Showers And Thunderstorms
July 8, 2018
For the latest on Beryl, click here.
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph.
Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Tuesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 93. Northwest wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Thursday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73.
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73.
Sunday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Local 4-H Members Take Part In Mock Legislative Session
July 8, 2018
Escambia County 4-H members recently took part in a mock legislative session at the Florida State Capitol.
The civic education event allowed students to write bills, act as lobbyists, pass the bills through various committees and debate the potential laws on the Capitol House and/or Senate Floor as acting representatives and senators. The event provided the 4-H’ers an opportunity to debate issues and experience the legislative process first-hand.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Beryl Has Dissipated
July 8, 2018
Beryl has dissipated. The latest information on Beryl is in the graphics on this page.
FWC Hunter Safety Courses Offered In Cantonment And Jay
July 8, 2018
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is offering a free hunter safety internet completion course this week in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Students who have taken the online course and wish to complete the classroom portion must bring the online-completion report with them.
Firearm use, ammunition and all materials are provided free of charge. Students should bring a pen or pencil and paper. An adult must accompany children younger than 16 at all times.
Anyone born on or after June 1, 1975, must pass an approved hunter safety course and have a hunting license to hunt alone (unsupervised). The FWC course satisfies hunter-safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces.
The locations and times are:
Escambia County
July 10 (6 to 10 p.m.) & July 14 (7 to 10 a.m.)
Langley Bell 4-H Center
3730 Stefani Road in Cantonment
Santa Rosa County
July 11 (6 to 10 p.m) & July 14 (7 to 10 a.m.)
Jay Community Center
5259 Booker Lane in Jay
Those interested in attending a course can register online and obtain information about future hunter safety classes at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety.
Celebrate National Park and Recreation Month in Escambia County
July 8, 2018
Escambia County is celebrating National Park and Recreation Month in July by inviting residents and visitors to get out and explore everything your local parks have to offer, from athletic fields and playgrounds to nature trails and beach accesses. Escambia County Parks and Recreation maintains parks throughout the county for the public to enjoy, with park properties from Century in the north all the way south to Pensacola Beach, west to Perdido Key and scattered in between.
An initiative of the National Recreation and Park Association, National Park and Recreation Month aims to highlight recreation opportunities and encourage the public to support local parks and recreation.
In celebration of Park and Recreation Month, Escambia County’s Parks and Recreation Department is highlighting one park in each commission district, with several featuring new or recently upgraded amenities:
District 5 – Molino Community Center Playground: Located behind the popular Molino Community Center, this playground offers a fun place for children to play near the community center and Molino Library. Along with the playground, there is a new .24-mile walking path, pavilion and picnic tables. There is also a newly-renovated school cafeteria that is available for the public to rent, featuring a full kitchen and seating for up to 100 people. Call 850-679-4817 for pavilion or cafeteria rental information. For information about renting a room at the Molino Community Center or auditorium, contact the Molino Mid-County Historical Society at 850-587-5011.
District 1 – Beulah Regional Park: Located off Mobile Highway near the Escambia County Equestrian Center, this park truly offers something for everyone and is one of the busiest parks in the county. Beulah Regional Park has basketball and tennis courts, dog park, .33-mile walking path and a pavilion that can be rented for birthday parties and special events. To rent the pavilion, please call 850-475-5220.
District 2 – Civitan Park: This 2-acre neighborhood park in Warrington is a beautiful waterfront park with a covered pavilion, playground and a fishing pier. Tremendous upgrades have been made recently at the park, including a new .22-mile walking path, workout equipment and a new pavilion. To rent the pavilion, please call 850-475-5220.
District 3 – Brownsville Community Center Playground: A brand new playground unit was recently added outside of the Brownsville Community Center, offering a fun place for children to play in the Brownsville area. The playground features slides, monkey bars and more. Since opening in May 2017, the Brownsville Community Center has hosted dozens of community events, including town hall meetings, festivals, expos and holiday celebrations. To rent the community center, please call 850-595-3130 for scheduling information.
District 4 – Regency Park: Spread over 10 acres, Regency Park is one of the largest parks in Escambia County. It features a .33-mile walking path, dog park and plenty of open space for recreational activities. It also offers a basketball court, practice baseball backstop, security lights and a picnic area for residents of all ages to enjoy. A pavilion is available to rent for special events; call 850-475-5220 for more information.
Pictured: The playground at the Molino Community Complex. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Weed Wars
July 8, 2018
Folks in Florida might think their pot-smoking pals in Massachusetts are a bunch of crybabies.
Six months after marijuana became legal in the Bay State, purveyors of pot and their advocates are kvetching after a July 1 rollout date, self-imposed by Massachusetts officials, came and went without the advent of retail sales for recreational use.
But, by Sunshine State standards, a six-month turnaround seems pretty speedy.
Florida voters in November 2016 passed a constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana. But an October 2017 deadline to license new vendors — a deadline later modified by state lawmakers — elapsed nine months ago, and Florida pot czar Christian Bax has yet to begin processing new applications from medical marijuana firms.
Bax and other state health officials are fending off nearly a dozen administrative and legal challenges as interested parties seek to plant a footprint or defend their territory in Florida’s blossoming marijuana industry — estimated by some market analysts to generate $1 billion by 2020.
Carl Sagan, the astronomer who was the gateway to the cosmos for amateur astronomers and the generally curious public, also earned a reputation as a marijuana advocate in an era when the legalization of cannabis seemed as far off as the “billions and billions” of stars Sagan brought into the living rooms of television viewers.
“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world,” Sagan, then 35, observed in 1969.
Nearly fifty years later, this “mad and dangerous world” could use serenity, insight, sensitivity and fellowship more than ever.
UP IN SMOKE
In what seems to be the never-ending weed wars in Florida, an appellate court this week snuffed out the possibility of sick patients being able to smoke their cannabis treatment any time soon.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal came in a lawsuit initiated by Orlando trial attorney John Morgan and others who maintain that a Florida law barring patients from smoking their treatment runs afoul of the 2016 constitutional amendment.
The appeals court chided a Tallahassee judge who sided with patients, saying plaintiffs likely won’t win on the merits of the case and refused to allow smokable medical marijuana while the legal fight continues.
Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers in May agreed with Morgan, who largely bankrolled the constitutional amendment, and plaintiffs in the case. The state appealed, touching off legal maneuvering that led to the appellate panel Tuesday issuing a five-page decision that effectively blocked Gievers’ ruling while the case continues.
“I respect the 1st DCA immensely, but no matter what, this goes to the Supreme Court, so why not now,” Morgan, who has repeatedly called on Gov. Rick Scott to drop the state’s appeal, said in an email Tuesday. “It is just a waste of time and taxpayer money. Cathy Jordan may die as this snails its way through the system. All of this proves why people don’t trust politicians. They know what they voted for.”
Cathy Jordan, one of the plaintiffs in the case, credits a daily regimen of smoking marijuana with keeping her alive decades after doctors predicted she would die from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Jordan, who grows her own pot, testified that smoking marijuana treats a variety of life-threatening side effects of the disease and that other forms of ingestion don’t have the same positive impact.
Gievers agreed with lawyers representing Jordan and the other plaintiffs. They contended that it was understood that the constitutional amendment allowed smoking, though the measure did not expressly authorize it.
State health officials, who answer to Scott, immediately appealed Gievers’ May 25 ruling, automatically putting her decision on hold. On June 5, Gievers lifted the stay, saying Jordan and Diana Dodson, a plaintiff who has neuralgia associated with HIV, would suffer without having access to smokable marijuana.
But the appeals court Tuesday quashed Gievers’ decision to lift the stay and directly contradicted the circuit judge. Appellate judges Joseph Lewis, Lori Rowe and M. Kemmerly Thomas found that the plaintiffs “failed to demonstrate that they will suffer irreparable harm if the automatic stay is reinstated.”
Noting that a trial court may vacate an automatic stay only “under the most compelling circumstances,” the judges also scolded Gievers, saying “it was an abuse of discretion for the circuit court” to lift the stay.
Even more, the panel signaled bleak prospects for Morgan and the plaintiffs, at least as far as the appellate court — which also rejected a request to rush the case to the Florida Supreme Court — is concerned.
“Here, after the panel’s preliminary review of the wording of the medical marijuana amendment and the statute prohibiting the use of medical marijuana in a smokable form, we conclude that appellees (the plaintiffs) have not sufficiently demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits as required to justify vacating the automatic stay,” the judges wrote.
WHEN “DIRT” IS A “FACILITY”
Meanwhile, an orchid grower and investors who spent nearly $800,000 to purchase property in Pinellas County they believed would give them a leg up in obtaining a highly sought-after medical marijuana license may be experiencing buyers’ remorse, thanks to state health officials.
One of the owners of Louis Del Favero Orchids told a state judge Monday he now believes the business would have been better off keeping the cash, due to what his lawyers are calling a faulty rule proposed by the Department of Health.
The orchid grower is challenging the proposed rule, which is based on a law passed last year implementing the medical-marijuana constitutional amendment. The orchid grower argues the proposal fails to properly carry out the law, which includes giving preference for up to two medical marijuana licenses to applicants who own facilities that were used to process citrus.
Ormond Beach lawyer David Vukelja, who owns 20 percent of Del Favero, told Administrative Law Judge R. Bruce McKibben on Monday he and other investors closed on the property because they believed it would give them an edge when applying for a marijuana license.
“We looked at the statute,” Vukelja said. “We took it at face value.”
According to the Department of Health, however, there’s nothing in the law that requires a “facility” to be a structure.
But Seann Frazier, a lawyer representing Del Favero, asked if that meant that a tent, erected where a structure previously was used to process citrus, would make an applicant eligible for the citrus preference.
“You’re saying the facility is the tent. It could also be the space it’s in. So how they will convert that space. They could put a building on it,” state Office of Medical Marijuana Use Deputy Director Courtney Coppola said.
“The facility could be dirt. Unimproved dirt, that somebody could promise to put a $1 million processing plant on top of it, they would still meet the citrus preference. Is that true?” Frazier asked.
Coppola agreed.
TEACHERS UNION: SCHOOL LAW A TRAIN WRECK
In other court action this week, Florida teachers and unions filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the constitutionality of a new law that requires local unions to represent 50 percent or more of instructional personnel.
The law, which passed during this year’s legislative session and took effect Sunday, enacted a series of major changes in the public-school system.
Known as House Bill 7055, the measure created a new “Hope” scholarship program that will allow students who are bullied to transfer to private schools. The law — known as a legislative “train” — included expanded financial support for Gardiner scholarships, which provide aid to disabled students. And it raised evidentiary standards for school boards trying to terminate charter schools.
But the lawsuit, which was filed by the Florida Education Association, nine local teachers’ unions, eight teachers and eight local union representatives, is aimed at a specific provision in the law that would result in local unions losing their certification if membership falls below 50 percent of the employees they represent in the collective-bargaining process.
The new law “contains multiple subjects that have little relationship to one another and absolutely no relationship to the recertification requirement contained” in the measure, the lawsuit said.
“There is no natural or logical connection between education and union density or requiring a public employee union to recertify its status as the exclusive bargaining unit for members of the instructional staff of a school district,” the lawsuit said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Florida teachers and unions filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the constitutionality of a new law that requires local unions to represent 50 percent or more of instructional personnel.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I’m sure I’m one of a long list of people who feels they’re being screwed by the Department of Health. Yeah, that thought has crossed my mind.” — David Vukelja, one of the owners of a Tampa-based orchid grower challenging a proposed health department rule dealing with a citrus industry preference for a medical marijuana license.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Wahoos Win Sixth Consecutive Series
July 8, 2018
No amount of rain could cool down Vladimir Gutierrez (W, 6-8) on Saturday night. After a two-hour rain delay, Gutierrez took a no-hit bid in the sixth inning and held the Biscuits to one-run over seven innings as Pensacola won the series finale at Riverwalk Stadium by a 3-2 final.
It was another fabulous outing for Pensacola’s starter. He retired the first eight batters of the game before Jake Cronenworth walked with two outs in the third inning. That didn’t phase Gutierrez as retired the next batter to end the inning. The right-hander cruised through the fourth and the fifth without allowing a hit before Cronenworth wrecked the no-no bid with a one-out single. The shutout bid evaporated soon after when Tommy Milone singled, Gutierrez threw a wild pitch, and Peter Maris hit an RBI groundout to make it 3-1. However, that was all the Biscuits could muster against Gutierrez, who finished his night allowing three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.
Offensively, the Wahoos jumped ahead early thanks to Mitch Nay’s solo home run in the first inning for a quick 1-0 lead. Pensacola doubled their advantage in the fifth after Luis Gonzalez singled, advanced to third on Chris Okey’s double, and scored on T.J. Friedl’s groundout to the second baseman Nick Solak.
The Wahoos third and final run came in the seventh after Gonzalez reached with his second hit of the night. The shortstop then stole second base and eventually came home on two wild pitches from Biscuits starter Sam McWilliams (L, 3-5).
Jesus Reyes (S, 2) replaced Gutierrez in the eighth and had to work early trouble. With one out and a runner at first, Milone hit what appeared to be a double-play ball, but Nay—in his first start at second base for the Wahoos—threw errantly to Gonzalez and the ball rolled into left field. That put Biscuits at second and third, and after a sac fly from Peter Maris to make it 3-2, Solak fouled out to Okey to end the threat.
The ninth inning was far less dramatic, with Reyes working around a two-out single from Nathan Lukes to earn his second save of the season. The Wahoos have now 12 of their last 14 games and six consecutive series, which is one shy of the franchise record set by last season’s team.
Pensacola returns home for another edition of the Battle of the Bay. The Wahoos and BayBears will play a quick four-game series with the teams having split the first 10 meetings this season. RHP Tony Santillan will make his Double-A debut tomorrow for the Wahoos and will be opposed by RHP Jason Alexander (0-1, 2.70). Santillan is the #4 prospect in the Reds organization according to MLB.com, and prior to his promotion was 6-4 with a 2.70 ERA in 15 starts. He was third in the Florida State League in both ERA and innings pitched (86.2).
Norman Carraway
July 8, 2018
Norman ‘Duke’ Carraway, 90, of Molino, FL, passed away peacefully at home on July 5, 2018. surrounded by his family.
He was born August 26, 1927, in Felda, FL. He graduated from Vero Beach High School in 1945, joined the Merchant Marines later serving in the U.S. Army. He began working for the Social Security Administration in 1956 and retired as the Assistant Manager in Pensacola after 28 years. He enjoyed many activities during retirement including farming, growing hydroponic tomatoes and cucumbers, RV-ing, fishing, bluegrass music, dominoes, and growing blueberries.
Duke was a member of Highland Baptist Church for 47 years, serving on numerous committees. He served on the board of directors of both the Council on Aging and the Speech and Hearing Board of Baptist Hospital. He was a member of the West Pensacola Lions Club, a charter member of the Molino Ruritan Club, and president of the Molino Utilities Board of Directors.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Stark and Mary Carraway; brothers, Curtis and Leslie; his first wife, Jean McDowell Carraway; and his wife of 53 years, Olene Taulbert Carraway.
Duke is survived by his children, Michael (Barbara) Beason, Steve (Vanessa) Carraway, Peggy Overman, Pamela Myrick, and Sharon (Stan) Powell; brother, Frank Carraway; grandchildren, Roy (Emily) Ryan, Gary Casity, Valerie Sanderson, Loren Powell, Kristen Edmonson, Rebecca Myrick, Tyler Carraway, Leslie (Ben) Carraway Whitson, Alex (Lexi) Edmonson; eight great-grandchildren and many friends from church and camping that meant the world to him.
Pallbearers will be Roy Ryan, Tyler Carraway, Alex Edmonson, Chuck Hendrix, Rusty Hendrix and David Perry.
Honorary pallbearers will be Charles Purvis, James Hughes, Berman “Buddy” Kent, Bill Miller, Charles Barton, Windell Long, Harold Holder, Tom Serviss, Ed Latham and Adrian Enfinger.
Visitation will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 9, 2018, followed by the service at 2 p.m. at Highland Baptist Church with Bro. Brian Calhoun officiating.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North is entrusted with the arrangements.
Search Continues For Intruder Found By Woman In Her Closet
July 7, 2018
Authorities are still searching for an intruder a Cantonment woman found hiding in her closet Thursday afternoon.
The woman had been outside her mobile home on Rose Petal Lane, and noticed something was amiss when she returned inside. She found a a black male dressed in all black inside her closet. She used pepper spray on the man. They got into a struggle, and she received a minor scratch on her arm before he fled the mobile home on foot.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded, and a manhunt followed. Deputies established a perimeter and used a K-9 in their search, but they were unable to catch up with the suspect.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Rose Petal Lane is located between Well Line Road and Neal Road, just west of Highway 29.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Fall Football Registration Underway For NWE Chiefs, Cantonment Cowboys
July 7, 2018
Fall football registration is underway for the Northwest Escambia Chiefs and the Cantonment Cowboys.
The Cantonment Cowboys are holding registration each Tuesday and Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. at the Cantonment Sportsplex at 681 Well Line Road. The Cowboys are also seeking dedicated cheer coaches.
NWE Chiefs players can register at www.nwechiefsfootball.com. The deadline to register July 20, or when the team maximum of 30 players is reached. Registration fee is $50 with NWE providing all necessary equipment and uniforms, except cleats. Call (251) 234-4716 for more information.