Tate Aggies Advance In 7A With Win Over Lincoln
November 15, 2014
The Tate Aggies beat the Lincoln Trojans 34-24 Friday night in Tallahassee in a regional quarterfinal playoff game.
The Aggies took the lead 7-0 with 6:06 to go in the first quarter before Alondo Thompkins ran for 78 yards to make it 14-0 with :32 second in the first. Thompkins added another 73-yard touchdown in the second half to finish to 166 yards rushing and 125 receiving.
Overall, the Aggies rushed for 265 yards and had almost 500 yards total offense against Lincoln.
The Aggies advance on the road to Orlando next Friday night as they take on Niceville in the 7A regional semifinal round. During the regular season, Niceville’s Eagles beat Tate 35-7.
Pictured: The Tate Aggies beat Lincoln 34-24 Friday night in Tallahassee. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Vernon Ends Northview’s Playoff Hopes
November 15, 2014
The Northview Chiefs’ dreams of a second state championship were stopped cold in round one of the playoffs Friday night in Vernon. The Yellow Jackets beat the Chiefs 36-19 in the Region 1-1A football semifinal.
Vernon was first on the board with a six yard touchdown on their first possession of the game from four and four. The Chiefs answered with a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gavin Grant to Cameron Newsome with 1:54 to go in the first. With a good kick, the Chiefs were out to a 7-6 lead.
The Yellow Jackets regained the lead 14-7 with a short touchdown run and two point conversion with 10:58 to go in the half. With 11.6 seconds to go in the half, the Chiefs were in for a game tying touchdown that was called back on a penalty.
Northview felt the sting of the Yellow Jackets in the second half with three unanswered Vernon TD’s.
Grant threw thee touchdowns, two of them to Newsome, to go 22 of 45 for 191 yards.
The loss ended the 1A playoff run for the Chiefs (7-3). Vernon (10-1) will advance next week to take on Baker, who knocked off Graceville 21-7 Friday night.
Pictured: The Northview cheerleaders console one another as the football team gathers in the background following playoff run ending loss Friday night in Vernon. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Friday Night Football Finals
November 15, 2014
Final scores from tonight’s area playoff games below.
Here is tonight’s schedule:
- Vernon 36, Northview 19 [Read more...]
- Tate 34, Lincoln 24 [Read more...]
- West Florida 41, Wakulla 34
- Navarre 44, Escambia 30
- Choctaw 27, Pensacola 24
- Niceville 44, Leon 6
- Baker 21, Graceville 7
- Flomaton 43, Cottonwood 32
- Montgomery Academy 30, T.R. Miller 28
- Munford 29, W.S. Neal 22
- Escambia Academy 30, Restoration Academy 8
Judge Strikes Down Pot Rule
November 15, 2014
An administrative law judge Friday struck down a rule proposed by health regulators as a framework for Florida’s new medical-marijuana industry, finding multiple flaws in the controversial rule challenged by the state’s largest nursery and other growers.
Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins sided with Miami-based Costa Farms and others that objected to the Department of Health’s use of a lottery to pick five licensees that will grow, process and distribute strains of non-euphoric marijuana authorized by the Legislature and approved by Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year.
The lottery process is invalid because it is “vague, fails to establish adequate standards for agency decisions and vests unbridled discretion in the agency,” Watkins wrote in a 71-page ruling.
In addition, the rule is “arbitrary … in that the ultimate decision as to which applicant will be approved is left to chance, rather than logic and an evaluation of all necessary facts,” he wrote.
“Assuring the dependable delivery of consistently high-quality, low-THC medicine is too important to be left to chance. Rather than minimally qualified applicants, citizens of the State of Florida, including sick and vulnerable children, deserve approval of the most qualified growers, processors and dispensers of low-THC cannabis,” Watkins wrote.
Health officials claimed that using the lottery system would reduce potentially drawn-out litigation over the selection of the five dispensing organizations and refused to back down from the selection process despite protests from nursery owners at public hearings where the rule was vetted.
But Watkins said the Department of Health needs to pick the most-qualified applicants to grow and process marijuana low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD. The Legislature intended for the low-THC cannabis to be “reasonably available and accessible to patients needing this medicine,” Watkins wrote.
“The evidence adduced at hearing supports the common sense notion that this objective requires selecting the most dependable, most qualified dispensing organizations to cultivate, process, and dispense low-THC cannabis as prescribed by physicians. The proposed lottery rule to select these special franchises by chance creates risks that substantially reduce the likelihood of this objective being met,” Watkins wrote.
Supporters of the low-THC, high-CBD strains of cannabis believe the substance can eliminate or dramatically reduce life-threatening seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy. Under the new law, patients with other spasm-causing diseases or cancer would also be eligible for the strains of marijuana if their doctors order it, and if their doctors say they have exhausted all other treatments.
In his ruling, Watkins also rejected the department’s argument that all applicants that made it as far as the lottery would be equally qualified to cultivate, process and dispense the low-THC cannabis. The criteria laid out in the law regarding applicants’ security and safety plans, inventory-control plans, location and transportation plans and financial ability can be “compared on the merits using ordinary business judgment without special knowledge of technical methods of production or preference for any one technical approach,” he wrote.
“While the department’s present inexperience in technical program areas may make comparison more difficult, it can avail itself of expert assistance to determine which applicants have superior programs and the best chance of success,” Watkins wrote. “There is no discernable reason why the exercise of the department’s reasonable discretion in applying the criteria should not determine which applicants are approved.”
Watkins also rejected health officials’ contention that it would be difficult or impossible to compare the applications because the applicants may use different methods to process the extract from the cannabis.
“Different proposals can be evaluated in the exercise of reasoned judgment as to which will best serve the need identified consistent with the statutory objectives and criteria,” he wrote.
The judge agreed with Florida State University economics professor David Cooper who said that the lottery system would likely reduce competition between providers and could make the product more expensive for consumers, especially problematic because insurance won’t cover the substance’s cost.
The rule is also invalid because it imposes a vague ” ‘qualification’ regime” not included in the statute that fails to create adequate standards for the health officials’ decision-making process to determine which applicants get entered into the lottery, Watkins wrote.
Health officials did not immediately say whether they intend to appeal Watkins’s ruling. The new law requires the health department to have the regulatory structure in place by Jan. 1.
“The Department of Health will consider all options that will most expeditiously get this product to market to help families facing serious illnesses,” department spokesman Nathan Dunn said in an e-mail.
Watkins also decided that several other portions of the rule were invalid, including who can apply and when they must pay an application fee.
The law limited potential applicants to nurseries that have done business continuously in Florida for at least 30 years and are registered to grow at least 400,000 plants. About 75 nurseries meet the criteria.
But the rule would have allowed nurseries to pair with other entities to be eligible for the licenses. The rule would have restricted nurseries to a single application but would not have imposed any limit on the number of applications other businesses involved with the nurseries could make.
Watkins found that the agency “relaxed” the requirements in the law regarding applicants and that the plain interpretation of the statute means that only nurseries that meet the criteria are eligible to get one of the five licenses.
Costa Farms vice president Peter Freyre praised Watkins’s decision.
“We feel today’s resolution is the right decision for the state’s sick and suffering patients who will be helped by the use of low-THC cannabis — their medication should be produced by the best and most qualified applicants, not the luckiest. We look forward to working with DOH to craft a rule based on quality and we hope to get to work as soon as possible,” Freyre said in a statement.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Friday Night Fire Damages Walnut Hill Mobile Home
November 15, 2014
Fire damaged a Walnut Hill mobile home Friday evening.
The fire was reported about 5:20 p.m. on Mitchell Road, just off Arthur Brown Road. Firefighters arrived to find a fire in the attic of the single wide home. There was no major fire damage to the mobile home.
The fire was believed to have started near a chimney after a fire was lit in a fireplace. There were no injuries reported.
The Walnut Hill, Century, McDavid and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, the Nokomis (AL)Volunteer Fire Department and the Atmore (AL) Fire Department were dispatched to the scene, along with Atmore Ambulance.
Pictured: Fire damaged a mobile home on Mitchell Road in Walnut Hill Friday evening (the mobile home is mostly hidden by bushes in these photos). NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Florida Approves Lower Workers Comp Rates
November 15, 2014
Florida businesses will save some money next year, after the state Office of Insurance Regulation on Thursday announced an overall 5.2 percent decrease in workers-compensation insurance rates.
The announcement came after Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty last week rejected the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s proposed overall 3.3 percent rate decrease. Instead, McCarty gave NCCI, which files rate proposals each year, until Tuesday to re-file with a bigger cut. McCarty deemed the initial filing as “excessive and unsupported” due to an increase in an underwriting-profit and contingency provision. NCCI represents about 250 insurers.
The new rates are scheduled to go into effect in January and follow a series of increases in recent years. Last year, the overall rate grew 0.7 percent. That came after increases of 6.1 percent, 8.9 percent and 7.8 percent in the three previous years.
by The News Service of Florida
Video: Atmore Pharmacy Burglary Under Investigation
November 14, 2014
An early morning burglary at an Atmore pharmacy is under investigation.
About 3:40 a.m. Friday, the Atmore Police Department received an alarm from the Buy Rite Drugs on Medical Park Drive. They arrived to find the front door damaged. After searching the building for suspects, a perimeter was established and K-9 team was called in from the Alabama Department of Corrections.
After a brief search of the area, it was determined the suspects fled in an unknown vehicle that was parked near the business.
Investigators said a trash can was used to make entry into the drug store. After entering, one suspect went straight to the cash registers and the other went to the back of the pharmacy and store prescription drugs.
The total value of case and prescription medication taken during the burglary exceeded $500, police said.
The store was also burglarized in early October after the suspects used a brick to break through an exterior door. The two black males from that burglary remain at large. It’s not known if they are the same suspects responsible for the second burglary.
Anyone with information on the burglary should call the Atmore Police Department at (251) 368-9141.
Surveillance video is below. (If you do not see the video, it is because your home, work or school firewall is blocking YouTube videos.)
FDOT Details Highway 29, Highway 97 Traffic Signal Plans, Crash Stats
November 14, 2014
The Florida Department of Transportation has detailed their timetable for installing a traffic signal at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 97 in Molino. The intersection has seen numerous crashes over the past several years – including two major wrecks within the past week, one of which claimed the life of a Northview High student.
The installation is set to begin in December at a cost of $264,400 which was paid by Escambia County on October 29. Construction is expected to be complete by February 2015.
A FDOT “Signal Warrant Study” found the following information that supported the urgent need for a traffic signal at the intersection:
- There have been 37 documented crashes reported by the Crash Analysis Reporting System from 2008 to 2013.
- 10 of the reported collisions resulted in injury where one or more people required transportation to a medical facility.
- 22 of the reported crashes were of the type of collisions susceptible to correction by the installation of a traffic signal.
- In 2011 there were five left-turn crashes.
- In 2012 there were eight left-turn crashes.
- In the last three years, the number of reported crashes at this intersection was significantly greater than the statistical average of similar roadway facilities in FDOT’s District 3, which is made up of the 16 westernmost Counties in the panhandle.
Led by District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry, the Escambia County Commission agreed to fund the signal installation. A second upcoming project will redesign the intersection of Crabtree Church Road and Highway 97, which is currently just feet away from Highway 29.
Darion Riley, 16, passed away Tuesday following a Friday, November 7 crash at the intersection [read more]. That crash injured two other people. Saturday night, the intersection was the scene of another accident, this one involving an Escambia County deputy and a passenger vehicle [read more]. There were no injuries in that crash.
Pictured top: A 16-year old passed away a few days after this November 7 wreck at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 97 in Molino. Pictured below: The occupants in this car were uninjured in a collision with an Escambia County deputy in the same intersection on November 8. NorthEcambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Fire Destroys Cantonment Home
November 14, 2014
Two people were left without a home after a late night fire in Cantonment.
The fire was reported about 11:35 p.m. Thursday in the 1400 block Kathleen Avenue near Adobe Trail. Both occupants were able to escape the 3,100 square foot home without injuries.
The home was fully involved in fire when the first firefighters arrived on scene. The fire was under control by 12:37 a.m.
The fire reportedly started with a chimney, but the exact cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Cold Friday, Freezing Night
November 14, 2014
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Friday Sunny, with a high near 50. North wind around 10 mph.
- Friday Night Clear, with a low around 29. North wind around 5 mph.
- Saturday Sunny, with a high near 58. North wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
- Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 42. Calm wind.
- Sunday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 69. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
- Sunday Night Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 55. South wind around 5 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
- Monday A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Monday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 33. North wind around 10 mph.
- Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 49.
- Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 26.
- Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 52.
- Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 32.
- Thursday Sunny, with a high near 60.