Fire Damages Out Buildings In Cottage Hill, Century
February 19, 2014
Two unrelated fires heavily damaged out buildings in Cottage Hill and near Century Wednesday morning.
Cottage Hill
The fire in a detached building was reported about 6:30 a.m. in the 2400 block of Eastman Lane in Cottage Hill. Firefighters had the fire under control in about 15 minutes. There were no reports of any injuries. The exact cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Century
A second, unrelated fire heavily damaged a storage shed in the 6800 block of North Century Boulevard about 11:40 a.m. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Patchy Fog Tonight, Rain By Thursday Night
February 19, 2014
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Patchy fog after 9pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 76. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.
- Thursday Night: Showers and thunderstorms, mainly after midnight. Some storms could be severe, with damaging winds. Low around 52. South wind around 15 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
- Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 64. North wind 10 to 15 mph.
- Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 43. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. South wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. South wind around 5 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
- Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. North wind around 5 mph.
- Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 66.
- Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44.
- Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 65.
- Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 43.
- Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Three Sentenced For Theft Of Copper Wire From International Paper
February 19, 2014
Three of four people charged have been sentenced in connection with the theft of over a half ton of copper wire from International Paper in Cantonment.
Thomas Donald Cox, 38, was found guilty of grand theft and sentenced to two years probation. Adjudication was withheld against Travis Wayne Hancock, 23, and Jacques Pierre Richard, 35, as they were sentenced to six months community control followed by 18 months probation after their no contest pleas to grand theft charges.
All three men were ordered to stay away from International Paper in Cantonment.
A fourth defendant, 24-year old William Maxwell Stewart has pleaded not guilty to grand theft and is set for a jury trial later this month.
IP Security contacted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office last August to report they had located copper wire that was taken from the Cantonment facility by a group of contract workers. Deputies contacted the suspects and each gave a written confession, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
Approximately 1,220 pounds of copper wire was recovered and returned to International Paper. A vehicle was seized, and deputies learned that other copper wire stolen from IP had been transported to an Alabama recycling center 10-15 other times.
Basketball: Northview Eliminated In State Semis
February 19, 2014
The Northview Chiefs lost to West Gadsden 61-54 Tuesday night in the state regional semi-finals.
The Chiefs were able to tie the game at 44 in the fourth quarter, but were unable to hold onto the momentum through the end of the game. West Gadsden advances to play Chipley in the regional finals after a 66-41 Chipley win over Port St. Joe Tuesday night.
Northview finished the season at 17-3.
‘Do Not Text’ Spam Bill Advances In Senate
February 19, 2014
A proposal to include text messages that feature sales pitches in the state’s “Do Not Call” list is one step closer to the Senate floor.
The measure by Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, received the unanimous backing of the Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Tuesday.
“This is a simple bill that simply keeps us up with technology,” Clemens said.
Currently, sales calls are prohibited when made by telephone solicitors to numbers on the list. The bill would expand the definition to include text messages. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has estimated the change could cost about $200,000 a year, mostly for the salaries of regulatory consultants and a staff clerk.
Gripes about violations of the state’s “Do Not Call” list easily dominated the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ top complaints for 2013
Northview Celebrates National FFA Week
February 19, 2014
FFA members at Northview High School are celebrating National FFA Week with a variety of events. Tuesday, the FFA officers and members prepared a homestyle breakfast for teachers, staff and invited guests that support the FFA program.
Pictured top: Northview FFA Parliamentarian Mitchell Singleton, 2nd Vice President Haylee Weaver, and Vice President Courtney Weekly serve breakfast Tuesday morning at Northview High School. Pictured inset: Northview FFA President Courtney Solari. Pictured below: Breakfast was served to mark National FFA Week. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cunningham, Chavers To Attend Boys State
February 19, 2014
Two Northview High School juniors — Matthew Chavers and Austin Cunningham — have been chosen by Atmore American Legion Post 90 to attend Florida Boy’s State. Attendees are required to attend one governmental meeting on the local level prior to the trip, and the young men chose to attend a recent meeting of the Century Town Council.
They are being sponsored personally by Century Mayor Freddie McCall.
Matthew Chavers is third academically in his class, a member of the FBLA, tutors his peers in algebra after school and attends Aldersgate United Methodist Church. At Pensacola High School, he was in the International Baccalaureate Program, president of the Chess Club and a member of the Mock Trial Team.
Matthew is an accredited legal secretary — one of the youngest ones in the country. For fun, he enjoys playing video games.
His father and grandfather are both Marine veterans, and his grandfather Mike Adams served in the Vietnam War.
Austin Cunningham plays center on the Northview football team, and was on the state championship team. He lifts weights, able to bench press 240 pounds. He’s a member of the FFA and shows livestock such as cattle.
Austin is class treasurer, SGA treasurer, a member of the Beta Club and is also a member of Highland Baptist Church.
Pictured top: Century Town Council members (seated) Annie Savage, (back, L-R) Gary Riley, Jacke Johnston and Ann Brooks with Northview Boy’s State representative Austin Cunningham and Matthew Chavers. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Board Of Education Approves Common Core Changes
February 19, 2014
The State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to go forward with dozens of changes to the Common Core State Standards, a move that seemed unlikely to quell the grass-roots furor over the educational benchmarks.
The approval followed a raucous public hearing that seemed to indicate that passionate opposition to the benchmarks remains despite a concerted effort by Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Department of Education to tamp down conservative anger over the standards.
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has argued that the changes, which include reinserting creative writing into the standards and explicitly including calculus guidelines, as well as the fact that the state has science and social studies standards that aren’t part of the Common Core, justify renaming the initiative as the “Florida Standards.”
Stewart told reporters after the vote that it made the state’s standards clear.
“The vote that the board took today certainly does lay to rest where we’re headed, the direction we’re going with our standards, and this is the right move,” she said.
But dozens of activists slammed the standards during a lengthy public hearing before the vote, portraying Common Core as a federal plot to take over education and blaming it for a variety of ills. While the benchmarks were spearheaded by a coalition of state officials, they have since been encouraged by the U.S. Department of Education.
“I do not want a watered-down, world-class system; I want a school system that promotes American exceptionalism,” said Chris Quackenbush, a leader of the anti-Common Core movement.
At one point, Quackenbush and board chairman Gary Chartrand clashed over an attempt to stop audience members from clapping during the meeting. For a while, the crowd seemed to go along, waving their hands and at least one American flag instead of applauding.
Stacie Clark, another critic of the standards, said Common Core was already causing health problems in the state because of stress over homework and coursework given to students who are too young.
“There is an emergent psychological pandemic taking place among children in Florida,” she said. “It’s called Common Core, or it used to be until it was rebranded. Our children are suffering from anxiety attacks, vomiting, emotional outbursts, headaches and even self-mutilation.”
Terry Kemple, president of Community Issues Council, a Tampa Bay-area Christian advocacy group, was among those saying there could be consequences for elected officeholders, as opposed to the appointed Board of Education.
“We’re hopeful that the Legislature and the governor realize before it’s too late that there will be a political price to pay if they don’t take decisive action to stop Common Core now,” he said.
A few speakers at the hearing took up for Common Core.
“These Florida Standards will help our state and its students remain competitive in the global economy,” said Morgan McCord of Florida TaxWatch.
The board also seemed to indicate agreement with a set of changes to the school grading system, which Stewart will now take to the Legislature. The initiative is meant to simplify the often-confusing grading process while also setting the stage for a new test that will be used in the 2014-15 school year.
While schools will not face penalties for the grades they receive that year, Stewart said the grades would establish a starting point for future cycles. She dismissed the idea that the state should forget doing the grades altogether for fear that it could shock parents and teachers.
“We’ll still see that, but it will just be a year later, and I’m not sure the benefit by just waiting another year,” she said.
But Florida Education Association President Andy Ford said the changes to the grading were “cosmetic” and wouldn’t fix problems with the system.
“Florida needs a pause in this madness,” he said. “School grades are underpinned by high-stakes testing. Even with the education commissioner’s proposed grading simplification, grades will still be largely based on high stakes testing — a test we don’t even have yet.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Nurse Practitioners Win First Round In Fight For More Power
February 19, 2014
Despite opposition from physician groups, a House select committee Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a proposal that would give additional power to nurse practitioners — including allowing them to provide care without doctor supervision.
House Republican leaders have pushed the proposal, at least in part because they say it would help address a shortage of primary-care physicians in the state. Senate leaders have shown less enthusiasm, but Tuesday’s vote was a milestone for the group of health providers technically known as “advanced registered nurse practitioners,” who have long sought more authority.
“This debate will now be had because of the work we’ve done here,” said Rep. Jose Oliva, a Miami Lakes Republican who is chairman of the House Select Committee on Health Care Workforce Innovation.
Physician groups, such as the influential Florida Medical Association, are lobbying against the proposal. They point to years of additional training that doctors receive to provide care and raise questions about why students would want to take on huge amounts of debt to attend medical school if they could do much of the same work as nurse practitioners.
“We’re trying to solve a problem of access and affordability (of medical care), and I think this bill comes at it from a very wrong direction,” said Rep. Gayle Harrell, a Stuart Republican who was one of the lone dissenters in a 13-2 vote by the select committee.
Advanced registered nurse practitioners have more education and training than registered nurses and contend that they already provide much of the care envisioned in the bill (PCB SCHCWI 14-01). Along with applying to nurse practitioners who provide primary care, the bill would apply to specialists such as nurse anesthetists.
Under current law, nurse practitioners work under the supervision of physicians, receiving approval of what are known as “protocols” that outline care. The bill still would allow nurse practitioners to work under the supervision of physicians, but it also would free them to meet criteria to work independently. Also, they could get authority to prescribe controlled substances.
Rep. Cary Pigman, an Avon Park Republican and physician who is leading the House’s effort on the bill, rejected arguments about issues such as the proposed changes leading people to forgo becoming primary-care physicians.
“I see this as opening more doors,” Pigman said. “I see no doors closing.”
But the bill deals with what are known in Tallahassee as “scope of practice” issues, which physician groups typically watch very closely. Rep. Travis Cummings, R-Orange Park, described those issues as a “contact sport.”
Harrell and Rep. Elaine Schwartz, a Hollywood Democrat who cast the other dissenting vote, said they think the bill goes too far in expanding the nurse practitioners’ scope of practice.
“It is really much too broad for my comfort,” Schwartz said.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Trouble Looms For State Pension Proposal
February 19, 2014
Hopes seemed to evaporate Tuesday that exempting law-enforcement officials and emergency personnel would make changes to the state retirement system an easier sell this year, as a key senator signaled he had deep reservations about the measure.
The Senate Community Affairs Committee voted to introduce the bill (SPB 7046) by a 5-4 margin after Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, joined the panel’s three Democrats in voting against the measure. Latvala was one of a handful of renegade GOP senators who sank a more-sweeping pension overhaul last year.
“I’ve got more convincing to do,” said Senate Community Affairs Chairman Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, who sponsored the bill.
This year’s Senate proposal would close the Florida Retirement System’s traditional pension plan to new employees after July 1, 2015, though those employees already in the system would remain. New hires would be required to choose between a 401(k)-style investment plan and a “cash balance” plan, which in some ways acts like a 401(k) but guarantees a minimum benefit.
Employees would have de facto accounts set up and would be guaranteed a return of at least 2 percent a year on the money in their accounts. If the plan’s investments made more than 2 percent, then three-quarters of the extra money would go to employees.
Law enforcement officers and emergency personnel who qualify for the “special risk” category could still sign up for the traditional pension plan, a concession that appeared to be aimed at winning over at least some of last year’s critics. But Latvala said that some law enforcement employees wouldn’t qualify, and he questioned carving out certain groups.
He also criticized the decision to move forward with the bill before an accounting study on the effect of the changes was complete.
“I really am taken aback by how you would want us to start voting on a bill where — although you may understand, and you may believe in your heart, and I know you believe in your heart that this is the right thing for our future — when we don’t have any numbers, any actuarial study to show us that,” Latvala said.
Simpson said he could not guarantee that the study would be available in time for every committee that considers the measure, but suggested it would be available at least once.
“What I will say is that it would not be appropriate for the Appropriations Committee to hear this bill before we have that study back,” Simpson said.
Supporters say an overhaul is necessary to help preserve the pension plan without bankrupting the state. Lawmakers already set aside $500 million a year to try to cover costs of the “unfunded actuarial liability” in the plan. If the plan were to fail, Simpson said, retirees who rely on the fund could be wiped out.
“I would just say that anyone that’s opposed to these current shifts (is) jeopardizing everyone in this pension plan’s livelihood,” he said.
House leaders still have not spelled out their plan for revamping the retirement plan, long a top priority of Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel. The House is considering either a cash balance system or a proposal that would divide an employee’s retirement between the traditional pension plan and the investment plan.
“There’s a glaring problem with $500 million a year that we’re putting towards the pension fund as opposed to education,” Weatherford said Tuesday. “It’s too soon to say what exactly what it’s going to look like.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida