Storm Related Traffic Info From FDOT
October 7, 2017
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is providing an update on road and bridge closures and restrictions in Northwest Florida due to Nate.
FDOT has suspended interstate and highway construction in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties through Sunday, Oct. 8 to allow for the possible increase in traffic. All rail, transit and seaport facilities are functioning as normal. All construction activities will resume Monday, Oct. 9.
FDOT will assist first responders with traffic control, detours or road closures, but the department will suspend emergency response activities if Nate’s sustained winds reach tropical storm force of 45 mph or higher. Once conditions improve, crews will go back to working around the clock to clear all roadways.
Motorists are encouraged to monitor weather reports and road conditions and to be on the lookout for flooded roads. If the road ahead is flooded, turn around and find an alternate route. Flooded roads may hide the fact that the roadway is washed out underneath and as little as six inches of rushing water can force your car off the road.
For the latest closures and updates, travelers can access Florida’s 511 service from cell phones, landlines and online at www.FL511.com. For more information, follow FDOT on Twitter @myfdot_nwfl or on Facebook at Facebook.com/MyFDOTNWFL.
Bonus Gallery: Northview And Jay Bands And Cheerleaders
October 7, 2017
The Northview Chiefs visited the Jay Royals Friday night.
For a photo gallery featuring the Northview and Jay bands and cheerleaders, click here.
For a photo game action story and photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Friday Night Football Finals
October 7, 2017
Here are Friday night final football scores from around the North Escambia area:
FLORIDA
Jay 49, Northview 18
West Florida 17, Pine Forest 7
Escambia 35, Navarre 27
Madison County 45, Pensacola Catholic 6
Gulf Breeze 31, Fort Walton Beach 23
Crestview 30, Milton 7
Tate – Open
ALABAMA
Satsuma 30, Escambia County (Atmore) 14
Escambia Academy 38, Clarke Prep 8
Mobile Christian 51, Flomaton 19
W.S. Neal 34, Monroe County 14
.R. Miller 35, Excel 0
Pictured: The Jay Royals defeated the Northview Chiefs Friday night in Jay. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pickup Runs Off Road, Hits Peanut Vendor’s Trailer
October 7, 2017
A pickup truck ran off Highway 29 and struck a peanut vendor’s trailer Friday afternoon.
At least one person was reported to be inside the food trailer at the time of the accident. Two people were transported by ambulance to area hospital following their crash at Highway 29 and North Tate School Road.
Additional details have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Northview Homecoming Dance Canceled
October 7, 2017
Northview High School’s Homecoming Dance scheduled for Saturday night has been canceled, according to school officials.
It will be rescheduled, with the date to be announced. It may be a few weeks from now, but likely in October.
Century Council To Hold Workshop On ‘New Policies’
October 7, 2017
The Town of Century has set a special workshop meeting for Monday to discuss new town policies.
The meeting will be held at the town hall at 5:15 p.m. and will include policy discussions on the following topics:
- Budget – Overtime
- Overtime
- Adopt a Street
- Water Meter
- Reinstate Service
- Wastewater
- On Call
- Call Out & Vehicles after Hours
- Curbside Pickup
- Travel
- Town Logo
- Employee Handbook
- Smoking
The meeting is open to the public. Any discussion items will not become final until approved at a regular council meeting.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: November 30 Can’t Come Soon Enough
October 7, 2017
Hurricane Irma tore through Florida almost a month ago.
But the state continues to count its losses and look for ways to better prepare for hurricanes — all while hoping the latest storm doesn’t make a right-hand turn in the Gulf of Mexico.
Nov. 30 can’t come soon enough.
Maybe then, with the end of hurricane season, Floridians can let down their collective guard. And maybe Gov. Rick Scott will be able to shift out of emergency-management mode and hang up his Navy hat.
But while Scott and other officials have remained focused on hurricanes, the business of state government has resumed after Irma. One sign is that lawmakers will be back in the Capitol next week to prepare for the 2018 legislative session.
Meanwhile, the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, which meets every 20 years, is ratcheting up work as it prepares to place proposed constitutional amendments on the November 2018 ballot.
TAKING IT ON THE CHIN
All sorts of numbers spew out during and after a hurricane: the number of power outages, the number of insurance claims, the number of deaths and on and on.
But maybe the most-striking number this week was $2.5 billion.
An early estimate from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said Hurricane Irma caused more than $2.5 billion in damage to the agriculture industry when it made landfall Sept. 10 and then plowed up the state.
Making matters worse, the largest estimated losses — $761 million — came in the citrus industry, which already has been reeling from deadly greening disease. Also hit hard was the nursery industry, with almost $624 million in estimated losses.
“Florida agriculture took it on the chin as Hurricane Irma pummeled the state,” said Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who called the $2.5 billion figure “only an initial assessment.”
“We’re likely to see even greater economic losses as we account for loss of future production and the cost to rebuild infrastructure,” Putnam added.
The report estimated 421,176 acres of citrus were affected in Collier, Hendry, Lee, Brevard, Glades, Charlotte, St. Lucie, Highlands, Indian River, Okeechobee, DeSoto, Hardee, Osceola, Polk and Martin counties. Meanwhile, the nursery industry estimated that 46,204 acres of greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production was affected.
Agriculture, of course, is a major industry in Florida. But in Monroe County, where Irma made initial landfall, the concerns focus on restoring an even-bigger industry: tourism.
Scott appeared Wednesday in Key West to talk up recovery efforts. Also, the state tourism-marketing agency Visit Florida has rolled out a multimillion-dollar post-hurricane marketing plan that will include a component focused on the Keys, where tourism is a lifeblood.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get everybody to come down here,” Scott said. “We’ve already started that. On top of that we’re going to do a lot more through Visit Florida. The Legislature gave us $76 million to market our state and we’re going to put it to good use, especially right now. When people wonder, `Are we open for business?’ We absolutely are open for business.”
But it wasn’t exactly that simple. The Islamorada Resort Company estimated Monday that it may take up to six months to stagger the reopening of four resorts — Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina, Amara Cay Resort, La Siesta Resort & Marina and Pelican Cove Resort & Marina.
“We have engaged more than 500 construction workers who are currently doing everything they can to repair our properties so that we can welcome guests back in the near future,” said Eddie Sipple, the company’s area general manager.
The state’s recovery efforts could be complicated if another big storm hits Florida this fall. Scott and emergency managers were preparing Friday as Tropical Storm Nate raced up the Gulf of Mexico toward an expected landfall in Louisiana or Mississippi.
The storm, which likely will become a hurricane, could send heavy winds, storm surge and rain this weekend into Northwest Florida.
“We’re going to get rain. We’re going to get storm surge. We’re going to get wind. We don’t know how bad it’s going to be,” Scott said Friday during a briefing in Escambia County. “This storm, like all these storms, is going to change. So you have got to stay vigilant.”
STEMMING THE CONFUSION
It’s safe to say the Florida Constitution Revision Commission will never be as riveting as a hurricane. Don’t expect to see The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore reporting live from a commission meeting.
But the work of the 37-member panel could affect Florida for decades.
The commission and several committees held four days of meetings this week to sift through information and proposals. The ultimate goal is to agree on what likely will be a relative handful of proposed constitutional amendments that will go before voters in November 2018.
If approved by voters, those amendments will be the law of the state for the foreseeable future.
Drawing considerable attention this week were proposals dealing with Florida’s primary-election system.
“When it comes to the primary election, our voters are confused,” Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes told the Constitution Revision Commission’s Ethics and Elections Committee.
Many new voters move to Florida from other states with more open voting systems as opposed to Florida’s closed primaries, which are restricted to voters who are registered with parties. Florida is one of nine states using a closed-primary system.
Adding to the confusion is that more voters are opting not to join the Republican or Democratic parties but register with “no party affiliation” or in a host of minor parties. No-party affiliation is the fastest growing segment of the electorate and is particularly popular with young people, with more than one out of every four Florida voters falling into that category.
Steven Hough of the group Florida Fair and Open Primaries talked to the Ethics and Elections Committee about his proposal to change Florida’s closed-primary system to a “top-two” system where all voters could participate in primary elections.
Patterned after election systems used in California and Washington, Hough said the revision would place all candidates for an office in the primary, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election.
But maybe drawing more attention was a proposal to change what has become known as the “write-in candidate loophole.”
Florida opens primaries to all voters when all of the candidates are from the same party and there is no general-election opposition. But that has been undermined by a state Division of Elections ruling, upheld by the courts, that says the presence of a general election write-in candidate closes primaries, even if only one party has a primary election.
The net effect of the loophole is that the primary winner ends up as the only name on the general election ballot, virtually assuring a win. Snipes said the use of write-in candidates in Broward, the county with second-highest voter registration, is fairly common.
“What I see happen quite often is the write-in candidate is put into the race as a tool to close the race down,” Snipes said, saying many write-in candidates even drop out before the general election.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services estimated that Hurricane Irma caused more than $2.5 billion in damage to the state’s agriculture industry.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Sadly, (in) Florida we know what we’re doing after the Pulse nightclub.” — Attorney General Pam Bondi, as she and staff members prepared to go to Nevada to help victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
One Trapped In County Road 97 Wreck
October 6, 2017
At least one person was trapped in a single vehicle rollover crash Friday morning on South Country Road 97 near Piney Lane. The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol; further details have not yet been released. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Convicted Felons Arrested With 1,500 Rounds Of Ammo, Guns Outside Nine Mile Restaurant
October 6, 2017
Two convicted felons were arrested Tuesday night outside a West Nine Mile Road businesses in possession of several weapons and over 1,500 rounds of ammunition — one of the men allegedly high after huffing canned air, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Ronald Clark Roddenberrry, age 49 of Atmore and Christopher Aaron Roddenberry, age 28 of Cantonment, were both charged with felony possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Ronald Roddenberry was also charged with inhaling harmful chemicals. The family relationship between the two men, if any, was not released.
Deputies responded to Jersey Mike’s restaurant near Publix on West Nine Mile and Pine Forest roads after receiving a complaint about a man huffing a can of spray paint. A similar complaint was received from the West Nine Mile Road Home Depot store a few hours earlier. Ronald Roddenberry told deputies he was huffing canned air, not spray paint, inside the Home Depot, according to an arrest report.
After observing a shotgun in plan view in the vehicle used by the Roddenberrys, the vehicle was search. Deputies reported finding:
- a 12 gauge Robust double-barrel shotgun
- a Chinese model SKS 7.62 caliber rifle
- 1,000 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition in a box
- various other ammunition in an ammo can
- 17 rounds of 45 caliber CCI Blazer ammunition
- 1 loose round of 40 caliber ammunition
- 50 round of 40 caliber Monarch Smith & Wesson ammunition
- 25 rounds of UMC 45 caliber ammunition
- 38 rounds of Federal 9 mm ammunition
- 136 rounds of Federal 45 caliber ammunition
- 240 rounds of Norinco 7.62×36 ammunition
- 9 unknown caliber rifle cartridges
- can of air duster
- one long Chinese brand SKS magazine
- one short Chinese brand SKS magazine
The arresting deputy reported that Ronald Roddenberry appeared to be under the influence of narcotics.
The vehicle and firearms were not stolen, according to deputies.
Ronald Clark Roddenberry remained in the Escambia County Jail Friday morning with bond set at $16,000. Christopher Aaron Roddenberry remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $15,000.
Graffiti Bridge Painted For National 4-H Week
October 6, 2017
The Cool Clovers 4-H Club in Escambia County painted the “graffiti bridge” Thursday to mark National 4-H week. The Escambia County Commission recently proclaimed October 1-7 as National 4-H Week in Escambia County. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.