50 Named To Tate High Showband Colorguard
May 13, 2015
Fifty members have been selected for the Tate High School Showband of the South Colorguard for 2015-16.
The program has grown dramatically in the past few years. There were 18 that auditioned in 2000, while 62 auditioned this year.
Tate High Colorguard members for 2015-16 are:
Kiera Armour
Katie Dupre
Celina Dyess
Navi Hawkins
Breanna Langley
Megan Leonard
Katie Luebke
JoJo O’Steen
Madison Philley
Kera Randall
Savannah VonStein
Imani Allen
Madison Bowers
Audrey Bush
Caroline Bruns
Elizabeth Durazo
Tara Elder
Kaylee Everett
Tatiana Floyd
Libby Guy
Cody Istre
Michaela Overbey
Brinnan Repine
Jessie Stanfill
Kelsey Strength
Makayla Tainter
Virginia Vaughan
Kirsten Carter
Taylor Downing
Rebekah Dwyer
Haley Goodman
Skylar Hawkins
Nishea Hendricks
Julia Jimenez
Abby Lane
Carly Lawrence
Alysha Lollie
Kendall Lombardo
Jyanna McCants
Chloe Montgomery
Jasmine Quarells
Lauren Rawls
Kenzie Ricardy
Cordia Shaw
Skylar Smith
Julie Stanton
Olivia Starnes
Sarah Stephens
Raegan Tainter
Chiefs Work Out At Baltimore Orioles Park; Play In Final Four Today
May 13, 2015
Tuesday was a big day for the Northview High baseball team, and today will be an even bigger day, a school history-making day, for the Chiefs.
The Northview Chiefs worked out Tuesday at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, the spring training home of the Baltimore Orioles — compliments of former Century resident and Baltimore Orioles coach Buck Showalter. They also caught a minor league game between the Orioles and the Red Sox.
This afternoon, they will take on Blountstown in the Chiefs first-ever appearance in the FHSAA baseball final four. Blountstown (21-8) and Northview (19-2) did not meet during the regular season. Blountstown is coming off a 3-1 win over Central in their regional final, while Northview has scored an impressive 26 runs in their last three games.
Today’s game is at 3 p.m. (local North Escambia time) in Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers. The winner heads to the state championship game on at 7:35 p.m Thursday against the winner of Wednesday night’s Hamilton County versus Williston game.
Live video from Wednesday’s game (and the following 1A semi-final game between Hamilton County and Williston) will air on the NFHS Network. For a FHSAA.org special access rate of $9.95 for one month, click here.
Also, for periodic live score updates and bonus photos, like NorthEscambia.com on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @northescambia.
NorthEscambia.com photo by Ramona Preston, click to enlarge.
Florida Forest Service Accepting Applications For Southern Pine Beetle Assistance And Prevention
May 13, 2015
The Florida Forest Service is now accepting applications for the Southern Pine Beetle Assistance and Prevention Program. The application period runs from today through June 30. The program is available to non-industrial private forest landowners.
“The southern pine beetle is one of the most environmentally devastating forest pests in the southeast. We encourage forest owners to take proactive measures now to prevent timber loss during future outbreaks,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam.
Periodic outbreaks can rapidly kill millions of pine trees and deplete tens of thousands of acres of timber resources. The most recent series of major southern pine beetle outbreaks resulted in an estimated $59 million in timber loss between 1999 and 2002.
The Southern Pine Beetle Assistance Program is offered for non-industrial private lands in 44 northern Florida counties and provides financial assistance for the following:
· Conducting a first pulpwood thinning.
· Conducting prescribed burning operations.
· Conducting mechanical underbrush treatments.
· Planting longleaf or slash pine.
“The Southern Pine Beetle Assistance Program now offers greater flexibility to landowners, enhancing their ability to help reduce the risk of southern pine beetle outbreaks in Florida,” said Jim Karels, Florida State Forester.
To learn more about this program and to obtain an application form, visit the Southern Pine Beetle Prevention website or contact the Escambia County Forester in Molino at (850) 587-5237. Qualified landowners may apply for up to two approved preventative practices per year. Funding requests may not exceed $10,000 annually. All qualifying applications will be evaluated and ranked for approval. This program is supported through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service.
Scott: Budget Impasse Could Delay Tax Cuts
May 13, 2015
A massive tax-cut package and the governor’s push for a “historic” increase in education funding could be in jeopardy as the health care-fueled budget impasse continues in the Legislature.
The Senate remains firm that a tax-cut package isn’t going to move while the impasse is in place.
Gov. Rick Scott said on FOX News that he expects lawmakers will simply approve a base budget — which he calls a “continuation” budget — during an upcoming special legislative session. Such action, Scott said, could require a $690 million tax-cut package that the House has proposed and his requested increase in funding for schools to wait until the 2016 regular session.
“We’ll just do what we’ve done this last year,” Scott said during an interview with Greta Van Susteren. “We won’t put more money into schools, which I wanted to do. We won’t cut taxes, which I wanted to do. We’ll just leave the money there and deal with it in our next session, which starts in January.”
Scott was in Washington, D.C., on Monday and Tuesday meeting with the media and Republican members of Congress to discuss health-care funding.
Jackie Schutz, a Scott spokeswoman, said Tuesday the governor isn’t giving up on his requested $673 million in cuts to taxes and fees or on his proposal to increase funding for public schools to $7,176 per student. But, Schutz said, the budget is the priority.
“Obviously where we are right now is getting through a special session and making sure that we pass a budget,” Schutz said. “And if we don’t get tax cuts this year, then the governor’s focus will be getting $1 billion in tax cuts next year.”
As part of his 2014 re-election campaign, Scott pledged to cut $1 billion in taxes over the next two years.
The House voted 112-3 last month to approve its own tax-cut package (HB 7141), which topped Scott’s request. The highlight of the package was Scott’s call for a 3.6 percentage-point reduction in the communications-services tax on cell-phone and pay-TV bills, comprising about $470 million of the package.
The House proposal would have also eliminated sales taxes on college textbooks and made a series of other tax cuts, including reducing a tax on commercial-real estate leases from 6 percent to 5.8 percent and providing a three-day sales-tax holiday for back-to-school shoppers.
In the Senate, individual bills were proposed offering a variety of tax cuts and business incentives. But Senate leaders held off on introducing a single tax package and never took up the House measure before the regular session ended.
On the other hand, school funding could still see an increase through the budget process, though the amount of money might not be as large as Scott requested.
Scott called his proposal “historic,” as it would mark a roughly $261 per student increase from the current year which ends June 30 and stand $50 per student above the previous high in the 2007-08 budget year.
Spokespeople from the House and Senate agreed Tuesday with Scott that the priority is the budget, with issues such as the tax cuts viewed as secondary issues.
“The president’s position has been that the Senate would not advance a final tax-cut package through to the Senate floor while we still have billions in critical health care funding hanging in the balance,” Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, said in an email Tuesday.
“The House would prefer to have a joint call with the Florida Senate to complete a budget before the July 1 deadline,” Michael Williams, a spokesman for House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said in an email. “The House is working hard toward that goal.”
House and Senate leaders remain engaged in a debate about how to handle health care in the state budget that must be in place by the July 1 start of the new fiscal year.
The Senate has proposed spending $2.8 billion in federal Medicaid money to help hundreds of thousands of lower-income Floridians purchase private insurance.
Senate leaders argue that could help in negotiations with the federal officials over $2.2 billion in Low Income Pool, or LIP, funding, which mostly sends money to hospitals and other health providers that care for large numbers of low-income residents. The LIP program is scheduled to expire June 30, unless federal official approve an extension.
Scott has joined the House in fiercely opposing any health-care expansion funded by the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
The governor has sued the Obama administration in an effort to prevent federal officials from linking the LIP decision to Medicaid expansion.
“I will not stand in the way of the federal government if they want to take care of the low income families,” Scott told Van Susteren. “I said the same thing about high speed rail. If the federal government wants to run a program in my state, have at it, but don’t expect me to tax my citizens. And I still stand by that.”
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Ernest Ward Middle Names Students Of The Month
May 13, 2015
Ernest Ward Middle School has named Students of the Month for April. They are (L-R) Susannah Amerson, 8th grade; Cloe Smith, 7th grade; and Lane Wilson, 6th grade. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Beat Jacksonville 5-0
May 13, 2015
Timothy Adleman finally celebrated his first win as a Pensacola Blue Wahoos starter after 11 starts over the past two seasons.
The visiting Blue Wahoos backed the right hander up with three runs in the first inning and Adleman (1-3) shut out the Jacksonville Suns over the next six innings in the, 5-0, win.
Adleman scattered six hits, walked one, struck out two and lowered his earned-run average to 1.70, currently the fifth lowest in the Southern League. Adleman has whiffed 22 batters in 33.2 innings and walked nine this season.
Pensacola scored three runs in the first when right fielder Kyle Waldrop tripled in center fielder Beau Amaral and left fielder Jesse Winker to put the Blue Wahoos up, 2-0. Waldrop scored on a ground out by third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean to make the score, 3-0.
The 6-foot-5 Adleman entered the game against Jacksonville 0-6 in 11 starts with a 2.21 ERA and 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings over two seasons with Pensacola.
Adleman has pitched well enough to win other games during that span. The 27-year-old left his last start against Tennessee in the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead, but Pensacola lost, 4-1. He also shut out the Smokies in his first start on April 17 over five innings.
Adleman has whiffed 22 batters in 33.2 innings and walked 10 this season.
In 2014, Adleman, who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 24th round in 2010 out of Georgetown, made 30 appearances for Pensacola, including six starts. In those starts, he was 0-3 with a 2.38 ERA. He struck out 30 in 34 innings and walked three.
The Blue Wahoos added another run in the sixth inning when Mejias-Brean hit a sacrifice fly to right field in foul territory that scored Winker from third base. Mejias-Brean added a third RBI in the eighth when he singled in Winker, who scored for the third time in the game, to go up, 5-0.
Congressional Hearing Planned On LIP Showdown
May 13, 2015
A congressional committee will hold a hearing on Gov. Rick Scott’s showdown with the federal government over health-care funding, but that meeting could come too late to help close a potential $2.2 billion hole in the state budget.
Scott announced Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., will have the House Energy & Commerce Committee look into the governor’s allegations that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is trying to illegally coerce the state into accepting Medicaid expansion.
The agency has said that Medicaid expansion will be a factor as it weighs a proposed revision to the Low Income Pool, or LIP, program, but has not explicitly said that the state must expand coverage to receive any funding. The $2.2 billion LIP program, which mostly sends money to hospitals and other medical providers that care for large numbers of low-income patients, is set to expire June 30 unless state and federal officials reach an agreement.
“The committee’s hearing will bring much-needed attention to the Obama administration’s disappointing political power play at the expense of the health care of low-income families in our state,” Scott said in a statement issued by his office.
The governor has filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration to attempt to block federal officials from factoring whether the state has expanded Medicaid into its decision on LIP. But federal officials say that they don’t want LIP to pay for the medical expenses of Floridians who could otherwise be covered by Medicaid.
The agency said last week that, at first blush, the state’s new LIP application “falls short of key principles” that federal officials will consider when weighing the program’s future, but a spokesman said Tuesday the agency “is continuing to engage” with the state.
A spokeswoman for Upton’s committee confirmed in an email that a hearing was being planned, but didn’t indicate whether it would come before June 30, the deadline for the Legislature and Scott to agree to a budget before state government could shut down.
“The committee, in its continued commitment to protect the Medicaid program so it is able to deliver on its core function of providing a lifeline for the most vulnerable, is keeping a close eye on the situation in Florida,” the spokeswoman said. “Chairman Upton spoke with Governor Scott today and the committee plans to hold a hearing in the coming months.”
Scott spent Tuesday in Washington, D.C., meeting with 14 members of the state’s congressional delegation as well as Upton and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Funding for LIP is part of a complex health-care logjam that has left legislative leaders unable to reach agreement on a spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1. Hoping to encourage federal officials to approve the state’s LIP proposal, the state Senate offered a $2.8 billion initiative that would use Medicaid expansion funding to help low-income Floridians purchase private insurance.
But Scott and the state House adamantly oppose the expansion alternative, which would be funded through the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Atmore Woman Killed In Single Vehicle Crash
May 12, 2015
An Atmore woman was killed in single vehicle accident Monday has been identified by Alabama Stat Troopers.
Troopers said late Tuesday afternoon that 62-year old Deborah McIntosh Clark was not wearing a seat belt when her pickup truck left Booneville Road three miles north of the Poarch Creek Indian Reservation. The vehicle struck a ditch and a tree.
Clark was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The investigation into the accident is continuing.
North Escambia Mosquito Spray Mission Planned Tonight North Of Molino
May 12, 2015
The Escambia County Mosquito Control Division plans a “fogging mission” in a large area of North Escambia generally from 6 to 10 p.m. today.
The spray area is generally north of the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection to the Alabama state line, more specifically east of Highway 29 from the Alabama state line south to Barth Road (map), west of North Highway 99 to the Perdido River and south of the state line to Arthur Brown Road, east of Highway 97 and west of Highway 29 south to the Tom Thumb (map), and east of Highway 99 to Highway 29 from the state line south to Roach Road (map).
Methods used to determine necessary fogging mission activity include dry ice-baited light traps, landing rate counts and receiving focally located service requests from the public.
Town Hall Meeting: Molino’s Red Light, Speeding, Paving and Parks
May 12, 2015
Molino’s new red light, speeding, paving and parks were the hot topics Monday evening during a District 5 town hall meeting hosted by Commissioner Steven Barry and county department heads.
Work remains to be done at the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection before newly installed traffic signal is taken out of flash-mode, according to county traffic staffer Colby Brown. The work includes making the median on the southbound side of the intersection longer to help alleviate U-turns into the Tom Thumb. A separate project, he said, will address the nearby intersection of Highway 29 and Crabtree Church Road, but right now there’s no immediate Florida Department of Transportation funding available.
Numerous resident complained about speeders on the mostly residential area of Highway 95A between Highway 29 and Barrineau Park Road. Barry said his office would reach out to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and request increased patrols and traffic details in the area.
Parks and Recreation Director Michael Rhodes said several improvements are complete at Don Sutton Park, including new lights for a t-ball field and additional sidewalks. He also said new walking track will be built behind the Molino Community Complex, and second walking track will be constructed at the Ruritan Community Center in Walnut Hill. Both should open in the fall of this year.
Residents also expressed concerns about the county’s dirt road paving schedule.
Pictured top: A town hall meeting in Molino Monday evening. Pictured inset: Commissioner Steven Barry. Pictured below: Public Works Director Wes Moreno and County Administrator Jack Brown. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
