Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Santa Rosa Deputy
May 5, 2013
A Santa Rosa County deputy struck and killed a pedestrian Saturday night.
Just after 8:20 p.m., Deputy Joseph Dunne, 45, was traveling westbound on Highway 90 in a 2011 Chevrolet Impala near the intersection of Sunset Drive in Pace. Pedestrian Bruce Crutchfield, 56, was walking westbound within the outside lane of Highway 90, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Dunne was unable to see Crutchfield in order to stop in time, the FHP said. Crutchfield was wearing dark clothing in an area with poor lighting.
Crutchfield was pronounced deceased at the scene. No charges were filed against Dunne.
The accident was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Photo Gallery: Dancing In The Streets
May 5, 2013
Members of Heather Leonard’s Danceworks entertained the crowds at the second annual Century Sawmill Day in Century on Saturday. The group practices weekly in Byrneville.
For a bonus gallery with over 140 photos, click here for a gallery on the NorthEscambia.com Facebook page. (“LIKE” NorthEscambia.com on Facebook to see the photos.)
Pictured: Members of Heather Leonard’s Danceworks perform Saturday in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge
Woman Charged With Allegedly Sneaking Drugs Into Century Prison
May 5, 2013
A Tallahassee woman was arrested Saturday morning after officials say she tried to smuggle drugs into a visitation at Century Correctional Institution.
Rose Ann Wiggins, 22, was charged with possession of marijuana and smuggling contraband into a detention facility. She was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $1,500 bond.
Biscuits Beat Wahoos 8-3
May 5, 2013
For the second straight day the Pensacola Blue Wahoos jumped out in front early but weren’t able to fully capitalize as the Montgomery Biscuits responded with seven straight runs en route to an 8-3 win on Saturday night at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. A capacity crowd of 5,038 was on hand for the fifth sellout of the season for Pensacola.
Pensacola immediately jumped on top of Montgomery starter Enny Romero in the first with three straight singles. Steve Selsky brought home a run on a fielder’s choice, but after a walk to Bryson Smith, Romero got a strikeout and a ground out to leave the bags packed. The trend of stranding runners unfortunately continued for the Wahoos who left a season-high 12 runners on base, including 10 in the first five innings.
Montgomery, meanwhile, took advantage of the opportunities they were presented. The Biscuits entered the fourth inning hitless against Pensacola starter Josh Smith (3-3), but Shawn O’Malley led off with a ground rule double and scored two batters later on an RBI single from Cameron Seitzer. The next batter, Todd Glaesmann, then launched a two-run homer to left to give the Biscuits a 3-1 lead after four.
Smith was pulled after five innings despite giving up just three runs on three hits and striking out six. His scoreless streak was snapped at 19.1 innings with the fourth-inning runs.
The Biscuits would extend their lead in the sixth inning against reliever Chris Manno. After back-to-back one-out walks, Glaesman doubled home a run to make it 4-1. Two batters later, Riccio Torrez put the game out of reach by blasting a three-run rocket over the wall in left to give Montgomery a 7-1 advantage.
Devin Lohman provided a bright spot for Pensacola out of the leadoff spot. Lohman launched solo homers in the sixth and eighth innings for the first multi-homer game for any Wahoo this season. He reached base in all five plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a single, two homers, two walks, three runs scored and two RBI.
Enny Romero (1-0) worked around multiple base runners in every inning of his outing but picked up his first win of the season. Romero tossed five frames, allowing a run on five hits with five walks and three strikeouts.
Pensacola will look to avoid the five-game sweep at the hands of Montgomery on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. Tim Crabbe will toe the rubber for the Wahoos against the Biscuits’ Victor Mateo.
by Kevin Burke
101 Cast Early Ballots; House District 5 Early Voting Continues
May 5, 2013
Early voting began Saturday and will continue through next Saturday for Republicans in House District 2 Special Primary Election. There were 101 voters casting their ballot early on Saturday, according to Supervisor of Elections David Stafford.
Early voting will be offered Sunday, May 5 from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and from Monday, May 6 through Friday, May 10 from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Early voting ends Saturday, May 11 and is available from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. that day. Early voters cast paper ballots through digital scanners, and may choose any one of the three sites. Voters must present photo and signature ID when voting in person, or will have to vote a provisional ballot.
Early voting locations are the Tyron Branch Library at 1200 Langley Avenue and the Southwest Branch Library at 12248 Gulf Beach Highway.
All registered Republican voters in House District 2 are eligible to vote in this closed primary. Florida is a closed primary state, which means in primary elections, you may only participate in the primary of the party in which you are registered. Since only one Democrat candidate qualified, there will be no Democratic primary. The Democratic candidate automatically advances to the June 11 election to face the winner of the Republican primary. All voters in House District 2 will be eligible to vote in the June 11 election, regardless of party affiliation. To find out if you are registered in House District 2, check your voter information card, visit EscambiaVotes.com, or call the elections office at 850‐595‐3900.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Session Is A Wrap
May 5, 2013
Maybe Rep. Irv Slosberg summed it up best when he spoke Friday from the House’s back rows.
“Sorry that we had a little meltdown for a couple of days, but 58 out of 60 days is pretty good,” the Boca Raton Democrat said.
The 2013 legislative session hit a rough patch during the final week when House Democrats protested the lack of a plan for expanding health coverage for low-income Floridians. An uninitiated viewer from Palatka or Wewahitchka might have been baffled to tune in and see House members sitting around listening to an automated voice — named Mary, of course — read bills as part of a procedural move by Democrats to slow down the session.
But put aside the protest and the failure to pass a health expansion. And Mary’s droning voice, for that matter.
By the time the House and Senate adjourned Friday night, Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Rick Scott could tout a successful session. Most of their priorities passed, and Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford orchestrated the 60 days with a certain professionalism that even the Democrats seemed to appreciate.
Scott, for example, focused on a limited agenda that had political curb appeal for lawmakers. That agenda included higher pay for teachers and tax relief for manufacturers — ideas that probably will play well when lawmakers chat up the Rotary Clubs back home.
“This Legislature cut taxes so we’ll have more jobs in this state,” Scott said. “We dramatically increased the funding for education, and we are giving our classroom teachers a pay raise. … These are great victories for Florida’s families.”
But part of the session’s smoothness also stemmed from an improving economy that gave lawmakers more money to play with. Unlike the past several years, lawmakers didn’t have to make unpopular budget decisions about issues such as cutting funding for universities or trimming payments to hospitals and nursing homes.
“The bottom line is, there’s nothing like having some money,” Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said at one point during the session.
KUMBAYA RETURNS TO THE CAPITOL
At age 65, Gaetz is old enough to be the 33-year-old Weatherford’s father — and then some. But at least publicly, the pair respected each other and cooperated on priority issues, offering a change in tone from the past two years when the Senate, in particular, often appeared chaotic.
“The era of acrimony between the House and the Senate is over,” Gaetz, R-Niceville, said to a crowd gathered on the fourth floor of the Capitol to celebrate “sine die,” the traditional end of the session.
The House and Senate will always have spats, and some bills and budget proposals will always get killed as collateral damage. But Gaetz, Weatherford and their lieutenants seemed to get past those spats this year on most of the big issues.
For instance, the $74.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 was finished Monday, giving lawmakers four days to peruse it before they voted. Along with providing money for teacher raises, the spending plan also will boost pay for state employees, pump more money into the university system and funnel money to projects and programs across the state.
The Senate unanimously approved the budget, while the House passed it by a 106-11 vote.
Similarly, Gaetz and Weatherford made clear from the beginning of the legislative session that they wanted to reform the state’s ethics laws and change the campaign-finance system. The House and Senate whipped together compromises on the issues, and Scott signed the bills Wednesday.
Among the session’s other notable bills, lawmakers Friday approved a plan that will seek to prevent a repeat of the voting delays and other problems that plagued the 2012 elections in Florida. Almost all Senate Democrats voted against the plan because of concerns that it did not go far enough, but other Democrats said the bill (HB 7013) was a move in the right direction.
“It takes men and women of maturity to understand when you’ve done something in error to come back and correct it,” said Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. “And we saw what happened in the November elections, and as a body we have come back this year to correct it. … I look forward to us coming back next session and fixing it just a little bit more.”
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT
Even when legislative leaders put their considerable muscle behind bills, that doesn’t mean those issues will pass. That was evident this week when the Senate, in a pair of close votes, killed a Weatherford plan to revamp the state retirement system and a controversial education measure commonly known as the “parent trigger” bill.
Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, particularly made a priority of a bill that would close the traditional pension system to new employees and require them to enroll in 401(k)-style “defined contribution” plans. While the speaker contended that the change is needed to maintain the long-term financial health of the retirement system, Democrats and some Senate Republicans combined to kill it (HB 7011).
Opponents said the traditional pension system is important for government employees, including law enforcement officers and firefighters, who often work for relatively low pay. They also discounted comparisons with private-sector workers, many of whom only have 401(k)-type options.
“I just do not understand why we want to experiment around, and we want to take these people who are protecting us every single day and put them in a system, just because it works in private business,” said Sen. Jack Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who gave an impassioned speech.
But while people in the Capitol will remember the death of the pension bill and hundreds of other measures, the session will be known for lawmakers’ failure to approve a plan to expand health coverage for low-income people.
House and Senate Republicans decided early in the session that they did not want to carry out an expansion of the Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act. That expansion was expected to lead to the federal government funneling an estimated $51 billion to Florida over the next decade to provide Medicaid coverage to roughly 1 million people.
The House and Senate put together alternatives to a Medicaid expansion, including a Senate plan that would tap into the same pot of federal money to offer private health insurance to low-income people. But House Republicans refused to count on the federal money and pushed a smaller-scale proposal to offer state subsidies to targeted groups of uninsured Floridians.
Supporters of the Senate approach, ranging from the hospital industry to organized labor, lobbied heavily but never could get traction with House Republicans. The frustration turned into protest this week when House Democrats reached into the rules book and used a procedural move to slow down the House proceedings for two days.
But in the end, the session adjourned without the House and Senate coming close to agreement.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The 2013 legislative session ended Friday night, after the House and Senate passed a $74.5 billion state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “The chasm between the competing visions is too wide to overcome.” — Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, putting to rest hopes of reaching a deal on expanding health coverage for low-income people.
By The News Service of Florida
Gertrude Johnson Stephens
May 5, 2013
Gertrude Johnson Stephens, 90, of Mobile, passed away Wednesday, May 1, 2013, in Mobile. She was employed by the U.S. Government as a U.S.Customs Director. She was born in Jay on October 11, 1922, to the late James L and Josephine Johnston Johnson. She was a resident at Westminster Villiage in Spanish Fort and a member of the East Point Baptist Church.
Survivors include her daughter, Winona (David) Leard of Mobile; sister, Olivia Killiam of Gasden, Ala.; three grandchildren, Courtney Jacobs of St.Augustine, Rachel Leard and Andrew Leard both of Mobile; great-grandson, Lucas Jacobs and a host of family and friends.
Services were held Saturday, May 4 at from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. Rob Burns officiating. Interment was in Serenity Gardens.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home, Inc is in charge of all arrangements.
Legislature Approves Florida Sales Tax Holiday
May 5, 2013
The back-to-school sales tax holiday will likely be back this summer and will include personal computers.
The Legislature passed on Friday – the last day of the legislative session – a wide-ranging economic development bill (SB 406) that includes a three day period, Aug. 2 through Aug. 4, during which a number of items won’t be subject to the 6 percent sales tax.
The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Scott.
Clothes, shoes, wallets, bags, and backpacks costing $75 or less and school supplies costing $15 or less would be covered by the tax holiday.
Personal computers and related accessories costing $750 or less, as long as they’re not used for commercial purposes, are also covered, as are digital readers, tablets, and items like keyboards or monitors – as long as they don’t include a TV tuner.
The tax break, as has been in the case in previous years, wouldn’t apply in theme parks or at airports or hotel gift shops.
State economists have estimated the impact of the proposed three-day holiday at $28.3 million to the state and $6.4 million to local governments – though some economic studies have shown that people are induced to buy more uncovered items during the sales tax holiday, meaning tax collections could increase.
The sales tax holiday was put into another broader economic development bill which was worked out in a conference committee of the two chambers and given final approval by both on Friday.
In addition to the tax holiday, the bill creates a schedule for reviewing state incentives and economic development programs in an effort to prevent spending on programs that don’t deliver promised jobs, a major focus of lawmakers this session.
The bill directs that all applicants for an incentive be evaluated for “economic benefits” in a uniform fashion and requires the state Department of Economic Opportunity to publish information about economic development incentives provided to businesses.
The bill also extends by 12 years a state distribution of a 1 percent cigarette tax addition from a few years ago under which the money goes to the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.
The bill also included a sales tax exemption for natural gas used to generate electricity in a non-combustion fuel cell, an expansion of an aircraft parts and maintenance tax exemption, a sales tax distribution schedule for constructing or renovating baseball spring training facilities; and a number of other tax credits.
by The News Service of Florida
2013 Season Begins At The Market At Saint Monica’s
May 5, 2013
The Market at Saint Monica’s kicked off its third season Saturday in the parking lot of Saint Monica’s Episcopal Church on Highway 95A in Cantonment.
Multiple vendors were on hand, plus there was a smoked pulled pork barbecue fundraiser and children’s activities.
The Market at Saint Monica’s is held on the first and third Saturdays of each month. For more information about Market’s vendors, special events, or schedule, visit www.st-monicas.org/market.html.
Pictured: Opening day at the Market at Saint Monica’s in Cantonment. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Marcella Belle Robinson
May 5, 2013
Marcella Belle Robinson, 74, of Castaic, CA, passed away Saturday, April 25, 2013 in Panorama City, CA. She was a machinist with Aerospace. She was born in West Virginia on May 22, 1938, to the late Daniel Otis and Lucille Mayle Drasko.
She is preceded in death by her brother, Junior Drasko.
Survivors include her three sons, Daniel Robinson of Washington, Vernon Robinson of Anchorage, Alaska, and Earl Robinson of Louisiana; one daughter, Pamela (Greg) Ferrier of Castaic, CA; two brothers, Jack Drasko and Mack Drasko; one sister, Helen (Donald) Morgan; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Services will be Tuesday, May 07, 2013, at 11 a.m. from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Ted Bridges officiating. Interment will follow in Walnut Hill Baptist Cemetery.
Family will receive friends Tuesday, May 07, 2013, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home one hour prior to service time.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home, Inc is in charge of all arrangements.