Unemployment Rate Dropping
May 20, 2017
The latest job numbers released Friday show the employment rate decreasing in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Escambia County’s seasonably adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 4.3 percent in March to 3.9 percent in April. There were 5,643 people reported unemployed during the period. One year ago, unemployment in Escambia County was 4.7 percent.
“The creation of more than 3,500 jobs by businesses in the Pensacola area is great news for families in Northwest Florida. We have been laser focused on making Florida the most business-friendly state in the nation and we will continue to fight every day to grow our economy and market our state as the best place to create new jobs and opportunities.”
The industries with the largest job gains in Pensacola over the year were leisure and hospitality with 1,500 new jobs and trade, transportation and utilities with 1,200 new jobs. The Pensacola area had 5,089 job openings in April, including 1,440 openings for high-skill, high-wage STEM occupations.
Santa Rosa County unemployment rate fell from 4.0 percent in March to 3.7 percent in April. Santa Rosa County had a total of 2,835 persons still unemployed. The year-ago unemployment rate in Santa Rosa County was 4.2 percent.
Florida’s jobless rate for April stood at 4.5 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from March, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The figures estimate there were 460,000 jobless Floridians in April — 25,000 fewer than a month earlier — out of a workforce that has grown over the past year by 371,000 to 10.14 million. But while pointing to the private sector growing by 15,000 jobs during the past month, Scott repeated his criticism of legislative decisions to reduce funding for tourism-marketer Visit Florida and to reject spending on business incentives through Enterprise Florida.
The jobless numbers released by the state do not include persons that have given up on finding a job and are no longer reported as unemployed.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos Top The Mobile BayBears 3-2
May 20, 2017
Pensacola’s pitching staff has lead the Southern League all season and tonight’s game was no different for the Blue Wahoos. The bullpen held the Mobile BayBears to only one hit in 4.1 innings of work as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos won 3-2 at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
After a quiet start of the game from both teams, the Blue Wahoos offense came to life in the bottom of the second. Right fielder Aristides Aquino started the inning with a walk and scored after a double by designated hitter Eric Jagielo.
Mobile’s starting pitcher, Alex Blackford, allowed Jagielo to advance to third on a wild pitch, his first of the year. Shortstop Blake Trahan brought home Jagielo on a single right up the middle to give the Blue Wahoos a 2-0 lead.
With two outs in the inning, catcher Adrian Nieto knocked in a double to right-center to bring home Trahan for the Blue Wahoos final run of the game. The Pensacola bats stayed hitless the reminder of the night as the Pensacola bullpen took control of the last half of the game.
Starter Austin Ross pitched a season low 4.2 innings giving up seven hits and two runs along with four walks and four strikeouts. RHP Domingo Tapia took the mound with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning and forces Mobile’s Alberto Triunfel into a groundout.
Tapia went on to pitch 2.1 hitless innings, walking only one and striking out three to earn his second win of the season.
RHP Jimmy Herget secured his 11th save of the season with 2.0 innings of solid work giving up only one hit and one strikeout.
Inmate Suffers Life Threatening Injuries In Century Correctional Altercation
May 19, 2017
An inmate suffered life threatening injuries during an alteration at Century Correctional Institution Thursday afternoon.
Escambia County EMS initially responded to a call of a victim with multiple “puncture wounds”, according to an Escambia County spokesperson. The inmate was airlifted by LifeFlight helicopter to a Pensacola hospital for treatment.
“Yesterday, an inmate was injured as a result of an apparent inmate-on-inmate altercation at Century Correctional Institution,” Ashley Cook, press secretary for the Florida Department of Corrections, said Friday morning. “The incident is currently under investigation by the Department’s Office of the Inspector General. Due to the open and active investigation into this incident, this is all of the information currently available.”
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Inmate Serving Life For Murder Assaults Three Century Correctional Institution Officers
May 19, 2017
Monday, a close custody inmate serving a life sentence assaulted three correctional officers at Century Correctional Institution, according to information just released by the Florida Department of Corrections.
Inmate Matthew Marshall assaulted the officers at approximately 9:10 a.m. Marshall struck the officers, one on his forearm, a second officer in the face and third on their hand. Staff responded, and the inmate was subdued.
Marshall will receive a disciplinary report for this assault. The FDOC did not release any information about the condition of the three correctional officers condition or need for outside medical care.
Marshall was sentenced in November 2016 to life in prison on a Lee County conviction for second degree murder, abuse of a human corpse and obstructing a criminal investigation.
This inmate on staff assault is not related the to the apparent stabbing of an inmate on Thursday (click here to read more).
Sheriff’s Office ‘Clean Sweeps’ Cottage Hill
May 19, 2017
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office held a Clean Sweep operation Thursday morning in the Cottage Hill area.
The focus of “Operation Clean Sweep” was to work with the Cottage Hill Neighborhood Watch group, residents, churches and business owners to control and prevent the damaging effects of criminal activity, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Volunteers also worked throughout the day to clean trash and debris from alongside neighborhoods streets.
Escambia Sheriff’s Office deputies, the ECSO mounted possee, ECUA, Probation and Parole, volunteers from NAS Pensacola and civilian volunteers worked on the sweep all morning.
Six warrants were served, eight arrests were made, 20 code violations were issued by Escambia County Code Enforcement and 13 traffic citations were issued.
The next Clean Sweep will be in the Motley Court neighborhood on June 22 at 8:00 a.m. To request a Clean Sweep, contact Commander Tharp (850) 436-9939 or Sgt. C. Cephas at (850) 554-1202. The next Clean Sweep in the North Escambia area will be October 19 in Century.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward Students Learn About ‘The Choice’ To Stay In School, Out Of Prison
May 19, 2017
Students at Ernest Ward Middle School are learning a life lesson about choices this week..
They are touring “The Choice Bus”, sponsored by the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation.
The students enter the school bus and watch a short movie about the choice between staying in school through graduation or dropping out. They learn their lifelong earning potential is much greater with an education, and that their chances of landing in prison are much greater if they drop out. The movie features powerful testimonies from prison inmates that dropped out of the school.
After watching the movie, the television and a curtain are pulled back to reveal a prison cell — the stark reality experienced by many dropouts. The students are able to squeeze into the tiny cell to experience just how uncomfortable it is and learn exactly what it’s like for one’s toilet and sink to be the same fixture.
As students exit the bus, they receive a pledge card and are asked to make a commitment to finish school and make good choices.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Bratt Elementary Names Students Of The Month
May 19, 2017
The following students (pictured above) were named Students of the Month for May at Bratt Elementary School.
Kendal Ard
Mason Bodiker
Michael Butler
Sarah Classen
Za’mya Clemmons
Talaysha Curry
Carlie Davis
Addison Eicher
Scotty Elliott
Pryce Flowers
Raleigh Gibson (not pictured)
Derek Kinley
Justin Kinley
Keeli Knighten
Trevor Knighten
Mya McCants
Cameron Moore (not pictured)
Cooper Roberts
Landen Robertson
Kaden Seelig (not pictured)
Jackson Sellers
Jacob Spence
Wyatt Spence
Jake Warner
The students pictured below, Keeli Knighten and Mason Bodiker, were chosen to represent Bratt Elementary School as Escambia County Students of the Month for May.
Florida Supreme Court Rules Against Poarch Creek Gretna Track, Slots Expansion
May 19, 2017
In a highly anticipated decision, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday squashed a broad expansion of slot machines in at least eight counties, saying the decision to allow pari-mutuels to add the lucrative games rests with the Legislature, not voters.
The unanimous decision, siding with state regulators in a lawsuit filed by Poarch Creek Entertainment’s Gretna Racing, not only puts the kibosh on slots for the tiny Gadsden County horse track but also for pari-mutuels in seven other counties — Brevard, Duval, Hamilton, Lee, Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Washington — where voters have approved slots in referendums.
“…There is no specific constitutional or statutory authority for Gadsden County to act on the subject of slot machine gaming,” Justice Charles Canady wrote in Thursday’s 16-page main opinion.
The ruling is based on a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2004 that authorized voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to allow slots.
Thursday’s decision upheld a decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which struggled with the slots issue. The appeals court initially ruled for Gretna Racing but then reversed itself and sided in October 2015 with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Gov. Rick Scott’s administration in saying slots should not be allowed.
In both decisions, the appellate judges asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue of whether pari-mutuels can have slot machines if local voters approve, or if the games require the express say-so of the Legislature.
Thursday’s ruling also came after lawmakers this spring failed to reach consensus on a sweeping gambling measure designed to create a framework for a new agreement with the Seminole Tribe. Questions about whether the Supreme Court would allow slot machines in counties across the state loomed over the legislative talks.
Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, issued a statement Thursday that said the Supreme Court “confirmed that the responsibility to determine the future of gaming in Florida lies with the elected members of the Legislature.”
“With current law upheld, the Legislature now has every opportunity to shape gaming policy for our state in a manner that respects both the authority of local referendums and the ongoing relationship with the Seminole Tribe, without the underlying concern that a court ruling could suddenly upend productive negotiations,” Negron said.
Representatives of Creek Entertainment/Gretna, which operates the Gadsden County facility, said in a statement they were disappointed that “the Florida Supreme Court did not agree with our interpretation of the law and because of this ruling, we are now unable to create new jobs.’
But Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who was the Senate’s chief negotiator on gambling issues and is slated to take over as president late next year, said the Supreme Court ruling leaves lawmakers in a “very strong position” in the future.
“The court has confirmed the authority in the Legislature and has not wrested it away from us to decide how and to what extent we want the expansion with slots, without having this major impact on the existing compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida,” Galvano told The News Service of Florida on Thursday.
Galvano’s House counterpart, Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, R-Miami, said he wasn’t surprised the Supreme Courted waited until after the legislative session ended this month before issuing the opinion.
“I think they wanted to wait to see if the Legislature was going to act,” Diaz said in a telephone interview.
The Seminole Tribe and the state have been trying to hash out a deal, known as a “compact,” after a component of a 2010 agreement giving the Seminoles “exclusive” rights to operate banked card games, such as blackjack, expired in 2015.
Under the current compact, the tribe has exclusive rights to operate slots outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, in exchange for about $120 million in revenues to the state annually. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the Gretna case a year ago, and the issue weighed heavily on lawmakers as they contemplated changes to the Seminole compact.
After failing for years to get the Legislature to act, pari-mutuels in various parts of the state turned to county referendums to push the slots forward
.
Thursday’s unanimous ruling made it clear that counties and pari-mutuel lobbyists will have to go back to the Legislature for a possible expansion of slots.
“The uncertainty of a court decision provides some level of impetus for the Legislature to act. So, of course, we would have preferred the court to rule in our favor. But nothing has changed. We will still be lobbying for the same slots authorization language we have pushed for the last couple of years,” lobbyist Nick Iarossi, who represents pari-mutuels in Brevard and Duval counties, told The News Service of Florida.
The Supreme Court decision takes pressure off lawmakers, especially House members loath to expand gambling by allowing slots in the referendum counties, to craft a deal that would expand slots. It also eliminates the possibility of a special session on the topic.
“This gives us the ability to step back, catch our breath, doesn’t send a rocket into the compact, and now we can continue on a more measured approach to determine how we renew our accord with the Seminole tribe and what decisions we make going forward with regard to expansion,” Galvano said.
Canady’s dense and lawyerly opinion, based largely on two previous state court decisions, prompted Justice R. Fred Lewis to offer a concurring opinion “in more simple and direct terms.”
“Because slot machines are generally prohibited, Gadsden County does not have and cannot assert home rule powers as a basis to support a referendum on slot machine gambling,” Lewis wrote.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Injured Eagle Rescued Near Cantonment Has Died
May 19, 2017
An eagle initially rescued by a group of a good Samaritans earlier this month near Cantonment has died.
The injured eagle was left in the roadway after it flew into a car ahead of Alexis Rivers on Beulah Road, near the Perdido Landfill, on May 6. The eagle did not try to get out of the road, so Alexis’ husband Rotario stepped up to carefully move it off of the asphalt.
The eagle was taken to the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida to recover. The sanctuary has confirmed that the eagle died from liver damage and toxins in its system, not the car crash.
Photos courtesy Alexis Rivers for NorthEcambia.com, click to enlarge.
Scott Ready To Consider BP Settlement Plan
May 19, 2017
A proposal to open the tap on BP oil-spill settlement money for Northwest Florida counties hard hit by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster has reached Gov. Rick Scott’s desk.
The measure, which allocates to eight Gulf Coast counties $300 million of $400 million received by the state last year, was among 37 bills sent to Scott on Thursday.
The eight counties — Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton — are also slated to get three-fourths of the remainder of the $2 billion the state is expected to receive for damages associated with the BP disaster, which dumped millions of gallons of oil less than 100 miles off the Florida coast.
Scott has until June 2 to sign, veto or allow the bills to become law without his signature.
by The News Service of Florida