ECSO: Man Trespassed On Northview High Campus, Threatened To Kill Student
May 3, 2018
A young Century man has been arrested after allegedly trespassing on the Northview High School campus and threatening to kill a student.
Levi Austin Cofield, 18, was charged with trespassing on school grounds, simple assault and criminal mischief with property damage.
The victim told deputies he was walking by the after school car rider line when he heard Cofield yell out the passenger window of a truck that he was going to “beat” him. The victim said he ignored Cofield and continued to his truck in the student parking lot. The victim said he got into his truck when Cofield approached and attempted to pull the door open. He said he grabbed the interior door handle to close the door, but Cofield grabbed the door and yanked it so hard it broke the interior of the door, just before Cofield pulled the door handle off.
Cofield then used thge door handle to strike the driver’s window several times while stating, “I will kill you,” according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The victim said he had previous been threatened by Cofield while off the school campus and told deputies Cofield wanted to fight over an incident due to a previous incident between Cofield’s adult brother and the victim.
Another student confirmed the victim’s account, according to the report, as did surveillance video.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Cofield withdrew from Northview High School at the end of the 2016-2017 school year, is not an enrolled student and “had no business at the school on the day of the incident”.
Cofield was trespass warned…no longer allowed on the Northview campus, including a ban from any after school activities.
He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $1,500 bond.
New Ambulance Company To Serve Flomaton, Replace Escambia County (FL) EMS
May 3, 2018
A new ambulance company will take over in the Flomaton area later this month, replacing coverage from Escambia County (FL) EMS.
The Escambia County (AL) Healthcare Authority (ECHA) has reached an agreement with Lifeguard Ambulance Service to begin serving he Flomaton area in Alabama beginning at 8 a.m. on May 14.
Escambia County (FL) EMS has provided the primary ambulance service in Flomaton for about 37 years. The last signed agreement in 2015 between the parties stipulated a $7,983.62 per month payment from ECHA to Escambia County, with possible increased due to inflation factors.
The Escambia County (FL) EMS unit that normally serves Flomaton is stationed in Century, and that unit will remain based in Century, according to Mike Weaver, Escambia County Public Safety Director, and there will be a mutual aid agreement in place between Escambia County and Lifeguard.
Lifeguard is the exclusive ambulance service in Santa Rosa County, operates under the MedStar name in Baldwin County, AL, and provides ambulance services in several other cities including Mobile and Birmingham, AL; Bay County, FL; and Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville, TN.
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Rotary Club Awards College Scholarships
May 3, 2018
The Cantonment Rotary Club has awarded several scholarships to deserving students at Pensacola State College.
The Ike Terry Music Scholarship was initially named in memory of Cantonment Rotarian James “Ike’ Terry, who was very active in music in Pensacola. Now the scholarships have been broadened in scope to include vocational and professional scholarships in memory of Cantonment Rotarian Ted Ciano who made sizeable donations to the Foundation.
The recipients of this year’s scholarships totaling $7500.00 are:
Ike Terry – Music: Megan Dicamillo – Piano, Brenan Woody – Guitar
Paralegal: Dana Wimmers,Kelley Anne Wheeler
Ted Ciano – Vocational: Jacob Chauvin, Ruby Carter, Hannah Flint
Pictured: Cantonment Rotarian and Foundation Trustee Jack O’Donnell with pianist Megan Dicamillo and guitarist Brenan Woody. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lady Aggies Get 2-1 Win Over Milton In Regional Quarterfinals
May 3, 2018
The Tate Lady Aggies beat Milton 2-1 in the Region 1-7A quarterfinals Tuesday night.
Hanna Brown pitched a complete game, allowing four hits, one run and striking about two.
For the Lady Aggies: Ryleigh Cawby 1, Kayliegh Cawthon 1-2; Shelby McLean 1-3, R: Deazia Nickerson 1-2, RBI; Madisen Nelson RBI.
The Tate Lady Aggies will play Niceville on Tuesday.
Photos courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
District Semifinal: Tate Shuts Out Pine Forest
May 3, 2018
The Tate Aggies won their District 1-7A semifinal game over Pine Forest Wednesday, 12-0 in six innings.
Raymond LaFleur earned the win for Tate in five innings, allowing one hit and no runs while striking out four.
Nolan Rigby took the loss for Pine Forest. He gave up six runs on five hits in two and a third innings while striking out one.
Raymond LaFleur had three-run home run for Tate, going 1-2 with a run and three RBIs.
For Tate: Reid Halfacre 1-4, RBI, 2R; Jesse Sherrill 2-4, RBI: Mason Land 1-3, RBI; Hunter McLean 2-3, 2RBI, R; Blake Anderson 2-4, 2R; Darrien McDowell 2R; Ethan Bloodwoth R; Hunter Riggan 1-1, 2RBI; Trent Jeffcoat 1-2, 2R; Ryan Green R; Raymond LaFleur 1-2, HR, 3RBI.
Photos courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cuts To Florida Prison Drug Programs Draw Criticism
May 3, 2018
As Florida continues to deal with an opioid crisis, state corrections officials are moving ahead on a plan to cut substance-abuse services to make up a shortfall in health-care funding for the prison system.
“We’re in the worst drug epidemic that this country and Florida have ever seen and we’re talking now about reducing programs at the same exact time we’re trying to turn the corner on this epidemic. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,” Mark Fontaine, executive director of the Florida Alcohol & Drug Abuse Association, said Wednesday.
The state Department of Corrections announced the plan Tuesday evening, saying services had to be cut to shift money to the health care program, where there is a $55 million shortfall.
Corrections Secretary Julie Jones said although lawmakers increased health-care funding for the prison system, the department does not have enough money to cover a new contract for medical, dental, mental-health and hospital services in the budget year that begins July 1. The current contract expires at the end of June.
The agency projects it will need an additional $28 million in 2018-2019 to fund the new contract and will have to offset $26.8 million in rising costs for pharmaceuticals.
“In order to secure a health services contractor, fund the increased pharmaceutical budget, and adjust for reductions, we’ve unfortunately had to make some very difficult decisions. At the start of the next fiscal year, we will be reducing some of our current contracts with community providers,” Jones said in a statement.
The reductions will be felt across the state, impacting some 33 community providers that offer substance-abuse services and other programs, ranging from life-skills development to job placement, designed to help prisoners successfully return to society once they have served sentences.
“They are reducing or eliminating contracts that they have with community providers that are providing very valuable, evidence-based and effective programs in order to get to that goal,” Fontaine said.
The cuts include a 40 percent reduction in funding for substance-abuse and mental-health treatment for prisoners returning to their communities, representing a $9.1 million reduction. Another $1.6 million will be cut in transitional housing services.
In the prisons, another $7.6 million in substance-abuse services will be eliminated, and the plan will shift prisoners receiving more intensive “therapeutic” treatment to “more cost-effective” work-release programs, providing another $6 million in savings, according to the plan.
Another $2.3 million will be cut from basic-education re-entry centers, while smaller cuts include $500,000 used to fund chaplains and librarians.
Fontaine said cuts in substance-abuse treatment are particularly troubling.
“Seventy percent of the people in prison have a drug problem, and these are the few critical services we have providing drug treatment and they’re talking about reducing those,” he said.
He also said effective drug treatment can help reduce the rate of prisoners returning to the system, reduce costs and protect communities.
“We’ve seen that over and over again. Research-based drug treatment makes a difference,” Fontaine said.
In an interview Tuesday night with The News Service of Florida, Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chairman Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said the prison system funding crisis had “been festering for years” and that lawmakers failed to adequately respond to the issue.
Brandes said health-care funding shortfalls have to be addressed, but he lamented the impact on the substance-abuse services.
“You can’t have an opioid crisis and cut opioid funding. You can’t just let people out of prison without some type of transition back into society. These are the types of programs that the research shows provide the best outcomes,” he said.
Fontaine, who said he is talking with lawmakers, legislative staff and Gov. Rick Scott’s aides, suggested one way to address the crisis would be to shift some of the state’s reserve funds into the prison budget, although lawmakers have been reluctant to spend down reserves.
“It’s not like we have to take this (budget-cutting) action. There are other actions that can be done. It just takes the political will to do it,” he said.
The privatization of prison health care has been an ongoing problem for the state, with the Department of Corrections going through a series of companies in an attempt to provide the services. Jones is negotiating a new contract with Centurion of Florida LLC, which provides the current services for about 87,000 inmates. The new contract is expected to be a five-year, $2 billion agreement.
by Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida
‘Hurricane Coleman’ Makes Landfall As Escambia County Practices For The Real Thing
May 3, 2018
Hurricane Coleman made landfall Tuesday with the Escambia County Emergency Operations Center fully staffed — all part of a Florida Division of Emergency Management’s statewide exercise to get ready for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season.
Participants practiced Florida’s emergency plans and procedures for a potential hurricane making landfall. Escambia County focused on internal processes and training of the differing roles and responsibilities found in the emergency operations center.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lavally’s Glam Slam Powers Wahoos Win Over The Mississippi Braves
May 3, 2018
Gavin LaValley came to plate in the seventh of a tie ballgame and gave the Wahoos the lead in grand fashion. He belted a go-ahead grand slam to lift the Wahoos over the Mississippi Braves 9-5 on Wednesday at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
LaValley swung at the first pitch he saw from Josh Graham (L, 2-2) and blasted Pensacola out of its three-game losing streak. Pensacola’s five-run rally in the frame sealed the win in the series opener. The win was gritty, and the type of performance that surely impressed many of the Cincinnati Reds brass who were in attendance to watch the Double-A affiliate.
The start of the game was far from perfect for Daniel Wright and the Wahoos. Mississippi cashed in on a hit batsman and an error as the visitors scored twice in the opening inning. Michael Reed added to their lead in the second inning with his first home run of the season to make it 3-0.
Pensacola’s first rally came in the fourth inning with the hosts trailing 3-1. After the first two batters reached safely, Brian O’Grady hit his second double of the game to bring home Josh VanMeter. Taylor Sparks followed with an RBI groundout, which tied the game at three. Garrett Boulware then gave the Wahoos their first lead with a sac fly to center to score O’Grady.
The lead didn’t last long because Austin Riley homered with a man on in the fifth inning to reposition Mississippi ahead of Pensacola 5-4. Wright exited the contest after five innings and allowed five runs (four earned). He was replaced by Evan Mitchell (W, 1-0) who worked two scoreless innings in relief. Carlos Navas closed the game out the game with two shutout frames to clinch the win.
The Blue Wahoos bigger rally was in in the seventh when the home side scored five runs on four hits. Boulware and Alberti Chavez led off the inning with singles, and pinch-hitter Nick Longhi singled to right to score Boulware. After a groundout and an intentional walk to load the bases, LaValley lifted Graham’s slider off Travis Demeritte’s glove and over the wall for the first Wahoos grand slam since Eric Jagielo’s slam back on May 5, 2016.
RHP Keury Mella (3-0) will put his Southern-League best 1.00 ERA on the line Thursday night against LHP Michael Mader (1-0, 2.81). Pensacola is a perfect 5-0 in games that Mella has started.
Cantonment Man Charged With Assault With A Deadly Weapon
May 2, 2018
A Cantonment man was arrested after jumping from his attic and later pulling a gun on other occupants of his house, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Nicholas Morris was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
A deputy responded to the 1200 block of Woodlake Drive for a warrant service. When she arrived, she was met by a man that said Morris had jumped out of his attic and ordered everyone to get out of his house because “they were snitches”. The man said Morris had guns in the house and had been up for three days after taking methamphetamines, according to an ECSO arrest report.
A female outside the house told the deputy that after Morris jumped out of the attic, he grabbed a gun and said “if they didn’t get out, he would kill them, the arrest report states. The female said the gun was a lever-action rifle.
Deputies entered the residence by breaching the front door; Morris was found in his bathroom and taken into custody.
A search of the house revealed two semi-automatic handguns under a couch cushion in the living room, a box of ammunition in the living room and multiple calibers of ammunition in the bedroom used by Morris, according to the report.
Morris remained in the Escambia County Jail Wednesday morning due to a probation violation charge.
NTSB: Driver Unresponsive Before I-10 Bus Crash
May 2, 2018
The National Transportation Safety Board has released their preliminary report on the deadly tour bus crash on I-10 on March 13.
The bus was transporting a high school marching band from Disney World in Orlando, where the band had performed, to Channelview, TX. This was the final leg of a four-day charter. The bus had left Orlando at 10:00 p.m. the day before and was scheduled to make a driver change near Mobile.
The bus was traveling about 59 mph according to preliminary GPS data, the NTSB report states.
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A witness reported that the motorcoach suddenly left the right westbound lane, crossed the left westbound lane, and continued across the median into the eastbound lanes. The motorcoach continued across both eastbound lanes, almost colliding with a passenger vehicle and a semi-truck then continued onto the shoulder and struck a guardrail.
The bus traveled back across both eastbound lanes onto the median, where it continued west into a ravine between twin bridge structures. The bus came to rest in the ravine on its right side against a bridge pier, 38 feet below the roadway.
The driver died, and all 46 passengers sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious.
The NTSB said preliminary evidence showed no signs of braking. A passenger reported that as the motorcoach departed the travel lanes, the driver appeared unresponsive. The passenger attempted to revive the driver in the time before the crash.
An inspection found no vehicle defects that might have contributed to the crash. The motorcoach was equipped with lap/shoulder belts for all seats, and the extent of belt use by passengers is being examined. The NTSB is also evaluating motor carrier operations and driver performance as it relates to the crash.
All aspects of the crash remain under investigation.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour and others, click to enlarge. Overhead graphic from NTSB, click to enlarge.
