ECFR Makes Terminally Ill Cantonment Teen Honorary Firefighter
January 4, 2025
Dalton Harvey of Cantonment has loved firefighters and anything related to firefighting since he was baby. But he will never be able to become firefighter due to a terminal illness.
And it was a dream come true for Dalton Friday afternoon as firefighters from Escambia County Fire Rescue and Cantonment’s Engine 4 and ECFR Deputy Fire Chief Paul Williams stopped by his house, naming him an honorary firefighters and presenting him with his very own helmet and firefighter patches.
Dalton, 19, has Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy.
“His prognosis has been late teens early 20’s,” Dalton’s mother Tammy Harvey said. “He loves Florida, surrounded by friends and family, and he especially loves the warm weather because his body doesn’t tolerate the cold well.
“He likes the beach and girl watching,” she quipped.
VITAS Hospice partnered with ECFR to make Dalton’s dreams come true.
Escambia firefighters not only arrived at his house, they gave him a special look at the fire engine and their gear.
“To get something like this for him is beyond amazing,” Tammy Harvey said.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
The Cold Is Coming: Big Weather Changes Begin This Weekend
January 4, 2025
We are expected very cold temperatures and frigid wind chill values next week and several nights below freezing in North Escambia.
Saturday will see increasing clouds and a high in the mid 50s. There’s a slight chance of rain on Sunday, and it will be warmer around 70. By Sunday night, rain and thunderstorms, some possibly severe, will be likely by Sunday night with the passage of a cold front. Both Saturday and Sunday will be a good chance to prepare for the cold weather — find a place for plants and wrap pipes.
Next week, we’ll have highs only in the 40s and lows in in the 20s each day.
Here is the complete North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Widespread frost, mainly after 5am. Otherwise, clear, with a low around 33. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: Widespread frost before 8am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a high near 55. East wind around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. East wind 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. Breezy, with a south wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Sunday Night: Showers likely, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after midnight. Low around 42. South wind around 15 mph becoming west after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 48. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 26. North wind 10 to 15 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 45. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 25. North wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 45.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 27.
Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 45.
Century Native Launches Congressional Campaign In His Hometown With Walking Tour
January 4, 2025
Republican candidate Jeff Peacock took the first steps in his Congressional campaign Friday morning in his hometown of Century. He is one of 10 Republican candidates in the January 28 primary to succeed for Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Holding a campaign sign proclaiming that he is “one of us”, Peacock launched his “Walk Across the District” tour, modeled after Lawton Chiles’ legendary “Walkin’ Lawton” successful campaign for U.S. Senate in 1970 during which he walked 1,003 miles from Century to Key West in 1970.
“This campaign is about meeting and talking with regular folks, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than to visit with people one-on-one where they live. I may be old-fashioned, but I believe it’s important to shake hands with people and personally ask them for their votes. And that’s what this walk is all about,” Peacock said.
“I’m not a career politician looking for a promotion; I’m a teacher. I understand the challenges faced by everyday residents of our district and I want to be their voice in Washington,” he said.
Friday morning, Peacock walked just over a mile in Century, from Whataburger to Century Town Hall and a couple of businesses before departing by vehicle for a short walk through Jay.
“Sometimes we are forgotten,” Century Mayr Luis Gomez, Jr., told Peacock during a brief meeting at town hall. “We’ll be glad to have you aboard.”
“I’m excited at the possibility,” Peacock responded. “I’m a hometown boy. That’s why I decided to start this right here in this area.”
Gomez said candidates will sometimes stop in Century, “but once they get into the position we are kind of forgotten. I would love for somebody to come into the picture that is going to really be sincere about Century.”
“Century is Escambia County too; we need all the support we can get. This a great town,” the mayor said. “We don’t get the best rap sometimes, but it’s not as bad as it seems. Century is a community full of beautiful people; there is love and joy around here.”
“Whether you live in a small rural community, or one of our larger urban areas, I intend to be a congressman for all of the people of this district,” Peacock said.
Peacock, a 1988 graduate of Century High School, is currently a math teacher at Navarre High School that has been a small business owner. He also served as a senior campaign advisor to Congressman Lee Zeldin, President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
FPL Has Been Performing ‘Drone Operations’ In Molino And Cantonment
January 4, 2025
Florida Power & Light has confirmed that they have been conducting drone operations in the Molino and Cantonment areas to inspect electrical equipment.
“Inspecting our infrastructure is one of the ways we use drone technology to provide safe and reliable electricity to our customers in good weather and bad,” FPLE spokesperson Jack Ebie told NorthEscambia.com. “These proactive assessments help us identify any areas of concern before an outage can occur.”
We reached out to FPL after numerous readers questioned why they saw the drones flying in their neighborhoods.
Photo courtesy FPL for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
U.S. Surgeon General Calls For Cancer Warnings On Alcohol
January 4, 2025
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has released a report outlining the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. He said alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer. While scientific evidence for this connection has been growing over the past four decades, less than half of Americans recognize it as a risk factor for cancer..
The Surgeon General’s Advisory includes a series of recommendations to increase awareness to help minimize alcohol-related cancer cases and deaths, including updating the existing Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcohol-containing beverages.
“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. – yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” said Murthy. “This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”
The direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well-established for at least seven types of cancer including cancers of the breast, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth (oral cavity), throat (pharynx), and voice box (larynx), regardless of the type of alcohol (e.g., beer, wine, and spirits) that is consumed. For breast cancer specifically, 16.4% of total breast cancer cases are attributable to alcohol consumption.
In the U.S., there are about 100,000 alcohol-related cancer cases and about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths annually. Cancer risk increases as alcohol consumption increases. For certain cancers, like breast, mouth, and throat cancers, evidence shows that the risk of developing cancer may start to increase around one or fewer drinks per day. An individual’s risk of developing cancer due to alcohol consumption is determined by a complex interaction of biological, environmental, social, and economic factors.
In addition to calling for an update on the Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcohol-containing beverages to now include cancer risk, the Advisory makes further recommendations. It calls for a reassessment of the guideline limits for alcohol consumption to account for cancer risk, and it advises individuals to be aware of the relationship between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk when considering whether or how much to drink. Additionally, public health professionals and community groups should highlight alcohol consumption as a leading modifiable cancer risk factor and strengthen and expand education efforts to increase general awareness, and health care providers should inform patients in clinical settings about this link and promote the use of alcohol screening and treatment referrals as needed.
Ice Flyers Struggling Start Leads Into 4-3 Loss Against Birmingham
January 4, 2025
by Bill Vilona Ice Flyers correspondent
The margin for error with this Ice Flyers team offers little wiggle room.
The first 12 minutes of Friday’s 4-3 loss against the Birmingham Bulls again reinforced the importance.
After following behind 4-1 in that opening period stretch, the Ice Flyers (6-17, plus 3 OT losses) turned things around and gave themselves the final 30 minutes to get a tying goal that never happened.
All of this in front of a huge crowd of 6,242 at the Pensacola Bay Center only raised the frustration with Ice Flyers coach Gary Graham, whose patience has naturally worn thin. His team has now lost four of the past six games decided by one goal.
“We had a great second and third period. We probably had some goals that we should have scored on that would have made our life a little bit easier,” Graham said. “The effort was there in the second and third period. But you can’t win a hockey game playing 40 minutes.
“We’re not a team that can cut corners at all,” he said. “Very good hockey team can cut some corners with goaltending and with special teams.
“(And) with their top scorers you can count on to score big goals in critical moments. We are not that team. We haven’t been that team the entire season. We have to win tight games, that’s way it’s been the whole season.”
Despite an energized crowd that filled two thirds of the arena on “Cars Night” – complete with the Ice Flyers wearing specialty jerseys in theme for the popular Disney produced television series – the Ice Flyers struggled from the outset.
The Bulls (12-9, 3 OT losses) scored four goals on the first nine shots, including back-to-back goals in a 1-minute, 21 second span. They later clanged two consecutive shots off the goal posts that would have made it a 5-1 lead.
Three of their goals came with wide open nets that gave Ice Flyers goaltender Brody Claeys no chance at a miracle save. But after the Bulls took a 4-1 lead with 8:55 remaining in the period, he stop the remaining 16 shots he faced in the game.
“I thought it was probably the worst period of hockey from our forward group in a long time,” Graham said. “The puck management, the lack of effort on the back check, was disgusting.
“If I’m the goalie and I’m seeing that kind of action, I’m probably going to fight a teammate in the locker room. It was that gross.
“And what’s disturbing is that we have been playing pretty good defensively… that hasn’t been our problem so whatever it was, the guys weren’t dialed in, we weren’t executing a game plan.”
The game changed with 1:56 left in the period when the Ice Flyers Sam Dabrowski made a perfect deke in a one-on-one move against a Bulls defenseman and rifled a shot past Bulls goalie Austin Lotz.
The Ice Flyers then got a second period goal from Jonathan Bartuccio-Pereira, who also assisted on Dabrowski’s goal. With 8:42 left before the second intermission, a potential blowout was now a one-game game.
But it stayed that way. Lotz came up big. He finished stopping 40 shots in a game where the Ice Flyers had a 43-25 edge in shots on goal, much like they’ve had in most games this season.
The Ice Flyers will near midpoint of their schedule on Saturday when traveling to Birmingham for the weekend rematch in at the Bulls’ Pelham Arena.
“You hope that everybody can buy in for 60 minutes,” Graham said. “The top guys have to be bought in. We had countless turnovers (Friday from key top players. Your best guys have to be your lead guys.”
Here is a recap
FIRST PERIOD
Four different Bulls plays scored in the first 12 minutes to build the big lead. The first Birmingham goal occurred on the game’s first power play chance, just 3:17 into the period.
But the Ice Flyers Cayden Cahill gave the crowd a chance for a goal celebration dance when he deflected a shot past Lotz just 42 seconds later.
And then, the bottom fell out for the Ice Flyers when Birmingham scored three consecutive goals.
“It was the grossest we have played defensively,” Graham said.
Dobrowski’s goal, however, provided a positive moment before intermission that carried into the second period.
“It was a good goal and individual effort by Sam,” Graham said. “We were talking about trying to get another goal before the end of the period and he goes out and makes a heck of an individual play. But you’re still not positive in the locker room (at intermission) after that.”
SECOND PERIOD
The only scoring occurred when Bartuccio-Pereira rifled a wrist shot from inside the blue line into the cage. That goal with 8:42 left was followed by several other chances in the final minutes of the period.
“Tip your hat to Birmingham,” Graham said. “They had some injuries and callups this week. They had a very predictable, simple gameplan. They all bought in. They got an early lead and took us too long to get going.”
THIRD PERIOD
No scoring. But the Ice Flyers out shot Birmingham 19-5 and dominated scoring chances. But Lotz came up big.
The Ice Flyers pulled Claeys with about 90 seconds remaining. Adam Pilotte had a chance on a one-timer with 1:02 left that Lotz smothered.
A couple opportunities followed.
“You dig yourself a hole like that, they have a veteran goalie, a goalie that is very confident,” Graham said. “I thought our best chance to tie the game was in the second period.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
WHO: Ice Flyers at Birmingham Bulls
WHEN: Saturday, 7:05 p.m.
WHERE: Pelham Civic Complex, Pelham, Ala.
Here’s The College Football Playoff, Bowl TV Schedule
January 4, 2025
Here is the college football bowl and playoff schedule for the remainder of the season:
Saturday, Jan. 4
Liberty vs. Buffalo (Bahamas Bowl) | 10 a.m. | ESPN2
Sunday, Jan. 5
North Central (IL) vs. Mount Union (Stagg Bowl for the DIII championship game in Houston) | 7 p.m. | ESPN
Monday, Jan. 6
Montana State vs. North Dakota State (FCS championship game in Frisco, Texas) | 6 p.m. | ESPN
Thursday, Jan. 9
No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 5 Notre Dame (College Football Playoff semifinal — Orange Bowl) | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN
Friday, Jan. 10
No. 3 Texas vs. No. 6 Ohio State (College Football Playoff semifinal — Cotton Bowl) | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN
Monday, Jan. 20
TBD vs. TBD (College Football Playoff National Championship Game — in Atlanta) | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN
Thomas William ‘Toby’ Weaver
January 4, 2025
Thomas William “Toby” Weaver
September 1, 1976- January 3, 2025
Toby was born September 1, 1976, in Brewton, Alabama. He was the son of the late Tommy Weaver and of Gayle Weaver of Walnut Hill, Florida. He was the grandson of the late J.W. and Mary Weaver of Evergreen, Alabama and of Lee Otis and Margie Baggett of Castleberry, Alabama. Toby passed away at Sacred Heart Hospital, Pensacola, on the evening of January 3, 2025.
Survivors include his mother, Gayle Weaver of Walnut Hill, Florida, his sister Tara Nikki “Sissy” Walden and husband Scott of Walnut Hill, Florida, a niece, Jami Andrews of Walnut Hill, Florida, a nephew, Logan and wife Marla Weaver of Evergreen, Alabama, and a niece Katherine Smith of Walnut Hill, Florida. He is survived by his grandnephews and grandniece: Thomas Luke Spears and Jamison Andrews of Walnut Hill, Florida and Elias, Vesper, and Claire Weaver of Evergreen, Alabama. Also, left to mourn him is his Aunt Gaye Evans and Uncle Bob Evans of Walnut Hill, Florida.
Toby was the “love” of everyone’s heart. He loved and was an avid fan of the Northview Chiefs, with whom he was a permanent fixture on the sidelines for football for many, many years. The State Championship Team of 2012 even let him bring the state trophy home with him after that game. He was also an avid fan of the Auburn Tigers, taking each loss personally. He loved his Atlanta Braves, being their biggest fan each year. He loved watching almost any type of movie, and he loved listening to almost any type of music, singing along for his own entertainment. His hobby was putting puzzles together. He loved to travel, even spending thirty days each on two trips to France, before COVID took its toll on him. Hard to describe Toby, since he was so much to so many, especially the ladies who were his “Honey” over the years. On behalf of Tommy and me, Toby has always been “the love of our lives.” He gave so much more than he took. The family would like to extend their appreciation for the love and care that Toby received from the ICU unit at Sacred Heart Hospital, from December 18, 2024 -
January 3, 2025.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, January 6, 2025, at 11 a.m. at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes, LLC.
Toby will be buried at Old Town Cemetery, Evergreen, Alabama. Services will be conducted by Pastor Glenn Weber. Special thanks to Elaine Holk for coordinating the music for the services. Thank you to everyone who always made Toby feel very special, because he truly was.
Visitation will be held on Monday, January 6, 2025, from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Homes, LLC.
Pallbearers will be Logan Weaver, Scott Walden, Jerame Conn, Marc Taylor, Alan Lassiter, and Ronnie Gill.
Century Opens Millennium Time Capsule. Here’s What They Found.
January 3, 2025
The Town of Century opened a millennium time capsule Friday afternoon finding a lot of wet items and a few notable glimpses at local history.
The time capsule was buried in front of the town hall on January 1, 2000, and set for opening in January 2025. Over the past 25 years, water filled the concrete vault. Murky, dirty, stinky water also infiltrated the plastic bags and other containers inside. Most of the newspapers and other paper items were mush. Many photos had been printed on inkjet printers of the day, and the photos had washed away.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Several people present on Friday discovered items that they had placed in the capsule, or items from now-deceased relatives. A form created by the town back in 2000 asked residents to write down what was in each bag, along with their contact information and heirs with the apparent intent of returning the items in 2025. It should be noted that the form also asked for social security numbers because times were different in 2000, potentially exposing names, addresses and social security numbers of current local residents.
Some residents took family items home, and the Alger Sullivan Historical Society took the rest of the items to dry out what they can and document.
And, in a bit of a surprise, the lid covering the vault was signed by numerous people, most if not all of were high school students (it’s pictured in the gallery).
Coming up by Monday on NorthEscambia.com, we’ll take a look at some of the treasures from the capsule and hear a unique local history story.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Homicide Arrest Made After Woman Shot, Ran Over At Apartment Complex Behind Nine Mile Kohl’s
January 3, 2025
A homicide arrest has been made following the death of a woman after being shot and ran over Thursday night near an apartment complex behind Kohl’s on Nine Mile Road.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to the area of an apartment complex on Baldridge Drive about 8:30 p.m. to find a 30-year-old woman suffering from gunshot wounds.
“The investigation determined that she had been shot and then run over by a vehicle multiple times. The victim was transported to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries,” ECSO said.
The investigation led deputies to the suspect, 30-year-old Charles Jerome Carson-Dowdy. He was arrested in Spanish Fort, Alabama. He is in the Baldwin County Jail awaiting extradition back to Escambia County to face a homicide charge.