Rain Chance Tonight
January 16, 2016
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before 3am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 41. North wind 10 to 15 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 53. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 32. North wind around 5 mph.
M.L.King Day: Sunny, with a high near 55. North wind around 5 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 27. North wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 53. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34. East wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65.
Thursday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 54.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 56.
Home Invasion Suspect Shooting Justified Under Stand Your Ground Law
January 16, 2016
No criminal charges will be filed against a man that shot and kill a home invader last month in Santa Rosa County because he was justified under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
On December 12, 2015, Gary Savoy Phillips, 38, was pronounced deceased at the scene after he was shot by Rufus Alexander Jordan just after 7 a.m. on Phillips Lane off Highway 4 east of Berrydale.
According to a report released Friday by the State Attorney’s Office, Jordan and his girlfriend, Nora Danielle King, were awakened by the sound of someone beating on their front door and yelling, a voice they recognized as Gary Savoy Phillips, whose father, Jerry Phillips, Sr., had previously been married to King’s mother. Danielle King grabbed a bolt action 12 gauge shotgun from the bedroom and handed it to Jordan.
King’s three children, along with a fourth child that was spending the night, were asleep in their beds in a separate bedroom.
Gary Phillips (pictured left) suddenly kicked open the door to the home screaming that he was going to kill them and saying, “I’ve done told you I would burn this place.” Jordan pointed the shotgun at Phillips, who then backed out of the home onto the front porch and reached into his right pocket while turned so that Jordan was unable to see what Phillips was reaching for in his pocket.
Believing that Phillips was reaching for a gun, Jordan fired one round of buckshot from the 12 gauge shotgun at Phillips. Phillips collapsed in the yard.
Phillips collapsed in the yard 13′ from the edge of the porch. Jordan attempted to render aid to Phillips but when he walked down the steps, Phillips’ two pit bulldogs attacked him.
Jordan went back into the house and put another shell in the shotgun which he then fired into the ground to scare the dogs away. Jordan called 911 and reported the shooting. When law enforcement arrived, they discovered the body of Gary Phillips lying in the front yard. Two pit bulldogs attacked the officers as they approached the body.
When interviewed by officers, Jordan and King stated that Phillips did not live in the house with them but would spend the night there occasionally. Officers found no items in the house belonging to Phillips and no papers or documents bearing his name.
Jordan and King told investigators that Phillips had stolen several items from their home including King’s cell phone, a flashlight, some money, and 3 guns. These were taken several days before the shooting. The guns stolen were a shotgun, a rifle, and a pistol. Although the pistol was not recovered, King’s cell phone was found on Phillips by officers at the time of the shooting.
Gary Phillips had previously been convicted of grand theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and aggravated battery, in addition to various drug, theft and traffic convictions. He had been released from prison just eight months before the incident. King and Jordan knew Phillips well and were both aware of Phillips’ criminal history and the fact that he had prior convictions involving violence and firearms.
“Rufus Alexander Jordan was justified in using deadly force in that he reasonably believed that such force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or the other occupants of the home or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. Under the circumstances, Jordan had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground,” according to the State Attorney’s report, which concluded the shooting death was reasonable and
justifiable under Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law and no criminal charges should be filed.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
January 16, 2016
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending January 14 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Ramos and Lieutenant Hahr responded to a night hunting complaint in an area where several big bucks have been seen. Shortly after their arrival, a truck approached and shined the field. The occupants were surprised by another vehicle and immediately turned around and left in the direction they came. After the second vehicle passed by, the truck returned and the occupants began shining again. The officers stopped them and observed a loaded high-powered rifle in the front seat of the truck. The two men participating were charged with attempting to take deer at night with gun and light.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson and Lieutenant Hahr were watching a field where they had received a night hunting complaint when a truck drove by shining a spotlight into the field. The suspect’s actions led the officers to believe that they might be hunting deer so they stopped the truck down the road. The juvenile driver and passenger told the officers they were looking for deer and admitted to having a rifle in the back seat. They also had a freshly killed doe deer in the back of the truck. The two juveniles were questioned and admitted to shooting at deer in three other fields in the area. The officers located these fields and verified their stories. Both juveniles were charged with attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light, possession of an antlerless deer out of season and taking wildlife from the right of way. A rifle, pistol, spotlight and one deer were seized as evidence and both subjects were released to their parents.
Officer Hoomes and Lieutenant Berryman were on foot patrol within the Hutton Unit of the Blackwater WMA when they observed a deer in the back of a truck on adjoining private property. When they went to check the deer, they observed another deer, an antlerless yearling, lying on the ground near the truck. The owner of the truck admitted to killing both deer. The antlerless deer was seized and the man was charged with taking antlerless deer out of season.
Officer Hutchinson responded to a residence where a deer was observed being cleaned earlier in the day. A man from the residence showed Officer Hutchinson where he cleaned two small yearlings in the yard. He admitted to shooting both deer earlier that morning. He showed Officer Hutchinson where he disposed of the carcasses. One deer was a spotted fawn button buck and the other was a slightly larger doe. Officers Lewis and Ramos arrived on scene to assist and helped track down the deer meat from both deer, as it had been divided up between several people. The man was charged with two counts of taking antlerless deer out of season.
Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling in the Blackwater WMA when he observed two men hunting on horseback in the field trial area. When he turned around to speak to them, they were no longer in sight. He located one of the men riding his horse down into a bottom and stopped him to check him. The man initially denied hunting, but later admitted to hunting deer. Lieutenant Hahr charged him with hunting deer in the field trial area and seized a high powered rifle. The man was also given a citation for riding a horse off designated trails and for hunting without a license and appropriate permits.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
Molino Library Fitness Program Canceled, Libary Open As Usual
January 16, 2016
A fitness program scheduled for today at the Molino Branch Library has been canceled, but the library will be open as usual.
The “Fitness Tips for a New Year” event will not be held, but it will be rescheduled and a new date and time announced. The Molino Branch Library will be open today from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Weekend Gardening: Tips for January
January 16, 2016
Here are gardening tips for the month of January from the IFAS Extension Service:
Flowers
- Refrigerated bulbs such as tulip, daffodil and hyacinth should be planted in prepared beds.
- Start seeds of warm season flowers late this month in order to have transplants in March.
- There’s still time to transplant some cool season annuals such as carnations, foxglove, pansies, petunias and snapdragons.
- Re-fertilize cool season flowerbeds, using a liquid or dry form of fertilizer. Be careful not to apply excessive amounts and keep granules away from the base of stems.
- Finish dividing crowded perennials. Don’t wait until spring for this job.
- Plant bare root roses immediately after they are purchased.
Trees and Shrubs
- Plant trees and shrubs. This is an ideal time of year for transplanting larger specimens.
- Plant bare root plants such as deciduous ornamental shrubs and trees.
- Prune dormant shade trees, if needed.
- Stick hardwood cuttings of fig, grape, honeysuckle, Althea, Catalpa, Forsythia and Wisteria.
Fruits and Nuts
- Apply dormant oil spray to peach, plum, nectarine and other deciduous fruit trees. This practice is necessary when growing the stone fruits in locations along the Gulf Coast. Note: This applies to the flowering peaches and cherries since they are susceptible to the same pests as their fruiting cousins.
- Plant bare root deciduous fruit trees
- Prune dormant fruit trees if needed
Vegetable Garden
- Start seeds of warm season vegetables late this month in order to have transplants in March.
- Lime (if needed), and begin preparing vegetable gardens for the spring planting.
- Cool season vegetables that can still be planted in the garden are: beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mustard, bunching onions, parsley, English peas, Irish potatoes, radishes and turnips.
- Irish potatoes can be started from January through March by planting seed pieces 3 to 4 inches deep in rows. Always purchase certified seed potatoes.
Lawns
- Check soil moisture during winter and water as needed.
Escambia Man Claims $1 Million Lottery Prize
January 16, 2016
The Florida Lottery announced Friday that an Escambia County man has claimed a $1 million Holiday Millionaire Raffle prize from the game’s December 31 drawing.
One of the seven $1 million prizes remains unclaimed.
Don Weaver purchased his winning ticket from Blue Angel Chevron, located at 2 South Blue Angel Parkway in Pensacola. The retailer will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the $1 million-winning ticket.
Along with the seven $1 million prizes, 540 other prizes ranging from $500 to $50,000 were awarded in the Holiday Millionaire Raffle New Year’s Eve drawing. Additionally, this year’s Raffle offered five weekly drawings, in which a $10,000 prize and two hundred $500 prizes were won. In total, 1,552 players won more than $8.6 million in prizes in the Holiday Millionaire Raffle. Plus, players who purchased early had the chance to participate in the Playoff Bonus Drawing, in which 10 winners were selected to attend the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl and won cash prizes of up to $25,000 in an exciting prize reveal on-field at the game. The Holiday Millionaire Raffle game generated more than $1.9 million in revenue for education.
United Way Seeks Volunteers For Loaned Executive Program
January 16, 2016
United Way of Escambia County invites passionate local citizens to apply for the 2016-17 Loaned Executive Leadership Program. Loaned Executives (known as LEs) are on the front lines of community change in Escambia County. They serve as leaders by advocating for the United Way Workplace Campaign, which raises over $2 million annually to support local nonprofits.
LEs build their professional network and develop leadership, managerial, and public speaking skills. Sara Harlow, an LE from Gulf Power values this community service saying, “The personal gratification you get from serving the community and becoming more in tune with community needs makes the time you give up well worth it.”
LEs volunteer approximately 10 hours per month from February to December. The program launches with participation in the Community Investment Process where LEs see how donations support nonprofits selected to receive funds in Escambia County. After learning about work vital to community success, LEs lead United Way’s campaign and attend monthly leadership seminars featuring key community leaders.
United Way board member and former LE, Wes Hudgens, recognizes that monthly interactions with community leaders strengthen opportunities to serve others. “It is imperative to meet and associate with positive like-minded individuals in the community. This program gave me the opportunity to get to know community leaders and determine how I can work with them to improve our community.”
To become an LE, download an application at www.unitedwayescambia.org/LE. Applications will be accepted through February 5, 2016. For more specific details, visit the LE webpage or e-mail Campaign Manager Frank Giammaria at frank@unitedwayescambia.org.
No Injuries In Highway 29 Rollover Crash
January 16, 2016
There were no injuries in a single vehicle rollover accident late Friday afternoon near Bluff Springs.
The driver of a Jeep was southbound on Highway 29 when she lost control just south of Bluff Springs Road, crossed the median and the northbound lanes of Highway 29 before overturning into the woodline. She refused transport to the hospital.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol; further details have not been released. The Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: And They’re Off
January 16, 2016
Usually, legislative sessions start out slowly, with the first week focused on catching up with colleagues and friends at the Capitol. There are some speeches, including the governor’s annual State of the State address, and committees that haven’t gotten serious about their work thus far begin to do so.
But, because of — and perhaps to make up for — the disastrous meltdown of the 2015 session, this year’s first week was different. Top priorities for Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, are already headed to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk.
For his part, the governor spent his week trying to sell a $1 billion tax cut and other policies he says will allow the state to continue growing its population and workforce. In committee meetings, behind podiums and on the road, Scott touted the tax reductions and changes to the structure of the state’s economic-development incentives.
Meanwhile, forces from outside Tallahassee threatened to upend lawmakers’ plans. The U.S. Supreme Court added to the Legislature’s to-do list by striking down the state’s method for imposing the death penalty. But if the House and Senate keep up the pace set in the first week, they could have time left over to deal with some additions to the agenda.
LOOKING OUT FOR NO. 1
The bills House and Senate leaders most want to pass are usually held up until the session’s last week, when they can be more useful as chits in budget negotiations and other aspects of the final “deal” between the two chambers.
However, after the implosion of the 2015 legislative session ended up killing some of Gardiner’s and Crisafulli’s pet projects last year, lawmakers decided to change the order of the proceedings. Crisafulli got a water-policy bill of the type he has sought for years, and Gardiner pushed through legislation helping people with developmental disabilities.
The business-backed water bill (SB 552), which environmentalists say they will seek to make stronger in the future, was sent to Scott after the House approved it Thursday on a 110-2 vote. That came a day after the Senate unanimously supported the bill, which lawmakers have been trying to advance for more than two years.
“A comprehensive approach to water will result in our ability to protect our state’s most precious resource from crisis,” said House State Affairs Chairman Matt Caldwell, a North Fort Myers Republican and sponsor of the measure.
Scott made it clear he would sign the measure.
The developmental disabilities legislation (SB 672) was named after Gardiner, whose son has Down syndrome. It would make permanent an expansion of a program known as the Florida Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts Program, which provides money to parents of children with disabilities to help meet educational needs, such as buying instructional materials and receiving specialized services.
The bill also includes another initiative aimed at increasing access to college and university programs for students with disabilities.
Another measure (HB 7003) dealing with job opportunities and financial independence for people with disabilities, passed the House and Senate unanimously and also heads to the governor for his signature or veto.
Crisafulli used his speech on the opening day of session to add another priority to the list: Eliminating a five-year waiting period for children of legal immigrants to be eligible for the state’s KidCare health-insurance program.
KidCare is a subsidized program that serves children from low- and moderate-income families. Children of lawfully-residing immigrants currently have to wait five years before they can become eligible. The proposed bills lifting the waiting period and would not apply to undocumented immigrants.
“I believe the time has come,” Crisafulli said. “These children and their parents have followed our laws and should be able to access the same services many Florida families can.”
It was reminiscent of when former Speaker Will Weatherford, Crisafulli’s immediate predecessor, used his office to push for allowing some undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities. It took Weatherford working on the legislation for two sessions to get it approved, though, and Crisafulli doesn’t have that kind of time.
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A BILLION?
In his State of the State speech to open the session on Tuesday, Scott wedged a repeated call for his economic priorities into a speech that seemed more concerned with anecdotes about Floridians who manufacture lacrosse equipment and a call to kill terrorists affiliated with the so-called Islamic State group.
One day earlier, he took his pitch to the Senate Finance and Tax Committee, hoping to get the upper chamber to sign onto $1 billion in tax cuts.
“I think these are going to help continue to grow the economy, help get people jobs,” Scott said. “The way to do that is to grow the economy, and the way to grow the economy is to get more companies to want to do business here.”
The governor also wants to set aside $250 million for a “Florida Enterprise Fund” that would be used to lure companies to continue the growth of the Sunshine State.
Scott is also using his bully pulpit to push the ideas, setting off on his “Million Miles for a Million Jobs” bus tour to mark the state crossing the seven-figure mark in the number of jobs added since the governor took office in 2011.
That approach appears to be working in the House, though Crisafulli is suggesting that his chamber will focus more on one-time tax cuts, to avoid weakening the state’s revenue picture in future years. Legislative leaders have expressed concern that providing too many tax cuts that continue year after year could create shortfalls down the road.
“We obviously have a lot of commitments, whether it be education or other issues in the state that we obviously have to make sure that we take care of, but at the end of the day, a $1 billion total number is what we have in mind,” Crisafulli told reporters.
WHILE YOU’RE THERE…
If the U.S. Supreme Court was going to invalidate the way people in Florida are sentenced to death, it chose the time when lawmakers might have the best chance to fix any defects. Almost exactly as the gavels were falling down to being the House and Senate meetings on Tuesday, the justices released their opinion.
The 8-1 ruling says juries — not judges— should be responsible for imposing the death penalty. The ruling focused on what are known as “aggravating” circumstances that must be found before defendants can be sentenced to death. A 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in a case known as Ring v. Arizona, requires that determination of such aggravating circumstances be made by juries, not judges.
Florida requires juries to make recommendations to judges regarding the death penalty after considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, with judges ultimately imposing the sentences.
But Florida’s unique law giving judges the power to decide whether defendants should face death equates to an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury, Justice Sonya Sotomayor write in the majority opinion.
Lawmakers quickly vowed to fix the problem.
“This is something that we have to do,” House Judiciary Chairman Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, said. “We will be addressing the issue which was raised specifically by the Supreme Court in that decision, and then looking beyond the narrow decision to see how it affects other aspects of the death penalty statute to ensure its future constitutionality as well.”
What seemed less likely was approval for legislation that would require a jury vote to impose the death penalty be unanimous. Only two other states don’t require unanimity. And two other Florida cases that deal with the unanimity issue are now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
That’s led to concern that doing the minimum to conform Florida law with the high court ruling is problematic.
“My hope is that the Legislature goes far enough to require unanimity in both the decision that somebody is death eligible and that somebody will get the death penalty. And if they don’t do that, they’re only inviting more litigation and waiting for the next shoe to drop. They may fix it temporarily, but they’re not going to fix it permanently,” said Florida International University law professor Stephen Harper, who runs the school’s Death Penalty Clinic. “They’re only going to put a Band-aid on a much bigger problem.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Lawmakers returned to the Capitol for the 2016 legislative session and quickly got down to business, sending legislation dealing with water and developmental disabilities to Gov. Rick Scott.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “We do a lot of things in Tallahassee that you find out in a mail piece later that maybe you regret. But I can tell you, each of us, Republican, Democrat, things like this is why you come up here.”— Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, on a bill dealing with developmental disabilities that was named after him.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Nine Mile Road Area Bank Robbed
January 15, 2016
A bank robbery just off Nine Mile Road Friday afternoon remains under investigation this afternoon.
The Coastal Bank and Trust on University Parkway was robbed just after 3:30 p.m. At last report, a search for the suspect was underway in the area.
No suspect description has been released by authorities.
There were no injuries reported.