Former Escambia Sheriff’s Deputy Trainee Charged With Sexual Assault
September 10, 2014
A former Escambia County deputy trainee was arrested Tuesday for sexual assault.
Chris Loring Majors, 44, was charged with two counts of sexual assault and destruction of evidence. His bond was set at $100,000.
Major was terminated in July after a woman reported that he committed a non-consensual sex act with her while on a service call. Majors reportedly admitted to the act while on duty, but claimed it was consensual.
Majors was hired at the Escambia County Jail in 2008. Shortly after the transfer of the jail from the Sheriff’s Office to the Escambia County Commission last October, Majors applied to become a law enforcement officer with the ECSO. He had just completed the department’s field training program. Prior to that, he would have answered calls only with a senior officer, the Sheriff’s Office said.
VT Aerospace Contract Signed, 300 Jobs Expected
September 10, 2014
The City of Pensacola has inked a lease with VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Inc. (VT MAE), which will establish a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility at Pensacola International Airport, creating at least 300 jobs.
The signing ceremony, which took place immediately following a special City Council meeting where the lease was approved, was also attended by representatives from Escambia County and VT MAE.
“We are so excited to bring VT MAE, one of the world’s leading MRO companies, to Pensacola International Airport,” said Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward. “By working with VT MAE, we will be able to create good, high-paying jobs and cement Pensacola’s position as a true contender for aviation and aerospace industry investment. This partnership aligns well with our regional goals to create a robust aerospace cluster and will help create greater business and job opportunities for the citizens of Pensacola and Escambia County.”
Tuesday’s announcement concludes the nearly two-year campaign by Hayward and economic development partners, including Escambia County and the Greater Pensacola Chamber, to attract VT MAE, a subsidiary of Singapore-based ST Engineering, to Pensacola. Under the terms of the lease, the City of Pensacola will construct an aircraft hangar complex on 18.66 acres at Pensacola International Airport and lease the facilities to VT MAE for a 30-year term. The hangar will be able to accommodate two wide-body aircraft, and is expected to be ready for operations in mid-2016.
Pictured top: Pensacola Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Economic Development Scott Luth presents the VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering lease to the Pensacola City Council Tuesday. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Chance Of Showers – And Rainbows – Again Today
September 10, 2014
There is a chance of showers — and rainbows — again Wednesday across the local area. Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Wednesday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Wednesday Night Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Thursday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Thursday Night Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Friday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Friday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Saturday A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
- Saturday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph after midnight.
- Sunday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
- Sunday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.
- Monday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
- Monday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69.
- Tuesday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Florida Regulators Take Another Shot At Medical Pot Rule
September 10, 2014
State regulators have hurriedly released a revamped framework for Florida’s new medical-marijuana industry, making minor changes after a legislative panel shredded an earlier attempt.
The Department of Health’s Office of Compassionate Use on Tuesday published the revised rule governing everything from stems and seeds to serving the substance to patients. The latest version of the rule includes some tweaks dealing with who can own the five “dispensing organizations” the state will eventually license.
The organizations will grow, process and distribute products — usually delivered in paste or oil form — derived from strains of pot that purportedly do not get users high but are believed to relieve life-threatening seizures in children with rare forms of epilepsy.
A law passed this spring requires each applicant to have a valid registration from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to cultivate more than 400,000 plants, be operated by a nurseryman as defined by state law and have operated as a registered nursery in the state for at least 30 continuous years. At least 60 nurseries meet the criteria.
A preliminary rule crafted by health regulators would have allowed nurseries to have just 25 percent ownership in the entities applying for a license. That option drew a rebuke from the Legislature’s Joint Administrative Procedures Committee, which helps oversee state regulations. The original proposal also neglected to specifically address whether the nursery would be required to have a continued role in running the pot operation.
Under Tuesday’s revised proposal, a nurseryman would have to “serve as the operator,” alleviating some concerns that growers would have little or nothing to do with the grow operation despite lawmakers’ intention that the nascent pot business be controlled by companies with a long agricultural history in Florida. The proposal would require a nursery to have at least 25 percent ownership of the organization that gets a license, but also would offer another alternative that would allow “100 percent of the owners of a nursery” to fulfill that 25 percent requirement.
That ownership change appears aimed at appeasing some nursery owners who expressed concerns about financing the marijuana operations. Because pot is still illegal under federal law, nearly all banks are refusing to lend money to marijuana-related businesses. Converting other areas of operations into cash-only business could pose major problems for growers interested in participating in the medical marijuana start-ups, lawyers for Costa Farms told the Department of Health at a day-long public hearing on Friday.
“Today’s publication of a changed rule demonstrates that our focus has been to get this product to the market as soon as possible with an emphasis on patient safety. We want to avoid unnecessary delays. We want to help children with refractory epilepsy and patients with advanced cancer as quickly and safely as possible,” Florida Surgeon General and Secretary of Health John Armstrong said in a statement after the rule was published.
The proposed rule addresses some of the other questions posed last week by the legislative committee, which challenged the health department’s authority regarding nearly every aspect of the comprehensive rule, and considerations voiced by growers and others at Friday’s hearing.
After one nursery complained, the department changed the boundaries of one of the five regions to allow Martin County to be moved from the Central Florida region, which includes the Orlando area, into the Southeast region, which ranges along the Atlantic coast to Monroe County.
But overall the agency appears to have stuck to its guns and has receded little from its original blueprint. The most contentious aspect of the plan deals with the use of a lottery system to pick licensees in areas where more than one entity applies. Lawyers have threatened to sue over the use of the lottery, but health officials maintain that the process will minimize drawn-out litigation over contract awards that could delay getting the medical marijuana to patients.
The agency intends to certify the rule in 21 days and file it with the Department of State. The rule will then become effective 20 days after filing.
Seeking in part to offset a constitutional amendment that would legalize “traditional” medical marijuana going before voters in November, lawmakers this spring legalized strains of marijuana low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD. The newly created Office of Compassionate Use within the Department of Health has until Jan. 1 to come up with a regulatory framework for the new industry.
Supporters of the low-THC, high-CBD strains of cannabis believe the substance can eliminate or dramatically reduce life-threatening seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy. Under the new law, patients with other spasm-causing diseases or cancer would also be eligible for the strains of marijuana if their doctors order it, and if their doctors say they have exhausted all other treatments.
by The News Service of Florida
Laura R. Moore
September 10, 2014
Laura R. Moore, 85 of Atmore, passed away Monday, September 8, 2014, in Foley. She was retired from Vanity Fair Mills as a supervisor. She was born in Atmore on June 7, 1929, to the late W.D. and Annie Lou Sims Ross. She was a member of the Judson Baptist Church.
She is preceded in death by her husband, John L. Moore, Sr.; and sister, Janice Johnson.
Survivors include one son, Johnny (Pat) Moore, Jr. of Cantonment; one daughter, Susan (Joe) Terry of Atmore; four grandchildren, Chris Terry, Ross Terry, Stacey Neshem, and Tracy Moore; six great-grandchildren, Aaron Neshem, Christian Neshem, Grace Terry, Elizabeth Terry, John Terry and J.W. Terry.
Services will be held Friday, September 12, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Henry Wilson and Bro. Brett Chancery officiating.
Interment will follow in Judson Cemetery.
Active pallbearers will be Jeff Ross, Fred Moore, Fred Peavy, Charles Peavy, Keith Hayles and Ted Malone.
Family will receive friends Friday, September 12, 2014, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 1:30 p.m. until service time.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home, Inc is in charge of all arrangements.
Northview Chiefs Name Players Of The Week
September 10, 2014
The Northview Chiefs have named players of the week from last Friday night’s win over Marianna. They are:
OFFENSE
- Keondrae Lett – 19 carries, 126 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 10 yards
- Cameron Newsome — 13 carries, 119 yards, 1 TD
DEFENSE
- Nick Lambert — 9 tackles, 2 TD saving/game winning tackles
- Jaylen Parker — 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Toney Harrison — 1 return, 11 yards; 1 tackle on KO
DOMINATOR
- Cameron Newsome – Hit on Marianna sideline
Escambia 4-H Horse Club Lending A Hand To The Leaning Post Ranch
September 10, 2014
The Escambia County 4-H Horse Club is working this month to assist the Leaning Post Ranch in Molino with needed supplies while learning about the services the ranch offers to the community. The Leaning Post Ranch’s mission is provide equine assisted activities and therapeutic riding to individuals with disabilities and at-risk youth in Northwest Florida –offering health, hope, and healing through horses. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Nicole Rolin Teague
September 10, 2014
Nicole Rolin Teague, age 36, a resident of Fairhope, AL, passed Tuesday, September 9, 2014.
She is survived by her husband, Matthew Teague; daughters, Molly and Evangeline Teague, all of Fairhope; father, Raymond Rolin of Atmore; mother, Mary Smith of Pensacola; sisters, Megan Gordon and Hillary Rolin, both of Bay Minette.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, September 11, 2014, at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of Fairhope. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.
Interment will follow in Colony Cemetery.
Frank Lee Wolfe
September 10, 2014
On September 9, 2014, Frank Lee Wolfe, age 56, was called to a heavenly homecoming. Frank was born on November 8, 1957, to Claude and Martha Wolfe of Jay. He had four brothers, Johnny (Judy), of Jay, Robert (Susan) of Hamilton, AL, Paula of Pensacola and Joseph of Oakdale, LA. Frank married on September 12, 1980, to Patricia Nell (Todd) Wolfe. He is survived by one daughter, Wendy Williamson (Tony) of Slocomb AL. They have three granddaughters Macey, Cassey, and Katherine.
Frank worked at Jim Walter Doors, Jay City Cafe, ServiceMaster at Monsanto and Whiting Field – Gulf Coast Enterprise. He resided in Jay with Patricia for 33 years.
Thanks to Destin Health and Rehabilitation Center, doctors, family, friends who helped with his care.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 13, 2014, at Jay Funeral Home with Reverend McWilliams and Reverend Wiley officiating.
A visitation will also be held from 1 p.m. until service time at Jay Funeral Home.
Burial will be held privately at a later time.
Jay Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Rattlesnake Bite Victim Back Home, Tells Her Story
September 9, 2014
A Walnut Hill woman returned home Monday afternoon, two days after being bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake.
Saturday morning, Sandy Marsh was outside her home on Highway 97A. She was picking weeds that were popping through the rocks in her well manicured lawn. She reached under a bench to pull a small weed, and that’s when she was bitten on a finger by the poisonous snake.
“The bite was really like a little prick,” she said, sitting back on the bench Monday afternoon. “But I knew what had happened when I saw the snake. My first thought was really my dogs. So I shooed the dogs away and grabbed a shovel and killed the snake. I wanted to protect the dogs, and I knew that would want to know what kind of snake it was for the anti-venom.”
Marsh said she remained calm — a key point she said — and called 911. She told the 911 operator that she was bitten by a pygmy rattler and she was 40 miles from Pensacola.
“The person at 911 told me to put my arm down. It’s good that she said that, because I always thought you were suppose to put your arm up. She (the 911 dispatcher) was really great, telling me that you must keep it below the heart.”
Within moments of her 911 call, the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Atmore Ambulance and LifeFlight were on their way to her remote home.
In the meantime, Marsh tried unsuccessfully to call her husband; he was in an area with no cellular service. “He was up to his neck in weeds at the hunting camp in Alabama, and I was the one here in the yard being bitten by a snake. That was ironic.”
As paramedics loaded her into LifeFlight, Marsh was busy snapping cell phone photos of the helicopter and the view out the windows.
“I really did not realize the seriousness of it all until later, about half an hour later, when my arm began to swell.” Lines on her arm marked the progression of the swelling from the snake venom.
“When the swelling got to here,” she said, pointing at a spot nearing her elbow, “they decided to give me the antivenom. That was rough, much rougher than the snake bite itself. I was so nauseous and pouring sweat.” She ended up with four doses of the antivenom.
Marsh said she learned several important things during her experience –”Keep you cell phone charged. I was trying to take pictures and call my husband but my battery was dying.” Also, she said, wear gloves when working outside.
There’s still no word of any possible lasting effects from the snakebite. For now, Marsh said she’s glad to be recovered enough to return home from intensive care.
“Thank God I had plenty of people praying for me,” she said. “I keep a positive attitude because of them, and I think that really helped save my life.”
Pictured top: Pygmy rattlesnake bite victim Sandy Marsh returned home to Walnut Hill Monday. Pictured top inset: Marsh shows how she was bitten as she pulled a weed from under a bench. Pictured middle inset: Lines on Marsh’s arm Monday continued to show the progression of swelling on her arm. Pictured bottom inset: The pygmy rattlesnake the bit Marsh was just a few inches long. Pictured below: Marsh’s swollen hand and the snake in a small cup shortly after she arrived at Baptist Hospital via LifeFlight. Pictured bottom: Marsh was airlifted from her Walnut Hill home. NorthEScambia.com and courtesy photos, click to enlarge.
