Frances Alene Wasdin
May 26, 2016
Frances Alene Wasdin, 79, of McCullough, AL, passed away May 26, 2016, in Monroeville. She was a homemaker. She was born in Atmore on September 25, 1936, to the late Levy and Bessie Walker Bryant.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth Wasdin; one brother; and three sisters.
Survivors include one son, Ricky (Deborah) Wasdin of McCullough; one daughter, Kellean (James) Stacey of Booneville, AL; seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Services will be Saturday, May 28, 2016, at 10 a.m. from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home chapel with Bro. Bobby Willis officiating.
Interment will follow in McCullough Cemetery.
Active pallbearers will be Jake Wasdin, John Ashcraft, Jessie Sanks, Chris Lambert T. J .Lambert and Pete Stacey.
Honorary pallbearers will be Benny Lassitter, James Bryant, Phillip Weaver, and Dempsey Hall.
Family will receive friends, Saturday, May 28, 2016, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home from 9 a.m. until service time at 10 a.m.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
Jessie Earnest Fillmore
May 26, 2016
Mr. Jessie Earnest Fillmore, age 85 of Brewton, passed away Thursday, May 26, 2016, at a members home. He was a native and lifelong resident of Escambia County, Alabama. Mr. Fillmore was a member of the Canaan Free Will Baptist Church. He attended Wallace School. He was a farmer and also a welder in the construction industry.
Survivors include one son, Barry (Faye) Fillmore of Brewton; one brother, Robert Fillmore of Atmore; one sister, Sang Hayles of Atmore.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Christine Fillmore and son, Kenny Fillmore.
Visitation will be held Saturday, May 28, 2016, from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home
Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, May 28, 2016, at 3 p.m. at Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Waylon Stuckey officiating.
Interment will follow in Canaan Cemetery in Brewton.
Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home is directing.
Sharon Delane White Freeman
May 26, 2016
Mrs. Sharon Delane White Freeman, age 54, of Forest Hill Road Flomato, passed away Wednesday May 25, 2016, at her residence after a brief illness. She was a native and life long resident of Escambia County, Alabama. Mrs. Freeman was a member of the Flomaton Pentecostal Church. She was a 1980 graduate of Flomaton High School, and attended Jefferson Davis Community College. She was also a U.S. National Gaurd Veteran. She was a former insurance agent with Larry White Insurance and Liberty National Life Insurance Company and was a homemaker.
Survivors include her father, Sam (Christine) White of Flomaton; husband, Ronald Freeman of Flomaton; one son, Ron Freeman of Flomaton; three daughters, Jennifer Reaves of Crestview, Marcia Lynn Freeman of Atmore and Kimberly Nicole Hamilton of Flomaton; two brothers, Sammy Dewayne White and Shannon Dale White, both of Flomaton; one sister, Sherry Caraway of Atmore; 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Sunday, May 29, 2016, from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. at the Flomaton Pentecostal Church in Flomaton.
Funeral services will be held Sunday, May 29, 2016 at 3 p.m. at the Flomaton Pentecostal Church with Rev. Al Bethea and Rev. Rick Freeman officiating.
Interment will follow in Rock Cemetery in Flomaton.
Williams Memorial Chapel Funeral Home of Brewton is directing.
Century Man Facing Additional Charges For Stealing Copper Wire From Former School
May 25, 2016
A Century man arrested in late April for stealing heavy duty copper wiring from the former Century High School has been arrested again on similar additional crimes.
Nicholas Depue, 33, was arrested for burglary and grand theft, in addition to previous charges of burglary of an unoccupied structure and two counts of grand theft. He remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $50,000.
The site foreman responsible for the demolition of the old Century High School told investigators that 100 pounds of salvage copper wire was missing from inside one of the campus buildings.
Upon contacting Advance Environmental Recycling in Flomaton, Escambia County (FL) Sheriff’s investigators found that Depue had alleged sold the stolen wire for scrap.
Depue was previously arrested after he allegedly removed a wood covering over a window and broke the window to enter the Old Century High School. Inside the building he took about 28 pieces of heavy duty copper wiring about 6-8 feet in length valued at about $600. The wiring was then hid in bushes about 1,000 feet from the school.
When investigators contacted Depue at his Front Street home, he admitted to the theft and showed deputies where the wire was located, an arrest report states. The wire was returned to the demolition company that is removing the school.
Depue is also accused of stealing a $4,000 Evinrude boat motor from a home on North Century Boulevard. The motor was attached to a 16-foot aluminum boat and was parked in the rear area of a yard. Depue then allegedly sold the boat motor to a Flomaton man for $800. The stolen boat motor was recovered.
Sunny Skies Continue
May 25, 2016
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 86. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 63. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night: Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 66. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 86. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. East wind around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly clear, with a low around 69.
Memorial Day: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90.
Escambia School Media Centers Honored For Makerspaces In Innovation Centers
May 25, 2016
As part of the Escambia County School Superintendent’s Vision 2020 plan, school district library media specialists were challenged last summer to transition their school’s libraries into Innovation Centers and to rethink floor plans and material usage to create Makerspaces.
“It was exciting to see so many schools’ Innovation Center Specialists look for ways to reinvent their space and shift their mind sets,” said Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. “Spaces that were previously used for storage or teacher workrooms were cleared out and cleaned to become student Makerspaces. Students had a place to be creative and keep their projects to finish on another day.”
A rubric was created to track each Innovation Center’s progress with implementing Makerspaces. Library media specialists and principals completed the rubrics and provided documentation of their efforts. The rubrics and documentation were reviewed by a committee and eleven schools are being honored as being “exemplary” in their design and implementation of the Makerspace opportunities in their Innovation Centers. The Innovation Specialists at these schools are being awarded $250 from the Superintendent’s Circle fund to support the Makerspaces in their schools and further develop ideas and creativity.
Exemplary schools honored for their Makerspaces and Innovation Centers were:
· Ensley Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Myra Palmer)
· Ferry Pass Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Valerie Kaye)
· Northview High (Library Media Specialist, Alison Robinson)
· Oakcrest Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Michelle Lingo)
· Pine Meadow Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Debby Dorough)
· Ransom Middle (Library Media Specialist, Crystal Roberts)
· Tate High (Library Media Specialist, Mitzi Allen)
· Washington High (Library Media Specialist, Alisha Wilson)
· Weis Elementary (Library Media Specialist, Jennifer Kemp)
· West Florida High (Library Media Specialist, Linda Quinn)
· Woodham Middle (Library Media Specialist, Hazel McCormack)
Innovation Center Specialists have also worked hard this year to find ways to fund specific ideas. Many received grants from the Escambia Public Schools Foundation. Twelve schools each received part of a $28,000 grant from the Panhandle Public Access Network that allowed them to purchase some big ticket items.
“Some used grant money to buy items like Minecraft, small robots, circuits, and even 3D printers,” added Sheila Brandt, ECSD’s Media Services Coordinator. “We also saw amazing examples of recycling. Even the packing material that came in the boxes with the new Chromebooks were repurposed in creative ways, such as a model of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater created with the material at Washington High School.”
“As librarians, none of us ever want to see kids stop checking out books. This transformation has not meant that, in fact some schools saw an increase in their checkout rate,” Brandt added. “Instead, we are excited to see increased levels of energy and excitement when students come in to be creative, and they find a book for inspiration, or vice versa.”
“One rubric contained a comment from a high school Innovation Center Specialist that said that at first this seemed overwhelming,” added Thomas. “But now, she said she knows this was the most positive thing she could have done in her library for their students. It is my pleasure to present funds to these schools to help keep the innovations coming.”
Spring Football: Northview Downs Jay (With Gallery)
May 25, 2016
The Northview Chiefs defeated the Jay Royals Tuesday night in spring football action.
In a junior varsity quarter, Northview topped Jay 7-0. In a full varsity scrimmage, Northview defeated Jay 34-0.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Sentenced On Drug, Money Laundering Charges
May 25, 2016
An Escambia County man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court on drug related offenses.
Kenneth Grandison, 42, was sentenced today to nine years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to utilize a telephone facility to further a drug trafficking offense. The sentence was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
In court, Grandison admitted that, between January 2012 and January 2016, he received illegal drugs from California, including marijuana and codeine, for further distribution in Florida. An investigation identified dozens of Bank of America and Wells Fargo accounts that Grandison used to launder the drug trafficking proceeds. In total, the Bank of America accounts received more than 200 cash deposits, and the Wells Fargo accounts received more than 600 cash deposits. This investigation involved the laundering of between $1.5 and $3.5 million.
The case resulted from an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Pensacola Police Department, and the Gulf Breeze Police Department.
Tate High School Orchestra Makes History At The State Level
May 25, 2016
The Tate High School Orchestra recently made history at the state level.
Tate High School’s orchestra performed The Odyssey by Soon Hee Newbold, Legends by Lorris Chobanian, and Odessa by David Bobrowitz.
“Our music selections really inspired our hard work. The story of Odysseus is musically portrayed in The Odyssey. I was thrilled to discover that a lot of our orchestra members are mythology buffs, who shared with us the details of Odysseus’s long and arduous journey,” said Catherine McConnell, Tate High’s orchestra instructor.
“This background knowledge made the technical details a lot more fun to master: the 16th note chromatic runs that portrayed stormy winds, the col legno bowing (striking the string with the stick of the bow) that built up ominous suspense, and muted sections that made his heartbreaking journey feel very personal.”
Tate musicians also performed three movements of Legends: “Mystic Breeze,” “Leprechauns,” and “The Wishing Well,” a unique piece with moments of intense sadness, contrasted sharply by the fast, amazing pizzicato movement in “Leprechauns,” that makes the fictitious creatures come alive.
Their final piece Odessa, portrayed the bustling port city in Ukraine on the Black Sea.
“Dr. Leonid Yanovskiy, the concert master of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra coached the first violins. He shared with all of us his first-hand knowledge that Odessa is a fast-paced, metropolitan city much like New York City,” added McConnell. “That helped us understand and communicate the lively, energetic music of this exciting piece.”
The months of hard work and the coaching paid off for the orchestra’s members. Fifty-one high school orchestras from across the state competed, and Tate High was one of only nine orchestras who received straight Superior ratings from the judges.
“We could not have done it alone! A lot of work goes into solidifying the musical details of these pieces. The Tate Orchestra has benefited from our partnership with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, which is an educational outreach program that the PSO established with my orchestra programs this year, both at Ransom Middle and Tate High,” McConnell said.
The musicians from the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra worked closely with McCaonnell to coach the students in each section of the orchestra, helped them fine tune their musicianship, and gave the students a greater appreciation for the professional musicians in our community.
“Our success at State truly reflects the culmination of time, talent, and financial support from our dedicated Tate High Orchestra students and families, our school district, and our community,” McConnell said.
Driver Flees Cottage Hill Wreck
May 25, 2016
A driver fled the scene of an accident Tuesday evening in Cottage Hill. Just before 6:30 p.m., the driver lost control on Williams Ditch Road at Wishbone Road and ran into a wooded area. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
