Pine Forest Takes Golf Match
October 3, 2018
Pine Forest boy’s golf team defeated Northview Monday with the score of 204. The teams played the front nine at Osceola Golf Course in Pensacola.
Pine Forest
C. Munoz 54
C. Guallat 40
R. Rudd 55
T. Woodard 55
Northview
Josh Wilson 56
Hunter Zisa 57
Bryce Korinchak 54
NHS girl’s Individual Scores vs Tate, Escambia, Pensacola:
Emily Boutwell 53
Mededith McGhee 58
Northview’s next match is Tuesday against Pine Forest and Baker high schools at Cypress Lakes in Cantonment.
‘Fire In The Field’ Tent Revival Begins Sunday In Atmore
October 3, 2018
A “Fire in the Field” tent revival will begin Sunday in Atmore.
The area-wide event will take place Sunday, October 7, through Thursday, October 11 under the “big white tent” located behind Hardee’s on Highway 21 at I-65 in Atmore.
The group “Across Festivals” is coordinating the event. The group has held similar events in Monroeville, AL, and recently in Valley, AL, where 124 people came forward and professed their faith in Jesus Christ for the first time.
For one Atmore man, the upcoming tent revival sparked childhood memories of a tent crusade he attended in Pennsylvania with his family.
“I remember very well the night I decided to publicly declare my allegiance to Jesus Christ,” David Landis said. “It happened during the George R. Brunk Tent Crusade.”
“I pray that you will prayerfully consider the seriousness of the Fire in the Field community tent crusade and will plan to support and promote it in whatever way you can. To my knowledge this is the first time anything of this spiritual magnitude has been planned for this area,” Landis said. “I consider it a once in a lifetime event for this area, and if one person gets to experience what I experienced as a young man, it will have been worth it all.”
Fire in the Field will begin at 6 p.m. on Sunday, October 7, and will be at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday nights, October 8-11.
For more information about Fire in the Field, visit Fire in the Field South Alabama on Facebook
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Annual Peanut Butter Challenge Underway
October 3, 2018
If you want to help feed the hungry in Florida’s Panhandle this year, you can donate peanut butter during the annual Peanut Butter Challenge, coordinated by UF/IFAS Extension. Thanks to a partnership of UF/IFAS Extension and the Florida Peanut Producers Association, food pantries from Pensacola to Monticello will receive thousands of jars of donated peanut butter this December.
The annual Peanut Butter Challenger coordinated by UF/IFAS Extension is underway.
From now through November. 21, donate unopened jars of peanut butter at the UF/IFAS Extension office and other locations in Escambia County. This year, drop-off boxes can be found at:
- UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
- Century Branch Library, 7991 N. Century Blvd., Century
- Escambia County Public Safety, 6575 N. W St., Pensacola
- Escambia County Farm Bureau, 153 Highway 97, Molino
- Gilmore Services, 31 E. Fairfield Drive, Pensacola
- Escambia County Administration, 221 Palafox Place, 4th Floor, Pensacola
- Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit,10650 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola
Since 2012, the volunteers and UF/IFAS Extension faculty have collected jars of peanut butter from residents, volunteer groups and businesses in 16 Northwest Florida counties. Last year, UF/IFAS Extension county offices received 6,388 jars of peanut butter from across the district.
In addition to these donations, the Florida Peanut Producers Association also contributes, supplying more than 3,000 jars each challenge, said Libbie Johnson, agricultural agent for UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County and co-organizer of the challenge.
They hope to surpass that total this year, and citizens of Escambia County are asked to help.
“Every year, the Peanut Butter Challenge continues to grow and helps support the needs of our community with a healthy, locally-grown crop,” Johnson said. “Extension is proud to coordinate the effort to reduce food insecurity for Escambia County residents.”
General Election Mail Ballots Are On The Way
October 3, 2018
Tuesday, the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office today delivered more than 30,000 vote-by-mail ballots to the post office for the November 6 General Election. Over 5,600 ballots were sent to military and overseas voters in late September.
Voters who have requested to vote-by-mail should begin receiving their green or ivory colored ballot packages by the end of the week. Voted ballots must be received in the Supervisor of Elections Office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day, November 6 and require a 50-centr first-class postage stamp if returned by mail. The U.S. Postal Service recommends voters mail ballots at least one week before the due date. Ballots may also be returned by hand to the Supervisor of Elections Office.
The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot for the General Election is 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31. To request a vote-by-mail ballot or track the status of a ballot, visit EscambiaVotes.com and click “Vote by Mail”, or contact the Supervisor of Elections Office at 595-3900.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott, Nelson Take Off Gloves During First Debate
October 3, 2018
In a matchup mirroring the deep partisan divide engulfing the nation, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Florida Gov. Rick Scott bickered Tuesday about red tide, guns, immigration and a controversial Supreme Court nomination in their first debate before next month’s U.S. Senate election.
Nelson, a Democrat, and Scott, a Republican winding up his last year as governor, reached almost no consensus during the hour-long Telemundo debate, which was scheduled to air Tuesday night.
Instead, Nelson accused his opponent of lying, and Scott painted the incumbent as a partisan do-nothing who’s accomplished little in his nearly 20 years in the Senate.
Proposals backed by Nelson and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum will “kill the economy,” Scott said.
“They like high taxes,” he said.
“The governor keeps coming out with one whopper after another. Apparently, you never got your mouth washed out with soap after telling a lie because you keep on going on, on every part of my record,” Nelson shot back, according to a transcript released Tuesday afternoon by Telemundo.
The two also tangled about Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee who vehemently denies allegations by Christine Blasey Ford and at least two other women who have accused him of sexual misconduct while in high school or college.
Nelson said he intends to vote against Kavanaugh, adding that he tried repeatedly in vain to meet with the appellate judge.
Nelson praised Ford’s “compelling” testimony when she and Kavanaugh appeared separately before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
Ford “was expressing for millions of women in this country the ‘me too,’ that sexual assault has happened to them. And she was doing that in front of 11 Republican men that seemed to dismiss it,” Nelson said, referring to the Republicans on the committee.
Kavanaugh, who angrily criticized the confirmation process and what he viewed as a Democratic conspiracy to thwart his confirmation, lacks “the temperament that is needed of what you want to put someone on the highest court in this land,” Nelson said.
But Scott rebuked Nelson for having decided to vote against Kavanaugh even before the hearing, accusing Nelson of saying he would reject whoever was nominated.
“The way the U.S. Senate has handled this, it’s a circus. It’s more like a Jerry Springer show,” Scott scolded, calling Kavanaugh and Ford “just pawns in some political game.”
The testimony of both Kavanaugh and Ford were “convincing and raw, pure emotion,” Scott said.
But, he said, “if you take all of the evidence together and you look at Judge Kavanaugh’s record as a judge, I’m going to continue to support Judge Kavanaugh.”
Scott then assailed Nelson for failing to expose Congressman Alcee Hastings for settling a sexual assault claim for over $200,000.
“You know governor, you just can’t tell the truth,” Nelson punched back, adding that the state’s newspapers have branded Scott as “a walking conflict of interest.”
The senator cited an Orlando Sentinel story that Nelson said showed that “every election that you’ve ever run … you always blame the other guy.”
The two opponents also sparred over Puerto Rico.
Both campaigns have attempted to endear their candidates to the more than 1 million Puerto Ricans — and up to 50,000 more who moved here after Hurricane Maria — who call Florida home.
The day before the debate, Nelson secured the endorsement of Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, despite Scott’s repeated trips to the U.S. territory following last year’s massive storm, which wiped out electricity island-wide and resulted in 3,000 deaths. Trump has also been widely disparaged for accusing Democrats of inflating the number of fatalities.
“The president has treated its citizens as second-class citizens,” Nelson said, mocking Trump for throwing paper towels into the audience when he visited Puerto Rico shortly after Maria made landfall in September 2017.
“Now, my opponent has said when down there in Puerto Rico, what would you have done differently? And he said, quote, I would not have done anything differently. I think that pretty well tells you about the treatment of the people from Puerto Rico,” Nelson said.
Scott countered that he wanted “to do everything I can to help Puerto Ricans” after the storm.
“It was never about politics. It was about helping our fellow citizens,” he said, rattling off a list of the aid the state provided to the island and to migrants who fled to Florida.
In front of the Hispanic debate audience, Scott, who has close ties to Trump, sought to separate himself from the president on the issue of children whose parents illegally brought them into the country.
Scott again blamed Nelson for failing to address the problem in Washington, calling it “remarkable” that the senator would “talk about doing something.”
“He’s been there when his party controlled both chambers and the White House, and he did nothing,” Scott said.
The two candidates also pointed the finger at each other over recent outbreaks of toxic algae and red tide that are impacting waterways and beaches on both coasts.
“Red tide is something that’s naturally occurring. I’ve declared a state of emergency,” Scott said, saying the state has sent “millions” of dollars to the counties to deal with the crisis and committed $17 million for research projects.
But he blamed Nelson for the toxic algae outbreak, saying it was linked to the failure to improve the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.
“He has never done anything to get us the money to fix the dike at Lake Okeechobee, which is a 100 percent federal project,” Scott said.
Nelson called that “a whopper,” pointing to major cuts in environmental funding by Scott that affected water management districts and eliminated the Department of Community Affairs.
During his eight years as governor, Scott has “systematically disassembled the environmental agencies of this state,” Nelson said.
“You see the result. You put pollution in the water, it will grow the algae in the heat of summer. And then when that algae goes down the rivers and mixes with a bacteria known as red tide, it supercharges that,” he said.
But Scott said environmental funding has increased during his tenure, including a state commitment to spend $200 million a year on Everglades restoration. He also said he worked with Trump to secure funding for the dike repairs, which he said would be completed in 2022.
Also, the two candidates clashed over gun-control laws in the wake of the Feb. 14 mass shooting at a Parkland high school killed 14 students and three faculty members.
Nelson pointed to Fred Guttenberg, who was sitting in the audience and who lost his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, in the attack.
“Fred wakes up every day and goes to the cemetery the first thing. He’ll never have another birthday for Jaime. My opponent has an A-plus rating with the NRA. He has passed more NRA-backed legislation than any other governor in the history of this state,” Nelson said. “I hope governor, that you will look Fred Guttenberg in the face, and tell him that you’re not going to support those kind of policies that you have with the NRA.”
Scott said his “heart goes out” to all the shooting victims and their families. And he said he worked with parents, like Guttenberg, in crafting a quick response to the shooting that includes more law-enforcement officers and more security measures for schools and more mental health counselors.
“And within three weeks after the Parkland shooting, we passed a comprehensive bill,” Scott said.
In contrast, Scott again said Nelson has “got nothing done.”
“He can talk like he cares about these things. Here’s the difference, Sen. Nelson is fine with taking away certain guns from law-abiding citizens,” Scott said.
Escambia Planning Board Rejects Change To Loosen Regulation On Rural Growth
October 2, 2018
The Escambia County Planning Board voted unanimously Monday against recommending a change to the county’s comprehensive plan that would loosen regulation on rural growth.
The change would remove protections for agricultural and silvicultural (forestry) lands from new rural communities.
The portion of the comprehensive plan under review for removal states,”To protect silviculture, agriculture, and agriculture-related activities Escambia County will not support the establishment of new rural communities.”
“Removing this provision in the comprehensive plan to protect agriculture and silviculture lands in Escambia County, and increase density of previous farm land, may contribute to a cascading loss of available land to farm, less wildlife corridors, and recreational opportunities for the citizens, along with an increased cost of building and maintaining infrastructure far away from existing population density and county facilities,” Escambia County resident Jacqueline Rogers said. She addressed the Escambia County Planning Board Monday.
The planning board’s recommended denial will go the the Board of County Commissioners for final action. If the BOCC does not concur with the planning board and approves the change, it would still be subject to state scrutiny.
Silviculture is the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests and woodlands to meet the diverse needs and values of landowners and society such as wildlife habitat, timber, water resources, restoration, and recreation on a sustainable basis, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Pictured: North Escambia farmland. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Ashland Avenue To Close At Nine Mile Road
October 2, 2018
The intersection of Ashland Avenue between Nine Mile Road and Bush Street will experience a closure beginning Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7 a.m. Traffic heading south will be detoured along Bowman Avenue to Bush Street, then west to Ashland Avenue. Traffic heading north along Ashland Avenue will be detoured east down Bush Street to Bowman Avenue, then north to Nine Mile Road.
The road closure is expected to remain in effect for approximately 11 days and every effort will be made to expedite construction to reopen the road before Saturday, Oct. 13.
Construction will consist of upgrading the existing storm drainage system.
If other lane or roadway closures are necessary beyond the anticipated time periods, another notice will be issued.
Click the graphic for a larger map.
Kids Are Learning To Code Each Week At Carver Park In Cantonment
October 2, 2018
Children are learning to code during a program from the West Florida Library each week at Carver Park in Cantonment.
Monday, the children used Coding Jam with characters and physical blocks to help them learn block-based coding through music and play. They were able to get to know coding’s creative side while developing an ear for rhythm, melody and harmony.
The small blocks with the coding kits are put together by the kids. The blocks and code are read by an iPad and the characters on the screen come to life.
They previously used Coding with Awbie, which teaching logic skills and problem solving. They control Awbie, a playful character that loves strawberries. Each coding command opens a strawberry munching adventure for Awbie.
The coding program is offered Monday afternoons from 4:00 until 5:30 at Carver Park, 208 Webb Street. They won’t be there next week due to the Columbus Day holiday but will return on October 15.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Friends Of The Library Big Fall Book Sale Was A Big Success
October 2, 2018
The annual Friends of West Florida Public Library’s Big Fall Book Sale was a big success. Organizers said the annual event raised almost $14,000 for the Friends, a non-profit support organization of the West Florida Public Library. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Not Too Late To Enter The Northview Homecoming Parade
October 2, 2018
There are already about 45 entries in Friday’s Northview High School Homecoming Parade, and organizers said it is not too late to sign up to take part.
The parade will line up at 12:30 p.m. and travel from Bratt Elementary School to Northview High. Entries are being accepted now; there is no cost to enter. For a printable entry form, click here.
A homecoming meal to support the Tommy Weaver Memorial Scholarship Fund will be sold for $7. Meals will be served after 10 a.m. on October 5 and will include a barbecue sandwich, chips, dessert and a drink.
Contact Perry Byars at (850) 327-6681 ext. 248 or email pbyars@escambia.k12.fl.us for more information or to reserve homecoming meals.
The Northview Chief’s homecoming game will kickoff at 7 p.m. on October 5 against the Jay Royals.
Pictured: The 2017 Northview High Homecoming Parade in Bratt. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
