Linemen Show Off Skills During Lineworker Expo
March 12, 2017
When 25-year-old twins George and James Tangeman heard about the Gulf Power Lineworker Expo being held recently in Pensacola they decided to make the drive to attend.
It was a 766-mile trip from Dayton, Ohio.
Most of the other 250 attendees were more locally-based as they watched Gulf Power linemen perform several tasks in the company’s training yard at the Pine Forest office.
The event was designed to attract potential future lineworkers for the company.
“I think this is a great opportunity,” said George Tangeman. “Just being able to watch them demonstrate some of these skills, I’m learning how to become a better employee for my contractor.”
Both graduated from line school last October. George started working in January for an electrical contractor in Dayton. James started working in December for an electrical contractor that does work on Transmission lines.
The twins (pictured) used to live in Northwest Florida and would like to return to the area.
“I love the area,” George said. “I was in bib overalls yesterday working in Ohio— it was really cold. But, we come down here and the sun is out and there’s a nice breeze going, it’s great weather.”
Four groups of linemen from all three districts in Gulf Power’s service territory competed in a transformer changeout event, a hurt-man rescue and a simulated live-line event.
Most of the climbing was performed by apprentice linemen to give them more experience.
Tay Ravenell, an apprentice lineman in the Destin office, started working for Gulf Power six months ago, moving here from South Carolina.
“I’ve wanted to be a lineman since I was about 17,” he said. “I used to cut grass at the power company and when the linemen would start working, everyone would stop and watch. It’s exciting to be a lineman.”
The expo serves as a way to increase exposure for lineworker positions. An expected 15,000 lineworkers will be needed nationwide by the end of 2017 as retirements are increasing.
Ben Scott, Training analyst, and the rest of the Training team helped set up the event, talked to those attending and handled the judging of the competition. He said they make several hires throughout the year of apprentice lineworkers to keep the employee stream going.
“We set up the expo as a recruitment event to have people come out and see what we do on a day-to-day basis,” Scott said. “The goal is a two-fold approach; it’s a way for the lineworkers to have a friendly competition, but also to have folks come out and see if they would be interested in working for us.”
Keenan Williams of Cantonment, Florida, plans to go back to school to earn his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
“I want to be an electrical engineer because I’m a tinkerer, I like to mess with things,” he said. “I like to find out how things work. “There’s no telling where I’ll end up, and if I can get a position at Gulf Power, even better. But, at the very least, I’m walking away with some new information that I didn’t have before.”
The Tangemans heard about the expo on Facebook and said their trip from Ohio to watch the expo was well worth it.
“Getting a job at Gulf Power would of course be the ideal situation, but even if I don’t, I’m still growing as an employee by watching this today,” George said.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to elarge.
Cantonment Ballpark Celebrates Opening Day
March 12, 2017
Saturday was opening day at the Cantonment Ballpark. Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry and Kazoo from the Pensacola Blue Wahoos were on hand for the big day. Photos courtesy Cantonment Ballpark for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: On With The Show
March 12, 2017
Like a movie sequel of questionable entertainment value that everyone feels compelled to go see regardless, the 2017 legislative session rolled into Tallahassee this week, mixing the usual pomp and circumstance with interparty acrimony.
The Legislature is always a tinderbox of clashing personalities, ideological feuds and personal ambitions. But as the session got underway this week, there was no reason to believe that the predictions of a louder session than usual would turn out wrong.
Gov. Rick Scott’s State of the State address subtly — and at times not-so-subtly — blasted House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a fellow Republican who sat just a few feet away as the governor twisted the knife. Hours later, Corcoran got a touch of revenge, when a judge ruled for the House in a legal showdown with one of the agencies Scott oversees.
By comparison, the Senate worked quietly to pass one of President Joe Negron’s top priorities. But there, too, the House was already making waves and signaling that it might be willing to fight Negron’s drive to boost the budgets and prominence of the state’s universities.
Of course, the first week of session is hardly an indicator of how the entire two-month gathering will go — or even if it will wrap up in the required 60 days. But in his opening address to the House, Corcoran himself said a special session might not be so bad. At this rate, it might be as good as it gets.
NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS (INCENTIVES)
Whether because of his relentless focus on being known as the “jobs governor,” or because of his likely U.S. Senate run in 2018, Scott has decided to plant his flag this session on defeating a House drive to do away with business incentives.
That added a touch of drama to the governor’s State of the State, which has hardly been must-see TV during Scott’s tenure even for political insiders. In the speech, Scott lashed Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and others who refer to business incentives and tourism marketing money as “corporate welfare.”
“For our state to simply say, ‘We are not going to compete with other states, we are not going to make it easier to incentivize job creators to grow in Florida’ — that’s just a big mistake for our state and for our families,” Scott said. “Incentivizing businesses to grow and create more and better jobs is not welfare.”
Scott and his office kept up the assault for the week, blasting away at the “job killing” legislation considered by the House that would abolish business-recruitment agency Enterprise Florida.
It didn’t do him much good.
By the end of the week, the House had pushed through bills that would eliminate Enterprise Florida and overhaul Visit Florida, which markets the state’s tourism industry.
In a pair of votes that scrambled the usual partisan alignments, the bill on Enterprise Florida (HB 7005) passed 87-28; the Visit Florida tweak (HB 9) was approved by an 80-35 margin.
“We also have a budgetary obligation, and I think the statement has been made today, by a wide margin, by Republicans and Democrats, that this is not where we should be spending other people’s money,” said Rep. Paul Renner, a Palm Coast Republican who sponsored both bills. ”There are better, higher uses for that money, whether it’s public safety, whether it’s quality education, or infrastructure.”
Scott clearly didn’t agree.
“Many politicians who voted for these bills say they are for jobs and tourism,” he said in the statement following the vote. “But, I want to be very clear — a vote for these bills was a vote to kill tourism and jobs in Florida.”
By then, the new head of Enterprise Florida had already bolted in one of the more bizarre twists in the months-long battle over incentives.
On Monday, Chris Hart abruptly resigned as president and CEO of the agency, claiming differences of opinion with Scott.
“This difference of opinion is of such a critical nature that I no longer believe I can be effective in my position,” Hart wrote to Enterprise Florida Vice Chairman Stan Connally.
BAD BEAT
The incentives votes were the second time this week that Corcoran got the better of Scott. A Leon County judge also backed the speaker’s contention that a contract agreed to by the Florida Lottery violated state law. Scott immediately vowed to appeal.
Circuit Judge Karen Gievers held a hearing on the case early in the week, and the speaker clearly felt good about it when he spoke to the House on Tuesday during the opening day of the session.
“That trial was (Monday), and I can assure you, we will win,” Corcoran said.
And they did. Gievers ruled that a long-term contract between the lottery and IGT Global Solutions Corp. was illegal because it would spend more money on ticket sales than the Legislature has previously approved for that purpose.
In a statement issued by his office following the decision, Scott said the ruling could endanger funding for education.
“The Florida Lottery continues to make record contributions to our public schools and today’s ruling jeopardizes billions of dollars for Florida students,” he said. “I strongly disagree with today’s decision and we will appeal.”
NOT QUITE UNANIMOUS FOR UNANIMITY
By the end of the week, one high-profile bill was already headed to Scott for his signature: a measure that would require a unanimous jury vote to impose the death penalty in capital cases.
For lawmakers who back capital punishment, there wasn’t much room to argue with the legislation after the Florida Supreme Court ruled last year that anything short of a unanimous vote was unconstitutional.
“Your positive vote today allows cases to move forward and for victims and their families to continue to have access to justice,” House Judiciary Chairman Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican and former prosecutor, said Friday before the House voted 112-3 to approve the bill (SB 280).
The Senate had already passed the legislation unanimously, 37-0, a day earlier.
But the larger battle over crime and punishment in Florida might not be over. Critics were already citing other problems with the state’s death penalty.
Requiring unanimous jury recommendations is “only one step in a long journey,” said 10th Judicial Circuit Assistant Public Defender Pete Mills.
“Florida’s death penalty still has problems of constitutional magnitude, including but not limited to the failure to limit the scope of its application, racial disparities, geographic disparities, and execution of the mentally ill,” Mills, chairman of the Florida Public Defenders Association Death Penalty Steering Committee, told The News Service of Florida on Friday.
COLLEGE BILL GRADUATES FROM SENATE
If the House approved Corcoran’s top priority amid a loud fight with the governor, the Senate gave its presiding officer a fairly easy win.
Negron, R-Stuart, saw the Senate vote 36-1 to back a sweeping higher-education proposal (SB 2) that seeks to boost funding for Bright Futures scholarships, faculty recruitment and support for outstanding graduate programs.
The Senate president has said he wants to elevate Florida’s universities to “elite, national destination” institutions, while holding the schools to higher performance standards and offering more financial support for students.
But there were already signs from the House that giving more to universities — the focus of Negron’s efforts — might not be high on the agenda.
House Appropriations Chairman Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, said the day before the Senate vote that university funding and spending was outpacing most portions of the state budget, with the exception of the Medicaid program.
“I think the House’s position is going to be very clear, that the amount of money we’ve put into the system, the system has almost run wild,” Trujillo, a Miami Republican, said Wednesday.
Negron, a former House and Senate budget chairman, tried to play down the issue and said he supported the House effort to probe university funding.
He also said he found no inconsistencies between the House’s attempt to make sure public funding is being spent “wisely” and the Senate’s legislation to elevate the quality of the state universities.
“It’s day three,” Negron said about the 60-day session. “I certainly don’t expect the House to adopt all of the Senate’s priorities this early in the process.”
Early in the process, though, ain’t what it used to be.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The House voted overwhelmingly to eliminate business-recruitment agency Enterprise Florida, despite a high-pressure push by Gov. Rick Scott to try to save the agency.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Let’s be real. There is nobody in my district whose name is Northrop or Grumman. So, I still challenge (Scott) to talk about the real problems that are facing Floridians every day.”—Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, on Scott’s State of the State address. Northrop Grumman is a major aerospace and defense contractor.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Gomez, Boutwell Sworn In As Century Council Members
March 11, 2017
Two members of the Century Town Council were sworn into office during a special meeting Friday night.
Luis Gomez, Jr. was sworn into Seat 2 after defeating Kevin Stead in a February 28 special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the term of Annie Savage, who passed away last year.
Ben Boutwell was sworn into Seat 3 after running unopposed in the February 28 special election. Boutwell held the seat until resigning to run unsuccessfully for mayor. He was later temporarily appointed to fill the position until the special election.
Pictured: Luis Gomez, Jr., (top photo, center) and Ben Boutwell (bottom photo, center) were sworn in as members of the Century Town Council Friday night. The oath of office was administered by Town Clerk Leslie Howington (left) and Mayor Henry Hawkins (right). NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Wins $1 Million The Day After His Birthday
March 11, 2017
An Escambia County man received a nice present the day after his birthday.
Leslie Holtzclaw, of Pensacola, claimed a $1 million prize in the $5,000,000 Flamingo Multiplier Scratch-Off game at Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee, just one day after celebrating his 52nd birthday.
Holtzclaw chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $716,577.60. He purchased his winning ticket from Six Kids Store Super Deli, located at 1023 Greenbrier Boulevard in Pensacola.
Students Learn About Ag During Fresh From Florida Event (With Gallery)
March 11, 2017
Formerly known as the “Food For America program”, the event gave students a chance to learn about agriculture first hand, up close and personal with farm animals, farm equipment and more to learn how food gets from the farm to their tables. Students were even able to make and enjoy eating their own fresh butter.
The Northview High School FFA “Fresh From Florida” program has been honored as the No. 1 program in the state multiple times and the chapter was recently name one of the best in the United State by the National FFA Organization.
The Ernest Ward Middle School FFA also participated in the event.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Convicted On Federal Unregistered Machine Gun Charges
March 11, 2017
An Escambia County man has been convicted on federal charges of unlawfully selling unregistered machine guns.
After a three-day trial, Gregory Williams, 29, was convicted of 19 counts of firearm-related offenses, including possession of a machinegun, possession of an unregistered machine gun, and false statement to a firearm dealer.
At trial, the government presented evidence that Williams knowingly sold dozens of auto sear parts to undercover law enforcement officers. Auto sears are conversion parts designed to
modify semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic firearms. Auto sears are defined under federal law as machine guns. Williams never registered them in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by law.
On nine occasions in 2016, Williams communicated with the undercover officers via text message and then shipped the firearms or met the officers in person. When law enforcement officers searched Williams’s residence, they seized an additional auto sear.
Williams faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each count. He is currently being detained at the Santa Rosa County Jail. The sentencing hearing will take place at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola on a date to be determined by the court.
Lawmakers Quickly Pass Death Penalty Fix
March 11, 2017
Florida juries would have to unanimously decide that defendants convicted of capital crimes should be put to death for the sentence to be imposed, under a measure that lawmakers rushed to pass during the first week of the annual legislative session.
The proposal, given final approval Friday by the House, is the Legislature’s second attempt to comply with a series of court rulings that for more than a year have blocked executions and prevented death-penalty cases from moving forward. It also would remove Florida from an “outlier” status as one of just two states that do not require unanimity for death sentences to be imposed.
The 112-3 vote in the House puts the proposal in the hands of Gov. Rick Scott, whose record of signing more death warrants than any other Florida governor was suspended after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling early last year in an Escambia County case known as Hurst v. Florida.
The 8-1 Hurst decision, premised on a 2002 ruling in a case known as Ring v. Arizona, found that Florida’s system of allowing judges, instead of juries, to find the facts necessary to impose the death penalty was an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury.
The Legislature hurriedly passed a law during the 2016 session to address the Hurst ruling and required, among other things, that at least 10 of 12 jurors recommend death for the sentence to be imposed.
But a majority of the Florida Supreme Court struck down the new law in October, deciding that it, too, was unconstitutional because it did not require unanimous jury recommendations for death sentences. The issue deals only with the sentencing phase of capital cases, not the guilt phase, which requires unanimous jury verdicts.
The rulings in Hurst and a handful of other cases have caused consternation for defense lawyers, prosecutors and judges, who have been split on whether or not they could move forward with capital trials before the Legislature fixed the statute.
More than half of the state’s nearly 400 Death Row inmates may be eligible for new sentencing hearings as a result of a pair of Florida Supreme Court orders related to the original Hurst decision.
Adding to the confusion, the state court recently reversed a previous decision and ruled that capital trials could proceed, even without a legislative fix.
But that opinion did not slow down lawmakers — who last year ignored warnings from public defenders and others that 10-2 recommendations for death would not survive the scrutiny of the court — from rushing the statutory change through the process.
“Your positive vote today allows cases to move forward and for victims and their families to continue to have access to justice,” House Judiciary Chairman Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican and former prosecutor, said prior to Friday’s vote.
The Senate unanimously approved the measure (SB 280) a day earlier.
If Scott signs the measure as expected, he could start signing death warrants again; the Florida Supreme Court indefinitely put on hold two executions ordered by Scott early last year.
“This will fix the immediate problems raised by Hurst, and it will put Florida in line with most of the other states that have the death penalty,” said Florida International University law professor Stephen Harper, who runs the school’s Death Penalty Clinic.
Harper predicted that Scott would resume signing death warrants once — and if — he signs the law, “but there’s still litigation to go in those cases.”
But challenges to the state’s death penalty law, related to the Hurst decisions, as well as a new lethal-injection process and litigation spurred by new death warrants make it unlikely that executions will resume immediately.
Some death-penalty experts maintain that, even with the unanimous jury recommendations, Florida’s law remains problematic.
Requiring unanimous jury recommendations is “only one step in a long journey,” said 10th Judicial Circuit Assistant Public Defender Pete Mills.
“Florida’s death penalty still has problems of constitutional magnitude, including but not limited to the failure to limit the scope of its application, racial disparities, geographic disparities, and execution of the mentally ill,” Mills, chairman of the Florida Public Defenders Association Death Penalty Steering Committee, told The News Service of Florida on Friday.
Florida also leads the country in the number of Death Row inmates who have been exonerated, Mills said.
Critics also argue that state law is not narrow enough to capture “the worst of the worst” for whom the death penalty should be reserved.
Hurst was sentenced to death for the 1998 killing of fast-food worker Cynthia Harrison in Pensacola. Harrison, an assistant manager at a Popeye’s Fried Chicken restaurant on Nine Mile Road where Hurst worked, was bound, gagged and stabbed more than 60 times. Her body was found in a freezer.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Three Men Arrested In Online Child Exploitation Conspiracy
March 11, 2017
Three men have been arrested in an online child exploitation conspiracy using a social messaging app popular among teenagers.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was notified in January about the sexual abuse of a child under 12-years old. Charles Hoyte McConnell III, age 22, was arrested for sexual assault, incest, cruelty towards a child/direct sexual performance by a child, and 18-counts of possession of child pornography.
During the investigation, deputies found out McConnell was using the “Kik” app to share a pornographic video of the sexual abuse.
Escambia investigators partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and were able to arrest an Escambia County resident and a suspect from Santa Rosa County.
Jonah Authement, 22, was arrested in Escambia County after it was discovered he received the illegal pornographic video. He was charged with cruelty towards a child/promote sexual performance by a child and obscene communication/computer solicitation.
ICE and HSI arrested Santa Rosa County resident and Pace firefighter Danny Murphy on March 10th. A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with conspiracy, receipt, and possession of child pornography.
The indictment alleges that, between November 2016 and January 2017, Murphy knowingly conspired with others to participate in Kik instant messaging communications that distributed child pornography images and videos. The indictment further alleges that he received and possessed child pornography involving a minor under age 12. The defendant is currently being detained at the Santa Rosa County Jail.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said no further arrests are expected in the case.
Tungoil Bridge Remains Closed
March 11, 2017
Tungoil Road at McDavid Creek in Walnut Hill is scheduled to be closed to through traffic through Friday, March 17. The bridge has been closed for rehabilitation since March 2. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.