• Home
• News
• Events
• Features
• Sports
• About
• Contact
• Advertise

Free Classifieds | Obituaries |

State: How To Avoid Gas Pump Card Skimmers

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam is providing Floridians and visitors simple tips to avoid identity-stealing card skimmers placed on gas pumps.

“Floridians and visitors shouldn’t have to worry about losing their hard-earned money to scammers who prey on victims at gas pumps. A few simple steps can help prevent identity theft,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam.

Travelers can take the following steps to avoid skimmers at gas stations:

• Pay in cash inside the store to ensure credit card information stays safe.
• Check to make sure the gas pump dispenser cabinet is closed and has not been tampered with.

• Use a gas pump closer to the front of the store. Thieves often place skimmer at the gas pumps farther away from the store so they are not noticed as quickly.
• Use a credit card instead of a debit card. Credit cards have better fraud protection, and the money is not deducted immediately from an account.
• If using a debit card at the pump, choose to run it as a credit card instead of putting a PIN number in. That way, the PIN number is safe.
• Monitor bank accounts regularly to spot any unauthorized charges.
• Consumers who suspect their credit card number has been compromised should report it immediately to authorities and their credit card company.

Consumers who suspect that a gas pump has been tampered with should contact the gas station manager, local law enforcement or the department’s consumer protection and information hotline at 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) or, for Spanish speakers, 1-800-FL-AYUDA (352-9832).

Memorial Day Closures

The following will be closed Monday in observance of the Memorial Day holiday:

Escambia County

Below is a listing of Escambia County offices and departments closed Monday, May 28 for Memorial Day. Normal operations will resume Tuesday, May 29 unless otherwise noted.

• Escambia County Board of County Commissioners
• Escambia County Property Appraiser
• Escambia County Tax Collector
• Escambia County Area Transit administrative offices
• Escambia County Supervisor of Elections office
• Escambia County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s office
• Escambia County Animal Shelter
• West Florida Public Libraries

Escambia County Exceptions:

• ECAT will only operate the following routes on Memorial Day: 59 Express, 64 Beach Jumper and the Pensacola Beach Trolley. Regular service resumes Tuesday, May 29.
• The Perdido Landfill will be open for normal business hours.
• Animal Control will be responding to emergency calls only.

Smokies Defeat Wahoos 11-6 To Claim Series Victory

The Blue Wahoos could not get the win in their final game against the Smokies despite a late comeback as Tennessee bested Pensacola, 11-6, to claim the series.

Pensacola trailed 9-4 in the bottom of the eighth. A Nick Longhi two-run base hit cut the Wahoos deficit to 9-6. Gavin LaValley came to the plate with only one out in the inning. LaValley hit a line drive that could have cut the deficit to one, but third basemen Jesse Hodges caught LaValley’s ball, then dove back to the bag to double off Shed Long and end the threat.

Hodges and Zack Short each hit solo home runs in the top of the ninth to increase the Smokies lead to 11-6.

The Blue Wahoos got off to a fast start in the game with four runs over the first two innings. C.J. McElroy, Longhi and LaValley combined to go 6-for-6 in the first and second innings helping the Wahoos to the early advantage. Pensacola starter Wyatt Strahan battled through four-plus innings but was charged with six runs (five earned) in the losing effort. He allowed just one earned run over his first 3.2 innings, but surrendered hits to seven of the last eight batters he faced before getting lifted with two on and nobody out in the fifth.

Carlos Navas, Jesus Reyes, and Juan Martinez combined to allow five runs out of the Pensacola bullpen. Offensively, Longhi and LaValley led the way with three hits each in the losing effort.

Preston Morrison earned the win in relief for the Smokies with a pair of scoreless innings.

The Wahoos will head to Jacksonville to face off against the Jumbo Shrimp for five games. Pensacola will turn to right-hander Daniel Wright (2-2, 4.59) against Shrimp right-hander Nick Neidert (4-3, 3.11).

Alberto: FDOC Cancels All Prison Visitations In Panhandle On Monday

In advance of Alberto, the Florida Department of Corrections has canceled visitations Monday (holiday visitations) at all area prisons.

The cancellations include Century Correctional Institution and Santa Rosa Correctional Institution.

All “Region 1″ institutions in the Panhandle will be closed for visitations Monday.

Alberto Strengthens Again (With Graphics)

A tropical storm warning is in effect as Subtropical Storm Alberto moves toward a landfall on the upper Gulf Coast.

The latest information can be found in the graphics on this page.

The biggest threat to the North Escambia area is currently forecast to be rain and flooding. The area remains under an extreme flood threat Saturday through Tuesday. Rainfall amounts of 6-12 inches are possible with localized  amounts of 12 to 24 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Moderate to major flooding is possible along area rivers and creeks, and widespread flash flooding is possible.

For the latest North Escambia forecast, click here.

Alberto Flood Threat Lowered

The National Weather Service has lowered the local flood threat from Alberto to “significant”.

Rainfall amounts of 3-5 inches are possible with localized heavier amounts, according to the National Weather Service.

For the latest forecast information on Alberto, click here.

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

• TROPICAL STORM WARNING
• FLASH FLOOD WATCH

New ‘Jake Livingston And Century Academy’ Little Free Library Dedicated

The “Jake Livingston and Century Academy Little Free Library” was dedicated Friday afternoon.

The Town of Century recently made a $500 donation to Century Academy in Livingston’s name; a portion of the donation went toward the little free library. The library was constructed by students at Northview High School.

Century Academy, a division of East Hill Academy in Pensacola, specializes in teaching children diagnosed with autism and other related learning disabilities.

Livingston raises funds and volunteers for Autism Pensacola.

The Jake Livingston and Century Academy Little Free Library is located in front of Century Academy at 440 East Hecker Road in Century.  The Little Free Library concept is simple — anyone from the community may borrow a book or give a book to the library.

Pictured above: Jake Livingston cuts the ribbon to dedicate the Jake Livingston and Century Academy Little Free Library. Pictured below: The dedication of the little free library. Pictured bottom: Century Academy students also have an indoor little free library constructed by Pensacola State College. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Is Your Church Having VBS?

Now is the time to submit your Vacation Bible School announcements to NorthEscambia.com so that we can include them on our events page and let everyone know.

Email your VBS event details to: news@northescambia.com

Please try to submit your information as far in advance as possible.

Escambia County High Grad Hubert Completes Basic Training

U.S. Air Force Airman Donineque C. Hubert graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, TX

The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.

Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.

Hubert is the son of Shiley C. Hubert of Atmore.

He is a 2013 graduate of Escambia County High School in Atmore.

Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: A Food Fight And A Power Play

For a while, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Congressman Ron DeSantis were in danger of serious elbow injuries in a “who’s the Trumpiest” contest that’s part of their larger battle to capture the Republican nomination to succeed Gov. Rick Scott.

But it seems that Fox News darling DeSantis has captured the heart not only of President Donald Trump but perhaps the entire First Family.

The president’s namesake, Donald Trump Jr., will be in the Sunshine State to stump for DeSantis next month, according to the congressman’s campaign staff. The First Son will also give a Trump stamp of approval to DeSantis’ fellow Fox fave, Panhandle Congressman Matt Gaetz, prior to Florida’s August primary election.

DeSantis has been boasting for a while that he’s garnered the endorsement of the president, who’s more than once praised the Palm Coast Republican. But appearing onstage with the younger Trump will burnish the congressman’s conservative credentials in his grudge match against Putnam.

The agriculture commissioner, meanwhile, remains ensnared in a controversy about Publix after reports last week that the supermarket company contributed more than $600,000 to Putnam’s gubernatorial campaign over the past three years.

Gun-control advocates, who had already targeted Putnam for calling himself “a proud NRA sellout,” quickly called for a boycott of Publix, while supporters of both the Lakeland-based company and Putnam encouraged shoppers to spend their time and money at the iconic grocery chain.

Election-season verbal backstabbing in Florida and throughout the nation prompts a pause for reflection on how a little kindness might offset the animosity that’s become the norm.

“Constant kindness can accomplish much,” the late, great humanitarian Albert Schweitzer advised. “As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.”

POWER COMPANY BULKS UP

Publix isn’t the only Florida corporate behemoth in the news: Florida Power & Light’s parent company, NextEra Energy Inc., announced this week it will buy Northwest Florida’s Gulf Power as part of a $6.475 billion deal.

NextEra plans to buy Gulf Power, the Florida City Gas natural-gas company and ownership interests in two power plants from The Southern Company. The purchase of Gulf Power and the stakes in the power plants, which are subject to federal approval, are expected to close during the first half of 2019, while the Florida City Gas purchase is slated for the third quarter of 2018, according to a NextEra Energy announcement.

The deal would expand NextEra Energy’s already-massive footprint in the state. Its Florida Power & Light subsidiary is by far the largest electric utility in Florida, serving nearly 5 million customers. Gulf Power, with about 450,000 customers in eight counties, is the largest utility in the Panhandle.

Florida City Gas has about 110,000 residential and commercial natural-gas customers in Miami-Dade, Brevard, St. Lucie and Indian River counties.

“These transactions will provide meaningful benefits for the state of Florida, and Gulf Power and Florida City Gas customers, as well as NextEra Energy shareholders,” Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, said in a prepared statement. “Importantly, these transactions are consistent with our long-standing, disciplined approach of maintaining the strength of our balance sheet and credit ratings, both of which are among the strongest in the industry.”

PLEASE SIR, MAY I HAVE SOME MORE … PAGES?

In other regulatory news, state health officials heard a litany of warnings this week about potential flaws in a proposed medical marijuana rule.

A hearing about the proposed rule came more than seven months after a legislatively mandated Oct. 3 deadline for the Department of Health to issue new medical-marijuana licenses, in what could be one of the country’s largest cannabis markets.

The proposed rule, released more than three weeks ago, set in motion the application process — considered far behind schedule by many legislators — for four highly sought-after licenses.

But the issues identified during a Thursday hearing signaled possible legal or administrative challenges that could further postpone the issuance of licenses.

Lawmakers ordered the new licenses after voters approved a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized marijuana as a treatment for patients with debilitating medical conditions.

The law requires one of the new licenses to go to a black farmer who was involved in federal litigation about discriminatory lending practices. And the statute requires health officials to give preference for up to two licenses to applicants that “own one or more facilities that are, or were, used for the canning, concentrating, or otherwise processing of citrus fruit or citrus molasses and will use or convert the facility or facilities for the processing of marijuana.” The citrus preference is the subject of one of several marijuana-related court challenges.

During about an hour of public testimony Thursday, most of the complaints were focused on the citrus-related language in the proposed rule.

Lawyer Seann Frazier pointed out that the proposed regulation substituted the word “property” for “facilities,” which, he said, “adds vagueness” and may broaden the language in the statute, something the agency is not permitted to do.

The proposed rule would give the two highest-scoring applicants who are eligible for the citrus preference an extra 35 points, in addition to a total of 1,150 possible points available to all applicants. The 35 extra points amount to just a 3 percent bonus, Frazier said.

“We respectfully suggest that more weight should be given to the citrus preference” to “avoid a situation where you issue licenses and no one really had a meaningful exercise of the preference,” Frazier, who represents Tampa-based Louis del Favero Orchids, said.

Office of Medical Marijuana Use Director Christian Bax asked Frazier if he had a suggestion about how many points the citrus preference should be worth.

“I suggest it should be a lot higher preference, one that would make a difference that a citrus-qualifying applicant will actually receive a license,” said Frazier, whose client is interested in seeking one of the citrus-preference licenses.

Other speakers complained that page limits imposed in the proposed rule could prevent applicants from providing necessary information, such as how many dispensaries they plan to open or information about human-resources policies.

Bax said the health department would take the concerns into consideration.

“If the department believes that a change needs to be made, then it will be made. If not, then we’ll continue to move forward with this process,” he said.

STORY OF THE WEEK: NextEra Energy, the parent company of Florida Power & Light, is buying Gulf Power as part of a $6.475 billion deal.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “If all New York has to do to prevent inmate misconduct and crime is gently remind them not to misbehave, one wonders why that state’s prisons have fences and walls. Why not simply post signs reminding inmates not to escape? If New York wants to engage in a fantasy about convicted criminals behaving like model citizens while serving out their sentences, it is free to do so, but the Constitution does not require Florida to join New York in la-la-land.” — 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Ed Carnes, siding with Florida corrections officials in a lawsuit challenging the state’s censorship of Prison Legal News. The publication is available to inmates in every state but Florida.

by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Copyright © 2007-2019 NorthEscambia.com · P.O. Box 1207 · Century, FL 32535 · All Rights Reserved.