Here’s How Escambia Public Schools Will Handle The Eclipse On Monday
April 7, 2024
About 80% of the sun will be eclipsed Monday in Escambia County, and Escambia County Public Schools has announced how they will handle the event.
All outdoor activities not approved by school principals will be suspended during the time, and school personnel will review proper safety protocols with students during the eclipse. Approved activities will vary by school and teacher and can include viewing the eclipse through approved eyewear and/or viewing the eclipse indirectly using pinhole projection. Teachers have received training on these topics.
Overnight Fog Possible; Partly Sunny For Eclipse Monday
April 7, 2024
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 79. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Southeast wind around 10 mph.
Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 74. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Wednesday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 60. Breezy, with a south wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. West wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 74.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 78.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.
Blue Wahoos Get Wild Walkoff To Delight Sellout Crowd With Second Win
April 7, 2024
by Bill Violan, Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Two games into the season, the Blue Wahoos already have a walkoff win.
On a Fireworks Saturday, no less, complete with a bizarre finish.
Pinch-runner Dalvy Rosario, who joined the team earlier in the day, scored on a wild pitch, after advancing on a wild pitch to give the Blue Wahoos a 7-6 victory against the Mississippi Braves, as another sellout crowd celebrated at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
“It’s kind of something I’ve gotten used to,” said Blue Wahoos starting pitcher M.D. Johnson, who worked five solid innings in his outing. “It’s like once we do get to the bottom of the ninth, whether we’re down one, or we are tied, it’s like ‘Who is going to do it? Someone is going to do it.”
In this case, the Blue Wahoos built a 6-3 lead after five innings. But the M-Braves got a pair of runs in the eighth inning. In the top of the ninth, leadoff batter Cade Brunnel drew a walk from Blue Wahoos reliever Matt Pushard. A pinch-runner, Geraldo Quintero was inserted.
Quintero used his speed to steal second, then advanced to third on a fly ball to center. With two outs, two strikes, Yolbert Sanchez tied the game on a ground ball single through the hole between first and second. Pushard got the final out to head into the bottom of the ninth.
Paul McIntosh led off with a walk. Rosario was inserted as a pinch-runner. Jacob Berry swung and missed a third strike from reliever Jorge Juan, but the ball eluded catcher Tyler Tolve, allowing both runners to advance.
Another wild pitch sent Rosario to third and he scored on a wild pitch.
The joyous crowd of 5,038 then watched the season’s first fireworks display.
After playing games to quiet settings on back fields in the Miami Marlins spring training complex, Johnson said the setting the first two games of 2024 has been a welcome change.
“In spring training, everyone is just ready to get to the season,” he said. “You just want to get out of Jupiter. And here, with as much as fans as we have, you don’t have to build up to that energy level. It’s just there.
“The crowds here are amazing. I have been through four levels (of minor leagues) if you count short season in the Marlins system. But the crowds here in Pensacola are absolutely amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”
Earlier in the game, it was a another big night for left fielder Tanner Allen. The Mobile native and former Mississippi State star drove in a run in the first inning, went 3-for-4 at the plate and scored a run.
Shortstop Javier Sanoja had a big hit with a two-run double in the fifth inning.
GAME NOTABLES
The Tiger Point Sports Association celebrated its youth baseball organization with a parade of 200-plus kids on the field during pregame ceremonies.
ON DECK
WHAT: Blue Wahoos Season-Opening Weekend
WHO: Mississippi Braves vs. Blue Wahoos.
WHEN: Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Jay Native Earns Navy Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist Qualification Aboard USS Russell
April 7, 2024
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Shook, a native of Jay and 2016 Central High School graduate, recently earned the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist qualification while serving aboard USS Russell.
Shook joined the Navy four years ago. Today Shook serves as an information systems technician.
According to Navy officials, the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist qualification signifies that a sailor has achieved the highest level of expertise in surface ships and in surface warfare.
“Being recognized for my knowledge of my craft is an honor and a great professional achievement for me,” said Shook.
Russell is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer named for Rear Admiral John Henry Russell Sr. and his son, John Henry Russell Jr. John Henry Russell Sr. served during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War and John Henry Russell Jr. was the 16th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers provide a wide range of warfighting capabilities in multi-threat air, surface and subsurface environments.
A Navy destroyer is a multi-mission ship that can operate independently or as part of a larger group of ships at sea. The ship is equipped with tomahawk missiles, torpedoes, guns and a phalanx close-in weapons system.
More than 300 sailors serve aboard USS Russell. Their jobs are highly specialized, requiring both dedication and skill. The jobs range from maintaining engines to handling weaponry along with a multitude of other assignments that keep the ship mission-ready at all times, according to Navy officials.
Photo: U.S. Navy for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Karen Cassady Keller
April 7, 2024
Karen Cassady Keller, formerly of Ozark, Alabama died peacefully at her home in Pensacola, Florida Friday, April 5, 2024, surrounded by her loving family.
A requiem mass will be celebrated for Karen at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Pensacola. Commitment will be at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Pensacola.
Karen moved with her family to Ozark, Alabama in 1971 when her oldest child was 14 and her youngest child was 2 years old. Ozark became her home for the next five decades. She was a single mom way before the term was coined. Landing in Ozark with five children, the town became her adopted home and her children’s foundation for the rest of their lives. She worked three jobs to keep food on the table, gas in the car, and to enable her children to always be able to participate in the youthful rites of passage that presented themselves. She also became mom to many of her children’s friends, often being affectionately called “Mama K-Bird”, the nickname of her son being added to complete the moniker.
Hers was a generation where women traditionally did not work outside the home, so the process of finding a job was hard work in and of itself. Through dogged perseverance, Karen became a member of the administrative staff at the Alabama Aviation and Technical College (AATC) in Ozark. She proudly retired from AATC after 28 years of dedicated service to the college. In addition to her main career, and to help make ends meet, she worked other jobs. Mr. Louis Garcia employed Karen at his store and she also did babysitting as her 3rd side-gig, again long before that term was even created. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Troy State University.
Karen’s love and devotion to God and her Catholic faith was life-long and everlasting. She was one of God’s angels who took great care of her children and so many others all the days of her life. She was a communicant at St. John Catholic Church in Ozark.
Karen loved to travel. Following her retirement, and for more than a decade, each summer she and her youngest son, a professor at the University of West Florida, would travel by car across this country during his school breaks. She visited each state, including Alaska and Hawaii. She had an affinity for Key West, Florida. Something about the freedom to be yourself without judgement struck a chord with her. She visited there several times. Karen loved all kinds of music. Her parents were very musically talented. Her father was a self-taught pianist and organist of the highest caliber. Her mother received a full scholarship to Julliard. She also loved sports, both playing and watching them. She played basketball in an era when women played 6-on-6 with designated offensive and defensive positions that stayed on their side of the court for the duration of the games.
All of Karen’s children graduated from Carroll High School in Ozark. She was a strong supporter of the CHS band and athletics programs. The annual Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament at CHS bears her name in recognition of her tireless support and the many hours she cheered from the stands and served hotdogs and snacks in the concession stands. Karen also enjoyed Alabama Crimson Tide football. She has been to Talladega for a NASCAR race, to the Yankee Stadium for a World Series game, and she graced every ballpark, playing field, gymnasium and swimming pool in Ozark as she watched her five children participate. She cherished her time with her five grandchildren and participated in each of their upbringings. Her three great grandchildren gravitated to her, the youngest of whom would ride with her in her wheelchair.
Karen was a child of the Great Depression which taught her to use everything to its fullest extent and not waste anything. These traits served her greatly as she raised her large family on her own. She beat cancer twice and survived a stroke with no residual effects, even driving herself to Dale Medical Center and dragging herself into the ER. She truly was an Iron Lady. Karen’s favorite saying was “Life is Good” and she lived each day of her life that way. We will greatly miss her and are forever grateful to the lives she gave us, the lessons she taught us, and the paths she showed us. We were blessed to have been raised by a mother with a steel backbone, an iron will and a love for her children that knew no bounds.
Karen was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin November 19, 1935. She was preceded in death by her father, Burton James Cassady, Jr. and her mother, Elvina Roesler Cassady.
She is survived by her brother Joe T. Cassady (Marty) of Salado, Texas; her five children, LTC Brian Cassady Keller, US Army (retired) (Karin), Pensacola, Florida; Mark Duane Keller, Ozark, Alabama; Karen Keller Richards, Hoover, Alabama; Scott Burton Keller, PhD, Pensacola, Florida; Jennifer Elizabeth Keller, Pensacola, Florida: her five grandchildren, Zachary Richards, Montgomery, Alabama; Nathan Richards, Houston, Texas; Jared Richards, Hoover, Alabama; Cassady Varner, Knoxville, Tennessee; and Dominic Keller, Pensacola, Florida; and her three great grandchildren, Cullen Varner, Jolie Varner and Cormac Varner, all of Knoxville, Tennessee.
The family wishes to thank Maureen McBride for her love and care of mom, and the many medical professionals who attended Karen, especially the caring nurses and aides of Vitas in Pensacola and the personal caregivers who provided compassionate and loving care and attention to Karen’s needs.
Services for Karen C. Keller will be held Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at St. John Catholic Church. The family will receive friends for visitation and rosary at 2:00 p.m. Funeral mass will begin at 3:00 p.m. Karen will be laid to rest at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Faith Chapel Funeral Home North, 1000 South Highway 29, Cantonment, is entrusted with arrangements.
Cancer Sucks: Tate’s Strike Out Cancer Games Surpass $200,000 For The Fight Against Cancer
April 6, 2024
The first year, they raised $2,550 and didn’t know if they would ever beat that mark.
Friday night, the Tate Aggies surpassed the $200,000 mark over the years at the 14th annual Tate Aggie Softball Strike Out Cancer game. It all benefits the local chapter of the American Cancer Society.
“You guys are amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” Tate head coach Melinda Wyatt told a large crowd before the game.
Last year, the game raised $27,755 for the fight against cancer. Friday night’s total had passed $24,000 as donations continued.
“I thought of three things that could probably sum it all up. We hate cancer. Cancer sucks. We need your money.”
For a Strike Out Cancer photo gallery, click here.
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
“That you to the Tate community,” Escambia Schools Superintendent Keith Leonard said before throwing the ceremonial first pitch. “I want you to know that we hate cancer, cancer sucks, but we love you.”
Survivors and current cancer patients and their families lined up on the field to tell their stories.
“My husband is struggling right now with cholangiocarcinoma bile duct cancer; please say a prayer for my husband,” the first speaker said tearfully.
“I’m Shannon Thompson And I just went through breast cancer and in remission and blessed to be here today.”
“I’m Evan Morgan and I’ve had breast cancer, two, lung, cancers and you’ll be fine, you’ll be fine,” the 1968 Escambia High School graduate reassured the others.
“My name is Natalee Hoffman,” the nine-year-old said as she stood tall in the pitcher’s circle holding a single carnation. “I have kidney cancer. Thank you all very much.”
During the game, the Lady Jaguars defeated the Lady Aggies 7-0.
For a game action photo gallery, click here.
Sydney Scapin earned the win for the Jags, giving up no hits and no runs in seven innings, striking out 17 and walking three. For Tate, Peyton Womack took the loss, surrendering five runs and six hits, striking out four and walking two over four innings. J. Smith closed in the circle for Tate, allowing six hits and two runs while striking out four and walking one.
Brea Holley and Abagayle Cogdill had three hits each for West Florida. Scapin, Holey, Cogdill and Macey Vegas each drove in runs.
Tonight’s Powerball Drawing At $1.3 Billion. Here Are Three “Secret” Tips.
April 6, 2024
Saturday night’s Powerball jackpot has increased an estimated $1.3 billion dollars. The jackpot has an estimated cash value of $608.9 million. The jackpot ranks as the fourth largest in the Powerball game and eighth largest among U.S. lottery jackpots
Strong ticket sales across the country, coupled with a boost in interest rates used to fund the annuitized prize, pushed the Powerball jackpot even higher for the drawing.
Over the past 30-plus years, there have been many theories on whether players can gain an edge to winning the Powerball. Here are the top secret three misconceptions and tips, according to the lottery:
Misconception 1: You’re better off letting the computer randomly select your numbers versus you choosing your own numbers on a play slip.
How a player selects their numbers does NOT affect their probability of matching the winning Powerball numbers. Every number has the same probability of being drawn in every Powerball drawing. Historically, 82% of Powerball jackpot-winning tickets had winning numbers that were chosen by a computer. That doesn’t mean that method of play is any luckier, simply that more Powerball ticket purchases are quick picks, or had their numbers chosen by a computer. If half of all tickets purchased for a Powerball drawing had numbers that were chosen by a player, then statistically, we would expect player picks to account for half of the winning tickets.
Misconception 2: Powerball jackpot-winning tickets are only sold in big cities and states.
Powerball was designed to be a random game. Every ticket has the same probability of matching the winning numbers drawn, regardless of where a ticket was sold. The number of winning tickets in a location directly correlates to the volume of ticket sales. Typically, there are more winning tickets in cities because they have higher ticket sales compared to rural areas, and therefore, more winners based upon sales volume.
Misconception 3: You have a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot if less people are playing.
Individual players have the same odds of winning in every Powerball drawing, regardless of the jackpot amount or how many tickets were sold for a particular drawing.
However, as the Powerball jackpot increases there is a greater likelihood of someone winning it. As the jackpot goes up, ticket sales increase, which means more number combinations are being purchased. Based on sales volume, game leaders can estimate how many potential number combinations are covered, assuming each ticket purchase has a unique number combination. Lotteries call this coverage. A higher coverage percentage means there’s a higher chance that the Powerball jackpot will be hit.
Northview Chiefs Wallop Escambia Gators 16-1 In Four Friday Innings
April 6, 2024
The Northview Lady Chiefs walloped the Escambia Lady Gators 16-1 in a run-ruled shortened four innings Friday evening in Bratt.
The Chiefs scored 13 runs in in the third inning to secure the big win. Riley Brooks tripped to score three of those runs, two were on an Avery Stucky double, and three were scored on walks.
The Gator led at the end of one, and the Chiefs tied it up in the second when Mikayla McAnally scored.
Stucky started in the circle, giving up just one hit and one run in two innings, walking two and striking out three. Daviona Randolph threw two innings of scoreless ball in relief for the Chiefs, surrendering two hits while striking out three and walking two.
Stuckey and Chloe Ragsdale had two hits each for Northview. Stuckey and Brooks drove in three runs each for NHS.
The sure-handed Chiefs had no errors.
Up next, Northview will be at Choctaw at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Low Near 50 Saturday Night
April 6, 2024
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph after midnight.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. Southeast wind around 5 mph.
Monday: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 78. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Wednesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 73. Windy, with a southeast wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Wednesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 1am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Breezy, with a south wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Thursday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 73.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 78.
13th Suspect Arrested For Trying To Lure Minors For Sex In Escambia County
April 6, 2024
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden, the Escambia and Santa Rosa county sheriff’s offices, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach police departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and U.S. Marshals Service participated in the operation that was announced in March.
Friday, FDLE announced the arrest of David Gibbs, 36.
During the multiday operation, FDLE said Gibbs communicated with an undercover investigator who posed as a parent of an 11-year-old female child. During the communication, Gibbs transmitted child sexual abuse material to the undercover investigator, and asked sexually explicit questions about the child, agents said. Through further investigative methods, Gibb’s location was identified, and a search warrant was executed on April 3
Those previously arrested were:
- Darryl Lamont Hart, 57, Pensacola, arrested Feb. 23
- Clayton Patrick Costello, 37, Hoover, Alabama, arrested Feb. 24
- Randy Edgar Powell, 52, Pensacola, arrested Feb. 24
- Telvan Latrell Williams, 28, Mobile, Alabama, arrested Feb. 24
- Kriss Lashawn Gilmore, 31, Foley, Alabama, arrested Feb. 24
- Alex Michael Durlock, 24, Fort Walton Beach, arrested Feb. 25
- Jordan Christopher Belton, 28, Pensacola, arrested Feb. 25
- Raphael Rochelle Brooks, 39, Robertsdale, Alabama, arrested Feb. 25
- William John Nordstrom, 64, Pensacola, arrested Feb. 25
- Eric Wintin Long, 33, Montgomery, Alabama, arrested Feb. 26
- Patrick Jay Dehnel, 33, Slidell, Louisiana, arrested Feb. 28
- Jamaine Antonia Johnson, 32, Pensacola, arrested March 4
All were booked into the Escambia County Jail.
“These suspects asked for lewd photos and communicated in graphic sexual terms. Luckily our FDLE agents and analysts, along with our partners, found them before they found our children. And while this operation is finished, we are not. The work of these investigators continues because we know there are more predators out there just waiting for the opportunity to hurt a child,” FDLE Pensacola Special Agent in Charge Chris Williams said.
“The “Kessel Run” joint operation is an example of law enforcement partnerships, enabling the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to leverage combined expertise and effort, to target online sexual predators who attempt to prey on our communities. NCIS thanks the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, federal and state agencies, and local partners for the continued collaboration on impactful joint internet operations to protect the communities where our warfighters and their families reside,” said NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Myles Roy.
“Working together, the FBI and our local law enforcement partners have prevented these predators from victimizing the most innocent and vulnerable members of our community,” said FBI Jacksonville’s Acting Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis. “Let these arrests be a warning to others – law enforcement will not tolerate the exploitation of children, and we will be relentless in our efforts to identify and locate predators who seek to abuse them.”
“These predators preyed on the innocence of children by knowingly engaging in lewd and lascivious online conduct, only to take it a step further and agreeing to meet in person and turn those conversations into action,” said Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “Operation Kessel Run was a successful joint investigation, but there is still more work that must be done. HSI, alongside our law enforcement partners, will never rest in identifying, investigating, and prosecuting predators who seek to use children for their perverse behaviors and make them lifelong victims.”