Cold Snap Arrives For Chilly Halloween

October 30, 2023

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. North wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 35. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 56. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 32. North wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 65. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 38. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 71. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 47. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 76. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 51.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 78.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 78.

Cold Front Sending Overnight Lows Into the 30s This Week

October 29, 2023

Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. North wind around 10 mph.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 60. North wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 35. North wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 57. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 33. North wind around 5 mph.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 39. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 72. Northeast wind around 10 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 48. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 76.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 79.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 53.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 80.

Florida Gas Prices Declining Again, AAA Says

October 29, 2023

Florida gas prices increased last week, but are moving lower once again. After tying the 2023-low of $3.22 per gallon last Monday, the state average shot up 10 cents to $3.32 per gallon, by Wednesday. The increase was in response to the rise in crude oil prices, which occurred two weeks ago.

Pensacola was the state’s least expensive metro market at $3.06 per gallon on average Sunday. In North Escambia, prices bottomed out at $2.89 at a a station on Highway 29 in Cantonment. A low of $2.84 was available in Pensacola on East Nine Mile Road.

Fortunately, crude oil prices fell last week, and gas prices are doing the same. Florida’s state average declined 4 cents per gallon, Friday-Sunday. The state average was $3.29 per gallon on Sunday. Visit GasPrices.AAA.com to view today’s daily average price.

The U.S. price of crude settled at $85.54 per barrel. That’s down $3.21 per barrel (-4%) from the week before. Gasoline futures declined 6 cents.

NorthEscambia.com photo.

Late TD Gives No. 24 Valdosta State 31-28 Win Over No. 18 UWF

October 29, 2023

Never was the old axiom about winning everywhere but on the scoreboard more apparent than in No. 18 UWF’s heartbreaking 31-28 loss to Gulf South Conference rival No. 24 Valdosta State Saturday night.

By most measures, the Argos (6-3, 4-2 GSC) outperformed the Blazers (8-1, 5-1 GSC). Yet, in the final tally, both on the scoreboard and in the GSC standings, Valdosta State came out on top.

UWF held the Blazers to minus-3 yards rushing and 272 yards of total offense while racking up 444 yards of offense (248 rushing and 196 passing), but a series of miscues – a fumble inside their own 5, a pair of missed kicks, a handful of passes that were ever so slightly out of rhythm, a key missed fourth-down conversion, and a few defensive hiccups – added up to three points too few.

“We’ve got to clean up mistakes,” head coach Kaleb Nobles said. “I’m looking at the stats and we won a lot of stats and did some good things, but there are no moral victories. Our guys have got to know. We’ve got to execute on third downs better. We’ve got to get them off the field better. On defense, we can’t give up drive-extending plays, and we’ve got to be better on special teams.”

Early in the contest, the Argos seemed poised to run away with the game. They quickly went ahead with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Peewee Jarrett to John Jiles on UWF’s first drive and followed with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Jamontez Woods 1-yard run and a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.

It was the first of two rushing touchdowns on the night for UWF as three players – Jarrett (120 yards), Woods (51), and CJ Wilson (70) – paced a strong ground attack.

Unfortunately, a second-quarter fumble on the UWF 3 resulted in a scoop-and-score for the Blazers and turned the game’s momentum.

“Those guys did a great job,” Nobles said. “I told the guys earlier in the week I wanted to run the football. We had good chances to run the ball. Peewee’s one of our best guys running the football. I gave him a lot of carries and he wants to do that. Best quarterback in the country in my opinion. He’s going to throw the ball well. He’s going to run the ball well.”

Nobles added, “I know everybody is going to focus on the fumble that flipped the momentum, but we are not in that game without CJ, Jamontez, Peewee, Jalen Bussey, those guys.”

In reality, the Argos shook off the fumble reasonably well. Indeed, after Valdosta State tied the game at 14, Jarrett connected with Jiles on a 33-yard pass to push to put UWF up 21-14.

The game would enter the break tied, though, after Blazers quarterback Sammy Edwards scored on a 6-yard run to cap a late-second-quarter drive that covered 77 yards.
Valdosta State didn’t hold a lead in the game until the 0:36 mark in the fourth quarter when Edwards connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass with Ted Hurst.
Jarrett guided the Argos to within field goal range with 1 second to play, but a 51-yard attempt by Griffin Cerra went wide right.

“Unfortunately, kicking is the toughest job on the team … because everybody’s watching you and everybody knows when you mess up,” Nobles said. “You can get covered up at other positions. Griff is going to know, because I am going to tell him enough this week, ‘Hey, it doesn’t change anything. You are our guy. You are the guy I trust, and you are the person we are going to put out there to go make plays … We trust Griff and we know he’s going to help us win games down the stretch.”

POSITIVE TAKEAWAYS NOT HARD TO FIND

Despite the disappointing outcome, there were plenty of positives for the Argos.
The defense, under first-year coordinator Kavell Conner, continued to impress, holding the Blazers to abysmal rushing numbers while keeping Edwards under duress most of the contest.

All told, the Argos sacked Edwards five times and registered seven quarterback hurries.

Junior defensive end Byron Puryear was a constant presence in the VSU backfield and ended the game with two-and-a-half sacks and four hurries to go along with six tackles.

“Get to the quarterback, that’s my job,” Puryear said. “Especially on third down. They brought me here to pass rush and that’s what I was trying to do.”

Senior linebacker Gael Laurent was the team leader in tackles with eight. Defensive tackles John McMullen (1½ sacks) Collin Shaw (1) accounted for the other tackles-for-loss on the Blazer quarterback.
Offensively, Jiles continued to rack up yards and touchdowns. His five receptions for 92 yards and two scores was a team-best and bumped his season tally to 49 catches for 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Caden Leggett was again solid, hauling in three passes for 50 yards.

STILL MUCH TO PLAY FOR

After the game, Argos players and coaches expressed a mixture of emotions – frustration about a game that slipped away, but also optimism for a season in which a postseason berth is still within reach, although no longer a given.

“We literally don’t know what the future holds for the playoffs, so the best thing you can really do is win out,” Jarrett said. “If you win out, you put the ball in the NCAA’s hands.”

Puryear added, “We’ve still got to play two games for the rest of the season. Nobody is going to quit on each other. We are just going to try to win out and see what it holds.”

For UWF, whatever the future holds will be decided on what the Argos do on the road next week against Mississippi College, where a 2 p.m. Saturday showdown with the 3-5 Choctaws awaits.

Although he said he wanted his team to let the loss “sting”, Nobles stressed that the team putting the Blazers in their rearview mirror quickly would be key as would maintaining the strong character they’ve displayed all season.

“Coaching in the good moments is easy, but coaching in these moments is when you really find out who you are as coaches and as men,” Nobles said. “I told those guys, don’t lose your belief. Don’t lose the heart that you’ve got. Don’t change who you are just because we lose a game. We’ve still got a chance.”

UWF returns home on Nov. 11 for the regular-season finale, a Senior Day contest against Chowan.

by UWF/photo Emily Miller/UWF

Man Found Shot to Death On Century Sidewalk Early Sunday Morning

October 29, 2023

A man was found shot to death early Sunday morning in Century. The man was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds on a sidewalk along North Century Boulevard, near Ramar Street about 1:15 a.m.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident as a homicide, and there were no suspects immediately known. Additional details were not available as the investigation continued.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident as a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to call the ECSO at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.

Century Blackcat Youth Basketball Registration is Now Open

October 29, 2023

Registration is now open for Century Blackcat Youth Basketball

  • Age groups:  Pre-Training – Boys and Girls  –  5-6 year old
  • Training -  Boys and Girls  –       7-8 year old
  • Junior Varsity – Boys          –       9-10 year old
  • Junior Varsity – Girls     –           9-10 year old
  • Varsity – Boys      –                      11-13 year old
  • Varsity – Girls            –                 11-13 year old

Rgister at  Centuryrec.com,  Registration closes November 8, ,2023.

File photo, click to enlarge.

Ashton Brosnaham Dog Park Closed Through November 5 Due To SEC Soccer Tourney

October 28, 2023

The dog park at the Ashton Brosnaham Athletic Park, 10370 Ashton Brosnaham Dr., will be closed during the SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament, Oct. 29 to Nov. 5. The dog park will re-open Monday, Nov. 6.

Residents with dogs are encouraged to visit the Beulah Regional Park, located at 7820 Mobile Highway; Regency Park, located at 8245 Fathom Road; or Santa Maria Plaza, located at 199 Madrid Road.

School Board Member and Newspaper Publisher, School District Bookkeeper, Reporter Charged with Revealing Grand Jury Information

October 28, 2023

An Escambia County, Alabama School Board member, who is a weekly newspaper owner and publisher, one of her reporters and a school board bookkeeper, were arrested Friday on charges related to allegedly revealing grand jury secrets.

Sherry Digmon, 72, the District 6 school board member, school district bookkeeper Veronica “Ashley” Fore, and reporter Donald Eugene Fletcher, 69 were all released on bond after being booked into jail on charges of revealing grand jury information.

Digmon is co-owner and publisher of The Atmore News which reported October 25 that the local district attorney was investigating COVID funds paid to school system employees. The paper also revealed that Digmon’s phone and that of another school board member had been seized under a search warrant. Both had recently voted against renewing an employment contract with Superintendent of Education Michele McClung.


Pictured top: Sherry Digmon Donald Eugene Fletcher, Veronica “Ashley” Fore.

Driver Charged With DUI Manslaughter After Fatal Munson Highway Crash

October 28, 2023

Christopher Shane Ammons, 49, was traveling north on Munson Highway and turning into a private driveway just north of Lawler Lane when the crash happened Saturday morning.

As Ammons was turning, troopers said a a car traveling north behind Ammons on the roadway attempted to pass his truck, resulting in the collision.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the front of his pickup truck collided with the passing car driven by a 22-year old Milton man about 10 a.m. Saturday, causing the car to leave the roadway and overturn. The driver was partially ejected and pronounced deceased on the scene. Two other 17-year old passengers in the car received minor injuries.

Ammons was charged with DUI manslaughter and booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail without bond.

Thousands Participate In Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk

October 28, 2023

Thousands of people took part in the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in downtown Pensacola Saturday morning.

An estimated 10,000 people took part in the walk, many walking  to honor loved ones fighting breast cancer or those that have lost their lives.

At last count Saturday, the event had raised $216,000.

Pictured: The Tate Lady Aggies Softball team took part in Saturday’s event.

Pictured: The Tate High School softball team and friends took part in Saturday’s walk. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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