Northview Sets Homecoming Parade; Entries Now Accepted
September 27, 2018
The annual Northview High School Homecoming Parade has been set for Friday, October 5.
The parade will line up at 12:30 p.m. and travel from Bratt Elementary School to Northview High. Entries are being accepted now; there is no cost to enter. For a printable entry form, click here. Entries are due by October 1.
A homecoming meal to support the Tommy Weaver Memorial Scholarship Fund will be sold for $7. Meals will be served after 10 a.m. on October 5 and will include a barbecue sandwich, chips, dessert and a drink.
Contact Perry Byars at (850) 327-6681 ext. 248 or email pbyars@escambia.k12.fl.us for more information or to reserve homecoming meals.
The Northview Chief’s homecoming game will kickoff at 7 p.m. on October 5 against the Jay Royals.
Pictured: The 2017 Northview High Homecoming Parade in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Atmore YMCA Set To Close Permanently
September 27, 2018
The Atmore YMCA will permanently cease operations and close on November 30.
“This is a very difficult time for everyone associated with our Y,” said Robert Heard, chairman of the YMCA’s board of directors. “In recent years, we instituted a number of changes that improved our YMCA’s efficiency and effectiveness in meeting community needs. Unfortunately, we have not been able to generate financial resources necessary to sustain operations over the long term.”
The Atmore YMCA has served Atmore and surrounding areas since June 1995, but fundraising and membership efforts have not been enough to keep the facility open.
“Our YMCA has had the privilege of serving the children, families and communities of Atmore for 23 years,” Heard said. “We are grateful for the support we have received from our members, participants, volunteers, and donors. The board also wants to thank Paul Chason and his staff team. They have done everything in their power, against long odds, to keep our YMCA going. We deeply regret that closing down will affect so many wonderful people.”
Two full time and nine part-time employees will lose their jobs.
The Atmore YMCA announced a closure in 2014, but an influx of community funding kept the doors open.
The YMCA currently has over 600 members.
Pictured top: The Atmore Area YMCA building. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
State Argues Against Anonymity In Gun Law Challenge
September 27, 2018
Pointing to a “strong presumption in favor of open judicial proceedings,” Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is asking a federal appeals court to reject arguments that two 19-year-olds should be able to remain anonymous in a challenge to a new state gun law.
Bondi’s office filed a 54-page brief urging the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a district judge’s ruling that the teens — identified as Jane Doe and John Doe — should not be able to keep their identities secret if they take part in a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association against the state.
The lawsuit challenges a law passed in March that increases the minimum age from 18 to 21 to buy rifles and other long guns in Florida. The Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott approved the change after the Feb. 14 mass shooting that killed 17 people at Broward County’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
In the brief, state Solicitor General Amit Agarwal and two of his deputies cited a federal court rule about requiring parties to be named in lawsuits. They also took issue with the NRA’s arguments that the teens should be able to remain anonymous because they could face threats and harassment for participating in the case.
“Plaintiffs do not point to any specific facts that establish a ‘real danger of physical harm,’ ” the state’s attorneys wrote, partially quoting another case. “The more general risk that litigants who carry the torch for controversial causes will be illegally threatened or harassed by ideological antagonists should be taken seriously; but the proper solution to that problem is to vigorously enforce existing laws prohibiting such misconduct, not to ignore the ‘clear mandate’ of (the federal court rule) and thereby abridge the rights of the press, the public, and other parties to the litigation.”
But in a June brief, attorneys for the NRA, Jane Doe and John Doe pointed to concerns about the safety of the teens.
“Jane Doe and John Doe, two 19-year-old Florida citizens, seek to participate in this lawsuit challenging Florida’s age-based ban on the purchase of firearms anonymously, based on the reasonable, documented fear that they would suffer harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence if their true identities and participation in this controversial litigation were made public,” the June brief said. “Under the standard for pseudonymous pleading established by this court’s precedents, Jane and John Doe should clearly be allowed to remain anonymous.”
The NRA filed the underlying lawsuit March 9, shortly after Scott signed a wide-ranging piece of legislation that included raising the minimum age for gun purchases. The lawsuit does not challenge other parts of the legislation, which was designed to bolster school safety in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shootings.
The NRA later filed a motion to add Jane Doe, an Alachua County resident, as a plaintiff to the lawsuit. It also has sought to add to the case allegations related to John Doe.
As part of its case, the NRA has cited threatening and often-vile emails received by longtime NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer. But U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in May rejected the request to allow anonymity for Jane Doe and John Doe, though he expressed sympathy for their concerns.
Based on precedent, “this court finds that mere evidence of threats and harassment made online is insufficient to outweigh the customary and constitutionally-embedded presumption of openness in judicial proceedings,” Walker wrote. “This is especially true where the targets of such threats and harassment are not minors and where the subject at issue does not involve matters of utmost intimacy.”
Tragic Tractor Accident Claims Life Of 4-Year Old In Molino
September 26, 2018
A tragic accident in Molino claimed the life of a four-year child Wednesday afternoon.
A male child was struck by a tractor at a residence near the 600 block of a Highway 196. He was pronounced deceased on scene by Escambia County EMS.
Further information has not been released.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Local Students Gather For ‘See You At The Pole’
September 26, 2018
Students gathered to pray at their schools across the area Wednesday morning during the annual See You at the Pole event.
Students gathered as school began to pray in the non-denominational event. See You at the Pole is a national student-initiated, student organized, and student-led event. Students prayed for their school, friends, teachers, government and the nation.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured: See You at the Pole Wednesday morning at Northview High School (top) and (in descending order below) Bratt Elementary School, Ernest Ward Middle School, Ransom Middle School, Molino Park Elementary School and Tate High School. NorthEscambia.com and reader photos, click to enlarge.
One Injured In Three Vehicle Wreck On Highway 29
September 26, 2018
One person was injured in a three-vehicle accident Wednesday morning on Highway 29 near International Paper. Three other people involved in the crash were not injured. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Nine Mile And Scenic Crash Claims One Life
September 26, 2018
An early morning wreck claimed one life in Escambia County.
Michael Scott Rhatigan, 49, was pronounced deceased after the 12:49 a.m. crash at Scenic Highway and Nine Mile Road. He was northbound on Scenic Highway when he crashed into a concrete center divider and a pole, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Captured On Video: Shots Fired After Davis Highway Wreck
September 26, 2018
Shots were fired at a busy intersection Tuesday afternoon following a traffic crash, and it was captured on video.
The incident happened on northbound Davis Highway at I-10. The driver of a Toyota Tacoma rear-ended a Ford Escape driven by a 67-year old Ernest M. Merritt of Castleberry, AL. The Tacoma driver, described by troopers as an older Hispanic male, started an unprovoked physical altercation with the driver he rear-ended, according toe the Florida Highway Patrol. A passerby stopped to assist the the driver of the Ford Escape in an attempt to subdue the Hispanic male.
The Hispanic male then pulled a gun and fired numerous rounds at the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, before fleeing the scene and causing another minor traffic crash.
No one was struck by the gunfire and no other injuries were reported.
A video uploaded to the NorthEscambia.com Facebook page shows shows an older male and the Hispanic male in a physical altercation. The Hispanic male holds his hands behind his head as the white male repeatedly strikes him with a lug wrench. He continues to walk around the highway with his hands behind his head after the physical altercation ends.
The Hispanic male gets back in his pickup truck and accelerates into another vehicle. The truck’s tires spin and smoke. After exiting the truck, the Hispanic male walks around in the roadway, firing a handgun into the air.
The FHP is investigating the traffic crashes, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the ECSO at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Beulah Road At Nine Mile Closure Delayed Until Sunday
September 26, 2018
The Beulah Road closure scheduled to begin today has been rescheduled for Sunday from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. Monday.
The intersection of Beulah Road and West Nine Mile Road will experience a night detour and closure. Traffic will be detoured from West Nine Mile Road to Rebel Road onto Beulah Church Road.
Every effort will be made to expedite construction to reopen the road before Monday, Oct. 1 at 6 a.m. Construction will consist of upgrading and installing new pipe.
If other lane or roadway closures are necessary beyond the anticipated time periods, another notice will be issued.
Viewpoint: Bergosh – Disagreeing Isn’t Attacking
September 26, 2018
From Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh
A one-sided opinion piece was published very recently about Escambia County’s project to acquire the property in Beulah Known as OLF 8. The publisher would not allow me a written rebuttal.
Here are the key facts missing from that piece:
— The jobs-generating project at OLF 8 was the #1 economic development project selected by the County’s Restore Act Committee
–The jobs-generating project for OLF 8 was conceived, voted upon, and financial commitments were made long before I was elected to the Board.
—Our triumph gulf coast application, for which we stand to receive $30 Million dollars, creates at least 1,000 good-paying jobs with the OLF 8 property including quality of life improvements, biking trails, restaurants and retail amenities—all of which benefit Beulah and the region.
— I support this project because we must be good financial stewards with this soon-to-be county-owned resource; staying in the running for our $30 Million-dollar grant while intelligently developing OLF 8 is how we demonstrate this.
–The county expended $17.3 million dollars to acquire OLF 8 to create jobs–not for building “town-centers” or for sourcing land to benefit residential developers.
—I made the motion to sell 100 acres to NFCU for a market price plus the commitment of 300 jobs–so we only need to create a minimum of 700 more good jobs at OLF 8 to stay in the running for the $30 Million triumph grant!
— I made the motion to have staff create an RFP for master planning OLF 8 that: 1.) listens to residents, 2.) captures the maximum amount of value for this land, and 3.) stays within the guidelines of our Triumph grant request.
These are the facts missing from Sunday’s editorial.
I’ve attacked nobody in my disagreement amid concerns over what is being planned for OLF 8— despite this baseless claim being printed about me.
I simply feel residential development is inappropriate at this site—not because I have any dislike of residential development, but because more than 1200 apartments, condos, and homes are currently under construction within walking distance from NFCU’s campus already. The area in and around the proposed Beulah Interchange now has roughly 7,000 residential units recently completed, currently in construction, in planning, or going through development review…
Our roads and infrastructure simply cannot handle any more of this residential development! This is what my constituents are telling me, and I am hearing them loud and clear!
A final pressing concern that I have heard in listening to my constituents is this:
While there are many progressive, urban, mixed-used developments and town center concepts put out as examples of what could be built out on OLF 8–not all those concepts are necessarily applicable to Beulah.
Beulah is a rural, suburban bedroom community desperately trying to retain its rural charm and character despite the growth that is engulfing it rapidly. (I am working to help with this via a citizens’ committee and a regional master plan.)
Many constituents simply DO NOT want a big-city styled Mall-development with apartments and condos built on OLF 8 making traffic worse—And I agree with these constituents!
To agree with my constituents that do not want to build a “mini-city” on Beulah’s OLF 8 isn’t an attack.
Far from attacking anyone or insulting citizens (which I don’t do), I’m doing my job, listening to measured voices of reason from constituents like me that live right across the street from OLF 8.
I’m taking the county-wide, broad-view perspective on this issue.
Jeff Bergosh
Chairman,
Escambia Board of County Commissioners
Click image to enlarge.