Two Injured In Cantonment Motorcycle, Pickup Wreck
December 14, 2014
Two people were injured in a collision involving a pickup and motorcycle Saturday night in Cantonment.
The accident happened about 7:30 p.m. on Muscogee Road at McQueen Drive, just south of Jacks Spring Road. Two people from the motorcycle were transported by ambulance to area hospitals. The motorcycle passenger, an adult female, was classified as a “trauma alert”.
The names of those involved and further details have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol as they continue their investigation. The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the accident.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
AG Bondi: Be Wary Of Debt Collection Scams
December 14, 2014
Attorney General Pam Bondi warns Floridians to protect themselves against debt collection scams, particularly when the number appears to be from a legitimate governmental entity, such as the IRS or Attorney General’s Office. Scams where impersonators pretend to be collecting legitimate debt continue to top the number of complaints received by Attorney General Bondi’s Citizen Services Division, and there are measures Floridians can take to protect themselves.
“I encourage all Floridians who receive high-pressure calls demanding that they pay their debts immediately to use caution,” stated Attorney General Bondi. “One of the simplest ways to protect yourself from this type of scam is to say you’ll call the entity back and find its legitimate number.”
In some cases, the imposters will threaten that those who owe money will be jailed—law prohibits imprisoning those in debt. Oftentimes, the scammers will attempt to get their victims to purchase Green Dot or MoneyPak cards to pay their debts. Legitimate debt collectors will never ask for payment in this way.
Debt collectors must adhere to these laws:
- A debt collector may not contact you at work if the collector knows your employer does not approve, nor may a collector contact you at unreasonable times or places, such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree.
- A debt collector is required to send you a written notice within five days after you are first contacted, telling you the amount of money you owe. The notice must also specify the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money and what action you should take if you believe you do not owe the money.
- You may stop a collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the agency telling them to stop. Once the agency receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact, or to notify you if the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action.
- If you do not believe you owe the debt, you may write to the collection agency within 30 days after you are first contacted, saying you don’t owe the money. The agency may not contact you after that unless you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of the bill.
- A debt collector may not harass or abuse anyone. For instance, a collector may not use threats of violence against the person, property or reputation; use obscene or profane language; advertise the debt; or repeatedly or continuously make telephone calls with the intent to harass or abuse the person at the called number. In addition, debt collectors are required to accurately disclose their identities to the person at the called number.
Anyone who believes that they have been the victim of a debt collector scam should call toll-free in Florida 1-866-9-NO-SCAM or 850-414-3990. Complaints can also be filed online at MyFloridaLegal.com. When reporting this type of scam, Floridians should include the number that was used when the call was received.
Rotary Tree Of Remembrance To Honor, Remember At Mall
December 14, 2014
The Rotary Tree of Remembrance is now on display inside the Dillard’s entrance to Cordova Mall. Shoppers have the opportunity to make a donation and place yellow ribbons on the Christmas tree in honor or remembrance of a loved one.
“The ribbons offer a simple but dignified and poignant way to remember their families and friends amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season,” says Bambi Provost, director of the Sacred Heart Foundation. The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart is one of six beneficiaries of this fundraising effort, along with Gulf Coast Kids’ House, Covenant Hospice, Simon Youth Foundation, ARC Gateway and Rotary’s Camp Florida.
To conclude this year’s Second Annual Rotary Tree of Remembrance project, a non-denominational service will be held on Sunday, December 28, at 3 p.m. at the tree. Following the service, checks will be presented to the charities.
Pictured: The second annual Rotary Tree of Remembrance. Photos courtesy RustyBuggy.com for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Everything Old Is New Again
December 14, 2014
The familiar hum of pre-session activities is returning to the Capitol.
Committee memberships have been handed out to lawmakers. Legislation is being filed so it can start working its way through the process — or at least provide a friendly headline in the local paper. On Monday, state economists will gather to decide how much money Gov. Rick Scott will have to work with as he puts together his spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1.
As for Scott’s administration, it will also have a familiar ring to it. Several of the governor’s old hands will be staying on, with one interim secretary moving into a full-time job. And even one of the new agency heads is a veteran of state government.
WELCOME TO TALLAHASSEE, LAND OF GUN BILLS AND UTILITY FIGHTS
Like newly minted college students learning the ropes of their campus, freshman House members came to the Capitol this week to find out how to work the levers of power in the Legislature — or at least how to file reimbursement reports that wouldn’t get them in trouble.
Lawmakers who attended the meetings — a couple of whom really needed no introduction to the legislative process — learned about the written rules in Tallahassee and some of the gentlemen’s agreements that make the building run smoothly, or at least as smoothly as it ever does.
Returning legislators, though, were already plunging into the work of writing and introducing bills. This being Florida, almost everyone had to know that a gun bill was coming — in this case, one that would allow firearms on university campuses.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, said he already planned to sponsor the measure (HB 4005) before a shooting incident last month at Florida State University but that the attack, which left three people injured and the gunman dead, helps to make his point. The bill would apply to people who are licensed to carry concealed weapons.
“I think it (the attack) brings it closer to home for people who think these events don’t occur in Florida, or that law enforcement can prevent them from happening,” Steube told The News Service of Florida,
A Senate counterpart was filed by Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker.
But House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, said the answer to gun violence isn’t more guns. He also said he’d be more inclined to support the cost of additional security rather than allowing more guns at state universities and colleges.
“We look at these things differently, based on where we come from throughout the state,” Pafford said. “Discharging a weapon where I live, the probability of hurting somebody is a lot higher because we are not living one person on 20 acres.”
Firepower wasn’t the only thing drawing legislation this week. Tampa Bay lawmakers wasted no time in filing bills aimed at one of the favored villains of legislators by the bay: utilities. Rep. Amanda Murphy, D-New Port Richey, filed legislation (HB 67) that would repeal a 2006 law that has allowed utilities to collect hundreds of millions of dollars for nuclear-power projects. The measure is cosponsored by Rep. Chris Latvala, R-Clearwater.
The nuclear-cost issue has long been controversial, particularly among Duke Energy Florida customers in the Tampa Bay area. Duke collected money for a plan to build two nuclear reactors in Levy County but has scuttled the project.
“Floridians are tired of being taxed for projects that will never come to fruition,” Murphy said in a prepared statement.
Rep. Dwight Dudley, D-St. Petersburg, put forward a proposal (HB 81) that would require that changes in utility billing cycles be approved by the Florida Public Service Commission at least one month before the changes take effect. The commission would have to review the “public impact” and could not approve more than a seven-day extension of a billing cycle, according to the proposal.
An idea for local pension reform (SB 172) that died last year — but could have better odds this session — is back on the table. And Rep. David Richardson, D-Miami Beach, filed a measure (HB 89) that would provide a tax exemption for sales of original works of art that are signed and sold by the artists — as long as they cost at least $1,000.
CHAMPIONING ‘OUR VISION’ AND BRINGING ‘FRESH PERSPECTIVE’
Scott’s new team won’t be entirely old, but there are certainly a number of familiar faces sticking around as the governor continues to unveil his top lieutenants for a second term.
Scott said he would retain Jesse Panuccio as executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. Panuccio found out about his future at the agency more quickly than some jobless Floridians found out about their unemployment claims late last year and early this year.
“I am confident Jesse will continue to champion our vision of making sure every family who wants a job has one,” Scott said in a prepared statement.
A year ago, the state agency was widely criticized for troubles with Florida’s new $63 million “Connect” unemployment-compensation website. But in April, Senate President Andy Gardiner, who was then the chairman of the Senate Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee, said that when the problems with the new system were exposed, Panuccio “took ownership of it and fixed it.”
Scott also said he would reappoint Barbara Palmer as director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and Liz Dudek as secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration
The governor also elevated Mike Carroll from interim secretary of the troubled Florida Department of Children and Families to the permanent role there.
In a prepared statement, Scott said Carroll provided “strong leadership” while in the interim role.
“He brings a common sense approach to the services the agency provides, and he has a passion for serving Florida’s most vulnerable children,” Scott said.
Another agency that’s been roiled by bad press is getting a new leader. Julie Jones, a public-safety veteran who retired earlier this year, will head the beleaguered Department of Corrections, an agency under state and federal scrutiny for inmate abuse, corruption and retaliation against whistleblowers.
Jones, the first woman to lead the corrections agency overseeing more than 100,000 inmates, retired this spring after a five-year stint as head of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. She’ll take over for Mike Crews, who retired last month.
“My fresh perspective will enable me to look for different ways to do things,” Jones said. “I don’t have to be an expert in order to implement change management. I’m good at the people part, and I’m good at the budget part.”
Crews spent months trying to resuscitate the department’s image by purging rogue officers and imposing a “zero tolerance” policy for corruption and abuse before he stepped down in November. Crews’ reforms began this summer after reports of inmate abuse by prison guards that sometimes led to horrific deaths.
Meanwhile this week, two other agencies also got new leaders.
Jonathan Steverson, who for the past two years has overseen one of the state’s five water-management districts, will head the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. And Scott appointed Sam Verghese to take over for Charles Corley at the Department of Elder Affairs.
Verghese had served as Scott’s external affairs director since May.
Steverson, who served as former Gov. Charlie Crist’s environmental policy coordinator, was named Thursday to replace former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard, who left the post Nov. 26.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott named seven agency heads as he continued to put in place a team for his second term.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Congratulations on guiding the Senate through the thicket. Looks as if, so far, the Democrats have not realized the gains they think they were going to get.”—Tom Hofeller, a redistricting consultant at the Republican National Committee, in an email to Florida political consultant Rich Heffley. The Florida Supreme Court released the two-year-old message this week. Opponents say it helps prove the Legislature ignored the constitutional ban on political gerrymandering during the 2012 redistricting process.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Firefighters Battle Berrydale Brush Fire
December 14, 2014
Three northern Santa Rosa County fire departments battled a brush fire in Berrydale Saturday. The fire was near Highway 4 and Lewis Road. Firefighters from the Jay, Berrydale and Allentown departments fought to contain the fire. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
DEP Continues Oversight Of Jay Oil Spill; Working To Protect Escambia River
December 13, 2014
Florida Department of Environmental Protection experts have been onsite continuing their assessment and oversight of the cleanup of the reported leak of a Quantum Resource Management flow line that occurred Wednesday morning in Jay.
“DEP will remain vigilant in the oversight of cleanup efforts at this site and will hold Quantum Resource Management accountable for any identified impacts to the environment resulting from this leak,” DEP Interim Secretary Cliff Wilson said Friday afternoon.
DEP is working along with environmental consultants and the Quantam contractor to ensure cleanup and monitoring efforts take place promptly and accurately. The removal of contaminated soil has begun at the site and so far five truckloads have been safely removed and will be properly disposed of at an approved facility. Soil samples will be collected to ensure complete remediation is achieved once all impacted soil has been removed. DEP inspectors will be onsite daily until this effort is complete.
Surveys have also been performed to assess impacts to Bray Mill Creek and the Escambia River. Surveys revealed no spread of the initial plume. In an abundance of caution, additional booms have been deployed at the mouth of Bray Mill Creek to further protect the Escambia River.
The company reports flow line repairs are now underway. These repairs are expected to be completed within approximately two weeks.
All wells feeding the flow line have been shut in and the flow line is depressurized until repairs can be made and DEP inspections are complete.
Pictured: The main Quantum Resources facility in Jay. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Evers Files Bill To Allow Designees To Carry Guns On Local School Grounds
December 13, 2014
Sen. Greg Evers filed a proposal Friday that could lead to county school superintendents allowing “designees” to carry concealed weapons on school grounds.
The bill to be considered in the 2015 legislative session is similar to a House bill (HB 19) filed last week by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota. The House during the 2014 session passed a version of the bill, but the proposal died in the Senate.
Under Evers’ bill, school superintendents, with the approval of local school boards, could authorize designated employees or volunteers to carry guns on school property. A designee could be an honorably discharged military veteran, an active-duty member of the military, National Guard or reserves or an active-duty or former law-enforcement officer. The designee would have to meet other criteria, such as completing a school-safety program and undergoing background checks
Supporters of the bills contend that gun-carrying designees could help ensure schools safety.
“It is the intent of the Legislature to prevent violent crimes from occurring on school grounds,” Evers’ bill said. “The Legislature acknowledges that the safekeeping of our students, teachers, and campuses is imperative.”
Thursday, Evers filed a bill that ould allow people to carry concealed weapons on the campuses of state colleges and universities. Click here for more on that proposal.
Scott Gives State Workers Extra Day Off For Christmas
December 13, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott is once again giving state workers an extra paid day off at the Christmas break. Scott on Friday directed executive agencies to shut down December 26. Employees in positions deemed essential will still have to work that day, but they will have six months to use an equal amount of administrative leave time.
Scott made similar directives the past three years.
According to the Department of Management Services, the state observes nine paid holidays annually: New Year’s Day; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; Memorial Day; Independence Day; Labor Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving; the day after Thanksgiving; and Christmas.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
December 13, 2014
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending December 11 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers Livesay, Cushing and Investigator Goley worked a night-hunting detail in conjunction with conservation officers with the Alabama Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The officers were positioned on both sides of the state line in an area where reports of poaching were occurring. During the detail, two juveniles were arrested by Alabama DNR officers for attempting to take deer with a gun and light.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson was on patrol when he observed persons trying to put out a fire that had gotten out of control. He began assisting them as Officer Johnson responded to assist. The fire threatened to burn a large pile of hay bales the farmer had stacked up. Officer Hutchinson successfully used his winch bumper to push several bales out of the way preventing the fire from reaching the stack. The fire was eventually extinguished and the farmer was reportedly very appreciative of the officers’ assistance.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week;however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
Angelic Voices: Mennonite Church Brings Christmas Joy To Children’s Hospital
December 13, 2014
Members of the Walnut Hill Mennonite Church spread Christmas joy Friday night with carols in the hallways and rooms at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Pensacola. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.