General Election Sample Ballots Are In The Mail
October 18, 2018
Sample ballots for the November 6 General Election are being mailed this week to Escambia County voters. The sample ballot includes a ballot image, the voter’s polling location and information on the three ways to vote: early, vote-by-mail, and on Election Day. A sample ballot is also available at EscambiaVotes.com.
Voters have three different ways to cast their ballot:
- By Mail: Voters may vote by mail using a vote-by-mail ballot, which can be requested through the online form at EscambiaVotes.com, or by contacting the Supervisor of Elections by mail, phone (850) 595-3900, e-mail (votebymail@escambiavotes.com), or fax (850) 595-3914. Requests must include the voter’s date of birth and the address, and must be received no later than Wednesday, October 31. Voted ballots must be received in the Elections Office no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day and may not be returned to a polling location. Vote-by-mail voters may track the status of their ballot at EscambiaVotes.com by clicking Track My Ballot.
- Early Voting: Early voting will be available Monday, October 22 through Saturday, November 3 at nine different locations from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Early voters will cast paper ballots through our digital scanners. Early voting will be held at the following locations:
- Supervisor of Elections Office, 213 Palafox Place, Second Floor
- Main Library, 239 Spring Street
- Molino Community Center, 6450-A Highway 95A, Molino
- Genealogy Branch Library, 5740 B, 9th Avenue
- Southwest Branch Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway
- Mobile Hwy/Pine Forest Rd Early Voting Center, 6675 Pine Forest Road
- Escambia County Extension, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
- Brownsville Community Center, 3200 W. DeSoto Street
- University of West Florida, Building 90, Campus Lane
- At Your Precinct: The third option for voters is to cast a paper ballot at their precinct on Election Day, November 6. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. An ExpressVote ballot marking device is also available at each polling place and early voting site for persons with disabilities.
Florida Dept. Of Corrections Cancels All Weekend Visitations
October 18, 2018
The Florida Department of Corrections has again canceled weekend visitation at all facilities in the state.
The FDC canceled weekend visitation for all facilities statewide for Saturday, October 20, and Sunday, October 21. This cancellation includes all major institutions, work camps, work release centers and annex facilities.
FDC staff across the state are supporting intensive Hurricane Michael recovery efforts.
Normal visitation will resume next weekend, October 27-28.
FHSAA Athletic Directors Endorses New Classification Proposal
October 18, 2018
The Florida High School Athletic Association Athletic Directors Advisory Committee endorsed a new FHSAA classification proposal Wednesday that would reduce the number of classes and change playoffs for sports not including football.
The proposal would not make any changes to the current 1A rural classification (including Northview and Jay).
If approved by the Board, the two-year classification cycle would begin with the 2019-20 school year. The proposed new classification structure would reduce the following sports to six classes plus rural: baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, softball and girls volleyball.
Districts would remain, but schools would not be required to play regular-season district contests. Following the regular season, there would be required district tournaments seeded by MaxPreps rankings.
The regional playoff brackets for Class 2A-7A (1A rural playoff structure remains the same) would feature four regions per class and four districts per region. District champions would automatically qualify for the playoffs, with the top four seeds in each region being seeded by MaxPreps. Following the top four automatic qualifers being seeded, teams 5-8 would receive at-large bids via their MaxPreps rankings. Higher seeds would host.
Click graphic to enlarge.
Justices Reject Challenge To Three Florida Ballot Measures
October 18, 2018
Though one justice wrote that voters should “beware,” the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to three proposed constitutional amendments on the November ballot — including a measure that seeks to ban offshore oil drilling and vaping in workplaces.
Justices overturned a ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers that would have blocked the constitutional amendments in a case focused on whether the proposals improperly “bundled” unrelated issues into single ballot measures.
The Supreme Court said, in part, the Florida Constitution and a state statute do not bar such bundling when amendments are placed on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission, which proposed the three disputed measures. The challenge contended that bundling would violate First Amendment rights because voters could have conflicting opinions about issues in the same ballot measure.
“It is evident that a vote of either yes or no corresponding to the ballot summary of a proposed amendment is a vote to approve or reject the entire constitutional amendment — including all of its subjects,” said the opinion, which was fully shared by Chief Justice Charles Canady and justices Ricky Polston, Jorge Labarga and Alan Lawson. “The fact that each proposed amendment contains multiple independent measures covering different subjects does not prevent compliance with the statute.”
The ruling finalizes that voters in the Nov. 6 election will decide whether to approve 12 proposed constitutional amendments, which were placed on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission, the Legislature and through petition drives. The Supreme Court last month rejected one amendment, which dealt with education issues.
The three amendments involved in the bundling case included the measure, Amendment 9, that seeks to ban offshore oil drilling and vaping or use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces. Another measure, Amendment 7, deals with governance of the state-college system and death benefits for survivors of first responders and military members. The third measure, Amendment 11, would remove constitutional language that prohibits “aliens ineligible for citizenship” from owning property and would revise language to make clear the repeal of criminal statutes does not affect the prosecution of crimes committed before the repeal.
Former Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead and another plaintiff, Robert J. Barnas, challenged the three amendments by filing what is known as a petition for a “writ of quo warranto” against Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the state’s chief elections officer who assigns measures to the ballot. Such petitions involve questions about whether officials have “improperly exercised a power or right,” according to the Supreme Court ruling.
But justices unanimously ruled that a petition for a writ of quo warranto was not a proper legal basis to challenge the proposed constitutional amendments.
“Appellees (Anstead and Barnas) do not demonstrate or even allege that Secretary Detzner exceeded his authority to assign ballot position to the revisions,” the opinion said. “The petition therefore fails to assert a proper basis for quo warranto relief.”
But questions about whether the proposed constitutional amendments improperly bundled unrelated issues caused a split on the court. While Canady, Polston, Labarga and Lawson rejected the arguments about improper bundling, Justice Barbara Pariente wrote an opinion that took issue with the practice.
“Voters beware! When amending our Florida Constitution, voters should not be forced to vote ‘yes’ on a proposal they disfavor in order to also vote ‘yes’ on a proposal they support because of how the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) has unilaterally decided to bundle multiple, independent and unrelated proposals,” Pariente wrote in an opinion joined by justices R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince. “While I concur in (the overall) result because I agree with my colleagues that petitioners fail to present a proper claim for issuance of a writ of quo warranto, I write separately to emphasize the obvious dangers of logrolling — combining popular and unpopular proposals into a single proposal — even by the CRC.”
The 37-member Constitution Revision Commission, which meets every 20 years, has unusual authority to place proposed amendments on the ballot. Largely appointed by Gov. Rick Scott and Republican legislative leaders, the commission this spring approved eight proposals, though one of them was the education measure blocked last month by the Supreme Court in a separate case.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Fields Of Faith: Community Worship Service Held (With Gallery)
October 18, 2018
The Northview High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) sponsored a student-led worship event “Fields of Faith” Wednesday night in the Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium.
The service included music, a guest speaker and prayer.
Over 200 faithful joined hands in prayer on the football field to end the annual service.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
One Injured In Rollover Crash
October 17, 2018
One person was injured in a single vehicle rollover accident just before noon Wednesday in Cantonment.
The driver lost control on Muscogee Road near Stinnis Street. His Hyundai Tuscon rolled over, coming to rest near railroad tracks that run parallel to the roadway. He was transported to a Pensacola hospital with injuries that were not considered life threatening.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Haas Center $95K Plan For Century Economic Development Scaled Back
October 17, 2018
The proposal to spend $95,000 in county funds to plan economic development in Century is being scaled back.
The University of West Florida Haas Center proposed to use $95,000 in economic development funding from Escambia County.
The monies were designated by the commission for economic development initiatives in the Century area but were not awarded directly to the town or chamber. Instead, funding requests were to be submitted to District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry for presentation to the entire commission for approval.
According to Century Town Planner Debbie Nickles, the county did not want to exhaust all available funding at the time, instead sending the Haas Center proposals back to the Century town council to prioritize.
This week, council members selected their top five plans:
- Market analysis to assess the feasibility of mixed/use/commercial and/or residential development in reference to various vacant parcels and buildings within the town. – $24,500.
- Market study of the Century Industrial Park to examine the historical trends in relation to industrial demand, assess current available industrial land sites and buildings and consider trends and availability to comparable communities – $25,000.
- Strategic plan metrics and dashboard to collect public data across various metrics and to present them in an on line dashboard format in order to determine progress toward the achievement of the identified economic objectives as defined in the town’s economic development strategic plan – $15,000.
- Health Assessment and needs study to assess Century residents’ health behavior and to gauge how investment into the Community Health Northwest Florida’s expansion has increased access to resources and overall health needs of the community – $15,500.
- CRA project mapping tool that allows users to view and interact with the spatial data (parcels, CRA boundaries, waterways, walkways, etc.) associated with the Century CRA implementation – $15,000.
The Escambia County Commission will decide at a future date which projects, if any, are funded. The funding pool included $55,000 from last fiscal year that was never spent, plus $50,000 from the current fiscal year.
Pictured: The unoccupied, town-owned former Helicopter Technology Building in the Century Industrial Park. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge
Woman Charged With Felony Child Abuse
October 17, 2018
A Century woman has been charged with child abuse after allegedly punching a juvenile in the head.
Hallene Mae Benson, 38, was booked into the Escambia County Jail on charges of felony child abuse and resisting arrest.
Benson allegedly punched a juvenile in the head using her closed firsts after an argument about school, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report.
When a deputy attempted to arrest Benson, she “began to pull away from me to avoid arrest”, the deputy wrote in his report, and failed to follow orders.
Benson also had an outstanding failure to appear warrant in Escambia County and an additional outstanding warrant in Santa Rosa County.
Jim Allen Elementary School Names Students Of The Month
October 17, 2018
Jim Allen Elementary School has named students of the month for September. They are Daniel Earnest and Raevyn Alridge. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Volunteers Sought For Escambia County Extension Council
October 17, 2018
The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners is seeking Escambia County residents interested in volunteering to be considered for an appointment to the Escambia County Extension Council for the following zones:
- Zone 4: South side of Gibson Road at Highway 97 to the north side of Molino Road
- Zone 5: North side of Quintette Road to South side of Molino Road
- Zone 6: South side of Gibson Road at Highway 97 to the north side of Kingsfield Road
- Zones 8: At large
The Escambia County Extension Council was established in accordance with chapter 67-1366, section I-8 Florida statutes. The purpose of this council is to study the needs of the county in developing its natural resources, its families and youth; to provide for the organization of planning committees in various agricultural commodities, in youth and in all phases of home economics important to Escambia County; to provide for close liaison between the committees, county extension agents and the council; and to coordinate the reports of all committees into a single Escambia County resource development program designed to develop the county’s resources and its people through programs for which the cooperative Extension Service has a responsibility for initiating or coordinating. Council members serve a two-year term of office. For more information on UF/IFAS Escambia Extension, visit click here.
Escambia County residents interested in serving on the Escambia County Extension Council, who meet the requirements noted in the job description below, are asked to submit an information sheet (included below) and letter indicating their desire to serve by Friday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. Info sheets and letters should be submitted via email to shendrix@ufl.edu or by mail to:
Susan Hendrix
3740 Stefani Road
Cantonment, FL 32533