Hot, Scattered Thunderstorms
July 23, 2016
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Monday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the morning.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93.
Scott: Pensacola Area Employment Ticks Upward
July 23, 2016
Governor Rick Scott announced today that the Pensacola area added 1,700 new private-sector jobs over the year in June. The area’s unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, dropping by 0.4 percentage point in the last year.
Governor Scott said, “Florida is laser focused on creating the best environment for businesses and families to succeed, and I am proud to announce today that the Pensacola area added 1,700 new jobs over the year. We will continue to do all we can to cut taxes and encourage business growth so Florida can be first for jobs.”
The industry with the most job growth in the Pensacola area over the year was education and health services with 600 new jobs. The Pensacola area had 4,620 job openings in June, of which 1,234 were openings for high-wage, high-skill STEM occupations.
District 5 Commissioner To Hold Town Hall Meeting
July 23, 2016
Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry will host a town hall meeting on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Langley Bell 4-H Youth Center at 3730 Stefani Road in Cantonment. The open forum meeting will provide residents an opportunity to get updated information about community issues and voice their concerns or questions.
Cantonment Man Gets 15 Years For Robbery
July 23, 2016
A Cantonment man was sentenced to prison Friday for a robbery and fleeing from police.
Daniel Ferry Lee, III, 31, entered a plea of guilty to robbery and fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement at high speed. He was sentenced to 15 years in station prison as a prison releasee reoffender.
On November 10, 2015, Lee entered the Underwood Food Mart in Navarre while holding a kitchen knife. He was wearing flip flops, and his clothing was covered by a large black garbage bag. His face was covered with a hoodie, a green costume mask, and a white bandana. Video surveillance later revealed that Lee was also wearing khaki shorts underneath the trash bag. Lee demanded that the clerk empty the cash register and give him a bag full of energy shots that were behind the counter. Lee left the store with $363 in cash and approximately $220 worth of energy shots. The entire robbery lasted less than one minute.
Lee entered a vehicle he had parked next to the store and quickly departed north on Highway 87. Law enforcement caught up with Lee as he approached I-10 and pursued him as he headed westbound on I-10. While on I-10, Lee threw multiple items from the vehicle. The garbage bag, which had arm holes cut out, and a white bandana were recovered along the interstate. Lee then exited I-10 at Ward Basin Road and headed south, but he came to a dead end and turned around. Lee was able to get back on I-10 but this time headed eastbound and was able to elude law enforcement. During all parts of the chase, Lee drove in excess of 100 mph.
Shortly thereafter, a suspicious vehicle without a tag and matching the description of Lee’s vehicle was reported abandoned behind a building in Holt. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office located Lee walking along the side of Highway 90 in Holt and took him into custody. Lee was wearing flip flops and khaki shorts when he was arrested. He later admitted that a gray hoodie sweater located in nearby woods, which matched what was worn during the robbery, was his. Authorities also discovered that green pieces of fuzz, which appeared to match the green mask worn in the robbery, were located inside the hood of the gray sweater.
Lee was released from prison in October 2013. making him a prison releasee reoffender that must serve the full 15 years of his sentence without the possibility of gain time.
Gaetz Continues To Mull Bid For UWF Presidency
July 23, 2016
As the University of West Florida searches for a new president — and the Aug. 15 application deadline approaches — former state Senate President Don Gaetz says he’ll likely wait until then to decide whether to pursue the top job at the Pensacola school.
“I am taking counsel with people I respect,” said Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who cannot run again for the Senate this year because of term limits. “But I expect I’ll make a decision by mid-August.”
University of West Florida President Judith Bense is retiring at the end of the year, and the university’s board of trustees will vote on her successor Sept. 15.
If Gaetz pursues the job, he could follow in the footsteps of another powerful political figure, former House Speaker John Thrasher, who became president of Florida State University after a contentious process in 2014.
But by waiting, Gaetz also could avoid the controversy that surrounded Thrasher’s bid for the Florida State presidency. That controversy included the Florida State search committee pausing the process to interview only Thrasher. Committee members said Thrasher’s desire for the job had kept other potential candidates from applying.
At the University of West Florida, however, where the search committee met Friday, 60 candidates have already submitted applications, with more expected — including that of Provost Martha Saunders, who told the Pensacola News Journal this month that she intended to apply.
What’s more, said former Florida House Speaker Allan Bense, a longtime ally of both Gaetz and Thrasher, the latter’s performance as Florida State president could smooth Gaetz’s path to the top job at the University of West Florida.
“With (Thrasher’s) success, I think it makes it a bit easier for Don Gaetz, if in fact the search committee and the trustees select him,” said Bense, who is Judith Bense’s brother and was chairman of Florida State’s Board of Trustees when it tapped Thrasher for the top job. “It makes his ride a little smoother than John’s was.”
University of West Florida Board of Trustees Chairman Lewis Bear, Jr., said the school has an open selection process, with emphasis placed on advancing its 10-year goal of achieving what’s known as “emerging preeminence” status within the state system. That would require hitting six of 12 benchmarks dealing with research and other aspects of faculty and student achievement. It also would garner additional state funding.
“It’s a pretty far reach for us, but the administration was willing to work towards it,” Bear said. “So I think that anybody who applies for this position needs to understand that we’re very serious about changing our — what’s considered a small-town university — into a major university in the state of Florida.”
Given that Gaetz authored the “emerging preeminence” legislation that passed in 2016, “he probably has a better understanding of what that means in Florida” than an out-of-state candidate, Bear said. “But creating the law that establishes something does not, I don’t think, give you a leg up in meeting the challenge.”
Gaetz — who as Senate president appointed Bear to the Enterprise Florida board of directors in 2013 — said it’s up to the university to decide “whether they need to continue with an inside focus and an inside candidate or whether they need to broaden the leadership base.”
He acknowledged he did not have experience in higher education but added that he went into other jobs in the past without experience in the fields. That included his former role as superintendent of the Okaloosa County schools.
“I am sort of the quintessential non-traditional candidate for every job I’ve ever had,” he said. “What I’ve tried to do is build teams and manage teams that could exceed expectations.”
Allan Bense also pointed out — as have members of the search committee — that Gaetz would likely find a ready ear at the state Capitol.
As to the question of hiring another powerful politician to steer a state university, Jennifer Proffitt, president of the United Faculty of Florida, said the union simply wanted the process to be open and transparent.
“My concern during the whole FSU search process — and what I said in front of the board (of trustees) many times — was that the search was not open and transparent,” said Proffitt, who was president of the union’s Florida State chapter when Thrasher was selected. “I think that is critical. … Higher education folks care about process.”
Bense, who said the Florida State search committee ultimately heard many hours of public testimony, agreed.
“If I were the (UWF) selection committee, I’d keep my eyes wide open and take a look at all of the applicants — all of them,” he said.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Not Exactly A ‘Conventional Convention’
July 23, 2016
It wasn’t exactly a scripted lovefest. Unless the scripting was done by the folks who put on professional wrestling matches.
The Republican National Convention this week offered drama, shouting, villains and even a little suspected skullduggery. But in the end, Donald Trump was still standing.
Now, Trump faces the challenge of pulling together enough voters to wrest Florida and other critical states away from Democrat Hillary Clinton — who, it almost goes without saying, was the villain of all villains during the convention in Cleveland.
If there is anything that unites Republicans this year, it is a desire to keep Clinton out of the White House.
“There’s only two people on the ballot: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. … The party needs to unify. Everybody needs to support Donald Trump, and we need to have a big win in November,” Scott told reporters in Cleveland.
But Clinton isn’t backing away from the fight. As Democrats prepare to hold their convention next week in Philadelphia, Clinton traveled Friday to Orlando and Tampa to try to rally support in Florida’s crucial “I-4 corridor.”
Just moments after taking the stage for a rally in Tampa, she drew laughter and cheers when she noted all the attention she got during the GOP convention.
“It was kind of perversely flattering,” she quipped.
CRUZ MISSILE
The Trump campaign has roiled Republican politics for the past year. Some GOP leaders, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, couldn’t bring themselves to go to Cleveland and support the billionaire businessman. Of course, it didn’t help that Trump demolished Bush and the rest of the field in the presidential primaries.
But any hopes that the convention would go smoothly didn’t last long.
On Monday afternoon, the first day of the gathering, the question of whether the convention would approve rules on a voice vote or through a roll call vote — the outcome was not really in doubt — led to a boisterous scene on the floor. Delegates traded chants over the fight, and the convention essentially ground to a standstill at one point for 10 minutes.
The highlight of the first day for Trump’s campaign seemed to be a speech by his wife, Melania, meant to highlight the softer side of Trump. But within hours, allegations were bubbling up that portions of the speech appeared to have been lifted from a similar convention address by First Lady Michelle Obama.
As might be expected, Democratic leaders were gleeful.
“Day 1 of the Republican convention was a mess on so many levels,” said Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman. “We heard a lot of anger, a lot of yelling, but no substance — just empty rhetoric and divisive language.”
GOP leaders tried to brush off the initial problems. Asked Tuesday about the situation, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam reacted with exasperation.
“You guys can’t have it both ways,” he told reporters. “You know, you bemoan the sterile, scripted conventions and then you get a very unscripted moment yesterday, and you’re complaining about that. This is anything but a conventional convention.”
The idea of a conventional convention, however, largely evaporated Wednesday night when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — another of Trump’s vanquished primary opponents — refused to explicitly endorse the GOP nominee during a prime-time speech. Cruz’s move drew heavy booing from the convention floor and led to him being vilified by many delegates.
Other Republican candidates who lost to Trump, including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, backed the nominee during convention speeches.
“There was a sharp contrast between our senator from the great state of Florida, Marco Rubio, and the comments made by the senator from Texas,” Florida GOP Chairman Blaise Ingoglia said Thursday.
Ingoglia, who is also a state House member from Spring Hill, said Cruz’s comments were “unfortunate” and suggested the implied snub of Trump and the reaction to it might have been what Cruz had in mind.
“I don’t know if that was intended,” Ingoglia said. “But if that was what was intended, I would say that it was extremely unstatesmanlike.”
FLORIDA IN FOCUS
Clinton’s trip Friday to Orlando and Tampa reinforced Florida’s critical role in the November election. It was her chance to quickly fire back after the GOP convention and to try to gain momentum before the Democratic convention.
But Trump enjoys enthusiastic backing from Scott and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, both of whom received speaking slots Wednesday night at the convention. At least in part, they followed Trump’s line of attack against Clinton and President Barack Obama.
Scott, for example, cast in stark terms the stakes of the choice between Trump and Clinton.
“But this election is not actually about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton,” he said. “In fact, it’s not the election of you or me. This election is about the very survival of the American Dream.”
Bondi, in part, touched on the future of the U.S. Supreme Court, something aimed at rallying social conservatives behind Trump. The next president could fill a seat left vacant by the death of conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia and likely will replace some other current justices on the court.
“Hillary will stack the Supreme Court with liberal justices who will allow government to continue its rampage against our individual rights, with utter contempt for our Second Amendment,” Bondi said. “I know Donald, and I am proud to know Donald. He will appoint conservative justices who will defend rather than rewrite our Constitution.”
Not all of the Florida politicking at the convention, however, involved Trump’s bid for the White House. Speculation also swirled about the futures of other Florida political figures such as Putnam, who is widely expected to run for governor in 2018.
Former Republican Congressman Allen West addressed Putnam’s future when he stepped to the podium for the opening prayer at a delegation breakfast Tuesday. West began by talking about how Putnam got him an opportunity to speak before the U.S. House GOP caucus when West was considering a run for Congress.
“I want to tell you right now, when you decide to run for governor, I’ll be right there supporting you,” West told Putnam, setting off applause from the crowd.
Putnam, however, was hardly the only GOP official weighing his future. Scott is reportedly thinking about a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in 2018. And potential down-ballot candidates are also starting to consider what to do.
Outgoing House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said Tuesday he would make a decision “over the next several months” about what his future in public office might be — with one likely option being a run to replace Putnam as agriculture commissioner. Crisafulli comes from a family with deep roots in the state’s citrus industry.
For now, Crisafulli said he’s looking to finish his administrative duties as speaker before leaving office in November.
“I’ll have that opportunity to go home and speak more with my family about it,” he said of a future run. “There’s no secret that the commissioner of agriculture position is something that I’ve taken some interest in just because of my family background and history.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Everyone knows that we are the most important swing state in the nation. And you’re seeing that not only in the speakers that are here, the speakers that are on the main stage, but how the state of Florida is being treated.” — Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Biloxi Beats The Wahoos
July 23, 2016
The Biloxi Shuckers got the better of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos lineup Friday, allowing just two hits in a 3-2 victory over Pensacola in front of 4,612 fans at Blue Wahoos Stadium. The Shuckers snapped a five-game losing streak with the win.
The Blue Wahoos had the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning and were down by just one run with its leading home run hitter, Brandon Dixon, at the plate.
However, he whiffed, and Pensacola was unable to extend its franchise record eight walk-offs to nine in the ninth inning, going down 1-2-3.
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly said he had confidence Dixon would get a hit.
“I’ll take my chances with Dixon and the bases loaded,” Kelly said. “The eighth inning was a huge chance to win the game.”
But the best chance in the game to score for the Blue Wahoos, who earned just two hits in the game, was a missed opportunity. Dixon is now 1-7 with three strikeouts this season with the bases loaded.
Pensacola dropped to 14-14 in the second half and the first half South Division champions are 55-43 overall.
Biloxi starting lefty Wei-Chung Wang started the game by striking out the first five Blue Wahoos hitters he faced. He ended up striking out a career-high nine in 6.1 innings. He gave up just two hits and one walk and allowed one run on a solo blast by Pensacola catcher Joe Hudson.
Wang has now won three of four games against Pensacola this season. The native of Taiwan improved to 5-5 in 17 starts for the Shuckers and lowered his ERA to 3.61.
“He’s very deceptive,” Kelly said. “He changes speeds. His fastball ranges from 87-to-94 (mph). I don’t think he gets the credit for being very good. He has better stuff than people think.”
Meanwhile, Jackson Stephens, who dropped to 6-9 this year, also threw a solid start. He gave up two solo homers among seven hits allowed, walked two and struck out four in six innings pitched.
“Two solo home runs usually don’t beat you,” Kelly said.
One of those homers was by center fielder Brett Phillips, who snapped a 0-27 skid Friday, by going 3-5 with a run scored, stolen base and two RBIs. He also hit a two-out single in the seventh to drive in left fielder Johnny Davis for Biloxi’s third run of the game. The other homer was hit by second baseman Tom Belza.
“He’s a good hitter,” Kelly said about Phillips. “You’re not going to hold him down forever. He made some adjustments. He widened his stance with two strikes. Now, we have to make some adjustments to him.”
Pensacola took advantage of four walks in the eighth inning. Blue Wahoos center fielder Beau Amaral drove in the only other run on a sacrifice fly near the warning track in center field with the bases loaded that scored right fielder Jeff Gelalich and advanced the other two runners on base.
No Injuries In Molino Rollover Crash
July 22, 2016
There were no injuries in a midday single vehicle rollover accident on Highway 29 in Molino.
The driver lost control while northbound on Highway 29 just north of Barrineau Park Road and ran off the roadway into a low area filled with brush. Both people in the vehicle refused medical treatment.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Molino and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS were dispatched to the call.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
FHP Searching For Driver That Hit 15-Year Old
July 22, 2016
The Florida Highway Patrol is looking for a hit and run drive that struck a juvenile pedestrian early this morning.
Brianna Nicole Marks, 15, was crossing Pine Forest Road at Citation Drive about 4:25 a.m. when she was struck by a northbound vehicle that fled the scene. The vehicle should have extensive front end damage according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Marks was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital where she remained in critical condition. The FHP has not said why Marks was out at 4:25 a.m.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at (850) 484-5000.
Too Drunk To Run: Cantonment Man Charged With Attempted Stabbing
July 22, 2016
A Cantonment man too drunk to run from deputies is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly stealing a pack of cigarettes and trying to stab a man, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Donnie Ivory Padgett, 68, was allegedly at a house on Robinson Street when he was asked by acquaintances to leave because he began “acting crazy because he can’t handle his liquor,” an arrest report states. He then allegedly stole a pack of Newport cigarettes, pulled out a long kitchen knife and ran toward the victim in an attempt to stab him.
Responding deputies located Padgett at the intersection of Washington and Callaway streets. A deputy reported that Padgett attempted to run, but he stumbled and fell to the ground due to intoxicated state, according to the report. Deputies found the Newports, the knife and a white rock that field tested positive for cocaine on Padgett’s person.
Padgett was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, cocaine possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. He remained in the Escambia County Jail Friday morning with bond set at $31,000.