Driver Rolls Over On Highway 97
December 20, 2018
There was no word on any injuries following a single vehicle rollover crash Thursday morning.
It was reported about 8 a.m. on Highway 97 about 1.5 miles south of Tungoil Road, but the exact time of the crash was not known.
The driver was not at the scene when first responders arrived on scene. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century Council Minutes Remain Unapproved For Months Due To Theft, Staff Errors
December 20, 2018
The Town of Century still does not have council minutes approved for meetings dating back three months — partially due to a reported document theft and partially due to staff errors.
This week, the council approved minutes for multiple meetings dating back to mid-August. But no minutes have been submitted to the council for two regular meetings in September because the town clerk’s notes are still missing.
On November 27, Town Clerk Kim Godwin filed a report with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office stating that on November 27 she discovered a memory card containing audio recordings of council meetings was missing, along with her written notes.
On December 4, assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille told NorthEscambia.com that most of the items were located by Godwin.
Mayor Henry Hawkins said this week the notes are still missing that pertained to the September regular council meetings.
Monday night, the council declined to approve minutes for October 15, November 5 and November 19. Brooks said the draft minutes contained “many, many errors.” Errors she cited including incorrect resolution numbers that were considered or passed by the council.
At a November 19 town council meeting, Brooks warned Godwin that someone could go to jail for violating the Sunshine Law, which stipulates minutes should be prepared “promptly.”
Godwin was not present at Monday night’s council meeting.
Northview Principal Gayle Weaver Retiring
December 20, 2018
Northview High School Principal Gayle Weaver has announced her retirement.
“I am officially retiring,” Weaver said Thursday. “I would like to thank everybody for everything they have always done. Great parents, great students, great community.”
“Please keep supporting Northview High School. Get out, volunteer, help in the booster clubs, help anyway you can,” she said. “This is a great place because of the people. I’ve enjoyed it here … thank you very much. It’s been a great quarter of a century.”
After teaching in Alabama, Weaver joined the Escambia County School District in 1989 as a teacher at Ernest Ward High School. She became assistant principal at Ernest Ward in 1992, and was named principal of the new Northview High School in 1994.
Weaver is the only person to have served as Northview’s principal since the school opened in 1995.
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas said Assistant Principal Gerry Pippins has been named Northview’s interim principal for the remainder of the school year. The position will be advertised for a permanent replacement.
Pictured top: Northview High School Principal Gayle Weaver with the school’s 2012 1A State Championship team in Orlando. Pictured below: Weaver comes face to face with a BMX bicycle jumping over her during a 2016 program at the school. Pictured bottom: Weaver during a recent graduation. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Woman Charged With Neglect And Exploitation Of Elderly Man
December 20, 2018
A Cantonment woman has been charged with neglect and exploitation of an elderly man.
Dona Josephine Moyer, 68, was charged with neglecting an elderly person and exploitation of the elderly.
Moyer was the alleged victim’s court appointed guardian, according to an arrest report. She allegedly failed to provide medical care and supervision for the 66-year disabled man. He had reportedly not seen his primary care physician for two years, and needed medication had not been refilled since August of 2017.
ECUA Holiday Garbage Collection Schedule
December 20, 2018
For the holiday season, ECUA collections will be as follows:
Escambia County
All of the ECUA sanitation collections in Escambia County (garbage, recycling an yard trash) will be made one day later than normally scheduled during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s.
Santa Rosa County
There will be no collections on Tuesday, December 25 or Tuesday, January 1. Tuesday recycling collections for our Santa Rosa County customers will be made on Wednesday, December 26 and January 2, 2019, respectively for each holiday week.
Christmas Tree Collections in Escambia and Santa Rosa
ECUA customers in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties may place real wreaths and Christmas trees at the curb with their regular yard waste collection. Customers are asked to remove all tinsel and decorations from their trees before placing them at the curb, and to ensure that trees, or portions thereof, are no more than 6 feet in length. Trees can be placed at the curb with other yard trash and should not be placed in the recycling cans or green garbage containers.
For more information, call ECUA Customer Service at (850) 476-0480.
Byrneville Elementary Considers Bond Issue For $7 Million Building Project
December 20, 2018
The Byrneville Elementary School Board of Directors is continuing to explore financing options for a $7 million building and renovation project.
Thursday, the board met with Capital Trust Agency (CTA), an independent public body for the purpose of financing or otherwise accomplishing development programs. CTA is located in Gulf Breeze, with Gulf Breeze and Century signing off on CTA projects. Century entered into the Capital Trust Agency with Gulf Breeze in 1999 with Century essentially serving as the “second signature” for CTA, certifying that the projects meet a public purpose under IRS rules and regulations. No funding comes from the or is approved by the municipalities; it is directly from CTA.
“You are family to us; we are going to assist you anyway we can,” CTA Executive Director Ed Gray said. “We are not going to charge you our usual fees. We are just going to offer advice through the process, whether that is a bank or CTA.”
CTA has financed numerous charter schools in Florida.
The Byrneville Elementary Board is also considering the use of bank financing using the New Market Tax Credits program, part of a federal tax credit program enacted by Congress in 2000, designed to stimulate private investment in low income urban neighborhoods and rural communities.
The charter school is considering expansions and improvements including classrooms and a new cafetorium, in addition to improvements to their main building.
Pictured top: Byrneville Elementary School. Pictured inset: Capital Trust Agency Executive Director Ed Gray address the Byrneville Elementary School Board of Directors Thursday afternoon. Pictured below: Byrneville Elementary board members Cheryl Boutwell, Melanie Killam and Brandy Carter. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Dedria’s Gift Delivers Christmas Gifts To Area Nursing Homes
December 20, 2018
Dedria’s Gift visited nursing homes in Century and Brewton this week with gifts for the residents. Dedria’s Gift honors the memory of Dedria Robinson who was killed in a 2005 automobile accident at age 11. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Christmas Parade Set For Friday Morning
December 20, 2018
The Century Christmas Parade is Friday morning at 11:00 in an area east of North Century Boulevard.
Floats will line up at 10 a.m. at the school on Hecker Road where they will be judged for the wackiest, prettiest and most creative entries. The parade route, which has not been announced, will begin and end on Hecker Road.
The parade will travel Hecker Road to Jefferson Avenue, Jefferson Avenue past East Pond Street, continue on Jefferson Avenue past Salters Lake Road back to East Pond Street, East Pond Street back to Jefferson Avenue, Jefferson Avenue to Front Street, Alger Road to Hecker Road, and Hecker Road back to the starting point. (see map below).
Winning entries will received certificates following the parade. There is no registration fee. For more information, call Emily at (850) 256-3208.
The last Christmas Parade in Century was in 2016 (pictured).
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
High-Stakes Marijuana Ruling Placed On Hold
December 20, 2018
In a closely watched case, an appeals court this week agreed to put on hold a circuit judge’s ruling that said Florida lawmakers and the state Department of Health have violated a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana.
The 1st District Court of Appeal approved a stay of the ruling but also said consideration of the underlying issues in the case would be “expedited.” The Florida Department of Health went to the appeals court in October after Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson sided with the Tampa-based firm Florigrown in a battle about how the state is carrying out the constitutional amendment.
Dodson found that a 2017 law was unconstitutional and issued a temporary injunction requiring state health officials to begin registering Florigrown and other medical-marijuana firms to do business. Dodson’s ruling targeted parts of the law that placed caps on the number of medical-marijuana licenses and dealt with issues such as the creation of a “vertical integration” system that requires marijuana operators to grow, process and sell medical marijuana — as opposed to businesses being licensed to play different roles in the industry.
The case could open the door to more firms doing business in Florida’s fast-growing medical marijuana market. Florigrown, for example, filed the lawsuit after being denied approval by the Department of Health.
In arguing for the stay, Department of Health attorneys this month wrote that allowing Dodson’s order to “take effect injects confusion and uncertainty into the implementation of the medical marijuana amendment and the registration of MMTCs (medical marijuana treatment centers, as the firms are known) throughout Florida,” the filing said. “Under the existing status quo, the department may only grant an MMTC license to an entity after vetting its qualifications. In contrast, under the injunction order, it is unclear how the department would determine which entities are qualified to operate as an MMTC, or if any registration process would exist at all. This is because the department’s authority for establishing such rules … would be gone, nullifying the implementing rules already established by the department.”
But attorneys for Florigrown disputed such arguments.
“Contrary to the department’s assertions, Florigrown produced an abundance of evidence establishing the public harm that is occurring because of the Legislature’s unconstitutional limits on the registration of medical marijuana treatment centers,” the firm’s attorneys said in a brief last week. “It also established that sufficient guidelines already exist to protect the public. The department produced no evidence or testimony to the contrary. All the trial court has done is direct the department to allow the ‘registration’ of MMTCs. Once an MMTC is registered, it must still meet other requirements before it can actually commence operations.”
The Department of Health’s appeal of Dodson’s ruling in October triggered an automatic stay. But Florigrown then returned to Dodson and requested that he vacate the stay — which he did in a Dec. 4 order.
Attorneys for the department then went to the appeals court, essentially asking that the stay be reinstated while the appeal of Dodson’s October ruling moves forward. The Tallahassee-based appeals court on Tuesday granted that request, saying in a one-page order that the stay “shall remain in effect pending final disposition of the merits of this appeal.”
As is common in such orders, the appeals court did not explain its reasoning. But it also said the appeal will be expedited.
With Florida potentially one of the most-lucrative markets in the country for medical marijuana, disputes about licenses have led to numerous court and administrative fights.
More than 71 percent of voters approved the medical-marijuana constitutional amendment in 2016. In the appeals-court filing this month, the Department of Health said 14 medical-marijuana treatment centers had been registered and licensed and that they operated 72 “dispensing locations” across the state.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Rain Today, Cold And Windy For Friday
December 20, 2018
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Today: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 63. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 43. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 48. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 33. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 59. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming northwest in the morning.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 48.
Christmas Day: Partly sunny, with a high near 68.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67.