Century Continues To Research Natural Gas Vehicle Conversions, Filling Station
August 25, 2013
The Town of Century is continuing the exploration process of using \natural gas to power some town vehicles and the installation of a filling station.
Tuesday, Mayor Freddie McCall, Council Member Gary Riley and gas department head Eddie Hammond will hit the road to look at similar setups belonging to Okaloosa Gas. And on Friday, they will look Escambia County’s first natural gas filling station on Pine Forest Road.
The Pine Forest Road station was a joint project between the City of Pensacola, Pensacola Energy (formerly Energy Services of Pensacola) and ECUA. The $1.8 million filling station opened in October 2012. It is operated and maintained by Pensacola Energy and features four “fast fill” hoses as well as 90 time-fill dispensers which can be used to refuel vehicles overnight.
The City of Pensacola also operates a private CNG filling station for their natural gas fleet, and ECUA plans to open a second site at their Ellyson Industrial Park location this fall.
McCall, Riley and Hammond will report their findings back to the Century town council.
Pictured: Escambia County’s first CNG filling station opened on Pine Forest Road in October 2012. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: A Dem Drops Out And Greer Drops Back In
August 25, 2013
With the idea of a special session on self-defense laws having been quickly dispensed of last week and no education officials leaving, the capital began to drift back into its normal summer mode: little news and more chatter about the next election.
In this case, most of the elections are still more than a year away — though voting in former Rep. Mike Fasano’s Pasco County district will get underway in a couple weeks. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ first attempt at a statewide candidate in the 2014 campaign imploded under the weight of his formerly mismanaged finances.
And Jim Greer’s name once again popped into the news, providing a reminder that the former Republican Party of Florida chairman’s former deeds loom over former Gov. Charlie Crist’s expected run for his old job, this time as a Democrat.
Perhaps preparing for that challenge, Gov. Rick Scott vocally promoted a set of issues that would help him with the conservative wing of his party, with Treasure Coast residents and potentially with moderate voters who will decide whether he or Crist is living in the Governor’s Mansion come the summer of 2015.
NOT ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS FOR BRASWELL
If there was one sentence that Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant might like to take back from her time leading the FDP, it was probably one contained in an Aug. 15 press release about Allie Braswell’s candidacy for chief financial officer.
“I am thrilled that Allie Braswell is running for Florida’s CFO, because he’s exactly the kind of leader we need in Tallahassee,” she gushed.
Four days later, Braswell — the head of the Central Florida Urban League — was out of the race. His abrupt departure Monday followed reports in The Florida Times-Union that Braswell had filed for bankruptcy in Orlando in 2008, after having done so twice in South Carolina in the 1990s, though he said the second filing in South Carolina was related to the first.
“I have, at times, faced challenges in life that have not met with the outcomes I have desired,” Braswell said. “I take full responsibility for my actions, and apologize to my supporters. …Running statewide is a daunting challenge for any candidate; as a political outsider, I have now learned that I underestimated how my campaign would affect those I care about most.”
Republicans could hardly contain their glee, setting up a page to list eight things that lasted longer than Braswell’s campaign — Kim Kardashian’s marriage topping the list — complete with animated web pictures and humor.
“To back a candidate in charge of Florida’s finances without vetting that candidate’s handling of his personal finances shows either a high level of incompetence or a new level of desperation for Allison Tant,” said RPOF Chairman Lenny Curry.
Democrats, meanwhile, tried to quickly put the mess behind them.
“We advised Mr. Braswell to slow down so he could better prepare,” party spokesman Joshua Karp said. “He was very eager to announce, and it’s clear now he was unprepared for mounting this kind of campaign.”
Democrats appeared to be having better luck in a special election for House District 36, the Pasco County seat that Fasano vacated to take the county tax collector position. The seat is the only one in GOP-friendly Pasco where Democrats outnumber Republicans in voter registration.
Amanda Murphy, a Raymond James vice president, announced that she would run for the seat as a Democrat in the Oct. 15 race. Democrats worked to unite behind Murphy while Republicans faced a three-way primary between Bill Gunter, James Mathieu and Jeromy Harding.
THE RETURN OF JIM GREER, ONCE AGAIN
Despite serving an 18-month prison sentence for money laundering and theft, former RPOF Chairman Jim Greer can’t seem to stay out of the news. On Monday, The News Service of Florida reported that Greer tried to get a gambling regulator fired in 2009, two days before the veteran state worker was to resign, according to court records.
At the time, Greer — who was hand-picked for the RPOF post by Crist — was party chairman and getting paid $7,500 a month by the owner of the Mardi Gras Casino in Broward County to be a consultant for entertainment and hospitality regulatory issues. Greer later pleaded guilty to the money laundering and theft charges in connection with a scheme in which he created a company and then steered party business to it.
But the latest revelations come from a case involving the quest for a quarter-horse permit near Homestead, which could open the door for more slot machines in South Florida.
The company Greer was working for was one of the “three loudest voices” opposing South Florida quarter-horse permits, according to Florida Administrative Law Judge R. Bruce McKibben.
McKibben in an Aug. 6 recommended order said the Department of Business and Professional Regulation didn’t do anything wrong by denying a permit to Ft. Myers Real Estate Holdings, a company trying to get the permit for the venue in Florida City, near Homestead. The permit, if issued, would allow a card room and possibly slot machines.
But the court documents and interviews with the players reveal a marked shift in the state’s handling of permits after Chuck Drago, Greer’s close friend and godfather of his oldest son, became secretary of the agency and after long-time DBPR Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering Director Dave Roberts was ousted.
Within a week after Greer demanded that Roberts be fired, Drago ordered deputy secretary Scott Ross to terminate the regulator, Ross testified in the case.
Drago denies being asked by Greer to get rid of Roberts, targeted by South Florida tracks angry over the quarter- horse permits and other issues.
“Nobody asked me to have Dave Roberts leave. That never happened,” Drago said.
If nothing else, the case dredged up Greer, who could become an embarrassment for Crist if the former Republican governor runs again next year.
Greer’s lawyer Damon Chase, in addressing the gambling issues, claimed Greer got his orders from Crist.
“Suffice it to say, Mr. Greer served at the pleasure of Charlie Crist during that time. Mr. Greer was steadfastly loyal to Charlie Crist and always followed instructions consistent with Mr. Crist’s agenda. Any involvement Mr. Greer would have had in this story would have been at Charlie Crist’s express direction,” Chase said in an e-mail.
SCOTT’S WEEK
Scott, meanwhile, spent his week in a flurry of activity that dealt with policy — but could also bolster his run against Crist or whichever Democrat emerges from the party’s primary.
Scott announced he would float $40 million next year to speed completion of a federal project intended to clean river water on the Treasure Coast, something quickly endorsed by Senate Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart.
The governor wrote that “inaction” by the federal government to maintain the Herbert Hoover dike system around Lake Okeechobee has resulted in a need to relieve stress on the system through water releases.
Residents have blamed the releases for bringing polluted water into river systems on both sides of the state.
Scott’s proposal would help fund the C-44 Storm Water Treatment Area Project along the St. Lucie River.
A day later, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it would reduce water releases from Lake Okeechobee in the coming days as the lake level has subsided amid drier conditions.
“While today is a good step forward, there’s much more to be done,” Scott said in a news release following the announcement. “Any amount of water from the lake that’s dumped into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers impacts families in the area.”
He also joined the Cabinet in lambasting potential privacy violations and identity theft under part of the federal Affordable Care Act that creates what are known as “navigators.”
The health-care law, often known as “Obamacare,” is anathema to conservatives, particularly the tea-party activists who fueled Scott’s rise in 2010 from little-known health-care executive to governor.
Scott said the federal government needs to provide assurances that proper background checks will be in place in hiring the “navigators” and their assistants, who are expected to help people through the paperwork in signing up for health coverage.
“Federal safeguards that should be in place to protect our privacy are behind schedule and inadequate,” Scott said. “It is unclear how the federal government will protect personal information from being stolen or otherwise misused.”
But Leah Barber-Heinz, spokeswoman for Florida CHAIN, a patient-advocacy group, called the claims by Scott and the Cabinet members another “outrageous” attack on the federal program.
“They’re trying to scare people away, trying to distract from the important work of implementation in Florida,” Barber-Heinz said.
In a more moderate pitch, Scott announced Thursday that he was calling a three-day summit in Clearwater that will bring together political, business and education leaders. The summit is expected to address some of the highest-profile education issues in the state, including the state’s standards for student learning, the tests those students take, the grades assigned to schools and how teachers are evaluated.
“Florida’s education accountability system has become a national model, but we are at a critical point in our history,” Scott said in a news release announcing the summit. “Our students need and deserve a quality education that emphasizes critical thinking and analysis. Our teachers and schools need our support as we continue to compete nationally and globally in preparing students for success in college, career and in life.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Allie Braswell, the first Democratic candidate to enter a 2014 statewide race with the backing of the party, withdraws after reports emerged showing the chief financial officer hopeful had previously declared bankruptcy.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “One reason things aren’t changing fast enough is there’s no anger, there’s no outrage in this room. Unfortunately, the people that would be outraged and angered are dead.”–Pat McCabe, a foster parent and Guardian ad Litem, during a town-hall meeting about an epidemic of deaths in recent months that has rocked the state’s child-welfare system.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Hands Across The Border: Troopers Cracking Down For Holiday
August 25, 2013
Troopers from Alabama and Florida will come together Monday and pledge to work together over the Labor Day holiday weekend to ensure drivers are maintaining safe speeds, not drinking and driving and always using their safety belts.
During the “Hands Across the Border” event, troopers from both states will meet at the Alabama Welcome Center on I-10 Monday morning at 9:45 and caravan to the Florida Welcome Center as a sign of mutual support in their efforts to reduce DUI crashes and fatalities during the Labor Day week in both states.
During the next week, law enforcement officers will crack down on unsafe driving through saturation patrols and checkpoints throughout the week.
Wahoos Stun Barons With 5-Run 8th Inning
August 25, 2013
Down by four runs headed to the last of the eighth inning, the Penascola Blue Wahoos erupted for an improbable five-run comeback to knock off the Birmingham Barons 5-4 in front of the 28th sellout crowd of the year at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. The win proved to be crucial as the Wahoos gained a game on first place Jacksonville, who was no-hit on Saturday. Pensacola now sits three games out of first with eight games to go.
The Wahoos offense scattered seven hits in the first seven frames before finally breaking through against reliever Kevin Vance (L, 2-6) in the eighth inning. Ryan LaMarre started things off with a triple to right-center and scored two batters later on a single from Yorman Rodriguez. Mike Costanzo followed with an RBI double to make it 4-2 before Vance hit Tucker Barnhart and was pulled from the game.
Jarrett Casey entered for Birmingham and fired four straight balls to Travis Mattair to force in a run before walking Devin Lohman to tie the game at four. Corey Wimberly became the first out of the inning, but it was a productive run as his sacrifice fly to left scored Barnhart to give Pensacola their first lead of the game at 5-4.
Trevor Bell (S, 17) came on in the ninth for Pensacola and mowed down the Barons in order to pick up his franchise record 17th save of the year, moving the Wahoos to within three games of first place.
The epic comeback made a winner of Chris Manno (W, 4-3) who struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning. Daniel Renken got the start for Pensacola and posted a quality start, allowing three runs on eight hits in six innings.
Birmingham jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Renken in the third inning on a Trayce Thompson RBI infield single while another run scored on a throwing error by Lohman. In the sixth, Keenyn Walker drove home David Herbek with a single to make it 3-0 before Brandon Jacobs added a fourth run in the seventh on another infield single.
Barons starter Scott Carroll kept the Wahoos at bay through his five innings, allowing just five hits to go along with four strikeouts and a walk.
Winners of seven of their last eight, Pensacola will look to continue its playoff push on Sunday at 4 p.m. Jon Moscot (2-1, 4.95) gets the ball for the Wahoos against the Barons’ Chris Beck (0-2, 5.54)
Photos: NHS Mini-Cheerleaders, Band, Dance Team And More
August 25, 2013
For a photo gallery with the Northview NJROTC, cheerleaders, band and dance team from Friday night, click here.
For a special gallery featuring the Northview mini-cheerleaders, click here.
For a game summary and action photos, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Farm Family Of The Year Has Long History In Agricultural
August 25, 2013
The Keith Campbell family of Chumuckla was recognized as Santa Rosa County’s “Outstanding Farm Family of the Year” during the 47th Annual Santa Rosa County Farm Tour.
Keith and his wife Robynn, along with daughters Brittney, Ashleigh and son-in-law Adam Bondurant, accepted the award from County Commissioners Don Salter and Jim Melvin. Sheilah Bowman, Florida District Director for Congressman Jeff Miller, also presented the family with a Congressional Record proclamation honoring them for their accomplishments.
The Campbell’s have a rich agricultural heritage. Keith Campbell is a sixth generation farmer on his father’s side and a fourth generation farmer on his mother’s side of the family. The Campbell family of farmers emigrated from Scotland to South Carolina and finally settled in the Chumuckla area in the early 1800’s.
After two years of college, Keith began farming with his grandfather, W.T. Stewart, on five hundred acres in 1983. He eventually took over complete operation of the farm which has grown to more than 1,300 acres today. The family’s major crops are cotton, peanuts, and wheat. They also raise beef cattle with a herd of around 60 cows and calves. In addition, the past few years they have maintained an apiary for honey production and crop pollination.
Family members and neighbors help sustain the farm. Robynn is a homemaker supporting the family with her full-time efforts. Ashleigh’s husband Adam, a senior at UWF, works part-time on the farm and nephew Dale Campbell helps out after school. A key component of Keith’s approach to farming involves sharing work with neighboring farmers with whom he performs custom planting and harvesting to pool equipment and labor.
Keith is a progressive farmer who always looks for better ways to improve the efficiency of his operation. He says one of the biggest changes he has seen in farming was the introduction of herbicide resistant crops in the late 90’s. This allowed him to implement conservation tillage with benefits of reduced tillage, soil erosion, fuel, machinery, labor costs, and the overall amount of herbicides used.
Keith has also been an early adopter of precision agriculture technologies such as variable-rate lime and fertilizer application, field mapping, and GPS equipment guidance for field operations.
Laura Ann Wiggins Graduates From Rhodes College
August 25, 2013
Laura Ann Wiggins of Walnut Hill graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology and a double minor in Archaeology and French at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.
While at Rhodes, Wiggins received three funded fellowships to volunteer with the non-profit Urban Farms Memphis to increase local, fresh produce consumption in below-poverty neighborhoods; to excavate Mayan household archaeological sites in Chiapas, Mexico; and to complete a comparative ethnographic study of identity through food choice within Memphis, TN and Dakar, Senegal.
She was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and Kappa Delta Sorority, serving as both Ritual Chair and Recruitment Philanthropy Chair.
She also served as Chair of the Rhodes Event Management Committee, advocating alcohol awareness at campus events through responsible event planning.
Beginning this fall, she will teach English at the bilingual school Ecole Actuelle Bilingue in Dakar, Senegal.
Wiggins is a 2009 graduate of the International Baccalaureate program at Pensacola High School. She is the daughter of Glen and Jean Wiggins of Walnut Hill.
Birth: Myles Levi Sellers
August 25, 2013
Ray and Leslie (Respress) Sellers of Atmore are proud to announce the birth of their son, Myles Levi Sellers. Myles was born July 22, 2013, at 7:49 a.m., at Mobile Infirmary. He weighed 8-pounds 13-ounces and was 21½ inches.
Grandparents are Benny and Bobbie Respress and Joyce Sellers of Atmore. Great grandparents are Alvis and Bernice Respress of Atmore and Robert and Jo Grigsby of Trussville, AL. Myles was welcomed home by his big brother, three-year old Jackson, and his big sister, Queenie, a 10-year old Boston Terrier.
Summit To Map State Education Direction
August 25, 2013
With Florida’s public-school system facing major questions, Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday announced plans for a summit this week that will bring together political, business and education leaders.
The summit, which will last from Monday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon in Clearwater, comes after the resignation of former Education Commissioner Tony Bennett and as debates swirl about the state’s school-grading system and a move to “Common Core” standards.
“Florida’s education accountability system has become a national model, but we are at a critical point in our history,” Scott said in a news release announcing the summit. “Our students need and deserve a quality education that emphasizes critical thinking and analysis. Our teachers and schools need our support as we continue to compete nationally and globally in preparing students for success in college, career and in life.”
Scott asked interim Education Commissioner Pam Stewart to focus the summit on four broad issues — state standards, student assessments, school grades and teacher evaluations. Those issues have repeatedly drawn controversy during the past 15 years, as Republican governors and lawmakers have sought to overhaul the education system.
Bennett resigned Aug. 1 because of questions about whether he took part in changing a school grade to benefit a political supporter during a previous job heading the Indiana education system.
Even before Bennett resigned, however, the Florida system was grappling with tough issues. Among other things, the state Board of Education in July voted 4-3 to approve a plan that shielded schools from steep drops in their grades — a move that led some critics to raise doubts about the validity of the closely watched school-grading system.
About three dozen people, representing a broad cross-section of groups, have been invited to participate. As examples, the list includes school superintendents from Miami-Dade, St. Johns and Bay counties and representatives of the Florida PTA, the Florida School Boards Association and the Florida Association of School Administrators.
Other invitees range from Florida Chamber of Commerce President Mark Wilson to officials from the Florida Education Association teachers union.
Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, have invited six Republican lawmakers and two Democrats to take part. They are Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine; Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz; Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton; Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee; Rep. Marlene O’Toole, R-Lady Lake; Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami; Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach; and Rep. Reggie Fullwood, D-Jacksonville.
The summit will be held at the EpiCenter Collaborative Labs at St. Petersburg College in Clearwater.
by The News Service of Florida
Food, School Supply Giveaway Today in Century
August 24, 2013
Free food and school supplies will be available for North Escambia residents today in Century.
Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida, the Florida Department of Children and Families and Americorp will present the “Back to School Bash” at Showalter Park on Hecker Road from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Vendors from Escambia County will provide information and resources in the park, and Vineyard Hands Ministries will provide free school supplies. There will also be free health screenings and free hot dogs and chips.
Beginning at 11 a.m. Farm Share will hold a free food distribution in the park for up to 500 families. The food — including kids’ snacks, yogurt, water, crackers and cereal — is only available with a valid form of Florida identification to residents of Century and the North Escambia area. There are no other eligibility requirements.
Alabama residents are ineligible for the food giveaway. In the event of rain, the event will be rescheduled for Sunday.