Ernest Ward Drops Two To Brewton Middle (With Gallery)
November 16, 2016
The Ernest Ward Eagles dropped two games to Brewton Middle School Tuesday night in Walnut Hill.
In girls action, Ernest Ward closed within one point with a buzzer shot, but Brewton Middle prevailed 22-21.
In boys action, Brewton Middle defeated Ernest Ward 50-28.
For a photo gallery with both girls and boys games, click here.
Next Tuesday, Ernest Ward hosts Perdido. Girls play at 5 p.m. followed by the boys at about 6 p.m.
NorthEscambia.com photos, including photos by Delaney Reynolds, click to enlarge.
Coaches, Rosters Set For High School All-Star Volleyball Game
November 16, 2016
Pensacola Sports is pleased to announce the tentative rosters for the 10th Annual SUBWAY High School All-Star Volleyball game to be held Thursday, November 17 at the University of West Florida Field House at 6 p.m. The West Team is comprised of seniors from Escambia County while the East Team is made up of seniors from Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Counties. The two teams will play a best of seven match to determine the winner.
The roster for the West Team:
- Catholic — Mackie Doyle, Bailey Burns
- East Hill — Kaylie Dickson
- Escambia — Kallie Lewis
- Northview — Jamia Newton
- PCA — Kristen Siegler
- Pensacola — Maya Humeda, Ra’Kell Watts
- Pine Forest — Alexis Robinson, Meghan McLane
- Tate — Brianna Payne
- Washington — Marlis Herrick, Tea Wiley, Kourtney Way, Selena Williams, Taya Mata
- West Florida — Harmoni Burton, Genny Anderson
The coaching staff for the West Team:
- Head Coach, Danielle Self of Pine Forest High School
- Assistant Coach, Dave Bryant of West Florida Tech High School
The roster for the East Team:
- Baker — Whitley Taylor, Taylor Brunson
- Central — Haley Gauthier
- Choctaw — Evelina Teran
- Crestview — Kierra Potts, Cailey Ness
- Fort Walton — Zadie Engelberger
- Gulf Breeze — Maddie Grace McCurdy, Jordan Taylor,
- Jay — Carissa Mulford, Hannah Prescott, Hannah Vaughn,
- Laurel Hill — Rachel Welsh
- Milton — Ashley Matthews
- Navarre — Haley Thompson
- Niceville — Helene Masone, Stephanie Kaufman
- Pace — Morgan Helton
- Rocky Bayou – Maegan Cropsey
The coaching staff for the East Team:
- Head Coach, Jessica Odom of Jay High School
- Assistant Coach, Chelsey Adams of Milton High School
Tickets to the SUBWAY High School All-Star Game are $8 at the gate and $6 with a canned good. Pensacola Sports is teaming with Manna Food Bank for a canned good drive and encouraging everyone to help families by bringing a canned good item.
Teen Sentenced For Burglaries That Led To Shots Fired, Fiery Molino Wreck
November 15, 2016
A teen has been sentenced on multiple charges for his part in burglaries and a shots fired incident that led to a fiery two vehicle crash in Molino in late 2015.
Vashawn Brown was sentenced Monday to 15 years in state prison.
Brown was originally charged with attempted murder third degree felony murder, three counts of armed burglary of a conveyance, criminal mischief, grand theft auto and petit theft. As part of a plea agreement, Brown pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of aggravated assault and three counts of burglary of a conveyance, criminal mischief, grand theft auto and petit theft.
His co-defendants, Tracey Lett and Mariachi Chambers, were previously sentenced in August to 42 months in state prison to be followed by 18 months of probation on three counts of burglary of a conveyance, grand theft and criminal mischief.
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About 4:50 a.m. on November 28, 2015, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the area of Highway 29 and Barth Road for a burglary of a vehicle in progress. In the meantime, the burglary victim told dispatchers that he was following the suspects south on Highway 29, and then he advised the suspects were shooting at him and his vehicle.
When the suspects reached Barth Road in Molino, they veered into oncoming traffic and struck a pickup truck, according to multiple witnesses. The driver of the pickup, Randall Enfinger, and his 15-year old granddaughter, Abbigail Barninger, were critically injured.
A deputy that arrived on scene a short time later reported finding the suspects’ crumpled vehicle with the engine compartment on fire. He observed the driver, later identified as Chambers, being removed from the driver’s seat by a passerby and Lett trapped with his legs pinned under the dash of the burning vehicle. The deputy and passersby were unable to free him, and the deputy tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire using a fire extinguisher. The deputy and bystanders then used dirt to smother the engine compartment fire and before pulling Lett from the vehicle.
The deputy then reportedly noticed that across the intersection one of the burglary victims was attempting to detain Brown. The deputy handcuffed and detained Brown.
The burglary victim told deputies that he was at his residence in the 500 block of Highway 164 when he heard his dogs barking and walking outside on his porch to see two males breaking into his 2006 Pontiac sedan. He said they ran away after he yelled at them. The burglary victim said his brother heard the suspects get into a vehicle and his brother followed the dark colored vehicle down Highway 29.
The burglary victim’s brother said he got into his pickup truck and followed the suspects down Highway 29. He said he tried to get around in front of them, according to court documents, but they came around his vehicle and shot at him five or six times. His pickup was hit at least three times. After observing the wreck, the victim’s brother said he chased one of the suspects, later identified as Brown, into the tree line and brought him back to the corner of the intersection.
An Escambia County EMS employee told deputies that Brown said he was walking home when he was chased and hit by a truck, dragged into the woods and hit several times. He told the EMS employee that he had found a gun on the side of the road and kept it for personal protection.
An investigation determined that the wrecked vehicle had been stolen earlier from a residence in the 9000 block of Barth Road where it was unlocked with a spare key in the trunk.
A debit or credit card belonging to the vehicle’s owner was recovered from Brown’s pocket, as was an empty magazine for a semi-automatic handgun that was recovered from the area were Brown was stopped, according to an arrest report.
The entire incident was investigated by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene but not process the traffic accident or make a report, according to court documents.
Brown and Lett were among five defendants charged in 2014 for their role in an August 2013 burglary at Molino Park Elementary School. Most the stolen items — including computers and iPads– were burned by the suspects. They were placed on juvenile probation under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice through age 19. Each was ordered to undergo counseling, and follow a curfew of 7 p.m. Sunday though Thursday nights and 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. It was not clear if that probation was still in effect at the time of the November 2015 burglary and traffic crash.
Pictured top and inset: Three people were injured when this vehicle crashed and burst into flames on Highway 29 at Barth Road November 8. Pictured below: The vehicle collided with this pickup, in which two people were trapped. Pictured bottom two photos: Bullet holes in a pickup that was reportedly following the car down Highway 29 after an attempted burglar in McDavid. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Fall Gulf Coast Small Farms Field Day
November 15, 2016
UF/IFAS Extension will host the Fall Gulf Coast Small Farms Field Day on Thursday, November 17 from 8 to 11 a.m. at the West Florida Research and Education Center at 4253 Experiment Drive, Highway 182 in Jay.
- Using Protected Agriculture and Hydroponics to Meet Demand for High Value Specialty Crops - Bob Hochmuth
- FDACS Best Management Practices for Vegetable Producer - David Cambron, FDACS
- BMPs: Nutrient Management, Water Protection & IPM
- High Tunnel Trials: Kale, Swiss Chard & Carrots
- Marketing to Niche Markets
Tornado Damage Assistance Application Deadline Approaching
November 15, 2016
Time is running out to apply for funding from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership, or SHIP, program to assist homeowners needing repair or replacement housing assistance as a result of the February tornadoes in Escambia County. Applications must be approved prior to December 31, 2016, so applicants are encouraged to contact the appropriate agency as soon as possible.
Potential applicants residing in unincorporated Escambia County, including the town of Century, should contact the Escambia County Neighborhood Enterprise Division at 850-595-3011, and those residing in the city of Pensacola limits should contact the City of Pensacola Housing Division at 850-858-0306.
Income limits apply, and the property must have been owner occupied at the time of the storm and current on property taxes to receive assistance.
Pictured: Tornado damage in Century. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Florida Democrats Looks For Answers And A Leader
November 15, 2016
After losing the state’s presidential and U.S. Senate races and failing to make major gains in the Legislature, Florida Democrats are groping for a way forward as the 2018 elections loom with battles for governor and all three state Cabinet seats.
The immediate issue is who will lead the Florida Democratic Party and its 4.87 million voters, with the announcement Friday that Allison Tant, who has chaired the party since 2013, is stepping down in January.
Tant, a former Tallahassee lobbyist who was known for her ability to raise money for Democrats, led the party through two difficult election cycles as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton lost last week in the state and gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist lost in 2014 to Republican incumbent Rick Scott.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who could face a challenge from Scott in 2018, defended Tant’s leadership Monday.
Nelson, who is the only Democrat holding a statewide office in Florida, called her “a strong and dedicated leader.”
“I hope the energy she brought to our party will stay with us for years to come,” Nelson said in a statement.
With the stinging election defeat less than week old, several names have emerged as potential Tant successors including former state Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach; Alan Clendenin, a state party vice chair and Hillsborough County state committeeman; Annette Taddeo, a former Miami-Dade County chair and a 2014 candidate for lieutenant governor; Dwight Bullard, who lost a re-election bid last week for his Miami-Dade Senate seat; and Susannah Randolph, a former aide to U.S. Rep Alan Grayson and a longtime Orange County party activist.
“I think we will hear more names. I don’t think you’ve heard all the names you’re going to hear,” said former state Sen. Steve Geller, who was just elected to the Broward County Commission.
As for the election outcome, Geller said: “When you’re on the losing side, the question is always the same.”
“Did you lose because you didn’t go enough to the center under the theory that the majority of voters are in the center or did you lose because you didn’t go enough to the extreme (and energize the base)?” he said.
In Clinton’s case, Geller said the Democrats relied too heavily on the Obama “coalition,” which was weaker without the incumbent president on the ticket, and the Democrats were hurt by outside factors, including the FBI reopening an investigation of Clinton-related emails shortly before the election.
Geller said it was too early to speculate on how this year’s defeats, including U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy’s loss in the U.S. Senate race, will impact the 2018 elections, including the race for governor, a post the Democrats have not won since 1994.
“This week, people are still in shock,” Geller said.
The Florida Democrats will regroup in county-level elections next month, where the 67 party organizations will select county chairs, vice chairs and state committeewomen and committeemen.
Out of that group of local Democratic leaders, the state party will meet sometime in January to select Tant’s replacement, who would serve as the state chair for the next four years, including the 2018 elections as well as the 2020 presidential race.
Clendenin, who was narrowly defeated by Tant in the last party leadership election in 2013, said he is seriously considering running for the party chair again, but has not made a final decision.
“It’s a long road we’re facing,” said Clendenin, who lost a bid for a seat on the Hillsborough County School Board this fall. “And I think everybody in this party is doing some soul searching right now.”
If he runs, Clendenin said he would emphasize the theme he used in his previous leadership bids that the Democrats have to refocus their organization on a “grassroots” approach rather than “top-down driven” effort.
He said that was one of the lessons of this year’s elections, where the Democrats managed to turn out large numbers of voters in major urban areas but were overwhelmed in other areas of the state.
“You can’t possibly get enough votes out of our heavily Democratic areas if we completely ignore two-thirds of the state,” Clendenin said.
Although he was longtime Clinton supporter, Clendenin said he favored the shared approach of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump who both had “a bottom-driven movement that percolated up from social media and then was implemented into a grassroots movement that was real and in the field.”
With many names circulating as possible party chairs, Clendenin questioned whether some of the candidates will be eligible since they must first be elected as a county precinct committeeman or committeewoman to be eligible for a county leadership post and then the state chair.
Clendenin said it was possible for some of those candidates to maneuver their way into eligibility, but it would likely draw more controversy after the clash between the Sanders campaign and the national Democratic Party in this year’s presidential primary.
“I don’t think they’re going to be able to withstand that type of scrutiny this time around,” he said.
Bullard, who was defeated in his re-election bid last week by state Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami, said he is interested in the party leadership position.
Bullard said he would emphasize “a recommitment to our grassroots political ideology, putting everyday working families before special interests.”
“People want to know there is a party out there working for them and that it represents their voices,” Bullard said, pointing to issues like protecting Social Security, raising the minimum wage and protecting individual rights “regardless of sexual orientation.”
Bullard said Trump was more successful with voters based on a campaign strategy of “fear.”
“I would say the antithesis of that would be an atmosphere of positivity,” Bullard said, saying the party needs a message that appeals across the racial and economic spectrums.
“They all want better health care, a better education…a positive economic outlook,” he said.
by Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida
CrossFaith Church Motorcycle Ride Benefits Alzheimer’s Services
November 15, 2016
CrossFaith Church in Molino held their annual “Ride to Remember” last Saturday to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and raise funds for The Retreat, the Council on Aging’s adult day health care center. Riders also made stops by Homestead Village of Pensacola and the Summer Vista Assisted Living Community. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Lady Chiefs Drop Season Opener To Escambia Academy
November 15, 2016
The Northview Lady Chiefs lost their season opener at home Monday night to the Cougars of Escambia Academy 44-26.
The Catholic Lady Crusaders are up next for the Chiefs at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Pensacola, followed by a road trip to Freeport on Thursday.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Neighborhood Watch, Fire Safety Info Offered
November 15, 2016
The Beulah Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office attended Monday night’s meeting of the Bell Ridge Forest Homeowners Association. The Sheriff’s Office discussed the benefits of a neighborhood watch program, while the fire department presented information on home fire safety.
For more information on Escambia Fire Rescue fire safety programs, call Lt. David Coulter at (850) 471-6525. For more information on the neighborhood watch program from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, call David Craig at (850) 436-9281.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Ever’man Grocery, Cafe Coming To Nine Mile Road
November 15, 2016
A new grocery story and cafe are coming to Nine Mile Road.
Ever’man Cooperative Grocery & Cafe has closed on property located at 1000 East Nine Mile Road for a new grocery store, cafe and educational center.
“Our members have been asking for another location on the north side of town for a number of years. We believe in the power of community, the collective energy of individuals coming together to be more environmentally conscious and to live healthier lives. Ever’man is proud to be an honorable cooperative citizen and strong community partner,” said Ever’man board president Dave DeBlander.
Ever’man current operate a location on West Garden Street in downtown Pensacola. Ever’man has been a local staple for more than 40 years, gradually expanding its offerings to include a wealth of wholesome options, including artisanal breads, sustainable meat, dairy and seafood, organic wines and craft beers, and a full line of vitamins, herbal remedies and personal care products.
“Everyone at Ever’man is excited to expand our cooperative and our mission into a part of our community that is experiencing amazing growth,” said General Manager William Rolfs. “We are excited and committed to become a closer part of that community, not only as a trusted source for organic, sustainable foods at a reasonable price, but also as a gathering place for people who want to share ideas and experience healthy living in fun, engaging ways.”
Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.