Report Projects $336 Million Florida Budget Surplus Next Year
September 8, 2014
State lawmakers will have about $336 million extra in the budget year that begins next July, according to a draft state report issued recently
The Long-Range Financial Outlook, an annual report, says that surplus takes into account the likelihood that the Legislature will continue to set aside $1 billion in reserves and spend money on other high-priority areas.
The report says lawmakers could use the surplus on programs or tax cuts that continue from one year to the next, but that doing so would have “a compounding effect over time” and leave less money for the Legislature to use in future years — though the state would never go into the red as long as it keeps the reserves steady.
The report also says that Florida’s economy will likely continue to grow for the time being but is still trying to fully regain its footing.
“In the forecast, months of modest growth are expected before normalcy is largely achieved by Fiscal Year 2016-17 with construction and real estate still presenting notable exceptions,” it says. The draft report is scheduled to be presented Wednesday to the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, a panel made up of House and Senate members.
Teen Injured In Deer Collision
September 8, 2014
One person was injured in a single vehicle collision with a deer late Sunday night near Cantonment.
The driver of a Ford Ranger reportedly collided with the deer about 11:35 p.m. on River Annex Road. A teenager reported to be injured, while two other people in vehicle refused medical treatment.
Further details have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS also responded to the crash.
Photos: NHS Cheerleaders, Mini-Cheerleaders, Band, Dance Team, NJROTC
September 8, 2014
For a photo gallery featuring the Northview High School cheerleaders, mini-cheerleaders, band, dance team and NJROTC from Friday night’s football game, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
High School Football Standings, Upcoming Schedule
September 8, 2014
Here is a district by district look at last Friday night’s high school football scores and this week’s schedule. District play has not yet started, so there are no district rankings.
Billy Vasco Bray
September 8, 2014
Billy Vasco Bray, age 78 of Jay, was called home September 5, 2014. Billy was born April 1, 1936, in Jay to Charlie and Bertie Bray.
He married the love of his life, Helen Cobb in 1961. He believed in hard work and worked for Kerr-McGee, Agrico, owner of Jay Farm Supply, and finally retired after working for Santa Rosa County Road Department in 2005. He was an avid fisherman, hunter and family man. He enjoyed farming, clearing land, raising cattle and hogs, and family gatherings. A loving husband, father, and was known to his grandchildren as Pa, Pawie, and Poppy.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 53 years, Helen and three children, Roger (Carol) Bray, Bart (Terry) Bray, and Sherry (Eric) Steadham; eight grandchildren, Bradley (Ashley) Bray; Arissa, Paige, Kolby Bray; Amber, Samantha Steadham; Carrie (Dante) Longo; and Rachael Bray; three great-grandchildren, Hollee, Brooklee, and Chandlor Bray; and sisters, Patsy Fulmore and Joann Bray.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Charlie and Bertie Bray; sister, Peggy Clifford; and brother, Steve Bray. He is gone but will never be forgotten.
The family wishes to express their gratitude for the loving and compassionate care provided by Century Health and Rehab and Covenant Hospice. Flowers welcome or donations to Covenant Hospice Milton Branch can be made in his memory.
Active pallbearers are Greg Levins, Randy Fulmore, Doug Fulmore, Derek Bray, Rodney Rhodes, Dante Longo, Ivan Hendricks, and Gary Hagler.
Honorary pallbearers will be Kenny Watson, Charles Steadham, Jimmy Jones, Joe Jones, Shorty Floyd, Rufus Godwin, and Bill Clifford.
Funeral services were held Sunday, September 7, 2014, at Jay Funeral Home with Brother Clifford Dixon and Brother Jim Lassiter officiating.
Burial was at Cobbtown Cemetery.
Mazie Lee Rolin
September 8, 2014
Mazie Lee Rolin, 90 of Brewton, passed away Friday, September 5, 2014. in Pensacola. She was a homemaker, born in Atmore on September 6,1923, to the late Dewitt and Olivia Dewise McCoy. She was a charter member of Poarch Baptist Church; a former member of The Escambia County Alabama Baptist Association; and a member of The Poarch Band Of Creek Indians.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Elbert Rolin; two daughters, Daisy Rolin and Rosemary Presley.
Survivors include granddaughter, Angie Rolin (Jack “Whiddon”) Taylor of Brewton; great-grandson, Brandon Rolin Taylor of Brewton; step-great-grandchildren, Jack Taylor, III of Irvington, Ala., and Patricia Taylor of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Services were held Monday, September 8, 2014, at the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Rob Arant officiating.
Interment was in Poarch Baptist Church Cemetery.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
Callie Mae Lee
September 8, 2014
Mrs. Callie Mae Lee, age 68 of Flomaton, passed away Friday, September 5, 2014, in a Century nursing facility.
Mrs. Lee was born in Brewton and was a lifetime resident of Escambia County (Ala). She was a homemaker and was a member of the Brewton Pentecostal Holiness Church.
She is survived by her husband of nearly 41 years, Mr. Glenn Lee of Flomaton; three sons, Larry Dwayne Lee and Shane Glenn (Renee) Lee ,all of Flomaton and William Randy (Tone) Lee of Brewton; two brothers, Thomas Byrd of Flomaton and Robert Byrd of Mobile; and ten grandchildren.
Funeral services were held on Monday, September 8, 2014, from the chapel of Craver’s Funeral Home with Rev. Byrnes Pitts officiating.
Interment was in Pollard Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Jeff Alexandria, Mark Greenwell, Tim Ward, Ray Lee, Rodney Stuart, and Don Bondurant.
Local Bus Driver To Receive State Honor For Saving Child
September 7, 2014
An Escambia County School District bus driver will receive statewide recognition for saving a young boy found wandering along in the middle of Kingsfield Road.
Bus driver Daisy Robinson will be honored Monday as Florida Missing Children’s Day School Bus Operator of the Year. She was selected for the honor by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse Advisory Board.
As first reported on NorthEscambia.com, Robinson, her bus 1-12 loaded with Ransom Middle School students, found the child on October 28, 2013, in Kingsfield Road in the area of Pauline Street and the railroad tracks, just off Highway 95A. She managed to safely coach the 3-year old onto her bus and radio bus dispatch for help, according to Rob Doss, the Escambia County School District’s director of transportation.
After waiting for a short time period, she moved her bus to the parking lot of a nearby gas station to wait for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office to arrive. The young boy was not injured.
“Daisy’s alert, prompt and heroic actions were instrumental in ensuring that little boy would not be killed, seriously injured, or abducted as he walked on the roadway that morning alone and oblivious to the danger,” Doss said. “We are proud of all of our school bus operators, but when this happened, we were particularly proud of Daisy and we were very happy for the little boy whose life was saved.”
Robinson was honored for her quick thinking in what could have been a potential tragedy by the Escambia County School Board and Superintendent Malcolm Thomas as the District’s Stellar Employee of the month last December.
Two people were arrested in connection with the incident after it was discovered the child had been living in squalor at a nearby trailer, with an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy reporting that “the smell was horrible and the conditions appeared even worse” inside the home.
The deputy reported there were roaches crawling on the floor and counters. There were no drinks or food in the refrigerator or freezer. The refrigerator contained dead roaches, according to the arrest report. The house was in a mess with clothing covering the floors. The three mattresses in the house for the child were very dirty and stained; one was covered with dog feces.
Cynthia Faye Godwin and Michael Roy Godwin were both convicted of three counts each of child neglect, and both were sentenced to three years probation.
Prison Boss: DOC Employees Who Break Law Will Be Fired
September 7, 2014
Florida Department of Corrections employees who commit any crime would be fired from their job under a new policy announced by Corrections Secretary Mike Crews.
The revised disciplinary guideline is part of a series of reforms Crews is proposing in the wake of reports about a mentally ill inmate who died after being placed in a scalding-hot shower.
“While the Department has always taken disciplinary action against members whose conduct violated state statutes, this new policy will apply a uniform standard of dismissal for members who engage in any criminal act, including misdemeanors,” Crews wrote in a memo to employees.
Crews had already announced that, for mentally ill inmates, the department will expand crisis-intervention training for prison guards, create two re-entry centers and explore a pilot case-management system. Crews also said the agency would hand over 82 open investigations into prison deaths — all the result of non-natural causes — to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and put “releasable information” regarding inmate deaths, including cases that are still under investigation, online within the next 30 days.
Crews and the agency have been under fire since a series of stories this year by The Miami Herald revealed details about the 2012 death of inmate Darren Rainey.
by The News Service of Florida
Most Inland Homeowners To See Rate Cut Under Citizens Insurance
September 7, 2014
Homeowners covered by Citizens Property Insurance Corp., mostly those with inland properties, will see an average rate decrease next year, the first since an effort to artificially lower rates ended in 2009.
The Office of Insurance Regulation on Friday approved a 3.7 percent average decrease for homeowners. Citizens had requested a 3.4 percent reduction.
The reduction doesn’t automatically mean a drop in prices for all policyholders, as individual rates vary county by county, by the locations of properties and by property owners’ different types of coverage.
Still, about 70 percent of Citizens policyholders, mostly inland residential customers, are expected to benefit due to a 6.1 percent average reduction for multi-peril personal line accounts.
Citizens, which is rapidly moving to reduce its overall number of policies, had requested a 5.8 percent reduction for such policies. Multi-peril personal lines make up 614,678 of the policies handled by Citizens, which as of July 31 had 933,807 overall policies in place. The decrease is due in part to efforts over the past couple of years to move more than a half-million policies into the private market, and because of efforts in past years to increase rates and bring the state-backed insurer more in line with the private market. Citizens has also been able to bulk up its surplus, as Florida is now in its ninth hurricane season without the center of a major storm making contact with the state.
Many of the 30 percent of Citizens customers that will see increases next year are in commercial, condominium and coastal properties. Rates for businesses and condominium associations, which comprise about 36,000 of Citizens’ policies, will grow from 0.2 percent to 10 percent depending upon the type of coverage. Also, residential coastal wind-only accounts will increase 3.8 percent, the amount requested by Citizens. And while owners of mobile homes have been approved for a 4.3 percent decrease in personal line accounts, coastal wind-only policies are set to go up 8.2 percent.