Apply Now For Cogongrass Treatment Cost-Share Program In Escambia County
October 2, 2014
The Florida Forest Service is now accepting applications in Escambia County for the Cogongrass Treatment Cost-Share Program.
“Invasive cogongrass spreads quickly and aggressively and can cause long-term problems if left untreated,” said State Forester Jim Karels. “In addition to reducing the productivity and value of forests and rangelands, it can greatly increase the risk and severity of wildfire.”
Cogongrass is an invasive, non-native grass, which occurs in Florida and several other southeastern states. Cogongrass infestations negatively affect tree regeneration, growth and survival, as well as wildlife habitat, native plant diversity, forage quality and property values. They also increase the risk of wildfires and alter fire behavior.
The Cogongrass Treatment Cost-Share Program is offered for non-industrial private lands in all Florida counties. It provides reimbursement of 50 percent of the cost to treat Cogongrass infestations for two consecutive years.
Applicants who wish to conduct treatments in 2014 may apply through October 3. Applicants who wish to conduct treatments in 2015 may apply from October 6 through February 27, 2015.
To learn more about this program and obtain an application form, contact the Escambia County Forester in Molino at (850) 587-5123 or visit www.FloridaForestService.com. All qualifying applications will be evaluated and ranked for approval. This program is supported through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service.
Pictured: Invasive cogongrass in bloom. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Another 215,000 Citizens Policies Approved For Private Market
October 2, 2014
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation announced Wednesday that up to 215,488 customers of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. could be shifted in December to nine private carriers.
But don’t count on that many policies being moved into the private market. The number of Citizens policies approved for “takeout” can top the number of actual policies removed because private companies cherry-pick the least-risky policies and often go after many of the same customers. Policyholders targeted for takeout also have the option to remain covered by Citizens.
The process has resulted in 124,995 policies being removed this year, as of August 30.
The newly targeted accounts for December are comprised of 211,080 personal-residential policies and 4,408 commercial-residential policies. The December takeout round brings to 1,109,644 the total number of policies approved this year for private carriers to pick up, which is more than the overall number of policies covered by Citizens.
The state-backed insurer, which two years ago had 1.47 million policies, was down to 930,852 as of September 19.
Edward Earl Rigby, Sr.
October 2, 2014
Edward Earl Rigby Sr., 80 of Cantonment, passed away on September 30, 2014. He was born in Goodway, AL on July 25, 1934. He was actively involved in the Shriners, Escambia 15 Mason’s and the Scottish Rite.
He was preceded in death by his parents, C.U. and Elsie Rigby; and brother, Curtis Rigby.
Edward is survived by his wife of 59 years, Edna; daughter, Tammy; son, Edward (Chanda) Rigby, Jr.; sister, Agnes (Glenn) Grant; brother, Kenny (Sharon) Rigby; and six grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 5, 2014, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North in Cantonment. Visitation will be held from 1 p.m. until service time. Pastors Larry Anderson and Michael Cobb of St. Luke’s Methodist Church will be officiating.
Burial to follow in Gonzalez United Methodist Church Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the name of Edward Rigby Sr.
Pallbearers will be Michael Grant, Keith Grant, Travis Grant, Ramsey Rigby, Randon Rigby, Tim Rigby, Chad Rigby and Pat Palmer.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Attempted Child Abduction Under Investigation
October 1, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible attempted child abduction.
On Monday afternoon, a seven-year old boy was walking to his home in the 2000 block of North S Street when he was approached by a tall, thin white male wearing all white clothing and driving a black, tw0-door car.
The boy said the man approached him and tried to persuade him to get into his car. The suspect told the boy he was from Texas.
The boy ran away to a relative’s home and deputies were contact, according to information released Wednesday afternoon by the Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone with information on the man’s identity is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Authorites Searching For Escaped State Inmate In Escambia County
October 1, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is searching for an inmate that escaped from the state-operated Pensacola Community Release Center, which houses work release inmates.
The inmate, 35-year old Jonathan P. Porter, was last seen running southbound on North “L” Street. Authorities said he may have been picked up by a female driving a 2012 white Nissan Versa four-door with California plates.
Porter is bald and blue eyed, between 6-feet and 6-feet, 2 inches tall, and weighs about 200 pounds. He was last seen at 8:29 a.m. wearing a white shirt and khaki pants. He has tear drop tattoos under both of his eyes, the name “Lisa” on his neck, “S-O-U-L” on this left fingers, “L-O-S-T” on his right fingers, along with numerous other tattoos.
According to Department of Corrections records, Porter was serving a 15-year sentence for a 2001 conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery with a gun or deadly weapon.
Deputies said Porter should not be approached. Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is asked to contact the ECSO immediately at (850) 36-9620 or dial 911.
One Injured When Car Hits ECAT Bus In Cantonment
October 1, 2014
One person was injured in a collision involving an Escambia County Area Transit bus and a car Tuesday night in Cantonment.
The driver of a car apparently rear-ended the bus at the railroad tracks on Highway 29 just south of Muscogee Road just before 8 p.m. The driver of the bus was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital by Escambia County EMS with injuries that were not considered serious.
There were reportedly no passengers on the bus; it was returning to Pensacola after making a final evening stop in Century.
The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details, including the names of those involved, has not yet been released.
NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Rain Thursday, Friday; Lows In The 40’s By The Weekend?
October 1, 2014
Here is your official NorthEscambia area forecast:
- Wednesday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Thursday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
- Thursday Night A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind around 5 mph.
- Friday Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87. South wind 5 to 15 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Friday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. Northwest wind around 10 mph.
- Saturday Sunny, with a high near 78. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 45. North wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday Sunny, with a high near 80.
- Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 55.
- Monday Sunny, with a high near 84.
- Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 59.
- Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 85.
Woman Caught Stealing Christmas Decorations Will Spend This Christmas In Jail
October 1, 2014
A Cantonment woman was busted red handed taking Christmas decorations out of front yards just before Christmas 2013 will be spending this Christmas in jail.
Daphne Ann Whited, age 45 of Cantonment, drove around a Bellview neighborhood, taking decorations from yards and placing them inside her vehicle. She was convicted on several misdemeanor counts of petit larceny and sentenced t0 60 days in jail and ordered to pay restitution.
One resident, Sean Young, caught Whited on camera and posted the photos to his Facebook page.
“I asked her if she needed help putting my stuff in her car,” Young wrote on Facebook. “Then I took her picture.”
Whited told Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies that an ad on Craiglist said the decorations were on a lawn free for the taking on Tributary Street.
Once Whited finishes her time in the Escambia County Jail, she’ll be headed to state prison just in time for Christmas, according to court records. She was sentenced to just under two years in state prison on an unrelated 2014 burglary case in Santa Rosa County.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
32 New Laws Take Effect In Florida
October 1, 2014
Long-sought regulations on Florida’s commercial parasailing industry, along with a measure about crimes against unborn children, are among 32 laws that went into effect Wednesday.
A number of the new laws, signed by Gov. Rick Scott after the 2014 legislative session, involve public-records exemptions, including one to allow some university boards to meet in private to discuss donors and research funding.
But one of the highest-profile new laws (SB 320) was years in the making. Known as the “White-Miskell Act,” it requires commercial parasailing operators to log weather conditions before embarking, forbids operations during severe weather conditions, requires operators to be licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard and limits operations near airports.
The law is named after Kathleen Miskell, a 28-year-old Connecticut woman who died in August 2012 after she fell from a harness while parasailing over the ocean off Pompano Beach, and Amber May White, a 15-year-old Belleview girl who died in 2007 after a line snapped on a parasail, resulting in her hitting the roof of a hotel.
The industry came on board with the regulations at the urging of Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, after two Indiana teens were videotaped last summer as they were seriously injured parasailing in Panama City Beach.
Another high-profile measure (HB 59) calls for people who attack pregnant women to be charged with crimes against unborn children, regardless of the term of pregnancy.
In April, Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, was among Democrats arguing the bill is vague and that a person could be charged if involved in a traffic crash in which a woman loses a pregnancy.
However, Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, responded at the time that the proposal establishes a law similar to when a person commits DUI manslaughter.
The bill was spurred by a Tampa woman who was tricked by an ex-boyfriend into taking a pill that caused her to have a miscarriage.
For the year, lawmakers sent 255 bills to Scott, with just one getting vetoed: SB 392, which would have allowed the Florida Department of Transportation to raise speed limits on some highways by 5 mph.
The majority of the laws, 158, including the budget, went into place July 1.
Here are highlights of some of the other laws taking effect Wednesday:
Sex offenses and human trafficking:
— SB 526 and 528 include wide-ranging changes aimed at cracking down on sex offenders, including toughening sentences and strengthening registration and reporting requirements for offenders. The laws are part of a package of new laws targeting sexual predators and offenders, with two other laws, SB 522 and SB 524, going into effect July 1.
— HB 989 increases felony penalties for people who live off the proceeds of others through prostitution or when crimes involve the trafficking of children. The measure also removes a statute of limitations for human trafficking violations, prohibits minors from working in adult theaters and requires adult theaters to verify the ages of all employees. The law also creates a new third-degree felony for those who permanently brand trafficking victims.
Law enforcement:
— HB 41 creates the Florida Law Enforcement Officers’ Hall of Fame. The law, requires space to be set aside in the first floor plaza of the Capitol for the hall, joining wall space used for the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame, Fallen Firefighters Wall of Honor, Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame, Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame, Florida’s Medal of Honor recipients, and the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
— HB 427 increases the penalty for burglars who cross county lines to commit break-ins. The law was crafted in response to the so-called “pillowcase burglars” in Martin County, where Sheriff William Snyder, a former state representative, noted an increase in people traveling Interstate 95 to break into homes and quickly flee to other counties.
Education:
— HB 485 increases penalties for teachers and other school authority figures who take advantage of students sexually.
Public records:
— HB 115 allows university direct-support organization boards to meet in private when they discuss donors or potential donors, proposals for research funding or plans for initiating or supporting research.
Pharmacies:
— HB 7077 sets registration requirements and standards for what are known as “compounding pharmacies” that are located in other states but sell medications in Florida. Those pharmacies, in general, create medications that are supposed to be tailored to the needs of individual patients. The law is aimed at preventing a repeat of a 2012 outbreak of fungal meningitis because of problems at a Massachusetts pharmacy.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
UF Report: Consumer Confidence Hits Post-Recession High
October 1, 2014
The state’s consumer confidence has reached a post-recession high, according to a University of Florida report released Tuesday
On a scale from two to 150, confidence among Floridians sits at 83, a point higher than in August, and the highest mark since April 2007, according to a release from UF’s Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
The small monthly rise was seen across all ages and income levels, in part because gas prices have fallen and because of growth in the perception that now is a good time to buy big-ticket items such as cars and appliances.
“While we are still about 10 points behind where we would like to be at this point in a recovery, confidence among Floridians is heading in the right direction,” Chris McCarty, director of the research center, said in a prepared statement.
Similar to how the state’s unemployment rate has held relatively steady for most of the year, the consumer confidence mark has wavered most of the year in the high 70s and low 80s.