Bells Will be Ringing: Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign Kicks Off
November 20, 2023
The Salvation Army’s iconic Red Kettle Campaign is back on in the Pensacola area, ushering in the festive spirit of Christmas. The Red Kettle Campaign is The Salvation Army’s primary fundraising initiative, providing life-changing programs and services throughout the year, including food assistance programs, emergency financial assistance, youth programs, and disaster response.
The 2023 Red Kettle campaign goal is $148,000. The Red Kettle campaign ends December 23, and kettles are in 19 locations in both Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.
The Salvation Army has an unwavering commitment to helping people in times of need, and the Red Kettle campaign is a critical source of funding that helps us meet that commitment,” said Captain Stephan Wildish of The Salvation Army of Pensacola. “The funds the community generously gives to the Red Kettle ensures families do not have to make agonizing choices between basic needs like housing, food, and medical care.”
The Salvation Army relies on the money raised through the Red Kettle campaign to provide Christmas to local families and safeguard the well-being of people in need through year-round programming and social services.
Volunteering as a bell ringer is an excellent opportunity to give back to the community while spreading the season’s joy. To become a volunteer bell ringer, please visit RegisterToRing.com and follow the prompts or contact Captain Stephan Wildish at (850) 432-1501 or email Stephan.Wildish@uss.salvationarmy.org .
IP Names New Manager Of Cantonment Mill
November 15, 2023
International Paper announced Wednesday that Hunter Morris has been named Mill Manager of International Paper’s Pensacola Containerboard Mill in Cantonment. In his new position, Morris will assume overall responsibility for safety, people engagement, commercial and operational excellence and community stewardship at the Pensacola Mill.
Most recently, Morris was the Operations Manager for the company’s Savannah, Georgia Mill. Morris joined International Paper in 2007 at the company’s Riegelwood, North Carolina mill. He has worked in several manufacturing and technical leadership roles of i increasing responsibility throughout his career with the company.
“I am excited to join the Pensacola team and my family and I are excited to move to the area and learn more about the people and community,” said Hunter Morris. “Being able to lead the team in Pensacola is a wonderful opportunity, and I look forward to contributing to the continued success of the Pensacola Mill.”
In a related move, Pensacola Mill Manager Scott Taylor has been promoted to Director of Manufacturing, Containerboard. In his new leadership role, Taylor will have oversight of the Henderson, Ky., Newport, Ind., Rome, Ga., and Springfield, Ore., Containerboard Mills. Since 2017, Taylor has been the Mill Manager at the Pensacola Mill. Taylor and his family will be relocating to the Memphis, Tennessee area.
“The time I spent with the Pensacola team and community has been immensely rewarding,” said Scott Taylor. “While my family and I have a sense of sadness leaving Pensacola, I am confident in leaving the mill team with Hunter and look forward to hearing about the continued successes and achievements of the Pensacola Mill.”
Chance Of Rain Sticks Around Into Thursday
November 15, 2023
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
This Afternoon: Partly sunny, with a high near 68. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. North wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. North wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. North wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph after midnight.
Monday: A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70. South wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Monday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before midnight, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 62.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 55.
Ice Flyers Take On The Ice Bears
November 11, 2023
Friday night, the Pensacola Ice Flyers secured a 5-4 win in the first of two games against the Knoxville Ice Bears on Friday night at the Pensacola Bay Center. In front of 5,225 fans on Adult Jersey Giveaway Night, the Ice Flyers started hot and produced 3 of their 5 goals in the first period. Brett Mecrones continued his hot streak, finding the back of the net twice with Sean Gulka and Dallas Comeau joining in on the fun with crowd pleasing scraps. Kaden Fulcher secured his 2nd win in a row with 27 saves on 31 shots after shutting out the Birmingham Bulls the night before.
The Ice Flyers were set to move on to game two of the weekend series on Saturday night for their Inaugural Blue Angels Night.
State Approves FPL Rate Decrease
November 10, 2023
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved amended interim storm restoration charges and requests to replenish the storm reserve fund for Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) Interim storm restoration recovery charges include costs associated with named storms and are subject to refund, with interest, pending further review once the total actual costs are known for each utility.
FPL’s storm recovery amount was reduced from $1.5 billion to $1.3 billion for costs associated with Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. PSC-approved charges for a 1,000 kWh residential bill will change from $15.30 to $6.65, effective January 2024 through March 2024. This reflects a monthly decrease of $8.65 and includes replenishing FPL’s storm reserve.
Utilities typically point to a benchmark of residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month. Such FPL customers have been paying $15.30 a month for the storm-related costs, but that number will be reduced to $6.65 in January, according to the commission.
Sunshine, About 80 For Monday
November 5, 2023
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the morning.
Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54. South wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light southeast after midnight.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 81. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the morning.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63.
Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56.
UWF Ignites For Bounce-Back Rout of MC to Enhance Postseason Opportunity
November 5, 2023
In games this season following a loss, UWF’s football team has responded with turnaround, complete-game performances.
The Argos added a pivotal one Saturday with a 42-14 win against Mississippi College at Robinson-Hale Stadium, which now sets up an opportunity to attain their fifth post-season trip in UWF’s seven-year tenure.
Bolstered earlier this week by a No. 4 position in the NCAA Division II Super Region 2 rankings, the Argos (7-3) further helped themselves by responding from a 7-0 deficit in the second quarter with five consecutive touchdowns against MC for a blowout win.
“Our guys were relentless,” said UWF coach Kaleb Nobles, referring to the surge that became with a game-tying touchdown in the second quarter. “They did a great job of doing what they’re supposed to do and playing with a lot better effort and focusing.
“It has kind of confirmed what I know about our team… is that they have something in their chest about them that is pretty resilient. They have a great heart about them, great spirit about them. They know in the three losses, we played good teams and they played us very well, but we also didn’t play our best in those games.
“But I am excited about how we have responded. I hate the opportunity to respond after a loss, because it means we lost, but I’m proud of the way we have come off losses.”
This was the third consecutive season UWF has played at Mississippi College. Saturday’s win was the second-largest margin of victory in the eight times these teams have played – all won by the Argos.
The Argos will head into their season-finale next Saturday against winless Chowan University (0-9) at UWF’s Pen Air Field knowing a win could seal a place among the 28 team-field in the Division II playoffs.
Seven teams from each of the four NCAA D-2 Super Regions make the playoffs.
“We feel like this is when you’ve got to play your best,” Nobles said. “A lot goes into it, but teams are going to remember who wins in November and December. And so our guys know we’ve got to play at a high level. We’ve left some good football out on the field (in season), but we’ve got to play well this week coming up and hopefully that leads to us playing further in November and December.”
Coming off last Saturday’s heart-breaking home loss to Valdosta State in the final 36 seconds, the Argos’ offense started slow Saturday against the Choctaws.
Their first four possessions resulted in two punts, a missed field goal and a failed conversion on 4th-and-one.
The Choctaws had a 7-0 lead after a 9-play, 80-yard drive was capped by quarterback Cameron Davis’ 1-yard run with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
The Argos tied the game with 6:04 left in the first half on a 42-yard touchdown run by Jamontez Woods that highlighted a 93-yard, nine play drive. It featured the Argos rushing attack and became part of the game’s big storyline.
Playing without leading rusher C.J. Wilson, who was sidelined by a minor injury, the Argos amassed 274 yards rushing on 42 attempts. Woods led the way with 113 yards on 12 carries. Jalen Bussey had 84 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. Quarterback Peewee Jarrett added 53 yards on 10 carries to combine for the bulk of this yardage.
“CJ was just banged up a little bit and he’s going to be fine moving forward,” Nobles said. “Those guys (running backs) kind of cleaned up and shored up some things and we know with our o-line, you don’t have to be perfect and our guys just made plays behind them.
“It’s a testament to our offensive staff, how well they put together a really good run-game plan, but also to adjust to the game. (Choctaws) were doing some certain things that were a little bit different than we thought, which is kind of par for the course this season offensively. But it’s really a testament to our players, our offensive line, our running backs, tight ends and how well blocked up front and how we ran the ball.”
After UWF’s defense forced a quick stop, the Argos then took a 14-7 haftime lead on Jarrett’s 42-yard touchdown pass to John Jiles –part of another big day for Jiles with 110 yards on five catches and two touchdowns.
The game’s defining moment then happened within a two-minute span in the third quarter.
Mississippi College missed a 45-yard field goal with its first possession of the second half. The Argos took over and scored on a 41-yard pass from Jarrett to Jiles for a 21-7 lead.
On the ensuing possession, the Choctaws began at their on 9-yard line after a blocking penalty on the kick return. Forced to punt from their own 11, UWF defensive back Braylon Anderson from Saraland High near Mobile, swooped in and blocked the punt.
It was recovered in the end zone by linebacker Mi’Chaun Coward, a Niceville High grad, in the end zone for a touchdown and 28-7 lead.
“When you block a punt, that changes games,” Nobles said. “Braylon Anderson with a great block. That raises your opportunity to win. And that’s contagious.
“To be honest, we have been close on like seven of them this year. Finally, we got a perfect run through. Our guys did a great job running through the A-gap to get there and I’m just excited about how they finished that to get a touchdown on special teams.”
Ten seconds later, another big defensive play ensued. On the first snap from the kickoff, UWF defensive tackle Collin Shaw forced and recovered a fumble at the MC 27. On a 4th-and-21 situation from Choctaws’ 38, Nobles made the bold decision to go for it and Jarrett connected with Zac Offord for a 25-yard gain.
Two players later, Jarrett connected with Caden Leggett for an 11 yard touchdown and 35-7 lead. That’s three touchdowns in the third quarter to blow open the game and five scores in a 21-minute span.
“I challenged our guys pretty good at halftime,” Nobles said. “We had a great way to end (half) on the pass to Jiles, but we don’t need to play to the atmosphere (small crowd at stadium)… we need to play to our best and focus on what we’re supposed to do.
“And we did that in the second half.”
The Argos capped their scoring on Bussey’s 25-yard scoring run on a burst around the left sideline with 9:21 remaining in the game. The rest of the way, Nobles was able to utilize his backup players, including quarterbacks Michael Rich and Marcus Stokes.
Jarrett finished with 235 yards, three touchdowns, one interception. Receiver Anthony Ballard had three catches for 59 yards and Offord (48 yards) and Leggett (43 yards) were part of 294 yards passing.
Ralph Ortiz had eight tackles for UWF and a forced fumble.
This win enabled UWF to record its fifth season of at least seven wins in the program’s 7-year history.
“It’s special and it’s cool to have been a part of a lot of that stuff,” said Nobles, who was an assistant coach under Pete Shinnick for three seasons, including the national title team in 2019. “A huge shoutout to Coach Shinnick what his vision was for UWF football. I am excited that we’re able to keep doing that and hopefully keep adding more wins to this season.”
Written By Bill Vilona PHoto Emily Miller/UWF.
Walnut Hill VFD Honors Firefighters, Community Members During 54th Annual Fish Fry (With Photo Gallery)
November 4, 2023
The Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department honored members of the community and the department during their 54th annual fish fry Saturday.
Joe Witherspoon (pictured second below) was named Firefighter of the Year, an award chosen by his fellow firefighters. Gerry Steege (pictured above) was named Officer of the Year and recognized for his service to the department.
Chris and Sandy Creverling (pictured first below)received the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department’s Community Service Award for outstanding and dedicated service to the community.
There were hundreds of $12 catfish and grilled chicken plates sold. Plates included a choice of grilled catfish, fried catfish or grilled chicken, plus baked beans, coleslaw, homemade bread and homemade desserts. There were also drawings for door prizes throughout the event.
The Big Red Bus was also on hand for blood donations.
For more photos, click or tap here.
For more photos, click or tap here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Veterans Honor Program To Be Held Nov. 12 At Carver Park In Cantonment
November 3, 2023
The Cantonment Improvement Committee will honor veterans Sunday afternoon, Nov. 12 at Carver Park in Cantonment.
The Cantonment Improvement Committee will host a veterans honor program on Sunday, November 12 at 2:30 p.m. lunch will follow.
Everyone is invited to attend the free event.
Pictured: The 2021 Veterans tribute at Carver Park in Cantonment. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blue Angels Homecoming Weekend Continues (with Photo Gallery)
November 3, 2023
Tens of thousands of people attended the first day of the Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow Friday and at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
For more photos, click or tap here.
Day two is Saturday.Both the Main Gate, at the south end of Navy Blvd., and the West Gate, at the south end of Blue Angel Parkway, will open at 8 a.m. The airshow is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. The day-long series of events is scheduled to include performances by the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, The Blue Angels; the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 Viper Demonstration Team; the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A Demonstration Team; Brian Correll Air Shows; Adam Baker Airshows; RAD Aerosports; the Stearman Flight Team; and the Third Strike WingWalkers. Additionally, the Budweiser Clydesdales are scheduled for appearances at the airshow.
Make sure you have your ID and observe traffic regulations when approaching the air station Individuals visiting Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola’s areas of public interest should observe all local traffic regulations. Parking along the side of roads entering the installation is prohibited.
No weapons, outside food or drink, bikes, roller blades, scooters, pets, drones, coolers or backpacks (besides small purses or diaper bags) are permitted.
No weapons, such as firearms and knives, are allowed on Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola. This includes weapons carried by individuals with a concealed weapons permit.
Themed 50 Years of Women in Naval Aviation, the 2023 NAS Pensacola Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow is designed to honor and recognize the significant contributions women have made to naval aviation since the enactment of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, which removed restrictions previously prohibiting women from serving in combat-related roles and ultimately opened the door for women to pursue careers as Naval Aviators. The first class of female Naval Aviators began training in 1973 at NAS Pensacola. The 2023 NAS Pensacola Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show is one of Pensacola’s largest events, attracting more than 220,000 spectators during the two-day event.
Pictured:The B lue Angels Homecoming Airshow on Friday. NorthEscambia.com photos by Perry Doggrell, click to enlarge.
