Century Man Sentenced For Burglary, Copper Theft At Town Building
September 26, 2013
A Century man has been sentenced in connection with a burglary and copper theft at vacant town-owned industrial building in Century.
Jonathan Devon Andrews, 29, was convicted of felony burglary, grand theft and criminal mischief with property damage. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with credit for 90 days served, plus five years probation by Judge Jan Shackelford. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $16,221 at $150 per month minimum to the Town of Century and seek gainful employment.
Andrews burglarized the former Van Nevel Helicopters building on Industrial Boulevard in Century in late January. He forcibly removed sections of industrial size copper tubing from eight outdoor air conditioning condensing units, according to an arrest report, and removed a garbage can from the building that contained three paint gun spray heads. The air conditioning units were not opened or damaged.
According to investigators, Andrews was positively identified as the suspect by a fingerprint removed from broken glass where entry was made into the front of the building.
Pictured: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said a fingerprint belonging to Jonathan Devon Andrews was positively identified on glass broken during a January burglary at the town-owned Van Nevel Helicopter building in Century. NorthEscambia.com filephotos, click to enlarge.
Traffic Delays Today On Highway 29 In Century
September 26, 2013
Southbound drivers can expect traffic delays today in Century.
Southbound traffic on North Century Boulevard (Highway 29) will be restricted to one lane from the Alabama state line to East Highway 4 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Crews will be working to repair storm inlets.
Maintenance activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or re-scheduled in the event of inclement weather. Motorists are reminded to watch for traffic flaggers, pay attention to the speed limit when traveling through the construction area, and to use caution when driving in work zones, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Escambia Man Gets 15 Years For One Day Robbery Spree
September 26, 2013
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to a decade and a half in prison for a one-day crime spree last New Year’s Eve.
Robert Tomas Ward, 25, pleaded no contest to three counts of robbery with a weapon, one count of resisting an officer without violence and two counts of attempted robbery without a weapon. Following the plea, Circuit Judge Joel W. Boles sentenced Ward to 15 years in state prison.
On December 31, 2012, Ward robbed, or attempted to rob, five separate businesses in the New Warrington Road area, including Subway, Dollar General, Family Dollar and two Circle K stores. When Ward entered each store, he indicated that he had a weapon and demanded the clerk empty the cash register. In both the Subway and Family Dollar robberies, store clerks refused to hand over any cash.
No weapon was seen by any of the store clerks, and law enforcement was unable to locate a weapon.
Escambia County’s Newest Fire Station Opens
September 26, 2013
A ribbon cutting was held Wednesday morning at Escambia County’s newest fire station.
The Perdido Key Fire Station, Visitor Information Center and Community Center is located is located at the site of the previous Perdido Key Fire Station at 15500 Perdido Key Drive and will house the Escambia County Fire Rescue Station 19, the Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce, and visitor information center and a community center. Offices, meeting space and a helicopter landing pad for EMS and disaster recovery use are also featured at the facility.
The $5.7 million project was funded with local option sales tax funds.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Walnut Hill Ruritan To Hold Spaghetti Supper, Auction
September 26, 2013
The Walnut Hill Ruritan Club will hold a spaghetti supper and auction this Saturday.
The spaghetti supper will be from 4-6 p.m. with the auction to follow at 6 p.m. at the Walnut Hill Community Center, 7850 Highway 97 (just north of Ernest Ward Middle School). All proceeds from the spaghetti supper and auction benefit the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club’s community service projects in the Walnut Hill area, including the annual recognition of outstanding students in local schools.
Pictured: The Walnut Hill Ruritan Club has served the Walnut Hill Community since it was chartered in 1947. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Tate Looking To Continue Winning Streak Against Pine Forest
September 26, 2013
When the Tate Aggies faced Pensacola High earlier in the season, not many people gave Tate a chance to win. History was not on their side, with no Aggie defeating PHS in the past 20 years. A first year coach was not on the Aggies’ side. Truth be told, perhaps not many fans were on their side after several losing seasons. The Aggies have faced many challenges through the season so far, but no one told the players. Tate went on to a historic win against PHS.
Now Tate faces the same historic challenge as earlier in the year with a game against Pine Forest High School. Coach Ronnie Douglas said “none of the (Tate’s) coaches could remember when the last time Tate won a game against them (Pine Forest)”. (We checked the record books back to 2004, and Tate has lost nine of their last nine games against Pine Forest, including painful 39-0 and 63-0 shutouts the past couple of years.)
Pine Forest’s 0-4 record headed into Friday night’s game against Tate is not typical of the Eagles’ records of years past. Douglas said he warned his team to “not to pay any attention to their record”.
“We know that they are going to be well coached, they have a lot of talent and they are going to be tough,” Douglas said.
Players To Watch
Douglas named Shadow Singleton and Brian Davis as players to watch this week.
Junior Shadow Singleton (#55), 7A – District 1 leading defensive lineman, said he was “glad that the defense was able to get a shutout in last weeks game We have worked really hard during the off season and now the results are showing it.”
Senior receiver Brian Davis (#4), who had three catches for 25 yards last week, stated that this season “is a big change” from the past three years he has played for Tate. The Aggies, he said, “been working hard, putting in a lot of work and playing hard” to get results.
Tate High (3-1) faces Pine Forest High Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Tate’s Pete Gindl Stadium in Cantonment.
by Darryl Singleton
Escambia School Teachers, Support Personnel Receive Raises
September 26, 2013
The Escambia County School District, the Escambia Education Association and Union of Escambia Education Staff Professionals have reached an agreement on pay raises for the current 2013-2014 school year.
The Escambia Education Association and the district agreed to a possible 4.92 percent raise for teachers, depending on how the teacher scored on their performance evaluation during the 2012-2013 school year. All teachers will receive a minimum salary increase of two percent.
Salaries for educational support personnel will increase by 4.2 percent. In addition, the parties agreed to a new evaluation system that is evidence-based for educational support personnel.
All raises will be effective retroactively to July 1, 2013.
State Funds To Provide New Sidewalks For Flomaton
September 26, 2013
The Town of Flomaton will receive new sidewalks under a state transportation funding program just announced.
The Alabama Department of Transportation has approved $137,822 in funding for the sidewalks along Highway 29, Palafox Street, Church Street, Houston Street and Poplar Street in Flomaton, as part of the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).
Also in Escambia County, Brewton will receive $166,934 in funding for sidewalks along Tiger Drive, adjacent to T.R. Miller High School.
Authorized by the Federal Highway Administration’s Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act TAP provides funding for projects defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation.
Doris J. McNeil
September 26, 2013
Mrs. Doris J. McNeil, 73, passed away on Tuesday, September 24, 2013, in Mobile.
Mrs. McNeil was a native of McCullough and had resided in Atmore for most of her life. She greeted customers at McNeil Alignment. Her Husband, T.E. “Mac” McNeil, precedes her in death.
She is survived by two sons, Curtis (Sharon) Crook of Atmore and Eric (Renee) McNeil of Bay Minette; two daughters, Tracey (Dale) Caraway and Kim (James) Brown both of Atmore; two brothers, Fred Johnson of Atmore and James Johnson of Waynesboro, MS; one sister, Olga Barton of Summerdale; eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be Friday, September 27, 2013, at 2 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Diane Everette officiating.
Burial will follow at the Oak Hill Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Tyler Brown, Chris Robinson, Brandon Henderson, Joe Barber, Al Cobb and Dale Caraway.
Honorary pallbearers will be Eleanor Lucas, Jean Clark, Eleanor Flowers and Dorothy Henderson.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Cantonment Man Arrested On Child Porn Charges
September 25, 2013
A Cantonment man has been arrested on child pornography charges investigators after determined he had downloaded sexually explicit pictures and movies of children from the internet onto his home computer.
Jason Scott Bergen, 40, of 806 Chesapeake Trail was charged with six counts of possession of obscene material/child pornography. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail on a $12,000 bond, according to Pensacola Police Detective Chris Wilkinson.
Agents with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force initiated a search warrant at Bergen’s residence on Tuesday after he was identified via the internet as downloading child pornography.
Additional charges are pending, and the investigation is continuing to determine if he transmitted files or downloaded additional child pornography, Wilkinson said.
Task force members from the Office of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Walton County Sheriff’s Department assisted the Pensacola Police Department with the investigation.
Pictured top and bottom: Law enforcement executes a search warrant in Cantonment Tuesday. The suspect’s address, 806 Chesapeake Trail, is the house to the far right (foreground) of the bottom picture. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
