Cool Night, Possibly Some Fog
October 15, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, clear, with a low around 52. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54. West wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 76. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. North wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 74. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. East wind around 5 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 74. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 76.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 79.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77.
Vivian Olene Evers Fountain
October 15, 2015
Vivian Olene Evers Fountain 86, of Canoe, passed away on October 12, 2015, in Pensacola. She was born on August 30, 1929, in Robinsonville, AL to the late James “Louis” and Nellie Daw Evers. She is preceded in death by her parents; brother, James Earl Evers; husband, Robert “Bob” Wilson Fountain; and son-in-law, Merrill Ledford. She was a member of First Assembly of God in Atmore.
She is survived by her sons, Kenneth (Wanda) Fountain of Frisco City, Dudley (Sheila) Fountain of Canoe, Glenn (Debbie) Fountain of Canoe, and Tony (Sherry) Fountain of Spanish Fort; daughters, Sybil (Leonard) Sowell of Loganville, GA, Brenda (Paul) Metts of Robinsonville and Wanda Ledford of Canoe; one brother, Wilber (Lois) Evers of Bay Minette; and two sisters, Thelma Marshall of Canoe and Pearl Falls of Live Oak, FL; 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Thursday, October 15, 2015, at the First Assembly of God in Atmore with Bro. Don Davis and Rev. Wanda Fountain officiating.
Burial was in Hall Cemetery in Canoe.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Cop Impersonator Arrested After Trying To Pull Over Unmarked Deputy Vehicle
October 14, 2015
An alleged cop impersonator has been arrested after trying to conduct a traffic stop on an unmarked police car.
Joshua Dwayne Lynam, 24, was charged with impersonating a police officer after he performed a traffic stop on an Escambia County deputy on I-110 at Airport Boulevard. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $1,000 bond.
Lynam was driving a gold Chevrolet 1500 king cab pickup equipped with red and white emergency flashing lights with Florida tag 869 UBN. Deputies said he is suspected of impersonating a police officer by stopping vehicles on state roadways from Santa Rosa County to Baldwin County.
Anyone that believes they may have been a victim of Lynam during a suspicious traffic stop is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate High Showband Of The South To Perform At Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
October 14, 2015
The Tate High School Showband of the South is headed to Hawaii in December 2016 to take part in the 75th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Mass Band. They will join bands from around the United States and Japan in a concert commemorating the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The mass band, including the Tate Showband, will perform on the pier of the U.S.S Battleship Missouri in a worldwide live webcast “Gift of Music” concert on December 7, 2016.
“This is truly a once in a lifetime event; it really is,” Band Director Mike Philley said Tuesday night as he announced the trip at a Band Boosters meeting. “It is going to take a community effort to get us there.”
The Tate High Wind Ensemble has taken part in the Pearl Harbor event at Naval Air Station Pensacola for at least 10 years, making the Pearl Harbor trip a natural fit.
“When this came about. that was the right way to go. It’s a natural tie-in; we are a Navy town. a lot of military, active duty and retired,” Philley said. “And it just really felt like it would be a great fit for our kids and our program.”
The trip was announced more than a year in advance to give the Band Boosters and band members a chance to raise the funds needed for the 215 member band. Those fund raising plans will be announced soon.
Last year, the Tate Showband took part in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade and ventured to Washington, D.C. The band has taken part in many major venues, including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Cotton Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl parades and even a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland.
Pictured top: Students and parents react Tuesday night as Tate High School Showband of the South Director Mike Philley announces and upcoming performance in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (Courtesy image.) Pictured below: The Tate Wind Ensemble performs last December during the Pearl Harbor ceremony aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
The ‘Midol’ Defense: More Details Released In Century Attempted Murder
October 14, 2015
More details have been released about a shooting incident last Wednesday night that ended with Century man charged with attempted murder and a car full of bullet holes in a Whataburger parking lot. And there were also holes in a potential Midol purchase defense offered by the suspect’s mother.
Akino Jama Jackson, 23, was charged with attempted first degree premeditated murder shooting into an occupied vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond, awaiting an arraignment hearing on October 30.
According to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report, Jackson armed himself with an unknown model and type of firearm and fired eight times into a Dodge Charger, shooting Roosevelt Dixon in the back four times causing serious injuries. Dixon’s girlfriend, Amanda Conner, was in the front passenger seat at the time the shots were fired. She suffered injuries from broken glass but did not seek medical treatment.
At the scene at the Whataburger, Conner told deputies that she had received threatening text messages for the last several weeks from Jackson, her ex-boyfriend. She said the messages included threats about harming her and threats about shooting her car.
Conner told investigators that she and Dixon were at his mother’s residence on Ivey Street in Century, and they had noticed a car in the area that Dixon was concerned about. She said they left the mother’s trailer, eventually turning onto Old Flomaton Road. She said they traveled a short distance when she heard a loud noise followed by a another loud noise during which glass shattered. Dixon told Conner that he had been shot. At this point, they turned the car around, still not seeing the vehicle from which the shots were fired, and headed back to Ivey Street where Dixon got out of the Dodge Charger.
Conner then headed toward the Century Sheriff’s Precinct on Highway 29 in the Charger, stopping along the way at the Century Whataburger where she observed a deputy on a traffic stop.
An investigator noted finding numerous text messages from Jackson on Conner’s phone making threats to harm her and Dixon and to shoot the vehicle in which they were passengers.
At Whataburger, the investigator was approached by Jackson’s mother who said she knew deputies were looking for him. However, she said Jackson could not have been him because he called her from the Wal-Mart in Ensley near the time of the shooting. She continue to explain that he called her and she asked him purchase Midol. She said he did purchase the drug.
However, the call data she provided was from an outgoing call to Jackson, not an incoming call, according to the arrest report.
An investigator contacted Dixon at Sacred Heart Hospital, and he positively identified Jackson as the person who shot him. Dixon’s injuries were not considered life threatening.
Investigators were able to obtain transaction reports on the potential Midol purchase, but those purchase were made at 2:20 p.m. and 10:53 p.m. — hours before or after the shooting at about 8 p.m.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Clear And Cool Tonight
October 14, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 52. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph.
Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 54. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 55. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 77. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48. North wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 75. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48. East wind around 5 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 75.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 78.
Want To Become Involved In The Cantonment Community?
October 14, 2015
The Cantonment Improvement Committee will hold a membership drive meeting at 5:00 today.
Those in attendance can enjoy refreshments and win door prizes and they come out to get information on the group, renew a membership or join the group’s community improvement team.
The group will meet at the Carver Park Resource Center in Carver Park on Webb Street.
Pictured: The ribbon was cut on the Carver Park Resource Center in May. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Senate Committee To Consider Evers’ Guns On Campus Bill
October 14, 2015
Amid a national focus on campus shootings, a state Senate committee next week will consider a bill that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry firearms at Florida colleges and universities.
The Senate Higher Education Committee is scheduled next Tuesday to take up the bill, filed by Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker. The proposal has already passed the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, which is chaired by Evers, and an identical House version (HB 4001) has been approved by the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
The bills are filed for the 2016 legislative session, which starts in January. The issue has been highly controversial, with university-system leaders opposed to allowing guns on campus and Second Amendment advocates arguing for the bills. But it is likely to draw even more debate after a mass shooting Oct. 1 at an Oregon community college and other shooting incidents in Arizona and Texas.
by The News Service of Florida
Fields of Faith: Student Led Community Worship Tonight At Northview
October 14, 2015
The Northview High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is sponsoring a student led worship event, “Fields of Faith” tonight at Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium in Bratt.
Northview students, area churches, youth groups and community members will come together to worship, hear student testimonies and enjoy a brief message from a guest speaker.
The public is invited to attend the event at 6:30 Wednesday. In the event of rain, the event will be moved indoors.
Pictured: Last year’s Fields of Faith event at Northview High School was moved into the school gym. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
U.S. Supreme Court Weighs Death Penalty Law In Nine Mile Road Killing
October 14, 2015
U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday spent an hour questioning attorneys in a case that could force key changes in the way Florida carries out the death penalty.
The appeal was brought on behalf of death row inmate Timothy Lee Hurst, who was convicted in the 1998 murder of a fast food worker in Escambia County and contends that Florida’s unique sentencing system is unconstitutional.
In part, Florida’s system does not require unanimous jury recommendations before judges can sentence defendants to death. Also, the case focuses on the interplay between juries and judges on “aggravating” circumstances, which must be found before death sentences can be imposed.
Seth Waxman, a former U.S. solicitor general representing Hurst, argued Tuesday that Florida’s sentencing system is unconstitutional under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as Ring v. Arizona, according to a transcript of the hearing. But state Solicitor General Allen Winsor disputed that argument, saying “Florida’s capital sentencing system was constitutional before Ring v. Arizona and it remains constitutional in light of Ring v. Arizona.”
It likely will take months for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule, but the case could have far-reaching effects if justices find the system unconstitutional.
Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, D-Miami, and Sen. Thad Altman, R-Rockledge, filed bills last month that would require unanimous jury recommendations before death sentences are imposed and would make changes in state law about the issue of aggravating circumstances. The bills (HB 157 and SB 330) will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, which starts in January. Rodriguez and Altman also filed bills for the 2015 session, but the measures did not make it to the House and Senate floors.
Hurst, now 36, was convicted of the murder of Cynthia Lee Harrison, who was an assistant manager at a Popeye’s Fried Chicken restaurant where Hurst worked. Harrison’s body was discovered bound in a freezer, and money was missing from a safe, according to a brief in the case.