Early Morning Wreck Cuts Power, Closes Roads In Byrneville For Hours
August 24, 2014
Numerous Byrneville area residents were left without power during humid early morning hours of Sunday after a single vehicle accident.
The driver of a Dodge Dakota pickup truck lost control at the intersection of West Highway 4 and Byrneville Road and struck a power pole about 12:45 a.m. The driver was not injured and refused transport to the hospital.
The collision sent power lines down across the intersection, closing both roadways for several hours, and leaving an unknown number of Escambia River Electric Cooperative customers without electricity. Additional EREC customers lost power about 4:00 as the downed pole was being replaced.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Escambia County Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash.
Further details, including the driver’s name, have not been released.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Church Takes Cardboard Testimonies Highway 29, Sharing Stories Of Faith
August 24, 2014
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But a few words on piece of plain brown cardboard can tell a life story and story of faith in a way a thousands words could not touch.
The concept is simple. A piece of cardboard. A permanent marker. On the first side of the cardboard for all to see is the story of a sin, a trial, a struggle or battle. On the flip side is where the person stands today though Christ.
“I was broken and tried to kill myself,” read one side of a piece of cardboard a woman stood holding alongside Highway 29. “But God made me whole!”
Her “cardboard testimony” was one of dozens from CrossFaith Church in Molino at the Highway 29 and Muscogee Road intersection in Cantonment Saturday morning. The biggest challenges, hurts, and prayers of a lifetime condensed into seconds for passing traffic on plain cardboard.
“I was a womanizer, a[n] adulterer, drug user, acholic [sic], dealer, verbally abusive,” tough words for a grown man to admit on one side of his sign. The other: “God cleansed and set me free.”
For a photo gallery with more CrossFaith Church cardboard testimonies, click here.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Heat Advisory: Miserable Humidity, High Around 100
August 24, 2014
Pensacola set a new record high of 99 on Saturday, breaking the old record of 98 set in 1955. Today is set to be another miserably hot day, with possibly record highs and horrible heat indexes.
There is a heat advisory in effect.
Here is your official North Escambia are forecast:
- Sunday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Increasing clouds and hot, with a high near 100. Heat index values as high as 107. Light northwest wind becoming north 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
- Sunday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75. North wind around 5 mph becoming east after midnight.
- Monday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 95. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Monday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. East wind around 5 mph.
- Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
- Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming east after midnight.
- Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. East wind around 5 mph.
- Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Thursday A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
- Thursday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.
- Friday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
- Friday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71.
- Saturday A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89.
Escambia Early Voting Ends With 4,354 Ballots Cast
August 24, 2014
The final, unofficial early voting tally in Escambia County was 4,354 when eight days of early voting came to a close Saturday afternoon.
Polls for the August 26 primary will be open 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. across Escambia County. Voters may also cast previously requested absentee ballots, which must be received in the Elections Office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day. Absentee ballots may not be returned to a polling location.
Looking Back: Escambia Railway Engines In 1942
August 24, 2014
Here are two photographs of Escambia Railway engines that were taken 72 years ago this weekend. The Escambia Railway was operated by Alger-Sullivan Lumber Co. in what is now present day Century.
The above photograph — taken in Century on August 23, 1942, shows Escambia Railway Engine Number 99. It was bought new and purposed as a woods logging engine. It was damaged in 1922 by a boiler explosion caused by low water, killing the fireman. It was repaired and returned to service. Engine Number 99 was retired in 1945 and scrapped in May 1957.
Below is Escambia Railway Engine Number 96, photographed in Century on August 23, 1942. The engine was formerly the T.R. Miller Mill Co. #7 and was used as a woods logging engine. It was retired sometime prior to 1945 and scrapped in April 1957.
Photos courtesy the State Archives of Florida.
Photos: Northview Band, Dance Team, NJROTC And Dance Team
August 24, 2014
The Northview High School Chiefs played a Garnet and Gold scrimmage game Friday night.
The Tribal Beat Band, cheerleaders, dance team and NROTC were also out under the Friday night lights.
For a photo gallery, click here.
For football action photos, click here.
Pictured top: Members of the Northview High School Tribal Beat band. Pictured inset: Fans join in a cheer. Pictured below: Dance team members perform. Pictured bottom: JV & Varsity cheerleaders pose and members of the Northview NJROTC. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Nobody’s Perfect
August 24, 2014
What’s the old saying? You win some and you lose some?
That was the case for the state in court this week, where attorneys won a historic case and lost another. On one hand, lawyers for the Legislature won a total victory in the second round of the legal battle over the state’s congressional districts when a Leon County judge ruled that a redrawn plan complied with the Florida Constitution’s prohibition on political gerrymandering. And he ruled in favor of the state on the question of whether the 2014 elections will be held under the existing map or the new one.
On the other hand, a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by a federal judge — though he suspended his ruling until an almost-inevitable appeal can be heard.
Outside the courtroom, political battles continued ahead of Tuesday’s primaries, though both Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist were expected to cruise to easy victories.
‘A MAP THAT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION’
It’s beginning to seem like the second time is the charm for the Legislature when it comes to following the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts amendments, approved by voters in 2010.
Lawmakers’ first effort at crafting districts for the state Senate was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court; their second attempt was approved. And after Circuit Judge Terry Lewis struck down the congressional map that lawmakers passed in 2012, he accepted the version that the Legislature drew in a special session earlier this month.
In doing so, Lewis brushed aside the arguments of voting-rights organizations who said that by continuing the north-south orientation of Congressional District 5, which runs from Jacksonville to Orlando, the GOP was packing too many black voters into that district in an effort to shore up nearby Republican districts.
Opponents of the map wanted District 5 to run from Jacksonville in the east to Gadsden County in the west. Lewis didn’t dispute arguments that the critics’ version was more compact than the Legislature’s, at least by some measurements.
“The Legislature is not required, however, to produce a map that the plaintiffs, or I, or anyone else might prefer,” Lewis wrote. “The Legislature is only required to produce a map that meets the requirements of the Constitution.”
The judge also rejected a request from the League of Women Voters of Florida and other groups that had challenged the map to push back elections in seven districts affected by the rewrite. A lawyer for the voting-rights organizations promised an appeal, despite Senate President Don Gaetz’s request that the litigation end.
“I believe the people of Florida have been given fairness and finality by Judge Lewis’ decision and that going forward Democrats and Republicans ought to spend less time in the courtroom and more time working to build a better Florida,” Gaetz said.
Republican Congressman Daniel Webster, whose district was redrawn as a result of the court battle, appeared to be taking no chances. Webster has established a fund that could be used to pay legal expenses, the National Journal reported.
The filing, according to the National Journal, said the fund is “for the sole purpose of defraying the legal costs … in connection with his candidacy for an election to federal office.”
END OF THE GAY MARRIAGE BAN?
The state has had less success defending the ban on same-sex marriage, which Florida voters approved in 2008. A handful of state courts had already ruled that the restriction is unconstitutional, and a federal judge followed suit Thursday. The significance of U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s ruling is that it would be the first to apply statewide — if, that is, it takes effect.
Hinkle agreed to stay his ruling pending a likely appeal by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Between the Florida case and rulings in other states striking down similar bans on gay marriage, the issue is believed to be on a fast track to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The institution of marriage survived when bans on interracial marriage were struck down, and the institution will survive when bans on same-sex marriage are struck down,” Hinkle wrote in a 33-page ruling. “Liberty, tolerance, and respect are not zero-sum concepts. Those who enter opposite-sex marriages are harmed not at all when others, including these plaintiffs, are given the liberty to choose their own life partners and are shown the respect that comes with formal marriage.”
The ruling excited Floridians like Christian Ulvert, a Democratic political operative who married his partner, Carlos Andrade, last year in Washington, D.C. Ulvert and Andrade are among nine couples who challenged the marriage ban.
“It’s a judge recognizing my marriage to my husband in a state where I was born and raised. And it means that a law that discriminated against couples like me and Carlos is unconstitutional,” Ulvert said.
But Florida Family Policy Council President John Stemberger, who drafted and pushed the 2008 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, dismissed the idea that he and other supporters of the restriction are on the wrong side of history.
“A little boy who longs to have a father in the inner city — that will never be on the wrong side of history,” he said. “The little girl who has two dads and doesn’t have a mom and she wants someone to guide her through the changes that a woman’s body goes through — that’s never going to be on the wrong side of history. And the beauty of how a man and woman come together and life is born and the next generation springs from that, that’s never going to be on the wrong side of history.”
ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE BATTLE ROYAL
At least officially, both Scott, the Republican incumbent governor, and Crist, a former Republican running to regain his old job as a Democrat, have primary challengers.
Scott is up against a pair virtually unknown candidates, one of whom has drawn more press notice for her bizarre fundraising reports than her platform. Crist’s challenge is a bit more difficult, with former Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich having spoken to essentially every Democrat group that will hear her as she mounts a long-shot bid against Crist.
But the primary races have largely taken a back seat to the expected head-to-head battle between Florida’s last two governors. Scott tried to seize the initiative this week, touting plans to boost education spending and shore up the state’s infrastructure and meeting with climate scientists who don’t share the governor’s previous skepticism about man-made global warming.
In a series of campaign stops, he hyped a plan to reinforce the state’s roads, ports and airports.
“I am committed to keeping Florida moving by creating strategic investment opportunities to expand our state’s transportation system,” Scott, who appeared Monday in Jacksonville, said in a prepared statement.
The plan focuses heavily on expanding parts of the existing transit infrastructure by affirming support for the state Department of Transportation’s $41 billion 5-year work program.
Scott also promised to propose a budget in 2015 that would increase school spending to its highest level in history on a per-student basis. The old record is held, not coincidentally, by Crist.
“Because we were able to get Florida’s economy back on track, revenues are now projected to stay at a strong enough rate to support historic investments in education,” Scott said.
On both counts, critics said the governor, who rejected high-speed rail money and cut education spending early in his term, was experiencing politically convenient election-year conversions.
“No right-minded parent or teacher in this state believes Rick Scott, the same guy who cut K-12 education by $1.3 billion, cares about anything but holding onto power so he can keep giving away our tax dollars to corporations,” Crist campaign spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said in a statement.
It wasn’t clear that any similar turnabout was coming on climate change. In 2010, during his first run for office, Scott said he wasn’t convinced climate change was man-made. Since then, when asked how he’d handle the problem, he’s said he’s “not a scientist.”
Scientists met with Scott on Tuesday, but said they didn’t think they had made much of an impact on the governor, who said little other than to ask whether the professors’ students were getting jobs in Florida.
“He didn’t reflect on the science,” David Hastings, a professor of marine science and chemistry at Eckerd College, said after the meeting. “So he asked modest questions, but he did not ask questions that reflected his understanding of the material.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Judge Terry Lewis rules that the Legislature’s proposed fix for the state’s congressional districts is in line with the Florida Constitution’s ban on gerrymandering, and that this year’s elections will go forward under a 2012 redistricting plan.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “So I can promise you: It’s not my anticipated lobbying office, ’cause I don’t see that in my future, ever. I would rather be struck by a bolt of lightning than to be up there lobbying those folks. They’re not my cup of tea.”—Attorney John Morgan, on whether his Tallahassee office might be a base for him to lobby.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Biscuits Take Second Straight Over Pensacola
August 24, 2014
After spending the past two seasons pitching for the Low-A Dayton Dragons, Joel Bender finally got the call to start for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
The 23-year-old prospect from Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati and a lifelong Reds fan made the most of it.
Bender gave the Wahoos four strong innings, but the Montgomery Biscuits rallied to win a second straight gave over Pensacola, 8-6, Saturday in front of a sellout 5,038 fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Bender left early with a blister on the tip of the middle finger of his throwing hand. He worked four innings allowing two runs on three hits and struck out three.
“It was very frustrating,” Bender said. “I wanted to compete and stay in the game but it was a close game. I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.”
He might have gotten out ot the game allowing no runs but a high fly ball by Montgomery’s Taylor Motter was misplayed by Wahoos centerfield Brodie Greene. He lost track of the ball, twisted around and fell behind him near the warning track for a double.
Pensacola Manager Delino DeShields said Bender showed good command of his fastball, curveball and change up.
“His command was impressive,” DeShields said. “He wasn’t overwhelmed a bit. He was confident and executed his pitches.”
Bender, who was drafted in the 27th round by Cincinnati in 2010, arrived in Pensacola Saturday morning to help the Wahoos who were desperate for a starter when its winningest pitcher Daniel Corcino, who had 10 wins, was tabbed Thursday night for the first time to play for the parent club Cincinnati Reds.
At Dayton, the left-handed Bender compiled a 6-3 record and two saves in 43 appearances that included one start. Bender has come on late this season. He’s only allowed three runs in 17.2 innings over his last eight appearances. His longest outing was his last when he pitched 5 innings, allowed one run on three hits, and struck out a season-high nine batters.
Bender had played with a lot of the Wahoos staff in Dayton and spring training, including Robert Stephenson and Michael Lorenzen.
“Words can’t tell you how good it feels to get this opportunity,” Bender said. “It’s an honor to be in the rotation with them.”
Designated hitter Kyle Waldrop kept Pensacola in the game early knocking in Yorman Rodriguez in the first and third innings on a single and double, and knocking in Devin Lohman on a single in the fifth inning that tied the score at 3.
However, the Biscuits sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the ninth and had four singles and a double to add four runs to go ahead, 8-3.
The third game of the five-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate the Montgomery Biscuits gets underway two hours later than normal at 6 p.m. Sunday. RHP Ben Lively (2-6, 3.63) takes the mound for the Wahoos and is scheduled to be opposed by the Biscuits RHP Albert Suarez (3-4, 3.57).
Dorothy Marie Campbell Johnson
August 24, 2014
Mrs. Dorothy Marie Campbell Johnson, 77, passed away on Friday, August 22, 2014, in Pensacola.
Mrs. Johnson was a native and lifelong resident of Century. She attended the Happy Valley Holiness Church. She is preceded in death by her husband, Winford A. Johnson; one son, Dewayne Johnson; grandchild, Wendy Land; one great-grandchild, Bella Rain Johnson; parents, Rufus and Katie Campbell; sister, Louise Gandy; and two brothers, Cornelius Campbell and Dink Campbell.
She is survived by her three sons, Allen (Wanda) Johnson of Century, Ray (Paula) Johnson of Jay and Tommy Lee (Angela) Johnson of Brewton; one daughter-in-law, Dianne Johnson of Century; two brothers, James (Velda) Campbell of Century and Billy (Faye) Campbell of Pensacola; 12 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
Funeral services were held Sunday, August 24, 2014, at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Tommy Lee Johnson and Bro. Raymond Wiggins officiating.
Burial was at the McCurdy Cemetery.
Pallbearers were grandsons, Shawn Johnson, Derek Johnson, Justin Johnson, Nathan Johnson, Chad Johnson, Austin Johnson and Dusty Johnson.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Howard Allen Mason
August 24, 2014
Howard Allen Mason, age 87, a native of Walnut Hill and a resident of Molino, passed away, Friday, August 22, 2014.
Howard retired as Wood Yard Superintendent from St. Regis Paper Company, Kraft Division, after 38 years of service. Over the years, Howard was involved throughout Escambia County with various youth baseball organizations. He was well respected within the local baseball community. Howard spent countless hours supporting and traveling with the Country Cloggers. “Heaven has gained a wonderful coordinator and trip organizer”. Over the years we have heard many kind words about our dad. From many people, as well as within his own family, we’ve been told that our dad was “one of a kind”. He was friendly and kind to everyone he met and well respected for his morals and values.
Howard was preceded in death by his parents, Vernon and Eva Strickland Mason; and his beloved daughter, Roxanne Griffith.
Howard is survived by his loving wife of 70 years, Valerie; two sons, Bobby (Eddiemae), and Roger (Susie); grandchildren, Rob Mason, Greg Mason, Julie Swank, Amy Mason, Matt Lee, and Mandie Presley; great-grandchildren, Austin, Kylie, Tori, Matthew, Ryan, Brooklyn, Brittany, Cortney, Shane, Janey, Haley, Mallory and Mason; brothers, Larue, Ellis (Billie Jean), Jerry (Betty); and sisters, Annie Joyce Holt and Verna Scott (Clayton).
The family extends a special thank you to Emerald Coast Hospice, with special gratitude to Brenda, Shari, Megan, and Jason. Howard also wanted to extend a thank you to all his doctors, Dr. Judson, Dr. T Williams, Dr. S Clements, Jr., Dr. J Luetkemeyer, Dr. S Patel, Dr. R Riche, Dr. F Greskovich, Dr. J Lurton, Dr. R Sellers, and Dr. C Chapleau. He also thanks those at Baptist Hospital that helped with the care he received these past few years. Special thanks to the Infusion Center, which became his second home for a while.
Visitation will be held at Faith Chapel North on Tuesday, August 26, 2014, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m.
Funeral Services will be held at Walnut Hill Baptist Church, Wednesday, August 27, 2014, at 10 a.m.
Pallbearers will be grandsons.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Walnut Hill Baptist Church Building Fund, 5741 Arthur Brown Rd, Walnut Hill, FL 32568, in memory of Howard A. Mason.