Unrelated I-10 Crashes Near Madison, Florida, Claim Lives Of Century Woman, Atmore Man
July 10, 2024
Unrelated crashes on I-10 in Madison County have claimed the lives of a Century woman and an Atmore man this month.
According to local media citing Florida Highway Patrol reports, both crashes happened near the Madison, Florida, exit, about 55 miles east of Tallahassee.
Century Resident Fatality
A 78-year-old Century woman was killed in a multiple vehicle crash about 5 p.m. on July 1 near the Madison exit.
The Florida Highway Patrol said a heavy rainstorm in the Madison area has diminished visibility and led to standing water on the interstate. FHP said the driver of a car failed to slow down and hit standing water. The car hydroplaned and struck a vehicle that had pulled over and stopped in the emergency lane.
The Century woman was the left-rear passenger in the first car; she was pronounced deceased on the scene. The front right passenger was transported to a a Tallahassee hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Atmore Resident Fatality
An unrelated single crash also on I-10 near the Madison exit about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 9 claimed the life of a 56-year-old Atmore man.
FHP said the man was towing a boat when he drove his truck off the roadway for unknown reasons. The truck reentered the travel lanes and jackknifed before colliding with a guardrail.
FHP has not released any names from either crash.
Furious Finish Sends Wahoos To 6-4 Comeback Win In Rocket City
July 10, 2024
written by Erik Bremer
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos came to life late, scoring six runs in the final two innings to beat the Rocket City Trash Pandas 6-4 in comeback fashion on Tuesday night.
Jakob Marsee ignited a comeback with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Cody Morissette tied the game with a two-run blast of his own in the ninth. After an infield error kept the rally alive, Jacob Berry continued his hot streak with a go-ahead, two-run double with two outs in the ninth inning as the Blue Wahoos took the opener over the Trash Pandas.
Trash Pandas starter Chase Chaney scattered three singles over 7.0 shutout innings, and Rocket City held a 4-0 lead heading to the top of the eighth.
Adam Laskey (L, 3-3) escaped with three earned runs allowed on a season-high 10 hits over 3.2 innings in his start for the Blue Wahoos. In the first inning, RBI singles from Eric Wagaman and Tyler Payne put the Trash Pandas up 2-0. Nelson Rada added an RBI single in the fourth to force Laskey from the game, and Payne laced his second RBI single of the night off reliever Tyler Eckberg in the fifth inning.
Justin King, signed as a free agent by the Marlins last week, impressed in his Blue Wahoos debut with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning.
The game was paused in the bottom of the eighth inning as intense rain moved through the area. After a 34-minute delay, the game resumed as Raffi Vizcaíno (W, 4-2) breezed through the eighth inning.
In the ninth, Zach Zubia led off with a double against Camden Minacci (L, 0-1) before Morissette hit the game-tying, two-run homer. A pair of outs followed before Diego Infante reached on a throwing error from first baseman Sam Brown to keep the inning alive. Joe Mack singled and Paul McIntosh walked to load the bases for Berry, who ripped the first pitch he saw into the right field corner for the game-winning two-run double.
Vizcaíno issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, but buckled down to seal the Blue Wahoos win.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Trash Pandas on Wednesday. First pitch from Toyota Field in Madison, Alabama is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Photo: Construction Work Leads To Chemstrand Water Geyser
July 10, 2024
A construction project on Chemstrand Road south of Nine Mile Road led to a geyser of water shooting high into the air.
According to the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, vibrations from the construction caused a service line to one home separate from a water main.
ECUA said they were able to valve-off the leak and make repairs before the water system for the one house was flushed. A boil water notice was not issued by the utility.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Updated: Body Of Missing, Endangered 4-Year-Old Found In Molino
July 9, 2024
The body the missing 4-year-old was located in a pond shortly just before 1:00 Tuesday afternoon.
The non-verbal child was reported missing shortly after 9 a.m. at a home in the 5000 block of Barrineau Park School Road.
Following the search involving over 100 first responders, the body of Darrel Beck was located by a dive team in one of the large ponds on the large, gated property. He had last been seen in a diaper and a Batman shirt.
“After an exhaustive search, with multiple agencies, many first responders, I regret to inform you that we did find the body. The body was located in one of the ponds,” Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons told NorthEscambia.com. “The family is obviously devastated, and we just ask that you keep that family in your thoughts and prayers.”
The search response involved K-9 teams and drones, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Escambia Search and Rescue, Escambia County EMS, Call to Rescue, Legacy K-9s, Florida Fish and Wildlife, and other search and rescue groups. Dozens of area residents rove the roads surrounding the perimeter of the search area throughout the morning, and many searched their own adjacent properties.
Additional details have not been released.
NorthEscambia.com and submitted photos, click to enlarge.
New Beulah Fire Station Opens This Week. Here’s A Sneak Peek.
July 9, 2024
The ribbon will be cut Thursday on the new Bradshaw-McNair Beulah Fire Station.
NorthEscambia.com got a sneak-peek at the station recently, and today we are taking your inside and learning more about the state-of-the-art facility that has been years in the marking for the fast-growing Beulah community.
For a photo gallery, click here. (Note that the front bay doors you see are temporary with the permanent doors order, and there was final work ongoing at the time of our July 5 tour.)
The new Station 2, now known as the Bradshaw-McNair Fire Station, pays tribute to two individuals who greatly contributed to fire service in the Beulah area. The late Escambia County Fire Rescue District Chief Dwain Bradshaw, 42, lost his life in the line of duty during the early morning hours of November 6, 2019, while on scene of a fatal crash on the Muscogee Bridge. He was a volunteer district chief at the Bellview Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, volunteer assistant district chief for the Beulah Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and lived a life of public service. Retired ECFR District Chief Steve McNair served the Beulah community as a volunteer firefighter for over 50 years. He helped rebuild the current station after fire destroyed the original Beulah Fire Station in 1977.
“It’s named for two great men,” District 1 Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh said, sitting the new training room of the new Bradshaw-McNair Beulah Fire Station. The training room will double as a community meeting room or public use.
“This has been a seven-and-a-half-year evolution,” Bergosh said. “When I took office, my predecessor Wilson Robertson said, Jeff you’ve got continue to work on Beulah. So, I took the torch, and it has been a long process. I took me three years to get the (fire department) volunteers at that time to come up with the appropriate paperwork so we could sell it (the old Beulah fire station) to the county. We got that bridge crossed, and then we had to come up with the funding and cobbled it together.”
“Millions and millions of dollars and it just took time. Then we had to get the property, we had some environmental issues with an adjacent property, we were able to get that mitigated and here we are seven and a half years later and if you count the time, you know, Wilson had, I think he broached the subject a few times, uh, you know, and then I kind of took the torch. These projects take long time,” he said. At about $8.5 million, the fire station was funded with Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenue.
The new station was designed to be used by a combination paid and volunteer fire department. There are even four pantries and four refrigerators, plus four lockers in each bunk room — one for each of three paid shifts and one for volunteers.
Paid crews will staff the new Bradshaw-McNair Beulah Fire Station 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“For many, many years, we had dedicated volunteer firemen that protected our area and served the community and over the years, over the last 10-15 years, the number of people who volunteer, not just here but nationwide,” the commissioner said. “I’m not throwing shade on anyone, but just the number of people who volunteer in general has diminished.
“We now have the ability with this modern fire station to not only have a modern fire station but now have a 24/7 around the clock full-time paid crew as well as a compliment of volunteers who will also assist and support. So, I think it’s a win-win. It’s a beautiful station.”
The station with a total of 14,503 square feet and four vehicle bays, including one for EMS, also features smart fire station technology.
“This one is truly state of the art,” Escambia County Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore said. “When the station gets a call, the system of the house takes over and opens the bay doors. It turns off any gas appliances that are going. If it’s nighttime, it does a night vision type of thing where it does not blindly wake people up. It kind of brings the house to life to open things, close things, and get the firefighters out the door in a quicker time period.”
The Mach interface is a $25,000 add-on to the county’s computer aided dispatch (CAD) system, but Motorola is paying for it so the county can determine if it might be beneficial at other fire stations.
“It’s kind of like an Alexa smart home kind of thing,” Gilmore added.
The station has numerous features to comply with what is commonly called the Florida Heart and Lung bill to provide health protection for firefighters. Many are aimed at keeping potential carcinogens at bay with bunker gear staying in the truck bay and never entering the living quarters.
RIBBON CUTTING
The public is invited to the Bradshaw-McNair Beulah Fire Station ribbon-cutting ceremony is at 11 a.m. Thursday at the new fire station at 6400 West Nine Mile Road. The Bradshaw-McNair Fire Station is located directly behind the current Beulah Fire Station. Parking for the event is at Beulah Middle School, 6001 West Nine Mile Road. ECAT shuttles will transport attendees to and from the fire station beginning at 10:15 a.m.
For a photo gallery, click here. (Note that the front bay doors you see are temporary with the permanent doors order, and there was final work ongoing at the time of our July 5 tour.)
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Quintette Neighborhood Cleanup Day Is Wednesday
July 9, 2024
A neighborhood cleanup will be held in the Quintette community on Wednesday, July 10.
The cleanup is a chance for residents to dispose of items such as old furniture, appliances and household waste free of charge. Yard debris is eligible for removal during this cleanup.
During neighborhood cleanups, Escambia County departments team up to bring services to residents in an effort to keep local neighborhoods clean and safe. Participating is easy: Residents in the cleanup area simply leave eligible items at the curb to be disposed of free of charge by Escambia County and partnering agencies.
All debris must be at the curb directly in front of residences in the area by 7 a.m. on the day of the cleanup. Tires and paint cans should be separate from all other debris. Debris piles should not be placed under low-hanging lines or near poles, fences or mailboxes. All items, including containers, will be collected.
Only residents in the designated cleanup area (click map above to enlarge) are able to participate in the neighborhood cleanup. Items left at the curb outside of the cleanup area will not be collected.
Items eligible for removal include:
- Household appliances and electronics
- Household junk and debris
- Bicycles and toys
- Old furniture and mattresses
- Barbecue grills
- Household hazardous waste (old paint, motor oil, chemicals, batteries)
- Tires (limit 10 per household)
Items NOT eligible for removal include:
- Building materials (concrete, bricks, blocks, roofing, drywall or lumber)
- Explosives or ammunition
- Auto parts
- Dirt or sod
- Vehicles or vessels
- 55-gallon drums of fluids
The neighborhood cleanup initiative involves an aggressive cleanup effort, targeting different neighborhoods throughout the county, with crew members and volunteers picking up a variety of debris and waste, including electronics, furniture and household items.
Since 2016, more than 6,683 tons (13,366,000 pounds) of debris have been collected and disposed of through the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Safe Neighborhood Program.
The county’s neighborhood cleanup program is hosted by the Escambia County Community Redevelopment Agency’s Safe Neighborhood Program.
Applications Open For Pine Beetle Assistance And Prevention Program
July 9, 2024
Applications are now being accepted for the 2024 Southern Pine Beetle Assistance and Prevention Program for non-industrial, private forest landowners. The program runs through July 26 and includes 44 northern Florida counties – the southern pine beetle’s known range.
“Pine forests are vital to Florida’s economy and our natural environment, and the southern pine beetle is one of the most economically devastating forest pests in the southeast” said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson. “This program protects our important timber resources by assisting the small, private landowners who manage almost half of our state’s forest lands.”
First offered in 2005, the Southern Pine Beetle Assistance and Prevention Program has been implemented on more than 210,000 acres and helped thousands of Florida landowners.
“Active and preventative forest management programs like this are the most effective way to prevent losses and outbreaks,” said Rick Dolan, Director of the Florida Forest Service. “These same management practices also benefit timber growth, wildfire prevention, and wildlife habitat.”
Previous outbreaks have destroyed thousands of acres of timber. Florida’s last major southern pine beetle outbreak caused an estimated $59 million in timber losses on over 24,000 acres between 1999 and 2002.
The Southern Pine Beetle Assistance and Prevention Program, supported through a grant by the U.S. Forest Service, provides incentive payments for landowners who have overstocked pine stands and need to conduct a first thinning. In addition, it offers partial cost reimbursement for activities that can mitigate southern pine beetle activity, such as prescribed burning, mechanical underbrush treatments, and the planting of longleaf or slash pine rather than loblolly pine, the beetle’s preferred species. All qualifying applications received during the submission period will be evaluated and ranked for approval.
To obtain an application or to learn more about the Southern Pine Beetle Assistance and Prevention Program, visit: FDACS.gov/SPBPrevention.
Flomaton Woman Charged With Leading Atmore Police On High Speed Chase
July 9, 2024
A Flomaton woman is facing multiple charges after allegedly leading Atmore Police on a high speed chase.
The Atmore Police Department was notified of a reckless vehicle traveling from Canoe toward Atmore with occupant of the vehicle arguing. One of the responding officers observed the vehicle with no license plate at the intersection of Highway 31 and Medical Park Drive. The officer initiated a traffic stop.
APD said the driver of the vehicle, later identified as 33-year-old Kiauna Shanne Grice of Flomaton, pulled into a gas station at the intersection and then headed back east toward Canoe on Highway 31, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph.
Grice was charged with felony attempting to elude a police officer and possession of drug paraphernalia. Police said Grice had digital scales and also had a suspended driver license.
She was booked into the Escambia County (AL) Detention Center in Brewton.
Traffic Shift Planned For Highway 29 In Century
July 9, 2024
Highway 29 traffic in Century will be shifted to newly constructed southbound travel lanes beginning Monday, July 15.
One travel lane in each direction will be open as crews reconstruct the adjacent northbound lanes between Rudolph Street and Green Street. One travel lane in each direction will be open as crews reconstruct the adjacent northbound lanes.
The traffic shift is expected to remain in place throughout the summer.
The complete $4.7 million Florida Department of Transportation project includes upgraded traffic signals, drainage structures, pavement markings, and driveways, while also improving curb ramps and sidewalks to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Veterans Outreach Event Wednesday In Molino
July 9, 2024
The Escambia County Veterans Service Office will hold a public meeting Wednesday in Molino to give veterans a chance to discuss benefits with an accredited veterans services officer.
Assistance is provided on a first-come, first-served basis at no charge. No appointment is required.
The meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Molino Community Center, 6450 Highway 95A in Molino.
Escambia County Veterans Services Office staff members will be available to help with topics including reviewing VA benefits, filing a VA claim, and reevaluating VA disability.
For more information, contact the Veterans Services Office at (850) 595-2409 or email VSO@myescambia.com. Learn more about Escambia County’s Veterans Services Office at MyEscambia.com/veterans-services.
Previous outreach events were held April 5 in Byrneville and June 6 in Davisville.