to remove the victim’s pants. He then began to strangle the victim to the point she told deputies she believed she was going to die. She fought back, clawing at Brown’s face.
Brown grabbed a pair of scissors, the report states, and began stabbing at the victim, stabbing her in the hand. Brown continued to attempt to remove the victim’s pants before walking out and going through things in other rooms of the home. She then closed the bedroom door, barricaded it with furniture and waited for deputies to arrive.
Deputies found the victim with several injuries. She told them that she was absolutely certain that Brown was her attacker; she said she has known him all of his life. The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment.
Sheriff’s deputies located Brown suffering from multiple fresh lacerations to his face and neck. He told deputies that he had cut himself shaving.
According to court documents, Brown was accused of stealing needles, medications, baking powder and other household items from the victim’s home.