Emergency Repairs Set To Begin On Quintette Road Bridge
September 8, 2015
The Quintette Rooad Bridge is set to be temporarily shifted to a single lane due to bridge repairs from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. until Friday, September 18.
On June 25, the Escambia County Commission authorized an emergency purchase order to DKE Marine Services for emergency bridge repairs on a portion of the bridge on Quintette Road for $196,369.40.
On Friday, June 19, Escambia County received notification from Infrastructure Engineers, a Florida Department of Transportation bridge inspection contractor, that recommended immediate repair to pilings under the bridge. The repair, the inspectors said, is needed to advance scouring around three pilings under the bridge.
Quintette Road is a major east/west corridor over the Escambia River between Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The bridge was constructed in 1957.
2016 Escambia County Voter Guides Have Arrived
September 8, 2015
The new “Escambia County Voter Guide – 2016″ from Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford is now available online.
Click here to access the “Escambia County Voter Guide – 2016“.
The booklet details 2016 election dates, offices to be filled and contains complete information on how to register to vote, keep voter information current, and how to vote at the polls.
Individual Health Premiums Expected To Rise
September 8, 2015
Florida insurance regulators said that premiums in the individual health-insurance market are expected to increase an average of 9.5 percent in 2016 — though changes will fluctuate substantially among insurers. The average is for major medical plans sold under the federal health-insurance exchange and outside the exchange.
Information released by the state Office of Insurance Regulation says the average monthly premium would increase from $379 to $415, though those numbers don’t account for federal subsidies that can reduce the premium amounts that many people pay.
Also, the rate changes have not been finalized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and are subject to change, according to the state office.
by The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Drop Game to Mobile; Chang Plays All Nine Positions
September 8, 2015
Where is Ray Chang?
That was the game played by the 4,202 Pensacola Blue Wahoos fans during Monday’s Labor Day game at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Chang became the first Wahoo to play all nine positions in the field, as Pensacola had loads of fun but dropped the final game of the series with the Mobile BayBears, 4-2.
Pensacola clinched the Southern League South Division second half championship Sunday for the first time since its inaugural season in 2012, so its game Monday was inconsequential to its playoff run.
So, when Chang entered the clubhouse, Pensacola manager Pat Kelly gave him two options—sit out and rest or play all nine spots in the field. Chang said the decision was easy.
“It was not even close,” said Chang, who is 32-years-old and an 11-year minor league veteran. “I want to thank Pat Kelly for giving me the chance to do that. It was such a great day.”
Kelly said it was something he had been thinking about for a while. Former Blue Wahoo Juan Perez had asked to do it last year in Bakersfield under Kelly.
“It was fun and everything worked out perfectly,” Kelly said. “The fan reaction was awesome, especially in that eighth and ninth inning.”
In his professional career, Chang had never played center field, right field or catcher in a live game.
On Monday, he went 3-4 with three singles and scored a run in the ninth inning when shortstop Zach Vincej smashed a two-run homer — his fifth of the year — to left field. Chang, who lifted his average to .283 on the season, also stole his first base since 2012.
“I told the first baseman, ‘I haven’t stolen a base all year.’ He said, ‘Do it! Take off!’” Chang said. “It was definitely ugly.”
He played catcher in the eighth inning and caught Zack Weiss, who leads the Southern League with 25 saves and was named to the league’s postseason All-Star team. Weiss throws a fastball in the mid-90s.
That was the hardest position “by far,” Chang said. “My heart was racing.”
Chang then warmed up in the bullpen and pitched the ninth inning. He already had pitched two games this season on May 4 against the Jackson Generals and on Aug. 19 against Chattanooga Lookouts. He threw two innings gave up one hit, a walk and one earned run.
Fans gave Chang a standing ovation when he took the mound as the pitcher. Chang needed all of four pitches to retire the side in order, including a fly out that was chased down by center fielder Billy Hamilton who leaped in the air at the wall.
“There’s not another human being alive besides (Hamilton) who makes that play,” Kelly said.
Fans chanted, “Ray!” and he came out of the dugout. Hamilton had tossed the ball into the stands but the fan gave the ball back, so Chang could have it. Chang gave the young man one of his black bats and autographed it in exchange for the ball.
Hamilton, who played three games for Pensacola to help in his right shoulder recovery, said he looks forward to returning to the Cincinnati Reds. He went on the disabled list Aug. 19 and he still leads the National League with 54 stolen bases.
“I’m ready to get back to Cincinnati and battle with my guys,” Hamilton said. “But it’s always good to come back to Pensacola and visit. I come back in the off season sometimes just to visit.”
Hamilton, who set the minor league record of 155 steals in 2012 with Pensacola, said he plans to follow the Blue Wahoos in the playoffs.
“I just really feel like they’re going to win it,” Hamilton said. “Their mindset is about winning. They really want it. I’ll be rooting for them and checking up on them.”
Mobile scored first Monday when catcher Mark Thomas gave Mobile the lead, 1-0, with a solo home run deep to left field. Thomas enjoyed Pensacola pitching smashing three home runs and driving in seven runs. Thomas entered the series against Pensacola batting .162 with three home runs and 13 RBIs and finished it batting .174 with six home runs and 20 RBIs.
Mobile led, 2-0, in the third inning when left fielder Socrates Brito tripled in third baseman Raul Navarro. Mobile added one run in the sixth on Gabriel Guerrero’s solo homer to left field and another in the seventh when Pensacola pitcher Wandy Peralta walked Thomas to score Alex Glenn to put Mobile up, 4-0.
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.
Pensacola, which was 38-32 in the second half, takes on the Biloxi Shuckers at 7:10 p.m. Thursday and Friday at MGM Park. Biloxi then moves to Pensacola for a 6:35 p.m. game Saturday and, if needed, will play at 4:05 p.m. Sunday and 6:35 p.m. Monday at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
The Blue Wahoos playoff rotation is slated to be Daniel Wright (10-11, 4.53), Cody Reed (6-2, 2.17) and Tim Adleman (9-10, 2.64).
Pictured: Ray Chang on Sunday. Photos courtesy Barrett McLean, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Driver Plows Into Highway 97 Guardrail
September 7, 2015
A driver escaped injury when he plowed into a guardrail on Highway 97 about a mile south of Alabama state line early Monday morning.
The male driver was southbound on Highway 97 just north of Nokomis Road when he failed to properly negotiate a curve in his Nissan Frontier pickup and struck the guardrail about 2:35 a.m. He was evaluated on scene by Escambia County EMS and refused transport to the hospital.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol; the driver’s name has not been released.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Labor Day: Readers Share First Job Memories
September 7, 2015
Monday was Labor Day — a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
We asked NorthEscambia.com readers to share memories of their first job. Add your first job memories in the comment section below.
Chris Flaxman – Tearing up old carpet in the summer heat.Smelly and dirty (me and the carpet!)
Chris Amerson – Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express (Ensley, FL). Least favorite = Repeatedly having to say “Thank You for calling Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express where we sell tires and lube for less and will not be undersold. How can I help you?” EVERYTIME I answered the phone in that department….I’m not sure I will ever get that out of my head and I haven’t worked there in nearly 10 years. Favorite = 10% discount on everything but food and clearance items and of course the paycheck (it was my first job after all so money was new to me.)
Grace Resendez McCaffery – Repairing luggage for airlines in Texas.
Suzanne Clark — Burger King, 1973, when I was 19. I hated hearing “Can I have it my way?”
Joni Kelley Simpson — Winn-Dixie in Brewton.
Mona Whitson — My first job was at McLean’s Drugstore on Muscogee Rd. In Cantonment next to Dawson’s barbershop.
Jason Hammond — My fist job was Ray Cranford BB-Q on Nine Mile Road in 96.
PatRick Wessel – My first job was a cemetery groundskeeper …I loved it.
Jason Cawby – My first job was at Piggly Wiggly in high school at Century. Believe it was 90.
Ramona Gay – First job was wrapping gifts at Christmas at the base exchange at Altus Air Force Base in Altus, Oklahoma, in 1963.
Brent Godwin — Food world on 9 Mile Rd
Josh Womack – Cutting tires for a reef, Road Camp (297A)
Sandra Jordan — My first job was at a daycare and I quit after one day.
Heather Weaver — My first job was a hostess at McElhaney’s Restaurant in Atmore.
Shannon Kennedy Evans — My first job was at the Ponderosa in Atmore.
Katie Lowery Fowler — My first job was at WKNU 106.3 FM radio station in East Brewton.. I was 13 years young and I worked there until I was 18. I rarely talked on the air but I worked the controls for the Atlanta Braves baseball games, Alabama football and basketball games, Sunday morning church services and occasional Live broadcasts. It was fun.
Gloria Marshall-Mitchell — My First job was at Ernest Ward working after school 3:30 to 7 in Walnut Hill Fl.
Retha Milstead — Tastee Freeze. $1.25 an hour
Debra Lienhart - Worked at the Oriental House in Cantonment… favorite memory was hearing Mrs. Regaspi laugh at something…anything… wonderful lady…and family!
Susan Barnes — My first job was a nurse’s aid at Century Memorial Hospital 1969
Pictured top: Mallory and Brittany at work Friday at Penair Federal Credit Union at the Car City branch. Pictured below: Deputy Clerk of Billing Angela Suggs and Natural Gas Operator Joe Brown keeping things running smoothly in the Town of Century last Friday afternoon. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Today’s Labor Day Forecast; Tropical Storm Grace Update
September 7, 2015
![[Image of 5-day forecast and coastal areas under a warning or a watch]](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT07/refresh/AL0715W5_NL+gif/203225W5_NL_sm.gif)
Tropical Storm Grace formed Saturday. The latest information on Grace is in the graphic above.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Calm wind.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Light southwest wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85.
Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Monday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Century Reschedules Council Meeting, Plans Budget Public Hearings
September 7, 2015
The Century Town Council rescheduled tonight’s regular meeting and set a couple of special hearings as part of the processes needed to pass a 2015-16 budget.
The council’s traditional first meeting of the month has been rescheduled from today, Labor Day, to September 14. It will begin with a 6:50 p.m. public hearing on the proposed budget.
The proposed budget is set for a final public hearing at 6:50 p.m. on September 21, just before the council’s regular meeting at 7 p.m.
Travelers Urged To Watch For Skimmers At The Pump
September 7, 2015
Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam encourages Floridians to be wary of signs that gas pumps may have been tampered with and had skimmers placed within them.
Skimmers are devices that illegally capture consumers’ credit or debit card information. While the number of skimmers the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has found on gas pumps is relatively low compared to the total number of pumps in Florida, identity theft wreaks havoc on people’s lives.
“In order to better protect consumers, our inspectors routinely check for skimmers while inspecting a gas pump,” stated Commissioner Adam H. Putnam. “While the overall number of these devices is low, we encourage Floridians and visitors to take precautions at the pump to protect their financial information.”
Consumers can take the following steps to avoid skimmers at gas stations:
- Pay in cash inside the store to ensure credit card information stays safe.
- Check to make sure the gas pump dispenser cabinet is closed and has not been tampered with. Many stations are now putting a piece of security tape over the cabinet to ensure it has not been opened by unauthorized individuals.
- Use a gas pump closer to the front of the store. Thieves often place “skimmers” at the gas pumps farther away from the store so they are not noticed as quickly.
- Use a credit card instead of a debit card. Credit cards have better fraud protection, and the money is not deducted immediately from an account.
- If using a debit card at the pump, choose to run it as a credit card instead of putting a PIN number in. That way, the PIN number is safe.
- Monitor bank accounts regularly to spot any unauthorized charges.
Consumers who suspect their credit card number has been compromised should report it immediately to authorities and their credit card company.
Consumers who suspect that a gas pump has been tampered with should contact the gas station manager, local law enforcement or the department’s consumer protection and information hotline at 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) or, for Spanish speakers, 1-800-FL-AYUDA (352-9832).
Healthly Kids Insurance Rates Set To Rise
September 7, 2015
Thousands of children in the Florida Healthy Kids health-insurance program will see their rates jump as of Oct. 1 — and state officials are blaming the federal Affordable Care Act.
The increases don’t affect all children covered by the Florida Healthy Kids Corp., most of whom get subsidized insurance. But the increases affect children whose families pay the full amount for coverage.
“Despite the federal government’s assurances that rates would drop and access would improve — insurance rates increased, many providers canceled coverage, and the makeup of our coverage was forced to change,” Healthy Kids CEO Rebecca Matthews wrote last week to families that are affected. “I assure you that we at FHK were as shocked and upset as each of you when we learned how much the coverage costs increased.”
Those families currently pay $153 per child for monthly health-care coverage, according to the Healthy Kids website. But as of Oct. 1, their options will range from $299 per month with dental care to $205 per month without if they stay enrolled in Healthy Kids.
When the full-pay families were notified of the Healthy Kids rate hike in July, they were also advised of other options — including private insurance and what’s known as the Federally Facilitated Marketplace, where they could shop for lower rates under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. They could also revisit the option of coverage with their parents’ employers to see if it was available.
“We understand that it’s a lot to process right now for them,” Matthews said of the full-pay parents. “But in order to comply with the ACA, we needed to offer a different type of a plan, and we did. In fact, we offered two.”
When the parents started calling the federal exchange, however, they were told there was no special enrollment period for them if they chose coverage through that program. Their children’s Healthy Kids coverage would run out on Sept. 30, but they’d have to wait until January 2016 to qualify for the federal program.
Last week, though, Healthy Kids and federal officials agreed that the increase in Health Kids premiums was a “qualifying event,” meaning that it qualified the full-pay families for a special enrollment period in the federal exchange starting Oct. 1.
Karen Woodall, a health-care activist and member of the state KidCare Coordinating Council, said Healthy Kids didn’t notify federal officials of the need for the special enrollment period in a timely manner. The federal government had approved the Healthy Kids’ replacement full-pay program in May.
“The families that applied and were turned down — that could have been avoided,” Woodall said. “But I don’t think it was intentional. I think somebody just didn’t think about checking on that.”
Woodall also noted that the changes under Obamacare could provide many full-pay families with better benefits.
“The other good news is, now they can’t be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, or because they’ve used their lifetime benefits,” she said. “A number of families were in full-pay because of that. They were able to pay for insurance, but they couldn’t get it.”
Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service, confirmed the special enrollment period and additional benefits. Albright also noted that “the vast majority of consumers receive tax credits to make coverage more affordable.”
Most families with children enrolled in Healthy Kids get subsidized coverage, for which they pay $15 to $20 a month for all their children. They have incomes between 133 percent and 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Currently, 144,124 Florida children get subsidized coverage, and 34,749 children are full-pay.
The families that pay the full amount for Healthy Kids coverage make more than 200 percent of the federal poverty line, but Woodall said those that earn between 200 percent and 300 percent are likely to qualify for subsidies under Obamacare.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida