Casino Beach Fishing Pier On Pensacola Beach Reopens Today After $4.2 Million In Repairs
April 26, 2024
The Casino Beach Fishing Pier on Pensacola Beach will reopen to the public Friday at noon after over $4 million in repairs.
Work to the pier began in December 2023 and included replacing pier signage, lighting, water lines, and the entrance gate, and repairs to timber railing and blow-out deck panels. New additions to the pier include benches, trash cans and ADA fishing rails placed throughout the pier. Minor work will still need to be completed once the pier is open, including installing lighting and repairs to blow-out deck panels.
“I’m thrilled that we’re able to open the pier in time for summer,” said Director of Engineering and County Engineer Joy Blackmon, P.E. “I’m very thankful for all of the hard work from our Construction Management Division and the collaboration with the Public Works Department to help us get the pier open as quickly as possible. The pier is a tremendous asset to Pensacola Beach and we look forward to opening it up to the public.”
The pier will be open seven days a week from sunrise to sunset.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Dry Weekend In Store
April 26, 2024
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Breezy, with a southeast wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Breezy, with a southeast wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. South wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 86.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 62.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 87.
Cantonment Man Charged With Stealing Metal From Church During Service Hours
April 26, 2024
A Cantonment man was charged with a felony after allegedly stealing metal from a church during church service hours.
Gerard Dominic Patti, 46, was charged with grand theft. He was later released from the Escambia County Jail on a $3,500 bond.
Patti stole metal gutters left over following a remodel from outside the back of the Apostolic Global Church at 4317 North Palafox Street, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. According to an arrest report, Patti and his blue Ford F150 were captured on surveillance video. Deputies believe the metal was later sold for scrap.
Battle Of Number Ones: 1A Northview Beats 5A Gulf Breeze 14-51A Northview Beats 5A Gulf Breeze 14-5
April 26, 2024
The 1A Northview Chiefs easily beat the 5A powerhouse Gulf Breeze Dolphins 15-5 Tuesday night in Bratt.
It was a battle of the number ones in their respective districts before district tournaments next week. Gulf Breeze is number one in 5A, and Northview is number one in 1A.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Jamison Gilman earned the win for the Lady Chiefs, allowing 10 hits and five runs (two earned) in five innings, striking out six and walking one. Mikayla McAnally took the save, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out three and walking one over two innings.
Gulf Breeze was first on the board with two singles in the top of the first inning.
Northview took the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the first, powered by a Chloe Ragsdale solo home run over the right field fence in her first at bat and a single from Riley Brooks.
Brooks, Ragsdale, McAnally, and Daviona Randolph each had multiple hits for Northview.
Avery Stuckey shined at the plate for Northview, going 3-4 with three RBIs.
Sitting at the top of 1A-District 1 Northview (20-3) will have a bye Monday in the quarter finals. Tuesday at 5 p.m., the Chiefs will host the winner of Monday’s game between Paxton and Central.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Mason, Nowling Named First EREC Trade/Vocational Scholarship Winners
April 26, 2024
Escambia River Electric Cooperative has awarded their first ever EREC Trade/Vocational Scholarship.
The awardees Lelia Mason from Northview High School and Tucker Nowling from Jay High School. The scholarships will be formally presented at the EREC annual meeting at 10 a.m. on April 27 at Ernest Ward Middle School.
The scholarships are in addition to the 2024 Escambia River Electric Cooperative Herman D. Johnson Scholarship Awards that were recently announced.
In the past, capital credits issued by EREC that were unclaimed had to be turned over to the state. But state legislation now allows such funds to be deposited into a qualified, educational charity fund. The EREC membership voted to use these funds in the form of scholarships.
Courtesy photos.
Jay Defeats Northview 7-2 (With Gallery)
April 26, 2024
The Jay Royals defeated the Northview Chiefs 7-2 Thursday night in Jay to end the regular season for both teams.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery, click here.
Jackson Bridges was first on the mound for Northview, giving up seven hits and four runs in three innings, striking out none and walking two.
For Jay, Ethan McDonald surrendered three hits and two runs in four innings, striking out three and walking two. Jax Lowery went for three on the hill, giving up one run while striking out one and recording no hits and no walks.
Jax Lowery led Jay at the plate going 3-4, while Hayden Morris and Nick Baxley were 2-4.
At the top of the lineup, Grayden Sheffield was 3-3 to lead the Chiefs, and Bodiford was 1-3.
Both teams head into the 1A-District 1 tournament next week. No. 2 seed Jay (13-10) will sit out Monday with a bye, while No. 4 Northview (9-14) will host No. 5 Laurel Hill (8-11).
NorthEscambia.com photos, click here.
Blue Wahoos Power Past Shuckers For Third Straight Win
April 26, 2024
written by Bill Vilona
Much to his delight, Joe Mack has now impacted two teams before April is even complete.
Still in his first week with the Blue Wahoos, the 21-year-old catcher drove in three runs, highlighted by a two-run homer to straightaway center in the seventh inning, which proved decisive in Pensacola’s 6-5 victory Thursday night against the Biloxi Shuckers.
Taking on their alternate identity as the Pensacola Mullets, complete with uniforms and fan fun, it was a third straight win in as many games this week against the Shuckers (10-8), who started the week tied for the best start in the Southern League.
Mack, drafted by the Miami Marlins in the competitive balance portion of the 2021 MLB draft out of high school in New York, joined the Blue Wahoos (9-9) on Sunday from the Beloit Sky Carp – the Marlins’ High-A affiliate in Beloit, Wisconsin. He was batting .347 with 13 RBI and two homers, helping Beloit to a solid start.
This week, as members of the Marlins’ executive staff led by baseball operations president Peter Bendix were in town to check on the Blue Wahoos, they’ve seen Mack attack with offensive skills.
Rated No. 25 among the Marlins’ top organizational prospects, Mack now has five hits in the series with a homer and five RBI.
The towering, two-run homer that exited his bat at 106 mph and traveled 413 feet proved pivotal. The Shuckers dented Pensacola reliever Raffi Vizcaino for three consecutive hits and three runs in the ninth before Lincoln Henzman was summoned to get the final out and his first save.
But even that one was a loud out. The Shuckers’ Carlos Rodriguez laced a first pitch that third baseman Jacob Berry turned into a sensational game-ending grab to seal the win.
It was part of another big game for Berry, who has shown encouraging signs this week both with his bat and his glove. Berry hit a solo home run – a no doubt blast that traveled 447 feet out of the ball park and just inside the right field foul pole in the sixth inning. He also singled in the third inning.
The Mullets got their first three runs in the first inning. Tanner Allen led off with a double and scored when Paul McIntosh followed with a double. Mack then followed with a run-scoring single and scored on an error to give the Mullets at 3-0 lead.
Pensacola starter Valente Bellozo had a solid outing, working five innings, allowing four hits and two runs with seven strikeouts.
The series now shifts to the weekend on where the Blue Wahoos will try to get a series win with Evan Fitterer on the mound.
GAME NOTABLES
Peter Bendix, who was hired by the Marlins in November as president of baseball operations, reporting to team owner Bruce Sherman, visited with Blue Wahoos season ticket holders in the first base lounge. Bendix addressed a variety of topics and took questions from season ticket holders in a 30-minute session.
Several Blue Wahoos players worked Thursday morning on a community outreach project with Feeding The Gulf Coast at the non-profit organization warehouse location in East Milton.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Biloxi Shuckers vs. Blue Wahoos
WHEN: Friday, 6:05 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
Undocumented Farm Worker, 45, Gets 25 Years For Attempted Sexual Battery Of 11-Year Old In Walnut Hill
April 25, 2024
A former Walnut Hill farm worker that charged with a child sex crime after a 2022 Amber Alert has been sentenced to state prison.
Brijido Manriquez-Ortiz, now 45, was sentenced under a plea deal to 25 years in state prison after pleading no contest to attempted sexual battery on child under age 12. Manriquez-Ortiz was also designated as a sexual predator. H was in the United State illegally on an expired work visa
At the time of his arrest, he was originally charged with sexual battery on a victim under the age of 12 years, a capital felony that could have carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted.
On July 28 2022, an 11-year-old girl was discovered missing from a home on Arthur Brown Road in Walnut Hill. She was first believed to be in the company of Manriquez-Ortiz based on a note that was left behind and his relationship with her.
About two weeks prior, she was seen kissing Manriquez-Ortiz on the lips. He was employed by Steve’s Catfish Farm in Walnut Hill, and she frequently went to the business, according to an arrest report. He was fired and given a ride to Atlanta, Georgia.
The child’s father told NorthEscambia.com and investigators that he found a cut screen on their Walnut Hill home, and the girl was missing. She left a note behind indicating that she would be with Brijido-Ortez. According to an arrest report, she placed a call to Manriquez-Ortiz at 9:45 p.m. on July 27, and sexually explicit texts and photographs were sent back and forth between the victim and Manriquez-Ortiz.
A security camera at the Escambia Grain elevator nearly across the street recorded a white vehicle pulling into the victim’s home at 10:08 p.m. on July 27.
An Amber Alert was issued the following morning when the girl was found missing. Manriquez-Ortiz was located in Laredo, Texas, and questioned at the FBI office in Laredo. He remained in custody there until his extradition back to Escambia County.
The girl was located by law enforcement in Foley, Alabama, in a white truck that was previously reported as stolen by Steve’s Catfish Farm in Walnut Hill. The victim was interviewed at Gulf Coast Kid’s House. The details of that interview were redacted from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report, but it states that Manriquez-Ortiz and the victim had sexual intercourse.
Manriquez-Ortiz is a Mexican citizen and illegally remained in the United States after his work visa expired in 2020.
Bratt, Byrneville Elementary Students Create Winning EREC Meeting Promo Posters
April 25, 2024
Fifth graders at local elementary schools in North Escambia took part in a poster contest to promote Escambia River Electric Cooperative’s Annual Meeting.
The winning students received a cash award, and their posters were displayed at the meeting this Saturday, April 27, at Ernest Ward Middle School.
Winners from Bratt Elementary School were (pictured above L-R) Klaire Bealey, first; Zinaleah Moreno, third place; and Marshall Nall, second.
Winners from Byrneville Elementary School were (pictured below (L-R) with CEO Ryan Campbell) Gracie Levins, second; Kaison Robbins, first; and Antonia Hayes, third place.
For Saturday’s 85th annual meeting, activities will be from 8 to 10 am., and the business meeting will begin at 10 a.m. The winning posters will be displayed at the meeting.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Make-A-Wish Grants Wish For Girl, 4, With A Barbie Camper
April 25, 2024
In honor of World Wish Month, Make-A-Wish Alabama celebrated with a very special wish reveal in Atmore.
Ana-Lois Mercer is a four-year-old wish kid who has been battling leukemia. She wished for a camper which was personalized with custom pink finishes in honor of her favorite toy, her Barbies. And thanks to Bama RV in Dothan, her wish came true Wednesday at Wind Creek Atmore.
The reveal was the culmination of World Wish Month, a celebration throughout April that honors the anniversary of the wish that inspired the founding of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Ana-Lois’ family is a part of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians community, and many local children and families were in attendance to celebrate the surprise wish reveal.
And today will be an even bigger day for Ana-Lois as she rings the bell to celebrate the end of her chemotherapy treatment.
Photos courtesy Make-A-Wish Alabama for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
