More Showers Than Sun
August 19, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Sunday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 88. Light south wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 88. Light south wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Southwest wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Tuesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 90.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72.
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: ‘We Aren’t The Enemy’
August 19, 2018
“The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom.”
Those aren’t the words of editorial writers at The Boston Globe or at more than 300 newspapers throughout the country who spoke out this week in response to President Donald Trump’s branding of the media as “the enemy of the American people.”
It was John Adams who declared more than two centuries ago that an unfettered press is the backbone of a democracy.
True, Adams was writing long before the age of Twitter, Facebook or the 24/7 news cycle.
But the founding father’s words ring as true, if not more so, than they did way back when.
Editorial boards in every state, including Florida, responded Thursday to the president’s repeated attacks on reporters, news outlets and the purveyors of “fake news” — once derided as the “lamestream media” — just weeks after Trump whipped up hostility toward the press at a Tampa rally.
After the president singled out CNN reporter Jim Acosta, a throng of thousands bombarded the cable news reporter with jeers and obscene gestures.
One journalist who attended the event described the frenzied crowd’s rancor as “unvarnished bile” that “made you actually feel like the enemy of the people.”
While the president’s vitriol is generally aimed at the national press, the distrust of the media he’s implanted among his supporters has infected even those whose duties are to inform of activities as benign as high school soccer games.
Here’s a sample of what the Florida ed boards had to say this week:
“A free press, empowered by the First Amendment, serves as a watchdog over every level of American government, from City Hall to the White House,” the Sun Sentinel schooled.
“We aren’t the enemy. And the loose talk calling us that has to stop. Before somebody — before the very country we all love— gets hurt,” The Palm Beach Post advised.
“We all — as citizens — have a stake in this fight, and the battle lines seem pretty clear. If one first comes successfully for the press as an ‘enemy of the American People,’ what stops someone for coming next for your friends? Your family? Or you?” The Miami Herald wrote.
“Being a journalist was a thankless job well before Donald Trump started referring to the news media as the enemy of the people,” the Gainesville Sun editorial board weighed in. “Independent reporting is necessary to ensure government transparency, expose corruption and other wrongdoing, and inform the public about the consequences of the decisions made by their elected leaders.”
“We try to respond and explain. We stick to the facts. We do our best to be balanced. We can’t address the state of the national media but we can tell our readers for a fact that our locally produced content is not born of any political leaning, we’re reporting the news because that’s our job — and for most of us our passion — and we will do it to the best of our ability no matter what,” the Panama City News Herald wrote. “We are not the enemy of the people. More importantly, we are not your enemy.”
The editorials were published on the same day Aretha Franklin, an American icon revered by presidents, pastors and ordinary people, passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
In one of her most universal tunes, penned by Otis Redding, the queen of soul made a request echoed by journalists on the inside pages on the day of her death. “All I’m askin’,” she sang, is for a little “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”
13 MILLION — AND BEYOND
Some will vote by mail. Some will vote early. Some will go old-school and vote on the actual election day. Some won’t vote at all.
But slightly more than 13 million Floridians are registered to vote in advance of the Aug. 28 primary elections, according to new figures posted online by the state Division of Elections. Democrats outnumber Republicans, but just barely, as both parties gear up for a fierce battle in November for a U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s office.
As Florida’s population has continued to grow, so has the number of voters, with 13,013,657 registered to cast ballots in the primaries. By comparison, 12.37 million were registered to vote in the 2016 primaries, and 11.8 million were registered to vote in the 2014 primaries.
Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans, but not by a lot — 4,839,434 to 4,594,133. While both parties have seen registration increases since the 2016 primaries, the Democratic margin is about the same as it was two years ago.
Voters who aren’t registered with the Democratic or Republican parties won’t be able to cast ballots in many primary races, including the marquee race for governor. But that hasn’t stopped the trend of Floridians ditching the donkeys and the elephants and registering “no party affiliation.”
The total of so-called NPA voters has climbed to 3,493,494 — or about 27 percent of the electorate. That is up from slightly more than 2.91 million voters, or about 23.6 percent, during the 2016 primaries.
A NEW TWIST ON GERRYMANDERING?
Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead is a plaintiff in a legal challenge trying to scuttle a slew of proposed constitutional amendments placed on the November ballot by the state Constitution Revision Commission.
While individual amendments also face separate lawsuits, the petition filed at the Supreme Court targets six of the eight measures approved this spring by the commission, which has the authority to place proposals directly on the ballot.
The case centers on decisions by the commission to lump together multiple issues into single ballot proposals. For example, one of the measures, known as Amendment 9, asks voters to approve a ban on offshore oil drilling and a ban on vaping and the use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces.
The petition contends, in part, that combining disparate issues in single ballot proposals violates First Amendment rights of voters and is “logrolling” of issues that should be considered separately. It raised the specter of voters having different views of issues in the same ballot proposal — for instance, someone could support a ban on oil drilling but oppose the vaping ban.
“This is logrolling and a form of issue gerrymandering that violates the First Amendment right of the voter to vote for or against specific independent and unrelated proposals to amend the Constitution without paying the price of supporting a measure the voter opposes or opposing a measure the voter supports,” the petition said. “This (Supreme) Court has acknowledged that the right to vote is a fundamental right that may not be abridged in the absence of a compelling and narrowly drawn state interest.”
The issue of combining multiple issues into single ballot proposals drew controversy during the Constitution Revision Commission’s deliberations.
“By bundling different proposals together, what we have done is undermine the work that we have undertaken to make sure that each one of the ballot summaries is clear and fairly informs the voters,” commission member Roberto Martinez said during a debate in April.
But member Brecht Heuchan defended the commission’s approach, saying during the debate he rejected “the notion that somehow these people are not capable of understanding basic related proposals.”
“Voters are very discerning when they go through their ballots,” Heuchan said. “They show up. They do their job, and they regularly come to conclusions that are accepted by all.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: More than 13 million Floridians are registered to vote in the Aug. 28 primary elections.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “As incoming Senate President of the third-largest state in the nation — a bellwether for others — I am committed to making sure our re-examination of school safety policies does not end here. Some issues simply must transcend politics. The safety of our children is one.” — Incoming Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, tweeting on Tuesday as students returned to school for the first full academic year following the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Strahan Dazzles In 5-2 Wahoos Win
August 19, 2018
At a time when the Wahoos were playing at their worst, Wyatt Strahan (W, 7-10) took the hill on Saturday and gave the Wahoos his best. Strahan threw seven innings of one-hit ball as the Wahoos cruised to a 5-2 win in front of a sellout crowd at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Prior to the game, the Blue Wahoos honored members of both teams from the South’s first interracial Little League game, which took place in 1955. Quint Studer, Bubba Watson, and city officials were on hand to celebrate the bravery of the players involved. Former players were welcomed with their families on the field and proclamations were issued as part of the stirring pregame ceremony.
As for the game, the Wahoos were in dire need of a good start from Strahan with the team coming off three straight losses. The Southern California graduate set the tone early by retiring the Jumbo Shrimp in order to begin the game. It looked like Jacksonville was going to strike in the second inning after Brian Schales singled and John Silviano walked, but Strahan induced Sharif Othman into a foul pop out to end the inning. The single to Schales was the only hit Strahan surrendered, and he finished the game having retired the final 11 Shrimp that came to the plate.
Pensacola’s offense returned to form after scoring a total of four runs in the previous three games of the series. It began with a two-run rally in the fourth. After Siri led off with a ground-rule double, Nay singled off Cody Poteet to setup runners at the corners with nobody out. Narciso Crook hit into a fielder’s choice, which allowed Siri to score and give the Wahoos a 1-0 lead. Crook later scored on a base hit from Shed Long to give the Wahoos a 2-0 advantage.
The Wahoos struck for three more runs in the third. With Chris Okey at second, TJ Friedl and Siri hit back-to-back singles put the Wahoos up by three. Friedl would eventually score on a passed ball by Othman and Siri came home on a sac fly from Nay.
Carlos Navas replaced Strahan in the eighth and finished the game’s final two innings. Despite allowing a pair of runs in the ninth, Navas struck out four on his way to ending the Wahoos three-game losing streak.
Pensacola heads to Biloxi for a pivotal five-game series against the second-place Shuckers. LHP Seth Varner (8-2, 3.07) will start the opening game for the Wahoos while Biloxi has yet to disclose their starting pitcher.
Century Woman Charged With Attacking Neighbor’s Porch, Clawing At Deputies
August 18, 2018
A Century woman was jailed after allegedly attacking her neighbor’s porch, threatening her with a pipe and clawing at Sheriff’s deputies.
Shirley Ann Knight, 62, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal mischief with property damage and resisting arrest. She remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $6,000.
Knight allegedly damaged two front porch columns at a home on Academy Street with a metal pipe before threatening the resident with the pipe.
After she was arrested and placed in a deputy’s vehicle, she managed to remove one hand from handcuffs and began hitting the center divider of the vehicle. As deputies tried to re-cuff Knight, she grabbed a deputies hand, scratching him. She then attempted to claw two deputies and refused to get back in patrol vehicle, according to arrested report. Deputies picked her up and placed her inside the Tahoe. On the way to the jail, she starting spitting at the deputy and all over his vehicle, the report states. The incidents were captured on video.
Bicyclist Gets Prison Time After Assaulting Deputy During Traffic Stop
August 18, 2018
An Escambia County man stopped for riding a bicycle without a light has been sentenced to prison for assaulting a deputy.
A jury found Curtis Searles guilty of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting a law enforcement officer with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer. Circuit Judge Joel Boles presided over the trial sentenced the Searles to seven years in state prison with a three year minimum mandatory sentence for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The charges arose from a traffic stop on November 24, 2017. An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Searles for riding his bicycle without a light. Searles ran into the woods during the traffic stop. The deputy followed Searles into the woods, and tried to detain him for resisting. Searles grabbed the deputy’s arm, and they fell to the ground. Searles got on top of the deputy and grabbed the deputy’s gun. The deputy struggled to keep his gun in his holster with both of Searles’ hands on the deputy’s gun. Other deputies responded to the scene, and Searles continued to resist the deputies as they tried to detain him.
Searles has been convicted of six prior felonies including an aggravated assault, throwing a missile into a vehicle, sale, manufacture, or delivery of a controlled substance, introduction of contraband into a detention facility, and two perjury convictions. he also has three resisting an officer without violence convictions.
Wet Weekend Possible
August 18, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
aturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Sunday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Sunday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the morning.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90.
County Talks West Kingsfield Road Improvements, Realignment With Beulah Road
August 18, 2018
Escambia County is exploring options to improving West Kingsfield Road and possibly realign it with Beulah Road.
In 2017, an in-house safety study was performed for West Kingsfield Road from Highway 97 west to Beulah Road.
In the past two years, there have been more than $178,000 in roadway, drainage and signage improvements completed by the county in the area. Options are being explored to improve upon current areas with 90-degree curves. Those options would realign Kingsfield with a terminus further north on Beulah Road, likely near the entrance of the Escambia County Landfill.
Intermediate plans call for the entire road to be resurfaced and restriped using about $1 million in Local Option Sales Tax money, once approved. Otherwise, the road is currently set for resurfacing in 2027-2028.
During the time period of January 2011 to December 2016, there were 18 reported traffic crashes on West Kingsfield. Of those, 12 were vehicles that ran off the road, four were vehicles that were side-swiped and one was head-on.
The commission will continue discussion on Kingsfield Road in the future. no plans have been finalized.
Pictured: This graphic depicts a possible route for realigning Kingsfield Road with Beulah Road to avoid several 90-degree curves. NorthEscambia.com graphic.
United Way Recruits Volunteers, Projects For Day Of Caring
August 18, 2018
United Way of Escambia County is now recruiting volunteers and organizations in need of support for its 26th Annual Day of Caring on October 5.
Day of Caring is the largest single day of volunteerism in Northwest Florida. Each year, individuals and groups are matched with local nonprofit agencies and schools to spend the day working on various service projects. Day of Caring volunteers have the opportunity to see firsthand the needs of our community while working together to combat those issues through volunteerism.
Last year, more than 1,300 volunteers rolled up their sleeves across our community to spend time with seniors, read to students, paint, build, landscape, and more. Together, Day of Caring volunteers completed 97 projects at 68 local nonprofit agencies and schools, and donated 4,463 hours of their time for an estimated $107,748 impact on our community.
Volunteers or organizations looking to participate in 2018’s Day of Caring should register online at http://www.unitedwayescambia.org/dayofcaring by August 31.
Once all volunteer applications and project requests are received, a committee of United Way staff and volunteers carefully review them to match groups with preferred projects or those most appropriate based on a group’s skills or size.
For more information on how to get involved, contact United Way’s Volunteer Center at 850-434-3157 or by emailing volunteer@unitedwayescambia.org.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Vernon Tops Northview (With Photo Gallery)
August 18, 2018
The Northview Chiefs fell to Vernon Friday night in Bratt during their annual Kickoff Classic.
In a varsity second half, Vernon topped Northview 20-7.
“There were times we were competing really well, and there were times we were not…..I was a little disappointed in our energy toward the end of the game. We will definitely work on that,” Coach Derek Marshman said. “On defense, we’ve got to get batter at tackling. Offensively, I thought we executed well at times, but we’ve got to get better up front.”
In a junior varsity first half, Vernon beat Northview 20-6. The Yellow Jackets do not have a JV team, so they fielded some of their varsity players.
“The JV competed really hard,” Marshman said. “Our JV kids, battled, battled, battled. Eventually they ran out gas a little bit. We are not 100 percent game shape yet. They are going to win some football games this year, and they have a bright future ahead of them.”
The Northview Chiefs will kickoff their regular season next Friday night against Lighthouse Christian. Lighthouse does not have a football stadium; the game will be played at the Brent Athletic Park on North W Street at Beverly Parkway at 7:00 p.m.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
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Local Unemployment Rate Dips
August 18, 2018
Escambia County’s unemployment rate s 3.9 percent, down 0.4 percentage point from a year ago, according to the latest numbers released Friday.
The industries with the highest growth over the year in Pensacola were construction, and leisure and hospitality. The Pensacola area had 4,643 job openings, including 1,286 openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.
Florida’s unemployment rate dipped in July, hitting an 11-year low of 3.7 percent, according to numbers posted Friday by the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The latest estimate represents 383,000 Floridians considered out of work — 4,000 fewer than in June — from a workforce of 10.2 million. The mark, the lowest for Florida since April 2007, kept the state below the national figure of 3.9 percent for July, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics