Jr. Miss EWMS Pageant Is Friday
January 31, 2013
Ernest Ward Middle School will present the Jr. Miss EWMS pageant this Friday night at 7:00 in the school gym. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for elementary students.
There are 14 contestant vying for the title this year. They are:
- Gabrielle Kline
- Ashtyn Carnley
- Tori Smith
- Nikoal Creamer
- Morgan Myrick
- Bailee Hinote
- Gabby Peebles
- Hannah Ellis
- Makayla Harigel
- Elizabeth Wright
- Savanna Calhoun
- Emma Fennell
- Alyssa Borelli
- Lydia Smith
NorthEscambia.com will publish results and photographs Saturday morning.
Asbestos Containing Building Finally Demolished By Chamber
January 31, 2013
Nearly two years after the process began, a dilapidated asbestos-containing building in Century is gone.
The building belonged to the Town of Century, which voted last October deed the property to the Century Chamber of Commerce, shifting the demolition responsibility to the chamber.
The town council had voted to demolish the building at 7601 Mayo Street back in 2011, but asbestos concerns put those plans on hold. A study found asbestos in the older 6,400 square foot two story portion of the building, as well as in the newer single story portion of the structure, according to Century Mayor Freddie McCall.
The town located an available grant from the Regional Planning Council to abate the asbestos and demolish the structure. Because the town was not eligible to receive the grant, the building was deeded to the chamber of commerce, which was eligible for the assistance.
Now that the building is demolished, the chamber will have up to 10 years to lure development to the property or it will revert back to the town. The town will approve or deny any lease or purchase of the property.
Until the property is sold to another party, it will be used for parking for the businesses and agencies in the Mayo and Church street area.
The white, mostly brick building at 7601 Mayo Street (across from the old hospital) once housed doctors’ offices and even a pharmacy and soda fountain years ago. It has been abandoned for several years and was in an obvious state of disrepair with roof and structural problems.
Pictured above: This building on Mayo Street was demolished. Pictured inset: The empty lot where the building once stood.Pictured below: The interior of the building prior to demolition. NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Scott: Increase School Funding By $1.2 Billion
January 31, 2013
Gov. Rick Scott will propose a $1.2 billion boost in education funding Thursday when he unveils his spending plan for the coming fiscal year, he told reporters during a Wednesday speech to newspaper editors.
Scott said he would ask lawmakers to increase spending on public schools by around 6.5 percent, to about $6,800 per student. While that would mark an increase over the last two years, it would still be off the all-time high for per-student education funding.
Scott had already floated a $2,500-a-year raise for all Florida teachers; that $480 million would be included in the $1.2 billion increase for K-12 education. If approved, it would mark the second consecutive year that Scott asked for — and the Legislature approved — an increase in education funding of about $1 billion.
“In this budget, I am doubling down on our billion-dollar investment last year in education,” Scott said.
The governor said that the recent recovery in the economy, and a projected rebound in state tax revenues, gave him more room to push for increased spending on schools.
“We made the hard choices to recover and get back on track,” he said. “Now we must make the smart choices to invest in Florida’s future.”
Republican leaders in the Legislature said they welcomed Scott’s proposal, but also questioned whether they would be able to fund all of it. The most recent forecast by state economists estimated the state would have a surplus of about $829 million in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Lawmakers have been cautious about relying even on that funding, noting that automatic spending cuts by the federal government could harm the state’s economy if President Barack Obama and Congress don’t agree to alternatives.
“Certainly, to get to that number, you would have to make some cuts somewhere else,” House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said in his own comments to the gathering.
Scott said he would more clearly spell out how he would provide the money for the education increase in his full budget proposal, set to be unveiled Thursday.
Democrats, meanwhile, credited Scott for the current increase but assailed him for cutting school funding in the first place. Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, painted it as another step in a political reinvention aimed at Scott’s 2014 re-election campaign.
“When he’s now throwing gimmicks and dollars at education after he came in and slashed education tremendously, [it] shows that he’s finally admitted that ‘I was wrong to try to starve education,’” Smith said.
By The News Service of Florida
Final Day To Save On Property, Tangible Property Taxes
January 31, 2013
Today is the final day to pay real estate and personal property taxes and receive a two percent discount, according to Escambia County Tax Collector Janet Holley.
In order to receive the two percent discount, the payment must be:
- mailed with a postmark by January 31;
- left in a 24-hour drop box available at all offices by midnight January 31; or
- made on the tax collector website by midnight January 31.
Taxes can be paid online at www.escambiataxcollector.com. For more information, call (850) 438-6500, ext. 3252.
Ernest Ward Students Explore Past With National History Day Projects
January 31, 2013
History came alive through the eyes of students at Ernest Ward Middle School recently as they displayed weeks of work on projects for National History Day.
The History Fair in the school’s gym capped off a project in which EWMS students were required to do research into a topic. The research was presented in exhibit form, much like the typical science fair, or as a drama or web presentation. Students complete projects either individually or in teams.
This was the fourth year Ernest Ward has participated in the national program, with the top projects from Ernest Ward headed next to a district competition. Winners included:
Individual Projects
- Tanner Levins
- Seth Killam
- Bailee Hinote
- Mallory Gibson
Group Projects
- Jacob Borelli, Alyssa Borelli, Victoria Amerson
- Elizabeth Wright, Kayleigh Linam, Morgan Pope
- Makenzie Colvin, Savanna Calhoun
- Jessica Stacey, Natalie Barrow, Amy Branch
Individual Performance
- Christopher Johnson
Group Website
- Triston Long, Cameron Long
- Lydia Smith, Ashtyn Carnley
Individual Website
- Delaney Reynolds
Pictured top: (L-R) Jacob Borelli, Alyssa Borelli and Victoria Amerson with their project on The Holocaust. Pictured below: EWMS History Fair projects on Jackie Robinson and Thomas Edison. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Colder Weather Arrives
January 30, 2013
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming clear, with a low around 34. Breezy, with a northwest wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 59. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
- Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. West wind around 5 mph.
- Friday: Sunny, with a high near 59. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 35. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
- Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. South wind around 5 mph becoming west after midnight.
- Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36.
- Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 64.
- Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41.
- Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68.
Cause Of Death Released For Body Found Off Hwy 29
January 30, 2013
Preliminary autopsy results released this afternoon show that Melisa Midori Thownsend died from multiple stab wounds.
Her body was found last Friday afternoon in an area behind a business in 6900 block of Pensacola Boulevard, near Kenmore Boulevard. Deputies said it appeared the body had been in the field for several days.
Investigators are not releasing how many wounds Townsend received or what she was stabbed with.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is looking to speak to anyone that may have seen Townsend in the last couple of weeks. She was known to frequent the areas of Davis Highway, Brent Lane, Pensacola Boulevard, Olive Road and Burgess Road.
Anyone with information about Townsend during the last two weeks is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
High Winds Send Pole Crashing Into Parking Lot
January 30, 2013
High winds sent a light pole crashing down into the parking lot an Atmore shopping center Wednesday morning. The pole came to rest just outside the Subway restaurant on Lindberg Avenue. There were no injuries reported.
Here are some wind gusts recorded at weather stations across the area on Wednesday:
Atmore — 54 mph
Jay — 48 mph
Bratt — 44 mph
Molino — 40 mph
Cantonment — 41 mph
If you see news or weather damage, email your photos to news@northescambia.com.
Pictured top: This light pole came crashing down in an Atmore shopping center parking lot during high winds Wednesday morning. Reader submitted photo by Casey Hare for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward Middle Power, Phones Restored
January 30, 2013
Power and phones have been restored at Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill.
EWMS was without power for a large portion of the morning, and without power, the school’s phone system was no longer functioning.
The school was not on lock down, and school officials had telephone communications out of the school in the event of an emergency during the outage.
Shots Fired At Couple Picking Up Cans Along Highway 164
January 30, 2013
The search for a suspect is underway after someone opened fire near an older couple alongside a highway in the Christian Home community Tuesday afternoon. The incident happened just before 4 p.m. on Highway 164 just a few yards east of the North Pine Barren Road intersection.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigators said a husband and wife were picking up cans from the shoulder of the road when a white pickup truck stopped and a black male exited armed with a semi automatic rifle.
The unidentified black male then confronted the couple, demanding that they return his property. He then fired multiple shots into the ground near the couple with the semi-automatic rifle before fleeing the scene in the white pickup truck. No one was struck by the gunfire, and there were no injuries.
The couple then drove about six miles to their home before calling for help. Deputies recovered multiple shell casings alongside Highway 164, consistent with the couple’s story.
Sgt. Mike Ward, spokesman for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, said the incident is believed to be drug related.
The the older couple was not suspected of any crime. Further details have not been released.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Pictured: An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigator at the scene of a shots fired incident along Highway 164 near Pine Barren Road. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.