Second Case Of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Confirmed In Area
August 15, 2014
A positive case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) has been detected in Escambia County, Ala., — the first in Alabama and the second in the North Escambia area.
That announcement comes just after the Escambia County (Fla.) Department of Health confirmed that an unimmunized horse in Escambia County, Fla., was recently euthanized because it contracted the mosquito-borne EEE.
According to the Escambia County (Fla.) Department of Health, unimmunized horses are at risk for this disease. Horse owners are encouraged to keep current all equine immunizations for mosquito-borne diseases.
To protect horses from the effects of this disease, vaccinations should be current and delivered on a frequency of two times each year, every six months in consultation with a local veterinary professional.
EEE is a mosquito-transmitted disease that is much more severe than West Nile Virus (WNV). The mortality rate in horses from WNV is reported at around 30%, while the rate for EEE is almost 90%. Infected mosquitoes are the primary source for EEE. The virus causes inflammation or swelling of the brain and spinal cord. General symptoms include central nervous system signs such as: head pressing, convulsions, lack of response to facial stimulation, fever above 103 degrees, ataxia, paralysis, anorexia, depression and stupor. Other symptoms may include irregular gait, teeth grinding, in-coordination, circling, and staggering. All symptoms may not be exhibited by an infected horse.
“This is the time of year that we are extremely vulnerable to the spread of mosquito-borne viruses and we need to protect our livestock and ourselves” stated Alabama Agriculture & Industries Commissioner John McMillan. “I want to encourage horse owners to vaccinate their horses for both EEE and West Nile Virus as soon as possible.”
While EEE rarely infects humans, transmission of the virus to humans is possible from the bite of an infected mosquito. Human signs and symptoms of EEE infection can include sudden onset of headache, high fever, chills, and vomiting. The illness may then progress into disorientation, seizures, and coma. Severe cases of EEE infection in humans can lead to brain damage or death. Persons experiencing symptoms of a mosquito-borne disease should seek immediate medical care.
Century Continues Budget Setting Process
August 15, 2014
The Town of Century continued their fiscal year 2014-2015 budget setting process with a special town council workshop Thursday afternoon. Additional budget workshops are planned for 3 p.m. on Thursday, August 21; and (if needed) Thursday August 28.
The Town of Century’s budget for the current fiscal year is $4.38 million.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Northview, EWMS Showcase Cross Country Programs With ‘Glow Run’
August 15, 2014
Northview High and Ernest Ward Middle schools’ cross country programs hosted a community “glow run” Thursday in Bratt. The event ended just after dark, with runners wearing glow sticks, glow bracelets and other glow in the dark items.
The run gave students and their parents a chance to learn about and sign up for the cross country programs at both schools. For more information about the Northview Cross Country team contact Coach Natalie Nall at nnelson@escambia.k12.fl.us, or for more information about the Ernest Ward Cross Country team, contact Coach Betty Coon at bcoon@escambia.k12.fl.us.
The first scheduled meet for Northview is September 16 at Brewton Middle School. The first home meet will be September 23 at Northview.
Pictured: A community “glow run” Thursday evening at Travis Nelson Park in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Tate High School Showband Offers Preview Show
August 15, 2014
After a summer of hard work, the Tate High School Showband of the South held a Preview Night Thursday at Pete Gindl Stadium for parents and friends. This will be a big year for the band; in addition to Friday night performances, the Showband is headed to the 2014 Dunkin’ Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. Photo by Paula Cawby for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Wahoos Win 2-1 Over Rival Mobile BayBears
August 15, 2014
Hometown prospect Ben Lively remains winless in front of his friends and family at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
But that doesn’t matter as long as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos starter keeps pitching like he did Thursday night. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound righty shut out the Mobile BayBears over six innings, allowed just three hits and struck out seven.
What matters to Lively is his team pulled out a win in the 11th inning, 2-1, against Southern League rival Mobile, which is 26 games over .500 with the best record in the South Division at 73-47.
Travis Mattair lead off the bottom of the 11th inning with a triple off the centerfield wall and the very next batter Devin Lohman drove him home with the winning run on a deep fly ball to right field.
A Gulf Breeze High School baseball standout Lively entered the game with a 0-4 record and 4.73 ERA. Afterwards his comment: “It’s a team sport. As long as we win, I don’t care.”
Pensacola Manager Delino DeShields said Thursday was one of Lively’s best performances in front of the home crowd.
“He was really good tonight,” DeShields said. “I wish we would have held the lead for him and gotten him the W.”
Lively’s had a bit of hard luck that his overall 1-6 record doesn’t explain. Consider this: When allowing two runs or less, which Lively has done in six of his 10 starts with Pensacola, Lively has 1 win, 2 losses and 3 no decisions. Plus, in half of his 10 starts, he’s allowed just three hits or less, with opposing hitters batting .196 against him.
Lively bounced back from his last home start against the Jackson Generals, he allowed five runs – the most all season – in six innings and struck out three batters – his fewest all season.
Mattair, who nearly won a bet that he would blast a homer, said playing at first base behind Lively on the mound is always exciting.
“He has just been lights out,” said Mattair, who has a home run, triple, three doubles and two singles in his last seven hits. “He has that mentality that he’s going to beat you.”
Lohman, wearing a collar of shaving cream, said he was just looking for a pitch to drive out of the infield, which was playing in. He let a first pitch fastball go by and was angry at himself before hitting the walk-off sacrifice fly. Like Lively, he just wanted to get a victory and end their two-game losing streak to Mobile.
“Lively is very intense and the kind of person who fires the team up,” Lohman said. “He plays to win. We’ve had a lot of close games against Mobile this year. It was good to get the win. ”
BLACKED OUT GAME RESUMES The first ever Pensacola Blue Wahoos game suspended because the ballpark lights went out Wednesday resumed Thursday. The BayBears were in the middle of a ninth-inning rally when the blackout happened and the game restarted with the bases loaded with one out and Mobile ahead, 4-3.
Mobile picked up where it left off, adding four more runs on two more hits to win the game, 8-3. In all over two nights, Mobile sent nine batters to the plate and scored six runs on six hits off Pensacola closer Shane Dyer, who had saved 12 games in a row. Dyer, who earned the loss to fall to 0-3, has only blown two saves in 18 tries.
It was the first time in 26 home games this season that the Wahoos lost after leading the game after eight innings.
During the day, Pensacola hired an electrical contractor who repaired a breaker in the malfunctioning lights on the first base side of the field.
GAME NOTES
The fourth game of the five-game series with Arizona Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate the Mobile BayBears (73-47) gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Friday. RHP Robert Stephenson (5-8, 4.59) takes the mound for the Wahoos (52-71) and is scheduled to be opposed by the BayBears LHP Clayton Richard (0-0, 18.00).
by Tommy Thrall
AG Bondi: FDA Going ‘Overboard’ On Cigar Rules
August 15, 2014
Attorney General Pam Bondi labeled as “overbroad” the federal government’s proposed regulations to link electronic cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products to the same rules as the cigarette industry.
Bondi wrote in a letter that she wants the Food and Drug Administration to consider the potential impact of the announced rule changes on Ybor City cigar manufacturer J.C. Newman Cigar, urging the federal agency to “more narrowly tailor these overbroad regulations.”
The FDA is looking to discourage the use of electronic cigarettes and tobacco products among minors by expanding rules now in place on the sales and advertising of cigarettes.
J.C. Newman is the lone survivor of a cigar industry that first came to Tampa in the 1890s.
“This 119-year-old premium cigar company with 130 employees is truly unique in this industry and should not be regulated in the same manner as the nation’s largest cigarette companies,” Bondi wrote on Friday, the deadline for submissions on the federal plan.
Bondi’s letter was separate from a letter signed the same day by 29 other attorneys general that implored the FDA to make the proposed regulations even stronger, particularly in regard to electronic cigarettes.
The e-cigarette devices are seen by some as more acceptable than smoking, with the process involving a vaporizer to inhale nicotine that is often enhanced with flavors that range from simple vanilla, grape and banana to more alluring cotton candy, peach schnapps, pina colada and bubblegum.
“The FDA has recognized that flavored tobacco products containing flavors like vanilla, orange, chocolate, cherry and coffee are especially attractive to youth and are widely considered to be starter products, establishing smoking habits that can lead to a lifetime of addiction,” the group of attorneys general said in the letter.
The group of attorneys general includes 21 Democrats, seven Republicans and one without party affiliation. The effort was led by Eric Schneiderman of New York, Martha Coakley of Massachusetts, Lisa Madigan of Illinois and Greg Zoeller of Indiana.
Regulators have agonized over whether e-cigarettes are a step in helping people quit smoking or serve as a gateway to nicotine addiction.
But the attorneys general said, in their letter, e-cigarettes are exposing an increasing number of youths to nicotine.
Bondi, in her letter, generally supports the enforcement of federal regulations on e-cigarettes, which would be similar to a Florida law approved in the 2014 legislative session.
The measure (SB 224) made it a second-degree misdemeanor as of July 1 to sell e-cigarettes and related products to minors.
Jennifer Haliski, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said Wednesday that letters submitted on the proposed rule change will be reviewed as quickly as possible. However, no timetable is set for when a final decision will be made, she said.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have requested an exemption to the new rules for companies that don’t mass-produce cigars, such as J. C. Newman. The FDA is already considering an exemption for premium cigars that are handmade. J.C. Newman uses vintage machines.
Gov. Rick Scott and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera last month sent a similar request about the impact of the proposed regulations on Florida cigar companies.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Greyhound Bus, Two Semi Trucks Wreck On I-10
August 14, 2014
There were multiple injuries in a wreck involving a Greyhound bus and two semi-trucks Thursday afternoon on I-10 east of Pine Forest Road. The accident shut down I-10 eastbound at Pine Forest Road for several hours.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a Greyhound bus with 19 passengers on board was slowing for traffic eastbound on the inside lane of I-10 and had almost come to a complete stop.
A semi truck drive by Michael Scott Ashby of Apoka, Fla., failed to slow for a double-trailer semi Fedex vehicle driven by Cynthia Sue Laird of Glen St. Mary, Fla.. Ashby’s semi struck the double trailer Fedex vehicle, pushing it into the bus driven by Vikki Elaine Miller of Foley.
According to the FHP, there were nine injured passengers on bus. None of those injuries were considered life threatening. According to an county spokesperson, one of the injuries were considered critical.
Charges are pending further investigation, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Pictured top and inset: The first emergency units arrive on scene at a Greyhound bus accident on I-10 this afternoon east of Pine Forest Road. Pictured below: the scene a short time later. Images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sunny Skies, No Rain Chance For Days
August 14, 2014
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. West wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.
- Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 71. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
- Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. West wind around 5 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
- Saturday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Sunday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Sunday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
- Monday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
- Monday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
- Tuesday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
- Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 74.
- Wednesday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
Man Gets 10 Years Max Sentence For Series Of Century Business Burglaries
August 14, 2014
A man charged with a series of business burglaries in Century has been sentenced to a decade in prison.
Jason Allen Bodiford, 35, entered a no contest plea to multiple charges, included burglary, larceny, criminal mischief property damage and illegal use of a credit card. Bodiford, who told officials he is homeless, received the maximum 10 year sentence from Judge Ross Goodman.
He admitted to investigators that he burglarized Century Marine, Rhonda’s Hair Salon, the Happy Star Chinese Restaurant and the Century Flower Shop. Business owners reported that Bodiford had visited their places of business prior to the burglaries asking for money.
He also allegedly burglarized a car on Hecker Road in Century and stole a credit card that was later used to purchase food at Burger King in Century.
Bodiford was originally arrested December 30 at a motel in Atmore and booked into the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton on a failure to appear charge on traffic tickets in Alabama. He was extradited to Florida to face the burglary related charges.
A Blessed School Year: Prayer Walk Held At Molino Park Elementary
August 14, 2014
The annual back to school Prayer Walk was held Wednesday evening at Molino Park Elementary School. Students and adults from Highland Baptist Church prayed for the Lord’s blessings on the upcoming school year.
Prior to the prayer walk, volunteers worked to clean up the school grounds.
Pictured: A student prayer walk Wednesday evening at Molino Park Elementary School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
