Photos: A Rainy Day At The Pipes
February 11, 2018
Pictured is the view looking from The Pipes back toward Old Bridge Road near Cantonment on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
The Pipes is a Northwest Florida Water Management District day-use area that offers a picnic table, pedestal grill, portable toilet, and canoe/kayak launch on the Perdido River. The public area does not allow ATV’s or alcoholic beverage use.
Photo by Jared Sigler for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: Halfway Home
February 11, 2018
Optimists had cause to celebrate, but glass-half-empty types hung their heads as the 2018 legislative session reached the halfway point this week.
The middle of the 60-day session marks the time for “bills are dying” plaints to begin. And it also sets the stage for horse trading — “negotiation accompanied by shrewd bargaining and reciprocal concessions,” according to Merriam-Webster — to kick into overdrive between legislators, the governor and lobbyists.
The ideological differences and political aspirations of those involved have been playing out inside the Capitol since the first week of the session, when the House passed a number of bills over which Republican base voters are certain to lick their chops. GOP House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who’s mulling a run for governor, has orchestrated the efforts.
For example, the deeply divided House passed a proposal to ban “sanctuary cities” in the state, a Corcoran-backed effort that drew criticism from Democrats and helped lead to a scheduled debate next week between the speaker and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat who’s already in the governor’s race.
But a number of high-profile issues remain in flux as the countdown clock begins to tick.
Gov. Rick Scott and House and Senate leaders have made the opioid epidemic a top priority this session. The House and Senate both have earmarked more than $50 million to address prescription and street drug addiction, a national phenomenon that’s caused overdoses to skyrocket.
But Senate Rules Chairwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, has twice postponed a vote by the Rules Committee on her opioid proposal (SB 8). Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who’s slated to take over as president of the upper chamber after the November elections, said this week he’s in talks with Scott’s office about the bill.
The governor has pushed to restrict doctors to prescribing a maximum of three to seven days’ worth of narcotics, such as oxycodone, for acute pain.
But cardiac surgeons and orthopedists have repeatedly told lawmakers that’s not enough medication for patients who’ve undergone major operations, such as open-heart surgery. The doctors say the Legislature needs to leave decisions about their patients’ care to the experts.
Galvano indicated a deal might include some exceptions to the seven-day limit, an idea Scott’s office balked at during the first half of the session.
While the opioid legislation is still under construction, the House and Senate advanced their budgets this week, more than a week ahead of schedule, according to Senate President Joe Negron.
Those words ought to make even pessimists pleased, especially after everyone was dragged back to Tallahassee for a special session on education spending last year.
Let the shrewd bargaining and reciprocal concessions begin.
‘RANSOM’ DOLLARS FOR SCHOOLS
The House and Senate on Thursday approved separate versions of an $87 billion-plus state budget, with the two chambers taking different courses on health-care spending and a plan to link education policy to the budget process.
Although the two plans are only $100 million apart overall, a major hurdle facing negotiators is a House plan that directly links the $21 billion public-school portion of the budget to passage of a separate 198-page “conforming” bill (HB 7055), a move one Democrat branded as “ransom.” The conforming bill contains major education policy changes, including voucher-like scholarships to pay for bullied students to transfer to private schools.
Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, said the bullying scholarship provision, which would divert more than $40 million in sales taxes, is another example of shifting public funding to charter and private schools.
“These programs are slowly killing our traditional public schools,” Ausley said. “The proverbial death by a thousand cuts.”
But the proposal, along with other attempts to expand school choice, are a priority for Corcoran and his leadership team. House Education Chairman Michael Bileca, R-Miami, said the policy changes in the bill are aimed at helping students and their parents, rather than relying on the existing school system.
“Nowhere are we telling parents what to do. We are opening up the choices for them,” he said. “It’s the greatest accountability system we have in the world.”
Negron and Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, reiterated their position that the Senate is willing to consider the numerous education policies proposed by the House, but the Senate leaders want to keep policy and budget issues separate, the leaders said.
“It doesn’t offend me that a bill is 10 pages or 200 pages, as long as it goes through a proper process of vetting and people have an opportunity to amend, take out, put in, change language,” Bradley said.
RED-LIGHT CAMERAS IN THE CROSSHAIRS
Across the street from the Capitol, the Florida Supreme Court took up two high-profile cases this week, hearing arguments on red-light cameras and a challenge to the state’s anti-hazing law by a former member of Florida A&M University’s “Marching 100” band who’s now behind bars.
Dante Martin was sent to prison in the November 2011 death of Robert Champion, a Marching 100 drum major. Champion died after participating in a decades-old ritual known as “crossing Bus C,” in which band members are hit and slapped as they cross from the front to the back of a bus.
Martin, who was the “president” of Bus C, was charged with manslaughter, felony hazing resulting in death and two counts of hazing related to Champion’s death, which drew international attention and resulted in the ouster of the historically black university’s then-president, James Ammons, and long-serving band director, Julian White. An Orange County jury convicted Martin on all counts and a judge sentenced him to 77 months in prison.
But on Wednesday, Martin’s lawyers tried to convince the Supreme Court that the fatal hazing ritual was a “competition” authorized by state law.
Under Florida law, hazing “does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions or any activity or conduct that furthers a legal and legitimate objective,” Martin’s lawyer, Rupak Shah, told the justices.
But justices seemed skeptical of Shah’s arguments.
“What ordinary, customary competition is there (in) beating of someone?” Justice Peggy Quince asked.
“There are customary events, where beatings, boxing is recognized,” Shah answered.
Justice Barbara Pariente was even more pointed, asking if “hazings are competitions to see who can stay alive and who dies.”
But Shah said the hazing rite met one dictionary’s definition of “competition,” which requires “perseverance and endurance to overcome an obstacle.”
Shah’s rationale did not appear to satisfy Pariente.
“The idea that you’re advancing a theory of competition, that you’re equating this with a boxing match or a football game or hockey that gets out of hand, but that’s not what this was,” she said later.
The justices, meanwhile, seemed just as doubtful about a challenge related to the city of Aventura’s system of processing red-light camera citations.
Lawyers asked the court to quash a ticket issued to Luis Torres Jimenez after a red-light camera captured an image of an illegal right turn.
Wednesday’s arguments in the case centered on the role that American Traffic Solutions, Inc. — a major player in the industry — has in handling red-light traffic violations.
Up to 35 percent of the images, which are sorted by ATS employees, are rejected, according to court documents. The rest are given to city traffic enforcement officials, who decide whether to issue citations or not.
Stephen Rosenthal, who represents Jimenez, told the court that a state law, passed in 2010, allows third-party contractors to review the images, but only traffic enforcement officers can actually issue citations.
Aventura’s system is unlawful because no city official “reviews” the images the vendor’s employees deem are not violations, meaning that the private company ultimately decides which drivers not to ticket, Rosenthal argued.
“Mr. Jimenez was subjected to unauthorized screening by the vendors,” he said.
But several justices appeared skeptical of Rosenthal’s position.
“Is it a misery-loves-company argument?” Justice Charles Canady asked. “I’m struggling. If he violated the statute, I don’t see what he has to complain about because … other people who might have violated the statute don’t get dragged into the net.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: The House and Senate passed competing versions of the state budget, setting up negotiations over the $87 billion spending plan.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “At some point I would hope the department would stop looking for a scapegoat and just do its job.” Sen. Kevin Rader, a Delray Beach Democrat who helps chair the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee, scolding Office of Medical Marijuana Use Director Christian Bax about delays in implementation of a constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida.
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Residents Evacuated As Fire Causes Assisted Living Facility Damage (With Photo Gallery)
February 10, 2018
A fire allegedly started intentionally by a resident led to damage and the evacuation of an assisted living facility late Saturday morning.
The resident allegedly set fire to a mattress in his room at the Enon Country Manor on Enon School Road. about eight miles southwest of Walnut Hill. There were 22 residents and two staff members evacuated outside into a cool rain without injury. They were eventually moved out of the weather into vans and other vehicles.
Responding firefighters were able to contain the fire to the resident’s room, but an additional portion of the building suffered smoke damage. It was not immediately known when the residents would moved back into the facility.
The fire is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
The residents were moved back into the facility in the late afternoon.
For a photo gallery, click here.
According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the Enon County Manor is licensed for up to 25 residents.
Pictured top and inset: Residents of the Enon Country Manor outside in a cool rain watching firefighters work after a resident allegedly set a fire Saturday morning. Pictured below: The fire reportedly started on a mattress. Melted blinds and a busted, smoked window can be seen in the bottom photograph. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Saturday Morning Crash Claims Life Of Cantonment Woman
February 10, 2018
A Saturday morning crash claimed the life of a Cantonment women.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 23-year old Kaitlin Nicole Neese ran off Highway 297A between Eight Mile Creek Road and Heather Drive about 6:30 a.m., over-corrected and collided with a ditch, causing her 1996 Saturn to become airborne. The vehicle then hit a tree in a yard in the 3900 block of Highway 297A.
Neese was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Pictured: This crash on Highway 297A claimed the life of a Cantonment woman Saturday morning. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Don’t Stop Working For It: Winter Olympian Is From Northwest Florida
February 10, 2018
Update 2/21: Mia Mangenello and her speed skating team won the bronze medal in team pursuit, the first medal for U.S. women’s speed skating in 16 years.
Don’t stop working for it is the mantra of a Winter Olympian from Northwest Florida.
Speed skater Mia Mangenello, 28, was born in Fort Walton Beach and later lived in Crestview.
Mangenello’s parents opened Mia’s Italian Restaurant in Crestview and named it after her before selling it. Mia worked there growing up. They later opened Dominic’s Pizzeria in Valparaiso (it’s named for her dad). To this day, she still eats pizza to unwind after competitions.
“As a young child I quickly discovered my talent with inline skating and began to excel in the sport. When inline skating gave way to speed skating, I realized my life passion. With the abundant support of my family, we moved to Salt Lake City, UT, so I could train and pursue an Olympic dream,” she said.
After the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics inspired Manganello to switch from inline roller skating to speed skating, the then-13-year-old and her family made the move from Crestview.
In 2010, however, Manganello missed earning a spot on the U.S. team for the Vancouver Olympics and decided to step off the ice.
“I discovered a new love — competitive cycling,” she said.
She spent the next six years competing in cycling, believing that her speed skating days were over.
“In the winter of 2015, after a long break and a visit back to Salt Lake, the ice called once again. I competed in my first speed skate events in six years, ” Manganello said.
Her comeback was solidified when she claimed three titles at the 2017 U.S. Championships: the 1500m, 5000m and 3000m, which she won with a time that matched the American record. She was a member of the U.S. team at the 2017 World Single Distance Championships, where she finished 13th in the 3000m and 14th in the 1500m.
“Never stop dreaming,” she said online from Gangneung Ice Arena in South Korea. “They really do come true.”
Pictured top: Olympian Mia Mangenello is a Northwest Florida native. Pictured inset: Mangenello sports the official U.S. Olympic team’s official apparel. Pictured below: Mia Mangenello with her parents outside the restaurant in Crestviwe that bears her name. Courtesy photos for NorthEcambia.com, click to enlarge.
One Seriously Injured In Crash; Dog Rescued
February 10, 2018
One person was seriously injured in a single vehicle crash Friday afternoon on I-10 in Pensacola, while their dog was rescued in good condition from the wreckage.
The Jeep SUV ran off the roadway and struck a tree. After being extricated from the vehicle, the victim was transported by ambulance as a “trauma alert” to an area hospital. Further details have not been released by he Florida Highway Patrol as they continue their investigation.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward Names Valentine’s Court
February 10, 2018
Ernest Ward Middle School held its annual Valentine’s Dance Friday night, naming a queen and her court based upon student votes.
King Noah Harigel and Queen Shelby Rice reigned over the dance, along with their court: Sixth Grade Knight Bentley Van Pelt, Sixth Grade Maiden Carsyn Dortch, Seventh Grade Knight Kaden Odom and Seventh Grade Elianna Morales.
Pictured top: King Noah Harigel and Queen Shelby Rice. Pictured below: Seventh Grade Knight Kaden Odom and Seventh Grade Elianna Morales. Pictured bottom: Sixth Grade Knight Bentley Van Pelt, Sixth Grade Maiden Carsyn Dortch. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Friday Night Homicide Suspect In Custody
February 10, 2018
A homicide suspect was taken into custody Friday night a short distance from the crime.
Patrick Miles Smith was wanted in connection with the murder that happened about 8:30 p.m. in the Ensley area.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the homicide appears to be domestic violence related.
The ECSO is not releasing further information at this time.
Any with information on this incident is asked to contact the Sheriff’ Office at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP
Updates will be published on NorthEscambia.com as available.
Gov. Scott Appoints Two To UWF Board
February 10, 2018
Governor Rick Scott announced the appointments of Alonzie Scott and Jill Singer to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees.
Alonzie Scott, 59, of Philadelphia, is the program manager for the Naval Sea Systems Command in Philadelphia. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of West Florida. Scott succeeds LuTimothy May and is appointed for a term beginning February 9, 2018 and ending January 6, 2023.
Jill Singer, 55, of Virginia, is the vice president of national security for AT&T Public Sector. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of West Florida. Singer is appointed to fill a vacant seat for a term beginning February 9, 2018 and ending January 6, 2021.
The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
Escambia 4-H Kids Really Know Their Bugs; Team Places Second In State
February 10, 2018
The Escambia County Junior 4-H Insect ID and Skill-a-Thon team really knows their bugs — the team place second in the recent Florida 4-H Insect-a-Thon contest at the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida.
The Skill-a-Thon consisted of insect identification, insect damage matching, a pollinators test, and adult/juvenile insect identification. In addition to the second place junior team (ages 8-10), intermediate (ages 11-13) and senior (ages 14+) teams from Escambia 4-H also competed.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.