Northview Falls To Chipley (With Photo Gallery)
April 21, 2017
The Northview Chiefs fell to Chipley on Tuesday, 10-3.
Hitting for Northview — Jamia Newton 0-3, R; Kendall Enfinger 1-4 R, RBI; Aubree Love 1-4, R, RBI, 2B; Peighton Dortch 2-3, RBI, 2B; Alana Brown 1-2; Terriana Redmond 1-3.
Tori Herrington pitched seven for the Chiefs, allowing nine hits while striking out 10.
NorthEscambia.com photos, and photos by Ditto Gorme for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Corrections Agency Scraps Prison Health Contract
April 21, 2017
Citing shortcomings in mental-health services at a South Florida prison, state corrections officials are terminating a contract with a private health-care provider months before the deal was set to expire.
Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones on Wednesday canceled the contract with Wexford Health Sources, giving the Pittsburgh-based company a required 180-day notice of termination. The cancellation notice means that Wexford will have to pull out of Florida prisons before its contract was set to expire in December.
Jones cited a scathing review this month from the Correctional Medical Authority about “the apparent lack of psychotropic medications prescribed and administered” to most of the patients receiving mental health services at a Doral facility.
The report, sent to Jones this week, included examples of inmates’ medications being cut off and inmates getting put in restraints instead of being treated with medications.
At the time of the correctional authority’s survey over a two-day period this month, only one of 37 inmates was prescribed psychiatric medications, according to the report.
“Although, not all inmates may meet the criteria to be placed on medications, the clinical justification for discontinuation was not always present in the medical record and often occurred without consideration of titration or possible withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, there was no evidence in the records reviewed, that medications were considered when the inmate’s mental status continued to decline,” the report found.
But in an email to The News Service of Florida, Wexford took “strong exception” to the findings and accused Jones of not allowing the company to respond to the allegations before terminating the contract.
“We treat every patient under our care with respect and dignity, and with the full hope that we can help restore them to mental health. Isolated cases involving inmates with histories of mental problems would not appear to be the basis for termination of an entire contract,” Wexford spokeswoman Wendelyn Pekich said in an email.
But the report draws attention to the types of cases that have earned the department a black eye after reports of inmate abuse at the hands of prison guards and of corrections’ officers lack of training in how to handle mentally ill prisoners.
For example, the report documented the case of one inmate whose medications were discontinued after he was processed into the prison.
After entering the facility, the inmate’s “behavior escalated, as evidenced by smearing feces, multiple self-inflicted lacerations to his arm, as well as banging, threatening, and continuing to cut himself,” according to the report sent to Jones.
The behavior “continued for hours” until a clinician was notified, according to the report.
The patient was placed in restraints, but “there was no documentation that emergency medications were considered,” the evaluators reported.
“Secretary Jones is absolutely outraged at Wexford’s lack of performance and delivery of services” described in the report, the department said in a statement Thursday. “The department has been committed to meaningful health care reforms and takes the issues detailed in the CMA’s notification extremely seriously. Following this medical emergency notification, the department immediately deployed a mental health ombudsman and behavioral health risk management team to review all inmate mental health needs handled by Wexford at South Florida Reception Center.”
Wexford objected that, while privacy laws restricted the company’s ability to respond to the specific examples cited in the report, “there was nothing in the treatment of these inmates that should, or could, justify contract termination based on medical considerations alone,” Pekich said.
“It is extremely disappointing that the department acted without consulting with our psychiatric providers regarding the affected inmates, in order to determine why our personnel, relying on their professional judgment, pursued the chosen course of treatment. Instead, the department relied on CMA’s non-psychiatric auditors, who — without being licensed psychiatrists — told the department how they thought these patients should have been treated. These allegations led to the declaration of an emergency situation,” Pekich said.
Jones move to sever ties with Wexford came after after Corizon Health in late 2015 notified the state that it was walking away from a five-year, $1.2 billion deal three years early. The Tennessee-based company claimed it was losing money on its contract with the state.
Corizon managed health care for about three-fourths of the state’s 100,000 inmates, while Wexford — lauded by prison officials until recently for its performance — handles about 18,000 prisoners in the southern portion of the state.
Jones came under fire for signing a no-bid, $268 million contract with Centurion of Florida LLC in January 2016 to take over for Corizon. Wexford’s contract with the state was unaffected by the Centurion deal.
Jones decided to redo the health care services contracts in 2015, and issued an invitation to negotiate for select companies to submit proposals. Wexford and Centurion are two of the three companies vying for the contracts, which Jones has broken up into pieces, including mental health services.
Wexford, Centurion and Correct Care Solutions are all in the running to deliver mental health services to the state’s prison system. Centurion and Wexford are also vying to provide medical services, according to the corrections department.
The cancellation of Wexford’s contract is the latest twist in a drawn-out controversy over health care for Florida prisoners.
Earlier this month, the state and Corizon agreed to pay about $2.1 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates who claimed the state agency and the company denied hernia operations to save money.
The embattled corrections agency has been under scrutiny for several years in the wake of reports of inmate deaths at the hands of prison guards, cover-ups regarding inmate deaths and allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers.
Appearing before lawmakers, Jones has stressed the need to beef up mental health services for inmates, citing treatment issues as a safety concern for prison guards as well as inmates.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Tate Beats Escambia
April 21, 2017
BASEBALL
Tate 7, Escambia 3
The Tate Aggies beat Escambia Thursday night 7-3.
Reid Halfacre was 4-4 for the Aggies with a three singles and a double.
The Aggies took the lead in the fourth with three runs — a double from Logan McGuffey driving in one run, and two runs on a double from Logan Blackmon. The Aggies added three more in the fifth with scores on a single from Halfacre and a triple by Mason Land.
McGuffey earned the win for Tate, pitching seven innings giving up three runs, five hits and striking out six.
Tate 14, Escambia 2 (JV)
Wahoos Off To Best Start In Team History
April 21, 2017
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are off to its best start in franchise history winning 10 of its last 11 games and sixth game in a row.
They were winning with pitching and defense. The ball club has the lowest ERA in the Southern League at 2.48, which offset the Blue Wahoos hitting below the Mendoza line.
In its past three games, Pensacola has scored 22 runs on 35 hits to improve to 11-3 – the best record in the Southern League. It defeated the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 8-5, Thursday in front of 4,311 at Blue Wahoos Stadium and have now captured all three of its series to start the season.
Blue Wahoos manager Pat Kelly isn’t surprised the team is winning, especially with its average rising by 34 points to .228.
“Early on good pitching kept us in the ball game,” he said. “It’s good to see the offense come alive. We’re a good ball club. We won that Biloxi series and we hadn’t been able to win a series there until then.”
Both right fielder Aristides Aquino and first baseman Angelo Gumbs hit bombs to lead the Blue Wahoos offense Thursday.
Gumbs, who went 3-4, scored twice and knocked in two runs, said the team has gelled. An everyday player last season in High-A, he now is coming off the bench and splitting time with Eric Jagielo at first base.
“We have a great group of guys,” said Gumbs, who is hitting .364. “Everyone is close in there. We push each other to get better every game.”
Pensacola’s lineup exploded at the plate in the second inning with Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin’s advice earlier this week to be aggressive at the plate apparently ringing in their ears. The team hit for the cycle with a single, two doubles, a triple and home run to score five runs and go up, 5-1.
Aquino punished a pitch to the opposite field for a two-run homer that barely cleared the fence near the right field foul pole. The first Double-A home run for Aquino, the Cincinnati Reds Minor League Player of the Year last season, also drove in left fielder Gabriel Guerrero, who led off the inning with a double.
Leading, 2-1, Gumbs then hit a high pop up in short right field that fell between three Jacksonville defenders for a hit. Blue Wahoos third baseman Taylor Sparks then ripped a grounder into the left field corner for a double that scored Gumbs from first base, giving Pensacola a 3-1 lead. Still with no outs, center fielder Brian O’Grady lifted a high fly ball to right center that bounced off the top of the wall for a triple that drove in Sparks to make it 4-1.
With one out and O’Grady at third, Blue Wahoos shortstop Blake Trahan hit a chopper to Jacksonville second baseman David Vidal who threw home trying to get O’Grady out but he slid to the back of home plate to put Pensacola ahead, 5-1.
Kelly said it was good for power hitters Aquino and Gumbs to club their first homers of the season, so they can relax more at the plate.
“You don’t see a lot of home runs drilled to right field like that,” Kelly said of Aquino’s blast in the second inning. “It’s a good sign when he’s going the opposite way.”
Vidal, who played parts of the 2012 and 2013 seasons with the Blue Wahoos, hit his first home run of the season in the second inning to give Jacksonville a 1-0 lead. He also drove in the Jumbo Shrimps’ second run with a double in the fourth inning that drove in right fielder John Norwood to pull them within, 5-2.
Jacksonville fought back within one run in the fifth, 5-4, when Alex Glenn blasted a line drive triple into the right center gap getting both shortstop Alex Yarbrough and center fielder Jeremias Pineda.
But in the sixth, Pensacola scored three runs including a two-run homer that Gumbs pulverized to left field to go up 8-4.
Pensacola again made some spectacular defensive plays. The Blue Wahoos turned a double play in the sixth inning when Vidal bunted back to Blue Wahoos’ pitcher Deck McGuire who threw him out at first. Gumbs then alertly threw to third base where Pensacola catcher Devin Mesoraco sprinted to cover the bag, and in one move leapt to catch the throw and tagged out Norwood. Trahan followed that by cutting off a sharp grounder headed to center field and throwing off balance to get catcher Cam Maron out to end the sixth inning.
Mesoraco also picked off Jacksonville first baseman Taylor Ard at second in the fifth inning with Jumbo Shrimp pitcher Mike Kickham batting. Sent to Pensacola for 20 days of rehabilitation to recover from surgeries to both hips and his left shoulder, the 2014 All-Star has started to shine behind the plate.
Pensacola’s McGuire, a first-round pick in 2010, started the game strong, striking out the side in both the first and second inning, although he did serve up a dinger. He retired the last 11 hitters he faced in his start against the Biloxi Shuckers and struck out the first four Thursday.
McGuire earned his first Blue Wahoos win, throwing six innings, giving up six hits, four runs, two walks and striking out seven.
“He’s been through a lot of organizations (five) in a small amount of time,” Kelly said. “They were messing with his mechanics. We told him to throw like Deck McGuire throws and don’t worry about it.”
Century Correctonal To Host Hiring Event Friday
April 20, 2017
The Florida Department of Corrections will host a hiring event Friday at Century Correctional Institution.
The FDOC is seeking certified or non-certified correctional officer applicants. Attendees should bring the following to the event: driver’s license, legible copy of birth certificate, social security card, high school diploma, GED or college transcripts and any name change documents (if applicable), such as a marriage certificate. Veterans and current reservists/Guardsmen should bring a copy of their DD-214 or military ID, respectively.
In order to take the Criminal Justice Abilities Test (required for employment), a money order is required in the amount of $12 made payable to the Florida Department of Corrections.
The event will take place at 9 a.m. Friday attendees should arrive no later than 8:30 a.m.) at the Century Correctional Institution Training Building at 400 Tedder Road in Century.
For more employment information, contact Recruitment Officer Joseph deGraaf at (850) 256-6411 or email joseph.degraaf@fdc.myflorida.com.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
ECSO Warns Of Phone Scam
April 20, 2017
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of an ongoing phone scam.
In the scam, residents receive a call from a man who claims to be Sgt. Brewer from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The proceeds to tell the victim that there is a warrant for their arrest, but the problem can be resolved for cash or a Visa gift card.
But the ECSO say they never ask residents for money.
Multiple people have reported the scam to deputies. Anyone that believes that they have been of victim of the scam is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620.
Escambia Man Sentenced On 16 Child Porn Counts
April 20, 2017
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to prison on child pornography charges.
Daryl Emory Bruner, 37, was sentenced to 17 years and 4 months in state prison by Circuit Judge John Miller for 15 counts of possessing child pornography and one count of transmitting child pornography. After his release from prison, Bruner will be on sexual offender probation for 10 years. Bruner was also be required to register as a sexual offender and comply with all statutory requirements.
In August 2015, FDLE agents executed a search warrant on Bruner’s home on East Shore Drive after they discovered that he was using the internet to transmit child pornography. Several images of child pornography were found within Bruner’s home and on his computer.
Bruner was interviewed by FDLE agents, and he admitted that he had been downloading and viewing child pornography for two to three years.
Bruner entered a plea on April 1, 2016. While awaiting sentencing, Bruner left the state. He failed to appear on his sentencing date and was later extradited from New York.
State Puts Possible Bear Hunt On Hold
April 20, 2017
State game commissioners agreed Wednesday not to hold a bear hunt for at least two years, over the objections of hunters who decried the delay as giving in to “bleeding hearts.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, after more than four hours of emotional testimony from hunters and animal-rights activists, narrowly supported a staff contention that public support isn’t as high as desired for a repeat of a controversial 2015 hunt.
“A hunt is consuming, it is consuming to this agency all the way around,” Chairman Brian Yablonski said. “And the benefit that we get with this species at this moment in time, I don’t know if it’s worth the consumption that our team is going to go through and we’re all going to go through.”
The delay would allow staff members to complete an ongoing 10-year bear management plan which could be completed in two to three years.
Commissioner Liesa Priddy said she wasn’t concerned that a majority of Floridians don’t support a bear hunt.
“There’s really no scientific reason whatsoever not to have a hunt,” Priddy said. “We can’t substitute politics for science. And if we don’t approve a hunt today, we’re really just throwing the science that we’ve gathered out the window.”
Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley said the agency’s science is “rock solid” on the side of a hunt. But, he said “we need more time” to work on non-lethal bear management practices. He pointed, in part, to research that shows far less support among Floridians for bear hunting than for hunting in general.
“The thing that troubles me the most in the social dynamic and social science is the gap between a 70 percent support for hunting and 48 percent support for bear hunting,” Wiley said. “We’ve talked to people that have done this research, and they said that (gap) is troubling. Those numbers are not where you want to be.”
The numbers were amassed in a survey conducted in November that also found 43 percent of Floridians oppose a hunt.
Wiley said the state “learned a lesson” from the 2015 hunt, which was the first in more than two decades. That year, 304 bears were killed during a planned weeklong hunt that was cut short after two days when the quota was quickly reached.
The commission last year narrowly voted against a hunt, giving expanded non-lethal efforts time to take hold, after commission biologists had recommended a more restrictive hunt.
Wiley’s proposal Wednesday drew a string of hunters, many in orange shirts, to tell commissioners not to set policies based on public perception.
“What’s next, who are we going to protect from the bleeding-heart liberals, are we going not kill off the bacteria on over-ripe bananas?” said Byron Maharrey of Palm Springs. “This isn’t a popularity vote.”
Chuck Echenique, a hunter from Tampa, suggested the agency spend money on pro-hunting education instead of on getting people to use bear-proof trash containers.
“Let those communities that choose to move into those areas … pay for their own trash cans,” Echenique said.
The bear population in Florida has grown from 300 to 500 in the late 1970s to 2,700 in 2002 and 4,050 when updated last year.
Thomas Eason, director of the commission’s habitat and species conservation division, said Florida black bears are in the middle of a population expansion that is likely to continue.
“Bears are thriving in Florida, they’re doing well,” Eason said. “They’re continuing to grow in numbers.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — pointing to the state’s conservation efforts — announced that the Florida black bear didn’t warrant being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act as requested by a number of groups and individuals, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and Stop The Florida Bear Hunt.
Animal-rights proponents view the desire to hunt bears as a “trophy” thrill.
Megan Sorbo, an 11-year-old from Orlando, told state wildlife commissioners on Wednesday the bear population can be managed humanely, including the use of bear sterilization.
“You still oversee the most precious part of our state to me, our wildlife,” Sorbo said. “The wildlife belongs to all of us, yet to no one. Therefore, public opinion should be a factor in your decision and all options considered.”
The growth in the bear population comes as the number of calls and incidents involving bears has declined the past three-years.
The drop is attributed in part to the 2015 hunt and the removal of 112 bears that year for risk of public safety. Prior to that year, the agency removed an average of 36 bears a year for that purpose.
Also, the decline is attributed to an increase in natural food available to bears. The agency noted that an increase in acorns on the ground last fall could mean bears are spending more time foraging for acorns than rummaging in human trash.
The agency has also taken a more active role in counties where bear-human incidents and calls have been prevalent — Lee and Collier in the Southwest Florida; Marion, Lake, Orange, Seminole, Putnam and Volusia in Central and Northeast Florida; and Leon, Wakulla, Gulf, Franklin, Santa Rosa, Walton, Okaloosa, and Bay in Northwest Florida.
“The hunt is a relatively small part of our bear program,” Eason said.
But it has drawn the most attention.
The agency received $825,000 for the current fiscal year to help residents in 11 counties get bear-resistant trash cans. The money was raised through licenses issued for the 2015 hunt and from proceeds of the Conserve Wildlife license plate.
One Of Alabama’s Most Wanted Criminals Arrested In Escambia County
April 20, 2017
One of Alabama’s most wanted criminals was arrested and booked into the Escambia County (FL) Jail Wednesday night by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.
Kevin Carnell Golden, 32, is wanted in a string of holdups, including one last week during which someone was shot. He is being held on three counts of bank robbery first degree and two counts of robbery first degree. He is jailed without bond pending extradition back to Alabama.
He was arrested in the 200 block of Broadmoor Lane at the home of a relative.
Golden is accused of the holdup of the Hilltop Food Mart in Greenville, AL, a robbery during which a clerk was shot last week in Brewton, and four Alabama bank robberies including Georgiana, Pell City and Trussville.
Pictured top: The robbery of a convenience store in Greenville, AL. Pictured below: Police believe Kevin Carnell Golden robbed a bank in Georgiana, AL, last week. Images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Earth Day Celebration Planned In Century
April 20, 2017
The Century Health and Rehabilitation Center is planning an Earth Day Celebration for Saturday, April 22 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Vendor applications are being accepted now. Contact Mae at (850) 256-1540 or mae.hildreth@gmail.com for information. Pictured: Earth Day 2016 at the Century Health and Rehabilitation Center. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.