Victim Trapped In Two Vehicle Crash
December 2, 2016
One person was injured in a two vehicle crash Thursday night on Klondike Road at Wilde Lake Boulevard. Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free the victim from their pickup truck. Their condition was not available. Further details have not been released as the Florida Highway Patrol continues their investigation. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Molino Christmas Parade Is Saturday; Still Time To Enter
December 2, 2016
The 14th Annual Molino Christmas Parade is set for Saturday at 11 a.m.
The parade route starts at the west end of Crabtree Church Road and ends and the Molino Ballpark were Santa ill be waiting to visit with all the good little boys and girls.
To participate in the parade, preregister at Jimmy’s Grill or register the day of the parade. Registration fees are $30 for floats; $20 for vehicles, motorcycles, tractors or golf carts; and $10 each for horses. No 4-wheelers or go-carts. All proceeds go directly back to the community to help children in need.
For more information, contact René at (850) 255-3330 or Jimmy’s Grill at (850) 754-0041. Donations such as toys and non-perishable foot items can be dropped off at Jimmy’s Grill.
The rain date will be Sunday, December 4 at 2:30 p.m.
Pictured: The 2015 Molino Christmas Parade. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Thelma Lee Craddock
December 2, 2016
Thelma Lee Craddock, 90 of Atmore, AL, passed away Tuesday, November 29, 2016, in Atmore, AL. She was employed by Vanity Fair Mills as a trainer. She was born in Canoe, AL on February 2, 1926, to the late William Wesley and Elna Bristow Lee. She was a Member of Presley Street Baptist Church.
She is preceded in death by husbands Thomas “Tom” Turk and Jack C. Craddock; grandson, Ryan Jones; and son-in-law, Chuck Jones.
Survivors include one son, William Thomas “Tommy” (Becky) Turk of Robertsdale, AL; two daughters, Annette Jones of Stockton, AL and Carolyn (Mike) Fisher of Elberta, AL; 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Services were held Thursday, December 1, 2016, from the Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Mike Grindle officiating.
Interment was in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Active pallbearers were Jim Harrison, Glendon Harrison, Dustin Harrison, Matthew Ryan and John Knight.
Honorary pallbearers were Charlotte Smith, Christie Singleton, Marsha Green, Patty Booth, and staff at The Meadows.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
Lester Stokes
December 2, 2016
Mr. Lester Stokes, 97, passed away on Wednesday, November 30, 2016, in Jay, Florida.
Mr. Stokes was a native of Chancellor, AL and a resident of Jay for the past 90 years. He was in the bridge club.
He is preceded in death by his step-daughter, Gina Bethea; parents, Henry and Evie Stokes; and wife, Bessie Stokes.
He is survived by his wife, Grace Stokes of Jay, FL; one step-daughter, Denise (Matthew) Martin of Jay, FL; one step-son, Darrell (Courtney) Campbell of Jay, FL and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and cousins.
Funeral services were held Sunday, December 4, 2016, at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with the Mr. Richard Ash officiating.
Burial was at the Cora Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be his grandsons.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
Cantonment Woman Stabbed, Boyfriend Arrested
December 1, 2016
A woman is recovering after being stabbed by her boyfriend Thursday morning in Cantonment.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Andrew Hobbs said a woman’s boyfriend took her car and then returned to her home on Jonah Avenue. As deputies were responding to her call about a disturbance about 9:30, they pulled up to hear the woman screaming that she was being stabbed.
Deputies made entry into the home and took 28-year old Anthony Vincent McCormick of Cantonment into custody. He is s being held without bond in the Escambia County Jail on a felony charge of aggravated battery using a deadly weapon.
Hobbs said the victim suffered multiple cuts from a knife, which was recovered at the scene. She was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with injuries that were no considered to be life threatening.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Tornado Damage Assistance Application Deadline One Month Away
December 1, 2016
Time is running out to apply for funding from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership, or SHIP, program to assist homeowners needing repair or replacement housing assistance as a result of the February tornadoes in Escambia County. Applications must be approved prior to December 31, 2016, so applicants are encouraged to contact the appropriate agency as soon as possible.
Potential applicants residing in unincorporated Escambia County, including the town of Century, should contact the Escambia County Neighborhood Enterprise Division at 850-595-3011, and those residing in the city of Pensacola limits should contact the City of Pensacola Housing Division at 850-858-0306.
Income limits apply, and the property must have been owner occupied at the time of the storm and current on property taxes to receive assistance.
Pictured: Tornado damage in Century. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Sunny, Cooler Weather
December 1, 2016
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 64. North wind around 5 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 36. North wind around 5 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 61. East wind around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 53. East wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Sunday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 68. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 52. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming west after midnight.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67.
Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 70.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 72.
Two Arrested In Motel Room With Drugs
December 1, 2016
A Cantonment woman is one of two people facing charges after deputies allegedly found a trafficking quantity of drugs in her Pensacola motel room.
Kacie Nicole Cobb, 26, was charged with first degree felony methamphetamine trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia. A second person occupying the room at the Red Roof Inn on Plantation Road was also charged. Dalton Ray Heckman, 25, was charged with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia. Two other individuals in the room were not immediately charged with any crime.
Inside the room, deputies reported finding 33 grams of methamphetamine, hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia, a small quantity of heroin, a 12 gauge short barrel shotgun, a loaded Colt 45 caliber handgun, a Ruger 45 caliber revolver, and additional ammunition.
Cobb remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $101,000. Heckman remains jailed without bond due to an outstanding probation violation charge.
Florida Supreme Court To Address Malpractice Issue In Escambia County Case
December 1, 2016
More than three years after a legislative battle about the issue, the Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next week about a medical-malpractice law that spurred debate over access to health information and patients’ privacy rights.
Justices will hear arguments December 8 in an Escambia County case that challenges the constitutionality of the 2013 law.
The law has been controversial, at least in part, because it opened the door to what are known as “ex parte communications” in malpractice cases. In ex parte communications, for example, defense attorneys representing doctors accused of malpractice could get personal health information about the patients involved in the cases. That information could come from other doctors who treated the patients, and disclosure could occur without the patients’ attorneys being present.
Critics of the law, such as plaintiffs’ attorneys, argue the law violates patients’ privacy rights. But supporters of the law contended during the 2013 debate that its passage was a fairness issue because ex parte communications would give defense attorneys access to information that plaintiffs’ attorneys already could review.
The 1st District Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the law in the Escambia County case, finding that it did not violate privacy rights. That spurred an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Hurricane Season Ends With First Florida Strikes In Over 10 Years
December 1, 2016
Florida ended its 2016 hurricane season Wednesday, marking the first time in more than a decade that the Sunshine State was hit by a hurricane.
When Hurricane Hermine came on shore near St. Marks, a coastal community south of Tallahassee, in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, it ended a record string of 3,966 days, or 10.87 years, without a hurricane making landfall in the state most prone to being hit by tropical storms, according to a new analysis by Colorado State University.
Prior to Hermine, a Category 1 storm, Florida was last hit by Hurricane Wilma, a 120-mph, Category 3 storm, which struck Southwest Florida on Oct. 24, 2005.
Florida also came close this year to a direct hit by a major hurricane, as Hurricane Matthew, which was the first Category 5 storm in the Atlantic basin since 2007, came within 50 miles of Florida’s East Coast, raking the state Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 before making landfall Oct. 8 in South Carolina as a 75 mph Category 1 hurricane.
Matthew’s near miss extended the United States’ streak of avoiding a landfall by a major hurricane, defined as a Category 3 storm with winds of 111 mph or higher, for 11 consecutive years, the longest streak based on records dating to 1851, according to Philip Klotzbach, the Colorado State University researcher who wrote the analysis. The last major landfall was with Wilma in 2005.
Although Matthew was a “close call” for Florida, the powerful storm caused extensive damage in coastal counties including Brevard, Volusia, St. Johns, Flagler and Duval. It knocked electrical power out for more than 1 million Florida homes and businesses.
Gov. Rick Scott, who faced his first hurricanes since taking office in 2011, said several lessons were learned from the storms. From Hermine, which plowed through Tallahassee and blacked out 80 percent of the electric power in the state capital, Scott said it underscored the need to better coordinate utility resources to restore power.
From Hurricane Matthew, which forced a number of counties to close schools for several days, Scott said the state “can work better at getting our schools opened faster.”
In terms of storm damage, the 2016 hurricane season fell far short of some of Florida’s worst seasons, including 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, which caused an estimated $24 billion in insured damages in Florida and Louisiana, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
With data reflected through October, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said Hermine resulted in $95 million in property-damage claims, with Leon County accounting for about 3,500 of the 18,222 claims.
Hurricane Matthew has resulted in more than 100,000 property-damage claims, representing $606 million in value. Volusia, Duval, Brevard, St. Johns and Flagler counties represented more than 70 percent of those claims.
Updated damage claim reports will be filed in December, according to state insurance regulators.
Citizens Property Insurance, the state-backed insurer, said it has paid out $10.7 million in claims related to Hermine and Matthew, with 84 percent of the 4,000 claims closed.
The impact was relatively light for the insurer, which has more than 472,000 policies representing $128 billion in exposure. But Barry Gilway, the Citizens president and CEO, said the 2016 storm season tested the insurer’s ability to handle hurricane claims.
“We clearly showed that Citizens is ready as we received excellent feedback for our claims handling from our customers,” Gilway said. “That said, we will continue to look for ways to improve.”
In a new analysis of the national property-insurance industry, Fitch Ratings said damage from Matthew, which also impacted other states, including Georgia and South Carolina, is likely to fall at the “low end” of estimates in the range of $2 billion to $8 billion.
The six-month hurricane season was in line with an August estimate from Colorado State University, which had predicted 15 named storms in the Atlantic basin. There were 15 storms, although the three major hurricanes and seven overall hurricanes each exceeded the estimate by one storm each.
The season began with Hurricane Alex, a rare powerful January storm that remained far out in the Atlantic. The season ended with Hurricane Otto, the latest calendar year Atlantic hurricane on record to make landfall. It hit southern Nicaragua as a Category 2 storm last Thursday.
by Lloyd Dunkelberger for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pictured: Hurricane Matthew.