Multiple Children Injured In 297A, Kingsfield Wreck
May 13, 2018
Multiple children and at least one adult were injured in a wreck Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Highway 297A and Kingsfield Road in Cantonment.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 26-year old Enrique Ramos, 26, was southbound on Highway 297A when he failed stop at a stop sign at the intersection with Kingsfield Road. His vehicle collided with a 2013 Chrysler driven by 43-year old Jennifer Heath of Cantonment. She was not injured.
The FHP report states there were six passengers in Heath’s vehicle. A 12-year old, Douglas Meenan and 71-year old Bonnie Meenan of Cantonment were seriously injured. A 3-year old and a 14-year old received minor injuries. An 8-year old child was not injured.
Ramos was cited for failing to stop at a stop sign.
The Ensley and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the crash, along with Escambia County EMS.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Driver Plows Through Fence, Across Walking Track At Bratt Park
May 13, 2018
A driver plowed through a fence and across a walking track at the Travis Nelson Park on Saturday.
The driver lost control in a curve at the intersection of Bratt Road and Ashcraft Road and crossed a ditch before traveling through the fence.
There were no injuries reported. No further details on the vehicle or driver were available.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Jay High Grad Earns His Wings Of Gold, Headed To Japan
May 13, 2018
LTJG Payden Roberts of Jay, and formerly of Milton, earned his Wings of Gold onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field recently.
Roberts, who said both towns hold a special place in his heart, is deeply rooted in the areas surrounding NAS Whiting Field. Roberts and his family lived in Milton for most of his childhood, where he attended the Pensacola Christian Academy, Bagdad Elementary School and Avalon Middle School. After sixth grade, they moved north to the small town of Jay, where Roberts graduated from Jay High School.
“Technically, I could call Milton my hometown,” Roberts said. “But I most often say Jay. It’s where my immediate family still lives and where I would say I really ‘grew up’ the most. Plus, it’s almost a conversation piece. Since no one knows where it is, I get to tell them about it.”
Roberts lived the classic, small-town-America childhood of close-knit friendships, town pride, and baseball. “I do love where I grew up and where I’m from,” Roberts said. “The relationships are really what attach me to this place. Even after moving, I am still able to keep in touch with my friends from Milton and Pace, mostly through baseball.”
But living just west of the busiest airspace in the world is a severe departure from classic small town America. Roberts says there is no wonder where the idea to fly for the Navy originated. Roberts hardly went a day without thinking about aviation, between the Blue Angels ripping through the sky, numerous visits to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, a week at Starbase Atlantis onboard NAS Whiting Field in fifth grade, and his family home being located directly under the T6-B Texan II course-rules for formation flights.
“I have been watching the orange and white planes and helicopters fly over my head my entire life,” Roberts said. “It’s always been my dream.”
Yet, there was an even stronger contributor to Roberts’ decision. “Just as much or more influence came from my family’s prior service,” he said.
Nine members of Roberts’ immediate and extended family are serving or have served the nation through military service, in the ranks of the Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force, Army and Coast Guard. With representation in all military branches, Roberts could have claimed family tradition in any one. But he was especially drawn to the Navy, following the steps of his grandfather, retired Lt. Cmdr. Joel Roberts Sr.
“The person who really sparked my interest in all of this, and the Navy in general, was my grandfather on my father’s side,” Roberts said. “He served 30 years in the Navy, enlisting and then earning his commission through Officer Candidate School.”
Robert’s grandfather passed away when Roberts was eleven, but his family had a surprise for him after the winging ceremony. “I remember always asking him to show me his sword, which I thought was so cool. Unbeknownst to me, my father actually found my grandfather’s 57-year-old sword and cleaned it up,” Roberts said. He was then presented the sword as a gift, following a Navy tradition. “It was a pretty emotional moment, as both family and tradition are very important to me.”
Roberts was pinned at the ceremony by his father, Joel Roberts Jr., and was joined on stage by his mother, Laurie Roberts, sister, Jescie Roberts, girlfriend, Emily Dobson, and his mother’s father, Army veteran Harvey Beard.
Like a number of other local natives who recently earned their wings at NAS Whiting Field, Roberts did not immediately pursue a career in the military through the Naval Academy or the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). Unable to pursue another passion – baseball, Roberts spent his freshman year at the University of West Florida studying business administration.
“It pained me knowing that I definitely had the skill to play baseball at the collegiate level,” Roberts said. “I didn’t really know how college baseball ‘worked’ at the time, but by the time I knew what was going on as far as recruiting and trying out, the time had already passed to go to some of those smaller colleges I was most interested in.”
But he kept practicing, dragging friends out to the Jay baseball field throughout the summer after freshman year in an effort to keep his skills sharp. After months of hard work, he was offered a baseball scholarship at Emmanuel College in the small town of Franklin Springs, Georgia.
Only after earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2015 did he reach out to a local Navy recruiter.
Roberts ended up working with the same recruiter as another recent NAS Whiting Field winger, LTJG. Tyler Mayor of Navarre, Florida. Since recruitment, Roberts and Mayor have followed very similar paths. Both were at Officer Candidate School at the same time, both flew the T6-B in Training Squadron Twenty-Seven (VT-27) in Corpus Christi, Texas, and both earned their Wings of Gold flying the TH-57 Sea Ranger out of Helicopter Training Squadron Eight (HT-8) within two weeks of each other.
“Going through flight school proved to be mentally, physically, and spiritually challenging,” Roberts said. “As with anything, I’d have good days, and days that may not have been so good. Through this, I feel like I really started to realize what mattered most to me in my life – things such as my faith and my family, things that I really clung to and supported me and helped me push through and strive to be the best that I could be.”
He said his experiences also helped expand his world view and get him ready for life outside small town America. “Being in contact with so many people from different backgrounds and cultures I feel has helped me become more informed on these cultures,” Roberts said. “I know that somewhere down the line, I’ll be able to use these experiences to help me connect with others.”
Roberts’ next move is to NAS Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida for advanced flight training in the MH-60R Seahawk. He will then join his first deployable squadron onboard Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan.
“I am extremely excited about this opportunity,” Roberts said. “I really embrace the unknown, and with each step I take in this career, I know that I’ll be experiencing something that I never have before. I’ve never been outside of the continental United States, so that will be an awesome experience. Really a dream come true!”
Mother’s Day: Bullying Nearly Claimed My Daughter’s Life
May 13, 2018
The bullying just would not stop. The taunting. The tormenting. School had become a literal hell on earth.
So this past Monday night, 10-year old Hailey tried to stop it the only way she knew how. She found sleeping pills and overdosed. She didn’t want to go to school another day to face a bully.
Bullying came very close to claiming her young life.
Today, Hailey is home from Sacred Heart Hospital, celebrating Mother’s Day with her mom, Shawna Motala. It will be a very emotional day as they begin a new chapter in their lives.
“The teacher was unable to stop it. Her principal (at Jim Allen Elementary) was unable to stop it,” Shawna said. “My sweet baby girl tried to stop it. I am so grateful that God was watching over her and wasn’t ready to call her home. It kills me to know that this is how truly broken she has felt, all because of the cruelty of others.
Shawna knew the bullying was going on, and she had worked every way she knew how to stop it since the beginning of the school year, including multiple contacts with school officials. She believes the school’s efforts fell short.
“She’s very lucky to be alive,” she said. “I felt very helpless. I felt like I failed her; the school failed her. It breaks my heart to know that she was that broken.”
“I tried to talk to her (Hailey) about it, and we prayed about it every day on the last mile or so on the way to school.”
Monday night, Hailey told her parents that she did not want to go to school on Tuesday.
“She was very sad and felt like no one could help her teach the negative people. She loves everyone, a very loving child. She’s the kind of child that that always wants to help others, always want to give food to the homeless at a red light or help the people she sees on the news. That’s just the way she is.”
Some of the abuse was physical by another fourth grader, Shawna said, adding that she addressed it with the teacher and principal, but nothing ever happened. “I finally told Hailey to punch him in the face, called principal and told her this. Hailey reacted with a big, beautiful smile.”
“This is going to be a long and emotional road but I know God is in control and will get us through it. I want to ask that everyone also pray for the kids who have been bullying her. Turns out one of them is also being bullied by kids on his bus. My heart breaks for him. We are so quick to judge but everyone has a struggle. Everyone needs love and compassion. We need to stop hating and start loving each other.”
Shawna said there has been a tremendous outpouring of love and support for Hailey and the entire family since Monday. Her classmates even made personal get well cards.
On this Mother’s Day, Shawna said plans to continue speaking out against bullying, and she’s encouraging all moms (and dads) to talk to their kids and really understand what is going on with their lives at school.
“Stand up and fight for your kids. Don’t let your child feel they have only one way out.”
Pictured top: Fourth grader Hailey recovers Tuesday at Sacred Heart Hospital. Pictured insets: Hailey visitor’s included Superman and Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. Pictured below: She reads get well cards from her classmates at Jim Allen Elementary School. Pictured below: Haley after her release. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Ransom Chorus To Present ‘War & Peace’ Monday Evening
May 13, 2018
The Ransom Middle School Choral Department will present “War and Peace: Songs of conflict, courage, compassion, and hope” Monday evening at 6:30 at Marcus Pointe Baptist Church at 6205 North W Street.
The evening of music will journey through the stages of war and peace. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted at the door. Checks are payable to the Ransom Middle School Choral Booster Club.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Friends And Foes
May 13, 2018
Recap and analysis of the week in state government
Former foes Adam Putnam and Richard Corcoran began a public bromance this week, with Corcoran clearing the deck for the agriculture commissioner in what will now largely be a two-man Republican primary for governor.
But in contrast to the lovey-dovey development in GOP-land, the situation took a decidedly nasty turn on the other side of the aisle in the race to succeed outgoing Gov. Rick Scott.
Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham and her supporters launched a two-day offensive against one of her primary opponents, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, in response to an attack ad released by The Collective Super PAC, a group that backs black candidates, including Gillum.
The Collective is spending upwards of $700,000 on the ad, which is running on West Palm Beach television stations and South Florida cable networks and is clearly targeted toward Democratic base voters.
The 30-second spot slams Graham’s voting record during her short stint in Congress, where she “voted against President Obama 52 percent of the time,” backed the Keystone Pipeline, sided “with the big banks” and “trashed” Obamacare.
“Gwen Graham is not the progressive she claims to be,” the voiceover warns.
Graham’s campaign shop went into overdrive in response to what appears to be the first negative ad in the Democratic primary, going ballistic on social media and issuing numerous press releases expressing outrage from a slew of surrogates who joined the former congresswoman’s demand that Gillum order the ad be taken down.
“I am disgusted that Andrew Gillum would allow a secret-money group to run a false attack against a fellow Democrat,” Graham said in one of more than a dozen email responses to the ad.
Instead of backing down, Gillum’s camp doubled-down, accusing Graham of relying on super-PAC sustenance during her congressional bid four years ago.
“It’s hypocritical for the Graham campaign to denounce outside spending and now call it ‘dark money’ when it doesn’t benefit her like it did in 2014. Her ‘very conservative’ record is on full display, and this campaign should be about her record against the mayor’s record,” Gillum spokesman Geoff Burgan said in a statement.
I LOVE YOU, MAN
The Collective has pledged to spend over $1.5 million to help Gillum become Florida’s first black governor, which means the throwdown over the “52 percent” ad is likely just a taste of what’s to come this summer.
While it’s certain that the Dems won’t be the only ones slinging slime before the August primary election, Putnam now has one less mud-thrower to duck after winning the support of Corcoran, the House speaker who had toyed with the idea of entering the GOP gubernatorial primary before walking away this week.
Proving once again it’s all about the Benjamins, Corcoran blamed his exit from the race he never officially joined on a lack of greenbacks.
“Florida is an expensive state. It costs a lot of money to run,” Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, said during an appearance Wednesday with Putnam in Tallahassee.
Through the end of March, Corcoran’s Watchdog PAC political committee had raised $6.86 million and spent $4.6 million, with $3.7 million spent in the first three months of this year. Despite the spending, which included a controversial television ad on so-called “sanctuary cities,” Corcoran never gained much traction in the GOP race with Putnam and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis of Palm Coast.
Corcoran said he would adhere to his pledge to either run for governor “or go home,” ruling out a move to another statewide race, such as the contest for attorney general. He also said he would not serve as Putnam’s lieutenant governor if asked to join the ticket.
“I’ve passionately said for the last year that I was going to run for governor or go home. And I’m proud to say that that decision is clearly that we’re going home,” Corcoran said.
Corcoran said he decided to endorse Putnam because he believes the two-term state Cabinet member will continue and extend the conservative legacy of the Scott administration, including on tax cuts and educational reforms.
“Adam is sincere. He is authentic. He is principled. He is passionate. He loves this state,” Corcoran said.
Putnam welcomed Corcoran’s backing.
“To have the endorsement, to have the support of someone who knows Florida so well and is so passionate about Florida’s future and is such a principled conservative means everything in the world to me,” Putnam said.
But signaling a contentious Aug. 28 primary, the DeSantis campaign characterized the endorsement as an “insider” deal between two long-time members of the Tallahassee establishment, noting Corcoran and Putnam have disagreed on issues, including immigration.
“Career politician, Adam Putnam, will now get the two-man race he’s been fearing for a year,” DeSantis spokesman David Vasquez said in a statement. “A conservative Iraq veteran (DeSantis) endorsed by Donald Trump versus a ‘Never Trump’ career politician who supported amnesty for illegal aliens. We like our odds.”
WAR ON DRUGS … TREATMENT
Some lawmakers were stunned to learn that Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones is slicing substance-abuse programs for prisoners in the midst of an opioid crisis gripping Florida and the nation.
But the raised eyebrows won’t translate into action, at least not right now.
House and Senate leaders said this week they don’t have any plans to plug a $28 million budget gap at the corrections agency that sparked Jones’s decision.
Jones announced last week she is slashing contracts with nearly three dozen substance-abuse and re-entry providers — programs considered integral to reducing recidivism and helping inmates transition back into society — by at least 40 percent because the money is needed to cover the cost of a contract for prison health services.
“What I would encourage our partners who are facing these cuts to do is to double-down on their efforts to find efficiencies and understand that, when we return in November, this is going to be something that many of us are eager to address,” Senate budget chief Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said in an interview Thursday.
After the November elections, lawmakers will begin working to prepare next year’s budget.
Jones said the cuts, which are already being implemented in time for the July 1 start of the new fiscal year, were necessary because lawmakers did not fully fund the corrections agency, which is running about $80 million in the red.
The reductions sparked an outcry from providers, who could be forced to lay off 600 employees, according to Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association Executive Director Mark Fontaine.
“The contracted substance-abuse funding is only 1.5 percent of the department’s $2.4 billion budget. Hard to believe there aren’t other options available,” Fontaine said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Throwing his support behind Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, announced he will not run for governor.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I don’t think we had the resources to move forward.” — House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, announcing he is staying out of the governor’s race.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Tate High Cheerleaders Host Universal Stunt Clinic
May 13, 2018
The Tate High School cheerleaders hosted an Universal Cheerleaders Association Student Clinic Saturday. The UCA Staffers taught new skills and techniques to the programs that attended. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Sheriff’s Office Offers Safety Workshop For Churches
May 13, 2018
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is offering a free training opportunity to help places of worship consider the security needs of their facilities and operations. The training is designed for anyone responsible for the safety of their place of worship and will help attendees to understand the challenges and needs of worship security. The goal is to make the process of creating a secure environment easier, less expensive, and more effective.
The class will be held at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at 1700 West Leonard Street on Tuesday, May 29 at 5:30 p.m. Seating is limited. To secure a seat complete a registration by clicking here.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Biloxi Shuckers Shut Out The Pensacola Blue Wahoos
May 13, 2018
The Biloxi Shuckers capitalized on an error leading off the second inning to take the series opener from the Blue Wahoos, 1-0, Saturday night at MGM Park.
Taylor Sparks sailed a throw over first baseman Nick Longhi on a ball off the bat of Troy Stokes Jr. to start the second inning. Stokes went to third on a two-out double from Jake Hager before scoring on a Clint Coulter single. It was the only blemish on an otherwise stellar line for Wahoos starter Daniel Wright (L, 2-2).
Saturday night was Wright’s first start of the season without allowing an earned run. He was finished after six innings with only one walk and five strikeouts.
Pensacola came up empty on its best opportunity of the game in the third inning. Luis Gonzalez singled to start the inning, one of his two hits in the game. Daniel Sweet followed with a long drive off the very top of the left field fence. On the play, Gonzalez was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base. Blue Wahoos manager Jody Davis argued that the ball went over the fence, but the call stood after the umpires collectively discussed the play.
The Wahoos didn’t get another runner into scoring position the rest of the game. Biloxi starter Thomas Jankins (W, 6-1) was solid over seven shut-out innings for the win. He walked two against a career-high eight strikeouts. Nate Griep (S, 14) worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth for his league-leading 14th save of the season.
The series continues on Sunday with RHP Keury Mella (3-1, 1.89) getting the start for the Blue Wahoos against RHP Cody Ponce (1-2, 7.32).
Wildfire Burns Along Highway 29; Fire Danger Remains High
May 12, 2018
A wildfire burned about eight acres in McDavid Friday afternoon, and officials say the fire danger remains high in Escambia County.
The fire was located on the west side of Highway 29 north of Pine Barren Road and did not threaten any structures. The 2 p.m. fire also jumped Highway 29 southbound and burned in the median. The cause of the fire was not known, but it was believed to have started away from the road.
The fire completely closed Highway 29 southbound for about half an hour, with one lane remaining closed for over an hour.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The Florida Forest Service responded with three tractor/plow units and a brush truck, joining firefighters from the the McDavid, Walnut Hill, Molino, Century and Cantonment stations of Escambia Fire Rescue in battling the blaze. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office provided traffic control.
The fire was contained by late afternoon, but continued to smolder into the night.
According to the Florida Forest Service, the fire danger rating in Escambia County is high in Escambia County, very high in neighboring Santa Rosa County.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
