Volunteer Needed For Seat On Escambia County Planning Board
February 25, 2018
The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners is seeking Escambia County residents interested in volunteering to be considered for an at-large appointment to the Escambia County Planning Board.
At-large members serve a two-year term of office and attend one meeting per month (generally the first Tuesday of the month). Meetings are generally from 8:30 a.m. to no later than noon; however, occasionally may go beyond noon depending upon the agenda. No travel is involved unless the Planning Board members decide to view a particular property for informational purposes. Financial disclosure is required.
Resumes submitted to a BCC agenda for consideration will become part of the official minutes and are subject to public records requests.
Escambia County residents interested in being considered for a possible appointment to the Escambia County Planning Board to begin serving in April are asked to submit a resume and letter indicating their desire to serve by close of business on Thursday, March 8. Letters and resumes should be submitted to Kayla Meador, 3363 West Park Place; Pensacola, FL 32505; or emailed to krmeador@myescambia.com.
Beef Cattle and Forage Boot Camp Held In Molino
February 25, 2018
The UF/IFAS Beef Cattle and Forage Boot Camp was held Saturday at the Escambia County 4-H facility in Molino.
Attendees were able to learn about cattle handling, management, nutrition and forages.
Courtesy photos for NorthEsambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia BOCC Weekly Meeting Schedule
February 25, 2018
Here is a schedule of Escambia County public meetings for the week of February 26-March 2:
Selection Committee – Facilities Management Director Interviews – 8:30 a.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place
Library Board of Governance – 4 p.m., 239 N. Spring St., Pensacola
Tuesday, Feb. 27
February Coffee with the Commissioner – Jeff Bergosh, District 1 – 6:30 a.m., 5 S. Blue Angel Parkway, Pensacola
Environmental Enforcement Special Magistrate – 1:30 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place (Agenda)
Wednesday, Feb. 28
Sick Leave Pool Committee – 11 a.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place, Human Resources, second floor
Development Review Committee – 1 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place
Escambia County Disability Awareness Committee – 3 p.m., Escambia County Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place
Thursday, March 1
Board of County Commissioners Agenda Review Session – 9 a.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place
BCC Public Forum – 4:30 p.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place
BCC Regular Meeting – 5:30 p.m., Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, 221 Palafox Place
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Florida Will Never Be The Same
February 25, 2018
Even the most jaded and cynical reporters struggled this week to keep a dry eye while listening to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students’ terrifying accounts of the grisly bloodbath on their Parkland campus.
In many ways, the kids who roamed the halls of the Capitol on Wednesday were much like any other teenagers.
They were glued to their cell phones, texting or scrolling through their social media feeds. They held hands and huddled in cliques. They giggled about fashion, BFFs and crushes.
But on Feb. 14, the freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors were transformed into survivors. And they’re on a mission.
“We will make change in this country. And if not today, tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, the day after that and the day after that until we achieve the change we want in this country, until the day that safety is preserved in all schools in our beloved country of America,” Lorenzo Prado, a 17-year-old who said he was mistaken for the shooter at the Parkland high school, told a rapt audience of state, national and international media at a press conference Wednesday in the Capitol.
The students who launched #NeverAgain almost overnight have become national figures, as evidenced by television appearances and the sudden acquisition of tens of thousands of Twitter followers. They’ve been pilloried by gun-rights proponents and lauded by advocates of stricter gun laws.
In Tallahassee, they were eloquent, impassioned and, at times, teetered between anger and grief. And nearly all of them patiently and politely answered the myriad questions lobbed by journalists looming behind cameras, cell phones and microphones.
Some of the students want to get rid of assault-style weapons like the one 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz used to slaughter their friends. Others are seeking what they call more reasonable restrictions. None of them said they feel safe going back to school on Monday.
They delivered their message to lawmakers in the White House, Tallahassee and back home. And when asked what should be done to ensure that no other students have to undergo the horror rained upon them this month, many were uncertain.
“We’re just kids,” Alfonso Calderon, a 16-year-old junior, said. “Everybody needs to remember — we are just children.”
‘THIS HAS OVERSHADOWED EVERYTHING’
The 2018 legislative session had seemed a little mundane. Sure, lawmakers wanted to deal with big issues, such as the opioid epidemic, but the session plodded along without any great sense of urgency.
Then came Parkland.
Suddenly, Gov. Rick Scott, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, interest groups, parents and students were immersed in almost-unthinkable issues. Everything else took a backseat.
Lawmakers and other state leaders met Wednesday with the Parkland students who had piled on buses to come to Tallahassee. The message was clear: The state will take action to try to prevent such a massacre from ever happening again.
“This has overshadowed everything. This has become our priority. I cannot say it enough: We will not fail you,” Rep. Jeanette Nunez, a Miami Republican who is one of House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s top lieutenants, pledged to students.
Outside the House and Senate chambers, the calls for action were noisy — and often politically tinged. Democrats and gun-control advocates criticized Republicans, who have controlled state government for the past two decades and have generally backed the National Rifle Association on Second Amendment issues.
While Marjory Stoneman Douglas students met with lawmakers and spoke at the nationally televised press conference, a major rally was taking place outside Wednesday on the steps of the Old Capitol.
The crowd overflowed onto nearby Monroe Street, as students, activists and Democratic lawmakers expressed anger amid chants of “We want change,” “Not one more,” “Throw them out,” and “Never again.”
“This tragedy has taught us to be fearless, because we now know what it feels like to be afraid,” Rachel Catania, 15, a sophomore from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, told the roaring crowd. “How many more innocent people have to die before we make a change? Change is overdue. And we are the change. When leaders act like children and children act like leaders, you know something is about to change.”
Time will tell how much change happens in Tallahassee, or in Washington for that matter.
But at least in the short term, the Parkland shooting caused the Senate to put on hold gun-related bills.
“Right now, we understand what this week is. It’s very enmeshed in what do we do to make students safe,” Sen. Dennis Baxley, an Ocala Republican and prominent gun-rights supporter, said. “We understand that atmosphere, and that’s why some of these things just need to be put off.”
‘NEVER AGAIN’
After meeting with the Parkland students two days earlier, Scott and Republican legislative leaders held press conferences Friday to outline wide-ranging proposals to try to improve school safety, change gun laws and address mental-health issues.
The proposals shared some ideas. For example, they would require people to be at least age 21 to buy rifles and shotguns, a requirement already in place for handguns. They also would spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 million to $500 million on issues such as school safety and mental health. And they would not ban semiautomatic rifles, commonly known as “assault weapons.”
With two weeks left in the legislative session, Scott and legislative leaders also will have to bridge differences. For instance, Scott wants to require school resource officers in every school in the state, while House and Senate leaders are pitching a plan that would allow some teachers to carry concealed weapons if they meet training requirements and are directed by law enforcement.
Critics immediately took issue Friday with the lack of an assault-weapon ban in the proposals.
“We need to be banning assault weapons,” Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said. “We need universal background checks. We need to make sure that we are addressing the root cause of the public health crisis that is gun violence in this state and in this country. It is the guns. The guns are the problem.”
But whatever the criticism and the differences between Scott and lawmakers, it’s clear a package of changes will emerge in the coming weeks from the Legislature.
“Our slogan is, never again,” Corcoran said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland came to the Capitol to call for changes after the mass shooting this month of 14 students and three faculty members.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Unfortunately, none of the plans I’m announcing today will bring any of them back, but it’s important to remember them. The 17 lives that were cut short and all the hopes and dreams that were ruined have changed our state forever. Florida will never be the same.” Gov. Rick Scott on Friday during a news conference to announce a series of proposals to address school safety, gun laws and mental health issues.
by Jim Saunders and Dara Kam
All The Buzz About Bees At Local Seminar
February 25, 2018
The North Escambia Beekeepers Association held their annual seminar Saturday at the Molino Community Center.
“The only way to save our bees is through education. By educating both the public and beekeepers we have seen an increase in the amount of hives located in our area. More hives means more bees to pollinate crops, small gardens, trees, and flowers. A win for the bees and a win for the residents of both Escambia and Santa Rosa counties,” said Danielle Ochsenreiter of the North Escambia Beekeepers Association.
“Each year we try to bring in top research scientists in the field to keep our local beekeepers up to date on the very best beekeeping practices. By doing this we hope to keep more hives alive and more people and families interested and excited in the hobby,” she said.
The event featured a course for beginners and advanced beekeepers. There were course lectures from Dr. Dennis vanEnglesdorp from The University of Maryland, Jeff Willard from Milton, Johnny Thompson from Mississippi and Andrew Finch, the area’s state apiary inspector.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward Middle Holds Womanless Beauty Pageant
February 24, 2018
Ernest Ward Middle School held a “womanless” beauty pageant Friday night.
Kaden “Norma Gene” Odom was named “Womanless Queen”.
Noah “Noelle Fancy” Harigel was first runner-up, and Andrew “Andrea Louise” Hatcher was second runner-up.
The fundraising event was sponsored by the Ernest Ward cheerleaders.
Pictured above: First Runner up Noah “Noelle Fancy” Harigel, Womanless Queen Kaden “Norma Gene” Odom and Second Runner-up Andrew “Andrea Louise” Hatcher. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott, Legislators Pitch Changes In School Safety, Gun Laws
February 24, 2018
Pledging “change is coming” and “never again,” Gov. Rick Scott and Republican legislative leaders on Friday released proposals encompassing gun laws, safer schools and mental health, with the goal of preventing future tragedies like last week’s mass shooting at a Broward County high school that left 14 students and three faculty members dead.
The plans came nine days after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz went on a shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder in the school deaths.
The sweeping plans — which total up to $500 million — swiftly drew the ire of Democrats, who said the measures don’t go far enough, and National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer, who blasted the proposals as punishing gun owners for the crimes of a madman.
The Republican leaders released their plans two days after meeting with Marjory Stoneman Douglas students who traveled to the Capitol to plead for stricter gun laws to stop murderers like Cruz, who a year ago legally purchased — with no waiting period — the assault-style weapon he used to mow down students and faculty at the school he once attended.
Scott said he has been speaking with students and parents from the school and attending funerals since the shooting.
“My message to them has been very simple. You are not alone. Change is coming, and it will come fast,” Scott told reporters at an 11 a.m. press conference, an hour before House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron held a separate media event to announce their plans.
Details of Cruz’s troubled history, frequent interactions with law enforcement and the FBI’s failure to investigate at least one alert that the teenager posed a threat to schools helped spark Scott and Republican legislative leaders to craft multi-faceted proposals encompassing school safety measures, new gun restrictions and mental health services.
The governor and the legislative leaders parted ways on two significant elements: a controversial program to allow trained teachers and administrators to bring guns to school and a three-day waiting period on the purchase of long guns — as endorsed by the House and Senate and already required for handguns, but excluded from Scott’s plan.
Scott and legislative leaders agreed on a plan to require people to be at least 21 years old to purchase any gun, a requirement already in place for handguns but not long guns such as rifles and shotguns. The powerful NRA opposes such a change.
And Scott and lawmakers would ban “bump stocks,” an idea also opposed by the NRA. Bump stocks are used to speed up the rate of firing of semiautomatic weapons.
Hammer, the NRA’s Florida lobbyist who is widely considered one of the most powerful lobbyists in the Capitol, had harsh words for the governor and lawmakers, accusing them of floating “political eyewash” that “punishes” gun owners.
“This is a betrayal of law-abiding gun owners who did absolutely nothing. All of the laws in place to identify and stop this kind of activity failed. So since they can’t actually punish those failures, they’re going to punish law-abiding gun owners. And of course, we always obey the law, so they don’t have to worry about us before or after they pass this gratuitous gun control,” Hammer said Friday.
Among the disclosures during the past week has been that Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ school-resource officer, Scot Peterson, did not enter the building to try to stop the shooting. Peterson resigned Thursday after being suspended by Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
Hammer said the NRA endorses part of the legislative proposal, which involves the concept of a “school marshal” program. Under the program, teachers or other school employees who’ve undergone extensive training and been deputized by local sheriffs could bring guns to school. Current Florida law allows only law enforcement officials to carry weapons on school property. The marshal proposal is similar to a program created by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
If passed, Florida would be the first state to launch such a program, according to Corcoran, who said qualified people would be both teachers hired by school systems and law-enforcement officers working under sheriffs.
But Scott balked at the idea of armed teachers, saying “my focus is on bringing in law enforcement.”
His plan would require at least one school resource officer — a police officer or sheriff’s deputy — in each of the state’s 4,000 public schools, including charter schools. Scott, who wants to spend $500 million on his overall package, is recommending a ratio of one resource officer for every 1,000 students.
The governor and Republican leaders are also divided about another element likely to face pushback from the NRA. Scott is proposing a “violent threat restraining order” that would allow family members or law enforcement officials to get court orders to take guns away from people who have shown evidence of being a danger to themselves or others.
“No one with mental issues should have access to a gun. It’s common sense,” Scott said.
But House Rules & Policy Chairman Jose Oliva and his colleagues rejected such a plan.
“We took a long, hard look at this,” said Oliva, a Miami Lakes Republican slated to take over as House speaker this fall. “Whenever you are going to deprive someone of something, you have to do it under a condition that provides clear evidence that that is necessary. In the way that we’ve seen it, giving people outside of either the authority or the understanding of what is clear and present danger — a family member, a neighbor, or someone like that — to directly make that appeal, we think goes beyond.”
The Florida Education Association teachers’ union offered support for Scott’s proposal, while Democrats argued the measure fails to go far enough by not including a ban on “assault” rifles like the AR-15 used by the Parkland shooter.
FEA President Joanne McCall said Scott’s outline is “very close” to a recommendation from the union, while any discussion about “weapons designed for war” is something that can be addressed after “sensible gun policy” is enacted.
Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon noted that Democrats had already filed bills that would raise the age to purchase long guns and create the gun restraining order.
“We can beef up mental health screenings, raise the age for gun purchases, and dream up other stopgap measures, but the threat to our children and our citizens will continue until we finally take bold action to ban assault weapons designed for the battlefield from easy access in our communities. Without that, the voices of the students, and the will of the people, continue to be ignored,” Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, said in a statement.
But Scott rejected “a mass takeaway of Second Amendment rights.”
“That is not the answer. Keeping guns away from dangerous people, and people with mental illness, is what we need to do,” he said.
At Corcoran’s urging, Republican legislative leaders are also pushing creation of a commission, to be headed by the parent of one of slain students, and a special counsel to investigate how different agencies handled Cruz and identify any potential shortcomings in the law-enforcement and school systems.
Lawmakers are racing against the clock to pass a wide-ranging measure before the legislative session ends on March 9.
“Our job is to lead. Government has failed on multiple levels. It can never happen again. Our hope is that we will put together, jointly with the Senate, a proposal that will ensure it never happens again and we don’t fail our school students again,” Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, told reporters.
by Dara Kam and Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Pictured: Gov. Rick Scott discusses school safety on Friday. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photo Gallery: Molino Park Elementary Celebrates The Arts
February 24, 2018
Molino Park Elementary School held its annual Arts Day on Friday, with the students spending the day immersed in a variety of arts.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: Dancing to the beat of the Northview High School drum line during Arts Day Friday at Molino Park Elementary School. Pictured below: A performance by members of the Pensacola Symphony, twirlers from Twirl Girlz, and pottery with Larry Manning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Highway 29 Traffic Shifts Early Sunday North of I-10
February 24, 2018
Northbound traffic on Highway 29 between I-10 and Hannah Street (just south of Walmart) will be transitioned to the existing southbound lanes between during the early morning hours Sunday, weather permitting, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. Southbound traffic will continue traveling on temporary lanes. This traffic shift will be in place for several months as crews prepare for the next phase of construction on the east side of Highway 29. Image courtesy FDOT for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
‘Mr. Pervert’ Gets Prison Time For Cyberstalking
February 24, 2018
A man who called himself “Mr. Pervert” has been sentenced to prison for cyberstalking over two dozen individuals.
Sean Michael Vest of Pensacola pleaded no contest to 18 counts of aggravated stalking and eight counts of obscene or harassing phone calls.
He was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation.
Prosecutors said between December 2016 and January 2017, Vest cyberstalked at least 26 people in the area, mostly in Escambia County.
Vest’s conduct included repeatedly calling and text messaging the victims obscene messages in which he threatened sexual violence to them or their loved ones. In the messages, Vest referred to the victims by their names. He also sent many of them altered photographs of themselves and loved ones he had taken from social media sources. In the messages, Vest referred to himself as “Mr. Pervert”, according to the State Attorney’s Office