Century Biz Challenge Applicants To See Potential Business Location
March 15, 2015
Potential applicants in the $25,000 Century Business Challenge will have a chance to learn more about the potential home for their new business this week.
Interested participants are invited to visit the Century Business Center on Tuesday afternoon from 5:15 until 5:45 p.m. to see the spaces that are available in the facility, a closed school, on Pond Street. The tour will be held just prior to a 6 p.m. Business Concept Workshop.
Prizes for the winner of the Century Business Challenge include space at the Century Business Center at a lease rate of $1 per year, with the possibility of an extension of that rate for two more years based on the company’s performance. They will also receive $25,000 in operating funds from the Studer Institute. And the Century Town Council has recently approved offering the same $1 per year lease rate at the Century Business Center for the second place finisher.
The final application deadline is March 31.
The Century Business Challenge is part of an economic development partnership of the Haas Center, the Town of Century and the Studer Institute. Applications and more information about the business challenge can be found at www.CenturyBusinessChallenge.com.
Pictured: About 10 potential Century Business Challenge applicants attended the first workshop two weeks ago. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Warm Weather Continues
March 15, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Monday
Sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
Monday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 57. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Wednesday
A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Wednesday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday Night
A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday
A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73.
Friday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Saturday
A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 61.
Couple Wanted For Child Sexual Abuse Now Jailed In Florida
March 15, 2015
A couple is now behind bars in Florida after about two weeks on the run in a child sexual abuse case that led to the arrest of two deputies.
Douglas Albert Manning, 47, and Leah Giannotti Manning, 40, were booked into the Escambia County Jail late Saturday night after being extradited back to Florida from Colorado. They were taken into custody Thursday in the Indian Springs Campground in Florence, Colorado, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Both are charged with sexual battery on a juvenile and child neglect. The Mannings are being held in the Escambia County Jail without bond.
From June to October of last year, both deputies had sexual relations with juveniles under the age of 18, according to arrest reports. The Mannings were “swingers’, according to authorities, with multiple partners. Investigators are still combing through over 100,000 images and videos found on the Mannings’ computer.
Two Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies were previously arrested in connection with the case.
Senior Deputy Mark Gene Smith was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault and misdemeanor battery. Deputy Walter Michael Thomas, Jr., was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault. Thomas was released from the Escambia County jail on a $150,000 bond, while Smith remains behind bars with bond set at $170,000. Both have been placed on administrative leave without pay by the Sheriff’s Office.
Pictured: Arrest in Colorado Thursday, Douglas and Leah Manning are now behind bars in Escambia County. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Branden Penegar Memorial Car Show Held (With Gallery)
March 15, 2015
The second annual Branden Penegar Memorial Car Show was held Saturday at the Gonzalez United Methodist Church on Pauline Street in Cantonment. Penegar, the “Gentle Giant” was a 2011 graduate of Tate High School, an assistant coach for the freshman Aggies’ football program and varsity tennis team, and a member of the Tate High School Student Hall of Fame. He passed away in March 2013 at the age of 20.
Penegar was a active member of the Gonzalez United Methodist Church and youth program.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Search Underway For Escaped Inmate
March 15, 2015
Authorities are searching for an inmate that escaped from his assigned work detail Saturday.
Mobile Work Release Center inmate Robert Michael Bailey, 24, left from his assigned job location in Bay Minette, AL, about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and red or burgundy colored shirt.
Bailey was serving a 10 year sentence on a third degree burglary charge. If you see him, you are asked to contact the Alabama Department of Corrections at (800) 831-8825 or your local law enforcement agency.
Viewpoint: The Day That Alice Cooper Came To Church
March 15, 2015
Written by Barry Howard, senior minister of the First Baptist Church of Pensacola.
On President’s Day weekend, one of those long weekends when “School’s Out,” Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Damon Furnier, better known as Alice Cooper and his wife Sheryl, joined us for worship at First Baptist Pensacola, unannounced. In fact, there was a pretty big crowd that day and I didn’t even notice that they were in the congregation.
An extraordinarily large number of middle school and high school students were seated together, front and center, in colored “Wise Up!” tee shirts as our worship time served as a grand conclusion to Disciple Now Weekend, a huge event devoted to equipping and instructing teens to make “wise” life choices. The atmosphere in the service was charged with energy and encouragement. And one of the most popular rock musicians in history was in the crowd, somewhat anonymously.
A few hours after the service I happened to notice a few social media posts from members who “wished they could have met Mr. and Mrs. Alice Cooper at church today.” At first I assumed that they had seen someone in our service who resembled Alice Cooper. However, I became a little more curious when one of our ministers reported, “Alice Cooper and his wife came out my door and shook my hand.” And on Monday I confirmed that Alice Cooper was indeed in Pensacola, had dined at one of our excellent seafood restaurants, had played golf at our top notch Country Club, and had joined our church family for worship.
Why was Alice Cooper in our worship service? And how should a church react when such a well-known celebrity comes to church? Although I wasn’t ever a huge Alice Cooper fan, I recalled reading a story or two about Alice Cooper’s Christian faith, testimonials similar to those of Bono and Ringo Starr. After discovering that the Coopers had joined us for worship, I revisited a few of those stories and even watched a video of his testimony on YouTube. I learned that Cooper teaches Sunday School on occasion at his local church, and that he frequently attends worship services and Bible study gatherings while he is on the road.
Both Cooper and his wife were raised in Christian families. In one interview, Cooper said, “I grew up in a Christian house. My dad was a pastor, he was an evangelist for 25 years, and I used to go up and do missionary work with him with the Apaches in Arizona. My grandfather was a pastor for 75 years. I grew up in a Christian home. And my wife’s father is a Baptist pastor. So, I was like, we were PK’s – preacher’s kids – so we married each other.”
After some prodigal years early in his career, Cooper said he stopped drinking and started going back to church with his wife. “I finally realized, I had to go one side or the other,” said Cooper. “The Lord really convicted me, saying, look, it’s time to make a decision here.”
It was rather inspiring to learn that Alice Cooper prioritizes a time for worship during his busy travel schedule. And as a pastor, I am actually glad that very few people in our congregation noticed that Cooper and his wife were present in our worship service, and those who did, allowed them to be worshippers on that particular Sunday, and not celebrities. As far as I know there were no autographs, no photos, and certainly no “selfies” with Cooper in the background.
When a celebrity comes to church, they usually prefer anonymity. At our church we preach that “everyone stands on level ground at the foot of the cross.” Every individual is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). On any given Sunday in our congregation you may spot local and national media personalities, prominent businesspersons, esteemed congressmen, respected judges, and renowned athletes, well-known individuals in the community who join the rest of us as we gather to worship God and embrace our primary identity, which is “child of God.”
On the Sunday that Alice Cooper came to church, quietly and without notoriety, he heard an A+ sermon from our Student Pastor and he joined his voice with others in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. He was not there as a notorious entertainer. He was there as a fellow worshipper alongside spiritual family members who share a common confession, yet who travel a lot of different roads through life. As it is on most Sundays, it was an encouraging day of worship for our church family. Alice and Sheryl, I trust it was a good day for you as well. You are welcome here anytime.
Pictured top: Alice Cooper performs last month at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio. Photo by Ralk Arverson. Pictured inset: Alice Cooper on a film set. Photo by Thomas Brodbeck. Creative Commons photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate’s Perfect Season Continues With Win Over Crestview
March 15, 2015
The Tate Aggies topped Crestview 9-6 Saturday, making the Aggies a perfect 10-0 on the season, 5-0 in 1-7A.
The winning pitcher was Logan McGuffey, allowing two hits while striking out three. Trace Penton was 3-3 with two RBI’s, a double and a run. Jacob Saulnier was 1-3 with a home run and two RBI’s. Branden Fryman and Cole Halfacre were 2-3. Logan Blackmon was 2-2 for the Aggies.
Tate will host the 22nd Annual Aggie Classic baseball tournament next week, with their first game against Shawnee, OK, at 7 p.m. Monday.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Shots, But Not Agency Heads, Fired
March 15, 2015
It might not be the O.K. Corral just yet, but the Legislature was the site for plenty of discussions about guns and showdowns this week.
Lawmakers seem like they might be ready to pull the trigger this session on a bill allowing more people to carry concealed weapons during emergency evacuations, though it’s still not clear if efforts to open the doors of colleges and public schools to weapons will hit their mark.
Meanwhile, as state economists issued their last revenue projections before lawmakers craft the state budget, the House and Senate began staking out positions on some of the other issues that might define the last-minute deal-making in the weeks ahead.
But in contrast to the conflict elsewhere, a truce appeared to be taking hold between Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet over the process for evaluating and, if necessary, dismissing state agency heads. Perhaps the closest thing the state had to a sheriff will be the only one caught in the crossfire.
TO END ALL PERSONNEL CONFLICTS
While the Legislature was busy preparing for war, Scott and the Cabinet seemed to be making peace. They approved new steps to review the work of agencies they jointly oversee, while also agreeing to extend the time for the Office of Insurance Regulation, the Office of Financial Regulation and the Department of Revenue to respond and offer input into proposed agency performance measures.
“They ought to have input in the scorecard that they’re being judged by,” said Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who serves on the Cabinet with Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The extra time to respond gives the agencies until May or June before their leaders will make their cases to Scott and the Cabinet, rather than at an April 14 Cabinet meeting as had recently been proposed.
Despite pushback from Cabinet members, Scott has pursued replacing Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner Drew Breakspear and Department of Revenue executive director Marshall Stranburg.
Asked if he’d like to see a faster process, Scott instead praised Tuesday’s lengthy Cabinet discussion.
“I think we had a good conversation about a process,” Scott said after the meeting.
The new guidelines require Cabinet-level agencies to annually outline goals and showcase their value to taxpayers.
But while the agency heads could be replaced at any time through a vote of Scott and a required number of Cabinet members, the guidelines won’t force the agency heads to face annual automatic up or down votes.
The measures were drafted after Cabinet members voiced displeasure with the abrupt removal of Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey in December.
LEGISLATURE LOADED WITH GUN BILLS
If there’s one group that often gets its way at the Capitol, it’s the National Rifle Association — whether that’s because of ideology or the fact that lawmakers think it’s unwise to anger people who own guns. And an NRA-backed proposal that was notably defeated in 2014 might be on the brink of passing this year.
The Senate Rules Committee voted 8-2 this week to send to the full Senate a bill (SB 290) that would allow people to carry guns without concealed-weapons licenses during the first 48 hours after emergency evacuation orders are given. The bill got support from three senators who last year questioned a similar proposal that died on the Senate floor.
“I think we’ll be fine (this year),” said Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican who made an impassioned but futile effort in the waning days of the 2014 session to advance the similar measure.
Last year’s bill didn’t include the 48-hour evacuation time frame or other new language. The changes were made at the request of the Florida Sheriffs Association, which now supports the proposal.
For their part, House lawmakers worked on a different gun bill this week — one that would allow school employees or volunteers to carry guns on campus. That measure received the backing of the House K-12 Subcommittee on a bipartisan, 10-1 vote.
Under the bill (HB 19), sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, school superintendents could allow designated people to carry weapons on campus. Those people could be current or former law enforcement officers or current or former members of the military. They would have to pass background checks, take school-safety courses and have concealed-weapons licenses.
“It’s completely up to the district and the superintendent whether they want to do it and how they want to implement it in working with their local law enforcement agencies,” Steube said.
But Rep. Joe Geller of Aventura, the top Democrat on the committee, said he believed the state should trust law-enforcement agencies to handle school safety.
“I don’t think an ‘American Sniper’ approach is the way to protect our kids,” said Geller, the lone vote against the bill.
The Senate has been more hesitant about the idea. A similar measure never got a hearing 2013 and passed just one of its four committees last year. The Senate companion to Steube’s bill (SB 180) hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing this year. Lawmakers are also considering bills that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry firearms on college campuses.
All the gun talk has made some people nervous. Opponents held a rally this week to urge lawmakers not to add the weapons to places where students already encounter alcohol, drugs and academic pressure.
“These bills are part of a concerted effort by the gun lobby to put more guns in the hands of more people in more places, regardless of how such policies might endanger public safety,” said Chryl Anderson, of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense. “We know that alcohol and drugs and academic pressures are already a toxic mix on college campuses. Adding guns would make things worse.”
But the NRA and other supporters of the bills say allowing people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns on campus will increase school security, pointing to incidents like a November shooting at Florida State University that injured three people.
“The recent shooting on the FSU campus and the series of rapes at the University of Florida taught us that we need to restore the rights of licensed adults to carry concealed firearms on campus for protection,” NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer said in an email. “Although law enforcement does the best job they can, they can’t stop a crime from happening, only the victim has a chance of actually stopping it. They should not be denied the tools to do so.”
BATTLE LINES DRAWN
Most of the fights at the Capitol this year, though, are unlikely to include the use of guns. But there are still differences to be bridged between the House and Senate on a variety of issues, some of which are starting to come into focus now that the first-week proclamations of bromance have given way to the reality of legislative work.
A perfect example: House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said this week he was willing to walk away and try again next year if the two chambers can’t find common ground on water policy in the next 50 days.
While the two chambers are looking at widely divergent proposals to enact new water policies across most of Florida, Crisafulli said he doesn’t expect leadership-backed water priorities to be used as a late-session hardball bargaining chip for issues such as Medicaid expansion or stadium funding.
“I’m not going to pass a bad water bill,” Crisafulli told reporters. “If we have a bill that’s in play that’s just not good for the future of a clean sustainable water source … for the future of our state; we don’t need to pass a bad bill just to pass a bill.”
The House version (HB 7003), which has already been approved by the full House, is considered more business- and agriculture-friendly than the Senate’s proposal (SB 918), which is viewed as being more project-focused.
Sen. Charlie Dean, an Inverness Republican who plays a key role in Senate water issues, called the differences “significant.”
But Dean also didn’t see lawmakers using a voter-approved constitutional amendment requiring the state to set aside hundreds of millions of dollars a year for land and water conservation to advance other issues that are stuck in the budget and late-session conference talks.
One of those issues could be a Senate bill (SB 7044) that would use billions of dollars in federal money to provide private health insurance to people who do not qualify for Medicaid. It’s an alternative to the straight Medicaid expansion contemplated by the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, but one that for now hasn’t moved the anti-expansion leadership in the House.
“Today is a watershed day in the Florida Senate and hopefully in the Florida Legislature,” said Senate Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat who is a member of the Senate Health Policy Committee, which approved the bill.
The plan would extend coverage to about 800,000 people. But House Republican leaders aren’t going for it yet.
“We’re going to pay attention to what happens over there,” Crisafulli said. “Certainly they’re going to have conversations over there that we probably won’t be having over here. But at least somebody is having them. They’re vetting the issue. And it’s certainly their prerogative to do that.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet agreed to a procedure to evaluate agency heads after weeks of squabbling sparked by the departure of former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We see issues of morality constantly being ignored, and frankly, we’re tired of it.”—Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, after a meeting between Gov. Rick Scott and black lawmakers.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Today: NHS Band BBQ Lunch In Walnut Hill, Brandon Penegar Memorial Car Show In Cantonment
March 14, 2015
GUMC Youth/Branden Penegar Memorial Car Show
Gonzalez United Methodist Church will host the second annual GUMC Youth/Branden Penegar Memorial Car Show today. Admission is free and open to the public. Car registration will be 8-11 a.m., with awards to be presented at 2p.m. To register a car for the show, the free is $25; the fee for display-only is $15. Concessions will be available. All proceeds will benefit the youth of Gonzalez United Methodist Church. The church is located at 2026 Pauline Street, Cantonment.
Northview Band Boosters BBQ Lunch
The Northview Band Boosters will serve a BBQ lunch from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill (behind Ernest Ward). $8 plates will include a BBQ sandwich, potato salad, baked beans, dessert and drink. Proceeds will go toward the purchase of new band uniforms.
Students Learn About Ag During Fresh From Florida Event
March 14, 2015
Over 1,000 students from across the area took part in the annual Northview High School FFA “Fresh From Florida” program Friday morning at the school in Bratt.
Formerly known as the “Food For America program”, the event gave students the chance to learn about agriculture first hand up close and personal with farm animals, farm equipment and more to learn how food gets from the farm to their tables. Students were even able to make and enjoy eating their own fresh butter.
And at this year’s event, students were also able to learn about the importance of rain in Florida agriculture, with showers pushing most of this year’s activities indoors.
The Northview High School FFA “Fresh From Florida” program has been honored as the best in Florida for three consecutive years, and the chapter was recently name one of the best in the United States by the National FFA Organization for a second year.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
