Barons Take Series Over Wahoos
April 25, 2015
Joey DeMichele clinched the series for the Birmingham Barons (7-7) with a line drive to right field in a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (4-9) at Regions Field.
RHP Raul Fernandez (1-1) got the win for the Barons while RHP Chad Rogers (0-1) got his first loss of the season after the run, one walk and two hits in the ninth.
In the third inning, the Barons’ Jeremy Farrell reached base on a fielding error by second baseman Juan Perez and then advanced to second. With a wild pitch by LHP Wandy Peralta, Farrell advanced to third and then scored off of a single by Jacob May.
The Blue Wahoos tied up the game in the seventh inning. Smith led off the inning with a single and scored after Yovan Gonzalez grounded into a double play.
Juan Perez singled in the ninth inning to extend his hit streak to six games.
Peralta made his third start of the season and pitched for six innings registering six strikeouts, five hits and an unearned run. RHP Drew Hayes posted two scoreless innings of work with two hits. He has now thrown 5.2 innings allowing no runs this season.
For the Barons, RHP Tyler Danish gave up only three hits in six innings of work while recording seven strikeouts. RHP Nolan Sanburn gave up the lone Pensacola run. Fernandez threw four strikeouts in his two innings as Birmingham struck out 12 Blue Wahoos.
The Blue Wahoos return to Pensacola April 25th-29th against the Biloxi Shuckers.
Rain Chance Continues Into Early Evening, Hot Sunday
April 25, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Saturday Night
Showers and thunderstorms likely early. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. West wind 5 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 70%..
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
Monday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Monday Night
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. East wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday
Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. East wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
Wednesday
A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Thursday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 56.
Friday
Sunny, with a high near 79.
Escambia Looks To Increase Volunteer Response, Staff Some Stations With Career Firefighters
April 24, 2015
Change is coming to fire services in Escambia County, but exactly what those charges are remain to be seen.
For the past few weeks, the firefighter’s union, the volunteers and county administration have held a series of meetings working to solve a few undeniable facts– some emergency calls for help are not being answered, the number of volunteers is decreasing, volunteers say the county has made the process to becoming a volunteer firefighter too difficult, and the county can simply can’t afford to do without volunteers and replace them with all-paid fighters. The estimated cost to staff one fire station with 24/7 paid firefighters has been estimated to be $750,000.
The county has already taken steps to remove some of the barriers to becoming a certified volunteer firefighter, according to Administrator Jack Brown. The county is now starting to accept state-approved online firefighter courses, allowing volunteers to complete the classes on their own schedule. They will still be required to received hands-on type experience. He said required classes will be conducted at times that volunteers can attend, and make-up classes will be available.
Commission Chairman Steven Barry said that changes are coming to the physical agility tests for volunteers. It won’t be made any easier to pass the demanding exam, there will just be additional opportunities to complete the physical agility tests after technique is learned.
“The intent is never to get rid of the volunteers,” Brown said. “We need volunteers. We need full-time firefighters both working together.”
“One team, one fight, one mission – that’s the theme ” Commissioner Doug Underhill said. “I would hope to think that I’ve heard for the last time a volunteer firefighter saying something about the professionals, and that I have seen and read for the last time a statement from the professional firefighters negative about their reserve brethren. We’ve got to move beyond that.”
Underhill said he would not be against a possible MSBU raise if that’s what it take to improve fire services.
“It’s definitely not from the lack of trying or disregard for the public. There simply just aren’t not enough volunteers to handle the call volume in the county, Nick Gradia, president of the firefighter’s union said Thursday. “There are many reasons that volunteer numbers have dropped over the years. And, unfortunately, there does not seem to be a massive increase on the horizon. Our goal is to ensure the stations in the south end of the county have qualified personnel that can respond with a fire truck when called.”
“There never has been and never will be a guarantee that your closest neighborhood station will be the one coming to you every single time,” Gradia said. “However, we should guarantee that your neighborhood station has a qualified crew available to respond at all times, providing the greatest level of service possible. Volunteerism in this county is a longstanding tradition and it will never be the goal of my organization to replace or tarnish those traditions.”
Placing the qualified career personnel in the remainder of the south-end stations is necessary to meet public safety needs,” Gradia concluded.
The county commission also heard from the volunteer side.
“If you’re willing as a commission to change the way we’ve done business for the last eight years, where we can all come together and work toward a common solution, I think that we can achieve what we all want which is a greater public safety arena for the people of this county. That’s all we’ve ever wanted; that’s all we’ve every pushed for…We don’t wish to be career firemen,” Beau Rodrique, spokesman for the volunteer’s association told the commission. “If you simplify the system, you will see a stronger service. But you have to let volunteers take care of volunteers.”
“Our one common goal needs to be public safety,” Rodrique said. “If we can do it without raising taxes I think we owe, y’all owe to the county taxpayers, to exhaust all options of how we can do that without raising taxes. And we can do it.”
“My goal is what I heard today, let’s make sure we do everything we can do, as even the career firefighters have stated,” Commissioner Wilson Robertson said. “We need volunteers…one working unit that works together and both sides are treated fairly, and with all respect, and that our administration needs to make sure we do everything we can do to promote, recruit and retain the volunteers.”
“This county cannot afford a fully paid fire department throughout the entire county, ” Robertson said. “We’ve got to have volunteers.”
“We are going to make sure that we are safe, that our neighborhoods are safe, and that we have people that can respond,” Commissioner Grover Robinson said. “We are going to have to look at changes in the way we do business to make it easier for recruitment.”
The Escambia County Commission is expected to consider a written fire services plan at their May 7 meeting.
Pictured: Volunteer firefighters battle a full-involved house fire on Highway 97 in Davisville last November. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Santa Rosa Drops Plans To Rezone Nine Schools
April 24, 2015
After a public outcry against the idea, the Santa Rosa County School Board voted late Thursday night to kill a plan that would have rezoned nine schools. The measure failed on a 3-2 vote after numerous residents, mostly from the Ashley Plantation subdivision, spoke out against the plan.
The rezoning proposal would have changed the attendance boundaries for Avalon Middle, Bennett Russell Elementary, Chumuckla Elementary, Central School, Dixon Primary and Intermediate, Pace High, Pea Ridge Elementary and Sims Middle.
Northview Chiefs Win District 1A Championship (With Photo Gallery)
April 24, 2015
The Northview Chiefs captured their first District 1A title as they destroyed Chipley 11-1 Thursday night in Bonifay.
Brett Weeks pitched six innings for the Chiefs, allowing just one run and striking out seven. Hitting for Northview were: Chasen Freeman 3-4, 2 runs, double; Thomas Moore 2-4, 5 RBIs, 2 doubles; Roman Manning 2-4, run, RBI, double; Bryan Cantrell 1-3, run, 2 SBs; Brodie Amos 1-1, run; Aaron McDonald 1-4.
Northview will next host the winner of Friday’s Bozeman vs. Liberty County game.
The Chiefs won a 2A district title in 2004.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Photos by Ramona Preston for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bratt First Graders Present ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’ (With Gallery)
April 24, 2015
First grade students at Bratt Elementary School presented the program “How Does Your Garden Grow” Thursday morning for the student body and an encore performance Thursday night for parents and friends. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FHP Still Seeking Highway 97 Hit And Run Driver, Reward Offered
April 24, 2015
The Florida Highway Patrol is still seeking a hit and run driver after a crash last week on Highway 97 near Dogwood Park, and a reward is now available.
According to the FHP, 56-year old Patricia M. Bruner of Bruck, FL, was southbound in a 2012 Land Rover on Highway 97 approaching White Ash Road when she was rear-ended by a purple or maroon 2002-2005 model Dodge Ram traveling at a high rate of a speed. The pickup continued south following the 3:15 p.m. crash on April 15.
The force of the impact caused the Land Rover to leave the roadway and come to rest in a field. Burner and her passenger, 83-year old Thelma J. Bullard of Defuniak Springs, were transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital with minor injuries.
The pickup truck will have front end damage, according to the FHP. Anyone with information on the truck is asked to email joshuatucker@flhsmv.gov or dial *FHP from their cell phone. A reward is also available and callers can remain anonymous by calling CrimeStoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Submitted photos for NorthEcambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pot Challenge Rolls Ahead
April 24, 2015
The fight over the state’s attempt to get a non-euphoric pot industry off the ground continued Thursday during a day-long hearing in a challenge filed by a Florida nurseryman who complains that health officials’ proposed regulations are unfair and vague.
The hearing over the rule challenge, filed by Baywood Nurseries of Apopka, comes as legislators said this week they have abandoned an effort to revamp Florida’s first-in-the-nation law, passed last year, legalizing cannabis that purportedly does not get users high. The cannabis is low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD.
Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins kept open the possibility of dismissing the challenge prior to hearing more than five hours of testimony from nursery owner Raymond Hogshead, his partner, Heather Zabinofsky, and others. The challenge is filed against the state Department of Health, which is in charge of carrying out the law.
Watkins is the same judge who tossed out the Department of Health’s first attempt at a rule last year. That prompted the agency’s Office of Compassionate Use to hold a rare “negotiated rulemaking” workshop earlier this year in which a 12-member panel, handpicked by the office’s executive director Patricia Nelson, spent 27 hours over two days hashing out the proposed regulations.
Watkins earlier dismissed a challenge to the new rule filed by Zabinofsky, sole proprietor of Sanford-based Master Growers, P.A. The decision came because she is not a nursery that meets criteria to compete for selection as one of five “dispensing organization” that will grow, process and distribute the medical marijuana ordered by doctors for patients with severe muscle spasms or cancer.
But the testimony of Zabinofsky, who claims she is an expert in growing marijuana and has appeared at several rule-making workshops held by health officials since Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law last year, was the highlight of the dry administrative hearing.
Eduardo Lombard — a private lawyer who, along with his partner William Robert Vezina, is representing the Department of Health — shredded Zabinofsky for admitting to growing cannabis, a Schedule 1 drug that is illegal under state and federal law. The department is paying $400 an hour, up to $150,000, for the legal representation.
Although Zabinofsky admitted in her deposition that she grows marijuana, she hedged when grilled by Lombard on Thursday about growing the illegal substance in Florida.
“I assist medical marijuana patients with their marijuana needs,” she repeatedly told Lombard.
Charles Moure, a Seattle lawyer representing Hogshead, argued that the members of the negotiated rulemaking committee — which included representatives of large nurseries, marijuana growers from other states and Holley Moseley, the mother of a child with epilepsy who was the figurehead of the push for the low-THC law — were selected because of extensive “lobbying” on their behalf.
But Lombard disputed that, saying that the negotiated rulemaking process — which makes it more difficult to challenge regulations —”was a thoughtful, rational, deliberate process” that resulted in “rules that make sense.”
He conceded that the nurseries who participated in the process had an interest in the rule.
“That is the point of negotiated rulemaking. You’re supposed to bring people who have different perspectives … and get them in a room and hash it out,” Lombard said.
Under the law, nurseries that have been in business for at least 30 years in Florida and grow a minimum of 400,000 plants are eligible for the licenses. About 100 nurseries meet the criteria, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Moure complained about how the rule deals with a $5 million bond required in the law.
“We contend that it creates a situation that not the entire 98 applicants but maybe less than 10 percent of them, 20 percent of them, can truly apply,” Moure said.
Part of the scoring mechanism used to select the five dispensing organizations is also tilted toward large nurseries, Moure said.
The health department’s lawyers spent much of the day trying to lay the groundwork for Watkins to dismiss the suit by painting Hogshead’s nursery as lacking the financial wherewithal to get a license. Under the proposed rule, dispensing organizations would have to prove that they would be able to stay in business for at least two years and be able to cover not only the bond but what could be expensive start-up costs.
Lombard challenged Hogshead, who said in a deposition last week that he would not be able to afford the “certified financials” required as part of the application. But on Wednesday, Baywood Nurseries filed a letter from Hogshead’s accountant saying the grower would be able to provide the audited financial statements, but that they would be expensive.
“Based on what I know right now, it will be difficult, expensive, but I think I can do it,” Hogshead said.
Baywood Nurseries, which specializes in gardenias, saw net sales drop 30 percent, from $650,000 in 2009 to $440,000 in 2013, Vezina noted. But Hogshead said that about half of the state’s nurseries went under during the recession, and that he believes he will have the backing to participate in the pot business.
“I will have a financial partner at that point that will show that we’re good to go,” he said.
Vezina also pressed Hogshead on whether he was concerned that Zabinofsky, the vice president of his nursery, is currently growing marijuana illegally.
“Yes, I have a little concern of that,” Hogshead said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Florida House Sends Budget Offer To Senate
April 24, 2015
The state House sent an initial budget offer to the Senate on Thursday, an apparent effort to jump-start moribund efforts to reach an agreement on a spending plan for the year that begins July 1.
It wasn’t clear if the proposal was enough to get lawmakers talking about their budget differences, which have now ensured that lawmakers will fail to reach a deal on their one constitutionally required duty by the May 1 end of the annual legislative session. But the offer marked an unexpected step forward in what had been shaping up to be a protracted battle over health-care funding in the differing plans.
The House offer would use $200 million in state money, and draw down another $300 million in federal funding, to offset potential losses to hospitals from a pending federal decision on the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program.
State officials have been negotiating with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over funding for LIP, which is largely used to cover the expenses of uninsured, low-income Floridians who show up at hospitals needing treatment. That program is set to expire June 30.
Senate leaders have been pushing for a plan that would bring in $2.2 billion for LIP and use $2.8 billion in Medicaid expansion funds to help low-income residents purchase private health insurance. But the House and Gov. Rick Scott are fiercely opposed to using the expansion dollars, which come from the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, conceded that the idea proposed Thursday would not fully cover the loss of the LIP program if it were to expire.
“I don’t think that necessarily hospitals should be held harmless on the whole thing from the standpoint of what the feds have typically given them,” he said. “But if we can find ways to kind up shore them up a little bit, that would certainly be a conversation-starter — at least we feel it is.”
The House sent the offer over about 1:30 p.m., Crisafulli said, when both chambers were in session. Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, did not mention the offer when speaking to reporters after the Senate adjourned. A spokeswoman said Gardiner and his staff were still reviewing the proposal Thursday evening.
“As we move to the final week of session, the president and speaker have made great progress towards completing their joint agenda,” Gardiner spokeswoman Katie Betta said by email. “Many of the outstanding items are related to the budget, so the president appreciates the offer Speaker Crisafulli made this afternoon and is looking forward to working together as we head towards the finish line.”
Betta also pointed to statements by Gardiner earlier this week, when he indicated the Senate would look to spend $600 million, and draw down additional federal matching funds, if LIP were to expire completely. Gardiner also said that neither LIP nor the expansion proposal individually could “address the health care challenges facing our state.”
The House would finance its proposal by dipping into other priorities. It would reduce public education funding by $90.3 million from the initial House budget, though that would still mark an increase overall. The House would also shave $78.5 million off a tax-cut proposal and take $50 million out of reserves, as well as making an array of smaller tweaks to make the whole plan balance.
Lawmakers would still have significant issues to iron out if they can get past their differences on health care. The House’s overall budget plan weighs in at $76.2 billion, compared to $80.4 billion for the Senate.
Democrats were skeptical about the House proposal.
“My feeling is if we’re offering plans last minute … I cannot imagine there’s any well thought-out or intended goal at this late hour, doing that type of last-minute submission to the Senate,” said House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach.
Still, if the offer prompts more negotiations, it would mark the first concrete movement on the budget in weeks. But even with the chasm separating the two sides, leaders on both sides have worked to provide at least the appearance that discussions are cordial.
“My view is that people have been very, very respectful on balance,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon. “And to have gotten this far in the process with as little acrimony as we have had play out in the media is really an extraordinary accomplishment.”
J.M. “Mac” Stipanovich, a Republican consultant and lobbyist, said Crisafulli and Gardiner were dealing with a fraught issue while avoiding the almost open warfare that sometimes accompanied even smaller disagreements between the chambers.
“If you look at the rhetoric and the body language and all that sort of stuff, I would suggest that given the magnitude of the differences … the discussion has been remarkably without rancor,” Stipanovich said.
The back-and-forth between House and Senate leaders seems to mark a difference from the cozy relationship enjoyed by former House Speaker Will Weatherford and former Senate President Don Gaetz, who oversaw their respective chambers the past two years. But Weatherford and Gaetz rarely had deep disagreements, making it easier to portray a strong partnership, Stipanovich said.
“If you’re taking your wife to Europe, y’all are going to get along just fine,” he joked.
House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, also sounded conciliatory earlier this week when talking about the standoff.
“The lines of communication are great, and I think that it’ll work itself out,” he said Wednesday.
Corcoran spoke as the House’s post-session music — a staple of the final weeks of lawmakers’ annual gathering — was winding down. The song was “These Boots Are Made for Walking,” with the trademark line: “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.”
By Thursday, the House had chosen a different selection. As reporters entered the chamber, the sound system began playing “Everything Is Awesome.”
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Escambia, Santa Rosa Among Counties Claiming Victory In DJJ Dispute
April 24, 2015
Both the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and 27 counties — including Escambia and Santa Rosa — challenging the agency are claiming victory over a judge’s ruling in a long-running dispute about the costs of detaining juvenile offenders.
Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins on Wednesday found that some parts of a rule proposed by the department last year “constitute an invalid exercise of legislatively delegated authority.” The proposed rule deals with how costs should be split between the state and counties.
“It (Watkins’ ruling) emphasizes the need for legislative action,” said Cragin Mosteller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Counties. “Once again a judge has ruled that DJJ has not done rulemaking right. In a decade, they have not been able to correctly interpret the statute.”
But department officials said Watkins’ most important finding was in their favor. That issue involves situations in which juvenile offenders commit probation violations. The state and counties have long battled about who should pay detention costs in such circumstances.
“This is because the statute simply does not address the situation where a youth commits multiple substantive law violations over time and thus has the status of both post-disposition (commitment or probation) and predisposition (detained and awaiting final court disposition on a new charge),” Watkins wrote. “The department’s interpretation that detention arising from a new law violation by a youth on probation is the responsibility of the counties is certainly one reasonable interpretation … is not clearly erroneous, and is entitled to deference.”
A 2004 law requires counties to pay “pre-disposition” costs associated with juveniles waiting for cases to be resolved in court. The department pays the costs of detaining youths whose cases have been decided — known as “post-disposition.” But the two sides have never agreed on what those terms meant. Instead, they’ve been embroiled in a series of legal battles about how to carry out the law, with the counties arguing they have been overcharged.
“We are proud of our partnership with counties as we work together to provide troubled youth with the kind of support network they need to live productive and lawful lives,” Department of Juvenile Justice spokeswoman Heather DiGiacomo wrote in an email. “For some time, the courts have been reviewing Florida’s detention cost-share statutes, and we are pleased that the courts have both affirmed the department’s position and provided all parties with greater clarity into these processes.”
“it pretty much shows it should be a partnership, pretty much 50/50,” Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson said Thursday night.
The clash stretches through several administrative hearings and the 1st District Court of Appeal, with a potential legislative compromise failing on the final day of the 2014 session.
Lawmakers again this year have tried to come up with a legislative solution. A House bill (HB 5201) would require counties to pay 57 percent of juvenile-detention costs, while the state would pick up 43 percent — not a 50-50 split sought by the counties.
The counties have long argued that their costs for juvenile detention amounted to an unfunded mandate. Watkins in 2012 ruled against the state in a rule fight, and the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld his decision.
After that appeals-court ruling, lawmakers last year considered a bill that would have created a 50-50 split. But that bill died when counties insisted on recouping $140 million for past overpayments.
Now Mosteller contends that Watkins’ ruling strengthens the counties’ case for “a fair 50-50 split with a repayment.”
“I hope this ruling will make it apparent to the Legislature that DJJ cannot interpret the statute correctly, and that we need new legislation, that DJJ has consistently through the years been haphazard in their rulemaking,” Mosteller said. “We need to move forward with a new law that gets us out of this bureaucratic mess and puts us in a position that we can better take care of the taxpayer dollars as well as the youths that need our help.”
The fate of this year’s legislation remains unclear. The House bill was approved by the Appropriations Committee in late March but has not been heard by the full House. A Senate bill (SB 1414) was approved by a subcommittee this month but has not moved further. Senate sponsor Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, has said the counties’ requests for repayments were “likely a bridge too far.”
In addition to the Florida Association of Counties, the petitioners in the case include Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, along with 25 other counties across the state. Duval County and the city of Jacksonville filed a petition to intervene, which was granted.
Thirty-five counties split juvenile-detention costs with the state. The remaining counties are considered “fiscally constrained” and are not required to contribute.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida, with contributions by NorthEscambia.com