One Injured In Two Vehicle Wreck Near Northview High School
February 24, 2021
One person was injured in a two vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon in Bratt.
It happened at the intersection of West Highway 4 and North Pine Barren Road, near Northview High School. The adult female driver of a SUV was transported by Escambia County EMS to Jay Hospital with injuries that were not considered serious. The occupants of a car were not injured.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Children’s Trust Board Can’t Vote Until Governor Appoints Five More Members
February 24, 2021
The current members of Escambia Children’s Trust are unable to vote or make any decisions until the remainder of their board is appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Last November, voters approved the formation of the Children’s Trust to be funded by an increase in ad valorem taxes of up to a maximum of 0.5 mil. The trust will provide early childhood education, safety, developmental, preventative, health, and well-being services, including after school and summer enrichment programs.
Five members were appointed to the board to fill positions as mandated by state law — Escambia County School Board member Patty Hightower, Department of Children and Families Northwest Region Managing Director Walter Sachs, Circuit Judge Jennifer Frydrychowicz, Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May and Escambia County School District Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith.
The Escambia County Commission is expected to the names of other nominees for five additional seats to the governor’s office by the end of this week, according to County Administrator Janice Gilley. DeSantis is due to make his selections within 45 days.
The five current members of the Children’s Trust held a public meeting Monday night, but they received legal advice to take no actions without a full 10-member board.
“My personal opinion, not necessarily serving as the counsel to you all, but my personal opinion that I reached was that respectfully (you are) maybe getting a little ahead of yourselves,” Escambia County Attorney Alison Rogers (pictured left) told the board members. “That’s just my personal opinion.”
The board can’t hire its own attorney at this point, since it’s unable to vote, but the Escambia County Commission has offered the use of county staff members.
“The statute itself that sets up the Children’s Services Trust talks about all the things you all have to do as you are talking and working through,” Rogers said. “And they all talk about doing those things immediately after the appointment of ‘the members’, not of some of the members, not a functioning group of members, not of half the members, not of the de facto members. It says the members.”
“So to me, if you put all three of those factors together,” Rogers said, before pausing. “Maybe a better idea might be to wait and see what the governor does.”
“We want to be legal; we want to do it in full sunshine. We want to be as transparent as possible because what we put in place needs to work, and it needs to be a viable process,” said Hightower (pictured top), board chairperson. “We are all anxious to be able to get funds into the hands of our community. We know that there is a lot of need out there, and there are a lot of people that are suffering. We don’t want to do it incorrectly. We want to make sure that what we do is in the best interest of all concerned.”
The Children’s Trust board is facing a time crunch to meet a July 1 deadline to set a millage rate. If that deadline is missed, they won’t be able to collect any tax dollars until 2022.
“Let’s move this forward as quickly as possible, but I’m not going to be politically pushed into a corner by anybody that says well we’ve got to do it ASAP,” said May. “Poverty, delinquency, has existed for the last 30 years. So if it takes another three or four months to get it right, they we ought to get it right.”
“You can’t go back if you don’t start with a solid foundation,” May added.
From Ana To Wanda, Here Are The 2021 Hurricane Season Names
February 24, 2021
The first day of the official hurricane season is just over three months away.
Hurricane season is June 1 to November 30, but tropical cyclones can and do happen outside the period.
Here are the tropical storm and hurricane names for 2021:
- Ana
- Bill
- Claudette
- Danny
- Elsa
- Fred
- Grace
- Henri
- Ida
- Julian
- Kate
- Larry
- Mindy
- Nicholas
- Odette
- Peter
- Rose
- Sam
- Teresa
- Victor
- Wanda
If there are more than 21 names storms in a season, the names will come from the Greek alphabet. That happened in 2020 with 30 names storms.
ECUA Reports 5,300 Gallon Sewer Overflow In Same Cantonment Location As 19,500 Gallons Last Week
February 24, 2021
For the second time in a week, the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority has reported a sewage overflow at 515 West Roberts Road in Cantonment.
In both instances, ECUA attributed the overflow to a broken six-inch force main damaged by a utility contractor.
A leak on Monday, February 22 was estimated at 5,200 gallons, of which 3,500 gallons were recovered by vacuum truck and transported to an ECUA water reclamation facility for proper disposal and treatment. ECUA crews also diverted flows, preventing an additional 6,500 gallons from overflowing. The overflow was contained onsite in a locked and gated stormwater retention pond. Bacteriological sampling was not required.
One Wednesday, February 17, an overflow was estimated at 19,500 gallons, of which 15,000 gallons were recovered by vacuum truck and transported to an ECUA water reclamation facility for proper disposal and treatment. The spill flowed down a ditch that leads to a locked and gated stormwater retention pond.
Two Charged With Atmore Attempted Murder
February 24, 2021
Two Atmore men have been charged with attempted murder of a local resident.
Terry James Burrell, 52, and Maurice White, 49, are both charged with attempted murder. White, who was arrested Tuesday, is also facing a charge of domestic violence first degree.
About 6:45 p.m. Friday, the Atmore Police Department responded an apartment complex on Patterson street. The victim, identified as 58-year old Donald Dewayne Dortch, was found in the street with
with severe lacerations to the face from what appeared to be a gunshot injury, according to Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks.
Dortch was transported by ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital and then airlifted to a Pensacola hospital by LifeFlight.
“APD officers learned during the investigation that Dortch was inside an apartment when two male suspects entered the apartment without consent of the owner and began assaulting Dortch. The assailants then fled the scene when police were called,” Brooks said. “One of the suspects was identified as an ex-boyfriend of the female resident of the apartment.”
Burrell and White remained in the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton without bond.
Sunny And Warm, High Around 75 For Wednesday
February 24, 2021
Here is your official north Escambia area forecast:
Wednesday Night: Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a low around 52. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph.
Thursday Night: Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Friday: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. South wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 62.
Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 74.
Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 57.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68.
Tate High Soccer’s Kendall Blackmon Signs With Faulkner University
February 24, 2021
Tuesday, Tate High School Soccer’s Kendall Blackmon signed with Faulkner University in Montgomery. Blackmon is a center back with the Aggies, and she plays club soccer with the Gulf Coast Texans. Blackmon was also selected to participate in the Subway All-Star game and the state All-Star game in Lakeland. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate High Tennis Beats Navarre
February 24, 2021
Tate High Aggie Tennis beat Navarre Tuesday night. The boys won 4-3, and the girls won 5-2.
Up next, Tate will face Washington High School on Thursday.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
12 Additional COVID-19 Deaths, 62 New Cases Reported In Escambia County
February 24, 2021
THIS IS AN ARCHIVED STORY. SEE NORTHESCAMBIA.COM FOR THE LATEST DATA.
A dozen new COVID-19 deaths and 62 new cases were reported Tuesday in Escambia County by the Florida Department of Health.
Here is the latest data:
Escambia County cases:
Total cases: 33,304 (+62)
Non-Florida residents: 3,448
Recovered: 30,843*
Total deaths: 620 (+12)
Long-term care facility deaths: 265 (+3)
Current hospitalizations: 98 (-4)
Number of tests reported last day: 941
Percent positive reported last day: 5.7%
Percent positive reported last week: 6.2%
Escambia County cases by location*:
Pensacola: 24,812 (+37)
Cantonment: 3,006 (+5)
Century: 1,139
—-including 774 Century prison inmates
Molino: 460
McDavid: 198
Bellview: 56
Walnut Hill: 51
Perdido Key: 21
Gonzalez: 12
Santa Rosa County cases:
Total cases: 16,860 (+32)
Non-Florida residents: 210
Total deaths: 252 (+1)
Long-term care facility deaths: 76
Cumulative Hospitalizations: 769*
Number of tests reported last day: 373
Percent positive reported last day: 9.0%
Santa Rosa County cases by location*:
Milton: 8,074 (+18)
Navarre: 3,440 (+6)
Gulf Breeze: 3,148 (+10)
Pace: 1,337 (+2)
Jay: 520 (+1)
Bagdad: 31
Florida cases:
Total cases: 1,878,533
Florida residents: 1,844,228
Deaths: 30,213
Hospitalizations: 78,212*
*“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, 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.
Curtis Arthur Smith
February 24, 2021
Curtis Arthur Smith, age 94, of Century, FL passed away on February 23, 2021. He was
born on April 21, 1926 in Bluff Springs, FL to the late Zell Berry and Lillie Cooper Smith.
He served in the United States Army during World War II and as the Constable of the
Escambia County Sheriff’s Department for many years.
He is preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Edna Luverne “Sis” Smith; his brothers,
Jack Smith, Walter Smith, Winegair Smith, James Smith and Charles Smith.
He is survived by his son, Curtis Edward Smith of Byrneville, FL; his sister, Susie Smith
Bell of Byrneville, FL; his grandchildren, Brandon (Deadria) Smith and Rachael Smith
(David Spicer); his great grandchildren, Julianna, Samantha, Dalton, Brayden, Weston
and Lilah-May and numerous nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Funeral service will be held Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at
Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. Mitch Herring officiating. Interment
will follow at Beulah Chapel Assembly of God Cemetery in Byrneville, FL.
Active pallbearers will be Gerald Bell, Brandon Smith, Jackie Brown, Charlie Brown, Bob
Turk and David Smith.
Honorary pallbearers will be Brayden Smith, Dalton Smith and Lon Malone.
Visitation will be Thursday, February 25, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. until service time at 11:00
a.m. at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home.
For the safety of you and others, please practice social distancing requirements, though
wearing a facial mask is strongly encouraged.