FDOT: Weekly Traffic Alerts
September 18, 2017
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
· State Road (S.R.) 289 (9th Avenue) at Carpenter Creek- North and southbound outside lanes of 9th Avenue, north of Carpenter Creek, will be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews take core samples from the roadway.
· U.S. 98 (Gregory Street) to I-110 Southbound off ramp Bridge Painting– Motorists will encounter a traffic shift on the I-110 to Gregory Street off ramp from 8 p.m.to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews perform painting operations.
· Interstate 10 (I-10)/U.S. 29 Interchange Improvements Phase I- Drivers will encounter the following traffic impacts on I-10 near the U.S. 29 interchange (Exits 10A and 10B) from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews perform construction activities.
· Alternating east and westbound I-10 and north and southbound U.S. 29 lane closures.
· Intermittent closure of the U.S. 29 south to I-10 eastbound ramp and the U.S. 29 north to I-10 eastbound ramp. Traffic will be detoured on U.S. 29 to access I-10 eastbound.
· Intermittent closure of the I-10 westbound to U.S. 29 south ramp (Exit 10A). Traffic will be detoured to Exit 10B.
· Alternating lane closures on the I-10 westbound to U.S. 29 north ramp (Exit 10B).
· Crews will open an additional “exit only” lane from I-10 westbound to U.S. 29 north (Exit 10B) beginning Thursday, Sept. 21. Traffic on this exit ramp will also be shifted to the outside as crews continue working on the new “Exit 10”.
· I-10 Widening from Davis Highway to the Escambia Bay Bridge- Alternating east and westbound lane closures on I-10 between Davis Highway (Exit 13) and Scenic Highway (Exit 17), and on Scenic Highway near the I-10 interchange from 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews perform construction activities.
· U.S. 29 Widening from I-10 to Nine Mile Road- Drivers traveling U.S. 29 and Nine Mile Road will encounter traffic pattern changes from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. as follows:
· Nine Mile Road at the U.S. 29 overpass: The nightly eastbound traffic shift onto the westbound inside travel lane will begin again Sunday, Sept. 17 as crews continue to prepare the area for construction of the support column for the new center bridge deck
· U.S. 29 between I-10 and 9 1/2 Mile Road: Alternating lane closures resume Monday, Sept. 18 as crews perform drainage operations.
· S.R. 30 (U.S. 98) Pensacola Bay Bridge Replacement- Crews will remove and grade medians this week. Drivers can expect alternating lane restrictions on Bayfront Parkway between 14th Avenue and the bridge from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Saturday, Sept. 23. Tuesday, Sept. 19, westbound lane restrictions will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
· S.R. 292 (Barrancas Avenue) Underground Utility Operations- Expect intermittent westbound outside lane closers between Old Barrancas Avenue and Old Corry Field Road from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday, Sept 19 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews test and repair air leaks in manholes.
· S.R.10A/U.S.98 (Mobile Highway) Turn Lane at Woodside Road-Traffic on Woodside Road may encounter minor delays at the intersection of Mobile Highway from Monday, Sept. 18 through Friday, Sept. 22 as utility relocation efforts continue. There will be no lane closures within the school zone Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Traffic flaggers will be on site to direct traffic through the work zone. This work is being performed in relation to the current turn lane project.
· S.R. 742 (Creighton Road) Construction Improvement Project from east of Davis Highway to Scenic Highway– Intermittent and alternating lane closures between Davis Highway and Scenic Highway from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. resume Sunday night, Sept. 17 as crews begin milling and paving operations, and perform sidewalk repairs and Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades.
· Nine Mile Road (S.R. 10/U.S. 90A) Widening from Pine Forest Road to U.S. 29- Alternating lane closures resume Monday, Sept. 18 on Untreiner Avenue as crews perform jack and bore operations.
Santa Rosa County
· U.S. 98 Access Management Improvements (Bal Alex Avenue, Magnolia Manor Drive, El Rito Street, Harvard Drive, Oriole Beach Road)- Intermittent east and westbound lane restrictions on U.S. 98 at the intersection of Bal Alex Avenue from 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15 to 5:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16. Intermittent and alternating lane closures on U.S. 98 at the intersections of Bal Alex Avenue and El Rito Street from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 17 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews continue median improvements.
· U.S. 98 Utility Relocation in Gulf Breeze- East and westbound outside lanes near the Hampton Inn will be closed from 8 pm. to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept 18 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews relocate utilities for the City of Gulf Breeze in relation to the Pensacola Bay Bridge project.
· U.S. 98 Turn Lane Construction Navarre- Westbound lane closure across from Joybrook Road in Navarre from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Wednesday, Sept. 20 as crews install turn lanes for a new Walmart Neighborhood Market.
· S.R. 399 (Pensacola Beach Boulevard) at the U.S. 98 (Gulf Breeze Boulevard) Interchange- Drivers can expect intermittent lane restrictions from 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17 to 5:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 on Pensacola Beach Boulevard at U.S. 98 as crews take core samples of the roadway. Construction activities to include removal of the walking path and asphalt operations are anticipated to begin the week of Sept 25. Ramp and lane restrictions are only allowed between the hours of 8 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., only one ramp is allowed to be closed at a time. During ramp closures, traffic will be shifted into one lane and detoured. Motorists are reminded to pay attention to the advanced warning signs and signed detour route.
· U.S. 98 (S.R. 30) Pensacola Bay Bridge Replacement – Crews continue grading, barrier wall construction, and drainage work this week. Drivers can expect alternating east and westbound lane closures near the bridge in Gulf Breeze from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Thursday, Sept 21. Tuesday, Sept. 19, westbound lane closures will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
· I-10 Widening from Escambia Bay Bridge to Avalon Boulevard (Exit 22) –Alternating lane closures on I-10, from the Escambia Bay Bridge to east of S.R. 281 (Avalon Boulevard/Exit 22), from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18 through Thursday, Sept. 21 as crews work to widen the roadway. In addition, alternating lane closures on Avalon Boulevard, near the I-10 interchange, as reconstruction of the Avalon Boulevard overpass continues.
· S.R. 87 Multilane from Eglin AFB Boundary to Hickory Hammock Road –Traffic between County Road 184 (Hickory Hammock Road) and the Eglin AFB boundary is restricted to loads under 11-feet wide. The restriction will be in place through late 2018.
Florida Lawmakers Likely To Face Tough Budget
September 18, 2017
A key economist offered a sobering message Friday to state lawmakers: Forget having extra cash for next year’s budget.
A long-range financial analysis projected that lawmakers would have a relatively slim $52 million surplus as they put together the 2018-2019 budget. But that was before Hurricane Irma blew through the state early this week.
Amy Baker, who directs the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, told a joint House and Senate budget panel Friday that the state’s costs in grappling with Irma will erase the surplus — and likely put lawmakers in a budget hole.
“I would advise you to assume that $52 million is completely gone,” Baker told members of the Joint Legislative Budget Commission.
The legislative panel approved the annual financial analysis, technically known as a “long range financial outlook.” The report, put together by Baker’s office, the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee, includes voluminous data and makes assumptions about issues such as amounts that lawmakers will spend on critical programs and amounts they will place in reserves.
“In short, it’s a starting place to kind of assist us in planning for the state’s fiscal future,” said House Health Care Appropriations Chairman Jason Brodeur, a Sanford Republican who presided at Friday’s meeting.
While the analysis showed a $52 million surplus before Irma, it projected shortfalls of nearly $1.15 billion during the 2019-2020 fiscal year and $1.64 billion during the 2020-2021 year.
Baker said the key to the projected $52 million surplus was a gambling deal that Gov. Rick Scott reached with the Seminole Tribe of Florida this summer. She said the effect of the deal was to “flood in” $550.7 million for the coming year.
But Baker said analyses of past hurricanes have shown that the state spends significantly more on storm costs than it gets in additional tax dollars related to rebuilding. As examples, she said big state expenditures after hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 included beach-restoration costs and state matching funds to draw down money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
She said economists each year keep in mind “black swans” — events that are unlikely to happen but have high costs. Irma is such an event.
“Normally, black swans are forward-looking, but this one has arrived,” Baker said.
Lawmakers, who will start the 2018 legislative session in January, will have a variety of potential options for balancing the budget. For instance, they could cut spending or decide against making tax cuts.
But without even taking into account the costs from Irma, Baker said lawmakers should take steps that would help address the shortfalls projected for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 years.
“If you wait, it’s going to be much more disruptive and much more painful to deal with it all at once,” she said.
Local Unemployment Rate Falls Slightly
September 17, 2017
The latest job numbers show the employment rate falling slightly in Escambia County.
Escambia County’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent in August, down slightly from 4.3 percent in July. There were 5,854 people reported unemployed during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 5.0 percent.
Florida’s unemployment rate ticked down to 4 percent in August, as the state continued to fare better than the nation on joblessness.
Florida’s rate was down from 4.1 percent in July, according to numbers released Friday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. That represented 408,000 unemployed Floridians out of a workforce of 10,095,000.
The national unemployment rate in August was 4.4 percent.
The Department of Economic Opportunity said Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, had the state’s lowest jobless rate in August, at 2.7 percent. Monroe was followed by St. Johns County at 3.2 percent and Walton and Okaloosa counties at 3.3 percent. Hendry County had the highest unemployment rate at 10.2 percent. It was followed by Hardee County at 7.1 percent and Glades County at 6.3 percent.
The jobless numbers released by the state do not include persons that have given up on finding a job and are no longer reported as unemployed.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Charging Trailer Recharges Connections For Irma Evacuees
September 17, 2017
Gulf Power’s innovation team built a solar-powered charging trailer, “Power to Go,” just in time for the start of hurricane season this year.
Equipped with charging ports for smartphones and tablets, plus multiple television screens, Gulf Power planned to take the trailer to areas hit by major storms so customers could charge up their phones during major power outages. At the same time, customers could catch up on local news and weather and view a power outage map to monitor restoration progress.
When the mega-sized Hurricane Irma rolled over most of the state of Florida, sending evacuees fleeing out of harm’s way to Northwest Florida, Gulf Power saw an unexpected need for the trailer. It was set up at the Pensacola Bay Center so weary evacuees, some who had traveled from Miami, Tampa and points in between, could charge up their phones.
“Some of them left their homes in such a hurry, they forgot their chargers,” said Shaun Gunter, Gulf Power’s Renewable Market specialist, who helped build the charging trailer and manned it at the Bay Center. “People were desperate to access their contacts in their phones, which they couldn’t recall by memory.”
The charging station has been used at community events. But testing it out for Irma helped reveal some ways to improve the free service for Gulf Power customers. “We learned some things like people need to charge a variety of things besides cell phones,” Gunter said. “And we need a wider variety of charging adapters for people with older phones.”
Gunter went above and beyond to help with the unexpected demand for adapters for a variety of devices that evacuees routinely use during their everyday life. He dug into his stash of charging adapters he’s collected over the years and searched for other hard-to-find adapters at a few local electronics vendors.
“I found chargers that would help with blood sugar monitors, portable car GPS units, wireless headphones and older flip-phones,” he said. “It was important because you can’t just go out and buy these chargers at Walmart.”
Gunter was especially touched by an elderly man, Tom, who evacuated alone from Tampa. He had a Jitterbug phone made for senior citizens with a dead battery and was desperate to get it charged up so he could call family.
He said it made his day to get it charged up,” Gunter said. “I just gave him the charging adapter I found for him. He would still need it after we mobilized the trailer to another location.”
Danny and Tracey Ross of Fort Lauderdale were among those who fled their home without a charger. While charging their phones at the Power to Go charging trailer, Danny Ross recounted how they meandered through the state trying to get out of harms’ way and find gas along the way. “We were trying to find a place to stop … the rest areas had a thousand cars,” he said. “We came to Pensacola.”
Tracey Ross said they found the shelter at the Bay Center while hunting for a Starbucks, and when they saw the charging trailer, they were relieved. “We were glued to the televisions catching up on information about the storm and charging our phones,” she said. “If we didn’t have the chargers, we would have had no way to contact our family.”
Demand from the evacuees also underscored how great the demand is for smaller, portable charging stations that could be easily moved around. So Gulf Power collected portable charging stations it uses for special events like the annual Economic Symposium and partnered with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, a minor league baseball team, to borrow portable charging stations that were installed at the stadium to take to both the Pensacola Bay Center and a shelter in Marianna, on the eastern edge of our service area. On a recent pass through the halls of the Pensacola shelter, it was clear by the number of phones plugged-in the need was great.
“We got involved because we were trying to support evacuees as best as we could and make their stay in Northwest Florida as stress-free as possible,” said Verdell Hawkins, Gulf Power Community Relations director. “The American Red Cross said the basic needs for the shelters were met, but we could provide comfort and recreation.”
In addition to the charging stations, Gulf Power also donated board games and playing cards for the more than 400 evacuees who took refuge at the two shelters to use.
The games were a hit, Hawkins said. On Monday, a mother from Clearwater was keeping her toddler entertained and helping him learn to count with a game called Connect 4, while other families were passing time by huddling in circles playing card games.
Gunter also realized that evacuees needed information from their hometowns. So instead of posting Gulf Power’s outage map on one of the TV monitors, as he would for our customers in the event of a storm, he pulled up outage maps for central and south Florida utilities, such as Tampa Electric and Florida Power & Light. He also helped evacuees access road condition information and live traffic cameras from Florida Department of Transportation so they could make travel plans home.
“I showed them how to sign up to get email and text alerts from their utility, so they could find out when their power is restored,” said Gunter “Many of them didn’t even know they could do that.”
Body Found In Pensacola
September 17, 2017
Pensacola Police are conducting a death investigation after a man’s body was found Saturday afternoon in a wooded lot.
The man, whose name is not yet being released pending family notification, is believed to be a transient. Police were dispatched to the area at the southeast corner of Pace Boulevard and Garden Street around 3:45 p.m. after being notified of the man’s death.
An autopsy will be done to determine cause of death.
Anyone having information on the incident is asked to contact Detectives Andy Burleson or Jeff Brown at the Pensacola Police Department by calling (850) 435- 1900.
Northview Students Address Escambia Educational Association About Space Shuttle Grant
September 17, 2017
Two Northview High School students recently addressed the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation to discuss their experiences with a grant that Northview received last year. The visit was designed to tell prospective donors about how the grants aid the educational process.
The grant received by Northview allowed students the chance to explore the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984.
Northview High School teacher Jim Shugart explains:
“The grant was called, The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. This was chosen to give our students a chance to analyze a catastrophe which happened before they were born. They were able to investigate all aspects of the disaster from watching videos and reading transcripts and testimonies.
“Valen Shelly represented the Mathematics Department, who analyzed the 73-second flight path of the ill-fated Challenger and then critically reviewed all evidence (available on the internet) to find the actual cause of the disaster (we found there were two consecutive failures causing the loss of life and equipment).
“Keaton Brown represented the NJROTC department who actually built model rockets and launched them in order to view and analyze flight path data. Additionally, the NJROTC cadets got hands-on experience with the assembly of the rockets, while some found that a lack of attention to detail would cause bad results.
“Overall, the grant project was a huge success that caused students to come out of their comfort zone and investigate some hard-hitting facts of reality along with the ramifications of not doing the right thing.”"
Pictured: Northview High School teacher Jim Shugart, Keaton Brown and Valen Shelly. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Expansion Of E-Books Could Equate To Student Savings
September 17, 2017
Florida universities are taking the first steps toward expanding the use of electronic textbooks and other material, hoping to bring significant savings to students who spend hundreds of dollars each semester on traditional textbooks.
The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the university system, approved a 2018-19 budget request this week that includes a $656,000 program to encourage the greater use of so-called “eTexts” and other open educational resources in lieu of the standard textbooks.
It may take some time to replicate the experience of the University of Indiana, a leader in the use of eTexts, with IU reporting last spring that its students saved an estimated $3.5 million in the 2016-17 academic year by using eTexts in place of textbooks.
But Joseph Glover, provost at the University of Florida, who is part of a group coordinating innovation and online programs among the universities, said the expanded use of eTexts and other open-source material “is a great opportunity for really substantial savings for our students.”
Glover said the Indiana experience “demonstrates that with a solid program and a sustained effort promoting the adoption, that over the course of a decade, you are going to end up saving the students literally millions of dollars per year.”
In a survey of 22,000 students at Florida’s 12 universities and 28 state colleges, the Florida Virtual Campus reported 53 percent of the students spent more than $300 in the spring 2016 semester on textbooks, with about 18 percent reporting they spent more than $500.
Faced with those costs, students have found other ways to deal with the financial burden, including buying used textbooks and renting textbooks.
And Jennifer Smith, director of the UF Office of Faculty Development and Teaching Excellence, said individual universities have already embarked on pilot programs aimed at cutting textbook costs.
At UF, she said the school negotiated a 43 percent discount off book publishers’ list prices for textbooks used in 79 freshman-level courses last fall. The discount saved the students an estimated $941,000, Smith said.
At Florida State University, an “alternative textbook” program will save students some $41,000 over the course of this academic year, Smith said.
“When we can populate this across the entire (system) and expand these programs, I think we will see significant savings with actually a relatively low outlay of costs,” Smith told the BOG’s Innovation and Online Committee at a meeting in Gainesville Wednesday.
The budget proposal would set aside $656,000 to create a “catalog” where professors and other instructors, as they are developing their courses, will find open-source material as well as eTexts where lower prices have been negotiated with the publishers, Glover said.
He also said a review process will be set up to assure the materials in the catalog are “high quality” and meet the universities’ educational standards.
“This is important because a problem in the past has been that resources available in the system repository have been of a mixed quality, which the faculty found frustrating and which caused them not to use it as much,” Glover said.
Glover said students will have the option of using the eTexts and other material or sticking with their traditional textbooks. But he said one advantage of the electronic material is that a system will be set up where students will pay for the access and have the eTexts available on the first day of their classes.
He also said the universities were looking a providing some type of “financial incentive” for instructors to use the alternative textbooks, but nothing has been finalized.
Ed Morton, a Board of Governors member, said he supported the efforts to decrease textbooks costs for the students.
“The cost of textbooks is a barrier for our students just like room and board,” Morton said.
by The News Service of Florida
ERC And Southwest Alabama Football Scores
September 17, 2017
Here are week 3 scores from ERC and Southwest Alabama youth league football:
ERC Senior scores
Brewton- 47, Flomaton- 0
Jay- 2, Poarch- 0 (forfeit)
Excel- 48, Baker- 0
Straughn- 2, Uriah- 0 (forfeit)
NWE-14, Neal- 7
ERC Junior Scores
Brewton- 40, Flomaton- 0
Poarch- 45, Jay- 0
Baker- 19, Excel- 6
Straughn- 27, Uriah- 6
Neal- 26, NWE- 12
ERC Sophomore Scores
Brewton-38,Flomaton- 0
Jay- 7, Poarch- 0
Baker- 13, Excel- 6
Uriah- 19, Straughn- 18
NWE- 32, Neal- 31 3OT
ERCFreshman Scores
Brewton- 39, Flomaton- 0
Poarch- 25, Jay- 0
Baker- 21, Excel- 13
Straughn- 20, Uriah- 0
Neal- 18, NWE- 0
SW AL Scores
Mighty Mights 4-7 year olds
Century 32, Castleberry 14
Tiny Mites 8-10 year olds
Century 20, Castleberry 0
Pee Wees 11-13 year olds
Castleberry 22, Century 0
Beulah Beltway Project Meeting Rescheduled
September 17, 2017
Due to Hurricane Irma response around the state, the previously scheduled Beulah I-10 Interchange Project update from the Florida Department of Transportation was rescheduled from the Thursday, Sept. 14 Committee of the Whole Meeting to the Thursday, Sept. 21 Agenda Review meeting in the Escambia County Commission Chambers.
At this meeting, FDOT staff will give an update on the Beulah I-10 Interchange Project, including their plans for future development of the interchange project.
Agenda Review begins at 9 a.m. The public is welcome to attend or watch the meeting on MyEscambia.com/ectv, channel 98 for Spectrum, Cox Cable and Mediacom (Pensacola Beach) subscribers and channel 99 for AT&T U-verse subscribers. Meetings are also available for replay on ECTV On Demand.
Following the Sept. 21 meeting, Escambia County will hold an after-hours Beulah Beltway public meeting. Details will be announced as soon as they are available. The meeting will include a formal presentation with updated project costs, timelines and other project details. The public will also have an opportunity to comment and ask questions.
For more information and updates about the Beulah Beltway project
Partly Sunny, Chance Of Showers For Your Sunday
September 17, 2017
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Today: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, otherwise partly sunny, with a high near 91. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm. Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86.