FHP Seeks Pickup Truck Driver Involved In Highway 29 Hit And Run
July 1, 2017
The Florida Highway Patrol is searching for a hit and run driver following a crash on Highway 29 Friday afternoon.
The driver of a white extended cab pickup truck (pictured above) collided with a Dodge Ram 1500 on Highway 29 near North Tate School Road. The female driver of the white pickup stopped long enough to speak to the elderly driver of the black pickup, according to bystanders . Then a man help her put the hood back on the truck before he jumped in the driver’s seat and she got into the front passenger seat before fleeing the scene, witness said.
The elderly male driver of the Dodge pickup suffered minor injuries and was not immediately transported to the hospital.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked call the Florida Highway Patrol at (850) 484-5000, or *FHP from a cellphone, or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 436-STOP.
Pictured top: The white extended cab pickup truck involved in a hit and run crash Friday afternoon on Highway 29 at North Tate School Board. Pictured below: The driver of his pickup truck suffered minor injuries. Reader submitted and NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Renner Tapped As Gop Choice For Future Speaker
July 1, 2017
Rep. Paul Renner emerged Friday as the Republican choice for House speaker following the 2022 elections, giving Northeast Florida a much-desired spot for the first time in two decades.
Renner, R-Palm Coast, was supported by fellow members of his “class” — lawmakers elected to their first full term this past November — with 16 votes, two more than he needed for the win, according to the Florida Times-Union.
He defeated Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa; Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach; and Rep. Byron Donald, R-Naples. Grant, who like Renner was elected to a partial term in a special election before last year’s general election, was seen as Renner’s main competitor.
If Republicans hold onto control of the House through the 2022 election and Renner maintains his seat, he is almost certain to become speaker. Renner would follow current Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes; Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes; and Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor.
The election was the first one following new rules aimed at getting rid of the front-loaded process in the House, which often involved candidates campaigning for the position before they had officially won their House seats. The new rules, backed by Corcoran, barred lawmakers from trying to round up support until after a class had gone through its first session together.
After the vote, Corcoran tweeted his congratulations to his eventual successor.
“Congratulations to @Paul_Renner. & 2 @JamesGrantFL , @ByronDonalds & @ErinGrall respect for entering the arena. U r all a credit 2 the House,” the speaker wrote.
Renner’s opponents in the race also quickly closed ranks behind their new leader.
“I am confident he will do an outstanding job in the role, and I look forward to working with him. … Now that this election is behind us, let’s look forward to working together to put conservative policies in place that will create jobs and a brighter future for all Floridians,” Donalds said in a statement issued after the vote.
Grant also tweeted his congratulations. “I look forward to working with the class for the people of Florida!” he wrote.
Renner also fulfills a longtime ambition for Northeast Florida, where local leaders have long hoped to have a presiding officer from their area. The last House speaker to come from the Jacksonville area was John Thrasher, who served after the 1998 elections.
The last regional leader of either legislative chamber was the late Jim King, who was Senate president after the 2002 elections.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Burn Biscuits
July 1, 2017
The first half champions Pensacola Blue Wahoos scored more than two runs just once in its first six games and were shutout twice after the All-Star break. But the team broke out with 14 runs against the Montgomery Biscuits Friday at Blue Wahoos Stadium to win its fourth straight game.
Thanks to a game-winning single by catcher Chad Tromp in his Double-A debut in the first game and home run blasts by left fielder Tyler Goeddel and DH Josh VanMeter in the second game, Pensacola swept a doubleheader, 5-4, and, 9-4, from Montgomery in front of 4,897.
In the fifth inning, VanMeter yanked a three-run homerun to right field to give Pensacola a commanding, 7-1, lead. It was VanMeter’s second homer of the year, plus it helped him tie a career-high with four RBIs, which he did one other time in 2014 with the Low-A Fort Wayne TinCaps in the San Diego Padres organization. He now has 33 for the season, which is second on the team behind right fielder Aristides Aquino, who has 35.
VanMeter said his homer was a confidence booster after hitting 14 last year between High-A and Double-A in the Padres farm system.
“I’m coming off a year last year where I had quite a few homeruns,” VanMeter said. “The Southern League has been quite an adjustment. You saw our bats come to life. It’s really the first time this half that our bats have come to life.”
Kelly said VanMeter has played second base, shortstop, third base and the outfield because of his bat.
“He has the Tony Renda role,” said Kelly, referring to last year’s spark plug who played nearly every position for Pensacola and hit .326 before making his debut with the Cincinnati Reds later that season. “From day one, he has been one of our best hitters. I’ll find a position for him in our lineup every day.”
Hitting has been a sore spot for the Blue Wahoos all season, who entered Friday with the 9th best average in the Southern League at .226, ninth in runs scored at 259 and eighth in home runs with 39.
Domingo Tapia, who started the second game Friday, made his fourth start this season for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and earned loud cheers as he left after throwing 5.1 innings, allowing one run, scattering seven hits and striking out four.
The 25-year-old started 87 games at the start of his professional career before moving to the bullpen after the 2014 season. Tapia earned his first win as a starter with the Blue Wahoos, improving to 1-2, with a 4.24 ERA.
Kelly has had to rely on relievers to make spot starts as it plays without a proven fifth starter in its rotation.
“Tapia has done a nice job as a starter but I think he likes the bullpen better,” Kelly said. “We had to use him out of necessity. We’ve really, really pushed our bullpen.”
Pensacola took a, 4-1, lead in the third inning when it batted around, getting five hits. The big hit came when Goeddel blasted a two-run homer to left field — the leadoff hitter’s third of the season.
Blue Wahoos second baseman Shed Long almost hit a third homer for the Blue Wahoos. Instead, he was the final out of the fifth inning when Montgomery right fielder Justin Williams leaped and scooped the ball off the top of the fence, robbing Long of his first Double-A home run that would have added three more Pensacola runs.
Montgomery had scored first when left fielder Joe McCarthy hit a double on a short blooper to left field that Pensacola shortstop Blake Trahan sprinted to catch and at the last minute reached out with his bare hand but couldn’t haul it in. The Biscuits’ Williams then lined a single to center to score McCarthy, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Pensacola scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning Friday to come from behind to down Montgomery, 5-4. The seven-inning game was the first game of Friday’s doubleheader. It resumed after being suspended Thursday in the sixth inning after a 77-minute rain delay
The game-winning hit came from catcher Chad Tromp in his Double-A debut. Called up Wednesday from High-A Daytona Tortugas where he was hitting .311, Tromp stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and smacked a line drive single that got past a diving left fielder and scored both pinch-hitter Nick Senzel and right fielder Aristides Aquino for a 5-4 lead.
“I’m excited,” Kelly said about the hitting of Tromp, Long, Gavin LaValley and Senzel, who all were promoted from High A to start the second half. “I like the at-bats I’m seeing. Tromp hit real well with Daytona, which is one of the reasons he is here.”
Blue Wahoos reliever Robert Stock earned the victory and improved to 3-1 in nine appearances and boasts a 4.15 ERA.
Stock came in after Geoff Broussard blew a 2-0 Pensacola lead by giving up four runs on six hits over the fifth and sixth innings to give Montgomery a 4-2 lead.
Meanwhile, Pensacola righty Alex Powers made his first start in 174 professional and college appearances. The 25-year-old Powers tossed a career-high four innings, tied a career-high with six strikeouts and didn’t give up any runs to the Biscuits on two hits.