Scott Pitches $77 Billion Budget Plan, Tax Cuts
January 29, 2015
Not long after Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his nearly $77 billion state spending plan for the budget year that begins in July, lawmakers were already casting doubt on whether he would get all of a major tax cut at the heart of the proposal.
There were few surprises in the plan that Scott unveiled Wednesday at an annual meeting of reporters and editors hosted by the Associated Press. Scott had already released key details, including a record per-student figure for spending on public education and cuts to taxes on cell-phone bills, television services and college textbooks.
Of the $673 million in tax cuts that Scott pitched, a reduction in the communications services tax, applied to cell-phone bills and cable and satellite television, is by far the largest. It would reduce state revenues by $470.9 million and save an average Florida family about $43 a year, Scott’s office said.
Speaking at the Associated Press event at the Capitol, the governor touted the reach of the proposed tax cut.
“The benefit of the CST (communications services tax cut) is that it impacts pretty much everybody in the state. … It’s going to go to everybody,” Scott said.
But House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, told the same gathering that Scott’s plan on the communications tax was higher than what the House had in mind. And Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, said there are “plenty of ideas” about how to reduce taxes in addition to Scott’s request.
“Certainly, that will be on the table,” Gardiner said. “But there will also be quite a few others.”
Overall, Scott’s budget proposal would reduce state spending by about 0.1 percent from the current budget year, but the plan would still be well above the roughly $69 billion budget that Scott signed during his first year in office. Scott, who came into office promising deep cuts in government spending, defended the growth.
“Revenues are growing in our state. Our state is getting bigger. We’re now bigger than the state of New York. But if you look at this budget, like I’ve done every year, we’ve cut taxes. … We’ve paid down debt. We’re doing the right things for our taxpayers,” he said.
Still, to cover the tax cuts and education spending while keeping the overall budget relatively flat, Scott’s proposal calls for deep reductions in other areas. Spending on transportation would fall by almost $235.5 million, though Scott’s office said the Florida Department of Transportation’s work plan is smaller this year and fully funded. The proposal would also cut nearly $120 million from the Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration.
The plan would reduce the state’s payroll by more than 1,000 full-time positions. Scott’s office said that the “vast majority” of those jobs are expected to be unfilled by the time the budget takes effect. Most of the positions would come from the Department of Health; the agency would shed 758 full-time positions.
Some agencies would gain jobs. For example, the Department of Corrections, recently plagued by reports of suspicious inmate deaths, would add 163 full-time positions.
Lawmakers will consider Scott’s proposal as they negotiate a budget and tax cuts during the legislative session that starts March 3. In preparation for the session, House and Senate committees will receive presentations about the proposal next week.
But the overall reduction in positions drew questions from House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, a West Palm Beach Democrat who suggested some government functions could be hindered.
“We’re already the leanest state in the nation, I believe, in terms of population versus government employees,” he said. “We’re the leanest. … What were (those jobs) actually doing?”
Scott’s proposal also calls for $271.9 million to be swept from an array of trust funds designated for specific areas of the budget. State workers would not get a raise, but Scott pointed out that they would receive the benefits of the state’s tax cuts. And Scott would bank on the extension of an expiring pool of health-care money worth about $2 billion.
“We’re hoping that we can continue to work with the federal government with regard to that,” he said.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Byrneville Elementary School Releases Honor Roll
January 28, 2015
Byrneville Elementary School has released their honor roll for the second nine weeks:
Kindergarten: Mrs. Barberree’s Class
All Satisfactory
Nathan Carter
Autumn Coleman
Clay Everly
Gabrielle Hawsey
AKeylah Jefferson
Caleb Levins
D’Angelo Phifer
Jase Portwood
Will Sloan
Isaiah Therrell
Zachary Weaver
Cannon Whorff
Allison Yoder
Kindergarten: Mrs. Coleman’s Class
All Satisfactory
Kaidance Blalock
Keiyon Brown
Kayden Harwell
Haley Kamm
Wesley Lambeth
Aleah Therrell
Kindergarten: Ms. Rice’s Class
All Satisfactory
Camden Borelli
Kallie Harwell
Layla Jordan
Brayden King
Jamahri Simpson
Bonnie Trump
James Victor
First Grade: Mrs. Dawson’s Class
All A’s:
London Brooks
Luke Godwin
Jaycee Harvell
Evelyn Smith
A’s and B’s:
Brodie Coleman
Christian Velazquez
First Grade: Ms. Thornton’s Class
All A’s:
Wade Bailey
Elizabeth Coleman
Katherine Johnson
Ryder Lee
A’s and B’s:
Mary-Clayton Dawson
Savannah Hudson
Makenzie Levins
Easten Odom
Andrew Plant
Bree Robertson
Charlee Weaver
Second Grade: Mrs. Linton’s Class
All A’s:
Kelan Jurey
Riley Long
Evin Matlock
Mia Turner-White
A’s and B’s:
Ayden Atallah
Gavin Beasley
Jaci Jackson
Alli Odom
Second Grade: Mrs. Weaver’s Class
All A’s:
Logan Bevins
Maddie Mae Driskell
Madison Levins
Addisen Miller
Jayden White
Brian Yoder
A’s and B’s:
Madeleine Atallah
Luke Diamond
Tyler Gilmore
Braden Glick
Zachary Herndon
Mia Kornegay
Blake Shaw
Third Grade: Mrs. Dunsford’s Class
All A’s:
Sarah Bailey
Alexa Castro
Riley Dawson
Madalyn Grimes
Meredith Johnston
Tyson McBridge
Tyler Riggs
A’s and B’s:
Adrianna Atallah
Kaylie Glick
Nolin Godwin
Kaylee Hamilton
Takayla Lewis
Aydan Smith
Joe Wright
Fourth Grade: Mrs. Gilmore’s Class
All A’s:
Drake Allen Driskell
Bradley Hamilton
Emily Levins
Kaden Odom
Tiana White
Blake Yoder
A’s and B’s:
Hunter Barnes
Briana Dunsford
Marina Franklin
Eli Jackson
Emily Lambeth
Bailie Merchant
Dreama Wright
Fourth Grade: Mrs. Marshman’s Class
All A’s:
Aloysia Dortch
Kayla Johnson
Jolee Sloan
Abby Weber
A’s and B’s:
Leah Anderson
Josh Diamond
Johnnie Howell
Sarah Long
Fifth Grade: Mrs. Johnston’s Class
All A’s:
Hunter Borelli
Kaitlin Gafford
Jace Gifford
Torka Mills
Shelby Rice
A’s and B’s:
Cody Adams
Tanner Boone
Dusty Carnley
Taylor Levins
Harley Walker
David Ward
Anthoni Weaver
Pine Forest High Student Killed In Hwy 29 Traffic Crash; Three Other Students Injured
January 28, 2015
A Pine Forest High School student with a love for basketball was killed and three other students were injured in a two vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon on Highway 29.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 19-year old Gregory D. Murphy, 19, was traveling north on Highway 29 about 12:15 p.m. and attempted a left turn onto Kenmore Road. He pulled his 2004 Lincoln LS into the path of a southbound 2007 Dodge Durango driven by 59-year old Blondarene B. Pritchett.
A passenger in the Lincoln, 17 year old Jaques Hill, died as a result of the accident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. He had lived in Pensacola for only about a month, moving to purse a basketball career on the Pine Forest Eagles team.
Murphy received minor injuries in the crash. Passenger Daveyon A. Finkley, 17, and Ronald Kirkland, 18, were transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in serious condition. All four occupants of the Lincoln are students at Pine Forest High School. The school will have counselors on hand Thursday for students.
Pritchett was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital with minor injuries.
The FHP’s traffic homicide investigation is ongoing; any charges are pending the results.
Photos courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Man Jailed After Search Warrant Turns Up Drugs, Weapons
January 28, 2015
A Century man is facing multiple felony charges after a search warrant at his Henry Street turn turned up a variety of drugs and firearms.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division executed the search warrant on Henry Street, resulting in charges against Kinte Hassan Franklin, 37, of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of methamphetamine, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Investigators reported Franklin was the only person inside the residence as the search was conducted. According to an arrest report, inside the home deputies found crack cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, a .22 caliber handgun, a 20 gauge shotgun, two bags of shotgun shells and a variety of drug paraphernalia.
Franklin was booked into the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $25,500.
Top Five Finalists Named For Escambia Teacher Of The Year
January 28, 2015
The top five finalists for Escambia County Teacher of the Year have been named.
Anna Barry (pictured) of Northview High School is a top five finalist, as are Krystal Gibson of Beulah Elementary School, Andrew Rehwinkle of Pensacola High School, Sheila Hall of N.B. Cook Elementary and Doreen Wells of Ensley Elementary School.
The Escambia County Teacher of the Year will be announced February 26 at the Golden Apple Awards Dinner, sponsored by the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation.
Woman Gets 15 Years For Trying To Kill Ex
January 28, 2015
Surina Seal was sentenced by Circuit Judge Terry D. Terrell to 15 years in state prison followed by 15 years of probation for two counts of first degree premeditated attempt murder, aggravated battery with great bodily harm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries and two countys of child neglect. Seal previously pleaded no contest to the charges.
On April 26, 2014, Seal was driving and saw her ex-husband riding a motorcycle with his new girlfriend. Seal chased down the two victims and hit them on the motorcycle with her car. The motorcycle broke into several pieces and the two victims were thrown from the motorcycle. Seal then got out of her car and attacked both victims before witnesses pulled her off.
She then fled the scene in her car. Seal’s two minor children were in the vehicle at the time of the incident. Seal’s ex-husband had six broken bones and was in the hospital for three months, while the female victim sustained minor injuries.
Burglars Strike Three Schools
January 28, 2015
Three Escambia County schools were burglarized early Tuesday morning.
The burglars hit Pine Forest High School, West Florida High School and George Stone between 4 and 5 a.m. At least two iPads and two laptop computers were taken from Pine Forest and George Stone, while baseball equipment was reported missing from an outside shed at West Florida High.
Authorities said bolt cutters were used to gain entry. The Escambia County School District has surveillance video of the suspects, but that video has not yet been made public by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
All three schools are adjacent on Longleaf Drive.
Anyone with information on the burglaries is asked to contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Cyberthon Presents Cybersecurity Challenges For High School Students
January 28, 2015
“You got pwnd. We own you.” For most people working with information technology, seeing this message on a computer screen would cause panic. However, not for Diego Zepeda, he knew just what to do. He knew he needed to immediately access backup information and when that didn’t work, he quickly called on his team for ideas.
“Brandon Thurston came up with the idea that worked and in seconds, we posted a message that our web site would be down for a maintenance period,” said Zepeda. “As soon as that message was up, we were able to access our backup information. From there, we were able to identify the two corrupted folders. We isolated those folders and had everything else back up and running.”
Zepeda explained this phase of Cyberthon 2015, a competition that was locally created to test the internet security skills of two teams of local high school students, as calmly as he might give someone directions to the nearest video game store. Zepeda is a junior at Pine Forest High School and a member of their new Cybersecurity Academy. Thurston is a senior at Pine Forest, also in his first year in the academy.
“Cyber warfare is about a tiny, little attacker trying to take control of the web assets of a monster-sized defender,” explained Doug Underhill, Escambia County Commissioner, District 2, and a key organizer behind the creation of Cyberthon. “The attacker, or hacker, wants to take control and force the larger defender to have to react to his every move. By creating a maintenance window, the defender maintains control and then has time to detect the source of the attack, defend against the attack, and restore their web services to their consumers.”
“By constantly refreshing their team’s webpage and email, Zepeda showed us that he has already figured out the importance of continuous monitoring and found a human solution,” explained Underhill. “Their quick thinking gave Blue Team 1 their best win of the day.”
The Blue teams’ participants in Cyberthon came from Pine Forest High School, Pace High School, Spanish Fort High School and Catholic High School. The members of the Red Team (aka The Bad Guys) were volunteers from a variety of IT companies and government agencies. Additional volunteers acted as mentors for the members of the Blue Teams. Cyberthon was sponsored by the local chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. (AFSEA) and it was hosted by the Naval Flight Academy, located aboard NAS Pensacola, giving the competitors a chance to utilized the Flight Academy’s Joint Information Bureaus, rooms filled with state of the art computers, and smart technology.
The Red Team’s role was to launch attacks known to IT security training specialists as MSELs, pronounced “measles”, which are activities on a Master Scenario Event List. MSELs incorporate various METs– Mission Essential Tasks. The first MSEL was a missing folder. The students said that was easy to recover and only took them a few minutes to locate and restore. With each round and each new MSEL, it got harder. Their web sites crashed, but they got them back up. They were also attacked by a DDoS – a Distributed Denial of Service (pronounced dee-doss), which is an effort to overload a site until it crashes.
“We used Splunk, an application that shows everything happening in your network. It let us see the attack source and block it,” Alec Le, a Pine Forest High School, 9th grader, explained casually, like this is something he does every day.
These attacks led up to the event described above when they were “pwnd” (pronounced powned), which meant their site had been taken over.
Both teams figured out how to regain their control, but Team 1’s extra quick thinking impressed the Red Team as well as their instructor, Angela Irby.
“They all did an awesome job this weekend; they have been learning these skills in concept and theory. Cyberthon let them tie it all together like fitting together the pieces of a puzzle. I also think they are having a lot more fun than they imagined,” said Irby. “Another positive aspect of Cyberthon is they are getting to meet people in the industry, both civilian and military, and hear some amazing speakers.”
“Cybercrime is an exponentially growing threat,” FBI Special Agent John Windness, told the students. He explained the variety of cybercrimes and that it isn’t like what you see in the movies with a guy sitting alone on his computer in a basement somewhere attacking the world’s computers. “Today, hackers are incredibly professionally run organizations.”
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan, a sponsor of the event, also spoke to the students explaining that he was honored to assist in making this event happen. He also made a point of telling the students that the money his office donated to help fund the weekend-long competition came from drug seized money. “Those drug dealers, whose money we are spending here today, are not sitting here today; they are in jail.”
Morgan also pointed out the volunteers in the room, people gathered there to coordinate the competition and mentor the students as they worked through the cyber attacks. “These mentors care enough about all of you to give you their time.”
Underhill told the students, “I joined the Navy in 1991 and I worked in counter-intelligence. But cybersecurity is more exciting for me because it has a real impact on protecting my own family. I can’t imagine a more rewarding career path.”
Zepeda sat with his friends Angelo Mayorga (PFHS, 9th grade) and Alec Le (PFHS, 9th grade) comparing notes on how they handled the various attacks. They all knew that after the“pwnd” event that those two corrupted folders were filled safely away, but still there.
“Tonight I plan to try to find a way to deal with them next time,” said Zapeda.
“I used to think that one person could handle defending a computer system, “ explained Mayorga, “Now I see that it takes a team.”
They also talked about what they are learning and how it is affecting their perspective on how to handle their personal computer equipment. Le said, “I was always careful, but now I will be even more careful.”
“I have never worried about it,” said Mayorga.” “I downloaded lots of stuff.”
“Man, you have got to be more careful,” urged his cybersecurity academy classmates. They should know.
All of the high school students who participated in the 2015 Cyberthon received certificates and many offers from mentors to be there to help later with recommendations for jobs or on college applications. They also received limited edition Cyberthon Challenge coins.
“These coins are a military tradition, given by commanding officers to commemorate an exceptional performance,” Underhill explained to the students. “You have joined a pantheon of exceptional people this weekend. We all expect you to continue to perform at an exceptional level in school, and we challenge you to stay involved in science, technology ,engineering or math (STEM) classes and we hope you will persue a career path in a STEM field.”
The 2015 Cyberthon security warriors stood in front of a room filled with local leaders, business owners, military service people, school district personnel and IT specialists who had served as their mentors and their attackers who all joined together to give the kids a standing ovation. That was the only time, all weekend, that they looked the least bit frazzled.
by Kim Stefansson for NorthEscambia.com
Photos by Ed Barker, NETC Public Affairs, for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Senate Bill Targets Florida Prison Safety
January 28, 2015
With Florida’s corrections system under scrutiny because of inmate deaths and alleged misconduct, a Senate committee next week will take up a wide-ranging bill aimed at improving prison safety and addressing issues such as the use of force by guards.
The 29-page bill is slated to go Monday to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, which heard testimony last week from newly appointed Corrections Secretary Julie Jones. During that testimony, Jones pointed to problems including understaffed prisons and a lack of training for guards who deal with mentally ill inmates.
One of the prominent themes of the bill (SPB 7020) is trying to increase the focus on safety in prisons. Current law emphasizes the role of the Department of Corrections in maintaining the security of prisons, but the bill would put into law a similar focus on ensuring the safety of employees and prisoners.
In part, it would require periodic inspections and audits to look for safety problems in prisons. As an example, audits of prison buildings would be required to “include the identification of blind spots or areas where staff or inmates may be isolated and the deployment of video monitoring systems and other monitoring technologies in such areas.”
A series of events during the past year has led to investigations and widespread questions about the prison system. Much of that scrutiny started after the Miami Herald reported last summer about the death of mentally ill inmate Darren Rainey at Dade Correctional Institution. Rainey died after guards allegedly forced him to shower in scalding water as punishment.
The scrutiny also has included probes of inmate deaths by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and a whistleblower lawsuit by a group of corrections investigators.
The Senate bill would try to address several of the key issues that have emerged. For instance, when correctional officers are being taught about the use of force, they would be required to receive specialized training “for effectively managing in non-forceful ways mentally ill inmates who may exhibit erratic behavior.”
Also, guards who have been written up twice for incidents involving inappropriate use of force would not be able to work closely with inmates who are mentally ill or on psychotropic medications.
The bill also would address a frequently cited issue about prison staff being afraid of retribution from co-workers if they report wrongdoing.
One part of the bill would allow staff members to make anonymous and confidential reports to the Department of Corrections’ inspector general if they witness abuse or neglect of inmates but fear retribution.
In addition, the bill would require the department to establish a policy to protect inmates and employees from retaliation for reporting physical or sexual abuse or for cooperating with investigations.
The policy, in part, would have to include “multiple protection measures, such as housing changes or transfers for inmate victims or abusers, removal of alleged abusive employees or alleged abusive inmates from contact with victims, and services for employees who fear retaliation for reporting abuse or for cooperating with investigations.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Century Offers Cash Prize For New Slogan
January 28, 2015
The Town of Century is looking for a new slogan, and they are a holding a contest with a small cash prize to find one.
The town is accepting new slogan ideas through February 13, with the town council to consider a winner at their regular meeting on February 16. Century Mayor Freddie McCall is personally contributing a $50 prize for the winner.
The town council has previously voted to eventually remove “Welcome to Century” signs that welcome visitors into Century from the north and south on Highway 29. The signs, dedicated two years ago, were built by Century Correctional Institution and feature a giant saw blade with the town’s most recent slogan “The Dawn of a New Century.”
“Our image needs to change,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said recently, noting that the town’s sawmill has been closed for over 50 years. “We are not a sawmill town anymore.” He said the signs would be donated to the local Alger Sullivan Historical Society for use in their museum.
To submit a slogan idea for the Town of Century, click here for an entry form.
The change is coming after a recommendation from Brice Harris of the University of West Florida’s Haas Center, author of the town’s new strategic plan.
NorthEscambia.com photos.