Appeals Court Blocks ‘Homegrown’ Marijuana In Florida
May 2, 2018
Siding with the state Department of Health, an appeals court Tuesday at least temporarily blocked a Tampa businessman from being able to grow marijuana as he seeks to prevent a relapse of lung cancer.
The 1st District Court of Appeal reinstated a stay of a Leon County circuit judge’s ruling that would allow Joe Redner to grow his own pot for a treatment known as “juicing.”
Circuit Judge Karen Gievers last month ruled that Redner is entitled grow and possess marijuana for juicing under a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida.
The Department of Health appealed the ruling, triggering an automatic stay. But Gievers then lifted the automatic stay, spurring lawyers for the state to quickly ask the Tallahassee-based appeals court to reinstate the stay.
The appeals court Tuesday issued a one-page order reinstating the stay, which will remain in place as the court considers the appeal of Gievers’ underlying ruling that Redner should be allowed to grow his own marijuana.
“After this panel’s preliminary review of the full wording of the constitutional amendment, we determine that appellee (Redner) did not sufficiently demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits as required to justify vacating the automatic governmental stay,” Tuesday’s order said. “However, we do not intend to preclude full review of the issues on appeal by the merits panel (of the appeals court).”
Redner, who made his fortune as a strip-club owner, filed the lawsuit last year as the state carried out the 2016 constitutional amendment. While the state has faced a series of legal challenges, it has designed a regulatory system that involves licensing limited numbers of businesses to grow, process and sell medical marijuana.
Redner’s doctor ordered a juicing treatment that uses live marijuana plants to prevent a relapse of stage 4 lung cancer, according to court documents. Emulsification, or juicing, of the “biomass of the marijuana plant” was determined to be “the most effective way” for Redner “to get the benefit of medical marijuana,” according to Gievers’ initial ruling last month.
Gievers’ ruling was narrowly tailored to Redner. But in arguing last month that the stay should remain in place while an appeal moves forward, attorneys for the Department of Health argued that the ruling “opens the door for plaintiff and other qualified patients to grow medical marijuana unchecked from any state regulation.”
“In other words, the effect of the final judgment is to grant civil and criminal immunity to any one of the thousands of qualifying patients in Florida who may wish to grow and use medical marijuana as plaintiff has been authorized to do by this (Gievers’) court,” the department’s attorneys, Jason Gonzalez and Amber Stoner, wrote in an April 16 document. “The only way to prevent the proliferation of unregulated homegrown marijuana is to maintain the status quo while the appellate court reviews the propriety” of Gievers’ interpretation of the 2016 constitutional amendment.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Tate FFA Alumni Rodeo Is Friday, Saturday Nights
May 2, 2018
The 27th Annual Tate FFA Alumni Foundation Rodeo will be Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 at the Escambia County Equestrian Center on Mobile Highway.
Advance tickets are available at Farm and Nursery Mart, Hill Kelly Dodge, Barnes Feed Store Pensacola and Tate High School. Tickets are $8 for adults and $3 for children in advance and $10 and $5 at the gate.
For more information about the Rodeo, call (850) 937-2308.
Florida Dept. Of Corrections Cuts Programs To Fill Budget Hole
May 2, 2018
Blaming the Legislature for not fully funding the state prison system, Florida corrections officials are slashing substance-abuse services, transitional housing and re-entry programs — services and programs launched to keep inmates from returning to life behind bars — in an attempt to fill a $28 million budget hole.
The Department of Corrections announced the cost-cutting measures late Tuesday. The cuts are focused largely on doing away with or dramatically reducing substance-abuse, mental-health and re-entry programs to plug a $28 million health-care services deficit.
With an annual budget in excess of $2.4 billion and about 100,000 inmates, the corrections agency makes up one of the state’s largest spending areas. But the agency is running an overall deficit of about $79 million, after budget reductions imposed by lawmakers over the past two years and escalating health care and pharmaceutical costs.
The corrections agency has been struggling to keep up with the cost of health care for the majority of the state’s inmates, after one private vendor quit years before its contract was up and the state fired another.
Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones, in a statement announcing the cuts, said she hoped the reductions are temporary.
“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. Additionally, we are reducing operating costs to include maintenance, repair, utilities, and working to find every possible internal solution to reduce costs in order to maximize services for inmates and offenders,” Jones said in the statement issued Tuesday.
The budget cuts came a month after corrections officials asked vendors for a “voluntary rate reduction and/or cost-saving measure” in their current contracts.
Lawmakers this spring included money in the state budget to address a number of legal challenges centered on health care in the prison system, including the treatment of inmates with hepatitis and inmates with disabilities and mental-health issues.
But according to documents distributed by the department Tuesday evening, the $437 million earmarked for inmate health care — which includes pharmaceuticals — still came up about $55 million short.
Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Chairman Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, told The News Service of Florida on Tuesday evening that he has repeatedly warned his colleagues they were shortchanging the prison system.
Brandes said the funding crisis has “been festering for years” and called the cuts announced Tuesday unacceptable.
“In the short term, we’re going to have to fund the shortfalls in unconventional ways. But they must be funded. Period. These are not options. You must fund them,” he said.
Especially disturbing are the cuts to substance-abuse treatment, which are coming at the peak of the state’s opioid epidemic, and re-entry programs. Both have been shown to reduce recidivism and to aid prisoners as they transition to the community, said Brandes, who has been at the forefront of a criminal-justice reform movement in Florida.
“These are the very programs that have been proven to work. 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.
Jones announced the cuts as she prepares to sign a new contract with a private vendor to provide health services to about 87,000 inmates in state-run prisons.
The privatization of prison health care has been plagued with problems for the past several years.
Jones severed ties with Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources a year ago, after Corizon Health in late 2015 notified the state that it was walking away from a five-year, $1.2 billion deal three years early. The Tennessee-based company said it was losing money on its contract with the state.
Jones came under fire for signing a no-bid, $268 million contract with Centurion of Florida LLC in January 2016 to take over for Corizon. Wexford’s contract with the state was unaffected by the deal with Centurion, which eventually took over health care for the entire state-run prison system.
Jones decided to redo the health care services contracts in 2015 and issued an invitation to negotiate for select companies to submit proposals.
But, after re-issuing the invitation to negotiate, Centurion — whose contract expires in June — was the only respondent for what is expected to be a $2 billion, five-year contract with the state. According to corrections officials, the agency is finalizing negotiations with Centurion.
“First and foremost, it’s our responsibility to ensure the security of individuals in our custody and to make certain their human and constitutional rights are upheld while incarcerated. Health care is one of these constitutional responsibilities, and in my tenure, I’ve held vendors accountable for ensuring these services are provided at an adequate and appropriate level, that is in line with required standards. Like every state agency, we must make fiscally sound decisions to operate within our legislatively appropriated budget,” Jones said in the statement.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Jay And Northview Fall In District Tournament
May 2, 2018
Northview and Jay both lost Tuesday in the District 3-1A baseball semifinals.
(5) Chipley 11, (1) Jay 5
(2) Freeport 7 (3) Northview 2
Trevor Singleton pitched 4.1 inning for the Chiefs, allow two hits and two runs will striking out five. Seth Killam pitched 1.2 innings allowing three hits, five runs and striking out two.
For Northview: Tanner Levins 2-4, RBI; John Chivington 2-3, RBI; Jackson Moore 2-2, R: Seth Killam 1-4, 3B, R; Jason Fischer 2-2.
Freeport will host Chipley Thursday for the district championship.
Pictured: Northview seniors (L-R) Trevor Singleton, Braxton Edwards, Jason Fischer and John Chivington. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Molino Park Names Students, Good Citizens Of The Month
May 2, 2018
Molino Park Elementary School has name April students of the month and good citizens. Students of the Month are Charina Godwin and Railyn Moore. Good Citizens of the Month are Alexis Barnes and Logan Brown. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Update: Crash That Killed ‘Good Samaritan’ Claims Second Victim
May 1, 2018
Update 5/1/2018: Kyle Harrison, 21, passed away Monday from injuries he received in this accident.
A good Samaritan was struck and killed Wednesday night in Escambia County after stopping to check on injuries in a previous accident. The driver of a vehicle involved in the original crash was also hit but survived.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Kyle Harrison, age 21 of Pensacola, was northbound on Highway 90 north of Eight Mile Creek Road in a Chevrolet 1500 when he failed to see and rear-ended e a 2018 Toyota Camry driven by 36-year old Chanphana Tran of Pensacola stopped in the roadway. That pushed the Camry into a 2018 Hyundai Tuscon driven b 37-year old Holley Birch of Pensacola.
Harrison exited his vehicle to check on the drivers as 34-year old Dannah Marie McCormick of Pensacola walked over to check on everyone.
An oncoming driver, 80-year old Cecelia Mroz of Huachuca City, AZ, did not see Harrison and McCormick standing in the roadway and struck both. McCormick was pronounced deceased from her injuries; Harrison was critically injured. Mroz was not injured.
Three children in Tran’s vehicle, ranging in age from a few months to seven years-old, received minor injuries. Two children, ages 10 and 12, in Birch’s vehicle were not injured.
The Florida Highway Patrol said any charges are pending the outcome of their investigation.
Century Man Charged With Allegedly Firing Gun At His Sister And Her Baby
May 1, 2018
A Century man is facing charges after allegedly firing a gun at his sister and her baby on Backwoods Road.
Steve Davis, Jr., 22, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill and discharging a firearm in public.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the 800 block of Backwoods Road for a a shots fired called. Deputies arrived to found the victim and her baby uninjured in her vehicle at the intersection of Backwoods Road and Highway 4A. She told deputies that as she was driving down the road with her baby, her brother “shot a firearm at her”, according to an arrest report.
Deputies reported finding Davis walking on Backwoods Road without a firearm.
A witness told deputies that he saw Davis fire a pistol in the direction of the victim and her baby as she drove away. Deputies were unable to locate the firearm.
Davis was booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond.
Driver Injured In Collision With Highway 29 Guardrails
May 1, 2018
One person was injured in a single vehicle crash with guardrails near McDavid Monday evening.
The driver was northbound on Highway 29 north of Roach Road when she lost control, left the roadway and hit a guardrail in the median near Canoe Creek. Her vehicle then traveled across the northbound travel lanes and struck another guardrail on the shoulder of the road.
The female was transported by Escambia County EMS to D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton with non-life threatening injuries.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The McDavid Station of Escambia Fire Rescue also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Four Years Since Escambia Jail Explosion Killed 2, Injured 184
May 1, 2018
Four years ago today, Escambia County residents woke to the news that there has been an explosion at the Escambia County Central Booking and Detention Facility on West Leonard Street.
Two people — Robert Earl Simmons, age 54 of Railroad Street in McDavid and David Paul Weinstein, age 45 — were killed in the explosion. Both men were found dead surrounded by debris in the same part of the jail.
There were 184 reported injuries, including correctional officers and inmates. About 600 inmates were inside when the explosion that was caused by a gas leak during the historic floods in April 2014.
Now, plans are moving forward for a new jail at the corner of Pace Boulevard and Fairfield Drive; it is expected to take about 18 months to complete. The facility damaged in the explosion will be demolished as early as October.
Pictured; The first media published photos from scene of the April 30, 2014, explosion at the Escambia County Central Booking and Detention Facility on West Leonard Street. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Students Take Part In Bratt DNow Weekend
May 1, 2018
The First Baptist Church of Bratt held a Dnow weekend for dozens of students.
DNow is a weekend retreat for youth who participated in a weekend of Bible study, praise and worship and recreation. Over 60 youth and college and career students took part in the event.
Divided into five teams, the students also performed mission projects as a community service.
Have news from your church? Email news@NorthEscambia.com.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
