GOP, Dems Pick Party Chiefs
January 15, 2017
Florida’s Republican and Democratic parties picked new leaders on on Saturday.
Ingoglia Wins Second Term As State GOP Chair
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Following the state GOP’s strong performance in the November elections, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Blaise Ingoglia overwhelmingly won a second term Saturday at the party’s annual meeting.
In a vote of the party’s executive committee, Ingoglia defeated his only competitor by a 2-to-1 margin, taking 152 votes to 76 for Christian Ziegler, the Republican state committeeman for Sarasota County.
Following a heated race, Ingoglia urged Republicans to put any divisions behind them, as elections for governor, the state Cabinet and U.S. Senate loom in 2018.
“We need to come together as a party, starting right now,” he said. “We cannot afford to lose a millisecond fighting amongst ourselves.”
Ingoglia was buoyed by the GOP’s showing in November, when President-elect Donald Trump carried the state and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio easily won re-election. At the same time, Democrats made only minimal gains in the state Legislature and congressional delegation, despite favorable district maps.
But the fall results did not necessarily indicate the incumbent was a shoo-in — Ingoglia won his first term in 2015 by ousting then-Chairwoman Leslie Dougher despite swing GOP victories the year before.
Ingoglia, who is also a state representative from Spring Hill, had also weathered a stormy beginning to his tenure. Senate Republicans moved to separate their campaign operations from the party following Ingoglia’s election. The relationship between the party and Gov. Rick Scott, who backed Dougher in 2015, is somewhere between icy and nonexistent.
The wedge between Scott and the party was one of the top arguments for Ziegler’s supporters.
“Not only does Christian enjoy an excellent relationship with the No. 1 elected official of these great United States, he enjoys a strong relationship with the No. 1 elected official of the great state of Florida, our governor, Rick Scott,” said Joe Budd, the state committeeman from Palm Beach County.
Ingoglia’s backers continued to point to the results in November, though. Trump became the first Republican presidential nominee to carry the state since 2004, and a potential wave against the GOP never materialized.
Rubio, who seconded Ingoglia’s nomination, said the chairman was the best choice to lead the party forward facing midterms in 2018 and as the GOP starts to lay the groundwork for Trump’s re-election bid in 2020.
“It’s hard to think about in those terms, because we just got out of an election,” Rubio said. “But (the) re-election’s already started. And it needs to start with a strong Republican Party of Florida.”
In his remarks to the executive committee, Ziegler said the party was helped last year by an influx of resources from the Republican National Committee, the energy generated by Trump’s larger-than-life personality and Rubio’s organization.
“But to win in 2018, we will be on our own,” he said.
Ziegler also promised to be “a full-time chairman” — an implicit shot at Ingoglia’s role in the Legislature.
Ingoglia took shots of his own, seeming to bristle at Ziegler’s attempt to claim the mantle of the grass-roots candidate for the position. The chairman recalled traveling to county GOP fundraising dinners across the state.
“‘Grass roots’ is not a talking point. It’s a state of mind,” Ingoglia said. “It’s a commitment that lasts for years, not weeks, and certainly not for a campaign.”
Florida Democrats Pick Prominent Fundraiser As New Party Boss
by Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida
Florida Democrats on Saturday picked a prominent fundraiser from Miami-Dade County to lead their party for the next four years, turning aside four other challengers.
Despite more than a month of political drama leading up to the Democrats’ state executive committee meeting, Stephen Bittel easily won the election, collecting 55 percent of the votes on the first ballot.
Alan Clendenin of Hillsborough County finished a distant second, followed by former state Sen. Dwight Bullard of Miami-Dade County, Lisa King of Jacksonville and Leah Carius of Osceola County.
Bittel, a wealthy real estate developer from Coconut Grove, was the favorite of the party establishment, drawing support from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and other influential party leaders. Bittel, 60, said the vigorous fight to succeed Allison Tant, who has led the party through the last two election cycles, was a positive sign for the party.
“Contentious elections are reflective that there are Democrats all over Florida that are passionate, committed to coming together, moving forward together and starting to win elections,” Bittel said. “Contentious is good. It means that we care.”
Talking to reporters after his election, Bittel said he has ambitious plans for a party that has won two out of the last three presidential races but has lost virtually every other statewide race in recent years.
“We are going to grow this party to a size and strength that has never been seen before,” he said.
He promised an “enormous” staff expansion, more training for local Democratic organizations and the recruitment of candidates at every level, including city, school board and sheriff’s races.
“We have had an under-resourced operation in Florida for a long time,” Bittel said. “We will build a different kind of party and we will change things.”
He also said he will emphasize voter registration in a state where Democrats hold a narrow lead over Republicans and numbers of voters with no party affiliation continue to swell.
“We want a year-round voter registration drive, every day, every month and all year,” Bittel said.
But Bittel’s first task will be mending rifts among party factions and activists who are still dealing with the aftershocks of Hillary Clinton’s loss and bitterness over the party’s role in the defeat of Bernie Sanders in the presidential primary.
“I’ll be honest. We have a fractured party,” said Bullard, who lost a Miami-Dade committeeman race to Bittel last month. After the loss, Bullard moved to Gadsden County to remain a candidate for the party chairman.
Bullard said party leaders need to be make meaningful reforms to unite Democrats.
“There has be some concessions made, some recognition of not doing the same thing over and over again,” Bullard said. “It’s going to be up to leadership to prove otherwise and do the necessary outreach to the Bernie folks, to millennials, to ethnic communities to make them part of this thing.”
As a sign of that outreach, Democrats on Saturday did elect Bullard as one of Florida’s national committeemen, a prominent party post.
Rep. Joe Geller, D-Aventura, who supported Bittel, said the new chairman will be a major asset for the party.
“He brings first and foremost heart, dedication, commitment to progressive causes, organizational skills and vision,” Geller said. “I won’t dismiss the financial resources he can bring. But it’s about sixth on my list.”
Geller said Democrats, who have run well in major urban areas like Miami-Dade, have to develop a statewide strategy.
“Democrats are like French generals. We’re always fighting the last war: I-4, I-4. Man, we’re getting killed on I-10,” he said. “We don’t have to win all those places. But we need to get our votes in all those places.”
The political drama in the leadership race continued on Saturday when Clendenin, who had been ruled ineligible by a party subcommittee on Friday, was reinstated by a vote of the executive committee on Saturday.
Following Bittel’s election, Clendenin said he is fearful the party will not learn lessons from its defeats in the last two election cycles.
“Hopefully as we move forward and Mr. Bittel puts together an organization. It will look dramatically different than what we have,” Clendenin said. “Let’s see what he does.”
Hutchinson Named FWC’s Officer Of The Year
January 14, 2017
He’s rescued a first-time hunter lost at night in the treacherous Escambia River swamp, caught people illegally night hunting and trespassing, discovered a hidden alligator snapping turtle and even apprehended one of his area’s most wanted methamphetamine distributors. He’s also developed an officer mentoring program and performed countless outreach hours to area youth and civic organizations. And all of that was just in 2016.
For his exceptional performance, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has named Officer Jason Hutchinson its 2017 Officer of the Year. Throughout 2017, Hutchinson will represent the FWC at various events.
“I’m truly humbled by this honor. It’s a real blessing to be able to do what I love with the FWC and my fellow officers,” said Hutchinson.
“Officer Hutchinson’s dedication to resource issues and public safety make him an ideal FWC officer,” said Col. Curtis Brown, the FWC’s Division of Law Enforcement director. “He has made a difference in his patrol area and we’re proud to have him representing the FWC.”
Originally from Santa Rosa County, part of his current patrol area, Hutchinson uses his local knowledge to protect the resources and people in his community. He makes a positive impact both on- and off-duty, and his actions set an example that reaches statewide.
Hutchinson began his career at the Florida Department of Corrections with the ultimate goal of eventually becoming a sworn officer for the FWC, which he achieved in 2012. Hutchinson’s varied work experience provides him with a wide-ranging experience set to draw from, and affords him the unique ability to identify with a number of officers from other agencies with different backgrounds. He has used that ability to the benefit of Floridians multiple times, including when he was instrumental in the apprehension of one of Santa Rosa County’s most notorious methamphetamine cooks. While working a night-hunting detail, he apprehended a subject in the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area who resisted arrest. Experience and instinct led him to contact the Santa Rosa County Narcotics Unit, which obtained a warrant and found seven active meth labs, meth and other paraphernalia in the suspect’s vehicle. Trafficking and manufacturing charges took the subject off the streets and placed him in prison.
Public outreach is another category in which Officer Hutchinson excels. During the past year, he has taught hunter education classes, conducted outreach events at schools and festivals, and has participated in the Blackwater Family Hunt and the Hutton Unit Mobility-impaired Hunts. During these events, Hutchinson has been an integral part of the effort to provide participants with the assistance and support they need to ensure a memorable experience in the outdoors.
Hutchinson created a program in conjunction with the local courts in which juvenile violators speak to their peers during hunter education classes. This counts toward their community service hours, has an impact on youth and keeps the focus of their community service on resource conservation.
“We’re fortunate to have Officer Hutchinson on our team,” Brown said. “The whole state of Florida is fortunate to have him. He not only provides exceptional service on a daily basis, but he sets an example for others as well.”
Hutchinson and his wife Heather, along with their son Jake and daughter Haylee, live in northern Santa Rosa County.
NorthEscambia.com and submitted photos, click to enlarge.
Sunny And Warm, Near 80 This Weekend
January 14, 2017
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
Tonight: Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 51. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 77. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
M.L.King Day: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74.
Thursday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74.
Man Gets 20 Years For Shooting Over Comments About His Saggy Pants
January 14, 2017
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to state prison after another man commented about his saggy pants.
Waymon Jamontez Brazile was sentenced by Circuit Judge Jennie Kinsey to 20 years for aggravated assault with a firearm after he was convicted by an Escambia County jury.
On September 4, 2015, the victim told Brazile to pull up his pants at a convenience store. After a brief argument, the victim left the store on foot. Brazile then followed the victim from the store with a firearm. After a struggle, Brazile shot the victim in the leg and fled the scene, according to prosecutors.
Conrad Graduates From Basic Military Training
January 14, 2017
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Ryan M. Conrad graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Conrad is the son of Angela K. Hattaway of Molino, Fla., and Richard G. Conrad Jr. of Milton, Fla., and father of Ethan.
He is a 2007 graduate of Pensacola Junoir College, Pensacola, Fla. He earned an associate degree in 2010 from Pensacola State College, Pensacola, Fla.
Escambia Man Gets Three Years In Federal ISIS Investigation
January 14, 2017
An Escambia county man is headed to prison for lying about his support of ISIS.
Robert Blake Jackson, 31, of Pensacola, was sentenced to three years in federal prison Friday for making materially false statements in a federal investigation.
In October 2014, Jackson’s Facebook profile contained comments, photos, and videos expressing support for extremist terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). This included graphic ISIL videos promoting the execution of those who oppose ISIL. In January 2015, a Pensacola telemarketing corporation reported they had recently fired Jackson for viewing ISIL related and other terrorist related websites and videos on his work computer.
In June 2015, during an interview with the FBI, Jackson stated that he never posted any pro-ISIL or violent content, and that he only used the internet at work to search news sites. Upon his arrest in July 2016, Jackson was in possession of an electronic tablet that contained the most recent addition of Dabiq, an ISIL recruitment magazine, as well as audio lectures of Anwar al-Awalki. At his plea hearing on September 23, 2016, Jackson admitted that the statements he made to federal agents were false.
“Our law enforcement agencies work around the clock to keep us safe,” said U.S. Attorney Canova. “The United States Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute those who provide false statements to federal agents, because false statements divert precious time and resources from the furtherance of important criminal investigations.”
Jay Cheerleaders Perform During Sugar Bowl Halftime
January 14, 2017
The Jay High School cheerleaders were among 10 squads from across the country that performed during the halftime of the recent Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The squad, coaches, and parents spent five days and four nights in the city practicing for the half time performance, participating in the Sugar Bowl parade, touring the Mardi Gras World, and enjoying a Cajun Barn Dance.
Squad members are seniors Savannah Seevers, Madelyn Godwin, Rebecca Boutwell, Courtney Walther, Marisa Kirkland, and Meghon Mayo; juniors Jescie Roberts, Morgan Floyd; sophomores Carsen Arrant, Maci Holt, Jaeci Cooley; freshmen Catrina Crandall and Carly Willis. Coaches Junia Fischer, Heather Willis and Assistant Principal Carlise Griffin also attended.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Getting Ready For The Season
January 14, 2017
On Monday night in Tampa, the Clemson Tigers dethroned the Alabama Crimson Tide in college football’s national championship game. The next few days in Tallahassee proved that there’s still a long way to go before we know who will come out on top in a different kind of season: the 2017 legislative session.
But the jockeying for position, which had died down a little bit over the holidays, returned to the spotlight.
The battle over business incentives seems no closer to being resolved than it did weeks ago. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and his allies are still against them. Gov. Rick Scott and many of his supporters are still for them. Into that fight stepped Ken Lawson, a Tallahassee insider and now the newly appointed head of the state’s tourism booster.
Leaders also laid out their ideas on higher education. Scott’s focus was on holding down fees in addition to an expansion of Bright Futures. Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, wants more resources for universities and a slate of other changes in addition to the Bright Futures measure.
Thrown on top of all of that: gambling, gun bills, testing, ride-sharing and all manner of issues sure to draw plenty of lobbying and media attention until the final night of the legislative session. They won’t give out any trophies then, but just like a college football team’s fate can be decided early in the season, whoever emerges as a winner probably took some steps in that direction this week.
A JOB, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT
It’s safe to say there are few elected or appointed officials in state government who owe their position to Miami rapper Pitbull. Lawson, who was installed as the new head of Visit Florida this week, is one of them.
Lawson was tapped for the position by the Visit Florida board after the previous president and CEO, Will Seccombe, was ousted in the aftermath of a controversial, although expired, tourism-marketing contract with Pitbull. The board also agreed to pay $73,000 to the departing Seccombe.
Lawson, who was the secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation before the appointment, will make $175,000 to lead his new agency.
The first task, according to Lawson, will be meeting Scott’s recommendations to make the agency more transparent. But even he understood there was another looming objective on the horizon.
“Also I’m going to make sure the Legislature understands the value of Visit Florida, and that we understand their role in overseeing us, so there are no questions in the future,” Lawson said after Tuesday’s board meeting.
Easier said than done. Lawmakers like Corcoran are showing increasing resistance to Scott’s expected budget request of $76 million for the spending year that begins July 1. Even before reports about the $1 million contract with Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Christian Perez, Corcoran was spearheading a push against state spending to boost industries, whether through Visit Florida or incentives offered by public-private Enterprise Florida.
Corcoran has even hinted at questions about whether Visit Florida should exist. One part of Lawson’s job will be to convince lawmakers that he should have one.
Scott got support from the Florida Chamber of Commerce in another part of the incentives battle this week, when the organization threw its weight behind the governor’s bid to set aside $85 million for incentives through Enterprise Florida.
During a news conference Thursday to release legislative priorities for the upcoming session, Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson said the business group “fully” supports Scott’s proposal. Wilson said more than 90 percent of jobs are created in Florida without the use of incentives but that limited use of such money is needed to compete for “high-wage, high-skill jobs.”
“When we helped create Enterprise Florida in the mid-’90s, 20 years ago, the intent then and the intent now is that incentives and marketing dollars are incredibly important and incentives should rarely be used,” said Wilson, a member of the Enterprise Florida board. “But, when they are appropriate, they are the difference maker.”
Those pushing against incentives also found a new foothold: settlement money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The head of the new House Select Committee on Triumph Gulf Coast said the panel will look to spend the money on things other than directly attracting tourism or business.
“We are not going to be focused on direct economic incentives. That’s not what we think is the best use of the dollars,” Chairman Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, said after the committee’s first meeting Thursday. “But we do believe that there are many opportunities to spend the money in ways that don’t have to be direct incentives.”
GOVERNMENT U
Since he was first designated as president for the current legislative term, Negron has signaled that he would launch a major push to strengthen the state’s higher education system. He spoke at his designation ceremony of spending another $1 billion on universities over the next two years, and went on a listening tour of the 12 university campuses last spring.
This week, lawmakers, lobbyists and higher education officials got the clearest look yet at what Negron has in mind, when the Senate released two bills (SB 2 and SB 4) outlining proposed changes.
The measures are part of a wide-ranging plan to reshape higher education that includes an expansion of Bright Futures scholarships, block tuition for universities, stronger requirements for students to graduate on time and a program to attract high-quality faculty.
“These bills are key components of a comprehensive higher education agenda that will boost the strength and competitiveness of our state’s higher education system as our primary economic engine to drive vibrant, sustainable economic development and growth in high-paying jobs,” Negron said in a statement.
The legislation would increase the top-level award for the merit-based Bright Futures scholarships to cover all tuition and fees and provide a $300 per semester stipend for books, and allow top-level Bright Futures recipients to use their scholarships for summer classes. The Senate’s Bright Futures changes would cost an estimated $151 million.
The plan would also allow out-of-state students to qualify for scholarships for National Merit Scholars, boost spending on need-based financial aid and institute block tuition, which would charge students for 15 credit hours each semester, rather than having them pay per hour. That would ideally incentivize students to take more hours and graduate earlier.
The bills followed Scott’s opening bid on higher education: capping student fees and eliminating sales taxes on textbook purchases in addition to extending the Bright Futures scholarships to summer classes for all recipients.
That’s in line with how Scott has often addressed the costs of higher education — by ratcheting down the ways that colleges and universities charge students to fund their education, sometimes over the objections of administrators who say the moves make it difficult to provide high-quality services.
“Florida students should have every opportunity to earn a degree in four years without graduating with mountains of debt,” Scott said in a statement. “While we have fought to make higher education more affordable by holding the line on undergraduate tuition, there is much more that can be done to help students.”
THE SIFTING BEGINS
The first few weeks of committee meetings in Tallahassee are often where the issues that will dominate the legislative session are separated from those that will fade in importance once March rolls around. Right now, there’s still some sorting to be done.
Meetings around the Capitol offered an almost cacophonous array of proposals that included limits or loosened restrictions on guns; term limits for appellate judges; a measure that would prevent local governments from regulating app-based transportation services such as Uber and Lyft; and a push for fewer standardized tests in Florida schools.
One of the marquee proposals to emerge, though, came without a related committee hearing, when Sen. Bill Galvano released a sweeping, 112-page gambling bill (SB 8). The title of the bill — essentially a summary of what it would do — ran 11.5 pages on its own.
Galvano, R-Brandenton, is scheduled to be a future Senate president and was instrumental in the passage of the Legislature’s last major gambling bill when he was in the House.
His newest pitch would allow slot machines in eight counties where voters have approved them, let South Florida pari-mutuels run blackjack games, and give tracks permission to do away with greyhound racing while keeping lucrative cardrooms and slots.
Galvano called his blueprint a starting point as lawmakers gear up to deal with a potential gambling agreement being negotiated by the Seminole Tribe, Scott’s staff and legislative leaders.
“To effectively address an issue like gaming that involves an almost century-old industry and a sovereign within our own borders, it has to be rolled out procedurally correct. The bill that has been filed is comprehensive on the industry side,” Galvano told The News Service of Florida. “It really includes most everything that has been discussed of late.”
Negotiations with the Seminoles are underway after a portion of a 20-year deal, called a compact, expired in 2015. That portion gave the tribe the exclusive rights to operate “banked” card games such as blackjack.
But a federal judge in November ruled that the Seminoles could continue to offer blackjack because the state had breached the agreement by permitting controversial “designated player” games at pari-mutuel cardrooms. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that the designated player games violate a state law prohibiting games in which players bet against the house.
Galvano’s soup-to-nuts proposal would make legal the designated player games.
His plan would also allow slots in eight counties where voters have approved them — a shift away from what lawmakers previously have been willing to authorize and something the Seminoles have opposed. The current compact, signed in 2010, gives the tribe “exclusive” rights to operate slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Galvano said he expects the Senate Regulated Industries Committee to take up the measure at its next meeting Jan. 25, as lawmakers prepare for the March 7 start of the annual session. As in previous years, passage of any gambling proposal remains “a heavy lift,” Galvano said.
“But here it is, second committee week. We’ve got a bill out. I’m going to make an effort to see if we can get there,” he said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Visit Florida got a new leader as the agency braces for a heated fight over incentives and marketing money in the 2017 legislative session.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Citrus is part of the character, agriculture is part of the character of the state. It’s more than just economics, it’s part of the character of who we are. I want to make sure that agriculture has what it needs to survive, but at the same time I’m cognizant that we’re spending other people’s money.”— House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, on funding for efforts to fight citrus greening.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Atmore’s Escambia County High Named A ‘Failing School’
January 14, 2017
Alabama education officials released a list of the state’s worst schools, and one Atmore school made the list.
The Alabama Department of Education released their “failing schools” list, the 75 lowest performing schools in the entire state. Escambia County High School in Atmore was only school in Escambia County, AL, to be deemed as failing by the state.
Officials are required by state law to released the list and identify the schools that score in the bottom 6-percent of standardized tests each year.
Students who live in the attendance zone of a failing school like Escambia County High School can request a transfer to another school in the same district, or qualify for a tax credit or a private scholarship funded by tax credits to attended a private school.
Century Man Found Not Guilty Of Attempted Murder In Bar Shooting
January 13, 2017
A Century resident that was charged with attempted murder will walk out of jail as a free man today.
An Escambia County jury on Thursday found Kendrick Jamar Washington not guilty on a charge of attempted murder for a 2015 shooting at Odom’s Bar in Century. An additional charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon will be dropped Friday, according to the State Attorney’s Office, and Washington will be released from the Escambia County Jail. He’s been jailed since his arrest on October 20, 2015.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and Escambia County EMS were called to Odom’s Bar on North Century Boulevard at the Alabama state line about 11:50 p.m. on October 11, 2015.
Investigators quickly developed Washington as a suspect after witnesses said he shot David Darnell McCall following an argument over Washington’s girlfriend. McCall was transported first by private vehicle to D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton and later to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola where he was treated for a gunshot wound to his head.