Driver Escapes Serious Injury In Highway 97 Crash
April 19, 2017
A driver escaped serious injury in a single vehicle crash on Highway 97 near Walnut Hill just before midnight Tuesday.
The adult female driver was northbound on Highway 97 near Howell Road when she left the roadway, with her Chevrolet Cruze striking a concrete culvert before coming to rest in a ditch. The woman refused transport to the hospital. She reportedly told authorities that she ran off the roadway after trying to avoid a deer.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Atmore Ambulance and the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Putting It On The Line – Lineworker Appreciation Day
April 19, 2017
Tuesday, Gulf Power and the State of Florida recognized the contributions and dedication of lineworkers during Lineworker Appreciation Day, a day set-aside by the state Legislature in 2012.
Gulf Power paid special tribute to almost 200 employees that work on the company’s 9,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines between Pensacola and Panama City, which serves more than 450,000 customers.
Over the past few years, the Pensacola area has endured an ice storm, a 500-year flood and most recently, severely damaging tornados. While most people seek shelter during these storms, Gulf Power lineworkers venture out into the dangerous elements, putting it all on the line to restore power, and hope.
Despite numerous safety precautions, these workers face dangerous conditions on a daily basis. It’s a job that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is one of the deadliest and most dangerous in the United States.
Yet, with all the known hazards of working with electricity, lineworkers are committed to keeping the energy flowing safely to homes and businesses no matter the conditions or weather.
Pictured: Gulf Power lineworker Demetric Washington. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Eight Rounded Up On Narcotics Charges
April 19, 2017
The Flomaton Police Department has announced the arrest of eight people on drug charges:
- Caleb Turk-unlawful possession of controlled substance methamphetamine, chemical endangerment of child
- Michael Depew-attempt to commit controlled substance crime, unlawful possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine) (two counts) , possession of drug paraphernalia (two counts)
- Kellie Moore-unlawful possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine) , chemical endangerment of child
- Terrance Malone-unlawful possession of controlled substance (two counts) Phentermine, Oxycodone
- Miriah Turk-unlawful possession of controlled substance (two counts) Phentermine, Oxycodone
- Ame Roley-attempt to commit controlled substance crime, unlawful possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of drug paraphernalia
- Devin Ratliff- unlawful possession of controlled substance (methamphetamine)
- Justin Cornett-unlawful possession of controlled substance (Lorazepam), public intoxication, illegal possession prescription drugs
Flomaton Police Chief Bryan Davis said the arrests of Caleb Turk, Mirah Turk and Terrance Malone stemmed from a related case. The other arrests were from separate, unrelated cases.
NorthEscambia.com graphic, click to enlarge.
McDonald Named National Merit Scholarship Winner
April 19, 2017
Jacob A. McDonald of Cantonment has been named the winner of a National Merit Southern Company Scholarship.
McDonald, a senior at West Florida Highway School is considering a future career in public policy.
More than 1,000 distinguished high school seniors won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.
Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
Image courtesy Facebook.
Tate Beats Crestview 12-2
April 19, 2017
The Tate Aggies beat Crestview Tuesday 12-2.
Trey LaFleur earned the win for the Aggies. He tossed four innings, surrendering one run, three hits, striking out six, and walking one.
Tate Aggies Varsity collected 11 hits. Tanner Helton, Jesse Sherrill, Logan McGuffey, and Reid Halfacre each collected multiple hits for Tate Aggies Varsity. Logan Blackmon went 1-for-2 with a homerun and four RBIs.
Tate hitters — Reid Halfacre 2-2, RBI, 2R; Mason Land R, RBI; Logan McGuffey 2-4, 3 RBI, R; Logan Blackmon 1-2, 4 RBI, 2 R, HR; Kyler Hultgren RBI; Hunter NeSmith R; Tanner Helton 3-4, 2R; Jesse Sherrill 2-3, 2 R, RBI.
Up next, the Aggies will host Escambia on Thursday.
Century Presents Historic Tree Marker To ‘Heritage Tree’ Owners
April 19, 2017
The Town of Century recently presented a historic tree marker to the owners of the town’s first heritage tree.
The town’s Land Development Code defines a “historic tree” as one that has been designated by the Town of Century has one of notable historic interest and value to the town because of its location or historical association with the community.
Joan Carnley of West State Line Road submitted a Heritage Tree Nomination Form for the designation of of a magnolia tree on her property as a heritage tree, defined as any tree with a diameter of at least 30 inches or seven feet, 10 inches in circumference, whichever is less, measured 54 inches above ground level.
Carnley said her tree is 11-feet, four inches in circumference. Carnley’s home was constructed in 1938, but the tree predates the home and has been estimated to be 150 to 175 years old.
Now approved as heritage tree by the town council, the tree can’t be removed without finding by the council that the tree is hazard or it is no economically or practically feasible to develop the parcel without removing the tree.
There are no other designated historic trees in Century.
Pictured top: Century Mayor Henry Hawkins presents a historic tree marker to Hal and Joan Carnley. Pictured inset and bottom: The heritage tree magnolia on West State Line Road. Pictured below: Hawkins, the Carnleys and Century council members Ann Brooks, Gary Riley, Ben Boutwell and Luis Gomez. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Legislative Compromise Won’t Allow Smoking Cannabis
April 19, 2017
Florida patients may be able to vape or munch on medical-marijuana products but they almost certainly won’t be allowed to light up joints or take bong hits, under a compromise being worked on by House and Senate leaders.
Lawmakers are trying to reach consensus on a proposal to carry out a constitutional amendment, overwhelmingly approved by more than 70 percent of voters last fall, that legalized medical marijuana for patients with a broad swath of conditions.
House and Senate committees on Tuesday approved two different approaches to the amendment, which could make Florida one of the largest marijuana markets in the country when fully implemented.
But neither side has any intention of allowing the marijuana products to be smoked, despite repeated demands from numerous patients, caregivers and others who insisted that smoking provides some people with the best type of treatment.
Lawyer Michael Minardi accused the House Appropriations Committee of thwarting the will of voters who supported the constitutional change and, he said, supported smoking marijuana products.
“These are veterans. These are the elderly. These are seniors, and people with ALS or PTSD, who benefit and use cannabis in a smoked form. What you are doing here, by creating this legislation when 71 percent of the people support it, is going against their will,” Minardi, who specializes in marijuana law, said.
But Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who has shepherded marijuana-related legislation through his chamber for the past three years, told The News Service of Florida that smoking is off the table.
“There is agreement between the majority of the House and Senate that the smoking of cannabis is not an act that is consistent with a healthy life and not consistent with consuming medicine,” Bradley said.
Bradley moved the two chambers’ propoosals farther apart late Tuesday when he allowed an amendment, sponsored by Miami Republican Frank Artiles, to be tacked onto his bill (SB 406) that would cap at three the number of dispensaries each medical- marijuana licensee could operate. Bradley said he would agree to the amendment but believed the number was too small.
“If there are no limits on the number of dispensaries, it would be very challenging, if ever, for there to be other entities to enter the market,” Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairwoman Anitere Flores, R-Miami, said.
But Jim McKee, a lobbyist for San Felasco Nurseries — one of seven current medical-marijuana license holders in the state — argued that capping the number of dispensaries could have a negative impact on access to treatment for rural patients.
Having too few dispensaries would increase the number of patients, estimated to total about 500,000 in Florida, who would rely on home delivery for marijuana products, McKee said.
“Do we really want what could be up to 1,000 vehicles a day delivering cannabis throughout the state of Florida?” he said.
But Ben Pollara, campaign manager for the political committee that backed the amendment, said he supported a limit on the number of dispensaries each license holder could have because it would force lawmakers to grant more licenses and open up the market.
Allowing the license holders to open unlimited numbers of retail facilities will cause patients to “suffer the consequences of a state-mandated monopoly,” Pollara argued.
“The business of medical marijuana will operate like cable companies. You can pick from one of a handful of providers, and they are all expensive, poor in quality, and lacking in customer service, since they have a captive audience of consumers,” he said.
Bradley said later the number of dispensaries “probably does not produce nearly enough access and storefronts to make sure that everybody who needs medical marijuana gets it,” but the inclusion of the dispensary cap gives the Senate another bargaining chip in talks with the House.
The Senate meeting unexpectedly was put on hold for 15 minutes after a man in the audience suffered a seizure.
“This is what happens to epileptics whose medicine doesn’t work for them anymore and they can’t get access to the one medicine that does actually work,” Stephani Scruggs said, as medical providers and Capitol police crowded around her husband, Michael Bowen. Bowen was eventually removed from the committee room.
After the meeting, Bradley told reporters that Bowen’s seizure “is another reminder that what we’re dealing with is people’s lives.”
“What frustrates many of us is so many people get caught up in the money of it,” Bradley said. “Hopefully what happened here today will remind everybody that what we are talking about is patients and what we are talking about is access to a drug that is now guaranteed under the Constitution.”
The Senate committee overwhelmingly approved Bradley’s proposal, which has one more stop before heading to the Senate floor, with less than three weeks left before the legislative session ends.
Differences between the two chambers’ plans include how products can be consumed.
The House bill also bans vaporizing or edible marijuana products, an element House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues, the bill’s sponsor, said could change.
Rodrigues, R-Estero, said vaporizing, or “vaping,” and edibles are part of negotiations with Bradley and could get folded into the House measure if the products could be accurately labeled.
The House committee also approved an amendment steering more than $20 million toward carrying out the amendment, including $10 million for a “statewide cannabis and marijuana education and use prevention campaign;” $5 million for a statewide impaired-driving education program; and about $8 million to pay for 55 positions at the Florida Department of Health.
The Florida Legislature first authorized medical marijuana in 2014, with a law that legalized non-euphoric cannabis products for patients with severe epilepsy, chronic muscle spasms or cancer.
Anticipating the November passage of what was known as Amendment 2, lawmakers last spring expanded the law to legalize full-strength marijuana for terminally ill patients.
The Senate plan (SB 406) would do away with a component in the current law requiring doctors to have relationships with patients for at least 90 days before being able to order marijuana treatment, a requirement many patients — and some lawmakers — have harshly criticized.
The House proposal maintains the 90-day waiting period for patients who do not have existing relationships with doctors.
Rep. Katie Edwards, a Plantation Democrat who was instrumental in passing the 2014 law, choked back tears while relating the story of a family member who was told he had to wait three months to get low-THC marijuana for his 5-month-old son, who had a rare form of cancer.
“I’m the lawmaker that has to defend the 90-day waiting period. I can’t keep apologizing for that anymore and neither should any of us,” Edwards said. “To tell a loved one, my own cousin, and have to rationalize the irrational, we can’t do that. … That 90-day period was ridiculous from the word go.”
The House committee approved the proposal along a strict party-line vote.
“The current bill in front of me, I do not believe, complies with what the voters voted for. In 100 fashions, it doesn’t comply,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, said before the vote.
But Rodrigues, whose bill relied heavily on recommendations from organizations that fought the constitutional amendment, reminded committee members that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
“This bill is indeed a work in progress. … Our goal is to produce an implementing bill that honors the letter and the spirit of the constitutional amendment and does it in a way that protects Florida citizens,” Rodrigues.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Devour Shrimp With Season High Runs, Hits
April 19, 2017
Pensacola manager Pat Kelly asserted since the beginning of the season that the Blue Wahoos would be a good hitting team.
The team entered Tuesday’s game with a team batting average below the Mendoza line at .194.
However, the Blue Wahoos, who have relied on pitching and defense to this point of the season to record the best record in the Southern League at 9-3, broke out for season-highs with seven runs and 11 hits to beat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 7-4, in front of 3,298 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Kelly said he remains confident in his lineup.
“We’re not going to hit .190 for the year,” Kelly said winking. “We’re coming along. We have a few more guys who need to get going.”
Pensacola broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Leon Landry, who was 0-18 this season, came into pinch hit and lined a sharp single of the arm of Jacksonville pitcher Tyler Bremer, to knock him out of the game and load the bases with two outs.
That’s when center fielder Brian O’Grady stepped to the plate. He had blasted his team-leading third homer off the video board in the fourth inning to give the Blue Wahoos a 4-0 lead. O’Grady was promptly walked by new pitcher Tyler Kinley that forced in Gabriel Guerrero, who had doubled earlier in the eighth, for a 5-4 lead.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Josh VanMeter stepped to the plate and slammed a single to right field to score both first baseman Angelo Gumbs, who reached base on an intentional walk, and Landry to put Pensacola ahead, 7-4.
Previously, VanMeter had struck out four times in a row. But Kelly said VanMeter has “earned his at bats,” playing in 10 games this year and batting .270.
“From day one he has hit the ball,” Kelly said. “I’m really impressed. This guy has hit all the way through the minor leagues.”
Van Meter said it was nice for the offense to finally come through for the pitching staff, which struggled Tuesday. Previously, the most Pensacola had scored was four runs, which the club did three times. The Blue Wahoos’ most hits previously were nine against the Tennessee Smokies in the opening series.
“Pitching has kind of been bailing us out during this first stretch of games,” VanMeter said of the pitching staff that has a Southern League-leading 2.06 ERA. “It was time for us to pick them up. They gave up four runs and we still won the game.”
Aristides Aquino, the Cincinnati Reds sixth best prospect after hitting 23 homers last year, is hitting the ball hard going 2-4 Tuesday with two RBIs. He is 3-8 with a run and three RBIs in the first two games against Jacksonville and raised his average 33 points to .194. Blue Wahoos shortstop Blake Trahan is 4-12 in his last three games and raised his average from .194 to .231.
Gabriel Guerrero remains on a terror going 3-4 with a triple and a double and two runs scored. The left fielder now has seven multi-hit games in the 12 games he has played.
Blue Wahoos right-hander Luis Castillo faced his former Jacksonville team Tuesday night. The flamethrower, who hit 101 on the stadium radar gun, threw five scoreless innings and allowed just three hits to the Jumbo Shrimp.
But then came the sixth inning and Jacksonville rallied to tie the score at 4-4 with Castillo giving up three of those runs, two of which were earned. The inning started with Pensacola Trahan making a week throw to first that was ruled an error and allowed Jacksonville’s Adeiny Hechavarria to reach first.
Hechavarria, the starting shortstop for the Miami Marlins, is playing for the Jumbo Shrimp as he recovers from a strained left oblique and is expected to be back with the Big League club on Friday. He was 1-4 and robbed of another hit by Pensacola center fielder Brian O’Grady who dived head first to catch a tailing line drive.
Jumbo Shrimp third baseman Brian Anderson then doubled Hechavarria home with a line drive in the right center gap that rolled to the fence to pull within, 4-1. After a groundout, Jacksonville right fielder John Norwood smacked a two-run homer off Castillo over the right field wall into Pensacola Bay to make the score, 4-3.
Castillo was replaced by Domingo Tapia, who gave up three singles and allowed the Jumbo Shrimp to tie the game, 4-4, when second baseman David Vidal scored on pinch hitter Alex Yarbrough sharp single to center.
“The first five innings everything was working great and then all of a sudden they start hitting the ball hard,” Kelly said. “Things didn’t go our way.”
Jimmy Herget earned his sixth save in six tries but even he gave up a walk and a single before finishing off Jacksonville.
Warmer Today, High Around 85
April 19, 2017
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the morning.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 63. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 74.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 78.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 81.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
April 19, 2017
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the period ending April 13 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Clark attended the Annual Kid’s Fishing Clinic in Pensacola. There were approximately 400 kids in attendance, making it one of the largest in the state. The kids were taught the basic techniques of fishing and were given a rod and reel. Officer Clark answered many fish and wildlife questions from the parents.
Officer McHenry attended the Annual Firefighters Challenge at Pensacola Beach. He displayed a marked patrol truck in a first responder’s area that was set for kids. He also handed out brochures and answered many questions.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Ramos received information that several men were fishing in Escambia Bay and keeping red snapper. After making his way to the area, the officer saw men actively fishing. When he asked the men if they had caught any fish, they replied that they had not. License and resource inspections revealed that one of the men had caught and kept two red snapper. The fish measured 11 and 10 inches, respectively. One of the men admitted he caught both fish. The fish were seized and the man was charged accordingly.
Officers Mullins and Hutchinson were patrolling the Yellow River Wildlife Management Area (WMA), when they saw a truck damaging the road by spinning out. They stopped the truck and approached the man driving it. While speaking with him, three more trucks with large mud tires pulled up to them covered in fresh mud. The officers discovered that they were all together. During interviews, the men driving the trucks admitted to riding along closed roads and mud riding in a closed clay pit. While the officers were driving back to the pit to access the damage to state lands, they saw more damage to the roadways that was caused by the four trucks. The officers issued each man a notice to appear citation for damage to public lands by a motor vehicle. They were also issued warnings for driving on closed roads.
This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
NorthEscambia.com photo.