Pearl Harbor Survivor Shares Memories During Molino Library Program
November 6, 2016
Francis L. Emond was lined up with his fellow Navy members for morning colors on December 7, 1941, when he watched the ships in front of him sink in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The 98-year old related his memories as a Pearl Harbor survivor Saturday afternoon at the Molino Branch Library.
He was part of the band lined up on stern of the USS Pennsylvania, which was dry docked with clear view of the harbor. His memories of that morning, December 7, 1941, are very poignant.
“We could look all over Pearl Harbor and see all the ships that were anchored,” he said. “It was a beautiful sight, a very clear and nice morning. The air was very fragrant in Hawaii; you smelled flowers there all the time. A very, very pleasant place to be.
“I looked up and coming in…was a line of planes. The first one made a turn off, and something come up off the airplane. I thought the plane was coming apart, so I watched it, and the object flew down across where we were and hit the air station on the island there.
“It exploded in smoke and flames and made a big noise and startled us all of course. Looked back up at the airplanes and you could see the big red spots on the airplanes. So we knew that the Japanese were attacking. About that time, you could look up and the sky seemed to be full of them.
“It looked like they were floating in the skies, not that the jets we see today and zooming everywhere…”
“We felt the ship shake…and we knew we had been hit a bomb…”
“All had smoke and multiple fires and smoke. It was a terrible site.”
Saturday’s event , commemorated the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and was planned in conjunction with the Molino Mid-County Historical Society. The University of West Florida Historic Trust also provided a display of reproductions of WWII uniforms and other memorabilia for the event.
Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Eight People Involved In Highway 29 Crash; Three Injured
November 6, 2016
Eight people were involved in a three vehicle accident late Saturday afternoon on Highway 29 in Cantonment.
Three of the eight people were transported to area hospitals, while five refused medical treatment at the scene. The accident happened on Highway 29 south of Tate Road, near St. Monica’s Episcopal Church.
The conditions of those injured and other details have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol as they continue their investigation.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
UWF Suffers At The Hands Of North Alabama, 51-3
November 6, 2016
The seventh-ranked North Alabama football team scored the first 20 points and cruised past UWF for a 51-3 win at Braly Municipal Stadium Saturday, clinching the team’s fourth-consecutive Gulf South Conference regular-season title in the process.
UNA (7-1, 6-0) scored on the first play from scrimmage – a 63-yard pass from Jacob Tucker to Dre Hall – and defended UWF better than any team had done all season before compiling 528 yards to just 172 for the Argonauts.
“North Alabama is the number seven team in the country and they are starting 15 seniors, and they look like a playoff team,” UWF head coach Pete Shinnick said. “We were not able to match that and that’s really the end of it. Our guys were playing hard and they were working hard. I liked our preparation and liked where we were but North Alabama was just better than us today. All credit to them.”
UWF (5-5, 3-4) was unable to get its offense going beyond its lone scoring drive where it capped an eight play, 84-yard effort with a Austin Peffers 20-yard field goal. The Argos finished with 119 yards rushing and quarterback Kaleb Nobles was just 11-for-26 for 53 yards passing, while being sacked four times.
Daviante Sayles, who rushed 10 times for 76 yards, had the game’s longest play, breaking off a 58-yard scamper that put the team inside the UNA 10-yard line before Peffers’ kick late in the first quarter. Chris Schwarz carried the ball a career-high 17 times for 61 yards for a 3.6 yards per rush average.
But the Lions got big plays when they needed them and showed why they are ranked in the top 10 and appear ready to make a long run out of Super Region 2 in the NCAA Playoffs. On the kickoff following the UWF field goal, Jaylan Jackson returned it 89 yards for a touchdown. UNA converted six of its first eight third-down opportunities, including scoring runs of 41 and 21 yards to take a 48-3 lead into the locker room.
Tucker ended the game with 176 yards through the air and 52 yards on the ground, with a passing touchdowns and a pair of rushing touchdowns.
UWF will conclude its inaugural season next Saturday against West Georgia (6-4, 3-4). Kickoff at Blue Wahoos Stadium is set for noon.
Woman Charged In Early Morning Murder Outside Atmore
November 5, 2016
One person is dead and another jailed after an early morning murder in the Booneville community north of Atmore.
At 1:53 a.m. Saturday, the Escambia County (AL) Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic disturbance on Adabell Road to find 46-year old Eric Leon Rolin dead from a single gunshot wound. He had been shot by 47-year old Kimberly Hardy Rolin, according to Chief Deputy Mike Lambert.
The couple had a history of domestic violence, Lambert said, and had been arguing before the shooting.
Kimberly Rolin has been charged with an open count of murder and is being held without bond in the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton awaiting a bond hearing on Monday.
The investigation into the murder is active and ongoing, Lambert said.
Atmore Man Claims $233K Prize For Lottery Ticket Sold In North Escambia
November 5, 2016
An Atmore man has claimed a $233,372.65 prize for a winning Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 ticket sold last weekend at a Davisville store.
William H. Parker purchased the ticket at the Korner Kwik Stop at 10481 Highway 97. The ticket was the only winning ticket sold for last Saturday night’s drawing.
The 358 tickets matching four numbers won $95.50 each. Another 12,024 tickets matching three numbers are worth $8.50 each, and 107,923 tickets holders won a Quick Pick ticket for picking two numbers.
The Saturday, October 29 winning numbers were 07-11-18-20-22.
The winning ticket last Friday night’s drawing was sold at the Winn Dixie in Cantonment. Click here for details. That winner has not yet stepped forward to claim their prize.
Escambia Man Gets 30 Years For Child Molestation
November 5, 2016
A 27-year old Escambia County man has been sentenced to three decades in prison for molestation.
Kelvin Osborne, entered a plea Friday to lewd or lascivious molestation. Escambia County Circuit Judge Scott Duncan sentenced Osborne to 30 years in state prison. After his release from prison, Osborne will be on lifetime sexual offender probation. Osborne was also designated a sexual predator and will be required to register as a sexual predator and comply with all statutory requirements for the remainder of his life.
The investigation revealed an ongoing pattern of sexual abuse by Osborne on a young child. Osborne was arrested on April 25, 2016.
Hundreds Enjoy Annual Molino Park Elementary Fall Carnival (With Gallery)
November 5, 2016
Hundreds attended the annual Molino Park Elementary School Fall Carnival Friday evening at the school. The event featured games, food, entertainment and lots of great family fun.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Fire At Santa Rosa County Jail
November 5, 2016
About 7:15 Friday night, a small fire broke out at the Santa Rosa County Jail facility located on East Milton Road.
Sheriff’s deputies and detention personnel responded to an alarm in the laundry facility where a dryer was on fire. The fire was quickly extinguished with the assistance of local fire departments and SRSO staff. There were no indications of foul play.
The laundry facility is in a separate wing from inmate populations. No inmates were in the area during the course of this incident and there were no evacuations.
One Santa Rosa detention deputy was taken to a local area hospital as a precautionary measure for smoke inhalation. That deputy is going well, according to a department spokesman.
No services to the facility were disrupted and the facility remains in full operation.
Pictured: The dryer that burned inside the Santa Rosa County Jail Friday night. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Justices Reject Effort To Block Solar Amendment
November 5, 2016
The Florida Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a pair of legal moves aimed at striking down a solar-energy ballot initiative backed by major utilities.
In terse, single-line statements, justices dismissed as “moot” requests by the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association and the group Floridians for Solar Choice to reconsider the court’s approval of ballot language for the initiative known as Amendment 1.
Expressing disappointment with the rulings, the initiative’s critics maintained their view that Amendment 1 is “deceptive,” while saying they will focus the next few days on keeping the proposal from reaching the 60 percent voter approval needed for passage during Tuesday’s election.
“We wanted to give the court an opportunity to clean up the mess they have made by approving this amendment for the ballot,” Stephen Smith, a member of Floridians for Solar Choice and executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said in a statement. “Now it’s game on: We have a solar uprising happening in the Sunshine State. We ask everyone to vote no on 1 and we look forward to Tuesday when we will kill this once and for all.”
Sarah Bascom, a spokeswoman for Consumers for Smart Solar, the group spearheading the initiative, said there were no surprises in the court dismissing the “frivolous” requests.
“This was nothing more than a political stunt to deter voters’ attention in the final days of the election,” Bascom said in a statement.
The opposition groups filed the requests Wednesday, hoping justices would reconsider a 4-3 decision in March that approved the ballot language for Amendment 1.
The Supreme Court must sign off on the language of proposed constitutional amendments before they can go on the ballot. The court does not rule on the merits of proposed constitutional amendments. Instead, it considers wording requirements, such as whether proposals are limited to a single subject and are unambiguous.
Former Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero, representing Consumers for Smart Solar, argued in a court filing late Thursday that the requests should be dismissed because the only new information the opposition groups used was an audio tape that emerged last month “in which third parties allegedly describe the sponsor’s political motivations.”
Florida Solar Energy Industries Association and Floridians for Solar Choice, which have long contended that Amendment 1 is misleading, based their requests on a tape that included comments by Sal Nuzzo, vice president of policy at the James Madison Institute. On the tape, first reported by the Miami Herald, Nuzzo described how to use a “little bit of political jiu-jitsu” in promoting solar to win support for desired changes in policy.
In asking the court to dismiss the requests, Cantero argued that the critics were “reckless to accuse Consumers for Smart Solar of ‘fraud or other misconduct on the court’ based on newspaper articles citing the statements of a third party.”
“The motion alleges no facts specifying a fraud by the sponsor,” Cantero argued. “And even if the statements about the sponsor’s political motivations were accurate — they are not — a sponsor’s political motivations are irrelevant to whether a proposed amendment’s ballot summary and title should be placed on the ballot.”
The Tallahassee-based James Madison Institute has asserted that Nuzzo misspoke. Consumers for Smart Solar said the James Madison Institute wasn’t involved in planning or drafting the proposed constitutional amendment.
The Consumers for Smart Solar amendment would enshrine in the Florida Constitution existing rules about the use of solar energy by private property owners. The proposal also includes a more-contentious provision, which states that people who haven’t installed solar on their property “are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do.”
Proponents say the second provision provides consumer protections for people who don’t install solar panels. But opponents argue it could result in “discriminatory charges” against rooftop solar users and limit the desire of people to go solar.
Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy, Tampa Electric Co. and Gulf Power have spent a combined $20.2 million in support of the amendment.
Friday Night Football Final Scores
November 5, 2016
Here are Friday night football scores from around the area:
FLORIDA
- South Walton 56, Jay 27
- West Florida 31, Washington 12
- Trinity Christian Academy 45, Pine Forest 22
- PACE 41, Catholic 7
- Escambia 31, PHS 16
- Baker 49, Liberty County 0
- Gulf Breeze 37, Crestview 13
- OFF: Northview, Tate
ALABAMA
- Escambia Academy 49, Evangel Christian Academy 6
- Wicksburg 34, T.R. Miller 28
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.