Prep Sports: Jay Over NHS Volleyball; EWMS Tops Neal
September 11, 2015
In high school volleyball action Thursday, the Jay Royals topped the Northview Chiefs.
JV
25-23, 21-25, 10-15
Jay wins
Varsity
11-25, 11-25, 16-25
Jay wins
In middle school football, Ernest Ward Middle School beat W.S. Neal 46-12.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Gary Amerson, click to enlarge.
Strength Team To Appear In Molino
September 11, 2015
With feats like ripping a phone book in half, crushing walls of concrete with a blow from an arm or head, breaking handcuffs and running through 2×4 boards, the Strength Team will bring their inspirational message to a Molino church Saturday and Sunday nights.
The Strength Team will perform their amazing feats of strength Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. at Highland Baptist Church. Admission is free; an offering will be received.
The leader and founder of The Strength Team, Mike Hagen, has dedicated over 20 years of his life to this kind of work. He has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people and performed at thousands of school and church assemblies. He has been featured on CNN, ESPN, and the popular television show “Walker Texas Ranger” with Chuck Norris.
Pictured: A previous Strength Team appearance at Highland Baptist Church and Molino Park Elementary School. NorthEscambia.com file photos. click to enlarge.
9/11 In His Own Words: Inside The Pentagon – Come September Morning
September 11, 2015
Steve Vanderwerff, who served as public affairs action officer for Naval Education and Training Command in Pensacola, was inside the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 — less than 100 yards around the corner from the crash site in his new office. Less than a week before, his office had been located in the strike zone.
Vanderwerff describes, in his own words, that September morning….
My decision to join the Navy was solely based on my sense of adventure. The Navy’s ad from my childhood, “It’s not just a job it’s an adventure,” truly struck home. I envisioned myself a bell-bottomed, Dixie-cup wearing sailor right out of the movie “Mr. Roberts.” Ah the sweet pleasure of sailing the seven seas doing the hula-hula, late night pub crawls in Hong Kong, collecting an armful of tattoos and chasing after Thai girls and beer while being paid. So I enlisted. It was 1988. All has come true except for the tattoos.
The years flew by, a tour on USS Carl Vinson – the Navy’s Golden Eagle, two tours with Pacific Fleet Combat Camera, surviving SERE School, graduating from Syracuse University’s DoD film school, a science expedition to the North Pole; and a tour with the Blue Angels as their backseat aerial photographer pulling a lot of G’s. I was operating on maximum overdrive, high on adrenaline. The ad had come true. It wasn’t just a job it was indeed an adventure. Little did I know that I had yet to experience the adventure of a lifetime, one that was life altering, made me grow-up and come to fully realize what it means to serve my country in the United States Navy.
After my tour with the Blue Angels I was detailed to the Pentagon. I had heatedly disagreed with my detailer’s decision. Taking a Secretary of Defense staff assignment at the Joint Combat Camera Center (JCCC) didn’t exactly register very high on my fun meter. Driving a desk, supporting Com Cam policy and supervising the reception of imagery from forward deployed combat camera teams isn’t exactly how I had ever envisioned myself. Damn it, I was an operator! The likelihood or remote possibility of me running into something fun and adventurous like arm-wrestling Bolivian Blow Dart Peddlers or fire walking with Tahitian Mai Tai Jugglers while stationed in DC was slim-to-none. Didn’t he have something for me, like pulling G’s in a fast-mover (I could fill volumes about how to prevent power puking inside the cockpit)? Or what about breaking through the Arctic’s polar cap in a nuclear powered fast attack submarine and standing guard against polar bear attack as I had in the past? I’m not exactly sure if a polar bear attack on a US Submariner constitutes an act of war, if so who owns the polar cap? If he wouldn’t send me to any of the above, how about something a bit more cerebral like me hitting a foreign beach armed to the teeth with Kevlar wearing Marines or maybe photographing Navy SEAL’s in revved up low-altitude fast moving helos moving in and out of hostile territory? I had always been a big fan of that sort of action. He said no to all. It was time for me to take a seat at a desk and help others do what I wanted to do.
And so on a hot muggy day I checked in. It was August 2001. The Pentagon buzzed like a beehive. I was impressed by all of military’s, “Heavy Hitters” that walked the halls. There was a lot to learn, especially working with the other service branches. What was there not to like? The world appeared to be at peace. I was stationed in our nation’s capitol. I had a large cubicle, and my own computer with super fast T-line connections. A Starbucks was conveniently located one floor below. Best of all, I would be home every night for the next three years to annoy my wife and kids. My first month flew by moving JCCC into the Pentagon’s newly renovated wing.
On a sunny, Tuesday morning I arrived at work. It was September 11, 2001. It was a little after nine a.m. when I got to work. My wife Dayle, was flying back home that day from attending a funeral in the mid-west. I was getting in late because I had to drop my kids off at school; playing the role of soccer mom somewhat new to me. My officer in charge was attending a conference in Norfolk, Va. and my operations chief was at a meeting down the road in Alexandria. When I got to the office everybody was huddled around the TV. The news was reporting that a plane had crashed into one of New York’s Twin Towers.
I stood flabbergasted as the tragedy unfolded. To my disbelief a second jet slammed into the Twin Towers. My memory is a bit fuzzy of what happened next, but as I recall, soon afterwards the Pentagon shuddered and shook. My co-workers and I looked at each other not sure of what had just happened. That sure seemed like one helluva sonic-boom I thought to myself. Having come from the “Blues” my mind still operated in the aviation world of thinking. The phone rang. I answered it. It was one of my guys who, was off for the day at home just across the Anacostia River at Bolling Air Force Base. He asked me if we had just been attacked. I said “is that what that was?” I said I wasn’t sure, there were no alarms going off. He said he thought so because looking from his back yard black smoke was pouring out of the Pentagon. Someone went out to investigate. They quickly came back. All they said was, “We gotta go.”
Smoke filled halls were filled with people making their way towards exits. The murmur of voices and shuffling feet was all that could be heard. No one had a clue to what had just happened. The idea of a passenger plane hijacked by terrorists and crashing into the Pentagon was as remote a possibility as Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming the governor of California. Not exactly knowing what to think I made my way outside. Once outside I saw thick black smoke rising from the building. I thought that maybe construction workers working on the renovation might have hit a gas main. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head as hordes of dazed and confused people continued to pour into the daylight. Seeking information I went to my car and turned on the radio to listen to the news. I sat stunned not believing what I was hearing. Holy-moley I thought. We’ve been attacked by terrorists, same as the Twin Towers. My God there are people in the wreckage. I spend my entire career trying to get into the action and when I think that I’m away in the rear the action comes looking for me. I heard approaching sirens in the distance. Then it dawned on me. My wife was flying home that day. My mind raced with morbid fear. Is she safe? Has she got on the plane yet? In a fog I made my way to the pre-determined rally point. Once there I set my personal emotions aside. I had people to muster and account for. The rest of JCCC showed up. All were accounted for. Then security officers were yelling for everybody to leave the area because another attack was imminent. Mass hysteria hit the crowd. What the heck was going on? Like cockroaches scattering when the lights come on, civilians, military personnel, politicians and bungling bureaucrats ran for cover. Somehow we all ended up on the other side of Highway 395. I knew I wouldn’t be seeing my car for a long time. More worries filled my mind, thinking of how would I get home and who would pick-up and care for my kids? The second attack turned out to be a false alarm. I set aside my worries, I focused on the positive. My wife would be ok and I would figure out how to get home and take care of my children, but first I had my duty to fulfill. Once again I accounted for my personnel.
Fortunately several members had grabbed their cell phones. The airways were jammed, but after repeated attempts we were able to get a hold of my boss. He instructed us to get to the American Forces Information Services (AFIS) in Alexandria, where he currently was and where we would set up shop. There was imagery to get out to the world. The story needed to be told. Because none of us had access to our cars we made our way to the nearest metro station. I tried repeatedly, but couldn’t reach my wife. I was scared. Fortunately I was able to contact a neighbor who would pick my kids up from school. Once at AFIS we went into action setting up a temporary JCCC – still and video imagery started to come in. Sec Def wanted his imagery. Hours later after repeated attempts I finally was able to get a hold of my wife. She was safe. Her plane had been delayed because of the tragedy. She had spent her time desperately trying to get a hold of me, fearing for the worst – widow hood. I assured that her I was un-harmed and that the kids were safe with a neighbor. We cried for our good fortune and the mis-fortune of others. I thanked God for watching over me and my family. I had been less than a hundred yards around the corner from the crash site. Late that night in the safety of my home with my kids snug in bed I realized that a week earlier before moving into the newly renovated wing, JCCC had been located in the area of impact and that a few of my office mates and I would have been in the old office that morning to make sure we had moved everything, but had not because we had been watching the Twin Towers tragedy on TV. I sighed with relief. It had been a close call.
Years later, thinking about that bleak morning in September when all of America held its breath and our enemies cheered I give pause to reflect. Understanding, that on that day something awoke in me that had been missing in me, if not many others – service and sacrifice. I had spent my time in the Navy up until then thinking of what I could take or get out of the deal. My training, my many deployments, my wanting fun and adventure had always been about me. Sure, I had always been a good Sailor, but I had been driven by hubris and selfish desire. Not giving much thought to what it meant to serve my country. I was happy as long as I was able to collect a paycheck.
It didn’t happen overnight, but over the course of my tour at the Pentagon and supporting the “Global War on Terror” I found a new sense of purpose and energy. I worked long hours, determined to support the cause and give meaning to my duty. Gone were my days of thinking that being a Sailor meant being a sea going pirate, swashbuckling across the globe, with tales to spin and tell. People had died and would continue to do so without mine and every American’s full support to stop our enemies.
So when it was time for me to talk to my detailer about orders, I didn’t hesitate to ask for orders at the “tip of the spear” aboard a ship because that was where I was needed. My days of asking for fun and adventurous jobs seeking personal reward and glamour were over.
And so whenever I found myself on long arduous extended deployments while sailing in harms-way wondering why I had to be there and for what purpose I would think of all those who had gone before me and of their sacrifice and dedication to service.
I continued to serve with that sense of pride and purpose at follow-on duty stations, and continue to do so as a retired chief and civilian employee at Naval Education and Training Command, which develops the Navy’s workforce through education and training that builds personal, professional, and leadership skills.
When my time in the Navy, active duty and as a civilian, comes to a close I will be proud to say as President Kennedy so eloquently put,
“I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction:
“I served in the United States Navy”
Wahoos Drop Playoff Opener
September 11, 2015
At the All-Star break, Pensacola manager Pat Kelly admitted that first half champion Biloxi was the only team he thought was better than the last place Blue Wahoos.
Ironically, both teams are now playing for the Southern League South Division crown, after Pensacola won the second half.
In the first game of the five-game-series, the Shuckers came out on top, 4-2, with a dominating performance by Biloxi pitcher Jorge Lopez in front of 2,782 fans at MGM Park.
Kelly credited Lopez for cruising through the Pensacola lineup.
“We got two guys on in the ninth and our guys kept on battling but we didn’t have a lot of chances,” Kelly said, who said Lopez’s changeup and fastball kept Pensacola off balance. “We just ran into a hot pitcher. There’s nothing we can do about that.”
Playing in his first playoff game in his 11-year minor league career, Pensacola second baseman Ray Chang scored the tying run, 1-1, in the second inning after reaching second on a throwing error by Biloxi shortstop Orlando Arcia. Chang then smacked a single back through the box in the ninth inning to score Pensacola first baseman Marquez Smith and pull the Blue Wahoos within, 4-2.
“I thought he was terrific,” Kelly said about Chang.
But those were about the only highlights for Pensacola offensively.
Lopez showed why he earned pitcher of the year honors in the Southern League Thursday night.
Lopez, the Milwaukee Brewers No. 9 prospect, held Pensacola hitless through the first 5.1 innings and left the game to a standing ovation in the seventh. Pensacola shortstop Alex Blandino singled up the middle to center field off Lopez, ensuring Pensacola would make 555 games without being no-hit — a streak that goes back to the Blue Wahoos inception in 2012.
However, Lopez, who broke two Pensacola hitters’ bats, stranded the Blue Wahoos Phillip Ervin at third in the sixth inning.
Lopez, who threw a season-high 115 pitches, allowed one unearned run, two hits and struck out seven in 6.2 innings. Only Pensacola left fielder Jesse Winker (who fouled out to left field), Blandino and catcher Kyle Skipworth hit balls out of the infield.
The Biloxi pitcher is now 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA against Pensacola and has struck out 29 in 29.2 innings.
Meanwhile, Daniel Wright gave up a single and three doubles to the leadoff batters for Biloxi in four of the first five innings. However, Wright got Taylor out in a rundown between third and home on a failed squeeze bunt in the fourth inning and stranded two other runners at third base in the first two innings.
Wright left the game, trailing 3-1, and struck out six Shuckers in his 5.1 innings of work.
Kelly said Wright did a “terrific job getting out of tough jams.”
Wright said he gutted out each inning.
“I just kind of tried to come up with stuff to get out of jams,” he said. “They’re just solid.”
Biloxi scored first to take the lead, 1-0, when third baseman Yadiel Rivera singled and Arcia drove him in with a triple to left center — four of Biloxi’s six hits off Wright through five innings went for extra bases.
Biloxi’s Arcia, who had his team’s first two RBIs, grounded out to Pensacola’s third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean in the fifth inning to score the Shuckers second baseman Nick Shaw, who lead off the inning with a double. The ground out put Biloxi back on top, 2-1.
Biloxi first baseman Garrett Cooper scored in the sixth, 3-1, on Shuckers center fielder Brett Phillips ground ball that hit the first base bag and leaped over Pensacola’s diving Smith and rolled into right field. Cooper then batted in Arcia in the seventh for a 4-1 Biloxi lead.
The Blue Wahoos ended the longest drought of missing the playoffs by a Southern League Major League affiliate. The Cincinnati Reds last Double-A team to make the playoffs was Chattanooga in 2006.
Pensacola plays the Biloxi Shuckers at 7:10 p.m. Friday at MGM Park. Biloxi then moves to Pensacola for Saturday and, if needed, will play Sunday and Monday at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
The winner of the South Division then plays either the Twins Double-A affiliate Chattanooga Lookouts or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays affiliate the Montgomery Biscuits. The Lookouts won its first game, 4-3, with a walk-off single by Southern League MVP Max Kepler.
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos play the second game of the best-of-five Southern League South Division playoff series against the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A affiliate the Biloxi Shuckers at 7:10 p.m. Thursday. The Blue Wahoos LHP Cody Reed (6-2, 2.17) is scheduled to face the Shuckers RHP Adrian Houser (4-1, 2.92).
Archery Tournament Set For Saturday
September 11, 2015
The Walnut Hill Baptist Church Men’s Ministry will present an “Aiming for Glory” archery tournament this Saturday morning.
Registration is at 7:30 a.m. followed by a complimentary breakfast at 8 a.m. There is a $10 entry fee. Prizes will be awarded.
For more information, contact Jon at (850) 777-4392, Matt at (850) 324-102 or Earl at (850) 221-7009. Walnut Hill Baptist Church is located at 5741 Arthur Brown Road.
Motorcyclist Hits Guardrail, Thrown Off Bridge
September 10, 2015
A motorcyclist was critically injured after hitting a guardrail and being thrown off a bridge Wednesday night.
The accident was reported about 9 p.m. on County Road 99 about a mile north of Crabtree Church Road in a remote area outside Molino. It appeared the motorcyclist was southbound on Highway 99 when he hit a bridge guardrail and was ejected from the motorcycle over the guardrail and onto the creek bank below. The Suzuki sports bike came to rest on the bridge against a guardrail.
The accident was discovered by a passing motorist; the exact time of the crash was not known.
The driver was airlifted by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola in critical condition.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details, including the name of the motorcyclist, have not been released.
The Molino and Walnut Hill stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, Atmore Ambulance and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Barrineau Park Community Gathering Set For Saturday
September 10, 2015
A Barrineau Park Community Gathering will be held this Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the community center on Barrineau Park School Road.
There were will arts and crafts vendors, plants sales, a bounce house and other games for children, a cake walk, live bands and free admission to the historical museum.
The Barrineau Park Historical Society will be selling pulled pork sandwich plates for $6.
For more information or details on becoming a vendor, call (850) 587-5389.
Evers Guns On College Campuses Bill Set For Debate
September 10, 2015
Debate is about to begin on bills in the Florida House and Senate that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns on college and university campuses.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee is scheduled to take up the proposal (SB 68), filed by Chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker, at 9 a.m. next Wednesday. That will be followed at 10:30 a.m. by the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee considering the House version (HB 4001), filed by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota.
Lawmakers will return to Tallahassee next week for the first round of committee meetings before the 2016 legislative session, the majority of Senate committees will remain idle. The Senate is scheduled to hold seven committee meetings, while 14 other panels will not meet, according to a calendar published Wednesday. Also, the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, which includes senators and House members, will meet.
The 2016 session will start in January.
by The News Service of Florida
Tate High School Remembers 9/11 With ‘110 Stories’
September 10, 2015
The Tate High School Drama Department will present the drama “110 Stories” Thursday through Sunday.
110 Stories captures the grief and resilience of New York City in the wake of the September 11 attacks through the words of those who experienced it directly–not only firefighters and police, but iron workers, chaplains, K-+9 handlers, nurses, photojournalists, and the homeless who witnessed the horrific events and also saved lives that day.
Together these first-person testimonials reveal the hope, humor, and compassion that emerged in the midst of this tragedy. Memorializing September 11 by sharing the stories no one saw on the news, the play is a powerful and humanizing
account of New York City’s darkest day.
Performances are 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Tate High School Cafetorium. Tickets are $7 at the door, $5 in advance. Admission is free for law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs with identification or in uniform.
Photos courtesy Kim Stefansson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bondi: Thousands Of Rape Kits Untested
September 10, 2015
Attorney General Pam Bondi put added pressure Wednesday on lawmakers to increase funding for crime labs as she detailed a massive backlog of untested rape kits across the state.
“Those need to be tested because, hidden in those estimated thousands of untested rape kits, we have the potential to solve cold cases and lock up sexual predators and make Florida the safest place to live and raise a family,” Bondi said during a news conference at The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.
Bondi’s news conference came as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is expected to request an additional $35 million in funding during the 2016 legislative session, including $7.76 million to raise the base salaries of people working in crime labs.
Rep. Janet Adkins, a Fernandina Beach Republican who attended Bondi’s news conference, said she is working on legislation that would establish standards related to when local agencies submit the test kits to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“When a victim of sexual assault has the very intrusive process of having DNA collected, they have a reasonable expectation that that DNA be tested,” Adkins said.
Bondi, a former Hillsborough County prosecutor, said there is a priority in testing, with homicide cases first and sexual-assault cases second.
Leon County Sheriff’s Capt. Steven Harrelson said DNA evidence is important, as many criminals don’t remain in a single location.
“Having their DNA in the system allows us to go ahead and take these crimes that we don’t have any evidence but DNA … once the DNA gets put into the system, we’re able to solve it at that point,” Harrelson said.
In August, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s DNA/Biology labs completed testing requests in an average of 107 days. But as more local agencies submit untested kits, the turnaround time is expected to grow, agency spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said in an email.
The proposed pay increases — a $10,000 increase to the annual starting pay of crime-lab analysts and a $12,000 boost to the base pay for senior crime-lab analysts — are intended to make the agency more competitive with local law enforcement throughout Florida and the Southeast United States to help keep turnover rates down, agency Commissioner Rick Swearingen told Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet on Aug. 5.
Over the past six years, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has seen 127 crime-lab analysts leave.
The agency currently is funded for 193 crime-lab analysts and 69 senior analyst positions. The base pay for an analyst is $40,948 a year. A senior analyst starts at $43,507.
The increased demand at the crime labs is also in part boosted by an increase in requests from local agencies to investigate cases in which local police officers fire their weapons.
In the recently completed 2014-2015 budget year, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened 63 officer-involved shooting cases at other agencies, up from 48 a year earlier. The department started 29 such investigations in the 2010-2011 budget year, 52 in 2011-2012 and 67 the following year.
The Legislature this year didn’t back the agency’s request for $1.87 million to fill 14 full-time positions to assist in investigations stemming from police being involved in shootings. Lawmakers, however, set aside $300,000 for an ongoing study to determine the needs of the crime labs, including the impact of the untested rape kits.
In addition to asking for money for the state crime labs, Bondi said the state may also look at using private labs to test the kits.
“We want to get the sufficient funding to have everything produced, because we feel we can increase arrests and convictions probably in the thousands, not only in Florida, but throughout the country.” Bondi said. “We can’t create standards without having the ability to carry those out.”
by Jim Turner with contribution from Tom Urban, The News Service of Florida