Blue Wahoos Win Third Straight
April 14, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos pitcher Luis Castillo pitched his second strong outing, allowing just one run on three hits in seven innings.
In his first start for Pensacola, after being traded to the Cincinnati Reds from the Miami Marlins on Jan. 19, Castillo allowed one run on three hits in six innings.
Castillo’s performance helped the Blue Wahoos win its third straight game, 4-1, over the Biloxi Shuckers Thursday night at MGM Park in front of 2,545. It also gave Pensacola a, 2-0, lead in the five-game series.
Castillo, the Red’s No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, picked up his first victory after getting a no-decision in his first start. His ERA is 1.36 after two games. In Miami’s organization, Castillo who can touch 100 mph with his fastball, was Minor League Pitcher of the Year and the No. 2 prospect.
The Blue Wahoos sent seven hitters to the plate in the fifth inning and broke out with three runs to take the lead, 3-0. Its first two runs came when center fielder Brian O’Grady doubled to drive in both left fielder Gabriel Guerrero, who had singled, and first baseman Angelo Gumbs, who earned a walk. Guerrero is hitting .333 this season. Then third baseman Alex Blandino drove in O’Grady with his third double and fourth RBI in two games against Biloxi.
Pensacola tacked on another run to go up, 4-0, in the sixth when right fielder Aristides Aquino walked and stole second. Blue Wahoos second baseman Josh VanMeter, who is hitting .316, then doubled to right field to score Aquino.
Biloxi scored its only run when pinch hitter Nick Ramirez blasted a solo home run to right field to make the score, 4-1.
Once again, the Pensacola bullpen blanked the opposition. In his one inning, Ariel Hernandez gave up one hit, one walk and struck out two. Ismael Guillon earned his first save of the season, even though, he gave up two hits and had to work out of a jam with Biloxi runners on first and third.
Tate Falls To Pace
April 14, 2017
Pace 6, Tate 2
The Tate Aggies lost a crucial 7A district game to Pace Thursday night 6-2.
The Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Trey LaFleur singled with one out. But the game took a turn in Pace’s favor quickly in the bottom of the fifth with six runs for the Patriots.
LaFleur was 2-3 with a run, a double and a RBI. Also for Tate: Logan Blackmon R; Kyler Hultgren 1-3.
Tate will host Pace Friday night.
Pace 3, Tate 2 (JV)
Florida Ready To Take Another Look At Bears, Bear Hunts
April 13, 2017
Florida game officials will get an update next week on the state’s growing black bear population, a discussion animal-rights supporters contend is a first step toward holding a hunt later this year.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff update that will be presented April 19 at the Florida Public Safety Institute in Havana — northwest of Tallahassee — doesn’t include “anything specific” about holding a bear hunt this year, said Thomas Eason, director of the commission’s habitat and species conservation division.
“However, with that said, at all of the previous commission meetings recently, the public has come and talked about bear hunting,” Eason said Monday. “We anticipate that likely will happen again, and our commissioners can always engage on that topic if they wish to do so.”
Hunting backers have argued that a hunt is one way to manage bear populations and to reduce potentially dangerous bear-human interactions.
A one-page agenda item on bear management for the meeting says, “This presentation is for informational purposes and any direction the commission may want to provide staff.”
Bear hunting has been a controversial issue since the commission in 2015 allowed the first bear hunt in more than 20 years. The commission decided against holding a hunt in 2016.
Animal-rights supporters consider such hunts as trophy excursions and question the agency’s bear population numbers.
“The bear population is so fragmented, and there are so many bears hit by cars, we should be conserving them and helping connect the different subpopulations with safe passages over interstates and things like that,” said Kate MacFall of the Humane Society of the United States. “Floridians don’t want a hunt.”
Chuck O’Neal of the Seminole County group Speak Up Wekiva said that if the commission plans to start 2017 hunt discussions, it will happen at this month’s meeting.
The commission meets quarterly, and directions would have to be given at the meeting in Havana for staff to outline a fall hunt — from the days and locations to permit requirements — that could be voted on at a July meeting in the Kissimmee area and a late September meeting in Okeechobee.
“They need to let what they’re doing take effect,” said O’Neal, whose group was among those that went to court to try to stop the 2015 hunt in court. “The number of nuisance calls is down. It’s well known the number of bear conflicts, where there is a result of injuries, is way down. It’s working. There is no reason why they should even contemplate even having a hunt if what they’re doing is working.”
After 304 bears were killed in two days during the 2015 hunt, the commission narrowly rejected a hunt last year. The decision was to give the agency more time to build a case for future hunts and to provide more time for non-lethal efforts to reduce human-bear conflicts to take hold.
The agency used money from the state and through fees paid for bear hunting permits in 2015 to spread $825,000 across 12 counties — Seminole, Lake, Orange, Santa Rosa, Collier, Franklin, Gulf, Leon, Marion, Putnam, Volusia and Wakulla — to increase the use of bear-proof trash containers.
Also, after the 2015 hunt, the agency completed a population estimate that raised the number of bears in the state from just over 3,000 to 4,350.
“A growing bear population is good to see,” Eason said. “A lot of us have worked hard to recover bears in Florida. They continue to do well, and that is why we are looking at all aspects of bear management.”
The staff update comes as the number of bear-related calls has fallen from 6,688 in 2014 to 6,088 in 2015 and 5,132 last year, according to the state agency.
In February, Eason advised state lawmakers that a number of factors could be involved in the reductions in calls: an abundance of natural foods that would make bears less likely to come into more-urban areas; work in 2015 and 2016 to relocate about 100 bears that were generating the most calls; and the impact of a 2015 hunt and the public reaction to the hunt.
“There’s been strong reaction to the bear hunt,” Eason told members of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee. “We definitely get reports that people are not calling in when they maybe would have in the past.”
Jacki Lopez, the Center for Biological Diversity’s Florida director, noted that a recent Colorado Parks and Wildlife study found that an increase in bear-human conflicts was more a sign that the creatures adapted to urban expansion into their habitats rather than a growth in population.
“It supports our position that if the real reason for a hunt is to address a growing so-called problem bear population, hunting is not the correct tool to address that problem,” Lopez said in an email.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Replacement Of Escambia County’s Last Wooden Bridge Nearly Complete
April 13, 2017
Work to replace the last all-wooden bridge in Escambia County is nearing an end.
Contractors stated work to replace the 60-year old structurally deficient bridge on over Pritchett Mill Creek on Bluff Springs Road last November with anticipated completion by March.
The construction is nearly done, and the Florida Department of Transportation has requested a substantial completion inspection for April 20, according to a county spokesperson.
The scope of work included clearing, grading, drainage, paving, signage and bridge construction approximately 300 feet east and west of the intersection of Pritchett Mill Creek and Bluff Springs Road. There are no permanent residences located beyond the road closure, but Escambia River and camp access via Bluff Springs Road was cut off with the closure.
Pictured: The road closure on Bluff Springs Road as seen Wednesday afternoon, April 12. Pictured below: The last all-wooden bridge in Escambia County as seen in early November 2016. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
UF/IFAS Researchers Find Potential Bugs To Eat Invasive Cogongrass
April 13, 2017
by UF/IFAS Extension Service
A few bugs may be able to chew up some cogongrass, a noxious weed that elbows out pasture grass, golf course greens and valuable ecosystems, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher says.
A worldwide research team led by UF/IFAS entomology professor James Cuda and retired entomology professor Bill Overholt found species in Japan, East Africa and Indonesia that might help in the battle against cogongrass.
Among the arthropods they found, Cuda and his team discovered a midge from Indonesia that attacks cogongrass. Cuda and his team are focusing on the Orseolia javanica midge that causes cogongrass to produce linear galls at the expense of leaves. However, when scientists brought the arthropods back to the quarantine facility at the UF/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Florida, they did not mate and increase in population.
So, scientists must conduct more research to determine how to rear the midge in the laboratory in order to evaluate its host specificity and impact on cogongrass, a rather ubiquitous weed in Florida and the southeastern U.S., said Cuda, a biological weed control specialist with UF/IFAS.
“This invasive grass infests cattle pastures, golf courses, lawns and also thrives in poor soil conditions such as ditch banks, roadside and railroad rights-of-way as well as reclaimed phosphate mining areas,” he said, adding that it grows quickly and alters the ecology of habitats it invades.
Cogongrass, introduced in the U.S. in the early 1900s as packing material and as livestock forage grass, causes the most expensive losses in pine plantations, where it outcompetes native ground cover and increases the frequency and intensity of fires, Cuda said. It also displaces native vegetation in sand hill communities in Florida.
Currently, cogongrass control is accomplished with mowing and herbicides, which can be costly and are not always effective. Cuda cited a 2009 report that showed the state of Alabama spent $6.3 million of federal stimulus funds exclusively for chemical control of the weed.
“Biological control using natural enemies from the native range of cogongrass has received little attention, and no biological control agents have been introduced anywhere in the world,” Cuda said. “That’s why we are investigating biocontrol agents for cogongrass. Biological control is more sustainable and can be integrated with conventional controls.”
The latest research on biological control of cogongrass appears in the journal Florida Entomologist.
Pictured: A worldwide research team led by UF/IFAS entomology professor James Cuda, seen above, and retired entomology professor Bill Overholt found species in Japan, East Africa and Indonesia that might help in the battle against cogongrass. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
House Pushes Changes In Retirement System
April 13, 2017
The Florida House is poised to adopt major changes in the state retirement system, although the legislation remains in doubt in the Senate.
House members Wednesday took up a bill (HB 5007) that, beginning in January 2018, would make a controversial change for new public employees who don’t make a choice in their retirement plans.
Under the bill, those employees would go into the state’s 401(k)-type investment plan rather than the traditional pension plan. Currently, undecided employees default into the traditional pension plan. In both scenarios, new employees can opt to join either plan.
The legislation would also bar newly elected officials, including state lawmakers, Cabinet members, judges, county commissioners and school board members, from joining the traditional pension plan after July 1, 2018. They would receive retirement benefits through the investment plan.
Also, the bill would limit pension benefits for judges by reducing the annual rate for accruing their retirement benefits from 3.3 percent to 3 percent beginning July 1.
The House is scheduled to vote on the legislation Thursday, after the Republican majority defeated an amendment Wednesday from Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee.
Ausley’s proposed amendment would have eliminated the controversial revisions sought by GOP leaders, while authorizing changes in the annual contributions paid by state government, school districts, county governments and other public agencies.
The Senate in past years has rejected attempts to limit the traditional pension plan. The new House bill would tie such revisions to the annual contribution changes that are required to make sure the pension system is fiscally sound for the long term.
Ausley warned that if the bill is rejected by the Senate, it could hurt the financial stability of the $149 billion pension fund. A Senate bill (7022), which only has the contribution changes, says the rate increases would bolster the fund by $149.5 million in the next budget year.
“The Florida retirement system is at risk of being underfunded,” Ausley warned. “This (the House approach) is a very risky move.”
But her plea to pass “a clean rate bill” was defeated in a voice vote.
Rep. Matt Caldwell, the sponsor of the bill, defended the legislation, including the change in the handling of new employees who do not make a retirement-plan choice. He said it would protect those workers by placing them in the investment plan where they could keep their contributions and investments if they left public employment before the eight-year vesting period, which is required for traditional pension benefits.
“The odds are it will be to the benefit of the employee,” said Caldwell, R-North Fort Myers.
But Democrats who opposed the bill argued that there was no need to change a financially healthy pension plan, which is projected to be able to pay more than 85 percent of its future obligations. They also said workers could be hurt by being placed in the riskier investment plan as opposed to a traditional pension plan that provides specific benefits.
“What is broken?” asked Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Boynton Beach. “What is wrong, considering we have one of the strongest pension systems in the country?”
The retirement system has some 630,000 active members and about 400,000 retirees. About half of the active employees work for Florida school districts, 23 percent are county workers and 20 percent are state employees.
Singleton Selected As State FFA Officer Candidate
April 13, 2017
Northview High School senior Mitchell Singleton has been selected as a Florida FFA state officer candidate.
Singleton is Area 1 vice president candidate. He is the only selected candidate from Northwest Florida.
The 2018 State Officer Screening Committee named Mitchell and seven other high school seniors as candidates for state FFA office at the Florida FFA Leadership Training Center in Haines City.
There were 27 student FFA members from across the state that participated in the rigorous interview process. These members were challenged with a personal interview, written exam, individual problem-solving exercise, advocacy stand and deliver practicum, state degree interview, agricultural education interview and a conversational exercise.
Singleton and the other candidates will seek election at the 89th Florida FFA State Convention & Expo, June 12-16 in Orlando.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bratt Elementary Releases Latest Honor Roll
April 13, 2017
The following students were named to the third nine weeks honor roll at Bratt Elementary School:
Kindergarten – A Honor Roll
Alexis Amerson
Eric Anthony
Landen Barlow
Abigail Brown
Alysa Bryan
Ava Bryan
Jaxon Byrd
Carson Eady
Aubrey Flowers
Pryce Flowers
Kintley Flowers
Josyah Fontenot
Christian Fountain
Olivia Garrett
Nathan Gilmore
Kyndal Hadley
Autumn Heist
Sophia Ikner
Maybree Johnson
Noah Luker
Parker Marsh
Mya McCants
Briley Moore
Demeatree Moorer
Natalia Morales
Rainey Nelson
Jonathan Patrick
Jade Presley
Madison Rice
Ashton Roberts
Caden Sanspree
Kimmora Thomas
Javan Thompson
James Thompson
Summer Weaver
Na’Kiyah Williams
Taryanna Wright
FIRST GRADE – A Honor Roll
Landon Allcock
Gabrielle Boatwright
Jamarreai Davison
Logan Diller
O’Neshia DuBose
Parker Ganey
Sawyer Gilmore
Brody Hall
Camden Jacobson
John McAnally
Hunter Parker
Madalynn Pittman
Christian Roberts
Makinzi Roley
Breah Shelly
Cassandra Stilwell
Kameryn Thompson
Kaylee Wilson
FIRST GRADE – A/B Honor Roll
Govan Alexander
Tyler Amerson
Eli Anthony
Marquis Banks
Serenity Conway
Jacob Dove
Zachary Flowers
Michael Greenwell
Emmalee Grimes
Ashleigh Harris
Evelyn Jones
Logan Kaul
Levi Peters
Alivia Pierce
Brooklyn Reynolds
Annsleigh-Nikole Rodriguez
Jackson Sellers
Adalynn Southard
Noah Spence
Wyatt Spence
Kennedy Ward
SECOND GRADE – A Honor Roll
Lexi Bingham
Luke Bryan
Christian Caraway
William Classen
Jacobi Dougall
Nolan Eady
Cathryn Greenwood
Laila Hadley
Lori Hall
Presley Johnson
Kaylee Long
Mikayla McAnally
Dakota Richardson
Avery Stuckey
SECOND GRADE – A/B Honor Roll
Montgomery Baker
Amara Campbell
Madilynne Cardwell
Crimson Davis
Carlie Davis
Kylar Davis
Hayden Gipson
Savannah Lowry
Logan Morris
Makayla Plato
Miles Smith
Jake Taylor
Raleigh Warr
THIRD GRADE – A Honor Roll
Desiray Bagwell
Jackson Bridges
Addison Classen
Tristan Crumm
Mary-Clayton Dawson
LanDon Johnson
Carley Moore
Jackson Simmons
Jasmine Zisa
THIRD GRADE – A/B Honor Roll
Ellie Adkins
Claire Amerson
Wade Bailey
Bailey Blackwell
Isaiah Boatwright
Nevaeh Bush
Tyler Carach
Luke Chavers
Aakira Davis
Addison Eicher
Shelby Greenwell
Talise Gregson
William Heard
Emily Jarvis
Tristan Johnson
Keeli Knighten
Kayleb Nicholson
Braylan Shelly
Brayden Smith
Justy Starns
Maggie Stewart
Haidyn Turberville
Mya Wilson
FOURTH GRADE – A Honor Roll
Madeleine Atallah
Colton Criswell
JaCee Dortch
Noah Faulkner
Jamison Gilman
Mary Catherine Hughes
Laura Laborde
Colby Pugh
Ally Richardson
Maggie Scott
FOURTH GRADE – A/B Honor Roll
Evan Chick
Kinslee Coker
Calene Davis
Kylie Davis
Payton Daw
Richard Emmons
Aliyah Fountain
Jared Hudson
Adannaya Mondaca
Zakyla Smith
Bryce Stabler
Jonathon Stilwell
FIFTH GRADE – A Honor Roll
Raegan Abbott
Sarah Bailey
Haydn Baker
Riley Dawson
Carsyn Dortch
Mayson Edwards
Maggie Godwin
Ava Gurganus
Leah Hetrick
Jaquez Moorer
Jacob Spence
Emily Stilwell
Bentley Van Pelt
FIFTH GRADE – A/B Honor Roll
Rabekah Abbott
Sara Amerson
Elijah Amerson
Ethan Bingham
Kyle Blanton
Olivia Boatwright
Kaedence Carter
Edward Conway
Chloe Criswell
Samuel Dettling
Tyteanna Dubose
Scotty Elliott
Zykuria Fountain
Raleigh Gibson
Berklee Hall
Joshlynn Helton
Austin Minchew
Alexis Moya
William Plato
Bryson Sanders
Angel Schoonover
Jaimee Taylor
Corbin Turberville
Northview Softball Beats Neal
April 13, 2017
The Northview Lady Chiefs defeated W.S. Neal Tuesday night 10-1.
Tori Herrington earned the win in seven innings on the mound for Northview, allowing two hits, one run and striking out 10 while allowing no errors.
For Northview – J Newton 1-3, R, RBI; Tori Herrington 1-4, RBI; Aubrey Love 2-4, R, RBI, 3B; Peighton Dortch 3-2, 2 R, RBI; V Shelly 1-3, 3 R; Lydia Smith 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI 2B.
Escambia Academy has canceled their Thursday game at Canoe against the Chiefs. Northview has added a 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18 home game against Chipley for Senior Night.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Wahoos Shut Out Biloxi
April 13, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos second baseman Alex Blandino hit a line drive double to left field with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to score three runs.
It was all the Blue Wahoos needed to win its first game, 3-0, on the road Wednesday against the Biloxi Shuckers at MGM Park in front of 3,708.
Pensacola right fielder Aristides Aquino led off the fourth inning with a walk and moved to second base on a single to left field by left fielder Gabriel Guerrero. Leon Landry then reached on a fielder’s choice and Guerrero was out at second base. Blue Wahoos third baseman Taylor Sparks then got the first of his three walks in the game to load the bases.
That’s when Blandino, who’s working on being more consistent at the plate, hit the first pitch to left and cleared the bases. He was 3-4 on the night with two doubles.
Meanwhile, Tyler Mahle allowed just one hit in seven innings of work, walked two and struck out six. Mahle is now 2-0 on the year with a 0.71 ERA.
In the home opener, Mahle pitched 4.1 perfect innings. Against Biloxi he pitched 5 perfect innings. To start the sixth inning, Mahle walked Angel Ortega and then second baseman Javier Betancourt singled to right field. He then walked Dustin DeMuth to load the bases with no outs.
But Mahle got out of the inning unscathed. He struck out the next two batters and got the third to ground out to first base.
Austin Brice and Jimmy Hegert both pitched one inning of hitless relief and closed out Pensacola’s first shutout of the season. Brice walked one, while Hegert struck out the side for his third save of the season. The Blue Wahoos now lead the Southern League with a 2.50 ERA in its six games this season.