Tate, Northview Softball And Baseball Games Rescheduled
February 21, 2017
All Northview and Tate high school softball and baseball games for today have been rescheduled
- NHS softball rescheduled for Wednesday
- NHS baseball rescheduled to Thursday
- Tate softball rescheduled to Wednesday, March 8
- All Tate baseball games rescheduled for Wednesday, same sites and times.
FHP Seeks Century Hit And Run Driver
February 21, 2017
Update: The hit and run driver has been located. Further details have not been released.
Authorities were looking for a hit and run driver after crash at the Food Giant in Century this morning. The driver of red Nissan reportedly hit a speed limit sign and a concrete sign pedestal in front of the store just before 7 a.m. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at (850) 484-5000 or *FHP from a cell phone. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Mayor Under Fire For Granting Time Off, Pay Raises Without Approval
February 21, 2017
Century Mayor Henry Hawkins came under fire Monday night after it was revealed that he give town employees paid time off and across the board pay raises, all in apparent violation of the town charter.
Hawkins admitted that since taking office in January, he has given each town employee a 53-cent per hour pay increase and has allowed each employee to take four paid hours per month off. The changes, he said, were to boost employee morale.
The information came to light during the public forum period of Monday night’s town council meeting as resident Edna Earle Barnes questioned Hawkins about “rumors” that she heard.
“It’s a morale booster,” Hawkin said.
“Well it’s not boosting the morale of the citizens of the town,” Barnes replied.
“My job is take care of the employees,” the mayor said, “and the employees with take care of the town.”
“No,” Barnes interjected, “Your job is to take care of the town.”
The money to fund the 53-cent per hour pay increase for each employee came from the salary of street department employee that quit in January and was not replaced. Hawkins said that since the funds were already budgeted for salaries, he simply divided the salary among the remaining employees.
But council president Ann Brooks said Hawkin’s actions were wrong and in excess of a $500 spending limit imposed by the town charter. She said employee raises and policies are to be approved by the council.
“We are suppose to approve any spending over $500,” Brooks said.
Hawkins openly came under verbal attack by local residents in attendance at the meeting. Several expressed displeasure that the behind the scene pay raises were granted during a time Hawkins has said the town needs to raise water, sewer and gas rates in order to remain financially viable.
“You are building morale with your employees, but you are not doing it with the citizens of the town,” Barnes said. “You are suppose to be looking out for us.”
On a motion from council member Kevin Stead, the council voted to remove the pay raise and eliminate the newly granted paid time off for each employee. Stead also called for any such future action by the mayor be subject to council approval.
Pictured top: Mayor Henry Hawkins listens to a discussion Monday night as Town Clerk Leslie Howington takes notes. Pictured inset: Century resident Edna Earle Barnes addresses the council. Pictured below: The Century Town Council discusses pay raises granted to employees without their permission. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Florida Death Penalty Cases Allowed To Move Forward
February 21, 2017
that death penalty cases can proceed, even with an unconstitutional law still on the books.
The order came as the Legislature prepares to address a pair of Florida high court rulings last fall that struck down the state’s most recent death-penalty sentencing scheme as unconstitutional and effectively halted capital cases.
In a pair of October rulings, the state court ruled that a new law — passed in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case known as Hurst v. Florida — was unconstitutional because it only required 10 jurors to recommend death “as opposed to the constitutionally required unanimous, 12-member jury.”
The October majority opinion in the case of Larry Darnell Perry also found that the new law “cannot be applied to pending prosecutions.”
But in a reversal of that decision Monday, the majority ruled that capital cases can move forward, even before lawmakers fix the statute.
Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the ruling, saying in a statement it “provides our courts with the clarification needed to proceed with murder cases in which the death penalty is sought.”
The majority in the 5-2 decision was comprised of Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices R. Fred Lewis, Charles Canady and Ricky Polston, along with newly seated Justice Alan Lawson, who joined the court at the end of December.
The ruling sent public defenders scrambling and prompted cheers from prosecutors.
A spate of death penalty-related rulings by the Florida court in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in January 2016 in Hurst “created a great deal of paralysis and uncertainty in the system,” House Judiciary Chairman Chris Sprowls, a former prosecutor, told The News Service of Florida in an interview Monday.
Monday’s decision in the consolidated cases of Patrick Albert Evans and Juan Rosario came as courts have been split on how to handle cases in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
A Pinellas County judge last fall wanted to move forward with Evans’ trial, while a judge in Rosario’s Orange County case decided that the state could not pursue the death penalty.
The majority on Monday decided that the new law can be applied to pending prosecutions — and is constitutional — “if 12 jurors unanimously determine that a defendant should be sentenced to death.”
But in her dissent, Justice Barbara Pariente argued that what could be a “temporary” fix, until lawmakers address the issue, could lead to more litigation.
“Such concerns are precisely why it is for the Legislature, not this (Supreme) Court, to enact legislation curing the act’s fatal 10-2 provisions, assuming the Legislature intends for the death penalty to continue to be imposed in Florida,” Pariente wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Peggy Quince.
But Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, said the decision “finally” tells lower courts they can proceed with capital cases.
“That is what I think people within the criminal justice system would expect. What they did not expect is to have a paralysis created and that’s what the court had done. Today they have alleviated that paralysis by at least allowing cases to proceed,” he said.
Defense lawyers, however, took a harsher view.
“As a society, we rely upon court precedent to determine how to interpret and apply the laws. The (Supreme) Court’s about-face within these opinions is confounding. They also seem incongruent with the court’s unanimous plea, in (a case known as) Steele, to the Legislature to fix what the court said it couldn’t,” 10th Judicial Circuit Assistant Public Defender Pete Mills, who also serves as chairman of the Florida Public Defenders Association Death Penalty Steering Committee, told The News Service.
Mills was referring to a 2005 opinion in State vs. Steele in which the court urged the Legislature to require a unanimous jury vote, rather than the previous simple majority vote, in capital-case proceedings.
While Monday’s opinion may have resolved questions about how the courts can proceed for now, it likely won’t slow down the Legislature’s rush to address the issue early in the session that begins March 7.
“We still want to move it rapidly, get it up and out to make sure there’s no question that this is what the statute says and that we have a working death penalty scheme in the state of Florida,” Sprowls said.
Sprowls’ committee is slated to consider a measure (HB 527) Tuesday that would do away with the 10-2 jury recommendations and instead require unanimity for death sentences to be imposed. A Senate panel will give a final vetting to a similar proposal the following day. The issue only deals with the sentencing phase of death-penalty cases, after jurors unanimously find defendants guilty of crimes.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, told The News Service — before the court’s decision Monday — they wanted to send a death penalty measure requiring unanimous jury recommendations to Gov. Rick Scott by the end of the session’s first week.
“My position on it is that you have about 200 death penalty cases that are in abeyance right now, because of the Supreme Court’s ruling, and I can’t think of anything more important to the family of victims and also to a person charged with a capital felony that their cases proceed justly and with due process through the criminal justice system,” Negron said Wednesday. “To me, it’s our responsibility as legislators to make sure that the law is appropriately enforced. That would be a top priority.”
The cases “in abeyance” referred to more than half of Florida’s Death Row inmates who are eligible for new sentencing hearings under a separate state court ruling addressing retroactivity of the Hurst decision, which was predicated on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case known as Ring v. Arizona.
The legislation being considered by the House and Senate would not have any impact on retroactivity and would likely only affect future capital cases or those already underway.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Several Inches Of Rain Possible For Today
February 21, 2017
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tuesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 72. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between 2 and 3 inches possible.
Tuesday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. East wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 70.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 43.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 69.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 51.
Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 73.
Wildfire Burns Seven Acres On Barrineau Park Road
February 21, 2017
A Monday afternoon wildfire burned about seven acres in the Molino area.
Four tractor/plow units from the Florida Forest Service responded to a wildfire in the area of Barrineau Park Road and 95A near Molino.
At 4:20 p.m. the fire was about seven acres with no structures threatened. By nightfall, the fire was 95 percent contained, with smoke and small flames lingering overnight.
The Cantonment, Molino and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were also on scene.
Pictured: Florida Forest Service crews work into the dark on a seven acre fire on Barrineau Park Road.
Good Day! It’s National FFA Week
February 21, 2017
It’s National FFA Week in the Escambia County School District, according to a proclamation issued by the Escambia County School Board.
“Escambia County FFA and the agriscience programs in the Escambia County School District are tremendously successful and extremely valuable in improving the quality of life for Escambia citizens,” the proclamation stated.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Change To Minor Party Voter Registrations
February 21, 2017
The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office recently received notice the registration status of the Independent Party of Florida (INT) has been canceled.
As a result, local elections officials were required to change the party affiliation of any voter registered in the Independent Party of Florida (INT) to No Party Affiliation (NPA). New voter information cards reflecting the change are being mailed to all impacted voters.
Voters can choose to remain registered as No Party Affiliation, or may choose to register with one of the ten political parties currently active and recognized by the Division of Elections, a list of which can be accessed at http://dos.myflorida.com/elections/candidates-committees/political-parties/ or at EscambiaVotes.com. A party change can be made using a Florida Voter Registration Application or by submitting a signed, written notice to a voter registration official.
Tate Wrestling Team Places Third At Districts, Heads To Regionals
February 21, 2017
The Tate High School wrestling team placed third in the 2A District 1 competition held in Milton. Eight Aggie wrestlers placed and will advance to the regional competition in Tallahassee February 24-25.
Jacob Cochran — 106 pounds, 1st place
Noah Kryfka — 113 pounds, 4th place
Alex Porter — 120 pounds, 1st place
Matthew Blalock — 126 pounds, 2nd place
Kendall Townley — 138 pounds, 1st place
Juan Alvarez — 152 pounds, 2nd place
Jacob Neales — 195 pounds, 4th place
Jacob Nowling — 220 pounds, 3rd place
Pictured: (front L-R) Coach Reggie Allen, Kendall Townley, Jacob Cochran, Alex Porter, Asst. Coach Gavin McAnally, (back, L-R) Jacob Neales, Jacob Nowling, Noah Kryfka, Matthew Blalock and Juan Alvarez. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
State Attorney To Seek First Degree Murder Indictment Against Rice
February 21, 2017
State Attorney Bill Eddings said Monday that he intends to move forward on the prosecution of Mary Rice for her part in the shooting death of Kayla Crocker during a robbery home invasion February 6 in Beulah.
The case is expected to go before a grand jury within the next 30 days with the state intends to seek an indictment against Rice for first degree murder.
She also faces two counts of accessory after the fact in the double homicide at a Milton hotel. Alicia Ann Greer and Jacqueline Jeanette Moore were found shot to death in the Emerald Sands Inn.
Rice also faces a capital murder charge from Baldwin County for the murder of Peggy Broz.
“Additional investigation has indicated that there is sufficient evidence to move forward on the Escambia County prosecution at this time. This decision was made after discussing this matter with Robert Wilters, District Attorney for Baldwin County Alabama. Any decision regarding charges that Rice may face in Alabama will be made by that office,” Eddins said.
Rice was arrested after surrendering peacefully at Georgia hotel. She was an accused accomplice of quadruple murder suspect William “Billy” Boyette, who took his own life in Georgia rather than surrendering to authorities.