Century Seeking Grants For Splash Pad, New Playground Equipment
August 21, 2013
A splash pad and new playground equipment could be coming soon to Century, if the town is successful in obtaining a couple of state grants.
The town is submitting two grant applications to the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program. FRDAP is a competitive program which provides grants to local governments for outdoor recreational projects. The grants are administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The first grant application is for $125,000 for the splash pad, which would be Century’s only water-based children’s recreational activity, at the Anthony Pleasant Sportsplex. If the grant is awarded, Century will be require to provide a $31,500 match in the form of about $10,000 in cash and the balance as in-kind services.
The second grant application will be for $50,000 to replace playground equipment at Showalter Park. The current equipment is in poor repair and is not designed for disabled users. If the grant is awarded for the playground equipment, no matching local funds will be required.
Grant applications are due September 30. The 2014-2015 FRDAP grants are contingent upon approval of an annual appropriation by the Florida Legislature.
Pictured top: A conceptual drawing showing a potential splash pad at the Anthony Pleasant Sportsplex in Century. Courtesy graphic for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
GED, Adult Ed Classes Offered In Molino
August 21, 2013
GED and adult basic education classes will be offered at the Molino Community Center in September.
Registration for the classes and TABE testing (test of basic education) will be held Tuesday, August 27 at 6 p.m. in Room 123. Classes will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. at the same location beginning September 3.
For more information, call (850) 516-4451 or (850) 587-5334.
Escambia Woman Busted For Pot On School Campus
August 21, 2013
A Escambia County woman was busted for having pot on campus at a Santa Rosa County School.
Lisa Ann Anderson, 42, drove a friend to register a child at Central High School on Monday. Anderson was apparently unaware that it was the first day of school, and a school resource officer was on patrol.
The SRO walked past Anderson’s car and could see a large bag of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia in plain view. He made contact with Anderson, and she was placed under arrest. She was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail with bond set at $5,000.
Deputies said the bag of marijuana weighed 96 grams, enough for a third degree felony charge.
Mary Willene Tedder Barton
August 21, 2013
Mrs. Mary Willene Tedder Barton, age 83 of Century passed away on Wednesday, August 21, 2013, in Pensacola after an extended illness.
Mrs. Barton was a native of Bratt and a resident of the Century community for 60 years where she attended Mt. Zion Chapel and was a homemaker. She was preceded in death by husbands, Frank W. Tedder and Willard T. Barton.
She is survived by her daughters, Linda (Jerry) Godwin of Century, Delois (Dave) Hudson of Pensacola and Judy Lister of Flomaton; five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, August 23, 2013, at 10 a.m. at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Cliff Emmons officiating.
Visitation will be held on Friday, August 23, 2013 at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel beginning at 9 a.m. until service time at 10 a.m.
Interment will be in Godwin Cemetery in Bratt.
Flomaton Funeral Home is directing.
Dennis Clayton Walker
August 21, 2013
Dennis Clayton Walker passed away on Tuesday, August 20, 2013. He was a great “Dad”, granddad, and family man in general. He loved his wife of 32 plus years. Dennis enjoyed fishing, time at the beach and spending time with his family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Leonard and Julia Walker; brothers, Leonard Walker, Jr., Leon Walker, Glen Walker and Clarence Walker and sister, Joyce Marie Walker.
Dennis is survived by his wife of 32 years, Reba Weaver; daughter, Summer Weaver; son, Clayton Weaver (Krystal); brothers, Carroll Walker, William David Walker and Bobby Gene Walker; sisters, Eunice Lewis and Deborah Barnes; grandchildren, Mercedes Archer, Trenton Walker, Trevor Walker, Trinity Fine, Janet Weaver and Xavier Weaver and numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
Visitation will be held on Friday, August 23, 2013, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Faith Chapel Funeral Home South.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 24, 2013, at Enon Baptist Church in Walnut Hill with visitation one hour prior to the service.
Burial will follow at Enon Baptist Church Cemetery.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home South is in charge of arrangements.
Pelican Statue ‘Kidnapped’, Four Charged
August 21, 2013
Four men were arrested for “Pelican-knapping” after a caller reported a large pelican statue hanging out of a suspicious vehicle.
A Santa Rosa County deputy located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. Contact was made with the driver, three passengers and the pelican, named “Peli-Whacker”. When asked about the large pelican statue, the driver stated he knew nothing about it.
Santa Rosa County dispatch contacted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and was told the pelican was just stolen from in front of the Sandshaker Lounge on Pensacola Beach. The owner of the pelican told Escambia deputies that he wanted to pursue charges, and there were witnesses to the theft. The four occupants of the vehicle were arrested for taking the $3,500 pelican, and the pelican was safely returned to its roost at the beach bar.
Daniel Joe Fureigh, 43, Michael Cary Duncan, 40, David Allen Darden 41, and Richard A. Querney, 43, were each charged with grand theft and booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail.
Linda Janell Presley
August 21, 2013
Linda Janell Presley, 64 of Atmore passed away Wednesday, August 21, 2013, in Atmore. She was a homemaker, born in Atmore on November 25, 1948, to the late James Oscar and Myrtle Lane Davis.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Jesse Larry Presley.
Survivors include her two sons, James Larry Presley and Chet Presley both of Atmore; one daughter, Angelia (Gary) Gibson of Bratt; one brother, John Lee (Elaine) Davis of Atmore; grandchildren, Kayla, Skyla, Billy,Jr., Rachel Ann, Jesse Stone, Allana,Brooke, Maddie Mae and Gaige; and great-grandchildren, Brantley and Emory Bell.
Graveside services will be Friday, August 23, 2013, at 11 a.m. in Presley Cemetery in Nokomis (Ala) with Rev. Richard Davis officiating. Interment will follow in Presley Cemetery.
Family will receive friends Thursday, August 22, 2013, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home, Inc is in charge of all arrangements.
Scott, Cabinet: Privacy At Stake In Federal Health Program
August 21, 2013
Gov. Rick Scott and members of the Florida Cabinet envision that unscrupulous individuals seeking personal information could find jobs helping enroll people in a new federal health program unless proper background checks are in place.
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act counter that concerns raised by the state officials are intended simply to score political points, scare people away from enrolling and further delay implementation of the law.
Scott and the Republican Cabinet members, during a meeting Tuesday at Miami-Dade College, pointed to potential privacy violations and identity theft under part of the law that creates what are known as “navigators.”
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.”
The statewide officials, who have long criticized the health law known as Obamacare, said they want the federal government to ensure that the people hired are properly vetted, as enrollment is expected to begin in six weeks. The navigators will help enroll people through new health-insurance exchanges, a type of online marketplace that is a key part of carrying out the law.
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.
Joshua Karp, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, asserted that Scott’s “latest attack on Obamacare smacks of desperation.”
“It is deeply disappointing that Rick Scott and other Republicans are trying to score political points, rather than help provide access to health care for hundreds of thousands of Floridians who lack it,” Karp said in an email.
State legislators during the 2013 session approved a health law (SB 1842) that requires navigators hired in Florida to be registered with the state, be U.S. citizens or legal aliens and undergo background checks by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, in delivering a presentation to the Cabinet, said it remains unknown if the federal government will bar the state from enforcing the law.
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater said that since the state law designates navigators, it is also unknown if the state could use its law to require other positions — described as assistants and counselors by the federal government — to undergo similar background scrutiny.
And Scott said that even if the state is allowed to enforce its law, that still doesn’t ensure that sensitive personal information won’t end up being shared throughout the federal government.
“They’re going to have access to your tax information, your personal information, your Social Security information,” added Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Bondi is one of 13 Republican state attorneys general who last week requested that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius address various aspects of the navigator program.
The attorneys general want Sebelius to respond by Aug. 28 to questions about the privacy of individual records and the need for more-stringent background checks on those hired for the navigator program.
Bondi said the attorneys general also need to know who will oversee the navigators and who will be responsible if any individual’s information is stolen.
“All we’re asking from the secretary of HHS is to give us assurances that they will be properly trained,” Bondi said. “I don’t want a convicted felon having our citizens’ personal information. So we need to know how they’re going to be trained.”
The federal government has allocated $67 million to train people nationwide for the navigator program.
Florida CHAIN has received $125,000 to conduct enrollment fairs throughout the state to help the uninsured enroll.
Another $4.2 million grant has been given for the University of South Florida’s Florida Covering Kids & Families program at the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center to provide in-person assistance with the health-insurance marketplace.
However, with the program set to be in place by Oct. 1, the federal government has cut proposed training of the new employees from 30 hours to 20 hours.
The federal government is running the exchange in Florida. The Republican-dominated state legislature declined to implement a state exchange.
by The News Service of Florida
Fans ‘Meet The Chiefs’ (With Gallery)
August 21, 2013
Fans had chance to “Meet the Chiefs” Tuesday evening at Northview High School. NHS fans turned out to meet the Chiefs varsity and junior varsity teams, cheerleaders, band and dance team.
The defending state champs will take to the field a preseason matchup Friday at 7 p.m. against Bay High School.
For a photo gallery from the event, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Make It Four Straight Win 8-1 Rout Of Huntsville
August 21, 2013
Devin Lohman’s 3-for-4 game led the way as the Blue Wahoos beat the Huntsville Stars 8-1 for their fourth straight win on Tuesday night at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville, Ala. With a loss from the Jacksonville Suns, Pensacola picked up a game in the Southern League south division standings. The Wahoos now sit just 4.5 games behind the first place Suns.
Pensacola got the offense going with a four-run third inning. Two batters after Wahoos starting pitcher Tim Crabbe singled home the first run of the game, Devin Lohman unloaded for a three-run homer to left giving the Wahoos a 4-0 win.
The Blue Wahoos plated their fifth run on wild pitch in the fifth inning and put the game out of reach with three more runs in the seventh. Mike Costanzo’s two-run double highlighted the frame before he scored on a sacrifice fly from Tucker Barnhart.
Tim Crabbe (W, 7-8) earned the win for Pensacola after working six innings and allowing just one run on a sacrifice fly in the third. He surrendered five hits, all over the first three innings. The Blue Wahoo starter finished strong, retiring the final 10 batters he faced and 12 of the last 13.
Pensacola knocked the Brewers No. 3 rated prospect, Taylor Jungmann (L, 9-9), out of the game after five innings. He was charged with five of the Wahoos eight runs on seven hits. He walked two and fanned two in the losing effort. It was the first time all year Jungmann has allowed more than four runs in back to back starts.
Pensacola will look for their fourth straight win on Wednesday afternoon in Huntsville. The Blue Wahoos will send RHP Josh Smith (9-9, 3.67) to the mound against Stars RHP Ariel Pena (7-8, 4.09). First pitch is slated for 1:03p.m. from Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville.