Missing Escambia County Woman Found
May 24, 2015
A Florida Silver Alert has been canceled for 82-year old Mary Bell Williams of Escambia County. She has been found.
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Williams was last seen Saturday, May 23 leaving her home in he 7700 block of Amberidge Road. She was in a greenish-silver 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt with Florida tag Y7LMZ.
Williams is a black female, approximately 5-foot 3-inches tall and 186 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes. She was last wearing a black shirt and a blue flowered skirt and may be wearing glasses.
If you know the whereabouts of Mary Bell Williams or her car contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or your local law enforcement agency.
A “Silver Alert” is an alert for missing seniors similar to an “Amber Alert” issued for missing children.
Two Injured In Highway 29, Barrineau Park Road Crash
May 24, 2015
Two people were injured in two vehicle crash Saturday night at the intersection of Highway 29 and Barrineau Park Road, south of Molino. They were transported by ambulance to Pensacola area hospitals with injuries that were not considered life threatening.
The accident, which occurred about 9 p.m., remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details, including the names of those injured, have not been released.
The Molino and Cantonment Stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
‘Click It Or Ticket’ Campaign Underway
May 24, 2015
The Florida Highway Patrol, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies are in the midst of their annual “Click It or Ticket” crackdown designed to increase seat belt use and decrease motor vehicle fatalities across the county. The campaign will run day and night through May 31.
“Every day, unbuckled motorists are losing their lives in motor vehicle crashes,” said Sheriff David Morgan. During the “Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash, buckling up.”
“Florida’s seat belt use rate stands at nearly 89 percent, which represents the highest use rate in Florida history,” said Colonel David Brierton, Director of the Florida Highway Patrol. “But that means there is still 10 percent of the population that doesn’t buckle up. We must do better if we are going to save lives and teach young people about the importance of using their seat belts.”
In 2013, about 59 percent of those who were killed in crashes because they weren’t wearing their seat belts were killed during the overnight hours of 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. The Florida Highway Patrol reminds everyone that Florida law requires the use of seat belts by drivers, passengers in the front seat, and all children under the age of 18 in a motor vehicle.
Memorial Day Travel Much Cheaper Than Last Year
May 24, 2015
Memorial Day weekend travel is much easier on the wallet this year as compared to 2014, with a gas almost $1 per gallon lower. Most drivers will likely pay the lowest Memorial Day gas prices in at least five years.
According to the AAA Fuel Gage Report, the average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded in Escambia County was $2.66 Saturday, up about 13 cents over a month ago. Last year, a gallon of unleaded gas averaged $3.59 per gallon on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The current national average is $2.73 per gallon.
AAA Travel projects 37.2 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, a 4.7 percent increase from the 35.5 million people who traveled last year and the highest travel volume for the holiday in 10 years. Kicking off the summer driving season, 33 million travelers will be driving to their destinations. The Memorial Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, May 21 to Monday, May 25.
Florida Forest Service Warns Of Wildfire Danger Time
May 24, 2015
For some it’s beaches, others think of backyard cookouts or baseball games. For wildland firefighters and the personnel of the Florida Forest Service’s Blackwater Forestry Center, however, the days and weeks around Memorial Day typically means a big fire or two.
While Florida experiences wildfires year round, spring traditionally is the height of the season across the state. In the three counties within the Blackwater response area (Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa) that window can be narrowed down even more.
“Right around Memorial Day we usually see some pretty significant fire activity,” said David Smith, operations administrator for the district. “We get rain in April and early May that will prompt new growth and add to the fuel on the ground and then we typically get a drying period of a week, maybe two weeks, that usually produces some of our more difficult fire conditions.”
Current forecasts show no rain in the next week or so. In the past few days, moderate winds and low humidity have helped dry out vegetative fuels after the recent rains. That lines up with historical patterns that have helped make the time around Memorial Day busy for the FFS.
During the past 10 years, Blackwater has seen an average of about 16 wildfires from May 20 to June 10 — the 21 days centered on the holiday. During the past four years, each of the season peaks has produced at least one fire larger than 50 acres that has had a significant impact on residents, roads or the public in general.
Pictured: A wildfire in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Chance Of Rain For Sunday And Memorial Day Monday
May 24, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Today
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Memorial Day
Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87. East wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday
Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a high near 86. Southeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Tuesday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. South wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Friday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Friday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89.
USDA Requirements For Grower Eligibility For Crop Insurance By June 1
May 24, 2015
The federal Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill) included new requirements that all producers – including fruit, vegetable, specialty crop and nursery producers – that purchase federally-subsidized crop insurance must certify compliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture by June 1, 2015.
This applies to growers even if they are not purchasing crop insurance policies until later in the year. Any growers who do not file the correct paperwork (Form AD-1026) by June 1 will be ineligible to receive the premium subsidy and may see a substantial increase in the individual crop insurance policy for the 2015-16 reinsurance year.
Producers should meet with their crop insurance agent or visit their local USDA service center before the deadline to ensure compliance with the new procedure. For more information about crop insurance and the Farm Bill, go to www.rma.usda.gov.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Health Care Funding, Special Session
May 24, 2015
For weeks now, one question has hovered over Tallahassee: How will the House and Senate resolve their differences on health-care funding and wrap up a special session — scheduled to begin June 1 — with a spending plan for state government?
If the pieces didn’t necessarily fall into place this week, lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott were at least able to get around to opening the puzzle box.
Scott’s newly created health-care funding commission held its first meeting. But with hospitals giving the panel the cold shoulder and the chairman suggesting the group probably wouldn’t finish the work before the end of the special session, it appeared to be as much political theater as viable solution.
More important was the federal government’s preliminary estimate of the size of a pot of money known as the Low Income Pool program — or, in the parlance of the Capitol, LIP. The nearly $2.2 billion program will now be shaved down to about $1 billion, though the state could make up the difference with some local funds and perhaps state tax money (the House’s preferred solution) or a form of Medicaid expansion (the Senate’s).
However the impasse ends, the wheels of state government have continued turning in the interim. Scott signed dozens of bills this week covering everything from who can carry guns during emergency situations to the funding of pension plans for local police officers and firefighters. And the state’s de facto school-voucher program seems safe — at least for now.
LIPS ARE MOVING
Even before its first meeting, Scott’s Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding was not received well by the industry that has so far been the focus of its inquiry. Scott had asked the Florida Hospital Association to submit ideas for revenue sharing to the panel for consideration if the federal government decided not to renew LIP at all.
On Monday, two days before the commission’s first get-together, FHA said “no thanks” (in so many words).
“You have suggested that a new tax on hospital operating surpluses might be a way to sustain the existing LIP program,” hospital association executives wrote in a letter to Scott. “Such an arrangement is not a solution to the challenge we face.”
Instead, the executives pointed to the Senate’s plan to use Medicaid expansion funds to help low-income Floridians purchase private insurance. Scott and House leaders have ruled out that idea.
Individual hospitals weren’t much more conciliatory. Scott asked all of them to fill out surveys on their financial data. Many — though not all — essentially told the governor to look up the information himself.
Many of the dozens of surveys returned by hospitals had five or fewer of the roughly 100 lines filled out with new information. Officials frequently referred Scott back to information filed with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees much of the state’s spending on health care.
“Florida Hospital regularly reports financial and hospital utilization data to the Agency for Health Care Administration, as required by state law,” wrote Joe Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Florida Hospital Carrollwood, in a letter accompanying an essentially blank response to the survey. “We believe our submissions are up to date, accurate and readily available to the public for review. In order to meet your urgent request, we respectfully refer you to consult AHCA to obtain this comprehensive information.”
That didn’t sit well with some of the commission’s members when they gathered Wednesday.
“As a taxpayer, if they receive tax dollars, they should be responsible for giving us the information that would help us make sure that the tax dollars are being spent wisely,” said commission member Sam Seevers, a former Destin mayor.
But whether the panel can even help resolve the budget issues facing the Legislature has become something of an open question.
Carlos Beruff, president of Medallion homes and chairman of the commission, indicated he thought it would be difficult for the group to gather all of the information it needs to help the state navigate those issues in time to help lawmakers.
“I don’t think you’ll have all the data by the end of the special session — no, I don’t,” Beruff said. “But there’ll be more data.”
Beruff would not answer directly how long he thought the panel might work. But asked specifically if it would wrap up by the end of the special session, he merely answered: “It’d be interesting to try.”
The next day, though, lawmakers and Scott had their answer on how much the state would get for the LIP program: about $1 billion.
“We note that this level of funding for the LIP, coupled with the options the state may elect at its discretion described in this letter, would enable Florida to retain Medicaid investment in the state at or above the current $2.16 billion level of LIP funding,” wrote Vikki Wachino, director of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The letter did not exactly solve the argument between House and Senate leaders. For Senate President Andy Gardiner and his lieutenants, the reduction in LIP just backed up their call for a Medicaid expansion alternative.
“While the letter from CMS outlines a number of policy alternatives, none of these options will allow Florida to maximize both state and federal taxpayer dollars in a more effective manner than by reducing the number of uninsured Floridians seeking basic health care in hospital emergency rooms,” Gardiner, R-Orlando, wrote in a memo to senators. “Clearly, a conservative free-market expansion of health care coverage is the most fiscally responsible approach.”
But House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, indicated that he favored a plan that would use state money to make the hospitals whole. The House had pitched a similar idea near the end of the regular session, when lawmakers were unsure what the final size of the LIP program might be.
“Now, the great news is that we’re able to do that with finality,” Corcoran said.
THE REST OF THE STORY
There’s less drama than usual this year about bill-signing season, given that Scott can’t yet use his line-item veto pen on the budget — since one does not exist — and some of the more controversial legislation never crossed the finish line in the messy conclusion of the regular legislative session. This in a session that was one of the least productive in recent memory, at least as measured in terms of bills passed.
But there is still legislation for Scott to consider, and he approved 44 bills on Thursday.
One (SB 290) would allow Floridians without concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns during mandatory emergency evacuations.
“It’s really a no-brainer,” National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer said. “When people are forced to leave their homes, they have a right to carry their possessions with them — including their firearms to protect their property.”
Scott also signed bills aimed at improving the state’s child-protection and juvenile-justice systems and bills banning job discrimination based on pregnancy and creating tax-free savings accounts for people with disabilities.
The governor also approved a long-discussed bill aimed at shoring up the finances of pension funds for local police and firefighters.
Friday brought more signings, including a bill that would allow children in Florida to secretly record conversations related to sexual abuse or other violent acts
The signing of the measure (HB 7001) came a day after Richard McDade, a Fort Myers man who spent four years in prison on charges of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter, was acquitted by a jury in Lee County. The Florida Supreme Court in December ordered a new trial for McDade, declaring that recordings made by McDade’s stepdaughter should not have been allowed into his initial Lee County trial. State law generally bars recording of conversations unless all parties agree, and it also prevents such recordings from being used as evidence in court.
NO SUIT FOR YOU
School funding is likely to be a topic of discussion during the special session, but another effort by the state’s main teachers union to (in their leaders’ opinion) prevent money from being siphoned away from public schools was dealt a setback Monday.
In a victory for school-choice supporters, Leon County Circuit Judge George Reynolds tossed out a constitutional challenge to a state program that helps send tens of thousands of low-income children to private schools.
Reynolds ruled that plaintiffs in the case — spearheaded by the Florida Education Association — did not have legal “standing” to challenge the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.
The voucher-like program provides tax credits to companies that donate money to nonprofit entities that help pay for children to attend private schools. It includes nearly 70,000 students this year, according to the Foundation for Florida’s Future, a group founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush that is a major backer of school-choice programs.
Patricia Levesque, executive director of the foundation, issued a statement after Reynolds’ ruling and blasted the union, which also led a legal fight that in 2006 blocked a voucher program pushed by Bush.
“In Florida, we’re way beyond sitting back and letting the status quo roll over students’ opportunities and lives,” Levesque said in the statement. “The unions do not speak for the tens of thousands of parents and teachers embracing choices that make success possible for more and more students every year. And thank goodness for that.”
But Joanne McCall, a vice president of the Florida Education Association who was a named plaintiff in the case, said the union thinks the tax-credit scholarship program, like the Bush voucher program, is unconstitutional. She said the union would decide soon whether to appeal Reynolds’ decision.
“It’s time to settle the issue of the constitutionality of vouchers once and for all,” McCall said in a prepared statement. “We think this issue is of vital importance and the citizens of Florida deserve for this question to be decided.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: The federal government announced a preliminary estimate of $1 billion for the state’s Low Income Pool program in the budget year that begins July 1. Questions about that program have complicated efforts by lawmakers to reach a deal on the budget.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Take the Medicaid expansion. It not only takes care of your problem with the LIP, you’re empowering the patient. Oh, my God, isn’t that terrible? You’re giving poor people health care. Oh, that’s awful.”—Tom Brooks, of DeLand, at the first meeting of Gov. Rick Scott’s Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Blow Chance To Beat Jackson
May 24, 2015
He had won his last two starts and came close to a third before Pensacola Blue Wahoos starting pitcher Robert Stephenson walked Jackson Generals right fielder Jabari Blash and was pulled after throwing 107 pitches.
In 4.2 innings of work, Stephenson did strike out a career-high 11 hitters. However, it was not enough by the Cincinnati Reds top prospect, to help Pensacola pull out another win against the Jackson Generals, falling 8-6, in 11 innings.
Pensacola kept clawing its way back into the game in front of 5,038 at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium—the 114th sellout in 225 home games. Pensacola has now won 11 of 16 games since May 7, and stands at 19-24 on the season.
Jackson went back on top, 7-6, in the 11th inning when Jabari Henry scored on catcher Marcus Littlehood’s double to the right field corner. They made it 8-6 when first baseman Dan Paolini was walked in by reliever Kevin Shackelford.
Stephenson walked five batters, including three straight in the first inning that led to the only two runs he gave up. He then fanned 11 of the final 13 outs. He gave up two hits in the game both to Generals leadoff batter Tyler Smith, who doubled and singled. He was 3-5 on the night with two doubles, two runs scored and one run batted in.
Stephenson appeared to protest being yanked by Pensacola manager Pat Kelly but was relieved by Blaine Howell, a Pensacola State College product.
“In the first inning, I’m trying to figure out the ump’s strike zone,” Stephenson said. “Definitely, aside from the first inning, I felt really good.”
Kelly was not happy with the Wahoos after the loss to the Generals.
“We’ve walked 25 guys in the last three nights we’ve played,” Kelly said. “We should just be thankful we won two out of three games.”
Blue Wahoos first baseman Marquez Smith tied the game in the ninth, 6-6, to send the game to extra innings when he hit a bouncer up the middle that scored center fielder Beau Amaral. Amaral led off the inning with a walk, the third leadoff walk in a row.
Jackson had gone ahead with a run in the bottom of the eighth, 6-5, when pinch runner Jabari Henry scored on reliever Carlos Gonzalez’s throwing error to first base on a sac bunt by catcher Marcus Littlehood.
Kelly said the Blue Wahoos simply squandered too many opportunities to win its third consecutive game, pointing to two failed sacrifice bunts during the game. In the bottom of the 11th the Blue Wahoos loaded the bases with two outs before Seth Mejias-Brean grounded out.
“We kept battling and kept battling,” Kelly said. “We had opportunities in lots of innings.”
Pollard McCall Principal Hugh White Passes Away
May 23, 2015
Hugh White, the principal of Pollard-McCall Junior High School, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly Saturday from natural causes. He was 40 years old.
He had served as a principal for the Escambia County (AL) Board of Education at Pollard-McCall since since February 2006. He previously spent over eight years as a middle school math and science teacher. White received a Masters of Education in educational leadership and administration from the University of West Florida in 2002, and previously earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and general sciences from UWF in 1996. White also earned an Associates degree from Jefferson Davis Community College in 1994.
White held an auctioneer certificate from Troy University Dothan and served as auctioneer at the Escambia Co-op Stockyard in Brewton, AL.
He leaves behind numerous family members and friends. Service arrangements are incomplete at this time.
Pollard-McCall Junior High School is located in Pollard, AL, just east of Flomaton and about five miles northeast of Century.