Richard Oliver Hill
February 4, 2015
Richard Oliver Hill, age 69, of Jay, died Monday, February 2, 2015, from an extended illness. He was a resident of Jay for most of his life. He served in the United States Army as a specialist with the Four E4 Company E 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196 Infantry Brigade, during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, for his heroism in the war.
Richard retired from the civil service at Whiting Field as an airfield firefighter after twenty five years of service. Richard was a loving father and grandfather. He also enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. After retiring he discovered a passion for coaching junior league basketball. He touched the lives of many children during his sixteen years of coaching in Jay. He will be remembered affectionally as “Coach Hill”.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Ellis and Beatrice (Rowell) Hill; two sisters, Shirley Barksdale and infant Nancy Hill; two brothers, Rayburn Hill, Glen Hill, and his twin brother that died at birth.
He is survived by two daughters, Tammy (Jesse) Hadley of Flomaton and Misty Hill of Jay; one son, Jonathan Hill of Jay; five grandchildren, Mayson and Eli Dunsford, Katilyn Hadley, Summer Joyner and Carlee Davidson, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2015, at 2 p.m. at Jay Funeral Home with Chaplin Dean Patterson officiating services.
Visitation will be held from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m.
Burial will follow at Dixonville Cemetery.
Active pallbearers are Ricky Ellis, Daniel Hoomes, Dennis Rowell, Keith Rowell, Ricky Butler, Henry, Hill, Randy Ellis and Terry Ellis.
Honorary pallbearers will be Kenny Ellis, Michael Ellis, Mabern Ellis, Tony Ellis, and Tim Floyd.
The family would like to thank Covenant Hospice and Sherri Butler for the special care given to Mr. Hill and his family.
Montez Clark Spears
February 4, 2015
Montez Clark Spears of Pensacola passed away January 31, 2015, at the age of 74. She had been battling cancer and died peacefully in her sleep at home.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Goldie Carter Clark; father, Alpha Omega Clark; siblings, Rex Clark, Arlen Clark and Gladys Clark Anderson.
Montez was an outgoing person that never met a stranger and she will be deeply missed.
She is survived by her loving husband, Donald Clotis Spears; two children, Claudia Miller and Karen Carroll; brothers, Rev. Ruldoph Clark, Dolin Clark; and sister, Pat Thrash.
Montez was very proud of her grandchildren, Sydney Miller, Nathaniel Miller, Brittnie Spears-Fain and Bradley Carroll.
Memorial services will be held at Faith Chapel North in Cantonment on Saturday, February 7, 2015. Visitation will be from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. with services beginning at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in the name of Montez Spears to the American Cancer Society.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is in charge of arrangements.
Nancy Fore Miles
February 4, 2015
Nancy Fore Miles, 78, was born August 7, 1936, and died February 3, 2015, at the Tender Loving Care unit of the Atmore Community Hospital. She had suffered from multiple sclerosis for many years.
She was raised in the community of Robinsonville and graduated from Escambia High School. She was active in the 4-H club and was especially proud of her calf, Daisy that she entered for judging. She enjoyed music, dancing, ceramics, plate collecting and spending time with her family, friends and pets. She left the Atmore area and moved to Muncie, Indiana where she worked for Borg Warner. It was there that she met her husband, Roy Miles. She and her husband moved to Florence and Athens, Alabama while he worked in the auto industry. Upon his death, she moved back to Atmore.
Her beloved husband, Roy Miles; parents, E.D. and Doskie Fore; brother, Earl Fore; and sister-in-law, Hazel Fore preceded her in death.
Survivors include her step-children, Bob (Susan) Miles; Tim Miles and Teresa (James) Jester; 15 step-grandchildren; 24 step-great-grandchildren; brothers, Edwin Fore, Steve (Lois) Fore, of Atmore, and Kenneth (Lori) Fore of Titusville, FL; sister-in-law, Joyce Fore and seven nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, February 5, 2015, at 6 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. C.L. Langford officiating.
Burial will follow at the Greenview Memorial Park in Florence, Alabama.
Visitation will be held Thursday, February 5, 2015, from 5 p.m. until service time at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
FHP Identifies Wheelchair User Struck And Killed On Highway 29
February 3, 2015
The Florida Highway Patrol has released the identity of the wheelchair user struck and killed by a vehicle on Highway 29 late last Thursday night.
Steven A. Pate, 49, was pronounced deceased at the scene of the 11:56 p.m. crash on Highway 29 (Pensacola Boulevard) near West Devane Street — that’s near Pensacola Pools just south of the Ensley Station of Escambia Fire Rescue.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 58-year old Walter Gonzalez Coto was northbound on Highway 29 in a 2004 Audi when he struck Pate and his wheelchair. The FHP said Pate was not in any crosswalk or intersection at the time of the crash.
No charges were filed in the crash.
More Details Released In Weekend Shooting In Century
February 3, 2015
More details have been released in a weekend fatal shooting in Century that the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said was the result of the “reckless use” of a firearm.
Jaran Britt Myles, 20, was booked into the Escambia County Jail Sunday morning on charges of negligent manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping false imprisonment. He is being held on a $260,000 bond after turning himself in for the shooting death of 20-year old Jonathan Wilson.
Investigators said multiple witnesses stated that Myles shot Wilson in the head about 8:00 Saturday night. Both were at a residence in the 1000 block of Backwoods Road.
One witness told deputies that “Run Run”, later identified as Myles, pulled out a gun and asked him if he was scared of it before taking the magazine out of the weapon and pointing it him. Myles then pulled the trigger of the gun, without the magazine, but it “dry fired”, he said
The witness said Myles then pointed the gun to Wilson’s head after loading the magazine back into the gun. Wilson then adjusted the height of the gun to his head, “correcting the placement of the gun pointed at him,” an arrest report states. The witness said when Wilson let go of the gun, Myles pulled the trigger and shot Wilson in the head.
The witness said they all ran out the front door of the residence, and Myles stuck the gun in a witness’ ribs then pointed it at a second witness, ordering the witness to drive him home. The witness told investigators that he then drove Myles to his nearby Backwoods Road home out of fear that Myles might harm them. Myles, the witness said, kept the gun pointed at him while he drove to his residence.
Once they arrived at Myles’ home, he pointed the gun at the two witnesses and told them that “they better not tell on him or they would be next,” according to the arrest report.
The report does not detail the type or caliber of weapon involved.
Myles made his first court appearance on Monday.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cold Tonight, Rain For Wednesday
February 3, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
- Tuesday Night A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph after midnight.
- Wednesday Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 55. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
- Wednesday Night A 50 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 41. North wind around 5 mph
- Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. North wind 5 to 15 mph.
- Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 31. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
- Friday Sunny, with a high near 54. North wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
- Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 35. Calm wind.
- Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.
- Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.
- Sunday A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 67.
- Sunday Night A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48.
- Monday A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 59.
Bill Would Limit Testing Time In Florida Schools
February 3, 2015
.The chairman of a Senate committee that oversees public education filed legislation Monday aimed at cutting back on testing time in Florida schools, opening a debate about how to limit the scope and importance of state assessments.
The legislation (SB 616), sponsored by Senate Education PreK-12 Chairman John Legg, would cap the amount of time students spend on state and local tests at 5 percent of their schools hours. The bill would authorize districts to use something other than tests to assess students in some courses. It would also revamp laws pushed through the Legislature in 2011 tying teachers’ evaluations and pay more closely to student performance.
“We need better, but fewer, tests,” Legg, R-Lutz, said in a prepared statement. “This bill maintains accountability, while creating a much needed framework on assessments, evaluations, and flexibility on implementation.”
The bill comes amid an emerging bipartisan consensus that Florida students are being tested too much. Even lawmakers who spearheaded the state’s accountability movement, which led to many of the testing requirements now on the books, are beginning to rethink things. Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has launched a review of state testing.
The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, announced last month that it would not continue a court challenge to a separate education law because it had “opened a dialogue with the Senate president on a broad range of issues, including testing, special needs students and other public education concerns of paramount importance to the FEA.”
And the Foundation for Florida’s Future, an organization founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush to push for school accountability, has called for “fewer and better tests.”
The number of hours students will spend on the state’s main tests in many grades this academic year is actually lower than the number of hours students faced seven years ago, according to the Department of Education. But testing time this school year will be longer than in 2013-14, by more than two hours in several cases. And that doesn’t include other assessments required by the state that are administered by districts.
Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat who doubles as chief executive officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, called the legislation “a great beginning point for discussion” in a brief interview. But he said lawmakers still need to work with school districts on details, like the cap on student testing time.
“We may very well have state-required assessments that would violate that anyway,” he said.
Perhaps most strikingly, the legislation would partially roll back the “Student Success Act,” a sweeping overhaul of teacher evaluations approved four years ago over strident criticism from teachers unions and almost every Democrat in the Legislature. Under the bill, at least 40 percent of a teacher’s evaluation would be based on student learning growth, down from 50 percent.
The bill would also require at least 30 percent of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on classroom teaching methods; the current law has no floor. Up to 30 percent of the evaluation could be based on other job duties.
But Montford, who opposed the performance-pay legislation when it passed the Senate, pushed back on the suggestion that the Legislature was retreating.
“I don’t see it as a lessening of high standards, or even a retreat from high levels of accountability. Quite to the contrary,” he said. “I see this as a reasonable approach to address a very complicated issue.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Vehicle Theft Suspect Found Sleeping, Snoring Like A ‘Wild Boar’
February 3, 2015
A Santa Rosa County vehicle theft suspect was found sleeping under a house, sounding like a wild boar, according to deputies.
Sunday night, a deputy with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was on routine patrol on Avalon Boulevard when he attempted a traffic stop on a Chevrolet pickup truck for a broken tag light. When the deputy activated his blue lights, the suspect vehicle turned around and abruptly came to a stop. Deputies said 37-year old Kevin Lee Barbour of Pensacola exited the vehicle and ran from the scene through a residential neighborhood.
A K-9 unit with the Sheriff’s Office responded to the area and began to track the Barbour. While on the track, deputies heard a noise which was described as a “snorting wild boar” coming from under a trailer. It was discovered the noise was coming from the Barbour who was sleeping heavily while concealed under the trailer.
After interrupting Barbour’s nap, deputies placed him under arrest. It was determined that the vehicle had been stolen in Escambia County.
Barbour was charged with driving with a suspended license third or subsequent offense, criminal mischief property damage, vehicle theft and resisting an officer without violence. He was booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail with bond set at $16,500.
New Ernest Ward Middle School Now Open
February 3, 2015
Students moved into the new Ernest Ward Middle School Monday morning for the first day of classes in the new building.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The $20 million facility is not quite complete; there’s still minor work to be done throughout the building, and the school’s agricultural classroom and band room won’t be completed for several more weeks.
Students reported to their homerooms in the old EWMS building this morning before being escorted grade by grade into the new facility where they were given the grand tour. There will be changes to student drop-off and pick-up areas (click for a map, details).
The old Ernest Ward buildings will be demolished in the coming weeks The oldest buildings, including the main classroom wing, were constructed in 1945 to replace a campus ravaged by fire in 1943. That old school had been constructed to replace an Ernest Ward School that first opened in a log cabin in 1896.
OPEN HOUSE: An open house and tours for the public will be held on Monday, February 16 from noon until 4 p.m.
Pictured: Students moved into and toured the new Ernest Ward Middle School building in Walnut Hill this morning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Names January Students Of The Month
February 3, 2015
Northview High School has named Students of the Month for January. They are Desiree Elliard, 12th grade, and David Weber, 10th grade. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.