Ruby Parker Huggins
October 20, 2014
Ruby Parker Huggins, 91, passed away on Saturday, October 18, 2014. She was a lifelong resident of Molino and had served 27 years in the Escambia County School Transportation Department.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Mose and Effie Perry; first husband, Comer Parker; children, Theresa Mobley and Wayne Parker; three sisters; and one grandson.
She is survived by her husband, Luther Huggins; daughter, Gloria (Eddie) White; sister, Shirley (Nick) Black; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22, 2014, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North.
Burial will follow in Highland Baptist Church Cemetery.
Family will receive friends at 1:00 p.m. prior to services.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Carolyn Walker
October 20, 2014
Carolyn Walker, 73, of Cantonment went home to be with her Lord on October 18, 2014.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Frances Sprayberry; and sister, Sarah Nellums.
She is survived by Theodore Walker, her best friend and loving husband of 43 years. She is also survived by her children, Pam Atiabi, with her children and grandchildren, Brenda Garrett, with her children and grandchildren, Fran Simpson, with her children and grandchildren, Karen Shepley, with her children and grandchildren, Larren and Mike Truitt, with their children and grandchildren, and Lesley Cardenas, with her children and grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters, Betty Scenna and Renee Parker.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, October 24, 2014, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North.
Burial will follow in Cottage Hill UMC Cemetery.
Family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 23, 2014.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Work Continues On $1.8 Million Fannie Road Bridge Replacement
October 19, 2014
Work is continuing on the Fannie Road Bridge just outside Century.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, the bridge construction is near complete, and crews are currently working to prepare and pave the approaches on each side of the bridge. The project is expected to be complete sometime in November, according to FDOT spokesperson Tanya Branton.
The $1.8 million bridge over Dead Lake includes a new concrete structure consisting of two 12-foot wide travel lanes and eight foot shoulders. The project is located on a county road, but funding by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Fannie Road has been closed, with traffic detoured through Century and Flomaton, since March of this year.
Pictured: Crews continue to work on the Fannie Road Bridge over Dead Lake. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century: One Of The Poorest Places In America (A Series Begins)
October 19, 2014
Monday, NorthEscambia.com will begin a multi-part series about Century that will continue (almost) daily for about two weeks.
Numbers don’t lie. Century is, by those numbers, one of the poorest incorporated towns or cities in the entire nation. According to the American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, Century is the 41st poorest place in America and the poorest place in the state of Florida. The median household income is just $17,188 — nearly half of all Century’s 1,698 residents live in poverty.
During our series, we’ll also look at a different side of Century that many people, especially “outsiders” and Highway 29 passerbys, never see.
“Sometimes, its not about the numbers. It’s about the heart and soul of a community.”
That was an unsolicited comment from Century Town Clerk Leslie Gonzalez as we discussed our upcoming series. It speaks volumes about Century, and it is the theme for our look at Century. We’ll look at the bad, but we’ll focus on the good.
We take a look at the literal poor condition that Century is in, by the numbers. But we’ll step out of the box and look the progress being made to improve Century and several exciting things on the horizon.
And we’ll take a look at the heart and soul of one of America’s poorest towns, and we’ll discover the riches that exist in Century.
Molino Fire Responds To CSX Locomotive Fuel Leak
October 19, 2014
The Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to a fuel leak from a train late Saturday morning.
CSX reported a diesel leak, originally estimated at over 50 gallons, from one of their locomotives in the area of Fairground Road, near Brickyard Road. Officials said the spill did not threaten and waterways.
A CSX response team was also dispatched to assist with the cleanup. There was no word Saturday as to what caused the leak.
Learn About Local Option Sales Tax At Meeting Monday At Hillcrest
October 19, 2014
As the election on Tuesday, November 4, approaches Escambia County citizens are encouraged to be informed about the proposals and candidates on the ballot.
The Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) was first approved by Escambia County voters in 1992. It was again approved in 1997 and 2006 with the current round expiring in 2017. In an effort to engage citizens about the details of the already existing Local Option Sales Tax, the County has hosted a series of public meetings throughout its five commission districts.
The remaining meeting schedule concerning Local Option Sales Tax is as follows:
Monday, October 20, 5:30 p.m.
- Hillcrest Baptist Church, 800 Nine Mile Road
Thursday, October 23, 5:30 p.m.
- Jim Bailey Middle School, 4110 Bauer Road
Tuesday, October 28, 6 p.m.
- Pensacola Beach Community Church, 920 Panferio Drive
A presentation and brief video will be shown to illustrate projects that Local Option Sales Tax III has funded and county staff will be available to answer questions.
Weekend Gardening: Colorful Bedding Plants Can Brighten A Winter Day
October 19, 2014
by Santa Rosa Extension Service
Decreasing day length is a signal to start preparing for winter. Soon, deciduous shrubs will drop their leaves and the landscape will appear stark and less impressive. To keep the gloomy days of winter at bay, add cool season bedding plants to the landscape.
Bedding plants are those that are commonly used in residential and commercial landscapes to provide color and interest. No other group of plants can so quickly and economically create a colorful landscape.
Most bedding plants are annuals. These short-lived plants grow from seed, bloom and die within one growing season. The transient nature of annuals means that at the end of their season when they are no longer attractive, annuals are removed and replaced with new plantings.
Many flowering plants prefer a very specific season; therefore, bedding plants are classified into two groups based on the temperatures they prefer. Cool season bedding plants do best in the cold to mild temperatures of October through early May and generally tolerate typical winter freezes without protection.
According to a University of Florida/IFAS publication, bedding plants that can be added to the North Florida landscape now include alyssum, baby’s breath, calendula, carnation, dianthus, dusty miller, foxglove, hollyhock, ornamental cabbage and kale, pansy, petunia, snapdragons and violas.
Most annual bedding plants prefer to be in a sunny location. Prepare the planting beds several weeks before planting. First, remove any weeds or other unwanted plants from the bed. Next, turn the soil to a depth of about eight inches. Spread a two- to four-inch layer of compost, rotted leaves, aged manure, composted finely ground pine bark or peat moss over the bed, and then evenly sprinkle a light application of an all purpose fertilizer. Thoroughly blend the organic matter and fertilizer into the bed, rake smooth and you’re ready to plant.
Gardeners are accustomed to (and even demand) that bedding plants be in bloom when they are purchased. Some cool season bedding plants, however, will provide far superior results if they are purchased when young and before the colorful display begins.
Bedding plants are typically planted to make a dramatic statement. To accomplish that, place multiple plants of the same kind in a bed. Bedding plants generally look best and the beds will fill in better when the rows are staggered. Lay out the first row of plants spaced properly. The second row is laid behind the first row at the appropriate spacing from it, but the plants are placed between the plants of the first row so that they form triangles with those plants.
Flower beds of colorful bedding plants add a lot to the landscape but require a fair amount of maintenance to stay looking their best. Keeping beds well weeded is critical. A two-inch layer of mulch will help considerably in keeping weeds from growing, and using preemergence herbicides (weed preventers) may help in some situations. However, always plan on having to do some hand weeding.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Fangate, The Winds Of War
October 19, 2014
An ill wind blew across Florida politics this week. And much of it was generated by an electric fan.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist’s quest to keep cool at the second debate between himself and Gov. Rick Scott kicked up as much dust as a fan turned to its highest speed. Scott’s team argued that Crist had blown past the rules of the debate, while Crist’s campaign said the incumbent was simply trying to distract attention from his own huffing and puffing.
It was the kind of fantastically weird Florida story that spins out of control. From the evening newscasts to the “Daily Show” and beyond, national figures ventilated their opinions about the latest weird political event in the Sunshine State. Some of those presentations breezed by the nuance to focus on the easy storyline: A fan had stopped a debate in Florida, if only for a few moments.
It would be wrong to blow off the other stories that took place this week. Both the University of Florida and Florida State University are closer to finishing the process of selecting their next presidents. And the Florida Supreme Court ruled on a case that had the potential to turn iPhones into trackers for law enforcement.
But the reports about Fangate whirred along.
THE DEBATE THAT ALMOST WASN’T
It’s still not entirely clear what happened in the run-up to Crist and then (after a few minutes) Scott taking the stage in Davie for their clash over the issues.
The outlines are clear enough: At some point, Crist’s people put a fan on the stage, which ran afoul of at least one version of the debate rules. Crist, a Democrat, was on stage shortly after the debate was scheduled to begin, and Scott, the Republican incumbent, wasn’t. Then the governor appeared.
Almost all agreement breaks down after that.
According to the Crist campaign, former state Sen. Dan Gelber, a close Crist adviser, had discussed the use of a fan with the debate organizers. The Crist camp said it was alarmed by reports that the stage at the remodeled venue had been uncomfortably warm for an event last week with CNN’s Candy Crowley.
But about an hour before the debate, the temperature on the stage checked in at a less-than-balmy 67 degrees, according to a statement issued after the debate by the two groups that organized the event, the Florida Press Association and Leadership Florida.
“[FPA President Dean] Ridings then informed the Crist campaign that there was no temperature issue, and no fan would be needed, or permitted,” the groups said Thursday.
The Crist campaign put a fan on the stage anyway, only to be told that it wouldn’t be allowed. In the ensuing back-and-forth, debate organizers now say Scott never refused to take the stage, as was originally reported; instead he was waiting for the fan situation to be cleared up.
“Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association did not anticipate or plan for the possibility that a candidate would not honor the debate rules,” the statement said. “In retrospect, the debate partners should have been better prepared for this possibility. In addition, we regret that one candidate was allowed to take the stage and allowed to talk before the fan issue was resolved.”
“So, let’s get one thing clear: Rick Scott never refused to take the stage and debate,” Scott campaign manager Melissa Sellers said in a lengthy email late Wednesday, shortly after the debate. “In fact, our campaign was not notified Charlie had even taken the stage because the last we heard, Crist was in an ‘emergency meeting’ with debate organizers pleading for his precious fan.”
But some pointed to the fact that Leadership Florida is tied to the Florida Chamber of Commerce — which supports Scott’s re-election. And the Crist campaign highlighted what it said was the most relevant fact: Their guy was on the stage, and Scott wasn’t.
“Who are you going to believe? Rick Scott, or your lying eyes?” Crist Communications Director Brendan Gilfillan wrote in an email to reporters. He added later: “Charlie was on stage. Everyone saw it … because it was on TV.”
And anyone who didn’t see it live almost certainly heard about it in the furor that followed.
In any case, both had less to complain about than Libertarian Adrian Wyllie, who was left off the stage for good when a federal judge ruled against Wyllie’s request that he be included in the debate despite not polling high enough to qualify.
“For too long, the Republican-Democrat ‘duopoly’ has controlled the conversation, and they have used their power to silence the competition,” Wyllie said in a statement following the decision. “Their attempts to exclude me from the debates is just another example. The people of Florida are demanding a third choice, and this decision is an injustice to those millions of Florida voters crying out for fairness and for their voice to be heard.”
If Scott was looking for something to take people’s minds off the fan flap, he received some fodder on Friday: The state announced that the final jobless numbers before the Nov. 4 general election could be the lowest for Florida since June 2008, when Crist was governor.
The Department of Economic Opportunity posted an unemployment mark for September at 6.1 percent, down from 6.3 percent in August.
THE NEW BOSSES
University of Florida fans had to take a little glee in the hammering that their in-state rival, Florida State University, took for selecting state Sen. John Tharsher, R-St. Augustine, as its next president. But while UF didn’t go with a powerful politician, it still used a lightning-fast process once things really got started.
Cornell University Provost Kent Fuchs was selected quickly, and with little comment, on Wednesday to lead the Gainesville school’s efforts to improve its national academic reputation.
The university’s Board of Trustees unanimously picked Fuchs, 59, to become the school’s 12th president, after a discussion that lasted less than five minutes. The trustees’ selection followed morning interviews with Fuchs and New York University Provost David W. McLaughlin.
Fuchs, pronounced “Fox,” is expected to start at UF just after the beginning of the new year, replacing President Bernie Machen who is retiring in December after 10 years.
Fuchs, who graduated from Miami Killian Senior High School, said he felt privileged to join “Gator Nation,” where he hopes to build on the academic legacy already in place and also intends to become “one of the most enthusiastic of all the sports fans.”
“If I had the opportunity to be any place, this is the place I’d be,” Fuchs said during a news conference. “What is particularly exciting is that you have a single campus here that encapsulates all of higher ed in some sense. … To me, I can’t think of a better dream job.”
As for Thrasher, negotiations between himself and FSU over the contractual details of taking the job appear to be on track.
A draft of a proposed $430,000-a-year, five-year contract released this week has Thrasher taking over as the university’s new president Nov. 10.
Asked about the proposed contract, Thrasher responded in a text, “I’m good” — as most people would likely be with a six-figure compensation deal.
Thrasher is expected to be confirmed by the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees all universities, the first week of November.
‘CAN YOU TRACK ME NOW?’ NOT WITHOUT A WARRANT
Looking to buy a new smart phone for a loved one this Christmas? You no longer have to worry about whether you’ll unwillingly be helping the cops track down that family member or friend.
Pointing to privacy rights, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday said police need to get warrants before using cell-phone information to conduct “real-time” tracking of criminal suspects.
Justices, in a 5-2 decision, sided with a man who was arrested in 2007 in Broward County after a search of his vehicle uncovered a kilogram brick of cocaine hidden in a spare-tire well. Police tracked the man, Shawn Alvin Tracey, through location information given off when cell-phone calls are made.
“We cannot overlook the inexorable and significant fact that, because cell phones are indispensable to so many people and are normally carried on one’s person, cell phone tracking can easily invade the right to privacy in one’s home or other private areas, a matter that the government cannot always anticipate and one which, when it occurs, is clearly a Fourth Amendment violation,” wrote Chief Justice Jorge Labarga, who was joined in the majority by justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Peggy Quince and James E.C. Perry.
But Justice Charles Canady, in a dissenting opinion, wrote that given the “known realities of how cell phones operate … cell phone users have neither a subjective expectation of privacy nor an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy regarding the cell site information generated by their cell phones.”
“Individuals may very reasonably desire that information they provide to third parties —such as a cell service provider, a bank, or a credit card company — be kept private,” wrote Canady, who was joined in dissent by Justice Ricky Polston. “But a strong desire for privacy is not equivalent to a legitimate expectation of privacy.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: The second of three campaign debates between Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist gets snared in “Fangate,” a dispute over whether Crist should have been allowed to have an electric fan cool him during the debate.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Is there anything wrong with being comfortable?”—Former Gov. Charlie Crist, when asked why he insisted on having a fan during a debate.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Election Preview: Charlie Crist, The People’s Governor?
October 19, 2014
Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles from The News Service of Florida, which will include an upcoming story about Rick Scott. This is not an endorsement for any one candidate or party.
It takes at least half an hour to walk down the block with Charlie Crist.
It’s not because the trim, 58-year-old is slow. But a stroll down the street with the former Republican governor, now trying to get his old job back as a Democrat, exhibits Crist’s strongest assets as a candidate.
He glad-hands with store owners, pedestrians and drivers stuck at a stop light. He poses for pictures. He asks about their jobs, their children and their hobbies. With a knitted brow, he listens to their stories. He writes down his cell phone number on the back of a business card if they say they need help. He makes them feel that they matter.
Friends and foes agree Crist is the quintessential pol.
“He is a consummate politician, particularly in the sense that most politicians are actors,” said J.M. “Mac” Stipanovich, a GOP consultant and lobbyist who has known Crist for 25 years and has supported him in every election — until now.
“His social sensors are extremely highly developed. In any situation, he immediately knows the role he has to play in order to please. Then he plays that role flawlessly. It’s intuitive. It’s almost instantaneous. And then, knowing his audience, he knows exactly how to act out his role,” Stipanovich said.
That Zelig-like quality has also made the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat a subject of ridicule from critics, especially those at GOP headquarters.
At an event in his hometown of St. Petersburg where Crist formally announced he was entering the race for governor as a Democrat a year ago, Republican Party of Florida staffers handed out fans bearing Crist’s visage on both sides.
“Charlie Crist is a fan of whatever you want him to be,” the fans — blue on one side, red on the other — read. The gag was just a taste of a bitter battle waged over the past year by the Republican Party, whose leaders view Crist as an apostate. Incumbent Gov. Rick Scott, his backers and the party have reportedly planned to spend up to $100 million, as they paint Crist as an untrustworthy flip-flopper.
Less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 election, the soft-spoken Crist, who often refers to himself as “a live-and-let-live kind of guy,” seemed unfazed by the assaults.
In an interview, Crist said he is confident he can defeat Scott “by going to people in person and having the chance to reacquaint them with my heart and what I care about, which is them.”
As witnessed during a sidewalk promenade or at one of the many black churches he’s visited on Sundays for the past few months, Crist appears to genuinely enjoy something many politicians hate — campaigning.
“I think it’s nice that a person who’s in politics actually likes people. He enjoys retail campaigning. He enjoys politics. He enjoys governing, but I think he enjoys politics as much as anything. I think it’s refreshing when a guy actually likes to mix it up with his constituents,” said Brian Ballard, an influential Republican lobbyist and fundraiser who once raised money for Crist and is now doing the same for Scott.
Campaigning is an activity that Crist, who registered as a Democrat in 2012, has engaged in throughout his two decades in public office, even during the rare times when he wasn’t seemingly running for office.
“Charlie Crist — a lifelong Republican, Reagan conservative — can go to a black church and preach with the appropriate cadence and applaud with the appropriate rhythm and be as tactile and as huggy as anyone in the building. He can drive across town and go to a Republican women’s club and knock the ball out of the park just as easily. And would do both if he thought there were votes both places,” Stipanovich said.
A protégé of former U.S. Sen. Connie Mack, Crist started his two decade-long political career as a Republican when he was elected in 1992 to the Florida Senate, where he served six years before an unsuccessful bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.
Crist then racked up a series of statewide victories, starting with a two-year stint as education commissioner, which became an appointed position two years after he won the seat. In 2002, Crist — a lawyer who flunked the Bar exam twice — was elected attorney general. Four years later, Crist sailed into the governor’s office, defeating Democrat Jim Davis by a seven-point margin.
He never sought a second term as attorney general or governor, another point of ridicule for Crist critics.
A bachelor during his first two years in the governor’s mansion, “The People’s Governor” — a moniker Crist still clings to — could frequently be seen shopping at a nearby Publix supermarket, earplug-wearing bodyguards in tow. Carrying a green plastic basket, often filled with just Crist’s trademark Red Bull and a pre-packaged salad, the governor would turn on the charm for the cashier, holding out his hand and introducing himself as “Charlie.”
The rail-thin Crist’s eating habits — he eats but one meal a day — is also a source of ribbing, and of frustration for campaign workers and staff, who often go hungry on the campaign trail, and even, at one time, for the chef at the Governor’s Mansion.
Crist’s culinary tastes are just one of the quirks drawing derision from detractors.
An avid fisherman who lives in a condominium overlooking the water in downtown St. Petersburg, Crist’s George Hamilton-esque, golden-brown appearance earned him the nickname “The Tan Man.” Crist — an admitted sun lover who once jetted around St. Petersburg in a yellow convertible Mustang — laughs off the handle. He says his Greek heritage is responsible for his bronze look.
The ubiquitous miniature fan inevitably found at Crist’s feet beneath the podium is another source of teasing. At a recent event in Panama City, Crist was cooled by not one but three fans as he delivered remarks to the NAACP’s Florida conference.
Tan, fan and food aside, the most obvious target for critics is the decision by Crist, who reportedly made Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s shortlist as a potential running-mate in 2008, to abandon the GOP in a quest for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Crist ran as an independent against Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek.
Without a party backing him, Crist earned 30 percent of the vote — 10 percent more than Meek — but was handily outstripped by former state House Speaker Rubio, whose 49 percent victory sent him to Washington.
Two years later, Crist revealed his registration as a Democrat at a White House Christmas party, where he was accompanied by his wife, Carole.
The Crists were married in 2008 — Crist was also married briefly in his early 20s — at the Vinoy Renaissance Resort in the former governor’s hometown, which he affectionately calls “The ‘Burg.”
Since then, Crist has been fiercely protective of his wife, who periodically accompanies him on the campaign trail but who is reportedly a major, behind-the-scenes force.
One of the more memorable moments of the Crist wedding featured a boozy Jim Greer, hand-picked by Crist to chair the Republican Party of Florida, who took the stage to belt out several Elvis Presley songs. Greer later pleaded guilty to four counts of grand theft and one count of money laundering and served an 18-month prison sentence. In a salacious tell-all released this summer, Greer excoriated his former pal Crist as a backstabber who would do practically anything to climb to the top of the political heap.
Crist maintains that he knew nothing of Greer’s wrongdoing.
Courting Florida Democrats for more than a year, Crist — a onetime “Reagan Republican” who as a state senator sponsored legislation requiring inmates to serve 85 percent of their prison time and at one time embraced the nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” — repeatedly invokes the mantra that “I didn’t leave my party, my party left me.”
His memoir, released this summer, is titled “The Party’s Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat.”
Crist points to his record bucking his own GOP as chief of state to demonstrate support for causes more aligned with his new party than the one he dumped.
One of his first actions as governor was to make it easier for convicted felons to get their rights restored, including the right to vote. He issued an executive order forcing polls to stay open later during the 2008 presidential election after reports of voters waiting in long lines to cast their ballots. He vetoed legislation that would have forced women to have ultrasounds before getting abortions, a measure later passed by the GOP-dominated Legislature and signed by Scott. In his final year in office, Crist inflamed Republicans when he axed a bill that would have done away with teacher tenure.
This year, Crist apologized to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for his previous support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Florida.
He’s made increased education funding and the environment two of his top campaign priorities.
“All we need is somebody to lead with common sense again. That’s why I’m running. Who understands that everybody counts. That’ we’re all in this together,” Crist told hundreds of black activists in Panama City this month. “It really comes down to one word. Respect. It’s about respect. … These things matter. What goes around is coming around. It’s coming around in 24 days as long as we work hard and do what’s right. We’re going to finish strong.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Mother And Son Indicted In Murder Of Covenience Store Owner
October 18, 2014
An Escambia County Grand Jury had indicted Dontonio Diaz Thornton and Willie Mae Thornton with one count of first degree murder-premeditated or felony in the death of a convenience store owner.
The mother and son are accused in the September 13 murder of Phoung Nguyen Truong, 50. He was found deceased behind the counter at his place of business, the T M Food Mart located in the 1000 block of West Michigan Avenue.
Prosecutors said Truong was shot and killed in the course of a robbery.