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ECUA Takes Over Collections At Recycling Drop-Off Centers

Emerald Coast Utilities Authority has assumed collection of recyclables at all county drop-off centers.

ECUA has replaced the roll off-style containers with front end loading models. Site storage capacity will remain the same, and the frequency of collection will be adjusted, if needed. The different style containers will increase efficiency by allowing collection vehicles, powered by compressed natural gas, to transport more material with fewer trips.

Citizens are still able to access the containers as usual to drop off recyclables. In addition, the list of materials accepted at the drop-off centers has expanded from fiber only to include the following:

County drop-off centers are located:

• Baars Softball Field: 12950 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola
• ECUA Ellyson Campus (between the old airplane hangar and the ECUA Water Quality Laboratory): 9255 Sturdevant Street, Pensacola
• Escambia High School: 1310 N. 65th Avenue, Pensacola
• Ever’Man Natural Foods Cooperative Grocery (rear parking lot): 315 W. Garden Street, Pensacola
• Ferry Pass Fire Station: 2331 E. Johnson Avenue, Pensacola
• John R. Jones Athletic Park: 555 E. Nine Mile Road, Pensacola
• Molino Fire Station: 1459 Molino Rd, Molino
• Ninth Avenue Fire Station: 6550 N. 9th Avenue, Pensacola
• Oak Grove Convenience Center: 745 County Road 99, McDavid
• Perdido Landfill: 13009 Beulah Road, Cantonment
• Summit Boulevard Fire Station: 2750 Summit Boulevard, Pensacola
• UF/IFAS Extension Office: 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment

Lawmakers Approve Tax Cuts As Session Closes

Floridians are in line for a pair of three-day sales tax “holidays” — for the hurricane season and for back-to-school shopping — and will no longer pay the “tampon tax,” under a measure approved by lawmakers Monday night.

But the slimmed-down tax cut package (HB 7109), which still requires Gov. Rick Scott’s signature, went through a series of late changes amid continued volleying between the House and Senate as the 2017 legislative session came to a close, three days behind schedule.

The tax package — which falls far short of Scott’s request for $618.4 million in cuts — also offers a modest reduction to a 6 percent tax on commercial rents.

The final creation of the package offered a glimpse of the fight between the House and the Senate as lawmakers had to extend the 60-day annual session — scheduled to end last Friday — to complete a budget.

The Senate, which last week trimmed the House’s $300 million tax-cut proposal to just over $90 million next year, voted 34-4 on Monday to approve what Senate Finance and Tax Chairwoman Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, called a “reasonable tax package.”

A short-time later — as the Senate announced it had passed “broad-based tax relief” — the House voted 105-3 to send the measure back to the Senate, after tacking on a pair of amendments tied to county tax-collector offices. One of the amendments was part of an effort to allow counties to outsource license-tag services to private contractors.

The Senate responded by refusing to accept the changes. Stargel, who worked with the House on the package, said the problem was in how the eleventh-hour changes were proposed.

“It’s about at the last minute, at the last hour, of the last day, of what has been a very difficult session, that we do an amendment that we were not prepared to do,” Stargel said.

With little comment, a short time later House withdrew its changes before voting 108-3 to approve the tax-cut package and send it to Scott.

A key feature of the package is a sales-tax holiday Aug. 4 to Aug. 6, timed with the start of the school year. During the period, shoppers will not have to pay sales taxes on clothes, backpacks and footwear under $60, school supplies that cost $15 or less, and personal computers and accessories valued under $750.

The tax break is expected to account for $34.8 million of the package.

A hurricane-season tax holiday, set for June 2 to June 4, would give shoppers a break on items such as self-powered radios, tarpaulins, first-aid kits, battery packs, and portable generators that sell for less than $750.

One of the highest-profile parts of the package focused on eliminating sales taxes on feminine-hygiene products — an issue known as the “tampon tax.”

“I have gotten more positive email on that than I have on any other bill I’ve sponsored in this Legislature,” said Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican who sponsored legislation eliminate the tax.

The House had initially rolled out a nearly $300 million tax-cut package that also would have eliminated taxes on diapers and given a sales-tax holiday on Veterans Day for honorably discharged U.S. military veterans.

Also, the House proposal would have temporarily cut the commercial rent tax by 1.5 percentage points, a move projected to save businesses $190.7 million next fiscal year. Business groups have long lobbied for reducing or eliminating the tax.

But the final package did not include the veterans’ tax holiday or diaper discount and reduced the commercial rent tax to 5.8 percent.

Republicans, nevertheless, touted the package.

“The money belongs to the people, not the government,” said Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island. ”When we go from one fiscal year to the next and our revenues increase — if we believe in that principle — then part of that increase goes back to the pockets of people who earned that money.”

But Sen. Gary Farmer of Fort Lauderdale, one of four Senate Democrats to vote against the bill, argued that sales taxes are needed to provide basic services, from roads and parks to “public and charter” schools.

“We choose to live in a civilized society,” Farmer said. “We live in a collective society, the greater good for all of us, so we all have to chip in.”

Republicans also are touting another decision during the session that could provide tax savings in the future to homeowners.

The Legislature approved a proposed constitutional amendment for the 2018 ballot that would expand the homestead exemption by $25,000.

Budget, School Changes Pass As Florida Lawmakers Head Home

The Florida Legislature overwhelmingly approved a state budget and ended the annual session Monday, after narrowly avoiding a meltdown over a controversial measure that makes sweeping changes to the state’s education system.

The $82.4 billion budget for the year that begins July 1 passed the House on a 98-14 vote, and the Senate on a 34-4 vote. All told, when combined with other legislation approved Monday, the House and Senate approved about $83.1 billion in spending.

The budget package includes a modest increase in per-student spending through the state’s main education formula, $521 million in Medicaid cuts for hospitals and far-reaching changes to education across the board.

There was little drama over the budget vote in either chamber. In both cases, lawmakers gave the bills more than enough support to overcome the possibility of a veto by Gov. Rick Scott.

Republican lawmakers tried after the session to downplay any talk of Scott taking that step, which would be extraordinarily rare.

“I think there’s a lot in the budget that the governor’s going to like,” said Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart.

Instead, the biggest challenge lawmakers faced was getting approval for a delicate, tit-for-tat agreement on budget-related bills that moved through the House and Senate in quick succession Monday night: a House education bill for a Senate higher education bill, a package on economic-development funding for a bill on state employees’ pay and benefits.

The closest showdown came on a 278-page education bill, favored by the House, that emerged from budget negotiations Friday evening. That measure covered everything from charter schools and teacher bonuses to school uniforms and designating September as “American Founders’ Month.”

The most notable parts of the legislation (HB 7069) were a proposal known as “schools of hope,” which would encourage charter schools to locate near academically struggling public schools, and an expansion of the “Best and Brightest” teacher bonus program.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, continued Monday night to call the legislation “the greatest educational K-12 policy that we’ve passed in the history of the state.”

But several senators rebelled against the sprawling bill and the process that produced it. Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat who also serves as head of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, slammed the bill as an attempt to push otherwise unpopular education proposals through the Senate.

“Most of these issues have been around for years,” Montford, a former Leon County schools superintendent, said. “Some of them have been before this body. They’ve just never been accepted. And the reason they weren’t accepted was because this body came to the conclusion that it was not good for students.”

Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, said the bill would undermine the Senate’s reputation for independence and bipartisan collegiality.

“I love this Senate too much for me to support this bill or the concept of bills that do this,” he said.

Even Senate leaders seemed wary of the legislation. Sen. David Simmons, who chairs the chamber’s education budget subcommittee, voted against the bill after presenting it to the Senate.

In an unusual opening to the day’s session, Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, essentially apologized for the bill.

“If there’s fault to be had for one of these bills that has gotten a little bit out of control, just understand that we won’t do this again under my watch on this committee,” Latvala said. “I promise you.”

But senators who reluctantly backed the bill also made no secret of the stakes: If it were rejected by the Senate, the House would essentially shut down the budget votes Monday and force the Legislature into a special session.

“This is really more than a vote on this bill,” said Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze. “It’s a vote to come back here in special session. If we vote this down, we will be back here in a few weeks. There’s no question about it.”

In the end, the legislation passed the Senate, 20-18. A tie on the legislation would have killed it.

That the budget and related bills did not pass until Monday was already a sign that, in some ways, the budget process had broken down. Lawmakers were scheduled to end the session last week, but failed to approve a compromise on the budget in time to allow for a constitutionally required 72-hour “cooling off” period before Friday night.

There were other measures tied up in the budget process that also attracted controversy — including a bill (SB 7022) that gives pay raises to state workers but also includes changes to retirement and health-care benefits that some Democrats found hard to stomach.

“On the cover it says pay increases,” said Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee. “But inside the book it says something else.”

Attention quickly shifted Monday night to Scott, who has openly mused about the possibility of vetoing the entire spending package, after lawmakers ignored his push for economic-development incentives, increased funding for tourism marketing and improvements to the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.

House Minority Leader Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said she planned to spend the entire summer “at least a couple-hour plane ride away,” in case she needed to return to Tallahassee following a veto.

But even she conceded that with the lopsided margins for the budget in both chambers, a veto by Scott would be unlikely to have much of an effect.

“I don’t think that it would change the outcome,” she said. “It would just send a message.”

by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida

Bennett Named Tate FFA Alumni Rodeo Queen

The Tate High School FFA Alumni Association recently named  Jordyn Bennett (pictured right) as 2017 J.M. Tate FFA Alumni Rodeo Queen. Ashley Henderson (left) was named first runner up. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Blue Wahoos Top Barons Ending Five Game Losing Streak

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos have struggled since Tyler Mahle threw a perfect game against the Mobile BayBears April 22.

The Blue Wahoos have won just two games and lost 12 since then, including its last five games to the Chattanooga Lookouts.

The antidote? Playing a home series against the Birmingham Barons with the worst record (11-20), worst ERA (4.52) and tied for the worst in hitting (.210) in the Southern League.

But it didn’t get easy Monday until the fifth inning when Pensacola batted around to score five runs on its way to a 6-2 victory in front of 3,647 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Both catcher Joe Hudson and left fielder Tyler Goeddel came up with clutch two-out singles that drove in pairs of runs.

Pensacola manager Pat Kelly joked that the team scored more than five runs for the first time since April 20 because they left their bat bags in Chattanooga.

“The last 15 games we’ve had to scramble to score two runs,” Kelly said. “I talked to them in Chattanooga. I said, ‘I’m not going to chew you out but we have to take advantage of the opportunities we get.’ To me it wasn’t a lack of effort. We were trying to get them to relax.”

Hudson ripped a single into the left center gap that drove in both first baseman Angelo Gumbs and DH Eric Jagielo for a, 3-1, Blue Wahoos lead. Goeddel, who spent 2016 with the Philadelphia Phillies, hit a chopper that made it into center field and scored Hudson and center fielder Brian O’Grady to put Pensacola up, 6-1.

Goeddel got on base four out of his five times at the plate, with a double and two RBIs. The 24-year-old has provided a spark to Pensacola’s lineup in his six games with the club going 8-21, or .381 with four RBIs.

Hudson hit a two-out double in the fourth inning to drive in second baseman Alex Blandino to tie the game, 1-1. Hudson was 2-4 with a double, run scored and three RBIs.

For Hudson, the difference at the plate was changing his walk up song to “Believer” by Imagine Dragons released earlier this year. He heard it on the radio on his way to Monday’s game.

“I was listening to that song on my way to the field today,” Hudson said. “I thought, ‘What do I have to lose?’ Baseball is a really odd game. Changing your walk-up song can get you thinking a different way.”

The star of the game, though, had time to sign a baseball and take a photo with wheel-chair bound Bernice Crain, who turned 85 today, after attending her first Blue Wahoos baseball game.

Although, Hudson is batting .212 this season, Hudson’s on-base percentage is .333.

“Those are two huge situations,” Kelly said. “That’s how you win ball games.”

Birmingham scored first to go up, 1-0, in the first inning when DH Cameron Seltzer hit a weak fly ball off the handle into short left field to drive in second baseman Jake Peter, who doubled into the right field corner.

“They got that cheap run in the first inning,” Kelly said. “But (Mahle) kept pitching.”

Meanwhile, Mahle enjoyed getting the most run support in his seven starts from the Blue Wahoos offense.

The 22-year-old right-hander worked six innings, allowed five hits, two runs, a walk and struck out seven. He now leads the Southern League in wins at 5-0 and strikeouts with 48 in 43.2 innings pitched.

Mahle’s only blemish was giving up his second home run of the season to Birmingham first baseman Keon Barnum. He pulled a solo homer – his seventh of the year that ties for first in the Southern League – over the right field fence just above the glove of a leaping Gabriel Guerrero.

Pensacola relievers Ariel Hernandez and Geoff Broussard who pitched a final three scoreless innings combining for four Ks and one hit.

Pensacola remains tied with the Mississippi Braves for first place in the South Division with a 16-15 record.

Kelly is thankful the team won a franchise record eight games to start the season.

“One of the advantages of winning eight straight is you can absorb a streak like the games we’ve been through,” he said.

Missing Pensacola Man Found Dead

UPDATED: The body of an elderly man who left his home to get a prescription filled on Friday has been found.

Joseph John Sodomka, 84, who lived near Scenic Heights Elementary School, was found around 2:45 p.m. Sunday in a clay pit area in the 1900 block of Blossom Trail, Pensacola.

Sodomka was last seen by his wife around 9:30 a.m. Friday when he left home to take a prescription to the Navy Hospital to be filled. He was told the prescription would be ready by 4 p.m., but he did not return to get it. Sodomka was on numerous medications and had memory problems.

It is believed he became disoriented and was unable to find his way home. Foul play is not suspected at this time.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation into his death.

Big Detour For Highway 4 — Big Problems To Come For Century?

A big detour is going to mean big traffic for ordinarily quiet Century neighborhoods next weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday, State Road 4 will be closed from Highway 29 to Jefferson Avenue so that crews from CSX Railroad can construct the Highway 4 rail crossing.  Highway 4 traffic, including commercial trucks, will be detoured around using Jefferson Avenue and Pond Street.

The crossing work is part of an overall project to resurface Highway 4 from Highway 29 to the Escambia River Bridge. Originally, plans called for traffic to use a temporary railroad crossing — called an onside diversion in technical terms — directly adjacent to the current crossing. But those plans did not work out.

“The onsite diversion depicted in the original plans did not allow CSX adequate room to perform the railroad upgrade, therefore an alternate detour for State Road 4 traffic was developed,” Tanya Branton, public information specialist for the Florida Department of Transportation, said.

Mayor Henry Hawkins acknowledged that citizens living on and near Jefferson Avenue and Pone Street will be inconvenienced by the detour through the neighborhood, but the decision was that of the state, not the town.  He said FDOT may temporarily widen some curves on Pond and Jefferson to allow for larger trucks.

Any damage to town streets will be repaired by FDOT or their contractor, Hawkins said.

Law enforcement will be on had along the detour route to help traffic flowing.

Pictured above and below: In March, Highway 4 was resurfaced near the railroad track and a temporary crossing was constructed. Now, CSX says the temporary crossing is inadequate. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Week Begins Sunny And Warm

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 86. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Monday Night: Clear, with a low around 55. Calm wind.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 60. South wind around 5 mph becoming west after midnight.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 87. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 82.

Friday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 83.

Tate High Jazz Band To Present ‘A Night Of Jazz’ On Tuesday

The Tate High School Jazz Band will present “A Night of Jazz” on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the school courtyard.

The band will present jazz music, plus grilled food and concessions will be available. Attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair.

In the event of rain, the event will be moved to the cafeteria.

FDOT: Weekly Traffic Alerts

Drivers will encounter traffic variations on the following state roads in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties as crews perform construction and maintenance activities.

Escambia County:

Bayfront Parkway (State Road (S.R.) 196) at Bayfront Drive Road Closure, 5K- Bayfront Parkway will be closed at Bayfront Drive from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6 for the Brain Tumor run for Research 5K. Local law enforcement will be on site to assist with traffic control.

Creighton Road (S.R. 742) Construction Improvement Project, from east of Davis Highway to Scenic Highway -Work begins the week of May 8 on Creighton Road from east of Davis Highway (S.R. 291/Exit 13) to Scenic Highway (S.R. 10A). Lane closures will only be allowed between 8:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.

Interstate 10 (I-10) Routine Maintenance, from U.S. 29 to Davis Highway- East and westbound alternating lane closures from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday, May 10 and Thursday, May 11 as crews replace overhead and sign lights.

I-10/U.S. 29 Interchange Improvements Phase I – Alternating lane closures continue on I-10 near U.S. 29 (Exits 10A and 10B) from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday as crews perform pipe repair and survey work. In addition, intermittent lane closures on the on-and-off ramps at the I-10/U.S. 29 interchange.

I-10 Widening, from Davis Highway to the Escambia Bay Bridge – Alternating lane closures continue on I-10 westbound, between Davis Highway (S.R. 291/Exit 13) and Scenic Highway (U.S. 90/Exit 17), from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday as crews perform paving work.

U.S. 29 (S.R. 95) Widening, from I-10 to Nine Mile Road- Alternating lane closures continue from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on U.S. 29 between I-10 and 9 1/2 Mile Road and on Nine Mile Road near the U.S. 29/ Nine Mile Road overpass as crews perform drainage and bridge operations.

Nine Mile Road (S.R. 10/U.S. 90A) Widening, from Pine Forest Road to U.S. 29- Alternating lane closures on 8 Mile Creek Road from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, May 8 and Wednesday, May 10. Additionally, alternating lane closures on Pine Cone Drive from 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 9 to 6 a.m. Wednesday, May 10 as crews relocate utilities. Traffic flaggers will be on site to safely direct drivers through the work zone.

Navy Boulevard (S.R. 295) Soil Density Testing at Gulf Beach Highway (S.R. 292) – Intermittent and alternating lane closures from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday, May 11 and Friday, May 12 as crews perform soil testing operations.

S.R. 4 Resurfacing, from U.S. 29 to the Escambia River Bridge – S.R. 4 from U.S. 29 to Jefferson Avenue will be closed and traffic detoured Saturday, May 13 and Sunday, May 14 as crews from CSX Railroad reconstruct the rail crossing in Century. Westbound traffic on S.R. 4 will utilize Jefferson Avenue and Pond Street to access U.S. 29. North and southbound U.S. 29 traffic seeking access to S.R. 4 will utilize the same detour route from Pond Street to Jefferson Avenue.

Striping work will take place on S.R. 292 (Sorrento Road) near Ford Drive, Monday, May 8and Tuesday May 9. Lane closures will be in effect from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

State Road 30 (U.S. 98) Pensacola Bay Bridge Replacement – The right lane of U.S. 98 east and westbound on the Pensacola Bay Bridge will be closed from 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 10 to 6 a.m. Thursday, May 11 as crews install traffic monitoring devices.

Santa Rosa County:

I-10 Widening, from Escambia Bay Bridge to Avalon Boulevard (S.R. 281/Exit 22) – Eastbound traffic has been shifted to the new inside travel lanes. Crews will now begin reconstructing the outside portion of the Avalon Boulevard overpass and the outside travel lanes.

S.R. 87 Widening, from Eglin Air Force Base Boundary to 2 Miles South of the Yellow River Bridge – Traffic on State Road (S.R.) 87, between County Road (C.R.) 184 (Hickory Hammock Road) and the Eglin AFB boundary, is restricted to loads under 11 feet wide. The restriction will extend through the completion of the S.R. 87 widening project.

State Road 30 (U.S. 98) Pensacola Bay Bridge Replacement – The right lane of U.S. 98 east and westbound on the Pensacola Bay Bridge will be closed from 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 10 to 6 a.m. Thursday, May 11 as crews install traffic monitoring devices.

Drivers are reminded to use caution, especially at night, when traveling through the construction zone, and to pay attention for workers and equipment entering and exiting the work area. All activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather.

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