Gold Ribbons: Council Marks Childhood Cancer Month
September 19, 2017
The Century Town Council marked September as Childhood Cancer Month during their meeting Monday night. Council members and guests were presented with gold-color awareness ribbon stress toys and lapel pins in honor of Bryant Thomas Cooper who passed away last November at age 19 after battling cancer. His mother, former Tri-City Ledger managing editor Janet Cooper, became and outspoken advocate for childhood cancer awareness. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Gets 15 Years For $20 Drug Deal
September 19, 2017
Lloyd Demetrius Grice, age 41, was convicted by an Escambia County j ury on for the sale, manufacture and delivery of cocaine and for trespass on property other than a structure after warning. Immediately following the verdict, Circuit Judge Gary Bergosh sentenced Grice, as a habitual felony offender, to 15 years in state prison. Since there is no parole in Florida, Grice will be required to serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.
On May 20, 2016, the Pensacola Police Departments Vice and Narcotics Unit conducted an undercover operation at Tom Ann and Buddy’s located on West Cervantes Street. The detective made contact with Grice and asked if he had any “hard”, which means cocaine.
Bell asked to purchase a “$20 piece”. Grice walked over to an SUV and then walked back to Detective Bell and handed him the cocaine, according to prosecutors. After the transaction, Grice then walked to Tom Ann & Buddy’s, which had previously trespass warned Grice from the premises indefinitely.
Grice has a criminal history that includes throwing a deadly missile, burglary, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, carrying a concealed weapon, felony battery, assault, possession of marijuana possession of drug paraphernalia, and
improper exhibition of a firearm.
Bonus Gallery: Tate Cheerleaders, Band, JROTC
September 19, 2017
For a bonus gallery with the Tate band, cheerleaders, JROTC and spirit line from last Friday night, click here.
For football game action photos and story, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Jennifer Repine, click to enlarge.
Florida Irma Death Toll At 34 – And Rising
September 19, 2017
Hurricane Irma has officially been tied to 34 deaths in Florida, but the number will rise.
The figure available Monday from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Division of Emergency Management is still being updated.
Not every county has been recorded.
Absent is Monroe, where recovery efforts continue with ongoing door-to-door checks in the Keys. So far at least nine deaths have been tied to the storm in Monroe County, according to the Miami Herald.
Also, the Broward County count is at six, without listing any of eight residents of a sweltering Hollywood nursing home who died Wednesday. The deaths of the nursing-home residents have spurred a criminal investigation.
“County medical examiners are responsible for confirming and attributing the deaths that occurred in their counties,” Division of Emergency Management spokesman Alberto Moscoso said in an email Monday. “FDLE and DEM report the information provided by county medical examiners.”
Deaths from Irma have been reported in Broward, Liberty, Duval, Pinellas, Marion, Hillsborough, Hardee, Volusia, Palm Beach, Orange, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Highlands, Polk, Taylor and Lake counties.
In addition to the residents of The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in Broward County, the highest-profile victims have been a Hardee County sheriff’s deputy and a state corrections officer.
On Saturday, Gov. Rick Scott attended the funeral in Bradenton for Hardee County Deputy Julie Bridges, a 13-year veteran who died early Sept. 10 in a head-on vehicle collision with Hardee Correctional Institution Sgt. Joseph Ossman.
Ossman, who had been with the Florida Department of Corrections for 21 years, also was killed in the crash, which remains under investigation.
The two officers are among nine deaths across the state attributed to a blunt-force injury and Irma.
Irma is also credited with five deaths by drowning and four deaths involving carbon monoxide.
Palm Beach County is listed at two deaths, both due to drowning. The Palm Beach Post reported a woman died Friday in Loxahatchee and that three people were hospitalized after carbon monoxide seeped into a house from a generator set up next to a garage.
Orange County has five deaths linked to the hurricane, including the carbon-monoxide deaths of a mother and two teenage children.
Four deaths have been reported in Hillsborough County, through drowning, skull fractures, blood loss and head injuries. Other deaths, meanwhile, have been linked to such causes as heart conditions.
One death has been tied to heat exhaustion, although the death in Broward County also was tied to “chronic alcoholism.”
by The News Service of Florida
Escambia Man Gets 20 Years For Kidnapping, Carjacking, Battery
September 19, 2017
State Attorney Bill Eddins announced that Corey Bowick has been sentenced by Circuit Judge Thomas Dannheisser to 20 years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of probation. Bowick entered a plea of no contest to armed kidnapping with a weapon with the intent to commit a felony, carjacking with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, and aggravated battery.
Co-defendant Carlton Lamar was also sentenced on September 15, 2017 by Circuit Judge Thomas Dannheisser to 15 years in state prison to be followed by five years of probation. Lamar pled no contest to armed kidnapping with a weapon
with the intent to commit a felony, carjacking with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, and aggravated battery. Since there is no parole in Florida, Bowick and Lamar will be required to serve 85% of their prison sentence.
Co-Defendant Iesha McGaster pled no contest on May 8 to principal to armed kidnapping with a weapon with the intent to commit a felony, carjacking with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, and aggravated battery. McGaster’s will be sentenced on October 2. She faces up to life in state prison.
In the early morning hours of March 7, the victim went to Iesha McGaster’s residence in Foley, AL to loan her money. When he arrived, he was attacked and tied up by Bowick, McGaster, and Lamar. Ultimately, he was forced into his own vehicle and driven to Pensacola to get money from his place of employment. While traveling in Pensacola, the victim jumped out of the moving car on Pace Blvd. when he saw a law enforcement vehicle parked in Town and Country Plaza. The defendants were arrested shortly thereafter on Fairfield Drive.
Bratt Elementary Names Students Of The Month
September 19, 2017
The following students (pictured above) were named Students of the Month for August at Bratt Elementary School.
Pre-K
MaryStephen Moody
Levi Milliken (not pictured)
Kindergarten
Chayton Rolin
Rylan Johnson
Braylie Harrison (not pictured)
Brooklynne Fountain (not pictured)
1st Grade
Carson Eady
Sophia Ikner
Mi’Kavion White
Noah Luker
2nd Grade
Lanie Steadham
Robbie Goens
Kameryn Thompson
Madalynn Pittman
3rd Grade
Cobie Wiggins
Makayla Plato
Christian Caraway
4th Grade
LanDon Johnson
Maggie Stewart
Lauren Abbott
DaShay Robinson (not pictured)
5th Grade
Ally Richardson
Markavia Johnson
Colby Pugh
In addition, Chayton Rolin and Maggie Stewart were chosen to represent Bratt Elementary School as Escambia County Students of the Month for August.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Devere Knowles Moye
September 19, 2017
Mrs. Devere Knowles Moye, 85, passed away Saturday, September 16, 2017, in Jay, Florida.
Mrs. Moye was a native and lifelong resident of Flomaton, AL. She was a wonderful and loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and mother-in-law. She retired from the Escambia County Board of Education as a bus driver with 34 years of service. She attended the Lambeth Holiness Church, where she was a Sunday School teacher. She is preceded in death by her husband, Mr. Leroy Moye, parents and all of her siblings.
She is survived by her three sons, James Earl (Darlene) Moye of Flomaton, AL, Curtis (Charlotte) Moye of Flomaton, AL and Robert (Anita) Moye of Flomaton, AL; two daughters, Linda Sue (David) Raines of Atmore, AL and Glenda Moye of Flomaton, AL; nine grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and one sister-in-law, Clara Stokes of Flomaton, AL.
Funeral services were held Tuesday, September 19, 2017, at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Josh Pope and Rev. Andy Boutwell officiating.
Burial was at the Traveler’s Rest Cemetery.
Pallbearers were C. Robert Moye, Nicholas Moye, Will Schneeflock, Wes Erickson, Randy Jackson and Jeremy Pridgen.
Honorary pallbearers were be Ronald Moye and David Gertson.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Century Approves Increased $4.6 Million Budget
September 19, 2017
The Town of Century voted Monday night to approved a $4.6 million budget. That’s an increase of 23 percent over the last fiscal year budget.
The budget is $4,609,519, up from $3,746,888.36 last fiscal year.
The council also approved a rollback millage rate of .9204, which is no increase over last year.
The new budget year for Century begins October 1.
To see the complete budget, click here.
William Arley Bryan
September 19, 2017
Mr. William Arley “W.A.” Bryan, 92, passed away on Sunday, September 17, 2017, in Pensacola, Florida.
Mr. Bryan was a native and lifelong resident of Poplar Dell, Florida. He was a veteran of WWII in the U.S. Army. He retired from St. Regis Paper Company with 40 years of service and was a member of the Poplar Dell Baptist Church. He is preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Margaret Mayo Bryan and a son, Fred R. Bryan.
He is survived by one son, Bill (Jeri) Bryan of Cabot, AR; one daughter, Ann Bryan (Bill) Baker of Sarasota, FL; one brother, Kenneth Bryan of Molino, FL; two sisters, Jeanette Hurst of Pensacola, FL and Juanita Hubacher of Lillian, AL; two grandchildren, Greg Bryan of Cabot, AR and Meredith Baker of Cape Carol, FL; and three great-grandchildren, Chris Bryan, Caitlin Bryan and Hadan Baker.
Memorial services will be held Wednesday, September 20, 2017, at 11 a.m. at the Poplar Dell Baptist Church with Rev. Mitch Herring officiating.
Family will receive friends Wednesday, September 20, 2017 from 10 a.m. until service time at the Poplar Dell Baptist Church.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Irma Insurance Claims Already Nearly $2 Billion In Florida
September 19, 2017
With 335,000 insurance claims representing $1.9 billion in property losses, Hurricane Irma has already exceeded the claims and losses from the two hurricanes that pummeled Florida last year, the state Office of Insurance Regulation reported Monday.
Calculated through Sunday afternoon, Irma’s losses easily exceeded the 119,000 claims and $1.2 billion in losses for Hurricane Matthew and the 19,700 claims and $139 million in losses from Hurricane Hermine, the OIR data showed.
The heaviest claims activity was in the half-dozen counties that form the southern tip of Florida: Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier and Lee. The area bore the brunt of Irma, which hit the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds on Sept. 10, and then made a second landfall in Collier County, before moving up the state.
Citizens Property Insurance, which is among the state’s largest property insurance companies with some 443,000 policies, has not been able to calculate a projected property loss yet, said Michael Peltier, a spokesman for the state-backed insurer.
As of Monday morning, Peltier said Citizens, which is the largest property insurer in the Florida Keys, had received 27,970 claims, with company officials estimating they will eventually receive 125,000 claims because of the storm.
Citing projected losses in the range of $25 billion to $50 billion from Irma, Fitch Ratings said the property losses will test the reinsurance market, which provides backup coverage for the property insurers.
“Reinsurers will bear a large portion of losses from Irma, but the reinsurance market is well equipped to handle substantial hurricane losses in part due to a lack of major hurricane landfalls in the 11 years before Irma,” said Chris Grimes, a director at Fitch.
The Fitch report also noted the rise of new insurance companies since Florida’s record 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. Those new companies have taken market share previously held by Citizens, the government-backed insurer.
Fitch said the newer companies haven’t faced a major hurricane before, but because Irma’s “losses will be less than previously feared, the majority are unlikely to have losses from the event that exceed catastrophe reinsurance program limits.”
Security First Insurance, the second largest insurer of single-family homes in Florida, with 340,000 overall policies, is one of the companies that has expanded since the last major hurricane seasons.
Locke Burt, a former state senator who is president of the Ormond Beach company, said he estimates Security First will receive about 30,000 claims from Irma, with losses not to exceed $300 million.
His company’s policies are concentrated in Central and North Florida, with Burt estimating the insurer only has about 22,000 policies in the six counties most heavily impacted by Irma.
Nonetheless, Burt said the company brought in 1,000 temporary workers, including 490 loss adjusters, to deal with the storm’s aftermath.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Burt said. “Every claim represents a disruption of some family’s life. And our job is to try to put people’s lives back together as fast as we can.”
Burt said Security First had some 12,000 claims as a result of Hurricane Matthew last year, representing $90 million in losses. Matthew did not hit Florida but caused significant damage as it traveled up the Atlantic coast.
Hermine made landfall south of Tallahassee and caused damage across parts of North Florida.
Another impact from Irma will be flood damage, which is generally not covered by property insurers but falls under the National Flood Insurance Program, with 1.73 million policies in Florida, the most of any state.
There are 23,000 federal flood policies in Jacksonville, one of the areas hardest by the flooding.
The federal program paid out $623 million in claims from Hurricane Matthew last year in Florida and other states, with individual claims averaging $38,305, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
by The News Service of Florida