Volleyball: Freeport Downs Northview
September 5, 2014
Freeport defeated the Northview Chiefs in high school volleyball action Thursday in Freeport.
JV. 19-25, 21-25. Freeport wins
Varsity. 19-25, 5-25, 15-25. Freeport wins.
The Lady Chiefs will travel to Pensacola Monday before hosting Baker in Bratt on Tuesday. Games times Tuesday are 4:30 for JV and 5:20 for varsity
Man Charged With Two Counts Of Attempted Homicide, Home Invasion, Burglary
September 5, 2014
A man was been arrested for two counts of attempted murder after a home invasion early this morning in Escambia County.
Hector Adolfo Demontalvo, 20, was charged with two counts of attempted homicide, kidnapping, burglary and home invasion in an incident that began shortly after 4 a.m. in the 200 block of Donald Drive.
The injured victim,Zachary Scott Brown, 22, was found in a home with injuries later determined to be knife wounds.He was transported to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition at this time.
According to witnesses, Demontalvo, who was an acquaintance of Brown, appeared to be under the influence of narcotics. Demontalvo, fled the scene prior to the arrival of deputies, then broke into another house one block way on Henry Street in Pensacola where he attempted to kidnap a female victim, shoot a male victim and attempted to steal a vehicle from the home. He was taken into custody at the scene.
Demontalvo is being held without bond in the Escambia County Jail.
Suspicious Death Now Being Worked As A Homicide
September 4, 2014
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is now working a suspicious death last Friday night as a homicide.
A body was found in the vicinity of a suspicious structure fire in the first block of Herman Avenue. The Sheriff’s Office still has not released the victim’s identity, but investigators are working the case a homicide.
Investigators first asked for the public’s help in locating an orange or red two-door Pontiac in connection with the incident, but that vehicle has since been located.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Firefighter Training: Driver Trapped In Car Under School Bus
September 4, 2014
Dozens of North Escambia area volunteer firefighters received hands-on training with a variety of vehicle accident scenarios Wednesday night.
Members of the Walnut Hill, McDavid and Century stations of Escambia Fire Rescue held the joint training at the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97. Scenarios included trapped vehicle passengers after a car flipped into a wooded area, and a school bus rear-ended by a passenger car.
Firefighters learned techniques for stabilizing vehicles for the safety of both first responders and trapped occupants, the proper way to break and remove glass from a vehicle, and how to use the Jaws of Life properly.
In one exercise, a passenger car rear-ended a school bus, with the car and driver becoming lodged under the bus. In order to reach the driver, firefighters were forced to cut and remove the vehicle’s trunk, roof and seats, in order to rescue the passenger.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured: Three Escambia Fire Rescue stations took part in vehicle extrication training Wednesday night in Walnut Hill. Pictured top: Firefighters watch as a team member uses the Jaws of Life to remove a seat and rescue a driver trapped under a bus. Pictured below: Firefighters stabilize a vehicle that flipped into a wooded area, trapping the occupant. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Company Seeks Help In Finding Crane Stolen From Molino
September 4, 2014
A Pace company is hoping tips from the public will help them find a crane stolen from a lot alongside busy Highway 29 in Molino sometime over the Labor Day weekeend.
The crane belonging to Ellis Crane Works was last seen Saturday parked at the Gulf Power substation on Highway 29 at Molino Road. By Tuesday, the crane was gone and reported stolen.
Anyone with information on the crane is asked to call Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
Pictured: This crane was stolen over the Labor Day weekend from a lot on Highway 29 at Molino Road. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
What A Good Teacher Does At School: Dresses Snazzy, Smells Like Strawberries?
September 4, 2014
When first graders at Molino Park Elementary School were asked “what does a good teacher do at school?”, there were the usual answers about reading and recess, but there were a few surprises too. It is, after all, important that a good teacher “dresses snazzy” and “smells like strawberries and candy” (actual answers).
So what does a good teacher do at school? Here are actual answers from first grade teacher Sara Calhoun’s class at Molino Park Elementary School:
- makes sure everyone obeys the rules
- helps us learn to read
- their voice always sounds kind and nice with gentleness
- reads us stories on the rug
- takes us to recess
- cares and takes care of the kids
- smiles a lot
- gives good instructions for the playground
- dresses snazzy
- lets us have centers
- helps us to be rockstar readers
- let’s us get a treat from the birthday blessing box
- looks fancy and has pretty clothes
- sings “Who Let The Vowels Out”
- has lots of iPads and computers
- always feeds us lunch
- we can clip up if we make a good choice
- never yells or screams
- lets us have scissors and markers
- gives us stickers and candy
- we get cozy critters to sit on our desk if we are good
- teaches us to be ‘bucket fillers’
- teaches us our supplies are tools not toys
- helps us know how to be quiet in the hallway
- makes learning fun
- gives us treasure box
- tells us to add more details to our writing
- gives us a compliment party
- smells like strawberries and candy
- always lets the kids go to the bathroom
- teaches math
- sings silly songs
- lets us have a class pet
- reads “Pete the Cat” books
- gives lots of hugs
Legislative Panel Questions Proposed Rules Setting Up Medical Marijuana Industry
September 4, 2014
A legislative panel that plays a key role in overseeing state agencies has joined the chorus of critics seeking changes to a proposed soup-to-nuts rule setting up Florida’s new medical-marijuana industry.
A 19-page letter from the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee to the Department of Health’s general counsel questions nearly every aspect of the proposed rule, beginning with who would be allowed to apply for one of five licenses to grow, manufacture and distribute a type of cannabis approved during this year’s legislative session.
The rule, proposed by health officials last month and slated for a third and final public vetting Friday, expanded eligible applicants to include businesses in which qualified nurseries have just 25 percent ownership, meaning the nurseries would not be required to have controlling shares of the entities.
But that definition is at odds with the law overwhelmingly approved this spring by the Legislature and supported by Gov. Rick Scott, according to Marjorie Holladay, chief attorney for the legislative committee.
Under the law, an applicant “must possess a valid certificate of 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 been operated as a registered nursery in this state for at least 30 continuous years,” Holladay wrote Friday to Department of Health General Counsel Jennifer Tschetter.
“Thus, it appears that the applicant must be a nursery that meets the criteria of this statute, not an entity with at least a 25% ownership by a nursery meeting the statutory criteria,” Holladay wrote, asking Tschetter to “explain the department’s statutory authority to authorize” — a phrase used repeatedly in the letter — the requirement.
The Legislature legalized strains of marijuana low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD, and gave the newly-created “Office of Compassionate Use” within the Department of Health until Jan. 1 to come up with a regulatory framework for the substance. 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.
The letter from the legislative committee also repeatedly asks the department to elaborate on how it will evaluate requirements laid out in the rule, such as documentation related to technical and technological ability.
The department also needs to explain other requirements, including why site plans need to be drawn to scale, why all employees must undergo background screenings and why all workers must be 21 years of age or older.
And the Department of Health must also come up with a reason the proposed rule would require applicants to provide photographs of public access — including driveways and parking — to the dispensary locations prior to getting a thumbs-up from the state to go into business.
“…It appears the department may be making construction of the facility, or at least the driveway and parking and public access, a precondition of application, which appears to be contrary to its authority,” Holladay wrote.
Other questions posed by the committee’s lawyer address health regulators’ proposed requirement that the cannabis be organically grown and deal with “transportation plans” that would allow “dispensing organizations” to deliver their product statewide but would limit their licenses to a particular region.
The Department of Health left open the possibility that the rule could change, but that likely would not occur until after Friday’s hearing.
“The department will evaluate the committee’s comments, other written comments received, and testimony provided at the hearing on Friday to make decisions about whether a notice of change is appropriate for the proposed rules,” department spokesman Nathan Dunn said in an email Wednesday. “The department will respond to JAPC’s (the committee’s) comments by way of a notice of change or written correspondence after that evaluation and decision-making process is complete.”
The letter comes after intensive discussions between Rep. James Grant, a Tampa Republican who is vice-chairman of the legislative committee, and health department staff.
“I asked staff to make sure we get this right,” Grant said.
Echoing objections expressed by many nursery owners and out-of-state operators seeking to do business in Florida, Grant initially objected to the health department’s proposal to use a lottery method to select the “winner” of the five licenses. Health officials have refused to back down from that process, saying it is intended to minimize potentially drawn-out litigation over the granting of the licenses with the goal of getting the product into the hands of ailing children a quickly as possible. The letter from the committee does not challenge the lottery process.
“We’re going to get sued one way or the other. We need to do our job right to mitigate our potential liability,” Grant, a lawyer, said.
Grant also said the state isn’t doing enough to measure the efficacy of the low-THC cannabis, which has not received approval from the Food and Drug Administration but instead has gained popularity through anecdotes shared by parents of children, some of whom suffered hundreds of seizures daily until starting on a trial-and-error regimen.
Florida’s new law “may have created the first state-sanctioned clinical trials” of the low-THC cannabis, said Grant, one of the House bill’s co-sponsors.
If so, Grant said, “we should be creating data sets” for the brand-new substance soon to be unleashed into “the health care eco-system.” The state, the producers of the cannabis or somebody else should be coding information about the combinations of THC and CBD — and how well the strains perform, Grant said.
Such “structured data” could provide a framework for health regulators if voters approve a proposed constitutional amendment in November authorizing “traditional” medical marijuana, which Grant called “the elephant in the room” no one wants to talk about but which goaded lawmakers into signing off on the low-THC legislation this spring.
“My fear is just to say we’ll let the doctor or the nursery certify that it’s low THC and that’s all we need. They could write that on the back of a napkin,” he said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Poll Shows Scott With Lead Over Crist
September 4, 2014
Little more than two months before Election Day, a new poll shows Republican Gov. Rick Scott with a 5-point lead over Democratic challenger Charlie Crist.
The Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/UF Bob Graham Center poll found that Scott received support from 40.9 percent of the people surveyed, while Crist was at 35.7 percent and Libertarian Adrian Wyllie had 6.3 percent.
In a head-to-head race, Scott led Crist by a margin of 43.7 percent to 37.6 percent.
The telephone survey of registered voters was conducted from Aug. 27 to Aug. 31 by the University of Florida’s Bob Graham Center for Public Service and Bureau of Economic and Business Research. It has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
by The News Service of Florida
Northview Chiefs Name Players Of The Week
September 4, 2014
Northview High School’s Chiefs have named players of the week following last Friday night’s defeat of Bozeman.
OFFENSE
- Gavin Grant – - 6-9 passing, 125 yards, 3 TD, 4 yards rushing
- Jacob Dunsford — 2 rec., 75 yards, 2 TD, 1-3 passing, 24 yards, 1 TD, 2 PT. conversion run
DEFENSE
- Nick Lambert — 4 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FR
- Cameron Newsome — 2 assists, 1 INT, 1 def TD (70 yard int. return)
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Keondrae Lett — 74 yard kickoff return for TD, finished with 233 all-purpose yards and 2 TD
- Chasen Freeman – 5-5 PAT, 19 yard KOR
DOMINATOR
- Zach Payne – Hit on kickoff
The Northview Chiefs will host Marianna Friday night at 7:00 in a non-district game at Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium in Bratt.
More Scattered Showers, Thunderstorms For Today
September 4, 2014
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Thursday Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Thursday Night A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind.
- Friday A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
- Friday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Saturday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
- Saturday Night A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
- Sunday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
- Sunday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Monday A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
- Monday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.
- Tuesday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
- Tuesday Night A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.
- Wednesday A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92.
Pictured: A storm cloud Cantonment Wedmesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.