James Tennyson
April 9, 2014
James Tennyson, age 68 of Molino, passed away on Sunday, April 6, 2014, at his home surrounded by family and friends. He was born in Arab, Alabama.
Jim proudly served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Trumpetfish as a Torpedoman’s mate out of Charleston, SC from November 1962 until November 1966. After serving in the US. Navy, he was employed in the electrical trade for 20 years. In 1986, he began his employment with Civil Service, retiring in 2004. While at the US Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he received the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award.
His father, James Tennyson and mother, Dorothy Tennyson, precede him in death.
He is survived by his wife, Cynthia Tennyson; son, Daniel (Valeria) Tennyson; stepdaughter, Lisa (Christopher) Story; daughter, Stephanie Serbin; son, Stephen Ertz; daughter, Melissa Prewitt; grandsons, Cameron and Christopher Story; sister, Pat (Ed) Lutes; brother, Wilburn Tennyson; sister, Gloria Swann. Jim was profoundly loved by many nieces and nephews, close friends and his church family.
Jim was a member of Dogwood Park Baptist Church in Molino. He truly felt that each person there was his family.
Pallbearers will be Simon Barton, Bob Cummings, Cary Harrington, Chris Story, Devon Swann, DJ Tripp.
Services will be held Thursday, April 10, 2014, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home at 11 a.m. with Pastor Russell Branch officiating.
Interment following at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Covenant Hospice, 6479 Carolne St. Suite B, Milton, FL 32570.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Molino Park Elementary Students Read To Success
April 9, 2014
Molino Park Elementary School students recently took part in the “Read to Success” program where they could earn a Six Flags Over Georgia ticket for reading six hours and keeping a reading log.
Students in participating grades reaching the goal were:
Kindergarten
- Kailyn Wiggins
- Kamryn Gibbs
- Dominic Picheo
- Tyler Wilson
- Jessica Santos
- Garrett Crabtree
- Ayden Silcox
- Desi Fryman
- Destiny Spencer
- Layton Woodward
- Shiloh Prince
- Wyatt Pawless
- Mary Oliver
- Chet Knable
- Riana Hillard
- John Hatch
- Shay Crosby
- Ayden Crabtree
- Ryann Burson
- Destiny Abrams
2nd Grade
- Jarrett Bodiford
- Moses Delarosa
- Matthew Dix
- Makayla Golson
- Nicholas Lutterman
- Flora Mumaw
- Addison Pawless
- Brodie Rhodes
- DeQuan Shabazz
- Domanique Turner
- Lilly Hatch
- Riley Crites
- Kendall Alvare
3rd Grade
- Karson Brown
- Shelby Lashley
- Adian Vaughn
- Aaron Adams
- Raven Brigman
- Ethan Collier
- Brycee Woodward
5th Grade
- Damion Payne
- Shadonavon Young
- Cody Pigeon
- Keaton Edmonson
- Hannah Brousseau
- Ashley Ragsdale
- Tristian Griffin
- Zachary Stanton
- Brook Thomas
- Kellie Parsons
- Connor McQuaid
- Branden Massie
Pictured top: Some of the kindergarten students at Molino Park Elementary School that reached thei “Read to Success” program goal. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click toe enlarge.
Malcolm C. Straughn, Jr.
April 9, 2014
Malcolm C. Straughn, Jr. went to be with his Heavenly Father early Saturday morning, April 5, 2014. A lifelong resident of Escambia County, he graduated from Pensacola High School in 1949. After high school, Malcolm worked in the family business, Brownsville Bakery. In 1953, he was one of the first employed at Chemstrand. After 32 years he retired from Monsanto and devoted his time to farming until several years ago.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Carlos and Edna (Malone) Straughn.
Malcolm is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Betty Jean (Poston) Straughn; his daughter Diane (Alton) Moore of Dahlonega, GA; and two sons, Kirk (Jackie) Straughn of Gonzalez and Ray (Angela) Straughn of Pace. He had nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Survivors also include a brother, Bobby Straughn of Pensacola; numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.
His celebration of life will April 7, 2014, at Faith Chapel North Funeral Home with visitation beginning at 11 a.m. and service to follow at 12 p.m.
Reverend Alton Moore and Hospice Chaplain Jason Adams will officiate.
Burial will be at Godwin cemetery in Bratt.
Pallbearers will be Alton Moore III, Stan Marks, Joshua Marks, Ronnie McNesby, Benjamin Haines and Michael Hemley.
The family would like to express their appreciation to the Emerald Coast Hospice team for their outstanding care.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Rufus Wayne McNorton
April 9, 2014
Rufus Wayne McNorton, 67, passed away Monday, April 7, 2014, at his residence. Mr. McNorton was an electrician and project engineer for different companies overseas. He was a member of Electrician Local IBEW#676. Rufus never met a stranger, was very outgoing, and a friend to many people. He was also a member of the Masonic Lodge.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Rufus and Dorothy McNorton.
He is survived by his brother, Lynn (Betty) McNorton; sisters, Faye (Terry) Boyington and Kaye (Ellis) Perlman; niece, Dana McNorton Hall and a nephew, Michael McGlothlin.
Visitation will be held from 12 p.m. until 1 p.m. with the funeral service to begin at 1 p.m. at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North with Reverend Bill Flannigan.
Interment will follow at Gonzalez United Methodist Church Cemetery.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is entrusted with the arrangements.
Log-A-Load Bass Tourney To Benefit Children’s Hospital
April 9, 2014
The 18th Annual Charity Log A Load for Kids Bass Tournament and Live Auction will be held Saturday, April 12 at Live Oak Landing in Stockton, Ala.
Well over $10,000 in guaranteed prize money will be awarded, including a $3,000 first place prize. The tournament and events will raise funds for Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. Log-A-Load is sponsored by the Florida Forestry Association and the Florida Loggers Council.
Preregister at A-1 Accessories at 700 South Highway 29 in Cantonment, at active.com or register day of the event.
For complete details, click here.
Lawmakers Back Allowing Concealed Guns During Evacuations
April 9, 2014
Senators continued moving forward Tuesday with a National Rifle Association-backed measure that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without licenses during evacuations ordered by the governor.
But before voting 8-1 to support the bill (SB 296), the Senate Community Affairs Committee removed language that would have allowed people to pocket guns during evacuations ordered by local officials.
Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, who cast the lone vote against the overall measure, said he was “terrified” that a local official could create an untrained militia.
Currently, people can bring guns with them when following evacuation orders, but the firearms must be securely encased and not in their physical possession.
The bill by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, would create an exemption to state law by allowing people who have not qualified for concealed-weapons licenses to keep their guns with them when ordered to relocate after a state of emergency is declared.
Brandes said he intends to work with his colleagues to get language regarding local officials back into the bill before the measure goes before the Rules Committee.
Similar language remains in the House version (HB 209), which could be heard by the House as early as Wednesday.
Both proposals are opposed by the Florida Sheriffs Association, which has requested set times on where and for how long individuals could carry their guns without licenses once an evacuation order is issued.
NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer argued against imposing a set time period.
“Once you get too specific you work against the average citizen who has no way of knowing exactly what the law says; law enforcement on the other hand, they do,” Hammer said. “We’re trying to protect people here, not do something that is more convenient for law enforcement.”
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Dogs Still In The Running In Gambling Bill
April 9, 2014
With “Johnny Depp,” “Twiggy” and “Whisper” by her side, the Senate’s first lady, Vicky Gaetz, could not hold back the tears when asked why she was participating in a press conference about the perils of greyhound racing.
“I’m so passionate about it that I can hardly speak about it,” Gaetz, the wife of Senate President Don Gaetz, said Tuesday. “It’s just an issue I’m very passionate about, anything involving animals or children who are neglected or abused.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, the president’s son, knelt beside his mother, who is in a wheelchair, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“It’s OK, mother,” the normally brash Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said.
During the press conference, Matt Gaetz said he learned from his mother that “you can tell a lot about any person by how they’ll treat an innocent and defenseless animal.”
Matt Gaetz joined Sen. Maria Sachs in what has become for Sachs a perennial fight to eliminate greyhound racing.
“This is an activity that very few people watch, even fewer people bet on and it’s an activity that erodes our collective humanity. I look forward to Sen. Sachs passing her very good amendment today that will end the government mandate to engage in a barbaric activity,” he said.
But despite pressure from the Senate’s “first family,” the Senate Gaming Committee stopped short Tuesday of trying to do away with greyhound racing and instead approved a measure that would force tracks to report injuries and deaths to the state.
The Gaetz clan — Vicky, Matt and the Senate president — were all on hand at the meeting where, after some heated sidebar huddles between GOP lawmakers, Sachs backed down from her attempt to allow dog tracks to stop racing greyhounds.
But Sachs said she isn’t backing down from her push to “decouple” greyhound racing from other types of gambling. The movement is supported by animal rights groups including Grey2K, which, like Sachs and Matt Gaetz, contend that greyhound racing is a thing of the past, costs the state money and has led to cruel treatment of the racing dogs by some operators who only use the dogs as a means to operate more lucrative poker rooms. The pari-mutuel permits allow the race track operators to operate card rooms and, in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, slot machines.
Instead of doing away with dog racing, the committee signed off on a proposal (SB 742) by Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, that would require tracks to report injuries and deaths of greyhounds, something only two states — Alabama and Florida — do not currently mandate. According to one report, 74 greyhounds died in a six-month period in 2013 — an average of three dogs per day.
Jack Cory, a lobbyist who represents the Florida Greyhound Association, told reporters that most dogs die because of injuries on poorly maintained track surfaces, electrocution from the “bunny” that runs around the track or a lack of breakaway fences.
Cory, whose group represents greyhound breeders, owners and kennel operators, said racing should continue to be required for other gambling operations, like cardrooms, because that is what voters authorized.
“You said you were going to be a live pari-mutuel. Either be a live pari-mutuel or turn your license in,” Cory said.
At least three members of the panel — Sens. Tom Lee, Jack Latvala and Gwen Margolis — objected to a series of amendments proposed by Sachs that would have gone far beyond allowing the state’s 16 greyhound tracks to decide whether they wanted to race dogs or not.
One of the proposals would have essentially allowed each of the tracks — including holders of permits that are currently dormant or in use at other tracks — to move elsewhere in their counties and set up poker rooms and offer simulcast wagering.
Sachs’ amendments prompted confusion and intense questioning by Margolis and Latvala.
“We have demonstrated that’s an expansion of gambling …under the guise of decoupling, there’s an expansion in there,” Latvala, R-Clearwater said.
Margolis objected that the complicated amendment, filed on Friday, lacked a staff analysis or any information about how much it would cost the state.
“The whole thing is a big mish-mash of stuff and I don’t know what the fiscal impact is,” Margolis, D-Miami, said.
Staff later said that state analysts estimated that Sachs’s “decoupling” amendment would cost the state about $300,000 in the first year but would eventually end up making money.
But Sachs said that a study by Spectrum Group, for which the Legislature paid $400,000, found that the state is underwriting greyhound racing, which it termed a “loss leader.”
Meanwhile, the Senate president huddled in what appeared to be a heated debate with a half-dozen senators, including Latvala and ardent gambling opponent Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.
Lee said animal-rights supporters in the audience are “volunteering to be used” by track owners.
“These folks don’t care about your animals. They care about their profits,” Lee, R-Brandon, said. “As this thing goes forward, the question for this committee is if we believe so much in the humane treatment of animals, why don’t we just recognize that this industry is dead. Its day has come and gone. It’s time to revoke the permits for the dog licenses that exist in this state and reissue permits on a competitive bid basis for some new form of gaming that doesn’t involve the inhumane treatment of animals.”
Shortly after Gaetz left the room, Sachs withdrew her amendments. The panel approved the measure by a 13-1 vote, with Lee casting the sole negative vote.
“Dog racing is losing money. The animals are not treated well. Until we fix that, we’re not going to have humane treatment of our animals,” Sachs, D-Delray Beach, said after the meeting.
But Sachs said she hasn’t given up on ending greyhound racing.
“I withdrew the amendments because it needed more work. … I think we’re going to see my amendments again. I think they are going to be in a way that will make sure that there’s not an expansion of gambling,” she said.
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
Arthur “A.J.” Peacock, Jr.
April 9, 2014
Mr. Arthur “A.J.” Peacock, Jr., 82, passed away on Sunday, April 6, 2014, in Mobile.
Mr. Peacock was a native and lifelong resident of Little Rock, Alabama. Mr. Peacock was a lifetime member of the Millwright Local #2471 from Pensacola, former Escambia County Constable, owner of the Little Rock Store and founder of the Little Rock Volunteer Fire Department. Mr. Peacock was a member of the First Baptist Church of Atmore.
He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Mrs. Lucille Peacock of Little Rock, AL; one daughter and son-in-law, Ann & Don Gordon of Little Rock, AL and granddaughter, Dr. Amber Gordon & Mr. F. Bradford Butler of Birmingham.
Funeral services will be Thursday, April 10, 2014, at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Atmore with Rev. Arnold Hendrix and Rev. James E. Dukes, Jr. officiating.
Burial will follow at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery on Butler Street.
Pallbearers will be Steve Reynolds, Ray Singleton, Don Fischer, Lee Roy Peacock, Melvin Byrd and Winston Byrd.
Honorary pallbearers will be Glenn Jernigan, Steve Breceda, Bobby Wooten, Aubrey Peacock, David Smith, Billy Smith and Daryl Johnson.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes, LLC is in charge of all arrangements.
J. Dillon Vickery
April 9, 2014
J. Dillon Vickery, 72, of Pensacola, passed away on April 4, 2014. Dillon served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and was a member of the John Birch Society. He had a strong belief of God, Family, and Country, and was an avid reader of the New American. His faith was strong and he was a member of Olive Baptist Church. He owned Vickery Safety and Security and was dedicated to serving his customers. He was affectionately known as “Grandfather” by his grandchildren who he loved so much.
He is preceded in death by his mother and father, Vivian and Joe Rogers; brother, Raymond, and grandson, Nathan Blair.
Dillon is survived by his wife, Joy Gates Vickery; daughter, Karen Stewart Wood (Bobby); daughter, Kimberly Blair-Greenberg (Richard); grandchildren, Michael, Mitchell, Jonathon, Callie, and Gage; great-granddaughter, Alison; brother, Leonard Rogers, and sister, Melissa Ripa. He also leaves behind many loyal friends and loving neighbors. A special thanks to Covenant Hospice of Pensacola.
Funeral services were held at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North in Cantonment on April 8, 2014. The family will receive visitors from 1:30 p.m. until services begin at 2:30 p.m. A graveside service will follow at Whitmire Cemetery.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North, is in charge of arrangements. You may express your condolences online at www.fcfhs.com
Marvin Earl Hadley
April 9, 2014
Marvin Earl Hadley, 65 of Perdido, passed away Monday, April 7, 2014, in Bay Minette. He was a sales manager with a package store, born in Rabun, Ala., on January 28, 1949, to Marvin Edward and Julie Harville Hadley.
He is preceded in death by his father, Marvin Edward Hadley; two brothers, Edward Hadley and Anthony Hadley.
Survivors include his mother, Julie Hadley of Rabun; four nieces, Kimberley Hadley of Pensacola, Tammy Harrelson of Perdido, Shelia K. Paul of California and Angie Cowart of Pine Grove, Ala; one nephew, Clayton Hadley of Rabun and great nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Services will be Thursday, April 10, 2014, at 11 a.m. from Atmore Memorial Chapel with Bro. Malcolm Harrelson officiating.
Interment will follow in Guy’s Chapel Cemetery.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.