Florida Execution Set For 1986 Murder
September 11, 2013
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed a death warrant to execute convicted murderer William Frederick Happ on Oct. 15 at Florida State Prison near Starke. Happ, 51, was convicted in the May 24, 1986, murder of Angela Crowley in Crystal River.
Crowley, 21, was abducted while making a call from pay phone in a parking lot and taken by Happ to the Cross Florida Barge Canal, where she was beaten, sexually battered and strangled to death with her own clothes. By the time he was arrested for the murder, Happ had begun serving a prison sentence in California for an unrelated armed robbery and kidnapping.
The execution would be the second in October at Florida State Prison. Marshall Lee Gore, who has been convicted of killing two women in 1988 in Miami-Dade and Columbia counties, is set to die Oct. 1.
by The News Service of Florida
Jay Royals Name Homecoming Court
September 11, 2013
The Jay High School Homecoming Court has been named. Members are (top, L-R) Paige Smith, junior; Kayla Flowers, senior; Kaitlyn Aguirre, senior; Ashlynn Geck, senior, Sydney Lowery, senior; Danielle Harrington, sophomore; and Georgia Agrait, freshman. Below are senior court members Kayla Flowers, Kaitlyn Aguirre, Ashlynn Geck and Sydney Lowery. The Jay High School Homecoming Queen will be named on Thursday. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
ECAT Union Sets Strike Date
September 11, 2013
ECAT drivers and employees have set an October 21 strike date if their labor disputes are not settled with the firm that manages that transit system.
The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1395 represents about 85 ECAT workers and about Pensacola Bay Transportation para-transit employees. The employees have worked since the summer of 2010 under an expired contract. The union has tried to negotiate a new three-year contact with the UK-basked First Transit, which has managed ECAT singe 2012.
The transit workers previously went on strike in 2011 against the prior management company, Veolia Transportation, a French Company.
Union President Michael Lowery has said it remains the goal of the union that all transit workers become public employees under the Board of County Commission but he and his team will keep an open mind. He said that all tax dollars, especially noting the new 4-cent gas tax for transit which starts in January, should remain entirely in Escambia County.
“Allowing our tax dollars to go out of our County and State or for that matter out of our Country is just not stewards of our tax dollars and helping grow our local economy,” Lowerysaid.
Cincinnati Reds To Play MLB Game In Pensacola
September 11, 2013
Pensacola will be dipping its toe into the frenzied waters of professional baseball a little earlier next year as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos host their parent Major League team, the
Reds, in an exhibition game scheduled for March 27, 2014. The announcement will be made Wednesday at 2pm from a ceremony at home plate in Pensacola’s Bayfront Stadium.
The Blue Wahoos will join executives from the Reds in announcing the contest which will kick off the 2014 season. Wahoos fans will see familiar names and faces on the Reds roster as Blue Wahoos past compete against Blue Wahoos present.
The contest, the first time since 1958 that a Major League team has played in Pensacola, is the result of months of behind-the-scenes work by Blue Wahoos and Reds executives to bring the big league team to the Bayfront.
Quint Studer, owner of the Blue Wahoos, said the long-standing history of baseball in Pensacola was part of the inspiration to bring Cincinnati to the Sunshine State.
“I have loved hearing from people who remember a half-century ago when they had the chance to see Major League players play in Pensacola. Having a Double-A affiliate team in Pensacola, the highest level of professional baseball in the City’s history continues to open up opportunities and experiences that were previously not available to the community,” said Studer.
“To watch current Reds players like Joey Votto, Homer Baily, Jay Bruce, Arnoldis Chapman, Tony Cingrani and others is an experience that we are so pleased to provide. Great college games, a Major League team playing in downtown Pensacola, then onto another wonderful Wahoos season. It looks like 2014 is going to be a very special year, and we’re grateful to Reds organization and the Blue Wahoos sponsors and fans for making this game possible,” Studer continued.
The last time a Major League team played in Pensacola was April 3, 1958. The Chicago White Sox played the St. Louis Cardinals.
Students Learn Fire Safety
September 11, 2013
A group of home-school students, ages 3-8, visited the Cantonment Fire Station Tuesday.
In addition to a lesson on home fire safety, the children received some hands-on time with some of the tools firefighters use every day. From getting the chance to sit in a fire truck, to using a real fire hose to spray water at traffic cones, the students were all smiles.
The visit ended with a visit from Sparky the fire dog who provided gifts.
Submitted by Tom Shwarz
Pictured: Home-schooled students paid a visit to the Cantonment Fire Station Tuesday. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Apple Unveils Two New iPhones
September 11, 2013
Technology giant Apple has unveiled two new iPhones, its latest effort to win a bigger share of the highly competitive worldwide market for smartphones.
The company said Tuesday one of the models – the iPhone 5C – would be offered in a choice of five colors – green, blue, yellow, pink and white. It would sell for as little as $99 for users agreeing to a two-year wireless contract.
Apple is hoping the phone will boost sales in China and other countries where customers do not have as much disposable income as in the U.S. and Europe.
The company called the other new model – the upscale iPhone 5S – “the most forward-looking phone we have ever created,” with increased computing power that is about 40 times faster than when the first iPhone was introduced in 2007. The company said the 5S would have increased battery life that permits about 10 hours of talk time, and would cost between $199 and $399, depending on the amount of memory in the phone.
Google’s Android devices now dominate the smartphone marketplace, with about three-quarters of all handsets. Some analysts are predicting that Apple could marginally increase its share to about 18 percent this year.
Pictured top: The newly announced iPhone5s. Courtesy image for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Obama Backs Diplomacy on Syria, But Force Still Possible
September 11, 2013
President Barack Obama Tuesday laid out his case for stopping the Syrian government from using chemical weapons. The president also cautiously endorsed a Russian diplomatic initiative to defuse the crisis.
In his 15-minute address to the American people, President Obama referred to the diplomatic developments of recent days as “encouraging signs.”
Under the Russian proposal, Syria would surrender its chemical weapons to the United Nations, and the United States would freeze its plans for military strikes on Syria.
The president held out cautious optimism that the plan could work.
“It is too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime [of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force,” said President Obama.
The Tuesday evening address was originally scheduled so that Obama could ask Congress and the public to support a military action.
But with the diplomatic situation rapidly changing, the speech was rewritten, and the president asked lawmakers to put their planned vote on hold.
“I have therefore asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path. I am sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin,” said Obama.
However, the president said the U.S. military will keep the pressure on the Syrian government, and will be “ready to respond” if diplomatic measures fail.
He focused much of the speech on the need to act to stop the use of chemical weapons, using military force if necessary.
The president said the situation in Syria changed on August 21, when the government of President Bashar al-Assad gassed its own citizens.
He said the video of that deadly attack is a compelling argument for action.
“Indeed, I would ask every member of Congress and those of you watching at home tonight to view those videos of the attack, and then ask: What kind of world will we live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violate international law with poison gas, and we choose to look the other way,” he asked.
Obama said American ideals, principles and national security are at stake in Syria.
Many Americans, including members of Congress, disagree. In the latest public opinion polls, almost 60 percent of Americans surveyed say they oppose U.S. military action in Syria.
Prospects are dim for congressional approval of a military strike, especially in the House of Representatives, even though the top two House Republicans, Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor have endorsed it.
[VOA]
Sarah Frances Thomas Schwartz
September 11, 2013
Sarah Frances Thomas Schwartz, 71 of San Antonio, TX, passed away Sunday, September 8, 2013, in San Antonio. She was a retired service representative for the Social Security Administration. She was born in Bay Springs, FL, to the late Jim and Clara Belle Caraway Thomas on December 24, 1941.
She is preceded in death by her siblings, Luther Thomas, Jimmy Thomas, Paul Thomas, Molly Glover and Polly Harphant.
Survivors include three sons, Don Schwartz and Vincent Edward (Lisa) Schwartz, all of San Antonio and Anthony (Shera) Schwartz of California; one daughter, Holly Lorraine Schwartz of San Antonio; one brother, Roy (Nancy) Thomas of Enon; three sisters, Betty Morris of Wawbeek, Corine (Eddie) Boggs and Arena Dawson all of Walnut Hill; and five grandchildren.
Services will be Saturday, September 14, 2013, at 10 a.m. from Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. James Hughes officiating. Interment will follow in Pine Barren Baptist Cemetery.
Family will receive friends Friday, September 13, 2013, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
Scott Launches ‘It’s Your Money’ Tax Cut Tour
September 11, 2013
Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott kicked-off the “It’s Your Money” tax cut tour, with his first stop in West Palm Beach. The Governor recently announced his plans to cut taxes and fees for Florida families by $500 million in the next proposed budget. The governor said the tour is a chance for Floridians to discuss taxes and fees they want to see reduced to help Florida families and job creators. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Shooting Under Investigation
September 10, 2013
Early Tuesday morning, deputies responded to Sunrise Apartments on Fairfield Drive in reference to a shooting victim.The victim, a 24-year old black male, stated that he had been sitting on the couch and did not know who shot him.
The victim was taken to a local hospital.The victim did not have life threatening injuries and chose not provide any suspect information.
If anyone has any information on this incident, they are urged to contact Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or theEscambia County Sheriff Investigations Unit at (850) 436-9630.