Free Computer Classes Planned For Century Branch Library
January 1, 2015
Two free computer classes are scheduled for January at the Century Branch Library:
Basic Computer Skills I – Thursday, January 8 – 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
This class will introduce participants to the components of a computer along with basic keyboard and mouse skills.
Basic Computer Skills II – Thursday, January 22 – 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
This workshop will introduce participants to the Windows environment including navigating between different programs.
For more information, contact the Century Branch Library, 7991 North Century Boulevard, at (850) 256-6217.
TaxWatch: Revenue Firms Up For 2015 Florida Budget
January 1, 2015
Lawmakers are expected to have $30.6 billion in General Revenue, plus unspent reserves, to create a state budget in 2015. An historic $30.6 billion budget would be $2.2 billion more than the current spending plan, an increase of 7.9 percent.
“Florida’s economy is faster than most states, which is good news for all taxpayers and residents who rely on state services, from young school children in voluntary pre-K programs to the businesses who use incentives to grow and create jobs,” said Dominic M. Calabro, President and CEO of the independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy research institute, Florida TaxWatch. “The wise investments in our state economy are paying off, and more General Revenue available to the Governor and lawmakers will enable them to increase funding in core services while also providing tax relief to hardworking Florida families.”
Based on the criteria in the state’s Long Range Financial Outlook, policymakers have projected a budget surplus of nearly $1.2 billion considering a continuation budget and $1 billion in reserves. The latest revenue estimating conferences increased General Revenue estimates up by $627.9 million.
The revenue increases are the result of a strengthening economy and lower gas prices, which are boosting consumer confidence. Sales tax collections are up, and so are documentary stamp tax revenues thanks to growth in the housing market. However, not all General Revenue sources are increasing. Indian gaming revenues and Article 5 court fee estimates have been reduced.
Outside of General Revenue projections, other revenue sources are also changing. Property tax estimates are up for the 3rd consecutive year. Taxable value in Florida for 2015 will exceed $1.6 trillion, which is a 5.6 percent growth from the current year. Increasing property values have strengthened the value of a mill ($1 of ad valorem tax per $1,000 of property value), meaning the state will have $459 million in additional local revenue for public schools using the same millage rate.
*The 2014-15 Budget totaled more than $77.1 billion. The $30.6 billion in General Revenue will comprise less than half of the final 2015-16 budget.
2014 In Photos: June
January 1, 2015
We are looking back at the top events of 2014 in photos. Today, we are featuring photos from June.
Hundreds of people turned out despite the heat and humidity for the first annual Twin Cities Volunteers Watermelon Festival in Century.
An open house was held at the new Escambia County 4-H property on Chalker Road in Molino.
Escambia County made a funding commitment of over a quarter million dollars for a red light at the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection in Molino.
The Town of Century received a $50,000 state grant to renovate the existing playground area at Showalter Park.
A Walnut Hill man was jailed for shooting his son on a riding lawnmower.
With an offering of smoked pork and baked beans, the Town of Century took their gas franchise dispute to Walnut Hill, making their case and hoping to drum up support against Pensacola Energy.
The Fizz, Boom, Read: Summer Reading Program made science and reading exciting for kids of all ages at both the Century and Molino branch libraries.
Rep. Clay Ingram announced that the Town of Century has received a $400,000 gas and water system grant.
The Tate High School Class 0f 2014 graduated at the Pensacola Civic Center.
The 113 members of the Northview High School Class of 2014 graduated.
The Molino Volunteer Fire Department held their annual Open House event at the their firehouse on Molino Road.
New Booster Seat Law Begins In Florida
January 1, 2015
Beginning January 1, children ages 4 and 5 were required to sit in a child safety seat or a booster seat rather than only being buckled in a seat belt in Florida.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, booster seat use reduces the risk for serious injury by 45 percent for children ages 4–8 years when compared with seat belt use alone.
“Safety belts save lives, but only when used and used correctly,” said Terry Rhodes, executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. “Booster seats help elevate children to the height at which the safety belt will properly secure them.”
Many children may need booster seats beyond the age required by law, depending on the size of the child and where the seat belt crosses the body. The following recommendations can help determine if your child, after age 5, is ready to wear a seatbelt without a booster seat:
- the child is at least 4’9” tall;
- the child can sit all the way back in the seat and bend knees at the edge of the seat;
- the shoulder belt lays across the chest, not the neck;
- the lap belt lays across the upper thighs, not the stomach.
Children under the age of 13 should ride in the back seat of the vehicle whenever possible for additional safety.
Minnie “Louise” Conway
January 1, 2015
Minnie “Louise” Conway,84 of Atmore, passed away Tuesday, December 29, 2014, in Atmore. She was a caregiver with home health for the home bound. She was born in Atmore on October 5, 1930, to the late William McKinley and Minnie Lee King Conway.
She is preceded in death by a daughter, Willonese Boutwell.
Survivors include one son, Raymond (Donna) Boutwell and one daughter, Eloise Adkins all of Atmore and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Services will be held Friday January 2, 2015, at 4 p.m. from Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Mike Grindle officiating.
Family will receive friends Friday, January 2, 2015, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 3 p.m. until service time.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
2015 Starts Dry But Takes Quick Wet Turn
January 1, 2015
- Thursday Night A slight chance of showers before midnight, then a chance of rain after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Northeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
- Friday Rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 60. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Friday Night A 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 56. East wind around 5 mph.
- Saturday Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 72. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
- Saturday Night Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 56. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
- Sunday A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
- Sunday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. North wind around 10 mph.
- Monday Partly sunny, with a high near 55.
- Monday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39.
- Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.
- Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 39.
- Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 55.
New Opportunities, Challenges For Scott In Second Term
January 1, 2015
As Gov. Rick Scott prepares to take the oath of office for a second time Tuesday, he does so as a different figure than the political newcomer who struggled with his inaugural speech four years ago.
Then, Scott and a Republican Party establishment that had opposed him during a GOP primary were still making their peace. The former health-care executive’s business experienced didn’t seem to have equipped him for the chaos of the legislative process. And Scott had squeaked into the governor’s mansion by one of the narrowest margins in Florida history.
This year, Scott is celebrating a re-election that few thought likely even a year ago. The party seems relatively united behind him, at least for now. And Scott has grown more comfortable in the job of governor.
But he also faces a changing dynamic, with the knowledge that at some point term limits and the inevitable political impulse to look forward will begin to take their toll on his ability to influence the debate. A presidential election looms with the possibility of two candidates from Florida in the Republican primary, and talk of Scott’s successor will grow after the 2016 elections — giving rise to the dreaded “lame duck” status.
“Midway into a second term is probably when we’re going to see it,” said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida.
Perhaps with that in mind, many of the campaign promises Scott made in 2014 were less ambitious than his “7-7-7″ pledge in 2010 to bring 700,000 jobs to Florida in seven years. His “Florida 2020 Plan” focused largely on budget initiatives, many with a short-term focus. For example, Scott promised to boost per-student funding for public education to a record level in the spending year that begins July 1, and to slash $1 billion in taxes over two years.
Scott also said he would keep down college tuition — something he can largely do with a veto pen and his influence over members of the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state universities.
“You can look at those proposals,” Scott told reporters recently. “That’s what we’ll be working on.”
Scott has turned over his administration a bit. Adam Hollingsworth is out as chief of staff after two-and-a-half years of mixed reviews. Melissa Sellers, who ran Scott’s communications shop for a little more than a year before taking over his campaign in early 2014, has replaced Hollingsworth. How that change might reshape Scott’s administration remains to be seen.
For their part, Republican lawmakers who enjoy sizable majorities in the House and Senate are saying the right things about Scott’s chances over the next four years. Returning Rep. Scott Plakon, who lost his seat in 2012 but won another in 2014, admitted that there was some hesitancy between Scott and lawmakers early in the first term.
“But from everything I can tell, my two years serving with him and the last two years, there’s been a great relationship,” said Plakon, R-Longwood.
And Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, brushed away the idea that Scott’s influence could quickly start to wane.
“Any time you have a veto pen, you don’t have lame-duck status, in my opinion, especially when you can line-item veto (budget items),” Gardiner said. “Certainly, there will be speculation of who’s after (Scott) — there’s speculation of who’s after me. That’s just part of the process.”
There are still challenges for Scott.
Democrats are likely to keep clamoring for an expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, though Scott seems to have lost interest in that since saying two years ago that he supported it. And the Democratic Party has disputed Scott’s statement that he’s already met the 700,000 jobs promise from his first bid for election, noting that Scott promised those positions on top of normal economic growth — something that could require him to create another 1 million to match that mark.
“Rick Scott is starting his second term the same as his first,” wrote Joshua Karp, a Florida Democratic Party spokesman, in a recent email to reporters. “With lies that don’t help the hundreds of thousands of Floridians who can’t find a job because of Tallahassee Republicans who put the special interests first, and middle class families last.”
And even before Scott’s influence begins to wane, clashes between the governor and the Republican Legislature are likely. Lawmakers, for example, have been noncommittal about how much of the state’s surplus they will devote to Scott’s priorities when they sit down to write the budget for the coming year.
“I’m very comfortable with the governor, and I think he has a healthy respect for the legislative process,” Gardiner said. “We’ll send him some things that he’s going to veto, and that’s just part of it. And he may ask us to do some things that the Senate, as a whole, just decides we can’t do.”