Century Finally Produces Some Airline Ticket Info, But Won’t Say Who Traveled
March 7, 2019
Century Mayor Henry Hawkins still isn’t providing details about who the town purchased airline tickets for last October, but the town has produced a portion of the records requested nearly two months ago by NorthEscambia.com.
In December, the town council approved payment of $1,751 to Expedia and three airlines on a bill list. As part of a public records request on January 8, NorthEscambia.com asked for the “airline invoices or receipts that have been discussed and appeared on the bill list at recent meetings, along with reservation information for such”.
That request was ignored by the town until this week. As we reported Tuesday, Hawkins told us and council president Ann Brooks that he would provide the receipts, but he would “black them out”. He refused to answer questions about the legal justification for the proposed redactions.
Tuesday afternoon, a town staffer emailed documents to NorthEscambia.com and Brooks.
On each page from Expedia, the name of the traveler was redacted, marked out by hand. No justification for the redactions was provided.
No explanation was given as to why it took nearly two months to produce the documents. Florida’s Sunshine Law dictates that records must be produced in a reasonable time, and the only delay permitted “is the limited reasonable time allowed the custodian to retrieve the record and delete those portions of the record the custodian asserts are exempt.”
The documents included two itineraries and one sheet labeled as a receipt. The “receipt” from Expedia did not indicate the purchaser, but it did show the last four digits of a Visa card used for payment.
Tuesday, the town provided:
- An Expedia itinerary showing a cost of $560.92 for an American Airlines flight departing October 28 from Los Angeles to Pensacola, and a room with double beds for one adult for two nights at the LaQuinta Inn on Davis Highway in Pensacola. The traveler’s name is redacted.
- An Expedia itinerary showing a cost of $689.38 for a Delta flight departing October 29 from Los Angeles to Pensacola, a return flight on Frontier Airlines on October 31, and a room with double beds for one adult for one night at the LaQuinta Inn on Davis Highway in Pensacola. The traveler’s name is redacted.
- An Expedia receipt for $501.40 for a one-way flight from Pensacola to Eugene, Oregon, on October 31. The receipt does not specify the airline, and the traveler’s name is redacted.
The items provided this week by the town total $1,751.70.
The December town bill list showed payments were made for charges incurred in October as follows:
- American Airlines $501.40
- Delta $366.90
- Expedia $668.50
- Frontier Airlines $214.90
The items total $1,751.70, equal to the itineraries and receipt provided but the payee entries listed differ.
Under the town’s charter, Hawkins is required to seek advance council approval for purchases in excess of $200. The council did not approve the airline ticket purchases.
He has contended that Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry promised to reimburse the costs with county economic development, but Barry has denied even communicating with Hawkins about travel expenses. During a public council meeting, Hawkins called Barry “a lie”. “
Tate Students Prepare 50,000 Meals For The Needy
March 7, 2019
The Tate High School FFA worked this week to prepare 50,000 meals for a Meals of Hope project to help fight hunger.
This was the third year for the chapter and its FFA members to raise money for this community service event. The first year, the program started with 12,000 meals and doubled to 25,000 meals last year. Each meal package consisted of a protein, dry macaroni noodles and cheese package. All the packaged meals were sent to Feeding the Gulf Coast where they will distributed to families in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
“Nearly 300 students gathered in the Tate gymnasium for a day packed full of working, dancing, singing and a pizza party to make this an awesome day,” said Tate FFA sponsor Melissa Gibbs. Tate agriculture students were joined by Tate students from FBLA, student council, softball and baseball, along with future Aggies from Brown Barge and Ransom middle schools. Tate FFA Alumni, community partners and FFA parents also assisted with the event.
“This has definitely become a Tate FFA tradition. Our FFA members and students look forward to being a part of this event every year. I promise, the efforts put into this event truly have an impact our communities as students work together to address food insecurities within our local areas,” Gibbs said.
She said the program exemplifies the FFA Motto “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve”. The project is a component in the Tate FFA quality chapter plan and National chapter award.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Year Round Daylight Saving Could Become Law
March 7, 2019
Florida residents will join most of the nation in setting clocks forward and returning to daylight saving time this weekend.
But why did we “fall back” last year?
During their 2018 session, the Florida Legislature passed a bill to keep daylight saving time year round that was signed into law by then-governor Rick Scott. But the change ultimately required Congressional approval, which did not happen.
Wednesday, now Senator Rick Scott, Senator Marco Rubio and Rep. Vern Buchana introduced the Sunshine Protection Act which would make daylight saving time permanent across the entire country.
The legislation, if enacted, would apply to those states who currently participate in DST, which most states observe for eight months out of the year. Standard Time, from November to March, is only observed for four months out of the year. The bill would simply negate the need for Americans to change their clocks twice a year. Many studies have shown that making DST permanent could benefit the economy and the country
“Studies have shown many benefits of a year-round Daylight Saving Time, which is why Florida’s legislature overwhelmingly voted to make it permanent last year,” Rubio said. “Reflecting the will of the State of Florida, I’m proud to reintroduce this bill to also make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationally.”
“I was glad to sign legislation as Governor to continue Daylight Saving Time year-round for Floridians, and now join Senator Rubio to lead this effort in Congress,” Scott said. “The Sunshine Protection Act will allow Floridians and visitors to enjoy our beautiful state even later in the day, and will benefit Florida’s tourism industry, which just celebrated another record year.”
Labor Dept. Investigation Nets Back Wages To 111 Cricket Wireless Employees
March 7, 2019
After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Fast Frontier LLC – based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and operating as Cricket Wireless – has paid $41,677 in back wages to 111 employees for violating the minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at 54 locations in Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The list of 54 store locations included North Main Street in Atmore, East Cervantes Street and North 9th Avenue in Pensacola, Highway 90 in Milton and Highway 90 in Pace.
WHD investigators found the employer paid employees flat salaries without regard to the number of hours they had actually worked. This practice resulted in overtime violations when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, but were not paid overtime. Additional overtime violations resulted when the employer failed to include commissions when calculating overtime pay, instead basing overtime rates only on workers’ hourly base rates. Excluding these amounts resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law. The Department also cited FLSA recordkeeping violations when the employer failed to maintain accurate records of the number of hours employees worked.
Investigators also found that two former employees never received their final paychecks.
“The U.S. Department of Labor provides compliance assistance to help employers understand the law and avoid violations,” said James Schmidt, Wage and Hour Division District Director, in Tampa. “When violations do occur, our enforcement helps to ensure that workers are paid the wages they have earned, and that employers compete on a level playing field. We encourage all employers to make use of the many tools we provide to help them understand and comply with the law, and to call us for assistance.”
Contraband Located In Century Prison Visitor’s Vehicle
March 7, 2019
The Florida Department of Corrections reports a recent contraband interdiction and Century Correctional Institution.
On March 3, the institution’s K-9 team alerted on a visitor’s vehicle. Staff discovered marijuana inside the vehicle, and the visitation was terminated.
The FDC said there zero tolerance for contraband of any kind, and visitors attempting to introduce contraband are subject to immediate termination of their visitation privileges. Whenever contraband is recovered on a visitor, local law enforcement is contacted, and they determine whether to make an arrest.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
ECUA Conducting 900 Acre Control Burn Near Plant In Gonzalez
March 7, 2019
The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) will be conducting prescribed burn operations on ECUA property in the vicinity of the Central Water Reclamation Facility (CWRF) in Gonzalez Thursday through Saturday.
ECUA’s burn-certified contractor will conduct the burn operations, which are scheduled to begin at approximately 9 a.m. each day. These burn activities are a part of ECUA’s management plan for the ecological restoration of forest lands at the CWRF site.
The ECUA’s CWRF property is in the Gonzalez community and mostly lies south of Becks Lake Road, west of the Escambia River. A small amount of ECUA’s property north of Becks Lake Road will be included in this prescribed burn operation.
Although every effort will be made to ensure smoke will not affect roadways, drivers should exercise caution in the event smoke does lead to reduced visibility on the area’s roads, according to ECUA.
Click map to enlarge.
A Warming Trend Begins
March 7, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 63. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Increasing clouds, with a low around 48. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely before midnight, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 65. South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Sunday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming north after midnight.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 73.
Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 74.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75.
BJ’s Wholesale Club, Other Retail And Restaurants Planned For Former Sears Location
March 7, 2019
The former Sears location on Davis Highway will be home to a BJ’s Wholesale Club and several other businesses, according to planning documents filed with Escambia County.
The Shoppes at University Town Plaza will, according to county documents, will include the 98,883 square foot BJ’s club, gas station and exterior liquor store where the Sears was located. The former Sears Auto Center site will be replaced with a building with space for nine retail and restaurant tenants along Davis Highway.
The Sears closed last summer, and the building is being renovated.
BJ’s Wholesale Club, headquartered in Massachusetts, operates 215 membership warehouse clubs and 135 gas locations in 16 states in the eastern United States. The company has not responded to a NorthEscambia.com media inquiry about Pensacola.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
The Blue Angels One Of 21 New Specialty Plates Considered In Florida
March 7, 2019
– Other Plates Under Consideration Include Alabama, Auburn and Georgia Collegiate Plates–
Sen. Doug Broxson has filed a bill new create a new Blue Angels specialty license plate, one of 21 tags that may be coming to Florida
If the bill become law, the license plate would be designed at a later date and would include the words “Home of the Blue Angels” at the bottom. The annual fees generated by the plate will benefit the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, including the Naval Aviation Museum and the National Flight Academy in Pensacola.
There are currently 123 specialty license plates in Florida, and there are 21 under consideration this legislative session, including plates for the University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Georgia that would benefit scholarships for out of state students. The University of Alabama plate endowment would be from the Pensacola Bama Club.
There is also a proposal that cap the number of specialty tags at 125.
Currently, every new plate must reach 1,000 presales before plates are manufactured, and any existing plate that falls below 1,000 on the road will be removed, but that requirement does not apply to college and university plates.
The top five specialty plates in Florida are the University of Florida followed by sea turtles, endless summer surfing, Florida State University and Protecting Wild Dolphins.
The University of West Florida plate is number 105 on the state’s list, with 1,303 sold last year, with 392 of those registered in Escambia County.
Atmore Man Killed In Highway 21 Crash
March 7, 2019
A two vehicle crash Wednesday claimed the life of an Atmore man.
Alabama State Troopers said Anthony Edward Dunkin, 33, was killed when the 2005 Honda Civic he was driving collided with a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer about 2 p.m. on Highway 21 about a mile north of I-65. Dunkin was pronounced deceased on the scene.
The driver of the Chevrolet, Crory Tyrail White, age 27 of Frisco City, AL, was injured and airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital.
Additional details have not been released as troopers continue their investigation.