Escambia County Presents Public Safety Employee Awards
February 10, 2016
Each year, Escambia County honors several public safety employees that have made a difference in the lives of the local community. The following county employees were recognized for their continued service and dedication at the 2015 Annual Public Safety Award Ceremony.
Communications
- Division Employee of the Year: Bill Jordan
- Employee Commendation: Chris Holloman
EMS
- Division Employee of the Year: Kelly Beecher
- Employee Commendation: Bill Kuhar, Ryan St. Pierre
Billing
- Division Employee of the Year: Gale M. Horner
- Employee Commendation: Jean Cline
Administration
- Division Employee of the Year: Ivy Lett
Escambia County Fire Rescue
- Division Employee of the Year: Craig Ammons
- Employee Commendation: Jeff Tavnor
Special Other
- Public Safety Employee of the Year: Gale M. Horner
- Jimmie Powell Lifesaving Award: Shawn Ribble, Marvin Skipper
- Escambia County Public Safety Rookie of the Year: Jennifer Hurd
- Action Award: Margie Hobbs from West Florida Hospital
- Life of Service Award: Pat Kostic, Jennifer Caro, Buck Carter
Campaign of the Year
A large-scale incident occurred on Aug. 27, 2015, involving a school bus rollover and motor vehicle accident with mechanical extrication. The incident resulted in several patients and multiple departmental responses. Public safety staff involved with the efforts used county command procedures to provide efficient and life-saving service, resulting in positive post-evaluation accolades.
EMS Crews
- EMS1: Pat Kostic
- EMS2: Leon Salter
- EMS7: Jim Bonoyer
- ALS2: Crystal Dirks, Thomas Roche
- ALS3: Jimmy Maddrey, David Farris
- 376: Michelle Rea, Ian Mays
- 377: Ken Selwyn, John Morits
- 375: April Sapp, Jessica Tanksley
- 350: Bill Hopkins, April Lovelace
Dispatch
- Christy Ward
- Doug Lunsford
- Bill Jordan
- Vanessa Borque
- Shenae Maxwell
- Jennifer Hurd
Billing
- Laura Ault
Pensacola Opera Presents ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’
February 10, 2016
The Pensacola Opera presented a free performance of the endearing tale “Jack and the Beanstalk” Tuesday night a the Century Branch Library. Another performance was held Wednesday morning at the Molino Branch Library.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured: The Pensacola Opera presented “Jack and the Beanstalk” Tuesday night at the Century Branch Library. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cool Jobs: This Really Ranks Up There
February 10, 2016
Wednesday was breezy and cold, with winds gusting to about 20 mph — just like the cool, windy day on Tuesday. While many people are required to work outside in cold weather, we found a few men on a job Tuesday that really exposed them to the cold wind — working at the top of one of the water towers in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Girls Weightlifting Team Presents Season Awards
February 10, 2016
The Northview High School girls weightlifting team celebrated their season with their annual awards banquet.
The following awards were presented:
MVL (Most Valuable Lifters) — Audriene Odom, Myisha Syria, Laurie Purdy, Breanna Campbell
Coach’s Award Winners — Katie Born, Bethany Reynolds, Laurie Purdy
Pensacola Sports Association Winner– Haley Weaver
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
House Panel Approves Gambling Deal, Senate Plan On Hold
February 10, 2016
A House panel on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported a trio of gambling bills that would ratify a $3 billion deal between the state and the Seminole Tribe, do away with greyhound racing while allowing dog tracks to keep operating other games, and open the door for slot machines in Palm Beach County.
But a Senate committee, expected to vote on its version of the gambling legislation, postponed consideration of the measures after Sen. Joe Negron filed a series of amendments that would dramatically change the proposal, months in the making.
Senate Regulated Industries Chairman Rob Bradley said he decided to delay discussion of the gambling bills (SB 7072, SB 7074) for a week to give the panel more time to “digest” Negron’s complicated proposal.
“I received requests from committee members to have some time to review those amendments without feeling rushed. This is an issue that is complex and large enough that it’s a reasonable request,” Bradley, R-Fleming Island, told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the House Regulatory Affairs Committee approved three gambling measures. One (PCB RAC 16-01) would ratify an agreement, called a “compact,” inked by Gov. Rick Scott and Seminole tribal leader James Billie in December. The compact would allow the Seminoles to add craps and roulette to their casino operations in exchange for a guarantee of $3 billion in payments to the state over seven years.
A second measure (PCB RAC 16-02) would allow greyhound tracks to do away with dog racing while keeping other pari-mutuel activities such as poker and slots, a process known as “decoupling.” The bill, amended to include the compact, would also decouple harness and quarter-horse races but would keep thoroughbred racing at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs.
The proposal would also allow slots in Palm Beach County and at a new facility in Miami-Dade County.
The committee also approved a proposed constitutional amendment (PCB RAC 16-03), which would let voters decide whether they want to expand gambling in the future — after the compact and the other gambling changes go into effect.
House Regulatory Affairs Chairman Jose Felix Diaz said he decided to go ahead with the vote on the House’s gambling legislation after Bradley told him he was going to delay the vote on the Senate’s bills.
With the legislative session reaching the halfway point Wednesday, the Senate panel’s delay could make ratification of the compact problematic.
“We’re in week five, so every week that we don’t have a bill is a week closer to the bill dying,” Diaz, R-Miami, said. “It could very easily be one of those bills that we’re deciding at the very last moment. It just sort of looks and smells like it.”
But both Bradley and Diaz said that there is “plenty of time” for the Legislature to finalize a deal before the session ends on March 11.
“All the same challenges that existed six months ago, one month ago, one week ago, still exist today,” Bradley said.
Negron’s proposals, if passed, would significantly alter the agreement worked out by Scott’s general counsel, Tim Cerio, in tandem with Bradley and Diaz, who negotiated with the tribe for months before reaching an accord in December.
One of Negron’s amendments would allow slots at pari-mutuels in each of six counties — including Palm Beach — where voters have approved them, and in other counties where voters sign off on them in the future.
His plan would also decouple all dog and horse racing along with jai alai games, but allow the pari-mutuels to keep operating cardrooms and slot machines.
His proposal also includes $45 million — $20 million from the compact, and $25 million from revenues from slots and card games at pari-mutuels that discontinue racing or jai alai games — for thoroughbred purse pools.
And, in an effort to offset the expansion of gambling with the additional slot machines, Negron’s plan would eliminate 20 dormant or inactive pari-mutuel permits, while spending $20 million for the state to purchase active permits.
Negron also wants the gambling measure to include language that would confirm that “fantasy sports” are legal in Florida, the subject of a separate bill he is backing.
Diaz said he believed he had the 61 votes necessary to pass out of the House the measure approved by his committee Tuesday, but he acknowledged that the bill is “an absolute work in progress.”
“Every shift in this bill can lose a vote and gain a vote. I’ll know at the very end where we stand,” he said. “I’m optimistic that we have a bill we can pass … but I’m not going to OK a bill that’s bad just because the money’s good.”
But Negron, a Stuart Republican who will take over as Senate president after the November elections, said he believed his proposed changes would make it easier to garner support from the upper chamber.
“I think everyone understood that (the compact) was a first draft for the Legislature to consider,” Negron said. “Without addressing the issues in my amendment, there are not enough votes to pass the compact in the Senate. My amendment actually increases the likelihood of the bill passing.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Senate Backs Bill To Shield Personal Hunting, Fishing License Info
February 10, 2016
The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee on Tuesday backed a measure (SB 1364) that would create a public-records exemption to shield personal information — such as names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses and telephone numbers — of people getting hunting, fishing and boating licenses and certificates from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Sen. Alan Hays, a Umatilla Republican who sponsored the proposal, said the intent of the proposed exemption is to protect gun owners.
“It’s a good gun-control measure, to tell you the truth, without interfering with Second Amendment rights,” Hays said.
“The current situation is that if any person who wants to know where weapons are located, all they’d have to do is do a public-records request to the Fish and Game Commission to send a list of everybody who has a hunting license,” Hays continued. “And you know good and well most of those homes, where the owner or the occupant has a hunting license, are going to have a weapon.”
When asked about how components of the bill, such as fishing licenses, fit within protecting gun ownership, Hays said such parts can be removed when the bill goes before another committee.
Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, questioned Hays’ stance in an email Tuesday.
“Have there been any reported incidents of people using hunting licenses to track down hunters to steal their guns? Isn’t that the definition of stupid criminal? And why include fishing licenses? Boating safety records? He’s blowing smoke,” Petersen said in the email. “This is clearly a reaction to the bear hunting license snafu and the fact that a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel got (rock star) Ted Nugent’s telephone number and called him up.”
(Disclosure: The News Service of Florida is a member of the First Amendment Foundation.)
Hays said after the meeting that the controversial bear hunt didn’t factor into his decision to file the bill, which, if approved, would become law July 1.
The commission held a bear hunt in October, the first in the state in more than two decades. The state sold 3,778 permits for the hunt, and among the people buying permits were Nugent, House members Frank Artiles of Miami, Jay Trumbull of Panama City and Tom Goodson of Titusville, and Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Aliese Priddy.
The commission halted the potential seven-day hunt after two days, as the number of bears killed quickly approached the quota of 320. Commission officials acknowledged they “underestimated the hunter success for the first day.”
The commission has not decided if a bear hunt will be conducted this year. Spokeswoman Susan Smith said the agency is “still reviewing information from the 2015 hunt.”
The Senate bill must get approved by the Rules Committee before it could go to the full Senate.
A similar House bill (HB 1153) was unanimously supported by the Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee last month and must clear the State Affairs Committee before it could go to the House floor.
by The News Service of Florida
Authorities Search For Missing Teen
February 9, 2016
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has issued an emergency missing child alert for a Brewton teen.
Brooke Lee Bridges is a 16-year old white female with blue hair. She was last seen wearing a t-shirt and black sweatpants at her family home in Brewton around 11 p.m. on Sunday. She has brown eyes, is 5′3″ and weighs 100 pounds.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Brewton Police Department at (251) 867-3212 or 911.
Gusty Winds Lead To Walnut Hill Power Outage
February 9, 2016
Gusty winds blew a limb into a power line in Walnut Hill Tuesday morning near the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97. That caused a power outage for a large number of Escambia River Electric Cooperative customers in the Walnut Hill area, including Ernest Ward Middle School. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Three Charged In Shots Fired Disturbance At Century Apartments
February 9, 2016
Three people were arrested after a fight broke out at a Century apartment complex that ended with shots fired from a shotgun.
Taurus Marquis Davis, 19, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery and firing a weapon on residential property. Sammie Shaunta Moorer, 29, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and Isaac Sheldon Moorer, 21, was charged with one count of battery.
The three became involved in a fight with several individuals at the Century Woods Apartments on West Highway 4, according to arrest report. During the fight, Sammie Moorer retrieved a shotgun from his truck and pointed it at two victims, according to arrest report, and a suspect claimed he ran to his vehicle to drive away as Sammie Moorer placed the shotgun back into his truck. Issac Moorer and Davis began to fight over the shotgun. Davis then ran and pointed the shotgun into the window of the vehicle the victim was using to escape the scene, the report states.
The victim said he heard a shotgun blast as he sped away. There were no injuries reported and no damage to the victim’s vehicle.
The three suspects fled the scene and were taken into custody at their residence in the 200 block of Juniper Street in Walnut Hill, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Davis was released on a $6,000 bond. Sammie Moorer was released on a $5,000 bond, and Isaac Moorer was released on a $500 bond.
BMX Bike Show Encourages Northview High Students
February 9, 2016
“Bring Your ‘A Game’ to School” was the message Northview High School students heard Monday afternoon as a BMX performance team brought their high flying and flipping tricks to the school gym.
The positive-message, high energy program encouraged students to pay attention to their “A Game” — with the “A” in “A Game” standing for alliance, attitude, authentic, ability, active, anti-bullying and achieve.
The program featured BMX riders with daring leaps and stunts and a message about the hard work and courage it takes to be successful in life.
Five students were chosen from the audience to demonstrate their courage as they were asked to lay side-by-side on the gym floor as a BMX biker jumped over them. They were offered a free t-shirt if the biker’s attempt failed.
The most cr0wd-pleasing stunt came with the assistance and courage of Northview Principal Gayle Weaver who was asked to sit in a chair, arms outstretched, as one of the riders jumped his bike and back-flipped over her. In a “test” run with only the chair, the biker crashed into the chair. Students were asked, thumbs up or thumbs down, if Weaver should go ahead with the stut. She received an overwhelming thumbs up.
Weaver was told to sit in the chair, keep her eyes open, and, of course, not stand up.
Students cheered wildly as the wheel of the bicycle came with a few feet of Weaver’s face. She was uninjured and seemingly not bothered by the stunt.
The event was sponsored as a recruiting tool by the National Guard.
Pictured top and inset: A BMX biker jumps over Northview Principal Gayle Weaver Monday afternoon. Pictured below: Jumping over five students plus two others. Pictured below: BMX stunt show at Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
