Friday Night Finals
September 7, 2019
Here are Friday night finals from around the North Escambia area:
FLORIDA
- Tallahassee Lincoln 43, Tate 0
- Flomaton 40, Jay 0
- Catholic 50, West Florida 14
- Escambia 23, Pine Forest 20
- Washington 38, Pensacola High 0
- Gulf Breeze 27, Choctaw 24
- Navarre 21, Milton 13
- Northview – Open
- Pace – Open
ALABAMA
- Escambia County (Atmore) 46, Monroe County 0
- Tuscaloosa Academy 20, Escambia Academy 19
- Flomaton 40, Jay 0
- T.R. Miller 12, Excel 7
- Hillcrest 47, W.S. Neal 0
Pictured: Flomaton shut out Jay Friday night. NorthEscambia.com photo.
Escambia County Swaps Beulah Road To State For Perdido Key Drive
September 6, 2019
The Escambia County Commission unanimously approved a road swap Thursday night, trading part of Beulah Road to the state for part of Perdido Key Drive.
Escambia County will give 2.5 miles of Beulah Road from Mobile Highway to Isaacs Lane to the Florida Department of Transportation. In turn, FDOT will give 6.2 miles of Perdido Key Drive from the Alabama state line to Gongora Drive to Escambia County.
The county and FDOT have worked on negotiating the transfer since 2017.
The swap is expected to be a major step forward in the construction of a new I-10 interchange at Beulah Road for an eventual connector to Highway 29 somewhere in between Barrineau Park Road and Quintette Road. The so-called Beulah Beltway is envisioned as a four-lane divided highway with controlled or limited access.
And on Perdido Key Drive, Commissioner Doug Underhill says he’s looking forward to safety improvements, including in the area of the Flora-Bama.
It is expected to take about three months for the legal side of the road swap to be completed to make the deal official.
Pictured: A portion of Beulah Road. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Multiple Injuries In T-Bone Wreck On Highway 29 In Molino
September 6, 2019
At least two people were injured in a T-bone type collision late Thursday afternoon on Highway 29 in Molino near the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office substation.
They were transported to an area hospital by Escambia County EMS with injuries that did not appear to be immediately life threatening.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating and has not released any additional details.
The Molino and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Utility Trailer Stolen In Brewton Located Near Jay; One Charged
September 6, 2019
Alert citizens, social media and multi-jurisdictional law enforcement involvement led to the recovery near Jay of a utility trailer stolen from Brewton and an arrest.
Dover Dwight Daniels, 50, was charged with theft in the first degree by Brewton Police.
The trailer was stolen overnight Monday from in front of a hotel under construction in Brewton. A Facebook post by the trailer’s owner was shared over 500 times, and the trailer was spotted by an alert citizen on Camors Road off Morristown Road near Jay.
The trailer was recovered by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the Flomaton Police Department was also involved in the investigation.
Pictured above and below: A utility trailer stolen from a construction site in Brewton was recovered sitting next to Camors Road near Jay. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview JV Beats West Florida Freshmen (With Photo Gallery)
September 6, 2019
The junior varsity Northview Chiefs defeated the West Florida Jaguars freshmen 32-20 Thursday night in Bratt.
Northview’s junior varsity will travel to Pine Forest on September 19 befort returning home to host Baker on September 26. West Florida’s freshmen will be at Pensacola High School on September 12.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Man Charged With Attempted Aggravated Battery At Pensacola State College
September 6, 2019
An Cantonment man was charged with attempted second degree felony aggravated battery using a deadly weapon after allegedly nearly running over a woman in the Pensacola State College parking lot.
Dawon Kweku Siaw was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $500 bond.
Siaw allegedly drove directly at the victim in a parking lot at the PSC main campus, swerving at the last moment when less than foot from her person. The victim was able to identify Siaw as the driver because he was known to her. The connection between Siaw and the victim was redacted from an arrest report, but the charge was not listed as being domestic violence related.
Van Crosses Center Lane, Sideswipes Car On Highway 29
September 5, 2019
At least two people were transported to the hospital after a van sideswiped a car on Highway 29 in Century Thursday afternoon.
Video from a nearby surveillance camera showed the northbound van cross the center lane into the southbound lane and collide with the car. The driver of the car was temporarily trapped in her vehicle until she was extricated by firefighters. Her injuries did not appear to be serious.
The crash closed the southbound lanes of Highway 29 for over an hour. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
Escambia County EMS, the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Flomaton Fire Department and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
One Seriously Injured In Kingsfield Crash
September 5, 2019
At least one person was seriously injured in traffic crash Thursday afternoon on Kingsfield Road.
The person was transported to an area hospital as a “trauma alert” following the wreck at Stallion Road.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.
Reader submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Dept. Of Education Makes Exception For Local Students After Their ACT Tests Were Lost
September 5, 2019
The Florida Department of Education is working to help students whose ACT tests were lost, and will look at new rules to help any students that might find themselves in the same predicament in future years.
As first reported in an exclusive NorthEscambia.com story on August 19, ACT tests taken by Florida and Alabama students in Atmore were lost, and one local mom believed it may have cost her daughter a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship.
There were 18 students from Florida and Alabama that took the ACT test June 8 at Escambia County High School in Atmore, but those answer sheets were lost by FedEx, according to ACT. That left Florida students without those ACT scores in time to apply for the Bright Futures scholarship program. The program previously had “all or none” policy; everything is complete by the deadline or it’s no chance of a four-year scholarship.
Our story prompted the Florida Department of Escambia to extend Bright Futures application deadline for those students until December 31. The will give the students their choice of three dates to retake the ACT.
“I am definitely grateful that the state will do what is right, not just read the story,” Sen. Doug Broxson told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday afternoon. He said there may be legislation introduced in the upcoming Legislative session to address how to handle lost college prep tests in the future.
“This was a hiccup, but at least it is not a dead issue,” Broxson said.
Ed Colby, senior director of Media and Public Relations at ACT, told NorthEscambia.com Wednesday that the Atmore ACT answer sheets are still missing, last scanned by FedEx at one of their facilities. He again stressed that that Escambia County High School was in no way responsible and properly shipped the test answers back.
“FedEx continues to search for it, however, and we continue to hope that it will be located and sent to us,” Colby said.
For our original August 18 story, we spoke to a local mother that felt her daughter may have missed her chance at Bright Futures Scholarship due to the lost ACT scores.
She is extremely pleased that the Florida Department of Education will give her daughter and other students another shot at the ACT.
“I know she will prepare and do well when she takes it again,” she said.
Her daughter had failed to make the required ACT score on previous attempts, and a good score on the June 8 test was her last hope to meet the qualification deadline for the scholarship.
“We had very high hopes this would be the test with good results. She could had have a four-year college scholarship, but now that the tests are lost, how will we ever know? She could have possibly gone to college on a scholarship,” the student’s mother told NorthEscambia.com. We have independently verified that her student took the June 8 test and other aspects of her story, but she spoke for this report based upon a condition that she and her daughter remain anonymous.
“She had taken the ACT test several times and had improved each time. She was very close to earning Bright Futures,” she said. “She had set a goal and had spent as much time as she could. It was her last shot, give it all you can. She didn’t work at a job; she treated like preparing for the ACT was her job.”
ACT refunded the testing fee to each of the 18 students, and they are allowing each to take the ACT again for free.
ECSO Warning Of IRS Imposter Scam
September 5, 2019
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Investigators are once again warning residents about telephone scammers claiming to be from the IRS.
A recent incident was brought to our attention in which the scammer called the potential victim and claimed to be a with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The scammer claimed to be an employee of the IRS and asked the recipient to send the money owed by gift card.
The ECSO said Wednesday they recently learned of another IRS scam, with the caller claiming to be an IRS employee and asking for payment by gift card. Deputies are asking that anyone receiving such a call report it and not provide money or personal information.
Investigators said there are are multiple variations of this scam, and fraudsters are constantly devising new and innovative ways to take hard-earned money.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office offered several tips to avoid becoming a victim of fraud:
- Always be suspicious of any threatening calls claiming to be from the IRS or the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office or any other business – especially if it is coming from a business that you do not normally patronize.
- A legitimate business will not resort to threats as a first response to a late or missed payment.
- Always be suspicious when asked to send an electronic payment, “Green Dot” card payment, gift card payment, or wire transfer.
- Trust your instincts. If you feel that something “just isn’t right”, call your local law enforcement agency and report it. It is much easier to prevent fraud in the first place than to recover your money after the fact.
Contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 to report fraud.
