Escambia County Responds To Letters From Medical Director’s Attorney
June 29, 2019
Escambia County has responded to letters from lawyers representing Medical Director Dr. Rayme Edler.
The Health Law Firm sent letters to the county attorney’s office and human resources department demanding that Edler not be contacted directly, instead asking that all communications be through her lawyer.
The county attorney’s office said that county staff and personnel in the day to day operation of the county are not obligated to follow the demands.
Edler’s supervisors and the interim human resources director “have the right and duty to communicate directly with Dr. Edler without your intervention or interference,” Deputy County Attorney Charles Peppler wrote in a letter to The Health Law Firm.
“…Your letter of representation would not prohibit day-to-day communication between Dr. Edler, her supervisors and employees of the Public Safety and Corrections Departments, including other department directors, such as Ms. Stallworth, on matters necessary for the efficient operation of County government,” Peppler continued. “Please advise your client that her duties and responsibilities as an employee of Escambia County require her to communicate with her supervisors, department directors, and employees within the Departments of Public Safety and Corrections on all matters arising from the course and scope of her employment with Escambia County without your having to be present and without the communication having to be made through you or any other attorney in your law firm.”
Edler oversees the medical operations in Escambia County’s Public Safety and Corrections departments.
Pictured: Escambia County Medical Directory Dr. Rayme Edler addresses the Escambia County Commission at a May meeting.
Doughnut Strike: First Responders Collect Food For Manna
June 29, 2019
First responders spent the last three days at area stores working to collect food for those in need in our communities.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Escambia Fire Rescue, Pensacola Police Department and Pensacola Fire Department were on strike against their beloved doughnuts in an effort to collect 20,000 pounds of food.
Pictured: Escambia Fire Rescue collected food for Manna Friday afternoon at Grocery Advantage on Highway 29 in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
New Live Pensacola Beach Traffic Cameras; Cash For Tolls May Not Be Accepted This Weekend
June 29, 2019
New cameras provide a live look at Pensacola Beach traffic.
The cameras provide views of the traffic coming off the Bob Sikes Bridge and passing through the toll plaza in real time.
Live views of the cameras can be viewed on the county’s website.
Drivers traveling onto Pensacola Beach this weekend during peak traffic times may be instructed by staff to use the Toll-by-Plate system in the cash lanes in order to reduce traffic congestion, according to Escambia County.
If you are instructed to use Toll-by-Plate, you will simply drive through the toll plaza without stopping and receive your $1 bill in the mail through the Toll-by-Plate system. The toll will still be $1 each time you pass through the toll plaza, plus a $2.50 administrative fee that is charged each billing cycle. No matter the number of trips you take to the beach, you will only be charged the administration fee once per billing cycle.
You can also use your SunPass in all four lanes of the toll plaza, including the cash lanes, without stopping. With SunPass, the $1 toll will automatically be deducted from your prepaid account.
If you use Toll-by-Plate, remember you can use that method for the rest of the billing cycle with no additional administrative fee, just the one time $2.50 charge for the billing cycle.
Using Toll-by-Plate helps ease traffic congestion and allows drivers to pass through the toll plaza onto the beach much faster, which means less wait time for drivers.
Last weekend, during a test of the Toll-by-Plate system, the average wait time from Gulf Breeze proper to Pensacola Beach was approximately 10-15 minutes, compared to previous wait times of one hour.
Panhandle Equine Rescue Seeks Volunteers
June 29, 2019
Panhandle Equine Rescue in Cantonment is looking for volunteers.
The horse rescue needs help with daily barn chores like cleaning stalls, paddocks and pastures, and watering horses at the facility. Grooming is encouraged, and those at an intermediate or advance level may ride at times.
Children under 8 will not be permitted in the horse area. Children 8-13 will require the presence of an adult for barn duties.
For more information, email rlowery@panhandle.rr.com.
Plenty Of Heat, More Of Those Scattered Storms
June 29, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 94. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. West wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Independence Day: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94.
Florida Forest Service Accepting Applications For Longleaf Pine Private Incentive Program
June 29, 2019
The Florida Forest Service announced that applications are now being accepted for the Longleaf Pine Private Landowner Incentive Program. Applications will be accepted through Friday, Aug. 2.
The primary objective of the Longleaf Pine Private Landowner Incentive Program is to increase the acreage of healthy longleaf pine forests in Florida by assisting eligible, non-industrial private forest landowners with the long-term investment necessary to establish and maintain the valuable longleaf pine ecosystem.
“We are excited to expand the program this year to include all counties within the historical range of longleaf pine, providing assistance to more landowners across the state,” said Jim Karels, State Forester and Director of the Florida Forest Service.
Longleaf pine forests are native to the southeastern United States and are among the most diverse ecosystems in North America. Longleaf pines provide high-quality wood products and are valued for their resistance to damage by insects, disease, wildfire and storms. Due to urbanization and conversion to other land uses, longleaf pine forests have been dramatically reduced and now cover less than four percent of their historical range. Florida is home to more than 2 million acres of longleaf pine ecosystems, which represents more than half of all current longleaf pine forests.
The Longleaf Pine Incentive Program offers incentive payments for the completion of timber stand improvement, invasive species control, prescribed burning, planting longleaf pine, establishing native plant understory and mechanical underbrush treatments. Private lands in the 58 Florida counties north of Lake Okeechobee are eligible. To learn more and access an application, visit FloridaForestService.com or contact your local Florida Forest Service county forester. In Escambia County, call Cathy Hardin at (850) 587-5237 or email.
U.S. Supreme Court Sends Pensacola Bayview Cross Case Back To Lower Court
June 29, 2019
The U.S. Supreme Court Friday ordered a lower court to rethink its earlier ruling against a historic World War II-era cross in Pensacola.
In Kondrat’yev v. City of Pensacola, a federal appeals court had ruled that the 78-year-old cross must come down, with two of the three judges saying that the outcome was “wrong” but that their “hands were tied” because of the notorious Lemon test. In Friday’s order, the Supreme Court instructed the lower court to reconsider its ruling in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding another cross monument in Bladensburg, Maryland.
In American Legion v. American Humanist Association, decided last week, the Supreme Court rejected an atheist group’s attempt to tear down a nearly 100-year-old World War I memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland, known as the “Peace Cross.” In its 7–2 decision, the Court refused to apply the Lemon test, instead adopting a “strong presumption of constitutionality” for longstanding monuments. The ruling recognized that a “government that roams the land, tearing down” religious symbols “will strike many as aggressively hostile to religion,” which the Constitution does not require. The Court today told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to apply these same principles to the cross in Pensacola.
“The Supreme Court’s order is an encouraging sign that the Bayview cross can stay in Pensacola just like the Peace Cross can stay in Maryland,” said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “We fully expect the lower court to follow the Supreme Court’s lead.”
A wooden cross was first placed in Pensacola’s Bayview Park in 1941 by the Jaycees, a local community service group, as the U.S. prepared to enter World War II. The cross has been a popular gathering place for over 75 years and is one of over 170 displays in Pensacola’s parks commemorating the city’s history and culture. In 2016, an atheist organization sued the city, claiming that the cross is “offensive” and establishes a government religion.
Becket is representing the City of Pensacola free of charge together with Stanford Law Professor and former Tenth Circuit Judge Michael W. McConnell. The city is also represented by J. Nixon Daniel, III, and Terrie L. Didier of Beggs & Lane.
Boil Water Notice Issued In Cottage Hill
June 28, 2019
Cottage Hill Water Works has issued a precautionary boil water notice following a water line break Thursday.
The boil water notice is in effect for the residents of Cottage Hill in the area bounded by Virecent Road, to 496 Williams Ditch Road, and parts of Crowndale and Cottage Hill roads that experienced water loss.
The utility advises that all water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth or washing dishes be boiled. A rolling boil of one minute is sufficient. As an alternative, bottled water may be used.
The precautionary boil water notice will remain in effect until the problem has been corrected and a bacteriological survey shows the water is safe to drink.
For more information, call Cottage Hill Water Works at (850) 968-5485.
Pictured: Water main repairs Thursday afternoon on Williams Ditch Road near the Baptist and United Methodist churches. NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Woman Seriously Injured In Highway 297A Crash
June 28, 2019
A Cantonment woman was seriously injured in a crash Thursday night on Highway 297A at South Highway 97.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 21-year old Summer Hills of Cantonment was northbound on Highway 297A in a Nissan Rogue when she attempted to turn onto County Road 97 and traveled into the path of a Ford F250 driven by William Rollo, 21, of Daphne, Alabama.
Hills was transported by Escambia County EMS to Sacred Heart Hospital in serious condition. Rollo was not injured, but his passenger, 23-year old Donald Johnson of Cantonment, suffered minor injuries and was taken to West Florida Hospital.
Hills was cited for failing to yield right of way to an approaching vehicle while making a left turn.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Scattered Thunderstorms And Heat Into The Weekend
June 28, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Friday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 94.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74.
Independence Day: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 93.
Pictured: Clouds move through Bratt Thursday afternoon with an outflow boundary ahead of storms to the north. Winds gusted to 50 mph at nearby Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.