McAnally Gets Third Grand Slam Of The Week As Tate Shuts Out West Florida
April 21, 2023
Ethan McAnally had his third grand slam in two games Thursday night as the No. 9 Tate Aggies shut out West Florida 11-0.
McAnally’s long ball came in the second inning, and Bray Touchstone had a homer in the third.
Three Aggie pitchers combined for the shutout.
Gabriel Patterson three two innings for Tate, giving up one hit, no runs and striking out one. Rilee Lowery was on the mound for two innings, surrendering three hits and no runs while striking out four. Aiden Byrd tossed one inning, allowing no runs, not hits and striking out one.
James Davis went 3-3 for the Aggies, and Frank Randall was 2-3 to lead the Aggies at bat.
Tate’s Friday night varsity game against Pensacola High School has been canceled. Senior night has been moved to Tuesday as Tate hosts Escambia at 6:30 p.m. with senior night festivities beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday night, McAnally had two grand slams and pitched a complete game as Tate beat Washington.
Pictured: Tate senior Ethan McAnally. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Northview Beats W.S. Neal; West Florida Walk-Offs Lady Aggies
April 21, 2023
Northview 9, W.S. Neal 5
The Northview Lady Chiefs beat the W.S. Neal Eagles 9-5 Thursday night in East Brewton.
Emma Gilmore pitched a complete game win in seven innings, allowing four hits and five runs while striking out one and recording no walks.
Mary-Clayton Dawson led Northview at the plate, going 2-4. Gilmore, Chloe Ragsdale, Jamison Gilman, Rylee Brooks, Aubrey Stuckey, Allison Flowers and Berklee Hall each added a hit for the Chiefs.
Northview will host Pensacola Catholic at 6 p.m. Friday with senior night festivities beginning at 5:15 p.m.
West Florida 3, Tate 2
West Florida got a walk-off win over the Tate Lady Aggies 3-2 Thursday night.
Tate was up 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth when West Florida’s Layla Justice singled on a 2-2 count to score two runs.
Jordan Smith allowed three runs and seven hits striking out five in seven and two-thirds innings.
Lacy Wilson and Kara Wine both went 2-4 for Tate. Tristen Showalter and Charli Vinson both added one hit.
The Tate Lady Aggies will close the regular season next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. as they host Milton.
Pictured: The Northview Lady Chiefs beat W.S. Neal Thursday in East Brewton. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Pérez, Nuñez Lead Blue Wahoos To 6-0 Win
April 21, 2023
The new Mullets uniforms were unveiled Thursday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
And the past form of ace pitcher Eury Pérez returned.
In a performance that reminded of so many last season, Perez allowed just two hits and completed five innings for his first win this season as Pensacola produced a 6-0 shutout against the Birmingham Barons on “Mullet Thursday,” before a sellout crowd of 5,038 at the ballpark.
Perez gained run support from the top of the batting order helping stake a 4-0 lead through four innings. The group was led by leadoff batter, shortstop Nasim Nuñez, who went 4-for-5 and No. 3 hitter, third baseman Joe Rizzo, who drove in three runs.
Perez, who turned 20 five days ago, and is the Miami Marlins top-rated prospect, stayed in command without his fastball ranging from 97-100 mph and mixed in his other three pitches well.
It was his longest and best outing since July 7, 2022 when he went six innings, allowed just two hits and one run in a game at the Mississippi Braves.
This night, Perez had five strikeouts and walked just one batter. He picked off a runner to end the fourth inning and worked out of a two-on, two-outs situation in the fifth inning.
Behind him, the Blue Wahoos bullpen of Patrick Murphy, Josan Méndez and Zack Leban combined on four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.
The team wore its newly designed lime and blue jerseys and hats with the Pensacola Mullets logo in a nod to the nickname that finished second in fan voting before the inaugural 2012 season.
At the plate, four Pensacola batters had multiple hits. In addition to Nuñez, who drove in a run and scored a run, Rizzo doubled home the game’s first run, then had a two-run, two-out single in the fourth inning.
Will Banfield delivered a towering home run in the seventh inning for the final run.
The Blue Wahoos (5-7) also shined defensively with José Devers making a pair of gems by throwing out a runner from deep in his second base position then making a sensational leaping catch later in the game.
The fourth game of the series is set for Friday with the Blue Wahoos’ Patrick Monteverde (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who has allowed just two hits and no runs in two prior starts, taking the mound against Birmingham’s Hunter Dollander (0-2, 14.29).
written by Bill Vilona, photos Nino Mendez / Pensacola Blue Wahoos
After 3:45 a.m. Alert Test, The State Is Apologizing And The Governor Wants Accountability
April 20, 2023
Most of Florida woke up at 3:45 a.m. (4:45 a.m. EDT) Thursday to an emergency alert test on their cellphones.
And most of Florida wasn’t happy with the early morning alarm. The state is apologizing for the mistake, and the governor is calling for accountability.
“This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action is required,” alert stated after cellphones blared the alert that most Floridians hear only for a nearby Amber Alert or tornado warning. And yeah, it would be the same sound for a nuclear war.
But oops, the state says it was just a mistake.
“We know a 4:45 AM wake up call isn’t ideal,” the Florida Division of Emergency Management posted over four hours later. “@FLSERT wants to apologize for the early morning text. Each month, we test #emergencyalerts on a variety of platforms. This alert was supposed to be on TV, and not disturb anyone already sleeping. We are taking the appropriate action to ensure this will never happen again and that only true emergencies are sent as alerts in the middle of the night.”
Gov. Ron Desantis said, “I’ve ordered FL Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie to bring swift accountability for the test of the emergency alert system in the wee hours of the morning. This was a completely inappropriate use of this system.”
“Stay tuned,” the governor added.
“Florida contracts with a company called Everbridge to provide the technical coding and instructions required to push out emergency alerts. Everbridge sent the wrong technical specifications for this alert – which ultimately pushed the alert over the Wireless Emergency Alert system (cellphones),” FDEM said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “Good government identifies errors, corrects them expediently, and holds people accountable when appropriate. The Division recognizes that this error was unacceptably disruptive and will correct it.
“Nonetheless, the Division stresses the importance of being able to receive emergency alerts as disasters can happen at any time and these alerts save lives. Please do maintain emergency alert notifications on your cellular device – we will ensure they are used appropriately henceforth,” the emergency agency promised.
Floridians took to social media to express their thoughts on the errant alarm, including on the NorthEscambai.com Facebook page.
“This makes me upset…to be woke up for no emergency,” Debbie wrote.
Alecia said, “Scared me when it went off.. craziness.”
“Ridiculous, now I been awake since 345, gonna be a great freaking day,” Kathi stated.
“I was so upset. Finally fell back asleep about 5 min before my alarm went off at 5:30,” MattRachel said.
But Teresa didn’t seem to mind the early morning alarm. “Yes it was a little frightening that made you mad. But it did its job. That’s the way I look at it,” she said.
“Great job. Now everyone is disabling that notification. What happens when we have an actual emergency? No one will hear it and or read it when it’s put out,” Ashley wrote, with Suzanne replying, “I’m not disabling it because someone made a mistake. That would be foolish, but the world is FULL of fools these days.”
“We are all going to be in bed by 7 tonight,” Crystal remarked.
As for a list of test times circulation on social media that show more predawn alerts – that list is for emergency tests on television, not the phone alerts.
As Work Begins In Escambia County, EREC Announces Fiber Internet Also Coming To Santa Rosa
April 20, 2023
As Escambia River Electric Cooperative begins preliminary work for a fiber internet buildout in North Escambia, the member owned cooperative announced Wednesday their high speed internet service is also coming to Santa Rosa County.
“With the announcement of the partnership, we also stated our plans to provide broadband to Escambia County members with funding assistance from the county,” said Ryan Campbell, CEO of EREC. “We heard a resounding need for broadband from our Santa Rosa County members when we made that announcement. It will take a lot of planning and preparation to serve both counties, but in the end, we will be able to offer broadband to all EREC members.”
The project across both counties is projected to cost $36 million.
In March, the Escambia County Commission voted to contribute $6.3 million from American Rescue Plan funds toward a network that will span approximately 600 miles of fiber in Escambia County, reaching over 4,000 EREC member locations.
EREC and Conexon will construct, own, operate and maintain the fiber network while providing broadband internet in areas of Escambia County within EREC’s electrical service area. In addition, EREC will provide broadband internet service and additional “dark” fiber (without internet service) for all Escambia County owned facilities within the EREC footprint for two years at no additional cost to the county.
Campbell said the buildout in Escambia County will happen first. But as a particular segment of the project is completed, work will begin in a phased approach in Santa Rosa County. For instance, when the engineering work is done in Escambia, the engineers will move to Santa Rosa County as the next step in network construction continues in Escambia.
Survey work in Escambia County got underway in February, and, just this week, the necessary utility pole replacements began.
The network is expected to be complete in Escambia County by mid-2024, with initial service availability targeted as early as the third quarter of 2023.
Three basic speed tiers have been announced:
- 100 Mbps/100 Mbps — $49.95/month
- 1 Gig/1Gig — $79.95/month
- 2 Gig/2Gig — $99.95/month
Qualifying households can receive a $30 per month discount through the Affordable Connectivity Program.
The fiber will bring smart grid capabilities to EREC’s electrical infrastructure, including improved power outage response times, better load balancing, more efficient electricity delivery and more, according to the cooperative
This Is Who Had The Winning Fantasy 5 Ticket Sold In Molino
April 20, 2023
We now know who had Sunday Night’s winning Fantasy 5 ticket sold at the Tom Thumb in Molino.
The Florida Lottery says the ticket worth $41,299.95 in the April 16 drawing was claimed by Johanna Horn Austin of Century. The quick pick ticket sold at the Tom Thumb at Highway 29 and Highway 97 was one of three winning tickets in the drawing. The other winning tickets were sold in Altamonte Springs and Boca Raton.
The April 16 winning numbers were 2-10-11-15-34.
Local Schools Named Winners In Wellness Challenge
April 20, 2023
The Escambia County School Board has recognized the winners of the superintendent’s “Choose Wellness Challenge”.
The challenge was to see which school or major department could achieve the highest level of participation in the challenge by the end of the school year. Participants completed steps to promote health and wellness, potentially reducing the district’s health care and lost work time costs.
The 2022 overall winner was Spencer Bibbs Center at 87.5%. They received a plaque and $1,000. Holm Elementary School was awarded $500 for most improved with a 18.2% increase in participation.
At 64.29% participation, the highest percentage participation at the elementary level was Molino Park Elementary School.
The highest percentage participation award at the middle school level went to Ferry Pass Middle School at 44.55%, and the highest percentage participation award at the high school/secondary level went to Northview High School at 43.75%.
Northview, Molino Park and Ferry Pass each received $250.
Driver’s License Services, Vehicle Registration Available In Century On April 25
April 20, 2023
The Florida Licensing On Wheels (FLOW) mobile office will return to Century next week.
FLOW is a standalone mobile office with technology to provide most motorists’ needs. The mobile unit provides a convenient method to renew a driver license, obtain a replacement driver license, conversion/reciprocation of out-of-state license, change a name or address on a current driver license or identification card, and get a first-time identification card. In addition to licensing services, the mobile unit also provides an opportunity to renew or replace a vehicle registration and apply, renew or replace disabled parking placards. Written and driving tests are not available from the FLOW unit.
Vehicle registrations can be renewed up to three months and driver licenses up to 18 months in advance of expiration.
The FLOW mobile office will be at the Billy G. Ward Century Courthouse, 7500 North Century Boulevard on Tuesday, April 25 from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Citizens using the FLOW services are encouraged to visit EscambiaTaxCollector.com and click the “What Do I Bring” button for information on what is needed for these services. Staff from the tax collector’s office will be on hand to answer all FLOW service questions and questions concerning all other tax collector services such as property tax, business tax receipts, concealed weapons licensing, etc.
Pictured: The Florida Licensing On Wheels (FLOW) mobile office at the courthouse in Century last year. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Sunny And Warm; Rain Chance Returns Friday
April 20, 2023
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Thursday: Gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 83. East wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 56. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Friday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50. North wind around 10 mph.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 76. North wind around 10 mph.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. North wind around 10 mph.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 75.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 77.
Tuesday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62.
Wednesday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Ransom Middle School Names Students Of The Month
April 20, 2023
Ransom Middle School has named their Students of the Month for March. They are Ryan Yelverton and Rylie Gibbs. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
