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Supreme Court Rejects Putting Bayview Cross Case On Fast Track

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from the city of Pensacola to speed up consideration of a case about the removal of a decades-old cross from a city park.

The city appealed to the Supreme Court last month after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the cross in Bayview Park should be removed because it violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. Four plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the cross, saying its presence on public property was unconstitutional.

In addition to appealing last month to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for the city also requested that justices “expedite” consideration of whether to hear the case. The request focused, in part, on another pending case involving the removal of a cross in Maryland. The American Legion filed an appeal this year in the Maryland case, which is about a memorial to fallen World War I soldiers.

“Expedited consideration of the petition … is warranted in this (Pensacola) case so that the (Supreme) Court can consider the petition alongside the petitions in American Legion,” the city’s attorneys wrote. “American Legion, like this case, involves a court of appeals’ ruling that displaying a decades-old cross violates the Establishment Clause. Both cases present the same question about the proper Establishment Clause test to apply to religious displays.”

The Supreme Court, as is common, did not explain its reasons Tuesday for denying the request to speed up consideration of the Pensacola case. It has not decided whether to hear the Maryland case, according to an online docket.

Area Schools Are Open On Thursday

All schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida and Escambia County in Alabama will be open on Thursday. Extracurricular activities will also resume.

Additionally, Byrneville Elementary charter school, Pensacola State College, University of West Florida, Pensacola Christian College and Pensacola Christian School will be open Thursday.

Absences for students that may have evacuated will be handled on a case by case basis.

Tracking Michael

The latest information on Michael is in the graphic above.

Photos: Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier Wednesday Morning

Here is a look at the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier on Wednesday morning as Hurricane Michael churned in the Gulf.

For more photos, click here.

Photos by Chris Whelan for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Here’s What To Expect From Hurricane Michael In North Escambia

Here’s what to expect in North Escambia today from Hurricane Michael, according to the National Weather Service:

• Tropical Storm Warning
• Peak Wind Forecast: 30-40 mph with gusts to 55 mph
• Window for Tropical Storm force winds: until Wednesday afternoon
• Potential for wind 39 to 57 mph
• Peak Rainfall Amounts: Additional around 1 inch
• Potential for localized flooding rain
• Rivers and tributaries may quickly rise with swifter currents. Small streams, creeks, canals, and ditches may become swollen and overflow in spots
• Situation is unfavorable for tornadoes
• Tornadoes are not expected. Showers and thunderstorms with gusty winds may still occur.
• For additional information, and for information for southern Escambia County, see the stories on the front page of NorthEscambia.com.

Person Burned While Lighting Trash Pile Fire In Molino

A person was burned while reportedly lighting a trash pile on fire in Molino Tuesday afternoon. The accident happened on Stacey Road just after 1 p.m. The female victim was transported by Escambia County EMS to an area hospital. The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded and extinguished the pile.

Further details were not released.

Farmers Work To Complete Harvest Before Michael’s Rains

As Hurricane Michael moved northward across the Gulf of Mexico, farmers in North Escambia were in their fields working to bring in their peanut crop before rains moved in Pictured: Peanuts are harvested Tuesday afternoon in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.

Power Companies Prep For The Storm; Hundreds Of Trucks And Crews Stage

Gulf Power stands ready for the impacts of Hurricane Michael.

In addition to the 1,517 Gulf Power employees and contractors, more than 2,600 outside resources will be in Northwest Florida to assist with power restoration.

“Michael is a powerful storm and it looks like our customers in Panama City area will be the most heavily impacted. With a storm of this magnitude, power restoration in the hardest hit areas may take up to a week or more due to anticipated storm impacts.” said Gordon Paulus, Gulf Power spokesperson. “But all customers need to be prepared for tropical storm-force winds, which could lead to prolonged, widespread outages.

Gulf Power crews will work throughout the day and night to restore any outages until winds reach 35 mph, when it becomes unsafe. Once the storm passes, crews will quickly work to determine the damage and begin to work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power.

“Customers can be assured that we will work every minute to restore power as long as it is safe to do so,” Paulus said. “We our working our storm plans. We have already been tested this year with Subtropical Storm Alberto and Tropical Storm Gordon, so we are ready.”

Company employees spent Tuesday on logistics, preparing materials in areas where most of the damage could occur. They set up staging areas throughout Northwest Florida to handle the influx of outside crews.

Pictured: Over 600 hundred power company vehicles from across the country were staging at the fairgrounds on Mobile Highway Tuesday night. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

First Hurricane Shelters Now Open In Escambia County; Pet Friendly Shelter At Molino Park

Michael: Final Escambia County Update

[Updated 6 p.m. Wednesday] This will be the last Hurricane Michael update from Escambia County unless there are any major changes.

Essential Information

• Escambia County Emergency Operations Center is activated at a Level 3 (monitoring), or typical daily operations.
• The Citizen Information Line is closed.
• Escambia County is assisting 12 evacuees from the east.
• We are inventorying our staff and assets to determine if any resources can be deployed to the east if necessary to assist those impacted by Hurricane Michael.
• The National Humane Society is coming to take adoptable animals from the Escambia County Animal Shelter in order to make room to house animals coming with evacuees from the east.
• Escambia County is providing mutual aid to Bay County to provide by sending two ambulance crews, two engine companies (one volunteer, one career) with one Zodiac, in addition to helping to staff a incident management team.

Pensacola Beach

• A high risk of rip currents and high surf advisory are in effect for the northern Gulf Coast through at least Friday. Red flags are flying on Pensacola Beach and are expected through today. Red flags represent high surf and/or dangerous currents, and there is no swimming or wading in the Gulf of Mexico in red flag conditions. Surf heights are expected to increase to 10-15 feet through Wednesday.
• The tolls on the Bob Sikes Bridge have been lifted by the governor until further notice.

Evacuations

• The evacuation ordered for Zone A on Tuesday, Oct. 9  has been lifted as of 4 p.m. today, Wednesday, Oct. 10.

Schools

• Escambia County School District: Escambia County schools will resume regular schedules on Thursday, Oct. 11, with all district offices resuming normal work hours. The Special School Board Workshop slated for 3 p.m., on Thursday, Oct. 11 will also occur as previously advertised.
• University of West Florida: Classes and normal business operations on the University of West Florida Pensacola campus will resume at 7:59 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11. The UWF Emerald Coast location will remain closed on Thursday, Oct. 11. This includes all classes, events, and activities at this location. Florida Virtual Campus Tallahassee location will remain closed on Thursday, Oct. 11 and is scheduled to reopen on Friday, Oct. 12 at 8 a.m. Florida Virtual Campus Gainesville remains open.
• Pensacola State College will resume normal operations hours on Thursday, Oct. 11.
• Pensacola Christian Academy and Pensacola Christian College classes will resume on Thursday, Oct. 11.

Trash Service

• ECUA Residential and Commercial sanitation services in Escambia County will resume Thursday, Oct. 11. Wednesday’s collections will be made on Thursday, Thursday’s collections will be made on Friday, and Friday’s collections will be made on Saturday. Updates will be posted to the ECUA website and released to local media as necessary, should conditions change.

Closures/Openings

• State offices will be closed through Thursday in the 35 counties included in Gov. Scott’s emergency order, which includes Escambia County.
• All Escambia County offices will be resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11.
• Pensacola Energy’s Customer Service Center is closed until Thursday, Oct. 11. For natural gas emergencies, please call 474-5300.
• All offices of the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11.
• All offices of the Escambia County Tax Collector will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11.
• First Judicial Circuit: The courts in Escambia County will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11.
• The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office will resume regular business hours Thursday, Oct. 11. Pursuant to a directive by the Florida Secretary of State, the voter registration deadline for the Nov. 6 General Election in Escambia County will be extended until the day the office reopens.
• Port of Pensacola has been placed at Port Condition ZULU by the United States Coast Guard, Captain of the Port, Mobile Area. Under Condition ZULU, the port and all surrounding navigable waterways are closed to all vessel traffic and all port and vessel operations are suspended until further notice.
• All offices of the Florida Department of Health in Escambia Count are scheduled to reopen on Thursday, Oct. 11 at their regular time.
• ECAT will resume regular service operations and routes Thursday, Oct. 11.

Military

• Naval Air Station Pensacola, Corry Station and Saufley Field  will resume normal operations on Thursday, Oct. 11.

Power Outages

• Please do not call 9-1-1 to report power outages. Gulf Power knows when your power is out. You can track outages on their outage map from your smartphone on the Gulf Power Outage Map or report power outages online here.
• Power outages for Escambia River Cooperative Inc. can be reported to 1-877-OUT-EREC or 1-877-688-3732. View the EREC Outage Map for updated power outage information. Never touch a fallen power line and assume all wires on the ground are electrically charged.

Road Closures

• Highway 399 (J. Earle Bowden Way) is closed between Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach is closed.
• Online road closure resources:
  • Check for Escambia County road closures 24/7 at www.myescambia.com/roadissuesmap.
  • City of Pensacola road closures can be viewed here.
  • For the latest closures and updates, travelers can access Florida’s 511 service from cell phones, landlines and online at www.FL511.com.
• FDOT has suspended interstate and highway maintenance and construction indefinitely to allow for an increase in traffic as motorists evacuate from the northwest Florida coastline area. Presently, no bridges are closed due to the storm and bridge inspection crews are on standby for any potential inspections. Once conditions improve, crews will go back to working around the clock to clear all roadways.

Recreational Areas

• The Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier, Bob Sikes Bridge Fishing Pier and Pensacola Bay Fishing Bridge are closed.
• Gulf Islands National Seashore officials have closed all areas of the national seashore in Florida due to Hurricane Michael.

Disaster Fund

• Gov. Rick Scott activated the Florida Disaster Fund to support individuals who are impacted by Hurricane Michael. The Florida Disaster Fund helps provide financial support to Florida’s communities in times of disaster. To make a contribution, please visit www.FloridaDisasterFund.org or text DISASTER to 20222 to make a one-time donation of $10.
• In partnership with the public sector, private sector and other non-governmental organizations, the Florida Disaster Fund supports response and recovery activities. Donations to the Florida Disaster Fund are made to the Volunteer Florida Foundation, 501(c)(3) charitable organization and are tax deductible.
• Donations may be made by credit card on the secure website at www.floridadisasterfund.org or by check to the below address. Checks should be made payable to the Volunteer Florida Foundation and should include “Florida Disaster Fund” in the memo line.
  Volunteer Florida Foundation
  Attention: Florida Disaster Fund
  3800 Esplanade Way, Suite 180
  Tallahassee, FL 32311
• For additional questions about the Florida Disaster Fund, please contact info@volunteerflorida.org or call 850-414-7400.

Volunteer Efforts

• As the state’s lead agency for coordinating volunteers and donations before, during and after disasters, Volunteer Florida has established resources for individuals and groups who would like to support Floridians affected by Hurricane Michael.
• Those interested in volunteering can visit VolunteerFlorida.org and register on the volunteer database.
• As disaster response organizations like the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army evaluate their needs and asses their resources, qualified volunteers will be contacted.
• The Salvation Army is working with state and local emergency management throughout the Florida Panhandle.
• The Salvation Army has established a command center in Tampa and is prepared to mobilize incident management teams to the Florida Panhandle to serve impacted areas after the storm makes landfall.
• Personnel and mobile feeding units are on standby ready to move in after the storm. The Salvation Army’s mobile feeding units can serve 500-1,500 meals per day. 
• Red Cross is bringing in 500 disaster relief workers to shelter and feed at sites in affected counties.

State Emergency Operations

• The State Emergency Operations Center remains activated at a level one, which is a full-scale, 24-hours-a-day activation.
• The State Assistance Information Line contact number is 1-800-342-3557.
• The State Emergency Operations Center Media Line: 850-921-0217.
• Follow @FLSert or @FLGovScott on Twitter for live updates on Hurricane Michael.
• Visit floridadisaster.org/info to find information on shelters, road closures, and evacuation routes.

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