Molino Park Elementary Parents: Learn More About Bullying
October 13, 2014
Molino Park Elementary School will hold a free Parent Bullying Training program this Thursday at the school.
There will be two identical sessions — one at 8 a.m. and the other at 6 p.m. The evening training will include a free spaghetti dinner sponsored by the Molino Elementary School PTA. The program will be presented by Denise Manassa of the Community Drug & Alcohol Council.
The top three classes with the most family members in attendance at the presentation will win an ice cream party for their class.
Parents and guardians can click here for a printable reservation form to return to their child’s teacher at Molino Park Elementary.+
Reminder: No School Today For Escambia County Students
October 13, 2014
Escambia County School District students are out of school on Monday for a teacher planning day. Teachers and school staff members will work a regular day, participating in various professional development opportunities. Escambia students will return to class as usual on Tuesday.
The next day out of school for Escambia County students will be Veteran’s Day on November 11, following by Fall Break/Thanksgiving November 26-28.
Alabama Woman Claims $83K Lottery Ticket Sold In Davisville
October 13, 2014
An Alabama woman has claimed an $83,200.07 prize for a winning Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 ticket sold in Davisville.
Celestie J. Mullins of Clanton, AL, purchased the ticket for the September 20 drawing at the State Line Gift Shop, 11208 Highway 97. The ticket was one of three winning tickets sold. Other winning tickets matching all five numbers was sold in Sarasota and Miami.
The 392 tickets matching four numbers won $102.50 each. Another 13,058 tickets matching three numbers are worth $8.50 each, and 118,975 tickets holders won a Quick Pick ticket for picking two numbers.
The winning numbers for the September 20 drawing were 4-5-8-21-23.
Hurricane Season? All Quiet In Florida, But Experts Say That Could Change
October 13, 2014
Florida is in the middle of hurricane season, but you’d never know it by looking at the forecast. With a little more than a month left to go, there have been no immediate threats to the Florida coast this year. Tropical Storm Fay and Tropical Storm Gonzalo are in the Atlantic, but are expected to be no threat to Florida.
In fact, it’s been nine years since the state was hit by a significant storm, but Dennis Feltgen, public affairs officer for the National Hurricane Center in Miami, are reminding folks that sometimes there’s a calm before the storm.
“So here we are basically a week into October and yes, there’s a lot of breathings of sighs of relief out there, and I think that’s a little bit too early,” he says.
Feltgen explains the warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico during October and November make hurricanes more likely for the Florida coast, compared to states along the Atlantic.
The last hurricane to directly hit the Tampa Bay area was in October 1921. The last major one to hit Florida was Hurricane Wilma in October 2005.
Daniel Nyquist, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), says while out of sight, out of mind can make people forget about the importance of preparedness, now is a good time to evaluate your supplies and emergency plan.
“You don’t want to be thinking about your own level of preparedness when flood waters are rising, or when you’re feeling the shake of an earthquake,” he stresses.” “You really want to take the time on a day like today when it’s pretty nice outside to think ‘What would I do if this happened to me, how can I get ready, what resources are available?’”
Feltgen agrees that the time to prepare for a hurricane is when the skies are clear.
“If you don’t have a hurricane plan in place, and the hurricane warnings are already flying out there, it’s too late to get your plan,” he points out. “You’re going to be making very difficult decisions under duress, and odds are the decisions you make are going to be the wrong ones.”
Feltgen recommends assembling an emergency kit, and making a family communications plan.
It’s also good to understand evacuation routes in your community and the elevation level of your property to know if it’s flood prone.
Pictured: Hurricane Wilma, the last significant hurricane to hit Florida’s coast, struck in October 2005. Image courtesy NOAA for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Group Calls For DCF To Give Up Child Protection Oversight
October 13, 2014
An advocacy group has called for the Florida Department of Children and Families to relinquish its oversight of child-protective services to local law enforcement or other agencies following last month’s mass murder-suicide involving six children in Gilchrist County.
Roy Miller, spokesman for the Children’s Lobby, said the murders amounted to the last straw in the department’s response to a series of child deaths stretching back many years.
“Why is DCF continuing to do the direct oversight of child-welfare services when they have a three-decade history of not doing it well?,” he asked. “We need a new model.”
Miller’s group was responding to a department report on Don Spirit, the Gilchrist County man who murdered his daughter and six grandchildren before committing suicide on Sept. 18.
Citing media reports, the group said the Department of Children and Families was warned last year that “Spirit, a convicted felon with a history of discharging a gun that resulted in the death of a child, should have no contact with his grandchildren. More damning, some of the grandchildren themselves, as recently as last year, told DCF workers they feared their grandfather. Yet, they were living with him at the time of their horrific deaths and the household composition was known to DCF.”
The Department of Children and Families released a preliminary report last week, saying it would increase staff training and take up other reforms in the wake of the murders. DCF did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Miller’s calls for change.
According to the department, the family had been involved in 18 child-protective investigations since 2006, with Spirit involved in six of the investigations and alleged to be the perpetrator in three. Investigators confirmed that Spirit had physically abused his then-pregnant daughter, Sarah, who became one of his murder victims and was the mother of the six dead children.
The Children’s Lobby said DCF did not enforce its own safety plans or take action after a verified report that Spirit physically injured one of his granddaughters in 2013.
The murders in the small community of Bell drew national attention and scrutiny about DCF’s prior involvement with the family. Both the department and the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office had visited the family’s home as recently as Sept. 2, but the preliminary report said a case note showed that the children were not “in imminent danger of illness or injury from abuse, neglect or abandonment.”
The department concluded that the rampage could not have been foreseen, calling the tragedy “an extreme outlier” — but Miller strongly disagrees.
“Clearly what we are doing isn’t working,” he said.
For nearly two years, the Department of Children and Families has been under fire for the most recent round of child deaths on its watch. Lawmakers responded with a sweeping reform measure and increased funding during the 2014 legislative session.
But although the department has been putting the reforms into place, the murders in Bell have brought a new hail of condemnation.
“While DCF issues one more report stating they will use this tragedy to do better, six murdered children who relied on DCF to protect them don’t get a do-over,” Miller said. “This report is not at all different from any number of previous DCF reports about children the state failed to protect.”
Now, Miller said, the Children’s Lobby will join forces with others critics of Florida’s child-welfare system who believe DCF should transfer the oversight of its protective services to local law enforcement agencies or other community partners, such as local governments, who can do the job better.
Currently, six Florida sheriffs’ offices oversee child-protection services in their counties — Broward, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Seminole — rather than the Department of Children and Families having the responsibility.
Many children’s advocates believe the sheriffs do a better job.
“DCF cannot and should not perform protective investigations,” said Cindy Lederman, a dependency court judge in Miami-Dade County. “DCF has consistently proven itself incapable of conducting comprehensive investigations. We need trained law enforcement officers to take over.”
In February 2010, the state’s Office of Program Policy and Government Accountability released a memorandum concluding that sheriff’s offices have advantages for conducting child-abuse investigations. The state office noted that “due to their law enforcement affiliation, child-abuse investigators working for sheriffs generally have greater access to training and specialists, as well as enhanced cooperation and community respect not always afforded to DCF investigators.”
But some sheriffs have been wary of the responsibility, if only due to the cost. The 2014 Legislature allocated $8.1 million for those sheriffs’ offices that conduct child protective investigations, along with $13.1 million for 191 new investigators at the department.
Nanette Schimpf, a spokeswoman for the Florida Sheriffs Association, said law enforcement officers generally accompany DCF child-protective investigators on cases “because it can be a dangerous job.”
But not all sheriffs choose to oversee the investigations. “It’s on a county-by-county basis,” Schimpf said.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Flash Flood Watch, Tornado Watch
October 13, 2014
There is a flash flood watch and a tornado watch in effect for the North Escambia area. Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Monday Night Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 7pm, then showers and thunderstorms after 7pm. Some of the storms could be severe and produce heavy rainfall. Low around 70. Southeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
- Tuesday Showers and thunderstorms likely before 10am, then a slight chance of showers between 10am and 1pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 50. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 78. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Wednesday Night Clear, with a low around 48. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- Thursday Sunny, with a high near 81. Light west wind becoming northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
- Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 51. Calm wind.
- Friday Sunny, with a high near 82.
- Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 55.
- Saturday Sunny, with a high near 82.
- Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 57.
- Sunday Sunny, with a high near 82.
High School Football District Standings, Schedules
October 13, 2014
Here is a look at local high school football district standings, scores from last week, and Friday night’s schedule for Florida schools:
FHSAA Eligibility Experts Offer Class Today In Escambia County
October 13, 2014
Today, the Escambia County School District will host a team from the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) to conduct training that will address FHSAA rules and regulations for the athletic eligibility for middle and high school student athletes. This training opportunity will be held in the auditorium of Booker T. Washington High School at 6000 College Parkway from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
FHSAA eligibility and compliance experts will educate student athletes and their families on the rules and regulations concerning recruiting as well as how to establish, protect, and maintain a student athlete’s athletic eligibility throughout high school.
Along with student athletes and their families, the public is also invited to attend this training.
Major Fire Destroys Downtown Atmore Business, Threatens Entire City Block (With Photo Gallery And Video)
October 12, 2014
Fire destroyed a downtown Atmore business early this morning and threatened the remainder of a city block.
The fire was reported about 12:45 a.m. in The Parish Grill, a downtown restaurant open only a few months. Atmore firefighters reported smoke showing from the establishment when they arrived on scene. The Poarch Fire Department and the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia (FL) Fire Rescue were called to assist, along with later responds from the McDavid Station of Escambia (FL) Fire Rescue and fire departments from Bay Minette and Brewton.
NorthEscambia.com was the first media on the scene shortly before 1:00, and heavy smoke was rolling from the two story building at the time, prior to the arrival of the Walnut Hill and Poarch fire departments.
For an exclusive photo gallery, click here.
For exclusive raw video from the scene, click here.
The smoke became heavier and heavier, rolling into the night sky above the downtown area. As the smoke rolled out of the building, it appeared to be coming from the second story of the adjacent buildings, including the Smith Trading Company in the old Atmore Hardware building and the historic Strand Theater.
By 1:30 a.m., it appeared firefighters were making little progress in knocking back the fire as they attacked it from the front and rear of the building. A short time later, flames reaching 30-40 feet into the air erupted from near the back of the building. At that point, firefighters pulled out of the building, and an Atmore Fire Department ladder truck was used to make an aerial attack on the blaze, extinguishing the towering flames. But heavy smoke continued to pour from the structure. The ladder truck operator reported that most of the building’s roof had collapsed.
For the next several hours, firefighters alternated fighting the fire from inside the building and aerially from the ladder truck. Small patches of flame would repeatedly burst through the top of the building. The building was a total loss.
As of about 5:00 a.m., the building was still burning.
Carl Anderson, the owner of one adjacent business, Carl’s/The Tot Shop, said his building suffered smoke and water damage. Anderson also owns the adjacent former Atmore Hardware building on the opposite side of the restaurant. As of about 3:00 a.m. he had not entered the building. Firefighters reported smoke but no flames inside the structure.
One firefighters was taken to a local hospital for heat exhaustion; there were no other injuries reported. All of the businesses were closed at the time of the blaze.
The cause of the fire will be determined by the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The Parish Grill building previously housed other restaurants, including The Sweet Shop, Gerlach’s and Pintoli’s.
For an exclusive photo gallery, click here.
For exclusive raw video from the scene, click here.
NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Raw Video: Downtown Atmore Fire
October 12, 2014
NorthEscambia.com exclusive video from downtown Atmore fire.Click here to return to story.
(If you do not see the video above, it is because your home, work or school firewall is blocking YouTube videos.)