Man Critical After Highway 29 Hit And Run Rollover Crash
January 14, 2021
An Escambia County man is in critical condition after an early morning hit and run crash on Highway 29.
The Florida Highway Patrol said a 49-year old Pensacola man was traveling south on Highway 29 near Archer about 4:30 a.m. when his SUV was struck from the rear. The SUV traveled across the median intp the northbound lanes and overturned off the roadway.
The man was airlifted to a Pensacola hospital after being extricated from the vehicle.
The FHP said they do not currently have a suspect as they continue their investigation.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia County, State Graduation Rates Move Upward
January 14, 2021
Escambia County graduation rates inched up for the last school year, but remained below the state average, according to a recently released Florida Department of Education report.
The report showed a 1.7 percent point increase in Escambia County, while the state average was up an even 3%.
The Class of 2020 graduation rate in Escambia County was 86.5%, continuing steady gains from 76.1% in 2016. The state graduation rate for 2020 was 90%.
West Florida High School’s 99.1% graduation rate was the highest in the county. Graduation rates improved at Escambia, Northview, Tate, Pine Forest and Washington High Schools.
The pandemic disrupted the regular school year for the Class of 2020 in the spring as schools across the state were shuttered and moved to virtual instruction.
The 2020 graduation rate for each Escambia County public school or special center was as follows:
- West Florida High School — 99.1%
- Tate High School — 90.2%
- Escambia High School — 89.5%
- Pine Forest High School — 87.6%
- Pensacola High School — 87.1%
- Northview High School — 86.4%
- Washington High School — 85.8%
- Escambia Virtual Academy — 100%
- Escambia Westgate — 94.1%
- Success Academy — 57.4%
- Camelot Academy — 23.5%
“Though graduation rates are up, I want to be very clear this increase must be understood within the context of the exemptions that were provided in the spring semester to the class of 2020,” Jacob Oliva, chancellor of the state’s K-12 public school system, wrote in an email to school superintendents. “That compassion and grace for our seniors was absolutely necessary, as we took several steps to ensure that our seniors would have support and opportunities to minimize the disruption of the pandemic on their educational journey. However, it limits the interpretation of these results.”
Gulf Power Switches Plant Crist To Natural Gas Delivered Through North Escambia Pipeline, Ending Coal Use
January 14, 2021
Gulf Power’s Plant Crist is now running 100% on natural gas delivered by a pipeline through North Escambia.
Gulf Power, a division Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), ceased coal-fired power generation at its Plant Crist in Escambia County. The plant modernization, which FPL initiated immediately after purchasing Gulf Power from the Southern Company, includes a conversion to run entirely on American-produced, cleaner natural gas – cutting the plant’s carbon emissions rate by 40% and marking the end of Gulf Power’s use of coal to generate energy in Florida.
Converting coal-burning units to run on natural gas was a major piece of the modernization underway at Plant Crist, along with the addition of four new, highly efficient combustion turbines to provide greater reliability and efficiency for the energy grid and a new natural gas pipeline to provide additional natural gas for the plant.
Over the past several months, Gulf Power has installed an underground natural gas pipeline that runs 39 miles from the Florida Gas Transmission Pipeline near Century, through McDavid, Molino and Cantonment, to the company’s Plant Crist.
The retirement of coal at Plant Crist was accelerated by Hurricane Sally, which caused damage to the plant’s coal equipment. The company determined that it is in the best interests of its customers to accelerate the modernization instead of repairing the coal equipment.
Pictured top: Bright yellow new pipes threaded throughout the inside and outside of Plant Crist this year are the visible signs of the coal to natural gas conversion that will allow the plant to run 100% on U.S. produced natural gas. Pictured inset: A crane hoists one of the larger pieces of new equipment at Plant Crist, a gas heater, into place at the Plant Crist gas yard as part of the coal to natural gas conversion. The heater will warm the natural gas to keep it from freezing in the pressure control valves that send the gas from the pipeline to the power plant. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sunny, About 60 For Thursday Afternoon
January 14, 2021
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 60. Light west wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 42. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 57. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 32. West wind around 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 51. West wind 5 to 15 mph.
Saturday Night: Clear, with a low around 29. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 55. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the morning.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. West wind around 5 mph.
M.L.King Day: Sunny, with a high near 58.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 63.
Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 47.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63.
Event Saturday To Celebrate Legendary Football Coach Carl Madison’s 90th Birthday
January 14, 2021
Legendary high school football coach Carl Madison will celebrate his 90th birthday Saturday in a ceremony with former players and colleagues, friends and guests.
The event will take place from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Hillcrest Baptist Church and will include a lineup event of distinguished guest speakers, including some of coach Madison’s former players and colleagues.
Tickets are $35 for one person, or $55 per couple, and include an all you can eat fish fry. An attendance ticket that does include the fish fry is $10. Tickets are available by clicking or tapping here.
Madison led the Tate Aggies to a 1980 state championship and took the Pine Forest Eagles to two state championships in 1987 and 1988. He is one of the all-time winningest high school coaches in the nation. Click or tap here to read a previous story about Madison.
Escambia County Man Gets 15 Years On 12 Child Porn Charges
January 14, 2021
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on child pornography charges.
Shawn Eric Caron, 45, entered a plea to 12 counts of possession of certain images of child pornography. Circuit Judge Jan Shackelford then handed down the sentence.
The charges stemmedf from a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation. On June 15, 2020, a search warrant was executed at Caron’s residence and found child pornography images on his devices, including a cell phone, that depicted male and female children under the age of 10.
Escambia County COVID-19 Hospitalizations Remain Near Record
January 14, 2021
The number of daily local COVID-19 hospitalizations reached new record over the last week.
There were 263 people currently hospitalized in Escambia County on Wednesday, down slightly from a record 270 on Saturday, January 9. During a summer surge, local COVID-19 hospitalizations reached a peak of 246 on July 20.
According to Escambia County, there were 17 adult ICU beds available in Escambia County Wednesday night — none at Baptist, five at West Florida and 12 at Sacred Heart. Of the 215 total ventilators in the county, 142 were available.
The numbers in the graph indicate daily hospitalizations in Escambia County and are provided daily by Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital, Baptist Hospital and West Florida Hospital. The daily numbers are not cumulative.
Data source: Escambia County, City of Pensacola. Graphic: City of Pensacola.
Six More COVID-19 Deaths, Another 299 Cases Reported In Escambia County
January 14, 2021
THIS IS AN ARCHIVED STORY. SEE NORTHESCAMBIA.COM FOR THE LATEST.
There were six additional COVID-19 deaths and 299 new cases reported Wednesday in Escambia County by the Florida Department of Health.
Here is the latest data:
Escambia County cases:
Total cases: 26,212 (+299)
Non-Florida residents: 2,830
Recovered: 22,920*
Total deaths: 432 (+6)
Long-term care facility deaths : 182
Current hospitalizations: 263 (-3)
Number of tests reported last day: 1,142
Percent positive reported last day: 18.9%
Percent positive reported last week: 19.0%
Escambia County cases by location*:
Pensacola: 19,237 (+208)
Cantonment: 2,343 (+22)
Century: 1,069 (+9)
—-including 774 Century prison inmates
Molino: 329 (+7)
McDavid: 164 (+6)
Walnut Hill: 46
Bellview: 41 (+1)
Perdido Key: 18 (+1)
Gonzalez: 11
Santa Rosa County cases:
Total cases: 13,145 (+119)
Non-Florida residents: 163
Total deaths: 164 (+7)
Long-term care facility deaths: 40 (+4)
Cumulative Hospitalizations: 615*
Number of tests reported day: 402
Percent positive reported last day: 22.5%
Santa Rosa County cases by location*:
Milton: 6,312 (+48)
Navarre: 2,588 (+33)
Gulf Breeze: 2,370 (+22)
Pace: 1,042 (+16)
Jay: 402 (+2)
Bagdad: 25
Florida cases:
Total cases: 1,517,472
Florida residents: 1,490,148
Deaths: 23,396
Hospitalizations: 66,634*
*“Hospitalizations” in the statewide and Santa Rosa County totals is a count of all laboratory confirmed cases in which an inpatient hospitalization occurred at any time during the course of illness. Most of these people are longer be hospitalized. The FDOH does not provide a count of patients currently hospitalized. The Escambia County number is current data compiled each day from the local hospitals.
**On cases by location, the city is based upon zip code and is not always received as part of the initial notification. There may be a delay in reporting locations as a result, and locations will not total the daily case increase as a result.
***The Florida Department of Health does not have a clear standard or definition of “recovered” and does not report a number of recovered individuals. Escambia County is reporting an approximate recovery number defined as the total cases prior to last month, minus deaths. In other words, anyone that tested positive more than a month ago is presumed to have recovered by Escambia County.
**Data Sources: Florida Department of Health, Escambia County, City of Pensacola, local hospitals.
Grand Jury Indicts Man For Killing His Half-Sister In 2017, Burying Her Body Near Jay
January 14, 2021
A Santa Rosa County grand jury has indicted a man that allegedly murdered his half-sister three years ago before burying her body outside Jay.
Jerry Savoy Phillips Jr. was indicted this week for first degree premeditated murder with a firearm for the death of his half-sister, 38-year old Felicia Kuswandy.
Kuswandy’s remains were found buried behind a home in the 7700 block of Highway 4 east of Jay on December 14, 2018. The murder was believed to have occurred on or about November 12, 2017.
Phillips, 29, was jailed in Alabama on drug trafficking charges until late October 2020, at which time he was formally charged with his half-sister’s death in Florida.
The newly impaneled Santa Rosa County grand jury also indicted Hakeem Denarious Peterson for the first degree felony murder and robbery with a firearm for the death and robbery of a Milton Tom Thumb employee on September 15, 2020.
Aubrey Johnson
January 14, 2021
Mr. Aubrey Johnson, age 89, passed away on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 in Pensacola, Florida.
Mr. Johnson was a native of Century, FL and had resided in Escambia County, FL for most of his life. He retired from the Fountain Correctional Facility with 20 years of service, was an ordained minister of the Pentecostal Church of God and attended the Cottage Hill Assembly of God Church. He is preceded in death by his parents; son; brother and four sisters.
He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Rosa Lee Johnson of Pensacola, FL; one son, David (Jackie) Johnson of Bratt, FL; one daughter, Alice Bennett (Dee) of Pensacola, FL; one grandson, Terry Dale (Karen) Johnson; one great grandson, Nate Johnson and numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 2:00 PM at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Ron McGlothren and Bro. Dale Johnson officiating.
Burial will follow at the McCurdy Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Thursday, January 14, 2021 from 1:30 PM until service time at 2:00 at the Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home.
Pallbearers will be Jerry Campbell, Ben Campbell, Trey Campbell, Noah McBride, Bud Campbell and Nick Emmert.
Honorary Pallbearers will be Billy Campbell, Mike Campbell and Masons.