Vernon L. Nyce
January 21, 2018
Vernon L. Nyce, age 73, died on Tuesday January 18, 2018. Vernon is survived by his wife of 52 years, Linda (Stover) Nyce; children, Darren Nyce and his wife, Rhoda Valpatice Nyce, Leann Stover Nyce; and four grandchildren, Lauren and Isabel Ballester, and Gabrielle and Josiah Nyce; brother, Ronald Nyce and his wife, Blanche; and, sister, Grace Nyce Hunt and her husband, John; along with several nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, Harvey and Grace Nyce; and his sister, Ruth Ann (Nyce) Frederick. A celebration of his life was held Saturday, January 20, 2018 in Atmore, Alabama. There will be a memorial service in the summer in Romulus NY at Seneca Community Church where he was a co-founder.
Vern loved his wife, Jesus and studying God’s word. He grew up in Bucks County PA and met the love of his life while ice skating on a local lake. Turns out lakes were going to be prominent in his life for some time. After marrying Linda on the lawn of Christopher Dock High School, and living in several places in the area – Bedminster, the “mouse house”, Perkasie,. In 1973, Vern moved his family to upstate New York in the Finger Lakes region. His dream of being a farmer was becoming a reality. He called the area God’s country. He and a few other fellow searchers started a church, Seneca Community Church . This church was a second home. Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night you could find Vern there ministering or teaching or learning. Some of his dearest friendships were forged there. Over time he would grow his farm to over a thousand acres, have pigs, cattle, chickens, and even sheep. Even after he moved away, he would still consider it home.
Growing tired of cold, he decided to try Alabama where he could grow three crops in two years. There he grew cotton, soybeans, wheat and corn. He enjoyed spending time at Escambia Seed and would love when his family would visit.
In 2000, he moved back to Pennsylvania to help care for his aging parents. After they died in 2008, he and Linda moved back to Alabama, while keeping his hands in the dirt in Pennsylvania. He lived out the rest of his days battling his heart, loving his wife, studying the Bible, and looking forward to seeing Jesus.
A Memorial Service was held Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 3 p.m. from Mennonite Christian Fellowship with Bro. Jim Weber and Bro. Anthony Swartzendruber officiating.
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.
Driver In Neck Brace Flees Hwy 97 Accident Scene
January 20, 2018
A driver already wearing a neck brace allegedly fled the scene of a crash on Highway 97 near Dogwood Park Friday afternoon.
The accident happened about 2:15 in the 2400 block of Highway 97, just north of Gibson Road. The vehicle that left the scene was described by a witness as a blue, older model four door sedan of an unknown type driven by a white male who was wearing a neck brace at the time of the crash. It is believed he left southbound on Highway 97.
The driver of the vehicle that remained on scene was not injured.
The crash is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at (850) 484-5000.
Pictured: One of the vehicles involved in a crash Friday afternoon on Highway 97 in Molino. The vehicle was removed from the roadway following the accident. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Library Book Blowout Sale Today: $5 For A Paper Bag Of Books
January 20, 2018
The Friends of the West Florida Library Winter Blowout Book Sale will be held today a the downtown library.
For just $5, visitors can take home as many books as will fit inside a brown paper grocery bag, with no limit on the number of bags. Proceeds will benefit the West West Florida Public Library’s efforts to build community and improve literacy.
The Main Library is located at 239 North Spring Street. The sale will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Woman Sentenced In ‘Flomo Klown’ Terroristic Clown Threat Case
January 20, 2018
A Flomaton woman has been sentenced in the 2016 “Flomo Klown case”.
Makayla Smith of Pecan Leaf Lane in Flomaton was sentenced to the maximum of 120 months in prison after pleading guilty to making a terroristic threat. But that sentence was then suspended and she was placed on probation for 60 months. If she violates probation, she could then be ordered to serve the full 120 month prison sentence. While on probation, Smith if forbidden to use social media.
Multiple Escambia County, AL, schools were were place on lockdown in September 2016 due to the report of possible violence from clown.
A Facebook page entitled “Flomo Klowns” that featured scary clowns with blood and other gore prompted the lockdown at Flomaton High School, Flomaton Middle School and Flomaton Elementary (all located on the same campus), Huxford Elementary north of Atmore, Escambia Academy near Atmore and a partial lockdown of Escambia County High School in Atmore.
The Flomo Klowns Facebook page said that they were from Flomaton and contained statements such as “I kill people for a living” and a Thursday post that stated “It’s going down tonight”.
At least two juveniles were also charged in the case, but information on their cases has not been released. None of the suspects had affiliation with or were attending the public school system.
Execution Date Set For Man That Brutally Murdered UWF Student
January 20, 2018
An execution date has been set for a man convicted of the brutal death of a University of West Florida student 25 years ago.
Eric Scott Branch is now set to die on Thursday, February 22 at 6 p.m. according to a death warrant signed Friday by Gov. Rick Scott.
On the evening of January 11, 1993, Branch attacked Susan Morris as she walked to her car in the campus parking lot of the University of West Florida. Branch dragged Morris into a nearby wooded area where he severely beat her in the face and head, strangled her, and sexually battered her. Branch then left Morris’ body in a shallow grave covered with dirt and leaves, and stole her car to flee out of the state.
An Escambia County jury convicted Branch in 1994 of first-degree murder and sexual battery.
Branch was previously convicted for the 1991 sexual battery and beating of a 14-year-old girl in Indiana, and was subsequently convicted in Bay County for another sexual battery that he had committed 10 days prior to killing Susan Morris.
Registration Going On At Molino, NWE, Century Ballparks
January 20, 2018
Registration is underway at the Century Little League and Northwest Escambia Bradberry Park.
Century Little League
Registration for the Century Little League 2018 baseball and softball season will be held at Showalter Park in Century as follows:
Saturday January 27, 9 a.m. – noon
Thursday February 1, 6-8 p.m.
Saturday February 3, 9 a.m. – noon
The registration fee is $50 for the first child, $45 for each additional sibling. Teams are available for ages 4 and up. A birth certificate copy is needed for sign-up.
Payment by cash or check (payable to “Century Little League”) is due in full at time of sign-up. For more information, contact B.J. Reid at (850) 426- 7592, Nathan Brown at (850) 377- 0962, or Kristina Broom at (850) 305- 6712.
Northwest Escambia Bradberry Park
Online registration is underway at nwebaseball.com until February 3. A late registration fee will be applied after February 3. In-person registration available at the field house as follows:
Monday, January 22, 6-8 p.m.
Tuesday, January 23, 6-8 p.m.
Wednesday, January 24, 6-8 p.m.
Thursday, January 25, 6-8 p.m.
Friday, January 26, 6-8 p.m.
Saturday, January 27, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Highway 90 Crash Claims One Life Friday Night
January 20, 2018
An Alabama man died in a traffic crash Friday night on Highway 90 west of Beulah.
James Swope, age 46 of Seminole, was driving a 2001 Nissan Maxima west on Highway 90 about 6:10 p.m. as a 1989 Ford dump truck driven by 39-year old Patrick Bundy of Robertsdale was exiting a weigh station. Swope and his Maxima rear-ended the dump truck, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Swope was pronounced deceased following the crash.
Further details are pending the outcome of the Florida Highway Patrol’s traffic homicide investigation.
Photo courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Tallahassee Grapples With Gambling, Storms
January 20, 2018
Plants froze. Pipes burst. Noses dripped.
Temperatures approached the teens this week in Tallahassee, causing a conundrum for visitors to the Capitol from balmier regions of the state.
But the frost outside didn’t create a chill inside the Capitol, where House and Senate committees sifted through a range of legislation that included Hurricane Irma fallout, gambling and opioids.
The legislative week also gave Rep. Ross Spano, a Dover Republican running for attorney general, an opportunity to burnish his conservative creds with a measure that would declare pornography a public health risk.
According to Spano, research shows a correlation between porn and “mental and physical illnesses, difficulty forming and maintaining intimate relationships,” and a host of other ills.
The only “no” vote on the measure, approved by a House panel Thursday, came from Republican Rep. Cary Pigman, an emergency-room doctor who said the state should focus on real health risks affecting Floridians, such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes.
Objections to pornography have historically been overridden by First Amendment protections, calling to mind Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler and other sexually graphic mags.
“Freedom of speech doesn’t protect speech you like; it protects speech you don’t like,” Flynt, who’s been entangled in several First Amendment fights, once said.
ANTI-GAMBLING PROPOSAL HITS THE JACKPOT
The “Voter Control of Gambling Amendment,” an initiative largely bankrolled by a Disney company and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, would make it harder to expand gambling in Florida by requiring voter approval for any form of casino gambling, an issue now largely controlled by the Legislature.
Backers of the amendment this week topped the 766,200 petition signatures required to get on the November general-election ballot, where it will appear as Amendment 3. The Florida Supreme Court last year approved the ballot language. Like all constitutional changes, the proposal will require 60 percent approval from voters in November to pass.
If ultimately approved, the proposal would give voters the “exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling” in the state. The change would require voter approval of casino-style games, such as slots, in the future.
The amendment pits the state’s gambling industry — and many members of the Legislature — against anti-gambling advocates in what is expected to be a high-dollar campaign before the fall election.
“It’s game over for the Legislature if that (constitutional) amendment gets on the ballot and passes. And at that point, we’ll just be spectators in the world of gaming, which will essentially be a monopoly for the Seminole Tribe,” Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who has been instrumental in gambling-related legislation for eight years, told the News Service on Wednesday.
Industry representatives also foreshadowed dire consequences if the constitutional amendment passes.
“I think it will have a huge impact on our industry, because as opposed to the Legislature regulating us, we’ll need 60 percent of the residents of Florida to regulate us in the future. And, as the most regulated business in the state, that just makes anything we want to do to grow our business in the future more difficult,” Izzy Havenick, whose family owns dog tracks in Naples and Miami, said in an interview.
SENATE ADOPTS NEW SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY
After the resignation of two prominent senators because of sex scandals, Senate President Joe Negron this week released a new sexual-harassment policy outlining do’s and don’ts — mostly don’ts — to guide senators, aides and lobbyists.
Unwelcome physical behavior that could constitute sexual harassment includes “kissing or hugging, unless welcome or clearly not objected to, when made in connection with a greeting or parting, such as a peck on the cheek.”
And “patting, pinching, or intentionally brushing against an individual’s body” are also off-limits, according to the new policy.
The policy also advises members and aides to keep in mind that a single incident may or may not constitute sexual harassment and that “conduct or communications that might have been welcome between two individuals at one time may become unwelcome at any time.”
Negron released the policy after the Senate has been roiled by the resignations of Lake Worth Democrat Jeff Clemens and Clearwater Republican Jack Latvala. Clemens resigned after disclosures about an extramarital affair with a lobbyist, while Latvala stepped down after a highly damaging investigation about sexual harassment.
IRMA, REDUX
The House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness inched forward this week with recommendations based on lessons learned from Hurricane Irma, the historic storm that swept through the state in September.
Requiring nursing homes to have adequate backup power, blocking storm-damaged properties from being rebuilt in “high-risk” areas and looking into changes in highway traffic flow during evacuations are a few of the proposals advanced by the select committee.
The suggestions focused on Hurricane Irma recovery, the impact on Florida of people fleeing Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and how to better prepare for future storms. They will be distributed to various committees and subcommittees to determine the potential impacts on the next state budget as ideas are converted into bills.
Select committee Chairwoman Jeanette Nunez, R-Miami, whittled down the list of proposals and called them a “starting point” for short-term and long-term measures.
Meanwhile, the state’s largest utility had some good Irma-related news for its customers.
Florida Power & Light said Tuesday that savings from the federal tax overhaul will allow it to avoid billing customers for the $1.3 billion cost of restoring electricity after Hurricane Irma.
FPL had initially planned to start billing customers in March for the restoration costs but put those plans on hold after Congress and President Donald Trump last month approved the overhaul, which cut corporate tax rates and made numerous other changes in the federal tax code.
In the announcement Tuesday, FPL said a 2016 agreement that set the utility’s base electric rates allowed it to “leverage” the tax savings to deal with the Irma costs.
“The timing of federal tax reform, coming on the heels of the most expensive hurricane in Florida history, created an unusual and unprecedented opportunity,” Eric Silagy, FPL’s chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “We believe the plan we’ve outlined is the fastest way to begin passing tax savings along to our customers and the most appropriate approach to keeping rates low and stable for years to come.”
NO (STATE) LOVE FOR AMAZON
After playing the key role in reducing and revamping Florida’s economic-development programs last year, House Speaker Richard Corcoran said Thursday he has no interest in developing a state incentive plan to bring Amazon’s new headquarters to Florida.
Florida suddenly became a contender for the giant online retailer’s second headquarters — dubbed HQ2 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — after Miami emerged as one of 20 finalists for the project, which could generate some $5 billion in spending and lead to 50,000 jobs.
Miami, which was competing with 238 other cities, was the only finalist in Florida, although the Miami bid also includes sites in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Gov. Rick Scott, who’s pushed state funding to lure businesses to Florida, tweeted that it was “great news” that Miami made the cut.
But Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, didn’t share the love.
In an interview with the News Service, Corcoran said he was doubtful that Florida would end up as the location for the Amazon project, citing remarks by Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Esteban “Steve” Bovo, a Hialeah Republican who formerly served in the state House.
Bovo told The Miami Herald in October that Miami-Dade’s transportation challenges would ultimately eliminate Miami from contention.
“What was the reason?” Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, asked. “There’s not enough money? We didn’t throw enough incentives? No, (it’s) because of their infrastructure and their transit issues.”
Corcoran listed the items he said “site selectors” consider when relocating.
“Here’s what we ought to do as a state. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face,” Corcoran said. “There are five things that site selectors look at. The most important being having a great educational system.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: The anti-gambling “Voter Control of Gambling Amendment” made it onto the November ballot.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Quite simply, advising clients to grow their own marijuana based on a fake doctor’s advice is wrong and cannot now be said to be subject to interpretation based on the evolution of medical marijuana law.” — Carlos Alberto Leon, a Florida Bar lawyer who served as referee in a disciplinary case against Ian Christensen, who was disbarred Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court. Christensen and a colleague charged clients $799 for a patient identification card that they said could keep the patients out of trouble for having or growing marijuana.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Better Weather – Sunny And 60’s
January 20, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 63. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 42. East wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 68. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Monday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 70. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 44. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 62. North wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38. North wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 59.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 64.
Brush Fire Threatens Two Mobile Homes In Cantonment
January 19, 2018
A brush fire Friday afternoon in Cantonment threatened two mobile homes.
The fire was reported just after 2:30 near the intersection of Nowak Road and Booker Street. The brush fire burned about an acre of land and extended underneath at least one of the mobile homes. Firefighters were able to quickly bring the fire under control.
There were no injuries and no major property damage reported.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
