Developer Revises $20 Million Offer For OLF-8 Property
February 2, 2024
Escambia County has received a revised non-binding offer for a portion of the county-owned OLF-8 property on Nine Mile Road.
The offer revises a previously received Letter of Intent (LOI) from Beulah Town Center, LLC.
The offered price remains the same at $20 million for 290 of the approximately 500 acres. The original offer received from Beulah Town Center partner Fred Hemmer last November was for 375 acres with additional options totaling up to an additional $12 million.
The revision:
- Reduces the due diligence time period from 12 months to 10.
- Increases the refundable deposit from $100,000 to $150,000
- Removes parcel 3 out of the options.
If the county does not develop light industrial properties as planned, Beulah Town Center is offering $3 million for 55 additional acres after four years and another $4 million for another 50 acres six years later.
Bratt Students Enjoy Pensacola Opera’s Little Red Riding Hood’s Most Unusual Day
February 2, 2024
Little Red Riding Hood is having a most unusual day.
Third and forth graders at Bratt Elementary School were able to enjoy a special performance Thursday from the Pensacola Opera.
Each season, the Pensacola Opera’s Jan Miller Studio Artists travel to over 40 schools and libraries in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties performing a short opera production designed just for elementary age children.
There are three upcoming West Florida Library performance that are open to the public:
For more photos, click or tap here.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
With Recent Rains, Our Drought Is Over (But Some Areas Are Abnormally Dry)
February 2, 2024
For several months, the entire area was in a drought. But with recent rains, only a small part of the North Escambia.com area is considered to be out of a drought but still abnormally dry.
The Walnut Hill, Davisville, Nokomis and Bratt areas in Escambia County in Florida, and most of Escambia County in Alabama were considered abnormally dry in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor issued this week. A week ago, the areas were considered to be in a moderate drought and in an extreme drought back in October 2023.
There is a 90% chance of more rain Saturday night and Sunday. Click here for the forest.
Rain By Saturday Night
February 2, 2024
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Friday Night: Patchy fog after midnight. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 42. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph.
Saturday: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 67. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after midnight. Low around 50. Breezy, with a southeast wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Sunday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. High near 59. Breezy, with an east wind 15 to 20 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 56. North wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 62.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 36.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 64.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.
Update: Silver Alert Canceled For Escambia County Man
February 2, 2024
UPDATE: THIS SILVER ALERT HAS BEEN CANCELED.
A Silver Alert was issued Thursday night for 77-year old Ronald Guy.
Guy was last seen about 1 p.m.Thursday in the 800 block or Romar Drive off Cove Avenue, just north of West Nine Mile Road.
He was driving a 2020 silver Buick Envision, Florida tag # ZI32G. He is 5’11, 190 lbs. and was wearing a brown jacket, blue shirt, blue/black plaid pants and a black hat.
If you see him or know his whereabouts, please call the ECSO @ 850-436-9620
Wilma Jean Bowman Traylor
February 2, 2024
Wilma Jean Bowman Traylor died January 29, 2024, at the Residence Memory Care Community in Pensacola, Florida, at age 92.
Jean was born March 13, 1931, in DeKalb County, Alabama. She was a cheerleader at Fyffe High School and graduated in 1949. She married Delton Traylor in 1950, and they moved to Detroit, Michigan.
Upon returning to Sand Mountain in 1961, they opened a grocery store in Pisgah, Alabama. Jean handled payroll, purchasing, and personnel for the store. They retired and sold the Pisgah SuperValu in 1987.
Jean fulfilled her goal of visiting all fifty states. As a world traveler, she viewed kangaroos in the wild in Australia, kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland, watched the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and walked the Great Wall of China. Jean purchased Christmas ornaments on all of her travels, and her granddaughter, Rachel, who accompanied her on several of those trips, treasures the collection.
As a long-time member of Pisgah Baptist Church, Jean directed the choir, sang solos, and led music there for many years. She and her husband were active in their community as members of Civitan and served as poll volunteers for local elections. They were very involved in the senior center in Rainsville until Delton’s death and Jean’s move to Florida to be near her son and his family.
Jean was a hard-working, dependable, and loyal daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother. Her grandchildren have fond memories of spending weeks with them in the summers going fishing, working in the garden, and learning to drive.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Dewey and Lector Bowman; her siblings, Joe Bowman and Dot Bowman Flarity Patton; and her husband of 69 years, Delton Hiram Traylor.
She is survived by her brother Don (Sue) Bowman; her son, Ted (Liz) Traylor; her grandchildren, Rachel (Brad) Hinote and Bennett (Jaclyn) Traylor; and her great-grandchildren, Kathryn Hinote, Elizabeth Hinote, Kellan Belleville, and Keegan Belleville.
Funeral services for Jean will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at Pisgah Baptist Church, Pisgah, Alabama. Visitation will be from 9:45 to 11:00 AM and burial at New Bethel Baptist Church cemetery.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North, 1000 South Highway 29, Cantonment, is entrusted with arrangements.
Man, 74, Gets 40 Years For Shotgun Slaying Of His 64-Year Old Companion In McDavid
February 1, 2024
A McDavid man has been sentenced to 40 years in state prison for the March 2022 murder of his live-in companion.
Frankie Milton Wilson, 74, was convicted by an Escambia County jury of the second degree murder of 64-year old Sonja Burch. Forty years was the minimum mandatory sentence.
The shooting happened at their home on Worley Road off Mystic Springs Road where they lived together as a couple but were not married. Burch was pronounced deceased with a single gunshot wound to the chest.
ECSO deputies arrived to find Burch deceased in the kitchen of the home and Wilson standing outside.
Wilson asked deputies to look at injuries to him caused by the victim. He showed deputies an obviously old superficial scratch on his stomach and another superficial scratch on his left arm, which was bandaged and blooded. He told deputies that the two injuries were from being attacked by Burch with a butter knife in the days prior to the murder.
A search warrant was executed at the home. Deputies recovered a .410 shotgun from Wilson’s room but did not locate a butter knife near Burch.
“Due to not locating the alleged butter knife, it is reasonable to believe that (the victim) was unarmed at the time she was shot by Frank Wilson,” an arrest report states.
Wilson made statements indicating that he “snapped” and shot the victim out of anger and complications with his blood pressure, according to the report.
One Person Seriously Injured In Quintette House Fire
February 1, 2024
One person was seriously injured in a house fire late Wednesday night in the Quintette community.
The fire in the 2600 block of North Highway 95A near Quintette Road was reported at 11:43 p.m. Ten units from Escambia County Fire Rescue responded with the first on scene reporting heavy fire on the front of the home.
One person was discovered inside the home and was rescued, according to ECFR. The injured individual was airlifted to the hospital by LifeFlight. An update on their condition was not available.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Florida Bureau of Fire and Arson.
Photosfor NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
District 5 Incumbent Kevin Stephens Pre-Files To Seek Reelection
February 1, 2024
Incumbent Kevin Stephens pre-filed Wednesday for District 5 ECUA board member as a Republican.
Stephens has served one term after defeating Larry Walker in 2020. Walker served on the ECUA board for nearly three decades – from 1988 to 2000 and 2004 to 2020.
Pictured: ECUA District 5 board member Kevin Stephens speaks during a 2023 town hall in Cantonment hosted by District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Officials Say ‘Gun’ Found At Bratt Elementary Was Just A Fake Or Toy
February 1, 2024
Officials say a ‘gun’ found last week at Bratt Elementary School was just a fake or toy.
“There was an Airsoft gun found,” Cody Strother, spokesperson for Escambia County Public Schools said Wednesday. “No danger to students or faculty.”
An Airsoft gun is generally considered a toy pellet gun, commonly shooting plastic spheres propelled by compressed air or springs.
“As a precaution, law enforcement was notified and responded to the student’s home for a safety/welfare check,” Strother said in a text message.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded and said it was determined to be a “fake gun”.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.