Benjamin Yancy Cooper, Jr.
April 21, 2015
Benjamin Yancy Cooper, Jr., 95, of Atmore, passed away April 19, 2015, in Atmore. He was born June 12, 1919, to the late Benjamin Yancy, Sr. and Emma Odum Cooper in Mitchell County, GA. He served in the U.S. Army during WW II, took part in the Battle of the Bulge and was highly decorated for his heroism which earned him a Bronze Star. He was of the Baptist faith. He is preceded in death by his parents; wife, Katherine Cooper; grandchild, Brandon Agerton and his two brothers, Bill Cooper and Jack Cooper.
He is survived by his two sons, Benjamin Y. (Kay) Cooper, III. of Falls Church, VA, Kenneth M. (Dawn) Cooper of Atmore; daughter, Kay Porter of St. Louis, MO; brother, Gordon Hughes of Thomasville, GA; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, April 22, 2015, at 2 p.m. from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Dustin Stockstill officiating.
Burial will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery with Honors.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, April 22, 2015, from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Wahoos Beat Barons
April 21, 2015
Scoring one run in six different innings, the bats slowly came to life as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos topped the Birmingham Barons 6-5 in the first game of the series.
Pensacola posted season highs in almost every offensive category in tonight’s win with highs in runs (6), hits (11), doubles (7), triples (2), RBIs (6), walks (8) and extra base hits (9).
It started in the third inning as Juan Silva doubled to start the inning. Sean Buckley drove him home with a soft fly ball single to the right field as the Blue Wahoos took a 1-0 lead.
RHP Robert Stephenson made his first start since Opening Day and posted four strikeouts in the first two innings. The bats also came to life for the Barons in the third inning as Jeremy Farrell homered to right center. In the next at bat, Joey DeMichele got a triple and then scored off of Tim Anderson’s single to right field. Anderson stole two bases and then scored off of a sac fly by Christian Marrero.
Despite the Barons three runs in the third, the momentum continued to build for the Blue Wahoos as the team scored a run in the fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth inning to win the game. Marquez Smith scored in the fourth off of a sac fly by Chris Berset. In the sixth inning, Juan Silva was walked home.
The Barons held on tight as Birmingham came to bat in the sixth inning and scored their final run of the night to head into the last third of the game with a 5-3 lead.
Smith doubled in the seventh inning and then was brought home off the bat of Seth Mejias-Brean as he registered a triple. The Blue Wahoos tied the game back up in the eighth inning as Silva scored off of a single by Jesse Winker.
Mejias-Brean drove in Kyle Waldrop for the final run of the game in the top of the ninth to give the Wahoos their third win of the season.
Carlos Gonzalez got his first win of the season after throwing one inning of relief in the eighth as Ben Klimesh got his first save of the year by allowing only one hit in the ninth. Stephenson finished the night with 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5R, 2 BB, 9 SO and 1 HR.
Since the Wahoos scored five runs in tonight’s game, fans win with 50% off Papa John’s pizza when they order online using promo code WAHOOS on Tuesday, April 21.
The two teams will square off Tuesday night in Birmingham at 7:05 p.m.
Highway 29 Crash Slows Afternoon Traffic In Cantonment
April 20, 2015
One person received minor injuries in a two vehicle crash that caused rush hour traffic problems in Cantonment Monday afternoon.
The accident occurred at Highway 29 and Muscogee Road just before 5 p.m., closing most of the intersection for over an hour. One person was transported by Escambia County EMS to an area hospital with injuries that were not considered severe.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash to direct traffic.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Escambia Woman Charged In Morning School Bus Hit And Run
April 20, 2015
An Escambia County driver was arrested after a school bus hit and run crash this morning.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 24-year old Starmeka Turner pulled her 2005 Lincoln out of a Circle K parking lot on Jackson Street into the path of a school bus with 12 passengers on board about 7:45 a.m.. Turner then fled the scene, but was located a short time later and arrested.
There were no injuries to the driver or 12 passengers on the school bus.
Turner was charged with leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and violation of right of way. At noon, she remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $250.
Statewide Computer Based Student Testing Fails – Again
April 20, 2015
Statewide computer-based testing was once again down Monday morning in Florida, causing school districts across the state to delay or postpone testing in grades 5-10.
A technical problem prevented schools from logging into the testing server, according to Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.
“Because of the time zone difference between here and South Florida, we knew beforehand that the problems existed at the state level,” Thomas said. Those statewide vendor problems were resolved by about 9:30 a.m.. “Many of our students never knew there was a problem. It was fixed before most of our middle schools were in session.”
Each individual school in the county decided how to proceed with testing today after the system was back online, the superintendent said.
““This morning, AIR’s President of Assessment notified me of a technical change that was made to the Florida Standards Assessment testing system over the weekend that was not approved by the Department. This change was unnecessary to the administration of the Florida Standards Assessment and resulted in a disruption that hindered students from being able to log in to the system and take their test today,” Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said. “The company’s failure to follow protocol is absolutely unacceptable and the Department will hold AIR accountable for the disruption they have caused to our state’s students, teachers and school staff.”
The new Florida Standards Assessment tests have been plagued by by technical problems and cyber-attacks that have prevented students for logging on, or sometimes finishing. In March, Escambia County suspending testing for days due to the statewide vendor problems. Only about 150,000 eighth-, ninth- and 10th-grade students had been able to take the Florida Standards Assessment writing test — about a quarter of the students registered for that exam — by the second day of failures in March.
American Institutes for Research, a non-profit group, has a six-year, $220 million deal to design and deliver the tests.
Century Correctional Inmate Labor Saves Thousands For Schools
April 20, 2015
Inmate work crews from Century Correctional Institution are continuing to provide thousands of dollars worth of labor to towns and schools in the North Escambia area.
Recently, CCI inmates completed several projects on the Northview High School campus. They cleaned overgrown foliage from around the school’s retention pond, which school officials said had become a dangerous eyesore along Highway 4. The prisoners also painted a storage shed on the campus and edged sidewalks.
All total, Northview officials estimate the Century Correctional prison labor save the school about $8,000 in just a few days.
About 200 CCI inmates per day –less than 15 percent of the total inmate population — work on multiple prison works crews from Century Correctional’s Main Unit on Tedder Road and the Berrydale Forestry Camp near Jay. Dedicated crews are assigned to the Town of Century, the Town of Jay, Gulf Breeze and other entities.
The prisoners also work on projects for multiple schools in addition to Northview, but they are only allowed on campus when students are not present. Earlier this year, CCI inmates delivered 25 newly constructed picnic tables to Escambia Westgate School. It’s estimated that Escambia Westgate saved about $5,000 with the Century Correctional built tables versus purchasing commercially available tables.
Pictured top: A cleaned retention pond at Northview High School. Pictured inset: The pond prior to clearing. Pictured below: A storage shed on the Northview campus painted by inmates. Pictured bottom: CCI inmates deliver new picnic tables to Escambia Westgate School. NorthEscambia.com and submitted photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Schools Release 2015-2016 School Calendar
April 20, 2015
The calendar for the 2015-2016 school year has been released by the Escambia County School District.
To download the calendar (pdf), click here.
2015 Fall Semester Highlights:
- Teachers will return to schools on Monday, Aug. 10, 2015.
- Students are to report on Monday, Aug. 17, 2015.
- Labor Day Holiday will be observed Sept. 7, 2015. (Schools and offices will be closed.)
- Students will have Oct. 12, 2015 off – Teachers have a planning day.
- Veteran’s Day Holiday will be on Weds., Nov. 11, 2015. (Schools and offices will be closed.)
- Students and teachers will have Nov. 25, 2015 off. (Offices will be open.)
- Thanksgiving Holiday will be observed Nov. 26 and 27, 2015. (Schools and offices will be closed.)
- Schools and offices will be closed for the Winter Holiday, Christmas and New Years from Dec. 21, 2015 to Jan. 1, 2016.
2016 Spring Semester Highlights:
- Teachers return from the winter break on Mon., Jan. 4, 2016. (Students off.)
- Students return to school and begin the second semester on Tues., Jan. 5, 2016.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will be observed on Jan. 18, 2016. (Schools and offices are closed.)
- Students will have Feb. 15, 2016. (Pres’s Day) off – Teachers have a planning day.
- Students and teachers are off for Spring Break March 21 to 24, 2016. (Offices are still open.)
- Spring Holiday will be observed March 25, 2016. (All schools and offices will be closed.)
- The last day of school for students will be Thurs., May 26, 2016.
- Memorial Day will be observed on May 30, 2016. (All schools and offices will be closed.)
- Last regular working day for teachers will be Tues., May 31, 2016.
Man Charged With Dumping Paint
April 20, 2015
An Escambia County man is facing a felony charge after allegedly dumping dozens of gallons of paint into the ground.
Ezequiel Santos-Gomez was charged with littering in any quantity for commercial purposes, a third degree felony, and disposal at an unpermitted sold waste facility.
Escambia County Code Enforcement received an anonymous complaint about the improper disposal of paint. Code Enforcement and Florida Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement officers responded and found an excavated pit that was 5-feet wide, 11-feet long and 4-feet deep. They reported finding white paint around and inside the pit, along with about 100 five-gallon plastic buckets stacked adjacent to the pit, located in a residential area near Pensacola Christian College.
Santos-Gomez reportedly told officers that he checked an could only dispose of 20 gallons per day at the landfill.
It was estimated that 60 gallons of paint had been dumped in the pit.
Cooler Nights In The 50’s
April 20, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight
Mostly clear, with a low around 54. West wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. North wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. South wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Friday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Saturday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83.
Saturday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.
Lady Aggies Take On Niceville Tonight For District 1-7A Championship
April 20, 2015
The Tate High School Lady Aggies and the Niceville Aggies will battle it out for the District 1-7A championship tonight.
The No. 2 seed Lady Aggies will travel to take on No. 1 Niceville at 6 p.m.. Monday’s winner will next host Tallahassee Lincoln, while the loser will travel to play District 2-7A champion Tallahassee Chiles in the regional quarterfinals. Both games are currently scheduled for Wednesday.