Photos: Cantonment Cowboys Football
September 9, 2018
The Ensley Chiefs defeated the Cantonment Cowboys Mites Saturday at the Cantonment Sportsplex.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Good Times: Barrineau Park Friends Gathering
September 9, 2018
The fourth annual Gathering of Friends was held Saturday at the Barrineau Park Community Center.
Thee event featured live music, arts and crafts, bouncy houses, face painting, good food and much more.
The day’s events were sponsored by the Barrineau Park Historical Society.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Equine Field Day Held In Molino
September 9, 2018
The Escambia County Equine Field Day Saturday in Molino was a hands-on learning opportunity for horse owners and enthusiasts from across the area.
Participants learned about a variety of topics, including equine vaccinations, hoof and leg care, nutrition, pasture weed control, exercise physiology, and other relevant topics related to the Florida equine industry.
The events was held at the Escambia County 4-H Livestock Facility on south Highway 99 in Molino.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blood Drives Held Saturday In Molino, Century; More Giving Opportunities Set
September 9, 2018
Blood drives were held Saturday at the libraries in Molino and Century, and there several additional opportunities to give this month in the North Escambia area.
Blood drives will also be held at:
- Century Correctional Institute Monday, September 10 from noon until 5 p.m.
- University of West Florida Tuesday, September 17 from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
- Tate High School on Wednesday, September 18 from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
- Northview High School on Wednesday, September 19 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
OneBlood welcomes blood donations from donors 16 years old and older. 16 year-old donors, however, must present a signed permission form from their parent or a guardian before the donation.
Pictured: The OneBlood Big Red Bus Saturday at the Molino Branch Library. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Elimited From Championship Series With 9-1 Loss
September 9, 2018
The Shuckers scored seven runs over the first two innings as they clinched a spot in the 2018 Southern League Championship series after a resounding 9-1 win at MGM Park Saturday night.
In series filled with tight ballgames, Biloxi’s clinching win was anything but. Daniel Wright (L, 0-1) lasted 1.2 innings and surrendered seven runs on six hits. In the bottom of the first, Keston Hiura belted a three-run home run to put the hosts up 3-0 quickly.
After Gavin LaValley homered in the second, the Shuckers responded with four more runs, capped off by Hiura’s bases-clearing double. Rafael De Paula finished out the home-half of the second inning for the Wahoos and Pensacola entered the third trailing 7-1.
That was plenty of run support for Marco Diplan (W, 1-0) who finished the night allowing just the one hit to LaValley across six innings. He tied his season high with 10 strikeouts and walked only two. Cody Ponce and Brad Kuntz pitched the final three innings without allowing a run, sealing Biloxi’s second-ever trip to a championship series. Biloxi added to more insurance runs in the fourth and seventh innings respectively for the eventual 9-1 scoreline.
Pensacola’s season comes to a close having been eliminated by the Shuckers in the postseason for the second time in four years. The Blue Wahoos will begin the 2019 season on April 4 with a five-game series against the Mobile BayBears.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: The Teams Are Set
September 9, 2018
The candidates for lieutenant governor had their 15 minutes of fame this week.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum selected primary-election rival Chris King as his running mate, while Republican Ron DeSantis tapped state Rep. Jeanette Nunez for his ticket.
But if history is any guide, the two lieutenant-governor candidates will be quickly relegated to the sidelines. And that obscurity is likely to continue once one of them is elected along with the new governor.
It’s not the fault of lieutenant governors. It’s the nature of their position. Their only duty under the state Constitution is to succeed the governor if the state’s chief executive dies, is incapacitated or resigns.
Some lieutenant governors have been given larger roles by governors. But in recent years, that has not been the case.
The No. 2 slot is hardly a springboard for higher office. Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay lost to Jeb Bush in the 1998 governor’s race. Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp failed to win the GOP nomination for attorney general in 2010.
Ultimately, this year’s campaign and the next administration will be judged largely by the actions of the gubernatorial candidates and the next governor, not their running mates.
The lieutenant governor’s role will always be secondary. And it’s probably a wise strategy for the No. 2 not to try to outshine or contradict the boss.
RUNNING MATES
DeSantis, a Northeast Florida congressman, and Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor, announced their running mates Thursday.
At a Republican Party rally in Orlando, DeSantis introduced Nunez, a Miami Republican who publicly criticized President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.
DeSantis, who has close ties to Trump, dismissed talk of Nunez’ initial support for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in the 2016 presidential race as he described his lieutenant-governor selection as an “accomplished” mother of three who is someone his daughter could admire.
“This is the type of person that I think is a role model for everybody, but particularly young women,” DeSantis said after the rally put on by Gov. Rick Scott’s U.S. Senate campaign at the Ace Cafe.
The Nunez selection could help DeSantis, as Republicans try to attract women and Hispanic voters. Nunez, 46, is a Cuban-American born in Miami who has served as a top lieutenant to House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, during the past two years.
Nunez, who was first elected to the House in 2010 and faces term limits this year, said she was “honored” by her selection as DeSantis’ running mate.
“We’re going to see from our end what we stand for, the ideals and principles that we stand strong in, the conservative values making sure Florida remains the prosperous state that it continues to be,” Nunez said. “I’m eager to get on the trail and explain what the differences are.”
Gillum made his announcement in a live session on Facebook, doubling down on his appeal to progressive voters by picking King.
Gillum said his first criteria in picking King, who is a Winter Park businessman, was selecting a running mate who could step in as governor if necessary.
“But we also talked about the fact that this is a difficult journey. It’s hard. It’s difficult work at times. And what we want to do not only in this race, but when we win the race for governor, is have a partner in helping to lead this state,” Gillum said.
The Gillum-King partnership is founded on a lot of similarities. Both candidates ran as outspoken progressives in the Aug. 28 Democratic primary, embracing such issues as the expansion of Medicaid, the legalization of marijuana, gun control, criminal justice reform and a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
Gillum, the first African-American nominated for governor by a major party in Florida, was the surprise victor in the primary, winning the race with 34.4 percent of the vote. King, making his first bid for elected office, finished in fifth place with 2.5 percent.
After campaigning for nearly a year and half against him, King said he developed a friendship with Gillum.
“This is not a political marriage. This is not a marriage of convenience,” King said. “I came to admire him. His gifts, his talents and most importantly his vision for the state of Florida, to lift up families all across the state who have not had a champion like Mayor Gillum, who have not had someone who has spoken up to issues that the current leadership just doesn’t care about.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum picked running mates for their gubernatorial tickets.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “As opposed to going in, he retreated and ran.” — Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, after reviewing a video showing Scot Peterson, a school-resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, not entering the school during the February mass shooting that left 14 students and three staff members dead. Gualtieri is chairman of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which has subpoenaed Peterson to appear before the panel next month.
by Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida
Appeals Court Says Pensacola Bayview Cross Must Come Down
September 9, 2018
Saying “our hands are tied” by legal precedent, a federal appeals court Friday upheld a ruling that requires the removal of a decades-old Latin cross from a Pensacola park.
The city of Pensacola appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a lower-court judge ruled that the cross in Bayview Park violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
In a main opinion and two concurring opinions Friday, members of a three-judge panel of the appeals court lamented the ruling but said they were bound by precedent from a 1983 Georgia case.
“The city contends … that none of the plaintiffs here has suffered sufficient injury to have standing to sue and … that, in any event, the Bayview Park cross does not violate the Establishment Clause under current Supreme Court precedent,” said the main opinion shared by judges Kevin Newsom, Frank Hull and Charles Ashley Royal.
“If we were writing on a clean slate, we might well agree — on both counts. But we are not — and so we cannot.”
Four plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging the cross, saying its presence on public property was unconstitutional. Friday’s ruling said the question in the case was whether the city’s maintenance of the cross in the park was a prohibited “establishment of religion.”
In a 53-page concurring opinion Friday, Royal said the 1983 Georgia case that established precedent needs to be reversed.
“The Bayview cross is embedded in the fabric of the Pensacola community,” Royal wrote. “It is rooted in Pensacola’s history. If the cross is a problem, it is only a local problem, not a constitutional problem.
by The News Service of Florida
Two Century Prison Visitors Caught With Contraband Including Nine Phones, Drugs
September 8, 2018
Arrest warrants have been issued for two people that allegedly attempted to sneak cellphones and drugs into the Century Correctional Institution.
The Florida Department of Corrections said the incident happened last week. The prison’s K-9 alerted on a vehicle shared by two visitors.
CCI staff reported finding a cellphone, eight chargers and nine SIM cards inside the vehicle. The FDOC said further investigation revealed both visitors to also be in possession of additional contraband on their person including eight cell phones, nine SIM cards, eight chargers and marijuana.
“The Florida Department of Corrections has zero tolerance for contraband of any kind, and visitors attempting to introduce contraband,” the department stated.
Motorists Rescued From Perdido River Floodwaters
September 8, 2018
At least two vehicles have gone into the floodwaters of the Perdido River in the days following Tropical Storm Gordon.
One driver was rescued from the Barrineau Park Road bridge between Florida and Alabama. Early Thursday morning, rescue crews from Escambia and Baldwin counties responded to a person trapped with their vehicle in the floodwaters. The woman and the vehicle were on the Alabama side of the bridge, and Baldwin County fire officials used a boat to bring her back to dry land. Escambia (FL) Fire Rescue responded to both side of the bridge to assist. She wast not injured.
Just before midnight Friday, a vehicle was reported in the floodwaters on River Annex Road near Adventures Unlimited. Two people were reported to be in the vehicle with water halfway up the doors, and another person was on the roof of the vehicle. They were not injured.
The Perdido River reached crest of 17.98 feet early Friday morning and was down to 15.8 feet early Saturday morning. The river will continue to fall to below flood stage of 13 by early Sunday morning. A flood warning is in effect.
Pictured: Flooding at the Barrineau Park bridge across the Perdido River Friday afternoon. Photo by Tabitha Chavers for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Federal Judge Orders Spanish Language Sample Ballots In Escambia, Santa Rosa
September 8, 2018
A federal judge Friday required elections officials in 32 counties — including Escambia and Santa Rosa - to provide Spanish-language sample ballots for the November general election — but said there wasn’t enough time to order more far-reaching steps to help Puerto Ricans eligible to vote in Florida.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, in a 27-page ruling, partially sided with plaintiffs who sought an injunction to require Spanish-language ballots and other assistance for what are believed to be more than 30,000 Puerto Ricans in the counties.
“Voting in a language you do not understand is like asking this court (to) decide the winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry — ineffective, in other words,” Walker wrote. “Courts have long held that the right to vote includes not only the right to physically enter a polling place and fill out a ballot but also the right to comprehend and understand what is on that ballot.”
But with the election less than two months away, he acknowledged concerns raised by county elections supervisors about making changes at this late stage. In issuing a preliminary injunction requiring the Spanish-language sample ballots, he declined to order such things as Spanish-language ballots and hiring bilingual poll workers.
Walker wrote that granting “all of plaintiffs’ requested relief would place significant hardships on election administrators.”
“If this court denies all relief to plaintiffs, they will lose their right to a meaningful vote,” he wrote. “This court would, in effect, be authorizing disenfranchisement. If this court grants all plaintiffs’ requested relief, defendants will be required to spend considerable time and effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act. They would have to do so in the lead-up to the November general election, which involves significant planning, logistics, and oversight — all of which is well-documented in the record.”
The potential class-action lawsuit was filed in August by a coalition of groups, with Alachua County resident Marta Valentina Rivera Madera as the named plaintiff. It targeted Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Highlands, Indian River, Jackson, Lake, Leon, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Pasco, Putnam, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Sumter, Taylor and Wakulla counties.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys have focused on part of the Voting Rights Act that is aimed at people who were educated in schools where the predominant language was not English and that seeks to ensure they are not denied the right to vote. A motion filed by the plaintiffs said Congress enacted that part of the law “to protect the rights of Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans to vote stateside.”
The plaintiffs also have pointed to an influx of Puerto Ricans to Florida after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory last year. Walker’s ruling said Rivera, the named plaintiff, moved to Gainesville after the storm.
The plaintiffs filed an underlying lawsuit and sought a preliminary injunction to try to quickly get changes for the Nov. 6 general election. Walker’s ruling dealt only with the preliminary injunction but appeared to make clear he backs the plaintiffs on the underlying issues.
“Puerto Ricans are American citizens,” he wrote. “Unique among Americans, they are not educated primarily in English — and do not need to be. But, like all American citizens, they possess the fundamental right to vote. The issue in this case is whether Florida officials, consistent with longstanding federal law, must provide assistance to Puerto Rican voters who wish to vote. Under the plain language of the Voting Rights Act, they must.”
Walker, who has repeatedly clashed with Gov. Rick Scott’s administration about voting-related issues, openly mocked state elections officials.
“Here we are again. The clock hits 6:00 a.m. Sonny and Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe’ starts playing. Denizens of and visitors to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania eagerly await the groundhog’s prediction. And the state of Florida is alleged to violate federal law in its handling of elections,” he wrote sarcastically.
The ruling said 13 Florida counties — Broward, DeSoto, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, Lee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, and Seminole — provide Spanish-language ballots to comply with another part of the Voting Rights Act. Also, Collier and Volusia counties provide Spanish-language material, though they have not been required to do so. The lawsuit targeted 32 counties with Puerto Rican populations.
Walker’s order requires the Florida Department of State to direct elections supervisors in the 32 counties to make available Spanish-language sample ballots that have “matching size, information, layout, placement, and fonts as an official ballot does.” Also, the supervisors will be required to publish the Spanish-language sample ballots on their websites and provide signs at polling places to make sure voters are aware of the sample ballots.
Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton, who is a defendant in the case as a representative of other supervisors, said in court documents that she has taken a number of steps to try to help Spanish-speaking voters, such as providing a materials in Spanish, providing bilingual support in her office and planning to have a voters’ guide translated into Spanish.
Similarly, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley said this week his office has worked to make accommodations.
“All of our election guides and voting guides were all translated,” Earley told The News Service of Florida. “We had printed copies, and copies available at the polling places. During early voting, we had one person request assistance in voting in Spanish, out of 206,000 registered voters or the 76,000 that voted.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida