Residents Of Private Road In Molino Request County Improvements
August 14, 2018
The property owners on HomePlace Lane in Molino are requesting to pay the county to make improvements on their private road.
At their Thursday meeting, the Escambia County Commission will consider setting a public hearing on the request to create the Homeplace Lane Roadway Improvements Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU). If the commission approves, the public hearing will be set for 5:31 p.m. on September 6.
Students Head Back To Class (With Photo Gallery)
August 14, 2018
Monday was the first day of school…so that means it’s time for our annual Back to School Photo Gallery.
We asked NorthEscambia.com readers to submit their back to school photos.
For a photo gallery with hundreds of photos, click here.
We apologize, but due to a tremendous response, we were unable to publish all the photos we received, and we are unable to add additional photos to the gallery.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Rylan and Karsyn on their first day of second grade at Beulah Elementary with Mrs. Burgess.
Kamryn and Kylee, Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School.
Delaney, seventh grade at Ransom Middle School, Savannah, eleventh grade at Tate High School.
Nora, Molino Park Elementary.
Cooper, first grade, Bratt Elementary.
Eli, first day of kindergarten at the new Kingsfield Elementary
By The Numbers: Voter Registration Stats For Escambia County And Statewide
August 14, 2018
The voter registration books are closed for the 2018 primary election. The official registered voter count in Escambia County is:
- Republican – 93,889 – 45%
- Democratic – 70,930 – 34%
- No Party Affiliation – 42,830 – 20%
- Minor Parties – 1,568 – 0.75%
THE BIG PICTURE: 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.
NO LABELS, PLEASE: 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.
DEMOCRATIC DOMINANCE: Conventional wisdom has long held that Democrats look to South Florida when they need votes. And there’s good reason for that: Miami-Dade County has 586,648 registered Democrats, Broward County has 577,248, and Palm Beach County has 387,445 — nearly a third of all of the registered Democrats in the state.
It’s also no wonder that Democrats focus on the Orlando area. In Orange and Osceola counties, registered Democrats now outnumber Republicans by 161,000 voters. With both parties focusing heavily this year on attracting Hispanic voters, Democrats also hold about a 100,000-voter edge in Orange and Osceola among Latinos.
GOP HEAVEN: Registered Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats in each of the seven most-populated counties — Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Pinellas (though the GOP trails by fewer than, 1,000 voters in Pinellas.) But the GOP has been successful for the past two decades, at least in part, because it has dominated regions such as North Florida, Southwest Florida and many suburban areas.
The new numbers bear that out. For example, in Northwest Florida, registered Republicans make up more than half of the voters in Bay, Holmes, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington counties. The same holds true in Northeast Florida in Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties. It also goes for Sumter County, which is home to much of the massive Villages retirement community, and Collier County in Southwest Florida.
DON’T FORGET THE LITTLE GUYS: Much of the attention during this year’s campaign focuses on candidates going to large media markets and party strongholds as they try to amass votes. But the new registration numbers also give a glimpse of smaller, rural counties that can get lost in the debate.
Nine counties — Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Glades, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Liberty and Union counties — each have fewer than 10,000 registered voters. The smallest are Lafayette, with 4,312 voters, and Liberty, with 4,365, followed by Glades, with 6,751. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in each of the nine counties, though GOP President Donald Trump carried all of the counties in 2016.
Nominees Named For Escambia District 1 Advisory Committee
August 14, 2018
Nominees to the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee have been named.
The committee was established by county commission to explore, research, provide technical or practical expertise, and make recommendations to the District 1 member of the Escambia Board of County Commissioners regarding those issues of relevance and significant importance to the citizens of the northwest portion of District 1 of Escambia County. Committee members serve a term of office concurrent with the District 1 commissioner’s term of office.
At their August 16 meeting, the Escambia County Commission will consider the following volunteer members as nominated by District Commissioner Jeff Bergosh:
- Kim Aderholdt
- Dr. Laura Bryant
- Paul Flores
- Jay Ingwell
- Jill Johnson
- George Levy
- David Liechty
- Joseph Poitivan
- Wilson Taylor
Some of the importatnt issues facing District 1, according to the county, are the development of OLF8, planning for extensive traffic, land development and population increases, master planning for the Northwest portion of District 1 (specifically precincts 43, 5, and 68), enhancing the quality of life for all residents, improving access to public transportation, establishing a public library, and many other issues involving growth and the environment.
Thomas: Smooth Start For School Year; Beulah Middle Traffic Not That Bad
August 14, 2018
Overall, the first day of school in Escambia County received an “A” from School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.
One of the biggest changes this year was the addition of the new Beulah Middle School on West Nine Mile Road and Kingsfield Elementary School on Kingsfield Road, and the first day went smoothly, he said.
“The intake process worked liked it had been in operation for a long time,” Thomas said. “The traffic concerns never really materialized because the start of school is later than the shift changes at Navy Federal.”
Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office stood by to slow school zone traffic at Beulah Middle, Kingsfield Elementary and other schools across the county.
“It was a pretty good day…you expect some delays like we had one bus breakdown….but things wen pretty good,” Thomas said. “And our teachers and staff came back prepared.”
Pictured: The school zone on Nine Mile Road at the new Beulah Middle School Monday morning. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Portion Of Medical Park Drive In Atmore Closed Thursday
August 14, 2018
Medical Park Drive in Atmore will be closed from East Laurel Street to McRae Street on Thursday for 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. for utility work, according to the City of Atmore.
Daily Dose Of Showers
August 14, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Calm wind.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. Calm wind.
Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Calm wind.
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 89.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Sunday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 91.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72.
Monday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91.
Front Street Families Back At Home 2.5 Years After EF-3 Tornado
August 13, 2018
Six families have received their keys and are returning home to Front Street in Century, about two and a half years after an EF-3 tornado devastated much of the area.
State Disaster State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program funding was allocated to Escambia County in 2016 to assist income eligible owner occupants with rehabilitation. In August 2016, Quina Grundhoefer Architects was tasked to create replacement housing plans that would fit with the historic guidelines prescribed by the Town of Century historic district as well as meeting approval with the State Historic Preservation Office since the funding was from the state.
“Everyone on Front Street in Century has their keys as of today,” Meredith Reeves, division manager for Escambia County’s Neighborhood Enterprise Division, said. ” We appreciate the various public and private partners that have worked with the county to help us get the homeowners back into their houses after the 2016 tornado.”
Escambia County holds a zero interest, zero payment five-year mortgage on each of the properties. As long as the residents maintain their new home as their primary residence, maintain insurance and pay their property taxes, the mortgages will be canceled at the end of the five year period.
Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida will assist some of the residents this week with furniture and other furnishings.
NorthEscambia.com and courtesy photos, click to enlarge.
Police: Two Molino Men Arrested For Walmart Theft, One Had A Loaded Gun And Spice
August 13, 2018
Two Molino men were charged after an alleged shoplifting incident at a Pensacola Walmart during which one was found with a loaded weapon and spice, according to police.
The Pensacola Police Department responded to a retail theft complaint at the Walmart on Creighton Road after Jonathan David Franklin and Dakota Ray Smith, both 25, allegedly approached a self checkout register with a shopping cart full of merchandise and a Stanley roller luggage-type plastic box. After ringing up items worth about $40 with Smith acting as lookout, Franklin pushed the shopping cart into the foyer of the store, according to a Pensacola Police Department report.
They were stopped by Walmart’s loss prevention staff without paying for $578.53 worth of merchandise, the report states. They were escorted to the store’s loss prevention office.
When Pensacola Police arrived and searched Franklin, they reported finding a loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol in his pocket, a snuff can with a substance that tested positive for spice, and what police described as a “metal fake cigarette” with suspected spice residue. No contraband was found on Smith’s person.
Both men were charged with felony retail theft coordinated with others. Franklin was also charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Franklin remained in the Escambia County Jail Monday morning with bond set at $26,000. Smith was released on a $1,000 bond. Both men provided the same address on Cedartown Road in Molino at the time of their arrests.
Tate And Northview FFA Chapters Named Among The Best In The Nation
August 13, 2018
Both the Northview High and Tate High FFA chapters have been named two of the very best in the nation as Three-Star Chapters by the National FFA Organization.
The National Chapter Award Program is designed to recognize FFA chapters that actively implement the mission and strategies of the organization. These chapters improve chapter operations using the National Quality Chapter Standards and a Program of Activities that emphasize growing leaders, building communities and strengthening agriculture. Chapters are rewarded for providing educational experiences for the entire membership.
Pictured: The Tate High School FFA Chapter (above) and the Northview High School FFA Chapter (below) at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN, last fall. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
