One Injured In Crash Near Barrineau Park Bridge
September 17, 2015
One person was injured in a single vehicle crash at the Barrineau Park bridge over the Perdido River Wednesday night.
The accident occurred about 9:15 p.m. on the Alabama side of the bridge, leaving a pickup truck on its side off the roadway. One person was transported by Escambia County EMS to West Florida Hospital.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation by Alabama State Troopers.
The Molino Station of Escambia Rescue, in addition to Baldwin County authorities, also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Campus Gun Bills Advance In House And Senate
September 17, 2015
A proposal that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to pack heat while hitting the books on college and university campuses notched it first two successes Wednesday.
The legislation (SB 68 and HB 4001), which won support from criminal-justice committees in the House and Senate, is widely opposed by academic leaders.
Proponents argued that the proposal would make colleges safer, while opponents questioned the need to allow weapons into an already stress-filled atmosphere.
“I don’t feel like your constitutional rights should stop at a line in the sand,” said Senate Criminal Justice Chairman Greg Evers, a Baker Republican who is sponsoring the Senate bill.
The Senate committee voted 3-2 along party lines to support the proposal, which is filed for the 2016 legislative session. The Senate proposal must still get through three additional committees, including the Judiciary Committee, which did not take up the issue during the 2015 legislative session.
The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted 8-5, with Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota, joining four Democrats in opposing the measure. Pilon, saying he is a National Rifle Association member, noted a desire for additional training for campus law enforcement.
House bill sponsor Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, indicated the measure could make schools safer since concealed-carry permit holders must be 21. Also, he said current law prohibits military veterans who have returned to school on the “GI Bill” from carrying weapons.
“Most of those people have more training than our law-enforcement officers do,” Steube said. “I was an infantry officer. We trained for years on how to execute different scenarios, and so have all these different military members.”
The proposal continues to face opposition from faculty members, university and college presidents and campus law enforcement.
Tallahassee Community College President Jim Murdaugh said the presidents remain unified in their opposition, as they were when the proposal was debated during the 2015 session.
“What we do in a campus environment is stimulate and sometime provoke the students who are on our campuses in order for them to learn,” Murdaugh told the House panel. “We cause them to challenge what they believe, and sometimes that results in friction between faculty and students. The idea of having someone armed in that kind of environment … is not something that leads, in my estimation, likely to good outcomes.”
Florida State University President John Thrasher, a former lawmaker who helped derail a similar measure in 2011, told The News Service of Florida on Tuesday that allowing more guns on campus will not make schools safer.
“We live in a different environment where, if you look at the footprint of this campus and you see where this campus is and where it goes, and then you look at the outskirts of it, there are multiple places to be served alcohol, there are multiple types of high-risk behaviors that go on at universities when you have 42,000 students,” Thrasher said. “I frankly think it’s just a mistake to do it. I’ve said that. I’m going to continue to say it. I believe in the Second Amendment. I supported it when I was in the Legislature, but I think there certainly are reasonable exceptions. This is one of those.”
But a number of students, some pointing to a November 2014 shooting at Florida State’s Strozier Library that left three people injured, told lawmakers Wednesday that they don’t feel safe. Even though the gunman in the Strozier Library shooting was killed by first responders, there remains a two- or three-minute response time — time in which people with concealed-weapons licenses could react, several students noted.
Shayna Lopez-Rivas, a Florida State University who said she has been sexually assaulted, said she would have not been assaulted on campus if she had been allowed to carry a gun. University of Florida student Brandon Woolf, a vice president of the campus chapter of Student for Concealed Carry, said students should be allowed to defend themselves.
“A lot can happen in two to three minutes,” Woolf said. “Nobody here wants to call my parents and tell them I was killed while hiding behind a desk.”
But Florida State University music professor Matthew Lata, a member of the campus’ chapter of the United Faculty of Florida, said such views are in the minority.
“The majority of students don’t want it. The vast majority of faculty don’t want it. Our presidents don’t want it. Our (university system) Board of Governors doesn’t want it. Our law enforcement, most importantly, doesn’t want it,” Lata told the Senate committee. “At what point should legislators listen to the people?”
Since 2011, the number of concealed-weapon licenses in Florida has grown from just over 853,000 to more than 1.5 million. The numbers have been boosted during the past couple of months as the state is now fast-tracking the license process for active-duty military members and honorably discharged veterans.
The committees’ support for the campus concealed-weapons proposal came as Florida State University this week entered into an agreement with the Second Amendment advocacy group Florida Carry. In the agreement, the university said it will not “detain, arrest, or discipline” any person lawfully in possession of a weapon or firearm in their private vehicle or lawfully in possession of a handgun securely encased in a private vehicle.
Florida Carry filed a lawsuit against the school over a football “game day” guide that initially included a provision about barring guns in vehicles on campus. The school later updated the language to reflect a 2013 ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal that said the University of North Florida could not prevent firearms from being stowed in cars on campus.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Northview Volleyball Games Rescheduled
September 17, 2015
Thursday night’s Northview High School volleyball games against Laurel Hill have been canceled. The games have been rescheduled for Monday, September 28 at Northview. The junior varsity will play at 4:30, followed by the varsity at 5:30.
Sunny And Warm Pattern Returns
September 17, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 89. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 88. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 65. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 66. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 66.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87.
No Suspect, Motive Unclear In Cyberattack On School Tests
September 17, 2015
An investigation into a cyberattack launched earlier this year against the state’s computer-testing platform for public schools has ended with no suspects and no apparent motive, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
State officials emphasized that the March incident was what is known as a Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS, attack — which occurs when someone bombards a server with requests to overload it and make it unable to handle legitimate traffic.
“Most importantly, I want to reassure our state’s students, parents and educators that, because of the nature of the cyberattack, no student information was accessed and the content of the assessment was not compromised,” Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said in a statement issued Wednesday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said 29,000 IP addresses were used in the cyberattack. IP addresses are meant to identify computers on the Internet, though they can be hijacked or spoofed.
“While some of the IP addresses used in this attack were based in the United States, most were believed to be in foreign countries,” the agency said. “FDLE did not identify a suspect or a motive for the DDoS attacks.”
The investigation appears to close out a stormy chapter in the history of the state’s new test, known as the Florida Standards Assessment.
The attack was part of a series of embarrassing technological snags that hampered the spring rollout of the assessment, the latest standardized tests for the state’s public schools. The attacks hit the testing platform operated by American Institutes for Research, a non-profit group that signed a six-year, $220 million deal to design the test.
While the attacks were blamed for some of the trouble that students had accessing the test, there were also widespread delays before the computer assault began. The state is pursuing sanctions against the group for the glitches.
As a result of the snafus and a general public uproar about over-testing, lawmakers scaled back tests and required a third-party review of the test before it could be used for accountability measures like school grades and teacher evaluations.
The Florida Department of Education announced earlier this month that the review found the test to be valid.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Prison System, Health Care Contractor Accused Of Denying Inmate Surgeries
September 17, 2015
Lawyers for Florida inmates have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections and prison health-care provider Corizon, alleging that the state agency and the company are denying hernia operations to save money.
The complaint was filed Wednesday in federal court in Tallahassee on behalf of three inmates. Two of the inmates, Amado Parra and Archie Green, suffer from hernias but have been denied the opportunity to consult with a surgeon, the lawsuit says. A third inmate, Tracy Copeland, was seen by a surgeon who twice recommended a hernia operation, but state corrections officials denied the procedure both times.
The lawsuit, filed by Florida Justice Institute Executive Director Randall Berg, details numerous inmates’ years-long struggles to get hernia operations. It says they were repeatedly denied consultation with surgeons or were not allowed to have surgery once doctors decided it was necessary.
“It’s a pattern and practice of denial of medical care on the basis of saving money and maximizing profits,” Berg said in a telephone interview. “This is surgery that the taxpayers of the state of Florida have already paid for. Corizon is under contract with the state of Florida to provide medical care to inmates that need medical care, and they’re simply not providing it.”
But Corizon issued a statement Wednesday saying it does not have policies limiting or preventing hernia surgeries or other medically necessary procedures. Corizon had not been served with the lawsuit, but company spokeswoman Martha Harbin said “what makes good business sense and good medical sense is excellent preventive care.”
“We are first and foremost health-care providers. Our mission is to deliver safe, effective and efficient health-care services using best practices and evidence-based medicine,” Harbin said in the statement.
The treatment of inmates with hernias is the latest in a litany of complaints about privatization of the prison system’s health-care services.
Tennessee-based Corizon and Wexford Health Services took over prison health care about two years ago after a drawn-out battle over outsourcing ordered by the Legislature in 2011.
The state awarded Corizon a $1.1 billion, five-year contract to provide health care for about three-quarters of the state’s 100,000 inmates. Wexford Health Services is responsible for the rest of the prisoners.
Less than four months before Gov. Rick Scott, who pushed for the privatization, was re-elected in 2014, former Corrections Secretary Michael Crews quietly agreed to pay Wexford and Corizon an additional $3.2 million to stay on the job for another year.
Two months after he inked the contract amendments, Crews threatened to stop payments to Corizon, saying the company failed to follow through after audits revealed shortcomings in multiple areas, including medical care, nursing and staffing.
So far this year, the corrections department has fined Corizon $67,500 in liquidated damages, according to agency spokesman McKinley Lewis.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses the agency and Corizon of violating the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments.
Inguinal hernias cause severe pain, which typically worsens with activity or exertion, and can cause serious complications, including death, if left untreated, Berg wrote in the 45-page complaint. The medical standard of care for hernia patients is surgery — one of the most common surgeries in the country — as soon as it is detected, he wrote.
But since Corizon took over in October 2013, physicians have refused to submit consult requests or such requests for surgery are is denied, the lawsuit alleges.
Pictured: The medical unit inside the Century Correctional Institution. None of the inmates involved in the lawsuits over medical care are inmates in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
“Defendants have enforced this policy, practice and custom despite knowing that failing to provide these surgeries will lead to prisoners being left in excruciating pain, limited in their activities, and at risk for serious complications or death,” Berg wrote.
Copeland, who has suffered from a hernia for more than two years and was twice denied surgery despite the recommendations of a surgeon, “feels like his insides are falling out of his body” and “has been reduced to lying in his bunk most of the day,” Berg wrote.
Seeking class-action status, Berg said at least 62 prisoners have experienced the same problems and as many as 10,000 inmates — or 10 percent of the prison population — could be affected, based on the rate of hernias in the general population.
Corizon receives a fixed, per-inmate fee for health services and must also pay the corrections department $250 each time it transports an inmate over 50 miles roundtrip for medical services, with some exceptions, Berg wrote.
“Thus, Corizon has a financial incentive to avoid providing medical care and treatment, especially when that care involves sending prisoners to outside specialists,” he wrote.
Berg also represented Daniel Plotnick, an inmate who sued the state and Corizon last year after being repeatedly denied a hernia consultation. At a hearing last September before U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, who is also presiding over the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Corizon officials agreed to allow Plotnick to see a surgeon. Shortly afterward, the inmate received two hernia surgeries. Plotnick settled his case against the state, Corizon and a doctor for $90,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Impact 100 Announces Finalists For $1.06 Million Grants
September 17, 2015
IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area, a local, philanthropy group, announced Wednesday the 15 grant finalists selected for 2015. Ten of these 15 finalists will receive s grant of $106,000 at the IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area’s Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 18.
The 15 finalists selected by IMPACT 100’s Focus Committees are as follows:
ARTS & CULTURE
Ballet Pensacola, Inc.
Project: Elevate – 21st Century Productions for Ballet Pensacola
Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society, Inc.
Project: Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Historical Center
Pensacola Museum of Art, Inc
Project: Expanding and Protecting the Vaults for PMA’s Fine Art Collections
EDUCATION
AMIkids Pensacola, Inc.
Project: AMIkids Careers
Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, Inc.
Project: Field Trip Fun at IHMC
Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, Inc.
Project: Public Awareness Campaign – The Most Powerful Organization That Nobody’s Heard Of
ENVIRONMENT, RECREATION & PRESERVATION
Coast Watch Alliance, Inc.
Project: “Research to Restaurant”, Affecting a Sustainable Seafood Resource by Taming Lionfish
University of West Florida Foundation, Inc.
Project: Identity and Dignity: Preserving Pensacola’s Historic African American Cemeteries
Veterans Memorial Park Foundation of Pensacola, Inc.
Project: VMP Venue Enhancements and Infrastructure Improvements
FAMILY
Be Ready Alliance Coordinating For Emergencies (BRACE) & BRACE LLC
Project: Family IMPACT Center
Children’s Home Society of Florida, Inc. collaborating with Escambia Community Clinics, Inc.
Project: Weis Community School Family Playground
Lutheran Services Florida, Inc.
Project: Transportation to Healing, Hope and Help
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Bay Area Food Bank
Project: Northwest Florida Healthy Food Distribution and Milton Warehouse Expansion Project
Escambia Search and Rescue, Inc.
Project: Enhancement of Search and Rescue Response for Marine Emergencies in the Florida Panhandle
Re-Entry Alliance Pensacola, Inc.
Project: REAP’s Second Chance Re-Entry Program
Incumbent Larry Walker Pre-files For ECUA Board Seat
September 17, 2015
Incumbent Larry Walker has pre-filed for the ECUA District 5 seat as a Republican for the 2016 election cycle.
Walker has served six terms on the ECUA board after being first election in 1988. He ran unsuccessfully for county commission in 2000.
Donate To Food Pantry At Tonight’s Miller At Ernest Ward Game
September 17, 2015
The Ernest Ward Middle School Teens for Christ club is establishing a food pantry to serve needy students and their families.
A food donation drive will be held during the T.R. Miller at Ernest Ward football game tonight. Kickoff is at 6:00.
Fans are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items at the ticket booth.
Northview High Warns Parents Of Water Issue, Potential Health Concerns
September 16, 2015
Northview High School and the Escambia County School District are warning parents about a potential health problem resulting from a water supply issue Wednesday.
According to Principal Gayle Weaver, a contractor had injected chemicals into the water supply for testing purposes. An item known as a “backflow preventer” is supposed to prevent the chemicals from releasing into the main water supply.
”This system failed,” Weaver said. “The indication of the release was a very slight pink discoloration of the water.”
The chemical in the main supply was in a very diluted state, but as a precaution students were prevented from having skin contact with water. They were allowed to use the restroom, but were required to use hand sanitizer instead of water to wash their hands.
Northview was in constant contact with the offices of the superintendent and other officials in order to obtain the necessary manpower and resources to quickly address the situation. The school also compiled a list of students that may have consumed water from water fountains prior to the discover of the situation.
“No students visited the clinic or sought assistance for any symptoms associated with the chemical,” the principal said.
Weaver said any student that has symptoms such as rash or irritation of the skin should seek medical attention. The student’s physician can call (850) 327-4894 or (334) 248-1275 for an emailed copy of the MSDS sheets on the chemical.
“(Thursday) and Friday mornings, the health department will do tests on the water to determine water safety. We will know Monday morning, if all is clear, for there must be two consecutive negative test results for clearance,” she said. “In the meantime, we will have district-furnished hand sanitizer and bottled water for all needs. In addition the lunchroom will not be using the school water for food preparation.”
School will not be canceled and will be in session as usual.