Gonzalez Utilities Issues Boil Water Notice In Tate Road Area
June 7, 2019
Gonzalez Utilities has issued a precautionary boil water notice due to a water main break.
The boil water advisory is for Tate Road, Archer Road, Petty Drive and Woodfield Drive.
Water was turned off in the area to repair a water main break on Tate Road. At noon Friday, the utility was working to make repairs and restore water service.
Precautionary boil water notices are issued as a part of the standard protocol following any loss of water pressure, whether as a result of planned maintenance activities or unscheduled repairs.
Residents located in the specified PBWN area are advised to boil water for one minute at a rolling boil or to use eight drops of regular unscented household bleach per gallon of water, for water to be used for drinking or cooking purposes. Two independent bacteriological samples have been initiated and the advisory will be lifted as soon as possible. This process routinely takes 48 hours.
One Injured In Highway 29 Wreck
June 7, 2019
One person was injured in a single vehicle wreck Friday morning on Highway 29.
The driver lost control with her vehicle coming to rest nose-down in a median ditch near the Companion Animal Clinic. She was transported to an area hospital by Escambia County EMS.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Woman, Her Friend Charged With Defrauding State Of $352K In Daycare Scheme
June 7, 2019
A Cantonment woman and her friend have been charged with defrauding the state out of more than $350,000 in a scheme involving an Escambia County daycare.
Eboni Moorer Singer, age 38 of Cantonment, and Roletta Shelton, age 47 of Pensacola, were charged with racketeering and multiple counts of public assistance fraud. In total, the Florida Department of Financial Services says the two fraudulently accepted $352,622.09 in public assistance funds.
The state says the two women knowingly conspired for Shelton to act as the owner of the business actually owned by Singer and falsified state contracts, bank accounts and other documentation in order to conceal the identity of the true owner.
In June 2011, Singer, doing business as Legendary Pre-School was disqualified by the USDA Food Program for seven years due to submitted false claims to the Department of Health for Child Care Food Program funds. In June 2012, her contract with the Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of Escambia County was terminated due to her USDA disqualification.
Singer then transferred to the business to her husband who renamed the business Legendary Kids Pre-School. His contract with the ELC was terminated in 2014 and his eligibility was revoked for five years.
Investigators said that in response to being in eligible to received state funds for their daycare, Singer and her husband recruited Shelton to act as owner of the business for them. Shelton renamed the business Legendary Christian Pre-School. Shelton then signed numerous agreements with the ELC to provide subsidized Voluntary Pre-K and childcare services.
According to investigators, Singer leased the school’s location on West Fairfield Drive, and Singer and her husband owned both of the preschool’s vans. In addition, the business bank account was joint between Shelton and Singer, and Singer made transfers to and from her personal bank account.
Eboni Singer was released from the Escambia County Jail on an $85,000 bond, and Shelton was released from jail on a $40,000 bond.
Cantonment Drug Raid Leads To One Arrest
June 7, 2019
Michael Anthony Hare was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver within 1,000 feet of a church, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a public nuisance for drug paraphernalia.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit and SWAT team executed a search warrant in the 100 block of Mintz Lane as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation.
In Hare’s bedroom, deputies located a quantity of methamphetamine, a glass smoking pipe with methamphetamine residue, marijuana, a grinder with marijuana residue and other drug paraphernalia, according to an arrest report.
The residence is located about 200 feet from the Church of the Living God on Pace Parkway.
Hare remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $57,000.
Escambia Considering Brownfield Designation For Cantonment, Three Other CRAs
June 7, 2019
The Escambia County Commission will consider designating four Community Development Areas in Cantonment and north Pensacola as Brownfield Areas.
In 2011 the county designated the Palafox, Englewood, Brownsville, Barrancas and Warrington CRAs as Brownfields.
Between 2010 and 2015 the county added four additional CRAs – Atwood, Ensley, Oakfield and Cantonment.
The BOCC will hold public hearings on June 20 and July 18 at 9:01 a.m. each day to discuss the brownfield designation.
A resolution seeks to designate thee four newer CRAs as brownfields for the purposes of economic development and environmental rehabilitation incentives offered through state programs. The project will be consistent with the land use plan and will reduce slum and blight, stimulate commercial development, and create new jobs.
To qualify for the incentives offered through the Brownfield Redevelopment Act, a property must be officially designated a Brownfield by resolution by commission.
There are about two dozen brownfield areas in Escambia County. The only one north of I-10 is the entire town of Century.
More Wet Weather Into The Weekend
June 7, 2019
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Today: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 88. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Tonight: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 85. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 72. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Calm wind.
Monday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. North wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. North wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 89.
License-Free Freshwater Fishing This Weekend In Florida
June 7, 2019
This weekend, June 8-9, a freshwater fishing license isn’t required to enjoy the sport in Florida.
License-free freshwater fishing days allow anglers to fish for freshwater species without being required to have a recreational fishing license. All bag limits and size restrictions apply.
Pictured: Fishing at Lake Stone nar Century. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Hemp Workshops Planned
June 7, 2019
Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried is announcing that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) will hold hemp rulemaking workshops this month throughout the state. As the Governor is expected to sign the state hemp legislation soon, the Department is hosting the workshops to create a space for the public to ask questions and provide valuable input into the hemp rulemaking process, as this exciting new industry starts up in Florida.
“Our new state hemp program marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter here in Florida and brings a chance to strengthen our agriculture industry, increase access to safe CBD products, and diversify and fuel our state economy,” said Commissioner Nikki Fried. “We’re working to build the new state hemp program from the ground up, and we want to hear from the people it’s intended to serve. I encourage everyone to join us at these workshops — we’re making history, and want Floridians alongside us every step of the way.”
The North Florida Hemp Workshop will be held Monday, June 24 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. EDT at the R.A. Gray Building Auditorium, 500 S Bronough St, Tallahassee.
Six Blue Wahoos Selected To Southern League All-Star Team
June 7, 2019
The Southern League of Professional Baseball Clubs has announced that six members of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos roster have been named to the Southern League’s South Division All-Star Team through voting by field managers, general managers, and radio broadcasters for all 10 Southern League clubs.
Three pitchers from Pensacola’s roster, Brusdar Graterol, Griffin Jax, and Ryan Mason, will join three position players, 2B Travis Blankenhorn, OF Jaylin Davis, and C Caleb Hamilton, on the roster for the All-Star Game on Tuesday, June 18 at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Escambia County Narcotics Search Warrant Yields One Arrest
June 6, 2019
Thursday, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit and SWAT Team executed a search warrant at the 20-block of Majors Road, near Brown Barge Middle School, as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation.
Inside the home, investigators located 25 grams of cocaine, five grams of crack cocaine, 350 grams of marijuana, 215 grams of methamphetamine, two handguns and $29,000 in cash.
Maurice Malden was charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of a place of worship, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of a place of worship, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Malden was given a bond of $286,000. Malden also had an active warrant for fraud and theft that was served.