Etta Mae Lambeth Brown
September 24, 2018
Etta Mae Lambeth Brown resident of Pensacola, Florida passed away on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at the age of 83. Etta was born, raised, and worked on a farm in Flomaton, Alabama. She graduated from Flomaton High School. She participated in the Flomaton Band and Flomaton Basketball team.
Etta moved to Mobile, Alabama where she met her husband, James A. Brown, Sr. and raised 5 children while working in the Dry Cleaning business. She later moved to Pensacola, Florida where she retired from Monsanto.
She worked hard all her life and never left a job undone. She loved sports and was on several women’s softball teams. She also coached a girl’s fast pitch softball team to many championships. She loved to cook and everyone loved her food at family gatherings. She loved to can vegetables for her family, make quilts, and watch baseball. And she loved to FISH! Etta enjoyed going to breakfast and lunch at Cracker Barrel with her run around buddy, Otis Coleman. Most of all she loved the Lord and her family! She started her days reading her Bible and ended them watching John Hagee ministries on TV. She was a great prayer warrior for our family and will be greatly missed.
She is preceded in death by her mother, Addie Mae Walsh; father, Norville Jack Lambeth; brother, Jack Lambeth; and her two sons, James A. Brown, Jr. and John W. Brown.
Etta is survived by her 3 daughters, Mary E. Jordan, Deborah Sue (Dave) Dixon, and Darletta (Otis) Coleman; 12 grandchildren, Julie A. Adams, Davey Dixon, Shana M. Holmes, Johnathan D. Dixon, Amanda D. Schickel, Dixie King, Tiffany Lewis, Candace L. Rorrer, Alicia Brown, Jared w. Brown, Christine Brown, and Austin Brown; and numerous great grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North and at 12:30 p.m. at the Lambeth Church on Sunday, September 23, 2018. Services to begin at 1:00 p.m. with Pastor Andy Boutwell officiating. Burial will follow services in Boutwell Cemetery.
Pallbearers: Hunter Adams, Luke Dixon, Johnathon Dixon, George Adams, John Holmes, and Steve Schickel.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Psalms 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
“God rejoices when a saint goes home.”
Lipscomb Art Teacher Receives Visual Arts Association Classroom Grant
September 23, 2018
Sally Miller of Lipscomb Elementary School has been been name the 2018 Visual Arts Association of Northwest Florida Classroom Grant winner. The grant will provide the opportunity to incorporate “STEAM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) into her art room curriculum.
Art has always been tied in with other curriculum, but unique supplies for specific lessons on creative higher order thinking will be used to engage students.
Pictured: Lipscomb Elementary teacher Sally Miller (left) and VAA President Pat Page. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
More Scattered Rain
September 23, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. East wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Monday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Monday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. East wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. South wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 85. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Wednesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Thursday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Thursday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71.
Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88.
Authorities Looking For Backhoe Stolen From Nine Mile Road
September 23, 2018
UPDATE: The backhoe has been recovered. Click here for details.
A location construction company is seeking information on a backhoe stolen from Nine Mile Road.
The Kubota L48 was stolen between 6 p.m. Thursday and 4 a.m. Friday from a worksite in front of Lowes on Nine Mile Road.
Anyone with information is asked to call (850) 490-3244 or the Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Deer Dog Hunting Dispute Goes To Florida Supreme Court
September 23, 2018
Some Northwest Florida residents have gone to the state Supreme Court in a legal battle aimed at reining in “deer dog” hunting on property around the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area.
The residents, who contend that “deer dog” hunting has infringed on their property rights and created a nuisance, filed a notice as a first step in asking the Supreme Court to take up the case, according to documents posted on the Supreme Court website.
The notice came after the 1st District Court of Appeal sided with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and overturned a ruling by a Leon County circuit judge. The notice, as is common, does not detail the arguments that the residents will make at the Supreme Court.
“Deer dog” hunting, as the name implies, involves hunters using dogs to flush out deer and has long been allowed in the state’s Blackwater Wildlife Management Area. But the legal battle stems from hunters and dogs trespassing on adjoining private land. Property owners filed a lawsuit in 2016, seeking to prevent deer-dog hunting in the wildlife-management area.
The lawsuit included what is known as a “takings claim” — essentially arguing that the deer-dog problems were so serious that they were depriving the owners from enjoying their property. Also, the lawsuit sought an injunction to require the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to “abate” the nuisance on the private property.
Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers issued an injunction requiring the commission to abate the problem. But the commission took the dispute to the 1st District Court of Appeal, where a majority of a three-judge panel rejected the injunction and sent the case back for entry of summary judgment in favor of the commission on the takings and nuisance claims. Among other things, the appeals court said the injunction was overbroad and violated separation of powers.
“Here, the injunction is impossible for FWC (the commission) to comply with because it holds the FWC accountable for the actions of third parties over which the FWC has no control,” the appeals court ruled.
by The News Service of Florida
Photo Gallery: Flomaton Celebrates Railroad Junction Day
September 23, 2018
Flomaton celebrated the town’s heritage Saturday with Railroad Junction Day. The day featured a variety of free activities, demonstrations, entertainment, food and vendors as friends and neighbors gathered for the event.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery click here.
Gallery includes Railroad Junction Festival photos and car show photos.
NorthEcambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Photos: NWE At Flomaton
September 23, 2018
The NWE Chiefs traveled to Flomaton Saturday to take on the Hurricanes.
NWE’s Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors shut out Flomaton, and the Flomaton Seniors defeated NWE.
· NWE Freshmen 26, Flomaton 0
· NWE Sophomores 41, Flomaton 0
· NWE Junior s 48, Flomaton 0
· Flomaton Seniors 46, NWE 13
For a photo gallery from the Juniors and Seniors games, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Catherine Mae Patrick Cofield
September 23, 2018
Catherine Mae Patrick Cofield, age 85, surrounded by her family passed away peacefully on September 21, 2018. She was born in Magnolia Springs, AL, on February 28, 1933, to Joe Lanzy Mitchell Patrick and Willie Mae Douglas Patrick. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 39 years Charles Harvey Cofield, her stepmother, Lucille Patrick Sanders, her mother and father-in-law, Maggie and Harvey Cofield, her granddaughter, Ashley Cofield, four sisters, Alonia Kimbrel, Rosie Ramer, Jeanette Testone, and Joanne Donahue, and one brother Elbert Ray Hendry.
Mrs. Cofield was a resident of the Beulah community for more than 20 years and an active member of Beulah Free Will Baptist Church. She has been a resident of Century, FL, for the last 40 years and a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Century and then Christian Home Free Will Baptist Church until her health failed and she was no longer able to attend. For the last couple of years she has been a resident of Century Care Center.
Survivors include her two daughters, Ann Cofield Brooks of Century, FL, and Cathy Cofield (Jeff) Crawley of Century, FL; two sons, Charles Thomas (Pansy) Cofield of Century, FL, and Gordon Wayne (Desta) Cofield of Pensacola, FL; three sisters, Diane (Dickie) Smith of Pensacola, FL, Margie Weed of Mobile, AL, Marilyn Cox of Pensacola, FL; and two brothers, Joe (Brenda) Patrick Jr. of Mobile, AL, and Alton (Debbie) Patrick of Deridder, LA; seven grandchildren, Lynn (Jackie) Carnley; James (Dafna) Brooks, Andy (Lonna) Miles, Jr., Angie (Allen) Williams, David Brooks, Tiffany (Steve) Morris, Beth Brooks (James) Byrd, and Maggie (Bryan) Waters; 20 great-grandchildren, six great-great-grandchildren, and many nephews and nieces.
Funeral services will be Saturday, September 29, 2018, at 12:00 p.m. at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Glen Johnson officiating.
Burial will follow at the McCurdy Cemetery in Century, FL.
Visitation will be Saturday, September 29, 2018, from 11:00 a.m. until service time at noon at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Jackie Carnley, James Brooks, Andy Miles, Brandon Carnley, Jared Carnley and Nathan Carnley.
Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes is in charge of all arrangements.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: High Stakes For High Courts
September 23, 2018
Elected officials, political pundits and armchair quarterbacks are fanning the flames of a firestorm over President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal judge who’s been accused of sexual assault at a drunken high-school bash more than three decades ago.
Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the accusations lodged recently by Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist at Palo Alto University. If, when and how Ford will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee has turned into a partisan skirmish of epic proportions. Democrats hope to postpone Kavanaugh’s confirmation until after the November elections, in the hope that they might retake a majority in the Senate and ultimately put the kibosh on Trump’s selection.
Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who leaves office in January and is trying to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, came out this week with a statement about the Kavanaugh nomination that was ostensibly aimed at keeping everybody happy.
The Republican candidate defended “the truth” — which he said “is not partisan” and “is more important than politics” — and called Ford’s accusations “serious.” At the same time, Scott maintained that Kavanaugh “deserves to have a chance to clear his name.”
A frustrated Nelson, meanwhile, said he’s tried five times to meet with Kavanaugh, to no avail.
Meanwhile, all but two of Florida’s Republican state House members chimed in on the U.S. Supreme Court nomination this week.
Citing a “host of reasons” to support Kavanaugh, the GOP lawmakers used a letter to U.S. Senate leaders to urge Nelson to “transcend party politics” and “look at the nominee … as his own man.”
The missive, dated Wednesday, makes no mention of Ford or her allegations, which first surfaced more than a week ago.
MAYBE ALEXANDER HAIG WILL DECIDE
The clash about whether Kavanaugh will make it onto the nation’s high court is mirrored in some respects by a legal battle brewing in the Sunshine State over who will appoint replacements for three Florida Supreme Court justices who will be forced to retire in January. The battle is over whether Scott, his successor, or a combination of the two, will make the appointments.
In a lawsuit filed last year that argued Scott should not have the appointment power, the Florida Supreme Court said the issue wasn’t “ripe” for a decision. But that’s changed now that Scott has started the process to choose replacements for retiring justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince.
The League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause filed a renewed lawsuit Thursday contending again that Scott shouldn’t have the power. The lawsuit came after Scott directed the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission to begin the process of receiving and reviewing applications.
Saying that Scott “has now acted on his stated intention” to appoint the three justices and has set the process in motion, the groups asked the high court for a “writ of quo warranto,” which is used to determine whether a state officer or agency has improperly exercised power.
The outcome of the case could shape the makeup of the Supreme Court for years, if not decades. Pariente, Lewis and Quince are part of a liberal bloc, which now holds a slim 4-3 majority, that has thwarted Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature on numerous occasions since the governor took office in 2011.
Scott and the three longtime justices will all leave office in January, which has created the legal debate about which governor will have the appointment power.
In announcing that Scott had initiated the nominating process on Sept. 11, his office said Scott would invite the governor-elect to interview the court nominees after the Nov. 6 general election. The governor’s office pointed to an “expectation” that Scott and his successor would be able to agree on appointments.
If that happens, it would follow the lead of outgoing Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles and Republican Gov.-elect Jeb Bush in late 1998 agreeing to appoint Quince to the Supreme Court.
But the chances of reaching agreement could hinge heavily on the outcome of the gubernatorial election between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis. Gillum is running as a progressive Democrat and, if elected, might have a hard time reaching agreement with the conservative Scott. The new governor will take office Jan. 8.
“In our understanding of the Constitution, the next governor will appoint the next three Supreme Court justices,” Gillum’s campaign said in a statement after Scott initiated the Judicial Nominating Commission proceedings.
One of the key arguments in the case surrounds exactly when the terms of Scott and the justices end.
The League of Women Voters and Common Cause maintain that the judicial vacancies do not occur until after the outgoing justices’ terms expire at the end of the day on Tuesday, Jan. 8. That is also the day Scott’s successor will take office.
Even if the justices’ terms run out earlier in the day, Scott still doesn’t have the authority to appoint the judicial replacements, John Mills, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, argued last year. That would be up to the new governor, who will almost certainly be sworn in immediately after midnight on inauguration day, the plaintiffs argued, pointing to what happened when the last three governors assumed office.
In a statement issued in response to Thursday’s lawsuit, Scott reiterated he wants to work with the incoming governor to fill the appointments.
“It’s disappointing that these partisan groups filed a politically-motivated lawsuit that would create three prolonged vacancies on the Florida Supreme Court, contrary to all historical practice. The governor is following precedent set by Governor Chiles and has said in good faith that his expectation is that he and the governor-elect will agree on the selection of three new justices,” Scott spokesman John Tupps said in an email.
GILLUM, DESANTIS SPLIT ON SCHOOLS
While the battle about the Supreme Court appointments heated up this week, Gillum and DeSantis also launched plans that show they are far apart on how to improve Florida schools.
Gillum is floating a proposal that would provide a minimum $50,000 starting salary for teachers by increasing the state corporate-income tax by $1 billion.
DeSantis, meanwhile, released a plan that includes requiring 80 percent of school funding to be spent in classrooms and not on administration. He said the plan could help boost teacher pay.
Republicans have criticized Gillum’s proposal to increase the corporate-income tax rate from 5.5 percent to 7.75 percent to raise $1 billion for schools.
Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor, said only the largest corporations pay the tax because of exemptions. He estimates his proposal would impact about 3 percent of the companies doing business in the state. The tax increase would be offset by more than $6 billion in reduced taxes the corporations are paying because of the recent cut in the federal corporate tax, according to Gillum.
“I will not allow them to get away with miss-describing what it is that we are proposing. We are simply saying that we’ve got to invest in our next generation,” Gillum said at a press conference Tuesday.
Meanwhile, DeSantis, a former congressman from Ponte Vedra Beach, is touting the plan to require spending 80 percent of education funding in classrooms. His campaign policy statement said it would “cut bureaucratic waste and administrative inefficiency and ensure that money is being spent where it matters most.”
After touring the Okaloosa STEMM Academy in Valparaiso on Tuesday, DeSantis said his plan could boost pay for teachers.
“As we’re moving away from bureaucracy and putting more of the percentage of money we spend into the classroom, to me, the primary beneficiary is going to be the teachers,” he told reporters.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause filed a lawsuit seeking to block an attempt by Gov. Rick Scott to appoint replacements for three justices whose terms will end as the governor’s tenure comes to a close in January.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I want to make it very clear. The death of U.S. citizens is not a Republican or Democrat issue. It is a human tragedy.” State Rep. Robert Asencio, a Miami Democrat, speaking to reporters a year after Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico in tatters.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Body Found In Nine Mile Road Ditch
September 22, 2018
A body believed to be that of a homeless man was discovered Friday night in a ditch in front of the Winn Dixie parking lot in the 300 block of Nine Mile Road.
It appeared that the adult male died of natural causes, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The ECSO is continuing their investigation. The man’s name has not been released.
Pictured: A body was found in a Nine Mile Road ditch Friday night. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.