Escambia Doctor Convicted Of Soliciting A Minor
January 16, 2015
An Escambia County doctor, Brian Mitchell Lee, has been convicted of traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual contact, unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a felony and using a computer to solicit the sexual conduct of a child.
On December 22, 2013, an undercover law enforcement officer responded to Lee’s Craigslist ad seeking sex from “younger fit men.” Between December 22, 2013, and January 2, 2014, Lee engaged in sexually-explicit email conversations with who he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. On January 2, 2014, Lee traveled to a local bowling alley for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with the teenage boy. Law
enforcement arrested Lee upon his arrival.
After the verdict was rendered, Circuit Judge Terry Terrell ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for February 23. At that time, the court will be required to designate Lee as a sexual offender.
Relief At The Pumps: Finally Below Two Bucks
January 16, 2015
Gas prices in the North Escambia area have finally dropped below $2 at several stations.
The price of a gallon of regular unleaded dropped to as low as $1.95 in the North Escambia area Thursday at the Speed Mart at Highway 29 and Tate School Road. A price of $1.97 per gallon was common as other stations in the Cantonment area, while the Tom Thumb in Molino was at $1.99.
In Century, gas was still above $2 — at $2.02 at the Century Food Mart and $2.09 at the BP. In Davisville, the BP was still at $2.09 late Thursday afternoon.
Across the state line in Alabama, gas was $1.99 per gallon in Atmore and as low as 1.88 in Brewton.
The national average of $2.13 per gallon is lowest in nearly six years.
Pictured top: Gas at $1.97 per gallon Thursday in Cantonment. Pictured inset: Gas prices in Atmore were at $1.99. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Leaders Hear Local Wishes During Legislative Luncheon
January 16, 2015
The annual Legislative Luncheon sponsored by the Greater Pensacola Chamber and other local organizations was held Thursday in Pensacola. Members of the local legislative delegation heard from the business and professional community about local issues as they discussed priorities and issues for the upcoming session. The 60-day regular legislative session begins March 3.
Pictured top: (L-R) Rep. Doug Broxson, Rep. Mike Hill, Greater Pensacola Chamber Board of Directors Chair Carol Carlan, Rep. Clay Ingram, Sen. Greg Evers and Pensacola Chamber board member Justin Beck. Pictured below: the 2015 Legislative Luncheon. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Teen Pleads Not Guilty To December ‘Brutal’ Murder Near Munson
January 16, 2015
An 18-year old accused of the December murder of her stepfather near Munson made a video appearance in court Thursday. Taylor Lynn Crongeyer pleaded not guilty to the homicide charge against her.
Prosecutors said she shot 40-year Aubrey Dewayne Cooley who was found dead December 26 with a gunshot wound to his head at his Dale Hall Road home. He was tied to the trailer hitch of a pickup truck with a rope around his ankles.
When they arrived on scene, Crongeyer exited the residence with a large amount of blood on her clothing, according to an arrest report. When deputies walked through the residence, they found blood spots on the floor, a bedroom mattress and outside on the front and back porch areas. They also found a rifle on the floor at the foot of a bed in the master bedroom.
A spokesman for the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office called incident a “brutal homicide”, arresting Crongeyer just hours after the shooting.
She remains in the Santa Rosa County Jail without bond.
Pictured top: Taylor Lynn Crongeyer appeared in court via video Thursday, pleading not guilty to the charges against her. Video capture courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Draft Florida Pot Rule Spells Out Requirements For Growers
January 16, 2015
A panel comprised of the director of the state Office of Compassionate Use, an accountant and a member of the Drug Policy Advisory Council would pick five nurseries to grow, process and dispense medical marijuana under a revamped rule released Thursday by the Florida Department of Health.
The selection committee would take the place of a lottery system initially proposed by the agency but nixed by an administrative law judge last year and is one of a number of changes included in the 10-page draft rule.
The agency is floating the proposal in advance of a Feb. 4 “negotiated rulemaking” meeting — the fourth public session on the new law — where a committee hand-picked by health officials will attempt to hammer out everything from who can grow the pot to how it can be distributed to patients.
State officials have used the rare negotiating process in the past to try to reach consensus on other controversial issues that, like the pot rule, have wound up in court. Most recently, the Department of Health used public negotiations to come up with a rule after a long legal battle about the approval of new hospital trauma centers.
“The department has provided a first draft of rule language that will be followed by sequential drafts as revisions are made leading up to the negotiated rulemaking session on February 4 and 5,” .department spokeswoman Tiffany Cowie said in an e-mail.
Under a marijuana law passed last spring, nurseries that have been in business for at least 30 continuous years in Florida and cultivate at least 400,000 plants are eligible to be one of five “vertically-integrated” entities that will grow, process and distribute strains of cannabis that are low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD, for patients who suffer from severe spasms or cancer.
Doctors were supposed to begin ordering the substance, usually delivered in paste or oil form, for patients on Jan. 1. But after a legal challenge from a group of nurseries and other businesses, an administrative law judge in November struck down the health department’s first proposal for a regulatory structure. That has prompted the department to make another stab at crafting a rule.
The draft proposal released Thursday includes more detail about eligibility for the five licenses than in previous iterations of the rule. For example, applicants would have to address their experience cultivating cannabis, plants not native to Florida and plants for human consumption. They would also have to include experience with tissue culturing or plant genetics and detailed knowledge of cannabis cultivation.
Thursday’s rule includes “robust quality-control” measures and is “consistent with the objectives” laid out by the Legislature in passing the law, said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican who helped craft the legislation and who has expressed frustration over delays in making the low-THC product available for sick patients.
“In the last rule, there was not as much meat on the bone as it related to the qualitative elements. Those have been more fully fleshed out in this version of the rule,” Gaetz said.
Despite repeated complaints from patient advocates and growers who asked the department to consider allowing dispensing organizations to have additional retail locations, health officials in the latest version of the rule stuck to a requirement that the product be dispensed from a building adjacent to the property on which the marijuana is grown.
Thursday’s proposal also would require applicants to address how accessible their facilities are, “e.g., centrally located to several populated areas, located on a main roadway, not in a high crime area, et cetera,” and “proximity of dispensing facilities to patient population.”
Lawmakers leery about the proliferation of pot dispensaries opted to have the nurseries be responsible for all of the elements in the pot industry.
“To many who want to walk cautiously toward a more modern cannabis policy, there was attraction to a fully vertically-integrated model. We have seen the way retail locations spread throughout an area have been corrosive to communities in which they’re located in other states. I’m not saying we won’t ever get to a platform that allows for easier patient access. But I think this is an excellent start,” Gaetz said.
The department, which enlisted former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Bell to act as a mediator for the trauma discussions, has not identified who will be asked to serve in that capacity for the pot negotiations.
“If he’s got the magic pixie dust, it might be helpful to give him a ring,” Gaetz said.
The agency also has not announced who will be asked to serve on the negotiating committee to hash out the new rule. According to a notice issued when the workshop was announced, health officials intend to appoint representatives from a nursery, a testing laboratory, the Department of Health, a patient or patient representative, an attorney experienced in administrative law, a person with experience in agricultural practices and regulation, a physician authorized to order certain types of medical marijuana for patients and a person experienced with regulation of cannabis products elsewhere.
The agency’s decision to use the negotiated rulemaking process has frustrated some growers and other people interested in the new industry because of uncertainty about who will end up on the committee and unanswered questions about what steps health officials will take after the February workshop. Office of Compassionate Use Director Patricia Nelson has said that the Legislature must sign off on the new rule, meaning that the earliest a rule could be passed would be sometime after March 3.
Negotiated rulemaking is a “rare and optional process” seldom used by state agencies but which can be beneficial, said Seann Frazier, a lawyer who worked on the trauma rule.
“You can get the same amount of input from a public hearing as you can from a negotiated rulemaking session. The only difference is the stakeholders are at the table and are required by a mediator to bargain. You can test folks’ assumptions and maybe get some compromises made that simply walking to the podium and taking your turn won’t let you accomplish,” he said.
But families of sick children who have epilepsy and who could benefit from the low-THC cannabis, believed to reduce or eliminate life-threatening seizures, are worried that the agency is dragging its feet.
“We all need to refocus on why this legislation was written in the first place. There are children dying waiting on this medication. There is a real sense of urgency here,” said Ryan Wiggins, a spokeswoman for Holley and Peyton Moseley, who pushed for the low-THC law on behalf of their daughter, RayAnn, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy that can cause hundreds of seizures a week.
The money-making potential of a new marijuana industry has created a distraction, Wiggins said.
“There are a lot of people who have seen this and seen green,” she said. “But the number one goal here is to make sure that these children are able to get their medication and get it in a timely manner so they can stop suffering.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Jay’s Blackmon Signs To Play Softball At Jeff Davis
January 16, 2015
Jay High School senior Dana Blackmon signed Thursday to play softball for the Jefferson Davis Warhawks in Brewton. Blackmon was the Warhawks’ first signee from the 2015 class. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Norma Jean Frazier
January 16, 2015
Norma Jean Frazier was born to Hillary and Erma Houston December 4, 1924, and went home to her savior Tuesday, January 13, 2015.
She loved her family with all her heart and loved family gatherings. Norma was a member of Beulah Freewill Baptist Church and attended Highland Baptist before going into the the nursing home.
She had been a resident of Century Care Center for almost three years. She had the best care anyone could ask for while she was there. She touched the hearts of all the employees there and they touched her and her family as well. Words can not express the love and gratitude we feel for everyone at Century Care Center. They will never know the depth of our heart felt appreciation.
Norma is preceded in death by her parents, Hillary and Erma Houston; beloved husband, Donald Frazier; daughter-in-law, Sylvia Frazier and a sister and several brothers.
She leaves a daughter, Patricia (James) Manning; son, David (Brenda) Frazier; grandchildren, Pam (Arty) Kleinatland, Tammy (Henry) Johnson, Clif (Kristen) Frazier and Davey (Tara) McArthur; great-grandchildren, Spencer Johnson, Kaleb Ward, Kaitlyn Kleinatland, Colton Frazier, Kylea Gibbs and Adam Kleinatland; a sister and several brothers along with many nieces and nephews and a special friend, Eunice Nall.
Pallbearers will be Arty Kleinatland, Clif Frazier, Spencer Johnson, Kaleb Ward, Wayne Houston and Mark Conti.
Davey McArthur will serve as Honorary Pallbearer.
Visitation will take place Saturday, January 17, 2015, from 11:00 a.m. until noon with services following immediately at noon at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North. Officiating will be Henry Johnson.
Interment will take place at Pensacola Memorial Gardens.
Edward “Ed” McAnally
January 16, 2015
Mr. Edward “Ed” McAnally, 77, passed away on Thursday, January 15, 2015, in Atmore.
Mr. Edward was a native and life long resident of Atmore. Mr. McAnally was an avid fisherman, employee of Standard Furniture with 20 years of service and he owned and operated Thomacs Sand & Gravel. He attended The Church of the Living God. His first wife and mother of his children, Estelle McAnally and second wife, Marie McAnally, precede him in death.
Survivors include his three sons, Douglas Edward (Tiffany) McAnally of Birmingham, Gerald (Sharon) McAnally of Atmore, and Tim (Marcy) McAnally of Atmore; one stepson, David (Sabrina) Blackwell of Silverhill, AL; one stepdaughter, Cheryl (William) Bailey of Atmore; 22 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be Sunday, January 18, 2015, at 2:30 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Earl Harrison and Rev. Judd Sessions officiating.
Burial will follow at the Oak Hill Cemetery.
Visitation will be Saturday, January 17, 2015, from 6-8 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Caleb McAnally, Christopher Johnson, Tristan McAnally, Matt Barnett, Kevin Carter and Jimmy Morris.
Honorary pallbearers will be Kris McAnally, Nolan McAnally, Michael McAnally, Robert Harrison, Robert Lewis, Jimmy Morris, Maxwell Myrick, Tony Frazier, Mike Patience and Randy Frazier.
Special thanks to Dr. Shane & Shelton Harigel, Comfort Hospice, Kim & Robin, Amdeysis Home Health, Keith and Niece, Anita Patience.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Michael Shawn Joseph II
January 16, 2015
Michael Shawn Joseph II was born on November 5, 1976, in Pensacola. He was brilliant, funny, and compassionate person to all. He was an adoring father; nothing warmed his heart more than spending time with his two boys. He loved basketball, was a Florida Gator fan, and loved fast cars. Michael dedicated many years as a project superintendent-quality control manager in road construction. People loved being around him because of his great sense of humor and he had a very generous spirit.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Jessica Parker Joseph. He is survived by his sons, John Michael and Jackson Tyler Joseph; mother, Mary Jo Joseph (husband-Thomas Sweeney); father, Michael Shawn Joseph (wife-Susie Joseph); brother, Tyler Harrison Joseph (wife-Rebecca Joseph); uncle, William Harrison Joseph (wife-Katherine Joseph) and his grandmother, Ruth Glass Joseph.
Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. at Faith Chapel Funeral Home South with a memorial service to begin at noon on Saturday, January 17, 2015, with Reverend Wayne Butts officiating.
Carolyn Hortense Moye
January 16, 2015
Mrs. Carolyn Hortense Moye, age 78 of Century, passed away on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at Century Care and Rehabilitation Center in Century.
Mrs. Moye was born in Century and spent her lifetime there as a homemaker. She was a member of Happy Valley Holiness Church. She was preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Leila Kelly Carnley; brothers, Johnny Edward Carnley and Lamar Feith; children Jospeh, Joanne and Randy Moye.
She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Pierce Moye of Century; son, Andy (Donna) Moye of Flomaton; daughters, Patricia (Larry) Johnson of East Brewton, Brenda Peterson of Century and Wanda (Everette) Brown of East Brewton; sister-in-law, Ann Carnley of Cantonment; daughter-in-law, Glenda Copeland of Century; seven grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, January 17, 2015, at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, January 18, 2015, at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel at 2 p.m. with Rev. Raymond Wiggins and Rev. Tommy Lee Johnson officiating.
Interment will follow in McCurdy Cemetery in Century.
Pallbearers will be Everette Brown, Larry Johnson, Jason White, Josh Craft, Jeremy Markey, Donnie Gafford.
Honorary pallbearers will be her great-grandsons, Trysten, Conner, Walker, Matthew, Landon, Hunter, Aydan, Weston, Jeremy.
Flomaton Funeral Home directing.