Molino Woman Charged With Extortion From Trucking Company
March 27, 2013
A Molino woman has been charged with extortion after a State Attorney’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into her dealings between her employer and a trucking company.
Authorities allege Denise Jaquith Smith, age 60 of Fairground Road, accepted cash payments in exchange for using an additional truck daily from the trucking company to haul sand from a sandpit to Pensacola Beach.
According to the arrest warrant, Michael Bartlett, manager of RLF Baldwin Operations II, LLC met with Willie C. Kirland of Willie Kirkland Trucking in November 2012. Bartlett and Kirkland agreed to have Kirkland’s company provide three trucks per day to haul sand from RLF Baldwin’s sandpit in Marcus Pointe to a Utility Services project restoring a portion of Pensacola Beach.
As office manager for RLF Baldwin, Smith had the responsibility to organize the trucking company’s pickup and delivery of sand. On February 18, the day the project started, Smith told a Kirkland employee that they would not be using the third truck. That would cause Kirkland to lose more than $550 per day, the report states.
Eventually, Smith told Kirkland that she would ensure RLF Baldwin would use the third truck if Kirkland paid her $75 per day.
On March 6, Kirkland, under the supervision of the State Attorney’s Office and FDLE, met Smith at the sandpit. She told him again that he was to pay her $75 a day in cash and that she planned to get more from him. She told him she was going to use the money to pay for her moving expenses, including gas and a U-haul.
On March 14, Kirkland told investigators that Smith stated should would be leaving RLF Baldwin on March 27 and that she expected to be paid through that date. She assured him that RLF Baldwin would continue to use Kirkland’s three trucks through the end of the project, and because she arranged that he might want to give her some extra money.
Kirland paid Smith $450 on March 14 under law enforcement surveillance and agreed to pay the remainder due through March 27 by March 21.
On March 19, a warrant was issued for Smith’s arrest. She was later arrested and booked into the Escambia County Jail. She was released from jail on a $10,000 bond.
Gulf Power Warns Of Scam
March 27, 2013
Gulf Power is asking residents to be alert after scam artists have victimized residents in Northwest Florida recently by impersonating utility company employees.
Someone impersonating a Gulf Power employee contacted a resident by telephone, the company said. The caller told the victim that their electric bill was past due and that electricity would be cut off if the customer did not provide a credit card payment immediately. The card numbers were then used to make fraudulent purchases.
To prevent this from happening, the company is offering these tips:
- Gulf Power employees will never call a customer at home seeking any personal information including credit card numbers.
- Gulf Power representatives will never ask a customer for money when they visit a residence.
- All Gulf Power representatives carry badges with picture identification that includes the employee’s name and the company’s name and logo.
Customers should call Gulf Power at 1-800-225-5797 if they have any questions about the identity of anyone representing Gulf Power.
Gulf Power is working with local law enforcement agencies to identify the perpetrators. If anyone has been victimized by one of these schemes, or has any information about suspects, they are asked to call local law enforcement and to contact Gulf Power at 1-800-225-5797.
SWAT Team Conducts School Bus Hostage Training
March 27, 2013
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the school district joined forces this week to conduct a hostage training exercise.
“We are here in conjunction with the school board; they’ve donated us a bus to practice on in case we ever had the situation where there was a hostage situation they recently had in Alabama,” Ted Roy said. “If we practice it, then hopefully if it ever happens we would be ready for it.”
“Events in the last few months forces all of us to take a second thought about how we can protect our valuable asset, our children,” Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said about school security. “So with the sheriff conducting exercises like he is doing today, it should increase confidence of our citizens that our students are going to be safe when you leave them in our care.”
Roy said the exercise allowed the SWAT team to become familiar with the school buses and look as positions the team might use in a real-life hostage scenario. With a plan in place, Roy said, the SWAT team can react faster.
Pictured: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team conducts a training exercise with an Escambia County School District bus. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Molino Family Searching For Missing Special Needs Companion Dog
March 27, 2013
A local family has been searching for their dog Jasper for over a week now, and they are asking the Molino community for help in finding him.
Jasper is a male yellow lab about four years old, and he is a specials needs companion for a child named Destiny, who suffers from Downs Syndrome. He’s been missing since last week from the Brickyard Road area. The family has listed him missing on the NorthEscambia.com classifieds page and on Facebook.
“He first met Destiny when she was about six months old,” aunt Aundrea Smith said. “It was like they automatically latched onto each other.” Jasper has learned to alert the family when Destiny is experiencing difficulty breathing or find an adult when she has other needs.
“I don’t have any money, or I’d offer a million dollars reward for him; he’s that special,” Smith said.
Anyone that sees Jasper is asked to call Aundrea Smith immediately at (850) 754-0053.
Pictured: Special needs companion dog Jasper has been missing from a Molino home for over a week. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Traffic Delays Today On Highway 29 In McDavid For Bridge Work
March 27, 2013
Motorists can expect delays on Highway 29 in McDavid today.
Crews will perform routine bridge maintenance on a bridge on Highway 29 over Mitchell Creek, just north of the Highway 164 and the McDavid Fire Station. Northbound lane restrictions will be in effect between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The Florida Department of Transportation said motorists are reminded to travel with care through the work zone and to watch for construction equipment and workers entering and exiting the roadway.
Pictured: The northbound Highway 29 bridge over Mitchell Creek in McDavid. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
House Will Propose College Tuition Hike
March 27, 2013
Splitting from the Senate and Gov. Rick Scott, the House will propose a six percent tuition increase for students in state universities and colleges.
House Appropriations Chairman Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, said the House wants to prevent Florida’s universities from “falling further and further behind their peers throughout the country.” He added, “I just think we need to keep pace.”
Senate Education Appropriations Chairman Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, told the Lakeland newspaper that the Senate will not include a tuition increase in its budget proposal. Scott also is opposed to the idea.
By The News Service of Florida
FHSAA Warns Legislation Will Create High School Free Agents
March 27, 2013
The association that dictates rules for Florida’s middle and high school athletes is fighting what it says is a power grab by legislators that will lessen the oversight of mid-season transfers and allow some schools to become recruiting giants.
The Florida High School Athletic Association is objecting to measures (HB 1279, SB 1164) by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, and Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, that could restrict their investigations into student-athlete transfers, limit the amount of fines and fees member schools pay, and revamp the makeup of the association’s board.
FHSAA Executive Director Roger Dearing, during a media teleconference on Tuesday, claimed the legislation would essentially allow middle and high school student-athletes to become “free agents.”
“This legislation opens the door for nefarious people who might want to circumvent rules in order to do what they may think is getting students scholarships to college, or even open the door to professional athletics,” Dearing said.
The measure by Metz also further expands the state law that allows students to play for the school of choice if the public or charter school they attend does not offer the sport.
Stargel’s companion proposal adds more legislative oversight to the FHSAA board by having the House and Senate each make four appointments to the board, with the Commissioner of Education getting to name three.
While the board would be expanded from 16 to 25, the majority of appointments would come from Tallahassee.
Currently, FHSAA member schools select 13 board members, with the three others coming from the Department of Education.
The proposals also call for replacing Dearing by having the commissioner of education name the FHSAA executive director rather than the association’s board.
Dearing said his job being on the line was less a concern than keeping the playing field level for students and schools as they compete across the state if each school district is given powers to self-regulate transfers.
Stargel, in a release from Access for Student Athletes Coalition sent out prior to the teleconference, denied her proposal will allow illegal recruiting or create student-athlete “free agency.”
“This proposal would not prevent the FHSAA from fulfilling their primary role,” Stargel stated. “However, it would help combat their predisposition to consider students as guilty until proven innocent, and would establish true due process and rights for student athletes, which the current system of conducting investigations clearly lacks.”
The coalition, which contends the FHSAA displays overreaching and arbitrary authority when conducting investigations on student eligibility, is an initiative launched by the Naples-based conservative-policy think tank Floridians for Government Accountability, Inc. The think tank is run by former Maine legislator Tarren Bragdon.
The FHSAA doesn’t directly receive state funding, but in addition to relying upon corporate donations for funding draws public dollars through membership fees from public schools.
FHSAA Chief Financial Officer Linda Roberston said the expected reduction in revenue by capping fines and fees could hinder the non-profit association’s ability to promote and run championship events at professional fields, along with training and certification for coaches and officials.
“The quality of our events will certainly suffer,” Robertson said.
“Mike Alstott, the football coach at Northside Christian High in St. Petersburg, said an athlete shouldn’t be allowed to play for one school in the fall for football, another in the winter for basketball and a third in the spring for baseball.
“This could really change the playing field, to not be fair,” said Alstott, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer fullback.
The high school student-athlete proposal follows a law enacted a year ago that pushed back on the FHSAA for clamping down on mid-school year transfers and students following coaches to new schools.
The law, sponsored by Stargel – then a member of the House – allows students-athletes to change schools at any time without having to sit out a year as was the prior rule after the first 20 days of a school year. Meanwhile it is up to the school districts to self-police themselves for recruiting violations by coaches, parents and alumni.
The FHSAA initially fought the law, noting that none of its member high schools had requested the change.
Months before the bill was introduced, the FHSAA imposed more than $62,500 in fines against the Lakeland High Dreadnaughts after seven of its athletes, including five from the school’s perennial football powerhouse, were found ineligible to play for infractions ranging from falsifying addresses, failing to make a full and complete move before enrolling, and receiving impermissible benefits that included free rent.
Stargel argued that the bill serves Florida’s student-athletes, while regulating FHSAA investigators.
By The News Service of Florida
Quarter Horse Show This Weekend
March 27, 2013
The Northwest Florida Quarter Horse Association will host a horse show this weekend, Friday, March 29, to Sunday, March 31. The show will include English and Western classes, as well as leadline, driving and halter classes.
The competition starts at 6 p.m. Friday and at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Escambia County Equestrian Center. Classes will run until finished. For a list of classes or more information on the event, visit www.nwfqha.com or call Debbie Wall at (256) 441-1081.
The event is free and spectators are welcomed. A full service concession stand will be open during the event.
Alice Marie “Rea” Lewis
March 27, 2013
Alice Marie “Rea” Lewis went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on March 26, 2013. She was born on February 19, 1927, in Akron, Ohio. She moved to Jay when she was 4. She was retired from Solutia after many years of faithful service. After retiring from Solutia, she worked as a greeter for Walmart until her health began to fail.
She is preceded in death by her parents H.B. and Mable Lewis; son, Richard Holloway, and her brother, Robert Lewis.
She is survived by her sister-in-law, Voncile Lewis; two nephews, Andy (Cathy) Lewis of Houston, Texas and Mike (Brenda) Lewis of Pace, Florida; two great-nieces, Kimberly (Mark) Thomas and Sheena (Richard) Faircloth; one great-nephew, Jonathan Lewis; three great-great nieces, Camber, Cayleigh, and Kinsley and two great-great nephews, Cooper and Brycen.
A visitation will be held on Friday, March 29, 2013, from 10-11 a.m. at Jay Funeral Home. Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. with Pastor Curtis Joyner officiating services. Burial will follow at Concord Baptist Cemetery.
Active pallbearers will be Mike Lewis, Richard Faircloth, Jonathon Lewis, Todd Watson, Harold Oakes and Billy German.
The family would like to express our deepest gratitude to many others who took care of Alice, the staff of “The Terrace” (where Alice was their first resident), Emerald Coast Hospice and Dr. C. David Smith.
Jay Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Juanita Attaway King
March 27, 2013
Mrs. Juanita Attaway King, age 74, passed away Monday evening, March 25, 2013, in a Pensacola hospice facility after an extended illness.
Mrs. King was a native of Jay and had been a resident of Pensacola for 30 years coming from Charleston, S.C. Mrs. King worked as a beautician with Karen’s Beauty Shop in Pensacola and she enjoyed playing the banjo. She is preceded in death by her husband, Riley King and her brothers, Douglas and Thomas C. Attaway.
Survivors include her son, Rodney Wallace of Pennsylvania; brother, Joe Attaway of Clarkston, GA; sisters, Alice Campbell of McDavid, Azeline Dunsford of Jay, Ada Lou (Terry) Inman of Century, and Geneva Jones of Wetumpka, AL.
Graveside services will be held on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at Cora Cemetery in Jay at 11 a.m. with Rev. Nathan Brown officiating.
Flomaton Funeral Home directing.