Couple Defies Odds Of Survival; Thanks The Heroes That Saved Them
December 19, 2016
A couple that doctors say probably should not be alive took the time to say “thank you” to the first responders that helped saved their lives a year ago.
The morning of November 4, 2015, was a beautiful, blue sky kind of day. Cecil and Robin Carnley were traveling on Highway 29 just past Hoghway 95A when a pickup truck crossed the median and slammed into their 1999 Dodge Durango.
The firefighters from the nearby Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue were among the first on the scene. They were joined by the Ensley, Brent and Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and LifeFlight in a lengthy and extensive rescue effort. Mr. Carnley was trapped in his vehicle and required extensive extrication lasting nearly an hour.
The doctors gave them less than a three percent chance of survival. Mr. Carnley lost his leg and spent most of the past year in the hospital and rehabilitation. Both are still recovering and face a long road ahead.
There were handshakes, hugs and tears as the family brought the Carnley by the Cantonment fire station, a long with a thank you card and goodies.
“Thanks to we are able to live to celebrate our 1 year of life on 11-4-16,” a handwritten note said. “We are so grateful to call you our heroes. All our love.”
Courtesy and NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Driver Uninjured After Missing Bridge, Rolling Down Embankment
December 19, 2016
A driver was uninjured after driving his pickup truck off the roadway and rolling down an embankment next to a bridge.
The accident happened about 9 p.m. on Rockaway Creek Road just north Nokomis Road. First responders learned that the pickup truck driver had left the scene in a private vehicle. He reportedly suffered only minor injuries.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Atmore Ambulance also responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
New Record: Navy Federal Donates 1,600 Toys For Christmas
December 19, 2016
Employees and members of Navy Federal Credit Union are helping make the holidays brighter for children in Escambia County. Recently, members of the United States Marine Corps Reserve visited Navy Federal’s campus in Beulah to collect more than 1,600 toys and a dozen bicycles.
“I am so proud of our employees and members for continuing their generous tradition of donating so more children in our community can benefit from their kindness,” said Debbie Calder, executive vice president of Navy Federal’s Greater Pensacola Operations.
Navy Federal has been collecting the new, unwrapped gifts since November 14. In addition to the toys that were collected, Navy Federal donated $1,500 to the Toys for Tots foundation.
“This effort is the highlight of the Christmas season for me and many of our team members,” said Donald Belcher, Navy Federal training supervisor.
The primary goal of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program is to help less fortunate children experience the joy of Christmas. Once they are collected by the Marines, the toys are then distributed into the communities where the toys were collected.
In addition to its support of Toys for Tots, Navy Federal employees in Pensacola also donated more than 1,550 items to the Council on Aging’s “Adopt a Senior” program and employees are currently supporting the “Adopt a Family” program though the Escambia County School District.
Hermine, Matthew Damages Near $1.6 Billion
December 18, 2016
Hurricane damages in Florida have reached at least $1.59 billion from the two storms that hammered parts of North Florida and the East Coast this year, according to the latest numbers from the insurance industry and the state.
The numbers don’t include agricultural losses and some damages that local governments are handling without state assistance. Also, the director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management said the numbers remain preliminary and depend in part on future state funding.
Still, the costs tied to Hurricane Hermine and Hurricane Matthew, for which the state expects to receive substantial reimbursements from the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are the highest for disasters since the much more expensive 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, Division of Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
“That’s to be expected. Hurricanes are our most expensive disasters,” Koon said as he outlined damages to government entities.
Damages from Hurricane Hermine, which made landfall in a sparsely populated part of the Big Bend and swept through Tallahassee in early September, stand around $213.6 million. The total includes $147 million in individual property-damage claims that have been reported to the Office of Insurance Regulation.
The more-powerful Hurricane Matthew, which stayed offshore but caused damage Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 in Northeast Florida, clocks in at $1.376 billion.
By comparison the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research has placed damages from the 2004 hurricane season, in which four hurricanes hit the state, at $45 billion.
The Matthew total includes 112,000 individual property-damage claims, representing $729 million in value. Volusia, Duval, Brevard, St. Johns and Flagler counties represented most of the claims.
The Matthew figure also includes $430.8 million in damages to government facilities and structures, including damage to a 1.3-mile section of Florida A1A in Flagler Beach that caused Gov. Rick Scott to order expedited repairs.
Koon said the state’s share of storm-damage costs is expected to be offset by money from the federal government and local contributions.
Hermine is expected to directly cost the state about $9.6 million, from emergency protective actions to debris removal, with local government contributions reaching more than $5 million.
Matthew may require about $130.3 million from the state, a figure that includes $77 million being sought from the Legislature in 2017 for an estimated $217 million in beach, dune and park repairs from Duval through Indian River counties.
“First, we do want to focus on the immediate protections needed for structures, we want to look at projects that can be implemented in a timely manner,” said Alex Reed, program administrator for the Department of Environmental Protection’s Beach Management Funding Assistance Program. “The cost estimates are going to be refined as we get more data, and we identify the federal funding as local sponsors prepare their storm-repair plans.”
The state expects to receive $90 million to $100 million from the federal government for projects to harden infrastructure from future disasters, Koon said.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Two Injured In Highway 29 Rollover Crash
December 18, 2016
Two people were injured in a single vehicle crash late Saturday afternoon on Highway 29 in Molino.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 73-year old John Green of Cantonment was northbound on Highway 29 at Stout Road about 4:24 p.m. when he ran off the roadway to avoid a collision. He re-entered the roadway and lost control. His 1999 Chevrolet Suburban overturned and rolled into the median.
John Green and his passenger, 74-year old Walter Green of Pensacola, received minor injuries and were both transported by Escambia County EMS to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola. Both men were wearing their seat belts.
There were no charges filed in the accident.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge
Big On Christmas Spirit: Century’s Boats And Floats Parade (With Gallery)
December 18, 2016
The Century Area Chamber of Commerce’s 4th Annual Lighted Boats and Floats Parade may have been a little short in length Saturday night, but it was big on Christmas spirit. The parade traveled down North Century Boulevard from near the state line to Showalter Park where there was a free movie and other Christmas events.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Hundreds Take The ‘Journey Through Bethlehem’ In Bratt (With Gallery)
December 18, 2016
The First Baptist Church of Bratt presented a live nativity event Saturday evening — Journey Through Bethlehem.
Hundreds of people were able to walk the road through Bethlehem and experience the Christmas story come to life as they were able to see the shepherds in the field, learn from the villagers, be turned away by the innkeeper that had no room and see the Holy Family in the stable.
There were also the sights and sounds of a real blacksmith shop, bakery and other shops that were found in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth. Children were able to participate in craft activities to make the event come to life for them.
The journey through Bethlehem ended with a stop by the manger with baby Jesus.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Wreaths Across America Honors Veterans
December 18, 2016
Thousands of wreaths were placed on graves at Barrancas National Cemetery on NAS Pensacola on Saturday.
The wreaths were placed as part of the national event “Wreaths Across America”, a tradition that began over 20 years ago at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.
Pictured above and bottom: Wreaths placed at Barrancas National Cemetary in Pensacola Saturday morning. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Santa Makes Fire Truck Run Through Century (With Gallery)
December 18, 2016
Santa traded his sled for a fire truck Saturday for run through Century, Poplar Dell and Byrneville, compliments of the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue. Along the way, he tossed out plenty of candy and Christmas wishes.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: A Pause For Giving Thanks
December 18, 2016
The most significant development of the week in Florida politics and government likely was the appointment of a new Florida Supreme Court justice, but the most noise was made by a rapper’s new release — which landed with a thud among the critics.
While Gov. Rick Scott was firming up his choice for the next justice to join the high court, lawmakers were busy demanding and then denouncing a $1 million contract with rapper Pitbull, whose song “Sexy Beaches” was used as part of an ad campaign to promote the state’s sands. “Drive You Crazy” is one of the Pitbull’s other songs, and that was exactly what the tourism deal did to some lawmakers.
SHAKING IT UP
As Scott made his first appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, there was no real doubt he would pick a conservative jurist. The conservative Federalist Society has become something like the governor’s farm team for court jobs, and the three Supreme Court finalists sent to Scott all leaned to the right.
But what was more surprising was when the governor drew a line of sorts concerning three spots on the Supreme Court that are set to come open at the end of his term: Scott said those appointments will belong to him, rather than his successor.
First, the appointment Friday: The governor chose C. Alan Lawson, chief judge of the Daytona Beach-based 5th District Court of Appeal, to replace Justice James E.C. Perry, who is leaving the state’s highest court because he has reached the mandatory retirement age. Lawson, 55, will join the seven-member court on Dec. 31.
In line with a conservative judicial philosophy, Scott said the primary question he asks potential judges is whether they understand the separation-of-powers doctrine for the three branches of government.
“My goal is, they interpret the law, they don’t create law,” said Scott, who is a lawyer.
The unstated goal was to tip the court a little bit away from the more liberal majority, which has included Perry, Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince. Lawson will more likely team up with justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston, the two most conservative jurists on the court.
Lawson, who is a 1987 graduate of the Florida State University Law School, said there are limits on a court’s interpretation of the law.
“The way I approach statutory construction issues and constitutional issues matches closely with Justice Canady,” Lawson said.
But in a development that could serve as a prelude to a fight near the end of his term, Scott made it clear Friday that he believes he has the right to appoint the next three Supreme Court justices, with the vacancies expected to occur on the day Scott leaves office in January 2019. Those vacancies would involve the retirements of Pariente, Lewis and Quince.
“I will appoint three more justices on the morning I finish my term,” Scott said.
That drew a quick response from Florida House Minority Leader Janet Cruz, D-Tampa.
“The Supreme Court is no place for political gamesmanship,” Cruz said. “If Gov. Scott follows through on this assertion, he risks setting off a contentious legal battle with his successor that would mar the transition process and throw our state’s highest court into uncertainty.”
SHUTTING IT DOWN
Had someone sat down in 2010 to craft a list of likely controversies that would face a state agency under Scott, “a contract with a Cuban-American rapper over a music video produced to promote Florida’s beaches” probably would have landed near the bottom.
Welcome to 2016.
With Scott already facing a battle in the penny-pinching House to get funding for business incentives and programs like Visit Florida, a controversy about the release of a $1 million contract with the rapper Pitbull didn’t help.
The controversy grew after House attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking a ruling on a claim by PDR Production that the contract from the 2015-2016 fiscal year included trade secrets that kept terms of the deal with Visit Florida out of the public. The lawsuit, filed in Leon County circuit court, also sought immunity from civil action for House members and staff if they potentially disclosed terms of the contract.
On Thursday, Pitbull — a.k.a. Armando Christian Perez — released the contract. Via Twitter. Again, 2016.
“FULL DISCLOSURE — FLORIDA,” Perez tweeted. The caps were his.
“It is unfortunate that it took litigation to lift the veil of secrecy on this particular contract,” House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, said in a prepared statement. “This was a long, unnecessary journey through claims of trade secrets, threats of prosecution, and corporate welfare paid for by taxpayers.”
Scott on Tuesday questioned the lack of transparency about the rapper’s contract, calling it “ridiculous.” But he retained support for Visit Florida’s efforts to attract increased numbers of tourists to the state each year.
The “Sexy Beaches” video, which has drawn 10.67 million views, accounted for $250,000 of the deal. Corcoran on WFTL radio in West Palm Beach said he’s heard from people expressing disappointment in the video “or even in harsher terms, it’s an objectification of women.”
Asked if Pitbull’s sexually suggestive song linked with the Visit Florida hashtag “LoveFL” reflected Florida values, Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Chairman Jeff Brandes responded, “I don’t know that that reflected Miami values.”
It was not clear whether Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, has ever been to South Beach.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, disdained the contract but backed Visit Florida.
“It’s really easy to look at things other people do and say, ‘Oh, you made a mistake,’ ” Latvala said Thursday. “These are the people on the front lines that have to make decisions, and I think it’s important to look at the overall performance.”
Still, one of the people on the front lines stepped aside under pressure from Scott. Visit Florida President and CEO Will Seccombe said Friday he would resign, after Scott requested he do so.
In a letter to Visit Florida Chairman William Talbert, Scott backed the need for the tourism-marketing agency while outlining reforms he’d like to see. The letter also included the call for Seccombe’s departure.
“I believe it would be best for the future efforts of Visit Florida for Will to step down and allow new leadership to come in at this critical time,” Scott wrote.
The request came after the positions of two agency officials, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Vangie McCorvey and Chief Marketing Officer Paul Phipps, were eliminated without any public explanation earlier in the day.
Even as he requested changes at Visit Florida on Friday, Scott praised Pitbull.
“His willingness to help promote tourism in Florida is a great example for other entertainers to follow,” Scott wrote in the letter to Talbert.
GETTING IT STARTED
While the Supreme Court and Pitbull stories consumed much of the chatter, senators spent the week laying the groundwork for the legislative session that begins in March. Kicking things off, Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, tried to dispel the notion that the upper chamber would be the graveyard for conservative legislation that emerges from the House.
“The next two sessions will not be the conservative House versus the moderate Senate,” Negron said. “Instead, I expect the House and Senate will present competing conservative visions on the many issues that our constituents care about.”
Among the potentially contentious issues: what to do about the workers’ compensation insurance system after a pair of Supreme Court decisions sparked rate hikes for businesses.
The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee began plunging into the issue Tuesday, a little more than two months after state regulators approved a 14.5 percent increase in workers’ compensation insurance rates.
“There’s obviously a lot of interest on this issue, not just in this room but across the state — many different interests and opinions on what it is that the state can be doing to try and bring some sort of balance to the workers’ compensation market and insurance rates,” Senate Banking and Insurance Chairwoman Anitere Flores, R-Miami, said as the committee took up the issue.
The Supreme Court this year ruled that strict limits on attorneys’ fees were unconstitutional and also tossed out a restriction on benefits in the case of a St. Petersburg firefighter injured on the job. Along with helping lead to the 14.5 percent rate increase, those decisions have refueled debate about key issues in a major 2003 law.
Lawmakers also began to consider how to implement a constitutional amendment legalizing full-strength medical marijuana and what to do about a tight state budget next year. Latvala said the Legislature would likely have to allow property owners’ taxes to go up in order to fund an increase in spending on public schools.
“I think it’s clear to me that if we don’t capture the new property values, there will be very slim if any increases for K-12,” he said. “So if we want to provide any local school district increases, I think we’re going to have to allow them to take the additional property value.”
But that could set up a clash with the House, where Corcoran has seemed to dismiss the possibility of allowing what he has labeled a tax increase.
STORY OF THE WEEK: A contract between Visit Florida and Pitbull set off a wide-ranging controversy that helped lead to the resignation of the agency’s president and CEO and raised new questions about state funding for tourism promotion.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Lastly, I appreciate Pitbull and his devotion to our great state.”—Gov. Rick Scott, in a letter detailing proposed reforms to Visit Florida.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida