Florida Supreme Court: Pensacola Beach Residents Should Pay Property Taxes
March 21, 2014
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that homes and condominiums in Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach should be subject to property taxes, though they were built on land leased from Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.
Justices upheld 2011 appeals-court rulings in favor of the Santa Rosa and Escambia property appraisers and tax collectors.
The cases centered on long-term leases that the Northwest Florida counties approved for the development of homes and condominiums on the land. Plaintiffs in the cases contended that residences in the area should not be subject to property taxes, known as “ad valorem” taxes, and instead should face intangible personal property taxes. The Supreme Court noted that government-owned property usually is not subject to property taxes.
But it agreed with the 1st District Court of Appeal that the plaintiffs are the “equitable owners” of the properties and should pay the taxes.
“Here, for ad valorem tax purposes, the ‘owner’ of the property is not a governmental entity,” said the 19-page Navarre Beach opinion, written by Justice Charles Canady.
Navarre Wins Aggie Classic (With Final Standings, Thursday Scores)
March 21, 2014
The Navarre Raiders won the 24-team Aggie Classic hosted by Tate High Thursday night with a 5-1 win over the Christ Presbyterian Lions. The West Florida Jaguars finished fourth, the Milton Panthers fifth, the Escambia Gators ninth, and the Tate Aggies rounded out the top 10.
Here are final standings in the 2014 Aggie Classic:
- Navarre Raiders
- Christ Presbyterian Lions
- South-Doyle Cherokees
- West Florida Jaguars
- Milton Panthers
- Brentwood Bruins
- Knoxville Catholic Irish
- Washington Hornets
- Escambia Gators
- Tate Aggies
- Ponte Vedra Sharks
- Second Baptist School
- Davidson Academy Bears
- Sallisaw Black Diamonds
- Edmond North Huskies
- Niceville Eagles
- Washington Wildcats
- Brentwwod Academy Eagles
- Pryor Tigers
- Claremore Zebras
- Tulsa Union Redskins
- Sapulpa Chieftains
- Gibson Tigers
- Jay Bulldogs
Thursday scores were as follows:
Washington Hornets 6. Brentwood Academy Eagles 5
Knoxville Catholic Irish 8, Pryor Tigers 3
Davidson Academy Bears 13, Jay Bulldogs 2
Ponte Vedra Sharks 5, Niceville Eagles 2
Sallisaw Black Diamonds 7, Milton Panthers 4
Christ Presbyterian Lions 7, Second Baptist School 6
Brentwwod Bruins 6, Claremore Zebras 3
South-Doyle Cherokees 6, Escambia Gators 2
Tate Aggies 9, Sapulpa Chieftains 1
Navarre Raiders 5, Tulsa Union Redskins 2
Edmond North Huskies 6, Washington Wildcats 2
West Florida Jaguars 12, Ft.Gibson Tigers 0
Brentwood Bruins 9, Milton Panthers 3
Ft.Gibson Tigers 9, Sapulpa Chieftains 5
Second Baptist School 6, Ponte Vedra Sharks 0
Tate Aggies 8, Knoxville Catholic Irish 7
South-Doyle Cherokees 3, West Florida Jaguars 2
Davidson Academy Bears 8, Sallisaw Black Diamonds 6
Washington Hornets 3, Escambia Gators 2
Claremore Zebras 13, Washington Wildcats 6
Tulsa Union Redskins 15, Niceville Eagles 10
Navarre Raiders 5, Christ Presbyterian Lions 1
Pryor Tigers 12, Jay Bulldogs 0
Edmond North Huskies 0, Brentwwod Academy Eagles 0
Elgia Uriah Petty
March 21, 2014
Mr. Elgia Uriah Petty, 74, passed away on Saturday, March 1, 2014, in Navy Ship, Saipan.
Mr. Petty was a native of Pensacola and was a resident of Navy Ship, Saipan. Mr. Petty was a U.S. Marine and Veteran of the Vietnam War. He was a millwright and worked in the oil fields for various oil companies around the Flomaton and Jay area. He was a graduate of Century High School, where he was star athlete. His parents, Dr. Bill and Nell Petty; two daughters, Tina Petty and Anita Petty and Prentiss mother, Julia Lowery Petty, precede him in death.
Survivors include his daughter, Prentiss (David) Greene of Sylvester, GA; two brothers, Basil (Myung Ja) Petty of Warrior, AL and Joe M. Petty of Bogia; two sisters, Marion (Ronnie) Stedmen of Flomaton and Donna Fillmore of Flomaton; five grandchildren, Nichole (Ryan) Walker of Ellaville, GA, Shawn Greene of Albany, GA, Allison Green of Atlanta, GA, Samuel Colbert of Monroeville and Ashley Green of Sylvester, GA and one great-great grandchild, Julia Suzanne Walker of Ellaville, GA.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, March 22, 2014, at 10 a.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Harlan Spencer officiating.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Ruth C. Lehmann
March 21, 2014
Loving mother and grandmother, Ruth C. Lehmann, 88, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 19. Ruth, who was a Chicago native, worked as a registered nurse for 40 years. Ruth always had a smile in her face and had a beautiful singing voice. She was active in her church and made a positive difference every where she went. Ruth had a compassionate heart and the ability to see beauty in everything. Ruth resided in Cantonment for the past 20 years.
She is survived by two children, Linnea and George; five grandchildren, Lance, Rachel, Don, Eddie and Sandy. Extended family resides in Minnesota and Michigan.
The family would like to thank The Homestead Village for their genuine care.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to Covenant Hospice.
Visitation will be held at Faith Chapel North on Sunday, March 23, 2014 from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. with funeral services immediately following. Rev. Larry Huff will be officiating.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Century, Pensacola At Odds Over Natural Gas Franchise, North Escambia Service
March 20, 2014
The Town of Century and the City of Pensacola are at odds over natural gas service in Bratt and Walnut Hill — a disagreement that has raised concerns that three schools could suddenly be left without natural gas service.
Century currently holds franchise rights from Escambia County to provide natural gas service from the Escambia River westward to almost the Perdido River and from the Alabama state line southward to near Bogia. The franchise area includes Century, Byrneville, Bratt, Oak Grove, Walnut Hill and McDavid.
The 50-year franchise was granted by the county in 1968 to the Town of Century (then known as the Town of South Flomaton) to provide natural gas services to the northernmost part of the county.
Pensacola Energy, formerly known as Energy Services of Pensacola, currently provides natural gas service to commercial customers in Bratt and Walnut Hill — within the Town of Century’s gas franchise area. Pensacola Energy provides natural gas to Ernest Ward Middle School and Escambia Grain in Walnut Hill, and Bratt Elementary and Northview High School in Bratt. They also provide natural gas service to an unknown number of residential customers near Kansas Road, Green Village Road and North Highway 99 in Bratt.
“They have infringed in our territory and taken some of our major customers,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said, adding it would be a “big financial gain” for Century’s gas department to acquire the schools and other customers being served by Pensacola Energy within a territory that legally belongs to Century.
The gas service disagreement between Century and Pensacola exploded in February after Century requested their franchise agreement with the county be extended.
Century is now considering significantly upgrading its capacity for servicing residents and businesses located in this franchise area, but the present franchise expires in five years. Rather than extending the current franchise agreement, the town is requesting that the BOCC adopt a new franchise ordinance that provides it with the same rights and responsibilities, including payment of franchise fees, as those franchises that the commission recently approved with Gulf Breeze and Pensacola.
This new franchise would expire in 2045 would not extend beyond the geographical franchise area previously designated in 1968. Century currently provides gas service only in a portion of their franchise area — near the town limits, south along Highway 29 to and including a portion of Highway 164, and west into Byrneville.
The Escambia County Commission was set to hold a public hearing and vote on the extended franchise agreement back in February, but that action was tabled after Pensacola Energy Director Don Suarez express concerns that Pensacola would no longer be able to serve the schools and other customers in Bratt and Walnut Hill due to different wording in the the franchise agreement.
“We already have customers in this area,” Suarez told the Escambia County Commission in February. “What we are trying to protect are those customers and the service to those customers. There is a clause in the 1968 franchise that allows any customer served by another corporation or entity providing natural gas to those customers to allow them to continue to receive gas from [that corporation or entity]. The new ordinance does not have that clause. And in addition, the original ordinance was not an exclusive franchise; the new ordinance is an exclusive franchise.”
McCall said Suarez “lied to the county commissioners in the meeting”, but McCall did not offer any specifics.
The mayor said Century contends that the old Energy Services of Pensacola provided services illegally in Century’s franchise area and place pipes on county right of ways without county permission. As a result, he said, Pensacola does not actually own the infrastructure used to serve the North Escambia customers.
McCall there are no Pensacola Energy pipelines from Pensacola to Walnut Hill and Bratt. Instead, he said, Pensacola Energy taps into the same Gulf South pipeline that Century uses as their natural gas source. He said the Gulf South meters should be read and the service transferred to Century.
McCall said Pensacola Energy has threatened to cut service to their Walnut Hill and Bratt customers, including Northview, Ernest Ward and Bratt Elementary, without further warning.
“It’s not right,” he said. “In the best of all worlds, they are going to see the handwriting on the wall, and they are going to walk away and there will be no interruption in service.”
“It remains to be resolved whether the City of Pensacola had the right to provide such service, and, further, whether it will be allowed to continue to do so,” Matt Dannheisser, Century’s attorney, said in March 11 letter to Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward.
“The Town of Century had been made aware of certain comments attributable to your staff that customers which Pensacola currently serves in Century’s franchise territory may be immediately cut off and will not have any gas service,” Dannheisser wrote. “The last thing the Town of Century wants is for school children to show up one day for school and there be no gas for heating or preparing food.
“From your conversation with Mayor McCall, I understand that you share those feelings and assured Mayor McCall that service to customers in the Century franchise will not be terminated until our two cities resolve the matter,” the attorney wrote.
Rebecca McLellan, a spokesperson for the City of Pensacola, told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday that “Pensacola Energy has told the Escambia County Commission that it wants to continue to serve its existing customers”.
“Pensacola Energy will continue to serve the current customers in Century until voted otherwise by Escambia County Commission,” she said.
The Escambia County Commission has not yet rescheduled the item for consideration as the parties continue their negotiations.
Pictured top: A Pensacola Energy meter in front of Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill, inside the Town of Century gas franchise area. Pictured below: The Town of Century’s gas franchise map (click to enlarge). NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Emergency Cleanup Over At McDavid Train Derailment Site, Long-Term Monitoring Begins
March 20, 2014
The emergency cleanup from a January train derailment in McDavid has ended and the work focus has shifted to long term environmental concerns. And, Wednesday, the Escambia County Health Department rescinded their health alert for Fletcher Creek.
On January 28, during a rare ice storm, 23 cars from a CSX train derailed behind the McDavid Sawmill on Champion Drive. Four cars containing a 96 percent concentration phosphoric acid derailed into Fletcher Creek which feeds into Cotton Lake and the Escambia River. Three of the cars were breached, one catastrophically. Officials reported as much as 30,000 gallons of corrosive acid spilled into the creek.
The rail cars and the acid that remained in them, impacted water contained during cleanup and impacted soil have all been removed from the site, according to Brandy Smith, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Environmental Management. A long-term monitoring plan has been implemented and will continue through at least March 2015, with numerous locations in Fletcher Creek, Cotton Lake and the Escambia River automatically checked for pH and phosphorous levels.
About 300 fish died in the first two days after the derailment from the high acid concentration, but now acid levels are back near normal.
“The pH levels have returned to normal. Phosphorus is slightly elevated and trending downward,” Smith said Wednesday. “At the end of the one year monitoring period, data will be evaluated to determine if Fletcher Creek and Cotton Lake concentrations have returned to levels consistent with background measurements and reasonably expected not to cause an imbalance in natural populations of aquatic flora or fauna.”
Wetland restoration work at the site, such as stream contouring and planting of native species, is continuing.
Phosphoric acid is used in fertilizer production, pharmaceuticals, detergents, food products, beverages and other products.
Pictured top: A train derailment with tanker cars into Fletcher Creek near McDavid. Pictured inset: Phosphoric acid in Fletcher Creek.
Above: The creek bed restoration on the east side of the derailment site.
Above: A breached rail car. Photo taken February 1.
Above. Neutralization and agitation of phosphoric acid. Photo taken February 5.
Escambia Man Gets 25 Years For Parking Lot Shooting
March 20, 2014
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison for a store parking lot shooting.
James Nathaniel Marshall was sentenced Wednesday by Circuit Judge Linda Noble to 25 years state prison to serve day for day under the 10-20-Life law. Marshall was convicted on January 10, 2014, for aggravated battery with a firearm, shooting into an occupied vehicle and discharging a firearm in public by an Escambia county jury.
The conviction stemmed from a shooting at the Beacon Foodmart on Barrancas Avenue in December 2012. Prosecutors said Marshall got into a verbal argument with two people. Once the argument ended, the other two individuals got into their vehicle to leave. As they began to drive out of the parking lot, Marshall fired shots at their vehicle. One of the individuals exited the vehicle and was struck in the shoulder with one shot. That person was treated at Baptist Hospital and survived.
Two Former Escambia Business Owners Arrested For Sales Tax Theft
March 20, 2014
Two former owners of Escambia County businesses have been arrested on charges they stole state sales tax rather than submitting it to the Florida Department of Revenue.
Charles Buddy Mize, the former owner of the auto repair shop Tune & Lube Center of Pensacola, Inc., has been arrested on charges that he stole more than $14,000 in sales tax he collected from customers, but failed to send to the state, according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
Mize, 44, who lives in Tallahassee, was arrested by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on a felony charge relating to theft of state funds. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines, as well as possible payment of interest and investigative costs. Tune & Lube Center of Pensacola, Inc. was located at 600 E. Cervantes Street in Pensacola.
According to Revenue Department investigators, Mize collected tax from customers at his shop. However, during various periods beginning in 2011, lasting through periods in 2012, he failed to send to the state all of the sales taxes that were collected.
Hugh Brian Carter, the former owner of Carbon Copies, Inc., a business that had specialized in the retail sales of printed material was arrested on charges that he stole more than $18,000 in sales tax he collected from customers, but failed to send to the state, according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
Carter, 49, Pensacola, was arrested by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on felony charges relating to theft of state funds and refusal to file returns and pay taxes due. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines, as well as possible repayment of stolen sales tax, along with payment of interest and investigative costs. Carbon Copies, now closed, was located at 6290 West Nine Mile Road in Pensacola.
According to Revenue Department investigators, Carter collected tax from customers at his business. However, during various periods beginning in 2009, lasting through periods in 2012, he failed to send to the state all of the sales taxes that were collected and failed to file tax returns as require by law.
‘Reubin The Good’ Memorialized
March 20, 2014
Family and friends remembered former Florida Gov. Reubin O’Donovan Askew as a loving, courageous, deeply devout public servant whose FBI code name “Integrity” captured the essence of the man memorialized at a packed church Wednesday.
Askew, who died Thursday at age 85, soothed racial tensions during school desegregation, shaped land and water conservation policies, renewed faith in a corrupt Supreme Court and shed light on government through the voter-approved “Sunshine Amendment” during his tenure as governor from 1971 to 1979.
Five former governors — Charlie Crist, Bob Graham, Bob Martinez, Buddy MacKay and Wayne Mixson — along with Gov. Rick Scott were among the hundreds of mourners who crowded into Faith Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee on a balmy afternoon to bid farewell to one of the state’s most beloved officials from modern times. Former Gov. Jeb Bush had a previous engagement in Tennessee. Past and current members of the Florida Cabinet, dozens of legislators, including House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz, and former agency heads also attended.
In a eulogy, Jim Bacchus, a reporter who went to work as a speechwriter for Askew at age 24, described his former boss as having “a unique combination of character, conscience and courage,” a sentiment reflected in anecdotes told by others before and after the hour-long afternoon service.
The memorial came in the midst of a week-long celebration of Askew’s life that, Bacchus said, widow Donna Lou Askew likened to “an inauguration but the speech has already been given.”
Askew’s message was one of love, borne of his belief that God gave him great abilities so that he could help others, Bacchus said.
“Bring people together. Don’t pull them apart,” Bacchus said.
Growing impassioned, Bacchus elaborated on Askew’s insistence that others remain true to their convictions, whatever the cost.
“Lead. What good does it do you to be in public office if you don’t lead? If you don’t take a chance? If you don’t tell the people what they need to hear and not just what they want to hear? Reubin Askew didn’t need to put his finger in the wind to find out what he believed,” he said. “He only wanted to be in office if he could get there in the right way so he could serve in the right way.”
Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, a former president of Florida State University and former president of the American Bar Association who served in the Legislature when Askew was a senator and governor, remembered his friend as someone who was called “Reubin the Good.”
“The person who coined that phrase I suspect meant it as a cynical remark or a derisive remark. But the truth of the matter, he simply was good. If you think about Reubin Askew, you think of a person of good character, good judgment, and charm,” D’Alemberte said.
Askew will be remembered for “his public service calling and his convictions that Florida could be a model for diversity, for equal opportunity and for integrity,” D’Alemberte said.
“We love Gov. Askew, and today we promise ourselves that the things he valued and fought for will not be lost to Florida,” he said.
Delivering a third eulogy, Askew’s son Kevin called his father “a kind, gentle man” who taught his children “to treat other people as you want to be treated.”
The FBI assigned “Integrity”‘ to Askew as a code name, his son said.
“And that was the man that he was, was integrity,” he said.
Mingling outside the church after the memorial, those who served with or around Askew swapped tales of Askew, a teetotaler who did not allow alcohol to be served in the governor’s mansion and who did not permit cursing in his presence.
Ron Sachs, who also served as Askew’s speechwriter, remembered when Askew asked him for a copy of then-President Jimmy Carter’s interview with Playboy magazine in which the president admitted he had looked at women with “lust.” Sachs said he purchased a copy of the magazine and put it on Askew’s desk. Moments later, Askew called him back.
“He said, ‘I asked you to get me the Jimmy Carter interview with Playboy,’” Sachs said, adding that he told Askew the interview was in the magazine. “He said, ‘I don’t want the magazine.’ So I had to go copy the article with no ads, no photographs, and bring it to him.”
Askew was also stubborn, others recalled.
“When he thought something was right, he sort of put his head down and got it done,” said former Gov. Bob Martinez, who credited Askew with his career in politics. Martinez said Askew convinced him to accept an appointment to a water management board, which led to Martinez becoming Tampa mayor, governor and drug czar to President George H.W. Bush.
People who knew Askew said that, once they went to work for the governor, they remained in his service long after they were off his payroll. Askew, an avid sports fan and Florida State University alum, once ordered a former staffer to deliver play-by-play for a game over a cell phone because Askew could not watch it on television.
“When he called on you, you did what you were assigned,” D’Alemberte said.
Askew is survived by his wife, Donna Lou; children, Kevin Askew and Angela White; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Askew will lie in repose on Thursday at his former home church, First Presbyterian Church Pensacola and will be buried with full military honors Friday in Pensacola.
by Dara Kim, The News Service of Florida
Protestors Call For Restoration Of Civil Rights For Convicted Criminals
March 20, 2014
Faith leaders and ex-felons marched to the Florida Capitol on Wednesday, calling for Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet to reverse a policy and restore the civil rights of people who have served their time.
The protesters wore gags to symbolize the loss by ex-offenders of the right to vote, sit on juries or hold public office, saying Florida’s disenfranchisement rate is the highest in the country — with more than 10 percent of voting-age residents unable to cast ballots, including 23 percent of black Floridians.
Gathered on the Old Capitol steps, speakers said the lives of ex-felons are hard and that some give up and go back behind bars.
LaShanna Tyson, who served 13 years, said she watched other women get out of prison before her “and come right back, telling me ‘It’s easier for me in prison than it is out there.’ I couldn’t understand it, but now I do.”
Tyson added, “To our governor: We’ve all made mistakes, including you. But you know what? Right now I’m seeking that second chance, just like you.”
The clemency board, which consists of Scott and the Cabinet, voted in early 2011 to reverse a policy change four years earlier that allowed felons who had completed their sentences and all other requirements of the criminal-justice system to more easily gain the right to vote.
In 2007, then-Gov. Charlie Crist began the process by which non-violent offenders could regain their civil rights and others could have their cases reviewed. Scott’s administration reversed Crist’s changes and added a waiting period. The new rules require offenders to wait between five and seven years after completing their obligations, including restitution, to apply for their rights to be restored.
Supporters of changing the Crist-era policy said Florida had made it too easy for ex-felons to have their civil rights restored.
“Felons seeking the restoration of rights must show they desire and deserve clemency by applying only after they have shown they are willing to abide by the law,” Scott said in introducing the 2011 change.
According to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which helped organize the rally, an additional application processing time takes about six years, making the total wait as much as 13 years. Even then, based on the current pattern, the group said in a statement, individuals have less than a 1 percent chance of having their civil rights restored.
The coalition said 1.5 million Floridians are affected.
One speaker, Michael Orlando, 26, said he was still paying for mistakes he’d made at 20.
“There are people who don’t know better, because they’ve never been shown better,” he said. “And for some people like myself, that light don’t click on until later on in life. But the state of Florida is saying, ‘It doesn’t matter when the light clicks on. If you made a mistake in your past, you must suffer for a lifetime.’ ”
Jessica Chiappone, who was busted at age 20 on a drug charge and served her time, came to the podium with her 1-year-old. Now 36, Chiappone said she applied for the restoration of her civil rights when she entered Nova Southeastern Law School, but didn’t get them until well after graduation. Now she’s struggling to support three boys on a legal assistant’s salary and can’t afford $3,000 to take the Bar exam.
“I know the common response is that I should have thought of these issues when I broke the law,” Chiappone said. “I was 20 years old. I obviously did not know what I was doing. I also did not know that when I took a plea, I’d be punished for the rest of my life.”
After their rally, the protesters went to the Cabinet room, where Scott was presiding over the clemency board.
They sat quietly with their gags on, but applauded when petitioner Anna Lowe told the governor, “Please don’t judge me for my past. Judge me for my future.”
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and PICO United Florida marched to the capitol Wednesday in Tallahassee to call on Gov. Rick Scott and Cabinet members to restore the civil rights of people who have been convicted of felonies in the past. Photo by Tom Urban for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.