Dense Fog Advisory, Good Rain Chance Tonight
February 2, 2014
There is a dense fog advisory in effect for tonight. Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after midnight. Areas of fog before midnight. Otherwise, cloudy, with a steady temperature around 65. South wind around 10 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
- Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 64. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
- Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
- Tuesday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. South wind around 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers before noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
- Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. North wind around 10 mph.
- Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 54. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 59.
- Friday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 46.
- Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 67.
- Saturday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45.
- Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 62.
Gloves Come Off In Governor’s Race
February 2, 2014
Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democrats Charlie Crist and Nan Rich came out swinging on Wednesday at the first event where all three gubernatorial candidates appeared in advance of the November election.
Scott used the release of his election-year budget proposal to take aim at his predecessor without calling out Crist by name, accusing his opponent of “raiding” state reserves while hiking taxes during Crist’s four years as Republican governor.
“Over the last three years, we have cut taxes 24 times and now we are going to give another $500 million back to Florida families,” Scott told editors and reporters at The Associated Press’s annual legislative planning session. “Our tax record in these four budgets represents a sharp contrast to the four budgets before we took office. We have cut taxes dozens of times. But the previous four budgets raised taxes by over $2 billion.”
Crist, who became a Democrat in late 2012, questioned Scott’s ethics and slammed Scott for slashing education spending in his first two years on the job.
“Now he’s trying to fool the people of Florida with an election-year transformation. I don’t believe Florida’s going to get fooled a second time,” Crist said.
Rich, a former Senate minority leader, lumped both governors together and said that Scott’s “bad” policies were rooted in those of his GOP predecessors Crist and Jeb Bush.
“While you will hear a lot of new promises…nothing tells you what a politician will do quite like what he or she has done. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist have had their chance to lead. I believe they have failed,” Rich said.
But Crist largely ignored Rich and instead slammed the incumbent, beginning with Scott’s tenure as CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA. After Scott left the firm, it paid a record $1.7 billion in fines, fees and damages in a settlement for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. The fraud occurred while Scott was CEO but he left the firm days after the feds raided company offices.
“Floridians need to be reminded who I’m running against. This is a guy who headed a company that ended up having to pay the largest fine for fraud in the history of the United States of America at the time. To me that is stunning…and unconscionable,” Crist said. “I’m going to talk about it every day.”
Crist said he would focus his campaign on “ethics, education, the environment and the economy,” the same platform as his first bid for office when he ran for the state Senate in 1992.
Scott, meanwhile, contrasted his budget with repeated digs about what took place before he took office in 2011.
“Florida shed more than 800,000 jobs in the four years before I took office. Taxes increased, debt increased and the unemployment rate rose to 11.4 percent, all while hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost. Florida was in a hole and for four years, there was just more digging,” he said.
When Scott took office in 2011, economic development experts told him that “not only was Florida not competitive for big jobs projects, but we were often not even considered,” he said. “Today — that has all changed.”
But Crist countered that he wants to “create good jobs” for Floridians.
“You do that by thinking big, not thinking small,” he said.
Crist also appealed to his audience, editors and reporters often frustrated by Scott’s unavailability or the governor’s habit of staying on message when answering questions from the media.
“Four years ago you had a governor that liked to talk to you and liked to answer your questions. … I’ll go to all your editorial boards. Now there’s a difference,” he said, referring to Scott’s snubbing of editorial boards when he campaigned for governor in 2010.
Scott also boasted that his budget pays back money into state reserves Crist “raided,” something Crist and the GOP-dominated Legislature used to plug billion-dollar gaps in the state budget during Florida’s economic downturn.
“He raided the taxpayers. His company … had to pay a $1.7 billion fine for fraud. That’s a raid,” Crist told reporters before leaving the Capitol.
Rich portrayed herself as the lone candidate with a history of supporting abortion rights, gay marriage, gay adoption, an increase in the minimum wage and stronger gun regulations.
“It’s pretty clear that Rick Scott doesn’t share these values and frankly there aren’t any other candidates that have the track record that I have … and yes, I’m referring to Charlie Crist,” she said. “I stand on my record. I think he has rewritten his.”
Crist shrugged off criticism from Rich for refusing to debate her, saying he is concentrating on defeating Scott.
“I don’t know. I have all the respect in the world for Sen. Rich. She’s a wonderful person. She’s a great Democrat. And she’s a dear friend. I am focused on defeating Rick Scott. I’ve got to spend the energy doing what I need to do. It’s a Herculean task. It’s like David and Goliath financially, to tell you the truth. So I’m working every day to defeat Rick Scott because I want Floridians to be back in that mansion because if I win, they win. And if he wins, I think they lose,” he said.
by The News Service of Florida
Lee H. Archer
February 2, 2014
Lee H. Archer, 89, was born in Century on November 11, 1924, and died on January 27, 2014, in Pensacola. He retired from St. Regis Paper Company. He worked at Hess Marine and Pensacola Imports. He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He married the love of his life, Aphrodite Betty Kagias, in New York City on May 20, 1945.
He is preceded in death by his brothers, Edgar A. Archer and E.G. Archer; his sisters, Pringle Fitzgerald, Madrie Ree Robinson and Alvis Reeves.
He is survived by his loving wife, Betty K. Archer; brother, Simmie A. Archer; daughters, Barbara A. Rhodes and Cathy A. Pieler; son-in-law, Bill Pieler; son, Mickey Archer; daughter-in-law, Linda B. Archer; granddaughters, Carrie E. Wallace and her husband, Philip, Shannon Kennedy and her fiancé, Cesar Fernandez and Lindsay Fowler and her husband, Chris; great-grandchildren, Audrey Wallace and Scotty Wallace.
Funeral service were held at Saturday, February 1, 2014 at Faith Chapel Funeral Home South.
Interment was at Bayview Memorial Park Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Newman Gersin, Dana Dennison, Lewis Hamilton, Mike Little, Bobby Pittman and Dale White.
Honorary pallbearers will be Abe Welch, Bob Stoner, Michael Johnson, Melvin Penton and Eddie White.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Wounded Warriors Project.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home South is in charge of arrangements.
Dense Fog Advisory Tonight
February 1, 2014
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tonight: Areas of dense fog after 9pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Areas of dense fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Sunday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 53. Southeast wind around 10 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
- Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
- Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. South wind 5 to 15 mph.
- Tuesday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. South wind around 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Northwest wind around 10 mph.
- Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 36. North wind around 10 mph.
- Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 55.
- Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38.
- Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 63.
- Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 46.
- Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 68.
Habitual Traffic Offender That Hit Deputy’s Cruiser Is Sentenced
February 1, 2014
A convicted habitual traffic offender has been sentenced to 12 months probation after hitting an Escambia County deputy’s cruiser during an April traffic stop near Bratt.
The deputy stopped 31-year old Willie Wade Steverson of Atmore for speeding on West Highway 4 at Canoe Creek, about 2.5 miles east of Northview High School, about 8:20 a.m. on April 18. Steverson stopped his Mitsubishi Galant on a moderate incline, several feet in front of the deputy, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. At some point, Steverson removed his foot from his brake, and his vehicle rolled backwards into the deputy’s cruiser.
Steverson was arrested for driving with a suspended license as a habitual traffic offender, a felony charge. After a no contest plea, Judge Joel W. Boles withheld adjudication in sentencing Steverson to 12 months probation and ordering him to pay $568 in costs and fees.
A short time after being sentenced to probation, Steverson was arrested again on third degree petit theft charges. Now he’s facing a violation of probation hearing next month in the traffic accident case in addition to the theft charge.
There were no injuries in the accident. Damage to the deputy’s cruiser was unnoticeable, while Steverson’s vehicle suffered only very minor damage.
Pictured: A convicted habitual traffic offender was jailed in April after his vehicle rolled backwards into an Escambia County deputy’s cruiser on West Highway 4 at Canoe Creek. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Emergency Rooms See Numerous Ice-Related Injuries
February 1, 2014
Our winter ice storm sent a lot of people to the emergency room for falls.
Over a two-day period, Sacred Heart’s ER treated nearly 70 people for slip and fall related injures. They ranged in age from children to senior citizens. Many of the injuries occurred as the patients walked in their own yards.
Sacred Heart also said they had expected to see numerous car accident victims. But those numbers were down, probably because most people heeded the warnings and stayed off the roads.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Scott Proposes Hurricane Holiday; Tops $500 Million In Tax, Fee Cuts
February 1, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott reached his proposed $500 million in election-year tax and fee cuts as he rolled out his support for a 15-day hurricane sales-tax holiday projected to save taxpayers $20 million.
If approved, it would be the first sales-tax holiday on hurricane supplies since 2007.
“This tax holiday will allow families to better protect and safeguard their homes during a storm,” Scott said in a prepared statement.
The recommended discount pushes Scott’s tax- and fee-cut proposals to an estimated $514 million for the upcoming legislative session.
The bulk of the savings would come through a $401 million proposal to cut a controversial 2009 hike in vehicle registration fees. That hike was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Scott’s potential November gubernatorial challenger Charlie Crist, who is running this year as a Democrat.
Scott will also ask lawmakers — as they craft the fiscal plan for the next year — to extend a popular three-day back-to-school sales tax holiday on clothes, supplies and electronics to 10 days, and to shave about $33 million in state revenue by cutting approximately 50 different corporate filing fees.
The school sales tax has been estimated as being a $60 million hit to state and local revenue.
The hurricane season holiday was enacted from 2005 through 2007, following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons in which seven named storms made landfall in Florida. But as the housing market went bust, and state coffers were no longer flush, the idea of the storm season tax break was set adrift.
The governor’s hurricane-tax holiday proposal tops a 12-day tax break period included in a measure (SB 362) filed by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island.
In November, state economists, sitting as the Revenue Estimating Conference, projected that Bradley’s proposal would save taxpayers about $3.8 million.
At the time, economists said the calculation was difficult as many Floridians already have the storm-preparation items around the house as standard parts of hurricane kits.
Items that would be free of the sales tax during the period would include flash lights and other self-powered lights selling for $20 or less; portable self-powered radios, two-way radios, or weather band radios that sell for $50 or less; tarps or other flexible waterproof sheeting that sells for less than $50; first-aid kits that cost under $30; packets of AA, C, D, 6-volt, and 9-volt batteries that sell for under $30; and portable generators worth less than $750.
Bradley’s proposal has its first legislative hearing Feb. 3 before the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee.
The House companion bill (HB 567) by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, has yet to be scheduled for a committee appearance.
A big factor in how much of the tax and fee cuts make it into the next budget depends on projections that economists will update as the legislative session gets underway. The current projection is the state will enter the budget process with a roughly $1 billion surplus.
Scott challenged lawmakers in September to reduce taxes and fees by $500 million. Meanwhile, he also has proposed spending increases in areas such as education, tourism promotion and protection and improvements for the state’s natural springs and the Everglades.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Gearing Up For Session, Campaigns
February 1, 2014
The beginning of February brings with it a month that promises several things, from Valentine’s Day to the beginning of spring training. And, for all intents and purposes, the start of the legislative session.
Like pitchers and catchers who report and start spring training by knocking off the proverbial rust, lawmakers won’t go into full sprint mode over the following month, instead holding committee meetings ahead of the official March 4 opening of the session. But also like the players who will soon show up at camp locations across Florida (and Arizona), they will lay the critical groundwork for what happens in the months ahead.
So Gov. Rick Scott, House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz spent part of Wednesday detailing their plans for the 2014 session to reporters and editors gathered for the Associated Press’ annual legislative planning meeting in Tallahassee. Scott and his prime opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, also traded political shots at the event.
Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court declined to snuff out a medical marijuana initiative that could change all of their calculations.
BUDGETS AND BALLOTS
Officially, Scott’s remarks at the AP meeting were to introduce his new, nearly $74.2 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Most of the highlights were already known: The plan would boost spending for education and child welfare, slash taxes and fees by more than $500 million and fund an array of other politically popular programs in an election year.
There were a couple of new details — $21.6 million in tax breaks by raising the exemption on the corporate income tax from $50,000 to $75,000, and setting aside up to $70 million for Florida Forever, a major land conservation program.
But the governor tried to keep the focus on the tax cuts in the package, including rolling back a motor-vehicle registration fee increase approved in 2009.
“My message to the people of Florida is this: It’s your money,” Scott said. “We want you to keep it in your pockets. Invest in your hopes, invest in your dreams.”
Democrats were unimpressed, noting that the “historic” education budget increase would largely come from rising local property tax revenues, which would account for $374.7 million of the $542 million boost for schools.
“Historic disappointment — that’s what’s historic about this governor’s budget,” sneered House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale.
Scott, though, didn’t focus solely on budgetary business. He used the growth in state revenues and the general improvement in the economy to take some swipes at Crist, a former Republican governor now running as a Democrat for his old job.
“Florida shed more than 800,000 jobs in the four years before I took office,” he said, without needing to point out who was governor then. “Taxes increased, debt increased and the unemployment rate rose to 11.4 percent, all while hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost. Florida was in a hole and for four years, there was just more digging.”
Crist pointed out that Scott had a history of his own, including the incumbent’s time as CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA. After Scott left the firm, it paid a record $1.7 billion in fines, fees and damages in a settlement for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. The fraud occurred while Scott was CEO but he left the firm days after the feds raided company offices
“Floridians need to be reminded who I’m running against,” Crist said. “This is a guy who headed a company that ended up having to pay the largest fine for fraud in the history of the United States of America at the time. To me that is stunning …and unconscionable. I’m going to talk about it every day.”
Crist’s primary opponent, former Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich, tried to tie both men together — using Crist’s former time in the GOP as a cudgel.
“I stand on my record,” she said. “I think he has rewritten his.”
So far, the last couple of months of campaigning appear to have made no real difference. A Quinnipiac University poll released the day after the AP event showed Crist leading Scott, 46 percent to 38 percent — about the same as a November survey by the university’s polling arm. Scott would beat Rich by 4 points, 41 percent to 37 percent, though with a huge chunk of voters undecided.
LET’S GET TO WORK PLAN
Less political, at least on the surface, was a presentation by Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, and Gaetz, R-Niceville, on their shared agenda for 2014. It marks the second straight year that Gaetz and Weatherford, seeking to distance themselves from the rancor between the House and Senate under their predecessors, have done the two-man show.
Especially for an election year, when the tendency is for lawmakers to do their work as quickly as possible and get out of the town, the agenda was ambitious. The two leaders want to cut the “differential tuition” increases that universities can request, expand the state’s tax-credit voucher program, pass a “Florida GI Bill,” turn Florida into “scorched earth” for sexual predators, hit Scott’s tax-cut target and overhaul the state’s pension system.
“We’re doubling down with our legislative agenda in 2014,” Weatherford said. “What we’re doing here today is creating a framework that I believe our legislators and the members of our committees in the House and Senate can work on to refine and improve upon.”
Thurston said he backs the proposals to roll back motor-vehicle registration fees and limit tuition hikes, and the intent of the Republican leadership’s military-friendly “GI Bill.” But he said further details on the GOP agenda are needed.
“Some of the stuff on the list we’ve been advocating for years and years and years,” Thurston said. “So if they’re moving towards that, I’d support that. But I’d like to see the details of how they intend to do that.”
Gaetz said the intent of the GI Bill is to make Florida “the number one military friendly state.” It would include out-of-state tuition waivers for all veterans, free tuition for members of the Florida National Guard and waiver of licensing fees for returning service personnel who move to Florida.
Weatherford and Gaetz’s plans for higher education would include lowering the cap on annual increases under differential tuition from 15 percent to 6 percent.
The House speaker said the purpose of the proposal is to rein in the costs of prepaid tuition plans, which allow parents to lock in tuition and fees for their children to attend state colleges and universities. Because of the differential tuition law, approved in 2009, the plans have to assume that tuition rates will increase 15 percent every year.
The proposal “will dramatically reduce the cost of what is now an unaffordable and out-of-reach Florida prepaid plan for our citizens and for the middle class,” Weatherford said.
But it’s not clear if universities, many of which have chafed under Scott’s efforts to rein in tuition in recent years, will fight the proposal.
FLORIDA: RED STATE, BLUE STATE, OR GREEN STATE?
Meanwhile, after weeding through the minutiae of the English language, a narrowly divided Supreme Court ruled that it was high time voters got to decide whether medical marijuana would be allowed in Florida.
By a 4-3 margin, the court ruled that the summary of a constitutional amendment that voters will see at the polls isn’t deceptive, swatting away arguments from Attorney General Pam Bondi and legislative leaders that the proposal is actually far broader than the summary lets on.
“We conclude that the ballot title and summary fairly inform voters of the chief purpose of the amendment and will not mislead voters, who will be able to cast an intelligent and informed ballot as to whether they want a provision in the state constitution authorizing the medical use of marijuana, as determined by a licensed Florida physician, under Florida law,” the majority wrote in a joint opinion.
In a dissent, Chief Justice Ricky Polston said the ruling “will result in Floridians voting on a constitutional amendment in disguise.” He said the amendment would allow a far wider use of pot than the ballot suggests.
“For example, despite what the title and summary convey to voters, minor aches and pains, stress, insomnia, or fear of an upcoming flight could qualify for the medical use of marijuana under the text of the amendment,” Polston wrote. “This is seriously misleading.”
The ruling means that the marijuana proposal will appear on the November ballot as Amendment No. 2. But it could also complicate efforts to pass a legislative measure to legalize a marijuana extract known as “Charlotte’s Web.”
Proponents of the treatment believe it can dramatically reduce seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy.
Charlotte’s Web is an extract of the marijuana derivative cannabidiol, or CBD, but is low in the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The strain is oil-based, can be taken orally and doesn’t get users high, unlike the medical marijuana that would be authorized under the constitutional proposal.
Legislative authorization “is still our daughter’s and 125,000 other Floridians’ best chance at getting this life-changing medicine quickly,” said Peyton Moseley, whose 10-year-old adopted daughter RayAnn is one of an estimated 125,000 children in Florida diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome.
“Having the full-on legalization of medical marijuana on the ballot in November is fine and good, but if your child’s life depended on her gaining access to a certain kind of medicine, would you want to leave that decision in the hands of the voters?” Moseley said.
But the court’s decision to put the prescription pot question on the ballot could pose a conundrum for conservative lawmakers, already skeptical of the non-euphoric strain.
“I think after people analyze it they are going to kind of line up. They’ll either say there is a right way involving these derivatives and there’s a wrong way and contrast it with the amendment. Or they’ll say people are going to get this all mixed up and think I’m for (medical marijuana). … It depends how their district reads and how they want to be seen,” said House Judiciary Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott unveils the final pieces of his nearly $74.2 billion budget ahead of this year’s legislative session.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “There’s this perception that there’s going to be unlimited money. It’s not like it’s going to be only a Rick Scott negative campaign against Charlie Crist and Charlie Crist is just going to have his name on the ballot. It’s going to be a conversation. It’s not going to be like Pepsi and Tab or Ford and the Malaysian Proton.”– Steve Schale, an adviser to Charlie Crist, on the 2014 governor’s race.
Northview Boys Beat Tate
February 1, 2014
The Northview varsity and junior varsity boys ending their regular seasons Friday night be defeating the Tate Aggies.
Northview 81 Tate 43
In varsity action, Northview downed Tate 81-43. Scoring for Northview were Neino Robinson 27, Cameron Newsome 16, Tony Mcaroy 11, Nick Lambert 9, Tydre Bradley 7, Eric Williams 6, Tanner Plant 3, and Dalton Tullis 2.
Next for the Chiefs is the District tournament beginning February 3 in Chipley.
Northview 62, Tate 57 (JV)
The junior varsity Chiefs finished the season at 5-5 with a 62-57 win over the JV Tate Aggies Friday night. Leading scorers for the Chiefs were Tony Harrison 17, Luke Ware 15, Montivas Odom 10, Bradley Van Pelt 11, Bethea 5, Dunsford 2, Sampson 2.
Blue Angels ‘Rock N Fly’ 5K Planned
February 1, 2014
The first ever Blue Angels Rock N Fly Half Marathon and 5K (3.1 miles) will be March 29 aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, and it promises to bring out the hidden rocker in everyone.
Both races will start at 8 a.m. and the courses will be entirely on NAS Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels and one of the most historical and scenic Navy bases in the country.
All proceeds from the event will go towards the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society, which provides financial support to Sailors and Marines, and the 2014 Pensacola Area Navy Ball.
The Blue Angels Rock N Fly will not just be about running, but will also provide entertainment for spectators and runners throughout the entire event.
“The Rock N Fly Half Marathon and 5K is not just a race, but an event with live music and contests,” said Cmdr. Mike Kohler, director of Health Benefits, Naval Hospital Pensacola, and the race director. “The race is also an opportunity for our community to come out and enjoy NAS Pensacola while supporting the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society, dress up as a rock star if they like and listen to some great music. It should be fun for everyone.”
While there will be awards for top finishers in different age groups, the Blue Angels Rock N Fly is more about having fun than competition. Runners will hear a cornucopia of music throughout the courses from classic rock to modern pop to keep them motivated. After the half marathon, runners and spectators will be entertained with performances by local Pensacola bands on the main stage. There will also be a mullet and best dressed rocker contest, but please keep spandex to a minimum because this is a family event.
Registration cost for the half marathon is $65 by March 16 and $32 for the 5k if also done by March 16. Everyone that registers will receive a poster and t-shirt and all half marathon finishers will receive a medal. For more information or to register, please visit www.runrocknfly.com.