Tate High Army JROTC Cadets Attend Camp
August 20, 2019
Thirty-three of Tate High School’s Army JROTC cadets attended JCLC at Camp Rudder on Eglin Air Force Base recently.
The Cadet Leadership Challenge provided experiences including first aid and survival skills, physical training, rappelling, rock wall climbing, land navigation, and leadership and team building activities. Cadets Eva Miller and Winfred Allgyer were recognized for their outstanding performance.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
NorthEscambia.com Publisher Named ‘Media Person Of The Year’; PR Group Presents Other Awards
August 20, 2019
NorthEscambia.com Publisher William Reynolds was named Media Person of the Year by Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) Pensacola Chapter.
The group has a long standing tradition of recognizing a local media professional as Media Person of the Year, an award that expresses appreciation for the vital relationships public relations professionals have with members of the media to bring news stories to light. It is based on nominations from chapter members.
Escambia County School District Superintendent Malcolm Thomas (pictured top right), was awarded Community Influencer of the Year. This first-time award for the Pensacola Chapter is intended to recognize a community leader (not in public relations) who excels in communications internally with their organization and externally with the public and/or media.
Santa Rosa County Public Information Officer Brandi Bates (pictured bottom right) was awarded Communicator of the Year. This award is given to a public relations professional, whether a member of FPRA or not, who demonstrates outstanding skills in any of the following categories: communicator for a non-profit/government organization, communicator for a for-profit organization or crisis communicator.
Several FPRA Pensacola Chapter members were honored with special awards. Kim Stefansson, Escambia County School District, received the President’s Award, while Lindsey Steck, Visit Pensacola, received the Member of the Year award.
Pictured top: Superintendent Malcolm Thomas receives his award. Pictured below: Santa Rosa County Public Information Officer Brandi Bates (right) receives her award. Not pictured: William Reynolds. Photos for NorthEscambia.com click to enlarge.
Speed Limit Reduced For Repairs On Highway 297A Bridge Over Eleven Mile Creek
August 20, 2019
A reduced speed limit is in effect on the Highway 297A bridge over Eleven Mile Creek due to repairs.
A 25 mph speed limit will be in effect for southbound motorists through 5 p.m. Friday while crewss make repairs along the southbound lane of the bridge. Repair crews will be staged behind the guardrail on the west side of 297A while making repairs beneath the bridge approach and to the west concrete ditch.
Drivers are reminded to use caution in the area and observe updated speed signs and traffic signage.
File photo.
FWC Law Enforcement Report
August 20, 2019
The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the period ending August 1 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Specialist Clark was on patrol when he attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle for careless driving. The vehicle’s driver did not stop and continued to drive at a high rate of speed through residential neighborhoods. He stopped pursuing but continued to search for the vehicle. Officer Long assisted with the search and while driving through the neighborhood, located a vehicle fitting the description of the vehicle that fled. Officer Clark arrived on scene and confirmed it was the vehicle in question. A neighbor told Officer Long that the person driving the vehicle drove through the neighborhood at a high rate of speed, parked and ran inside the house. Officers tried to contact the driver but he would not answer the door. The driver was identified through arrest net and confirmed by the neighbor and Officer Clark as the subject. The vehicle was towed, and a warrant activated for Flee/Elude Officer /Disregard Safety of Others, a second-degree felony. Bond was set at $25,000.
Officer Specialist’s Clark, Cushing, Corbin, Investigator Pifer, Officer’s Long, Lugg and Wilkenson participated in a Targeted Enforcement Action for boating under the influence in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. The enforcement effort lasted two days and officers checked over 65 vessels and contacted more than 168 users. The results of the TEA included 20 boating safety warnings, four resource warnings, 19 uniform boating citations, six resource citations, two BUI arrests, seven misdemeanor arrests and one search and rescue.
Officer Long and Officer Specialist Clark were conducting resource and license checks at the NAS Pensacola East seawall. One dead undersized Spanish mackerel was found in a bucket and four undersized and mutilated Spanish mackerel were discovered in a crab trap while inspecting the catch of two individuals. The largest of the catch measured seven inches long. The subjects admitted to using the mackerel as bait and stated that they were unaware that they were committing a crime. The individuals were educated on current regulations and cited accordingly with a misdemeanor citation for possession of undersized Spanish mackerel and a warning for not landing their catch in whole condition.
Officer Long, Officer Specialist Clark, and Investigator Pifer observed a vessel actively engaged in fishing on the Northeast side of the Three Mile Bridge channel. They conducted a resource and safety inspection and Officer Long discovered an undersized and mutilated spanish mackerel. The fish was missing the tail portion, and the captain of the vessel admitted to using the mackerel as bait. Current Florida law requires regulated fish to be landed in whole condition. The captain was cited accordingly.
Officers Corbin and Cushing were on patrol in Bayou Chico when they saw a vessel with fishing equipment displayed. A vessel stop was conducted for a resource inspection. An undersized gag grouper and a triggerfish were in a fish box. The two subjects claimed responsibility for the violations and were issued citations accordingly.
Officers Corbin and Cushing were on water patrol when they saw a vessel returning to the Pensacola Pass with fishing equipment displayed. The vessel was a charter and a resource inspection was conducted. During the inspection two filets and three undersized vermillion snappers were located. The captain of the vessel stated the filets were from a triple tail. The captain of the vessel was issued a citation.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Mullins saw a subject fishing from the bank while on patrol on the Escambia River. The subject had multiple lines out for catfish. While checking the subject it was discovered that he was illegally using bream as bait on a bush hook line, failed to tag his line, and was fishing without a license. The subject was issued a notice to appear for the violations.
Officers Lugg and Wilkenson canvassed a neighborhood in Gulf Breeze educating the residents on bears and informing them on the laws referencing attractants and bears. The officers visited approximately 100 homes speaking with residents and passing out educational material on living with bears in Florida. This effort will be followed up with law enforcement patrols of the neighborhood to ensure compliance with the law due to recent bear complaints.
This report represents some events the FWC handled during the time period; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Information provided by FWC.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Death Row Inmate Pleads Guilty To Murdering Cellmate
August 20, 2019
An inmate already on death row has pleaded guilty to murdering his cellmate.
Rocky Ali Beamon entered guilty plea to first degree premeditated murder for the January 2017 murder of inmate Nicholas Anderson.
Beamon and Anderson were cellmates at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. Beamon punched the victim in the face, tied his hands and feet together, and strangled him with bed sheets. Beamon also stabbed the Anderson in the neck with a homemade weapon, but the cause of death was strangulation.
The State Attorney is seeking the death penalty for Beamon, and he faces a minimum sentence of life in prison. Since Beamon waived his right to a jury trial to determine his sentence, he will be sentenced by Judge Darlene Dickey. The sentenced date has not yet been set.
Beamon is current on death row for the July 2012 murder of a sex offender inmate at the Apalachee Correctional Institution in Jackson County, Florida. He is also serving a life sentence for murder in a 2005 case in Hillsborough County, Florida.
Train Hits Pickup Truck On East Kingsfield Road; Driver Ticketed
August 19, 2019
There were no injuries when a train struck a vehicle on East Kingsfield Road Monday afternoon.
Roley Edgar Kiker, age 63 of Pensacola, was traveling west when he failed to stop his 2012 Nissan Titan for the posted railroad crossing signal, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The train was moving approximately 35 mph when it hit Kiker’s pickup truck that was stopped in the train’s path.
There were no other vehicles involved.
The crash tied up traffic for some time at the on East Kingsfield and at East Kingsfield at Highway 95A intersection.
The Florida Highway Patrol cited Kiker with failing to obey a traffic control signal.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
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College Nightmare: ACT Loses Test Results For Local Students, Possibly Costing One A Bright Futures Scholarship
August 19, 2019
[EXCLUSIVE] ACT tests taken by Florida and Alabama students in Atmore were lost, and one local mom believes it may have cost her daughter a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. NorthEscambia.com has spent over two weeks investigating and attempting to get answers from state officials.
There were 18 students that took the ACT test June 8 at Escambia County High School in Atmore, but those answer sheets are nowhere to be found, according to ACT.
“The package containing the answer sheets for 18 students who took the ACT at Escambia County High School on our June 8 national test date has not yet been received by ACT,” Ed Colby, senior director of Media and Public Relations at ACT, told NorthEscambia.com. He said the answer sheets were lost in transit by the transportation carrier.
We spoke to a local mother of a Florida student that took the June 8 ACT in Atmore in hopes of qualifying for a Bright Future Scholarship. The state funded program provides full or partial scholarships to students that meet certain academic levels, including minimum ACT or SAT scores. 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.”
June was the last possible date for a Florida student to take the ACT in order to qualify for a Bright Futures Scholarship. The program has an “all or none” policy; everything is complete by the deadline or it’s no chance of a four-year scholarship.
We reached out to Cheryl Etters, deputy director of communications for the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), which administers the Bright Futures Scholarship program. We spoke to her on the phone August 1, and followed up by email seeking information about any policy FDOE may have in place to assist a student unable to apply for the scholarships due to no fault of their own, such as the lost ACT scores.
As of August 18, we had received no response whatsoever from FDOE.
We also spoke to Florida Senator Doug Broxson on August 1. He too attempted to get a response from the Department of Education.
NorthEscambia.com had numerous contacts with Broxson’s office during our two week investigation. His staff quickly responded to us each time, and repeatedly attempted to obtain answers from FDOE. As of last week, the only response the state senator’s office had received from FDOE was yet another promise to provide information.
As for ACT, they say they are sorry this happened but it was beyond their control. ACT refunded the testing fee to each of the 18 students, and they are allowing each student to take the ACT again for free. The next testing date is September 14, too late for students on deadline to apply for Bright Futures.
“This is a very unfortunate situation, and we sincerely regret that students have been impacted by it through no fault of their own. Packages can go missing during the shipping process, but this is a rare occurrence, and usually they do turn up at some point. So, our search continues, and we are hoping for the best,” Colby said.
He stressed that Escambia County High School and its representatives were not at fault; they shipped the answer sheets back as instructed via FedEx. FedEx has been unable to find the lost package.
“I can confirm that the package was picked up at the school and scanned by the carrier. The package went missing while in transit,” he said.
The local mom said her daughter will take the ACT test again. She’ll be in college this fall with the family forced to foot her education bill, may have a job and will be studying hard to pass her classes.
“She will never have another opportunity to take the ACT again while focusing on it as hard as she did in June,” she said.
“I know in my heart this cost her a four year scholarship from the state that she should have got.”
The Seattle Times last week reported on a similar situation last week in Washington state where the answer sheets of 40 students were lost by FedEx. The Seattle Times also reported that 440 tests from North Carolina were lost earlier this year, 125 from California went missing in 2017, and 53 from New York were lost in 2016.
NorthEscambia.com photo and graphic.
McDavid Native Trains U.S. Navy Future Warfighters
August 19, 2019
Sailors are some of the most highly-trained people on the planet, according to U.S. Navy officials, and this training requires highly-dedicated instructors.
At Naval Education and Training Command, this obligation falls upon hard-charging, professionals who train and mentor the Navy’s future warfighters.
Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Moretz, a native of McDavid, Florida, is an instructor at NETC, providing the fleet with sailors who possess the basic technical knowledge and skills necessary for naval service.
“The sense of pride training furture engineers for the fleet is what I enjoy most about teaching,” Moretz said.
Instructors are experts in the subject matter they teach, and they provide cutting-edge technical training transforming new recruits into mission-ready sailors.
Moretz, a 2013 graduate of Northview High School, credits success as an instructor to many of the lessons learned growing up in McDavid.
“I learned a great work ethic by working long hours and this really prepared me for my job as an engineer and helped me to adapt well to the Navy culture,” Moretz said.
NETC educates and trains those who serve our nation, taking them from street-to-fleet by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational, and combat ready warfighters, while providing the tools and opportunities for continuous learning and development.
Six commands provide a continuum of professional education and training at NETC in support of Surface Navy requirements preparing enlisted sailors and officers to serve at sea, providing apprentice and specialized skills training to 7,500 sailors a year.
A key element of the Navy the nation needs is tied to the fact that America is a maritime nation, and that the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.
Moretz plays an important role in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances, and reforming business practices in support of the National Defense Strategy.
“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved by our focus on speed, value, results, and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”
Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community and career, Moretz is most proud being appointed as the engineering duty officer while serving on a ship.
“The engineering officer entrusted me with the department in port,” Moretz said. “This gave me a great sense of pride knowing I was being entrusted with the responsibility based on my knowledge and integrity.”
Serving in the Navy is a continuing tradition of military service for Moretz, who has military ties with family members who have previously served. Moretz is honored to carry on the family tradition.
“Several of my family members served in the military but most importantly, my dad did,” Moretz said. “I’m working hard to beat him out of his pay grade.”
As a member of one of the Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Moretz and other instructors, know they are part of a legacy lasting beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“There’s a sense of honor serving my country while seeing the world and training junior sailors,” Moretz said. “I continue to learn every day.”
Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jesse Hawthorne for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Miracle League In Desperate Need Of Volunteers To Help Repair Field For Fall Season
August 19, 2019
The Miracle League of Pensacola is in need of numerous volunteers to help them prepare a damaged field in time for their fall season.
The field is covered with hundreds of tiles to create a safe playing surface. All of the tiles must be removed, pressure washed and replace. This will require a “massive” number of volunteers and hours of service, according to league officials.
They will be working each evening this week, weather permitting at 5:30 p.m. Volunteers may need gloves, but no other tools are required.
The park is located at 555 East Nine Mile Road, at the corner of Nine Mile and Airway Drive.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gas Prices Nearing A New Summertime Low
August 19, 2019
Florida gas prices are nearing a new summertime low. Sunday’s average price of $2.427 per gallon is one-tenth of a cent above the current low, set back in June.
On average, Florida drivers have paid nearly 20 cents per gallon less than last summer. Since Memorial Day, gas prices have averaged $2.56 per gallon. The highest price this summer was $2.70 per gallon in July; 21 cents per gallon less than the highest price last summer. The highest daily average price so far this year was $2.80 per gallon, in April.
The average price per gallon Sunday in Escambia County was $2.43. At least two Cantonment stations were at $2.24 a gallon Sunday night.
Compared to all other states in the U.S., Florida has the 14th lowest daily average price. It also had the second-largest monthly decline of any other state (-27 cents), and the fourth-largest yearly decline of (-34 cents).
“Florida drivers continue to benefit from oil prices that remain lower than last year,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Fortunately, the highest gas prices of the year, are likely far behind us. As long as economic and global demand concerns continue, it’s unlikely drivers will see a significant jump at the pump anytime soon.”