Gulf Power Suspends Disconnections In Response To COVID-19
March 20, 2020
Gulf Power company is suspending electric service disconnections in response to COVID-19 through at least the end of March.
Gulf Power’s parent company, has committed $1.5 million in COVID-19 emergency assistance. The emergency funds, provided by the NextEra Energy Foundation and Gulf Power Foundation, will be distributed to partner organizations working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis to provide critical support to the most vulnerable members of the communities in which they operate.
Gulf Power serves over 470,000 customers in northwest Florida.
Free Meals Available Beginning Monday At Five Locations; 33 More Schools Soon
March 20, 2020
The Escambia County School District will begin providing free meals on Monday at five sites in Escambia County, and nearly three dozen additional sites will be added by the following week.
Breakfast and lunch will be available from 9 a.m. until noon, March 23-27 at five locations in Escambia County:
- Bratt Elementary School, 5721 North Highway 99, Bratt
- Bellview Elementary School, 4425 Bellview Avenue
- Warrington Middle School, 459 South Old Corry Field Road, Pensacola
- C.A. Weis Elementary School, 2701 North Q Street, Pensacola
- Booker T. Washington High School, 6000 College Parkway, Pensacola
In addition, NorthEscamba.com has learned that a non-school meal pick up location will be added by Escambia County in Century next week. The school district will also add 33 additional locations the week of March 30. Details on the additional pickup locations will be posted on NorthEscambia.com when available.
Meals will be distributed in a curbside pick up operation. Food items will be in to go containers and will consist of ready-to-eat food items that should be consumed when received or should be quickly refrigerated for consumption at a later time.
Each child will receive breakfast and lunch in the same visit. Children do not have to be a student at that school in order to pick up meals there.
ECSD will be adding 33 school sites on Monday, March 30th. The list will be updated this time, next week.
According to the USDA’s policy, the child or children must be present to receive meals. They must be 18 and younger; and meals are designed to be carried away and consumed off campus (cafeteria/dining rooms will not be open).
Dramatic Photos Show Firefighters Battling Car Hauler Fire On I-10
March 20, 2020
Dramatic photos show firefighters from the Ferry Pass Station of Escambia Fire Rescue as they battled a commercial vehicle fire Thursday night.
The fire on I-10 was reported as being at Scenic Highway exit, but it turned out to be on the Santa Rosa County side of the I-10 bridge across Pensacola Bay.
The fire swept through an 18-wheel vehicle hauler carrying three vehicles. There were no injuries reported.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Here’s How Alabama Is Handling The Coronavirus, From Closing Beaches To Takeout Only Eats
March 20, 2020
The State of Alabama has implemented several new regulations in an effort to help curb the coronavirus spread.
Those regulations include:
- All restaurant, bars, breweries are limited to delivery or pick-up. Hospital food service is exempted from this order.
- All schools and universities are ordered to close.
- All gatherings of 25 or more of those that cannot maintain a 6-foot distance between people are prohibited.
- All Alabama beaches are closed.
- All senior citizen gatherings, senior citizen centers across the state are closed.
- All preschools, childcare centers are closed statewide. This ban doesn’t apply to childcare centers serving families of government, first responders or healthcare workers.
- Visitors and non-essential personnel are banned at hospitals and nursing homes. There are exceptions for end-of-life and maternity situations.
- All elective medical and dental procedures are delayed. Medical offices remain open and are serving patients.
Click here to read the full order.
Escambia Tax Collector Office Closed; Services Available By Phone Or Online
March 20, 2020
All Escambia County Tax Collector offices are now closed to the public, but many services are still available online or by phone.
From Tax Collector Scott Lunsford:
Employees will continue to assist as many citizens as possible by way of a phone queue. All current appointments are cancelled.
For service, visit www.EscambiaTaxCollector.com and click “Join the Line” at the top. Pick an office and follow the prompts. Calls to customers who join the phone queue will be returned in the order in which they joined. A valid phone number must be provided. Call-backs will be from a 438 (Escambia County) or 595 (State of Florida) exchange.
Assistance for the following transactions will be processed through the virtual phone queue:
- Title services (to the extent possible)
- Original registrations (new tags; renewals are online only)
- Print electronic titles
- Handicapped parking placards
- Florida birth certificates
- Surrender plates
- Driver license (to the extent possible)
If you are currently Real ID compliant and your last driver license or identification card renewal was done in an office, you may be eligible to renew online. A 30-day extension has been issued for those citizens those licenses or identification cards expire between March 16, 2020 and April 15, 2020.
The following transactions are available online only:
- • Property Tax Payments – Property tax payments are due by the end of March and at this time, there is no provision of law to extend the statutory delinquency deadline for the payment of real estate and tangible property taxes
- • Business Tax Receipt – Businesses can renew and print their business tax receipts online
- • BTExpress – Citizens and business owners can apply for a new business tax receipt or edit information on your current account
- • Tag Renewal – Renew online and pick up the same or next business day in one of our convenient drive-thrus or have the registration mailed to you
- • Hunting and Fishing License – Purchase or renew online
Full payment of fees is required at time of service, and payment may be made by eCheck, debit, or credit cards.
Payments made by eCheck are fee-free. Credit and debit transactions are subject to convenience fees charged by the payment vendor(s). If you must pay by cash, you may visit a drive thru at our Downtown, Marcus Pointe, or Molino offices.
One Dead, Two Injured In Escambia County Triple Shooting
March 19, 2020
One person was killed and two others were injured in a triple shooting Thursday afternoon in Escambia County.
It happened at a home on 61st Avenue not far from Fairfield Drive. The three victims were found inside the home. The two injured persons were transported to an area hospital suffering from gunshot wounds.
Caleb Gladden, 19, was taken into custody by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Additional information has not been released as the investigation is underway.
City Of Pensacola Closes Restaurant Dining Rooms, Movie Theaters; Escambia County Could Follow
March 19, 2020
Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson has ordered restaurants in the city to close their dining rooms for two weeks starting Monday. The order also closes movie theaters and other entertainment venues.
Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May, speaking at a press conference at Pensacola City Hall, said the Escambia County Commission will consider similar closures during a special meeting Friday morning.
“These were incredibly difficult decisions, and they are not ones that I take lightly,” Robinson said. “I know the impact on our restaurant and local business industry will be felt by many, but the safety and health of our community is my top priority. In this unprecedented situation that we are facing, I would rather take aggressive preventative action to protect the public than to not do enough and risk an even greater negative impact to our community.”
Robinson’s order includes all restaurants in the city limits with seating for eight or more people. The order does not apply to dining at the airport or hospitals.
Robinson encouraged the restaurants to offer drive-thru, curbside pickup or delivery.
Click to read the city ordinance.
Escambia, Santa Rosa Beaches To Remain Open; Okaloosa And Walton Beaches Close
March 19, 2020
The beaches in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties will remain open for now. Gatherings should still be limited to 10 or fewer people following CDC guidelines, officials said Thursday.
Hotels on Pensacola Beach will reduce occupancy to 50%.
Okaloosa and Walton counties closed their public beaches Thursday morning.
In Alabama, beached will close at 5 p.m. Thursday under order from the governor.
Pictured: Pensacola beach on Wednesday. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Police Make Arrested In 35-Year Old Cold Case Using DNA, Cigarette Butt
March 19, 2020
After 35 years, an Escambia County man has been charged with murdering a woman in Pensacola.
Daniel Leonard Wells, 57, is charged with homicide and sexual battery in the death of 23-year old Tonya Ethridge McKinley.
She was killed in the early-morning hours of January 1, 1985. Her partially nude body was found on the side of Peak Drive near Scenic Highway about four hours after she was last seen alive at Darryl’s Restaurant behind what was then University Mall. The investigation found she had been strangled to death and sexually assaulted.
Wells was developed as the suspect after a DNA sample from the crime scene ran through a database identified some of his’ relatives. Police created a family tree and tracked him down. They surreptitiously obtained a cigarette butt discarded by Wells and made a DNA match to the crime scene.
Cantonment Man Charged With Stealing Gun, Other Items From Godmother While She Was In Jail
March 19, 2020
A Cantonment man was charged with stealing a gun and other items from his godmother’s home in Cottage Hill while she was in jail.
Travis Paul Sterback, 23, was charged with armed burglary, two counts of grand theft of a firearm, petit theft and criminal mischief.
Sterback allegedly stole multiple items from the home on Cottage Hill Road, including a .22 caliber rifle, a six-round magazine, a cell phone, camcorder and an antique Thermos valued at $20, an arrest report says. A small $40 safe was also forced open with paperwork missing, according to the victim.
The rifle was later pawned by Sterback, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.