Movie Night For Grown Ups At The Library Tuesday
June 8, 2015
In celebration of heroes, the West Florida Public Libraries will hold a movie night Tuesday at the Molino and Tryon branch libraries.
Pay It Forward - starring Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment and Kevin Spacey – will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Molino Branch Library in the auditorium. Rated PG-13, 126 minutes.
Iron Man - starring Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow – will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Tryon Branch Libary in Meeting Room A. Rated PG-13, 125 minutes
Admission is free.
Local Robotics Teams Places 2nd, Claims $1 Million Prize, In Global Contest
June 8, 2015
Three years of almost non-stop work paid off Saturday when the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition of Escambia County placed second — and claimed a $1 million prize – in a $3.5 million global robotics competition held in Pomona, Calif.
Team IHMC’s semi-autonomous robot, nicknamed “Running Man,” on Saturday bested 21 other teams from around the world by driving a car, walking over debris, cutting a hole in a wall, turning a valve for a fire hose and climbing stairs — all with spotty communications between man and machine. The course simulated a disaster area in which humans could not safely operate.
“I am incredibly proud of our robotics team,” said IHMC CEO/Director Ken Ford. “They did an amazing job finishing second overall and were first among the Atlas teams.”
The Robotics Challenge, the third and final trial since 2013, was sponsored by DARPA, the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency. The first-place team, Team KAIST from South Korea, was awarded $2 million. It also completed all eight tasks, but did so six minutes faster than the IHMC robot. IHMC, which finished the course in just over 50 minutes Saturday, will bring home $1 million in prize money. A chimp-like robot from Carnegie Mellon University
placed third. Only three teams completed all eight tasks.
Unlike some of the other robots, which moved on wheels or four legs, IHMC’s machine employed a large, bipedal machine known as an Atlas robot that had to walk on two legs. After it fell twice Friday in its first run through the course, IHMC’s 23-member team worked through the night to resolve the problems and replace part of an arm and a leg.
“It was pretty damaged after Friday’s falls, so we had to take it slow today,” IHMC computer scientist and team member Doug Stephen said Saturday night. “Part of the physical structure was bent, so it was throwing off some of the alignment. So we didn’t think we’d get even two tasks done today, much less all eight.”
“Everyone is over the moon now,” Stephen said. “We’re super-happy.”
Organizers of the much-anticipated event said the advances made by IHMC and other teams mark the start of a new era in the science of robotics.
Humans “get most of our ideas about robotics from science fiction. (Today) we want to show a little bit of science fact,” Gill Pratt, director of the event, told the Associated Press. While Hollywood has portrayed robots as agile and self-thinking, the machines are only now beginning to make strides toward that ideal, and the competition was designed to push the research forward, organizers said.
The 6-foot, 2-inch Atlas robot used by IHMC was built by Boston Dynamics. But the software and controls were produced by institute researchers Jerry Pratt, John Carff, Peter Neuhaus, Matt Johnson and others. After the second round of the robotics challenge in late 2013, that software was considered so robust that DARPA asked that other teams be allowed to use it.
“Some of the other teams’ software would just let them say, ‘move here,’” said Carff, who was primary operator of the IHMC robot. “With ours, we could put a virtual arm out in the world, and we can see where that virtual arm is going to go, we can preview the path it’s going to take, and we can say, ‘Yes, that’s not going to collide with anything, so go for it.’”
In keeping with IHMC’s core principles, the software ensures a high degree of collaboration between the human operators and the machine by “providing bi-directional information exchange,” according to an academic paper authored by the team members. The robot may suggest a move, but that suggestion can be verified by human operators.
The challenge has been a great learning experience for IHMC’s team and the entire field of robotics, team members said.
“All we can do is do the best research we can do,” Stephen said. “It’s not about beating the other teams as it is advancing the research and sharing that with the world.”
IHMC team members are expected to take some much-needed time off this summer before turning to other robotics projects.
Differences Persist In Florida Budget Negotiations
June 8, 2015
A second day of negotiations between House and Senate lawmakers over a spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1 seemed to highlight longstanding divisions between the two chambers even as legislators tried to come to agreement.
The negotiations came during a special session called because lawmakers couldn’t finish a budget — their one annual, constitutionally-required duty — during the spring regular session. Legislators are trying to wrap up work by the scheduled end of the special session on June 20, or 10 days before the state must have a spending plan in place to avoid a government shutdown.
The joint House-Senate conference committee on health care, the issue most responsible for pushing the Legislature into overtime, didn’t meet on Sunday after two sessions on Saturday. Lawmakers have already agreed to how much to send to hospitals and other medical providers that care for large numbers of low-income patients, but other differences remain, including how to divvy up that money among the state’s hospitals.
Other negotiating panels met, but there were divisions. On environmental funding, the two chambers still disagree on whether to use bonds to fund projects like Everglades restoration.
“I would think that about the quickest way I could tell you the Senate position on it is, B-O-N-D is a four letter word,” Sen. Alan Hays, a Umatilla Republican who oversees the Senate’s environmental budget committee, said Sunday. “I’m not trying to be cute. But I’m not considering bonding.”
The House removed $33 million for new bonding — which would have generated more than $300 million — from its latest offer on the environmental budget. But Rep. Ben Albritton, the Wauchula Republican leading the House negotiators, cautioned against reading too much into the chamber’s new position.
“This is an olive branch,” Albritton told reporters. “Remember, the chairman (Hays) said, and I agree, that everything on this is open.”
The House argues that the state should take advantage of low borrowing costs while it can. “Money today is pretty cheap,” Albritton said during the meeting.
Last week, Senate President Andy Gardiner said the Senate was hesitant about bonding because of the failure of a water policy bill during the regular session. The Senate version of that bill included an oversight council to rate potential water projects, an idea opposed by the House.
“Without the oversight and some of the things that the Senate was very interested in, it made the bonding piece difficult,” said Gardiner, R-Orlando.
Any bonding could also run into a veto from Gov. Rick Scott, who has trumpeted the fact that his administration has driven down state debt since he took office.
Senators working on the economic development budget also raised questions about $10 million the House wants to spend on “space infrastructure facilities.” The money would go to improvements at Kennedy Space Center, according to Rep. Clay Ingram, R-Pensacola.
But Ingram, House chairman of the conference committee dealing with the issue, didn’t directly answer questions from his counterpart, Sen. Jack Latvala, about whether the improvements were connected to a specific effort by state officials to attract a space-related company.
“As I have told you earlier, $10 million is what you call real money…I don’t think the Senate will be comfortable with agreeing to that particular item until we have a little more information about it,” said Latvala, R-Clearwater.
Meanwhile, House and Senate lawmakers trying to hammer out an education budget struck on an area of disagreement that emerged Saturday, when the Senate looked to add several policy measures into a one-year budget-related bill.
The Senate proposal would broaden eligibility for personal learning scholarship accounts, which help parents of students with disabilities pay for educational services; put new limits on four-year degrees offered by the Florida College System; and require Florida school districts to teach students about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“Many of the new issues are not directly related to the budget and, to whatever extent we can, if they haven’t been vetted by a House policy committee, we’ve trying to avoid that process,” said Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, who heads the House’s education budget panel, said Sunday.
Several of the committees are expected to meet again Monday. If the conference committees can’t finish their work by Tuesday, House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, will begin negotiating directly.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Camp Fire Century Kids Visit The Farm
June 8, 2015
Students from the Camp Fire Century Youth Learning Center recently visited the Smith Farm in Atmore. They had the chance to feed the goats, hold chickens, feed cows, turtles and fish, and more. They were also able to go on a hayride and make s’mores.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview Names New Drum Majors, Color Guard, Dance Team
June 8, 2015
New band leaders, color guard members and members of the dance team have been named at Northview High School.
The 2015-2016 Tribal Beat drum major is Triston Long. Assistant drum major is Jessica Amerson, and the band captain is Amber Freeman.
Color Guard members are Sarah Dutton, Harmoni Till, Dejaunte Lowery and Triyell Abraham.
The majorettes for 2015-2016 are Brianna Smith, Hannah Mascaro and Jessica Stacey.
Members of the 2015-2016 Northview Dance Team are: Bethany Reynolds, Delaney Reynolds, Leah Fischer, Savanna Roux, Madison Sherouse, Jerni Crabtree, Shelby Bayshore and Anna Belle Barberree.
Pictured: Dance team members (top, L-R) Madison Sherouse, Jerni Crabtree, Delaney Reynolds, Shelby Bayshore, (bottom pic, L-R) Leah Fischer, Bethany Reynolds, Savanna Roux and Anna Belle Barberree. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Summer Showers, Storms And Sun
June 8, 2015
Pictured: Hanging basket petunias greet visitors to the Century Town Hall. NorthEscambia.com photos.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Monday
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Monday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday
Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. Southwest wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Wednesday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86.
Friday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Saturday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 88.
Saturday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73.
Sunday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90.
Jacksonville Suns Edge Blue Wahoos 8-7
June 8, 2015
Marquez Smith put up prolific numbers for the Cincinnati Reds organization in 2014 with 30 home runs and 131 RBIs and a .311 batting average at High-A Bakersfield Blaze and Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
55 games into the 2015 season at Pensacola, Smith finally smashed his first dinger of the year. It was a three-run blast to left field that put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 4-1, over in-state rival Jacksonville Suns after six innings.
However, the Pensacola bullpen fell apart giving up four runs in the seventh and three more in the ninth to the Jacksonville Suns, which pulled out an 8-7 victory in front of 4,440 fans at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he enjoyed watching Smith trot around the bases again.
“It was nice for him to get this off his back,” Kelly said. “He had been pressing. Now, he can relax. He’s a good hitter. He can drive in runs. I know I’d like him to do it more often.”
In his last 17 games since May 14, the 30-year-old Smith has his .296. In the first 29 games he previously played, Smith hit .203.
At that point in the game, Kelly said he was confident about turning the game over to relievers Carlos Gonzalez, Kevin Shackelford and Kyle McMyne—the Southern League BC Relief Pitcher of the Month for May. Together, they combined to give up seven runs on seven hits and two walks.
“When you turn it over to the bullpen with a three-run lead, you don’t expect them to give up seven runs,” Kelly said. “You expect them to shut them down. It was shocking.”
Pensacola still made it interesting by adding runs by Ray Chang and Smith before falling, 8-7. Chang led Pensacola’s offensive attack going 3-3 with three singles and two walks and scored three times. The 31-year-old veteran minor leaguer, who is hitting .320 on the season, has a five game hitting streak going 7-18 to bat .389 over that span with five runs and three RBIs.
More Human Remains Found Near McDavid; Previous Find Positively Identified As Missing Man
June 7, 2015
Additional human remains were found Saturday near McDavid, as authorities confirmed that remains found May 29 have been positively identified as being a missing Flomaton resident and former Memphis, TN, police officer.
The first remains were found during a multiple-agency search near where the vehicle of 35-year old John Douglas Oswalt of Flomaton was found back on May 5. Oswalt had last communicated with family members on May 3. The remains were found about 500 feet off Pine Barren Road, about a half mile south of where Oswalt’s vehicle was discovered.
Saturday, K-9 teams from Escambia Search and Rescue and KlaasKIDS searched he same area for additional human remains with positive results. The additional remains must be positively identified, but they are believed to belong to Oswalt.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Partly Cloudy, Possible Shower Tonight
June 7, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 72 with a 20 percent chance of rain. South wind around 5 mph.
Monday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. South wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 85.
Thursday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73.
Friday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85.
Friday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Saturday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 88.
House, Senate Agree On LIP Total, Load Up Ed Budget
June 7, 2015
After months of federal negotiations and proposals floated by Gov. Rick Scott, the House and the Senate, lawmakers on Saturday reached tentative agreements on how much money should flow to hospitals and other medical providers that care for large numbers of low-income patients.
Following advice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, lawmakers set aside $1 billion in and state and federal funding for the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program in the budget year that begins July 1. Separately, they put $400 million in state funding into an increase in reimbursements to hospitals — drawing down almost $610.9 million in federal money.
Other providers would also receive money from other parts of the budget. The goal, according to Sen. Rene Garcia, the Hialeah Republican who oversees his chamber’s health-care spending committee, is to get near to closing the gap between the new LIP plan and the $2.2 billion the program brought in during the current budget year.
“It’s roughly somewhere in that ballpark,” he said.
Legislative leaders announced Friday that they had reached an agreement on the rough outlines of a budget deal, but remained tight-lipped on specifics until joint House-Senate conference committees could start meeting on Saturday to hammer out the details.
Around the Capitol on Saturday, lawmakers swapped offers across the board, dealing with everything from environmental projects to road building and school funding. The negotiations were aimed at finishing a deal by the scheduled June 20 conclusion of a special session called after lawmakers failed to reach agreement during the regular session this spring.
On education, the lead House and Senate negotiators conceded that they are unlikely to reach Gov. Rick Scott’s goal of record funding for public schools on a per-student basis. While Scott’s goal of $7,176 a head was already a long shot, there was still a possibility that the Legislature could top the old high-water mark of $7,126 in the 2007-08 school year.
The latest Senate offer has $7,097 per student, which would still be an increase of $207 from the current budget year.
“Every single school district in the state of Florida is going to see an increase per student, a significant increase per student,” said Rep. Erik Fresen, the Miami Republican who chairs the House education financing committee.
Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who is Fresen’s counterpart, noted the contrast to other areas of the spending plan.
“It provides an increase at a time when a lot of people, particularly in the health-care world, are going to be taking a hit,” he said.
The Senate’s offer would also fold into a budget-related bill several pieces of education policy that died in the chaotic ending to the regular session.
The proposal would broaden eligibility for personal learning scholarship accounts, which help parents of students with disabilities pay for educational services; put new limits on four-year degrees offered by the Florida College System; and require Florida school districts to teach students about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“Most of those ideas are directly tied to the budget,” Fresen said.
The bill that the provisions would be attached to expires after the budget year ends, but both Gaetz and Fresen said lawmakers would consider making those changes permanent next session.
Lawmakers are slated to continue negotiations on Sunday.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida